Anyone who has ever tried to camp where there is sand knows that it is nearly impossible to not track those demonic little grains into your tent or worse — into your sleeping bag. It’s just as bad at the beach, when you are trying to tan without wearing half the beach on your lower legs. CGear has a solution which they say will eliminate the problem – their Multimat. “The CGear Multimat was originally designed as a deployable helimat to eliminate dirt, dust and debris from being kicked up by the helicopters rotors when landing. The product was so successful in eliminating sand, dirt and dust from helicopter landings that we applied it to camping sites.”

Continue Reading

photo credit: recompose

I know I wasn’t the only person who watched in bemused disbelief when news came out early this month that Apple was suing HTC, arguably one of the world’s most innovative smartphone hardware manufacturers, for infringing upon 20 of their patents. Almost immediately, Engadget had a list of every claim where Apple was crying foul, and they were kind enough to translate the jargon-filled legal lingo so that those of us without law degrees could understand that Apple was suing over items ranging from HTC’s use of “List Scrolling And Document Translation, Scaling, And Rotation On A Touch-Screen Display” to “Message protocol for controlling a user interface from an inactive application program” (a type of multitasking Engadget says is directly related to Android more than HTC specifically), to “Automated Response To And Sensing Of User Activity In Portable Devices”, and a slew of other items. In other words, Apple found it unacceptable that HTC phones scrolled a certain way, could multitask a certain way, could tell when you were talking or when you were looking at the screen and about to tap in info (evidenced by whether the screen would go dark or it would go live and input would register) …  on and on it went. It appeared as if Apple was taking the approach that they should throw everything at HTC in hopes that something would stick.

As Gizmodo pointed out, Apple playing the lawsuit bully over these particular items may sound familiar “because Nokia’s being accused of the same thing, and Apple had similar nasty comments for Palm as well, though they haven’t led to a lawsuit (yet).” Sure, Apple has a right to protect their intellectual property and designs, but some of these items seem incredibly vague.

I’ve been waiting to hear how HTC would respond, and tonight they have …

Continue Reading

When Larry posted about the Case-Mate Mohogany Wood Case, I was smitten — there’s no other way to put it. I loved the look of the rich red wood on the iPhone, and I was thrilled when he sent it to me after the review was complete. I used the heck out of that case, even though it added quite a bit of bulk to my iPhone, and even though it had a flaw which turned out to be fatal. It wasn’t evident from the beginning that the lack of a cutout might be a problem, but because the bottom had to be removed every time I needed to charge my iPhone, it quickly became one. As anyone with an iPhone 3GS knows, the phone must be charged daily, so this happened often. The vertical grain of the case’s wood — the same grain that made the case so striking — played into the problem. The bottom of the case had to be grasped when being removed, and over time I eventually snapped off the bottom right edge — right along the beautiful vertical wood grain. I tried repairing the case several times, but each time it would eventually break during a removal; I finally got frustrated and quit trying.

Because I was now convinced that I wanted another wooden iPhone case, albeit one with a bottom cable cutout, I began to research them. While Googling, I found several references to Miniot, a company from Amsterdam, and their iWood Classic iPhone and touch case series. I called myself ridiculous more than a few times, debated the iWood’s price, looked at other wooden iPhone case options I had also found online … and then finally caved in.

Continue Reading

I am pleased to announce that we have a winner of the Toshiba 640GB Portable Hard Drive we recently featured in a giveaway …Congratulations timtim!

Never mind the scrapers!

Those who subscribe to Gear Diary’s RSS know that for the longest time we have used an abbreviated or truncated feed. If you read a bit and liked what you saw, then you could click the link and come see the rest of the article on the main site. The biggest reason we did this was because in the site’s early days we started off with a full feed — which was promptly scraped and reposted on various other sites around the net. That led to truncating the feed and at least having the knowledge that when our feeds were scraped the resulting post would automatically have a link back to Gear Diary in the form of the “read more” link that went to the rest of the article.

