The holidays are approaching. It will soon be time…

To trim the tree…

To light the menorah…

To trick out your iPhone or iPod touch…

We’re here to help with that last one. Details soon…

Why wait for Black Friday to pick up that HDTV you want? Gearsponsor LogicBUY has found this deal on the Panasonic VIERA TC-L32X1 32-inch LCD HDTV w/ iPod Dock.

The 32″ flat panel HDTV with integrated iPod dock can be yours for $359.99 after $230 of instant savings and by using a $10 Coupon Code (EMCMMMX22). You’ll even get free shipping.

GearDeal- Panasonic VIERA TC-L32X1 32-inch LCD HDTV w/ iPod Dock for $359.99 from GearSponsor LogicBUY.

Developer taptaptap has released their new iPhone app Voices at an introductory price of just $.99. Voices transforms your voice on the fly so that one minute you sound like a chipmonk and the next a robot. It is a fun little app and is available HERE.

To celebrate taptaptap has paired up with MacHeist to make copies of their Voice application for Mac free. You need to Tweet about it but after that it is free. And it is fun… let’s take a look at both apps.

I was at Best Buy looking for a laptop for one of my colleagues. She needs something powerful enough to create flyers, documents etc but also light enough to carry with ease. Good battery life was a must. An optical drive was not. The other requirement? It had to be inexpensive. In the end I picked up a Toshiba Satellite T135 for her. It weights under 4 pounds, is powerful enough to do everything she needs and was under $550.

Here’s a look…

The Toshiba Satellite T135 is available at Best Buy for $549.99.

What I Like: Thin, Light, Comfortable Keyboard, Decent Screen, Inexpensive

What Needs Improvement:The Trackpad buttons are hard to use

Can’t decide which operating system you want on the shiny new netbook you are about to get? Well this GearSponsor deal may be just what you are looking for. This Acer AOD250 has a 10.1″ LED display, 1.66 GHz Intel N280 Atom processor, 1GB RAM and a 6-cell battery. While those specs aren’t unusual for a netbook this one is… this machine Dual-Boots both the Android and XP operating systems.

That’s right, with this GearDeal you don’t need to choose which OS because it ships with two! And with $20 off at NewEgg you can grab it for just $329.99. The price even includes free shipping.

Acer AOD250-1613 10.1-Inch Black Netbook (9 hours battery) with Android/Windows XP via LogicBuy.

It seems like everyone has an App Store these days. And why not? As Apple has shown, great apps extend the power and functionality of a good device into realms no one could ever have dreamed.

Not wanting to be left out of the “App-Parade”… Livescribe has just announced the beta launch of their own application store. The store will provide Livescribe users…

with the ability to download more than 30 paid and free applications, which extend the functionality of the Pulse smartpen beyond its core feature of recording and linking audio to handwriting. Applications range from productivity and reference tools to games and entertainment to travel and education.

The initial releases are nothing too too exciting. They include a few versions of Hangman, a “Sexy Oracle” (don’t ask!) and a series of apps to help with the traditional chanting of the Hebrew Bible (called Magic Yad: Hebrew Chanting Made Easy). Still, it is great to see the functionality of this awesome device extended through the addition of apps.

I love my Pulse Smartpen and use it every day. The added functionality some of these apps can potentially bring will only make a great product better.

The full release follows.

Pulse Smartpen application reviews begin… later today.

Continue Reading

My favorite iPhone cases are those that are more a hard shell than a case. They take a minimalist approach to scratch protection and while they don’t offer much, if any, protection from life’s bumps and bruises, these snap-on cases don’t add much weight or bulk to the device. That’s a trade-off I’m willing to make.

The latest snap-on shell I have been reviewing is a case from Konnet. The HardJAC Graffito is a three part-system that I really love using. (Well, more accurately loved since someone took a liking to it yesterday and, as a result, it is now his.)  Let’s take a look.

Continue Reading

The rumor mill is buzzing about the possible launch of an Android handset that is actually designed BY Google. We heard this rumor before the launch of Android but now it makes much more sense. Here’s why…
Continue Reading

It will be GAME ON with this awesome Wii bundle. In it you’ll get…

A Nintento Wii Console AND a Wii Fit Plus Kit ($99.99 value) and a $50 Amazon.com Gift Card.

That is a $349.98 value but with this bundle you get it all for just $289.98. You’ll even get FREE shipping. Hurry, this GearSponsor deal ends November 22, 2009.

Today’s GearDeal– A Nintendo Wii Console + Wii Fit Plus + $50 Gift Card for $289.98 via LogicBuy.

The question was simple and straight-forward. The answers sometimes surprising. I asked everyone at Gear Diary the following…

Here is the challenge— you can choose one tech-related gift to either give or get. The only limitations are—-
-it must be currently available
-it must have an MSRP of $1000 or less

What would be on your super-short shopping list and why???

Here’s what they said.

Continue Reading

Today’s post in our on-going series “Technology Meets Tradition” has to do with creating connections using technology in ways that weren’t available just a few years ago.

On the occasion of one’s 13th birthday it is common for a young Jewish teen to become a bar or bat mitzvah. The young person goes through a period of study and then leads the worship service and both reads and teaches from the Torah. It is a powerful moment made all the more special because during it the young person is surrounded by family and friends. That, however, can be a double-edged sword for it also raises the sadness and longing for family members who are not able to be present whether they are deceased or just too ill to travel. That was the case this post Saturday as one of our young people became a Bat Mitzvah. She desperately wanted her grandfather to be at the the service but he was not physically able to make the trip.

Continue Reading

Larry tried to fry the ioSafe but was unsuccessful. It withstood the flaming car he and his fellow firefighters threw at it. (We love when there is truth in advertising.)

Well, Sellout.woot has a 1.5TB Version on sale for just $249.99. That’s a $100 savings on the drive that takes a licking and keeps on spinning…

To grab an ioSafe 1.5TB Fireproof/Waterproof USB 2.0 Hard Drive with 3 Year Data Recovery Service, jump on over to sellout.woot.

I like the Android platform a great deal. I find it relatively easy to use and quite powerful. The ability to run a number of applications in the background makes a tremendous difference in usability of the device. This continues to be one of the main shortcomings of the Apple iPhone. Add to that the tremendous integration of the device with Google’s various applications and you have a winning combination. Or so I thought.

Continue Reading

This Lenovo IdeaPad U350 Ultra-thin Laptop sports a 13.3 inch screen and a Pentium SU2700 1.3GHz processor. Throw in 2GB DRAM, Bluetooth and WiFi for just $449.10 and you have a machine that can do some serious computing at a netbook price. The unit ships with Vista Home Premium but is eligible for an upgrade to Windows 7.

Use coupon code USPBANNERS.

Lenovo IdeaPad U350 13-inch Ultra-thin Laptop via GearSponsor LogicBuy.

You have to feel badly for Palm. Even when they make some good moves they still can’t get any respect. And today no less than the New York Times took a swipe at them. In the article entitled “Is Palm’s Comeback Losing Steam?” author Saul Hansell notes…

Palm invented the category of a Web-surfing pocket-computer phone with its Treo line in 2002. But more recently it lost its way in the market as some of its rivals developed more innovative phones.

I mean, think about it, how many people are even TALKING about the $99 Pixi that just went on sale? Ask people about the latest smartphone and they will say… “Droid”.

Worse yet for Palm,

Continue Reading