Scraping is still a problem, and its severity seems to come and go; nothing new there. So what’s changed?

Last week all of the Gawker Media sites that I enjoy, including Gizmodo, Jezebel and Lifehacker truncated their feeds without any fanfare. I was so spoiled by reading their full feeds that at first I didn’t notice what was different, and then I was like … “ooooh man!”

Then I found a workaround (that works for now anyway) — you can get their full feeds by entering the name of the site plus “vip.xml” (without the quotation marks) — which is what I immediately did. And then I realized that I was being completely hypocritical. Why should I enjoy full feeds on those sites when I wasn’t even offering them to you? That was a major FAIL on my part.

Well, enough of that … effective immediately, you now have a choice: you can subscribe to Gear Diary FULL FEEDS or our old-fashioned Abbreviated or Truncated Feeds by clicking the RSS logos on the upper right column (the left RSS symbol is the full feed, the one on the right is the truncated version), or you can click the feed buttons under posts on their individual pages. There’s also an option to subscribe to the comments, for those who hate to miss a good debate.

And as always – thank you for being part of our readership; we are happy to have you here.

picture courtesy of Wikipedia

It’s one of my favorite times of the year – when we lose an hour by setting our clocks forward, but in return we gain sunlight during the later hours of the day. Yes, tonight marks the beginning of Daylight Savings Time!

I realize that its origins are controversial, and you can argue all you’d like about the many cons and inconveniences of setting one’s clock forward, but for me it’s all worth it. So say goodbye to darkness at 6pm, say adios to any remnants of seasonal affective depression … and say hello to spring’s longer days and the promise of the upcoming summer. 

Update: This giveaway is now closed and timtim is the winner. Thank you for entering, and please keep an eye out for future Gear Diary giveaways!

I was sent a Toshiba 640GB Portable Hard Drive in “Rocket Red” to review, but since this one will also be given away, I was hesitant to use and abuse it like I might a memory device I would be keeping. Therefore, in return for this micro-review, you get a chance to win a pocket-size time capsule just waiting to be filled with your important documents and digital memories.

Continue Reading

Larry sent out a tweet last week that immediately grabbed my attention: Coolest iPhone stand ever. http://bit.ly/aB9ANM http://twitpic.com/16jxfn.

Oh really?

And then I clicked the link and found myself agreeing …
Continue Reading

Now you can totally re-enact your favorite character’s Star Wars scenes after you get out of the shower, either as a Jedi or … as Darth Vader!

The Darth Vadar hooded bathrobe mixes Vader’s classic black fashion sense with an embroidered logo of his helmet – just in case anyone mistakes you for a vampire wannabe or opera fan. You know who you are, and you know you want one.

Add the Darth Vader lightsaber from Think Geek, and no one will mess with your Dark Side!

Continue Reading

photo credit: poketmonster [rafa]

Judie: Welcome to the newest installment of Dear Gear Diary, where several members of the team chime in when Dave asks for advice on what he should replace his dying Palm TX with, and Carly tells Carlos how he can make his Camangi look better with tips that will work on just about any Android device.

And without further ado …

Dear Gear Diary,

My old Palm TX is dying and I am looking for something to replace it. If it could also replace my phone, that would be a bonus, but I’d be willing to look at MIDs or PMPs.

I am looking for something with a robust calendar and to do list (like DateBk6).

Something that can set audible alarms for appointments and tasks (like Palm)

Something that can sync the calendar to Google (like GooSync).

Something that can manage lists (like HandyShopper).

Something that will function when it’s not connected (because there are spots where I work with no reception, depending on the carrier).

And something I can carry in my shirt pocket (not much more than 3×5×0.5 and 8 ounces)

If you were looking for PDA functionality in a small device, what would you recommend? And if the answer is a Palm phone, what would be your second choice
(since Palm, once again, seems about to go under).

Thanks,

Dave

Continue Reading

photo credit: Tiago Rïbeiro

Have I mentioned our TradePub affiliate store lately? It’s a place where you can sign up for magazine subscriptions and technical documents based on your profession … and assuming you qualify — you’ll get them all for FREE.

Sounds good, right? Well to get you started, here are two new documents which might be of interest.

The Underground Guide To The iPhone

Read about the basic user interface and a ton of incredible iPhone features you would’ve otherwise missed. This guide explains in detail how to perform both the very simple and the most tedious tasks. Find out how to get your hands on fresh applications, how to keep your device synchronized and even how to jailbreak your iPhone!

The Mac Manual

This guide supplies you with numerous tips, tricks and free applications. Get the hang of the interface and discover what your Mac is really capable of.

You can find these and all kinds of other publications at our TradePub store. You can even take a stroll down memory lane, since it’s based on the first template we used here at Gear Diary.

I kind of miss that gear on the side, actually; maybe we should bring that back in our next site redesign.

Judie: When Dan, Larry and I attended Digital Experience, a product showcase at CES, there was one particular device which caught our immediate attention. Unlike all of the other gadgets and electronic items we saw on display and which were currently available for purchase, the HTC Google Nexus One was the one that we gathered around, drooled over, and  all immediately made plans to order.

Dan and I purchased ours as soon as we got back to our rooms that evening to be delivered FedEx overnight to my hotel in Las Vegas by Friday afternoon. Our experience would later become blog post fodder, ultimately ending up in a month-long quest to get our original purchases refunded. Larry was patient and smart; he waited until he had returned home before placing his order. While Dan’s and my returns were in limbo, Dan just couldn’t stand it … he ordered his second Nexus One before the first had been refunded. I decided that I would wait until I got my money back before I tied up any more. While I was waiting for my refund, I was pleased to receive notice that I would be sent a sample unit on 30 day loan.

Now all three of us have had time with the device, and we are ready to share ten things we like about the Nexus One, and five things we don’t.

Continue Reading

Winter is still hanging on, and dry skin is definitely an issue for many of us … well, it would be more of an issue for me, but I am still using Skin MD Natural Shielding Lotion, and it is helping! They’ve contacted us with a 20% code that will be good for one month, so if you are suffering from dry flaky skin, you’ll want to take advantage. You can read Jessica, Amy, Carly’s and my review of it here, but I would like to point out one of the major reasons that I recommend it — if you are on a keyboard much of the day, you will appreciate that it isn’t greasy, and it soaks in quickly.

You can get your 20% discount by ordering from www.skinmdnatural.com and entering the code GD10 (code is case-sensitive) at checkout. The discount will last for one month, so basically until April 03, 2010 .

Look! It’s LEGO brick … but not!

In a perfect world, you would be able to snap USB Fever’s cheerful 4-port USB 2.0 Hub right on top of the LEGO PC case mod you’d just completed, or at least snap two of them together to make a hub-brick, but alas … the bottoms of these “special” Legos are flat. At only $11.99 each from USBfever, placing one of these in your office would be the perfect way to declare your love for the legendary building brick.

USBfever Lego 4-Port USB Hub

There is no other hard drive that I would trust to live through the ordeals I have seen the ioSafe survive.

When we were in Vegas, we watched an ioSafe get torched, drowned, and then driven over by a heavy piece of construction equipment – and through it all, the ioSafe’s hard drive contents were kept perfectly intact. And all of this was after Larry had spent some one-on-one time with an ioSafe hard drive, and had already determined it to be exactly as described. How often does that happen?

If you’ve been putting off the type of protection that will keep your irreplaceable documents, photos and financial information safe – even through a modern day apocalypse, then you have got to stop procrastinating. You can continue to gamble with the safety of your items, or you can hedge your bets by buying an ioSafe.

Cars, clothing, furniture, jewelry, houses … these things can all be replaced. But the things you can keep on an ioSafe are the kind that will burn, tear, mold or decay when disaster strikes. Insure your irreplaceables for $249.99, while supplies last.

ioSafe 1.5TB at Costco – MSRP is $299.99 plus the deal includes an extra 12 months Data Recovery Service at no extra cost.