Yes, it is that time of year. The annual iPad announcement and release is likely on the way and, with it, the flurry of rumors are in full force. Moreover, as we have seen in recent year, these rumors are often accompanied by slightly blurry spy shots of various components. We saw a supposed back plate for the iPad 3 and today the supposed hi-res display has emerged. We do our best to stay away from rumor and innuendo (although sometimes we just can’t resist) but that does not mean we aren’t thinking about what we want in the iPad 3. Here’s what the team had to say about it

I asked: What do YOU want in the iPad 3 (that is also actually possible) and are you buying? Why or why not?… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

It has been over a year but Gear Chat is back and we’re talking tech. In this first episode Thomas and I talk about the Samsung Galaxy Note, the Series 7 Slate tablet and what configuration of Apple computing products is best. Future episodes will include Gaming and eBook segments and much more. We also want to hear from you! What content do you want covered? What questions do you have? Would you like us to do the podcast as a live, call-in conversation? We want to know.

Happy listening and, as always, thanks for sharing via Twitter and Facebook.

Early this week preparations for CES went into high gear. I commented to the GD team that during the week a staple of my diet tends to be either sugar-free Red Bull or FiveHour Energy and that, upon arrival, I may buy a case of each. I also made an offhand comment that a box of FiveHour Energy is rather pricey. Bryan chimed in that he has a SodaStream and one of the available mixes is an energy concentrate. It would, he noted, be far more economical. Two days later I joined the ranks of the SodaStream users. Funny thing is, Elana had mentioned possibly getting one for her parents… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

That’s how today’s gear chat on tablet size started–with Francis’ assertion that we all knew–even if some of us didn’t want to admit it out loud–that we really wanted a mid-sized tablet.  You know:  something in between the iPod Touch/iPhone and iPad form factors.  Something around . . . 7″ or so.  And then it was off to the races with your tech-happy Gear Diary team:

Photo courtesy of Woman’s Day

The news from Netflix starts off with an “apology” from the Big Kahuna himself, Reed Hastings:

It is clear from the feedback over the past two months that many members felt we lacked respect and humility in the way we announced the separation of DVD and streaming and the price changes. That was certainly not our intent, and I offer my sincere apology. Let me explain what we are doing.

Now okay, I just experienced a layoff, so I’m bound to be more cynical right now than is typical (and my default level of cynicism is pretty high, too), but that sounds like the opening of ” … Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

It’s simply the latest variation of that popular topic:  is your [thing] better than my [thing], or is it the other way ’round?  Wine, or beer?  Ford or GM?   Tastes great, or less filling?  Mac or PC?  ”Firefly” or “Buffy”?  (“Firefly”, dammit!)

Yesterday, your faithful Gear Diary team was hashing over the topic of iPad, or Android tablet.  As you might expect with a collection of Appleheads, PC mavens, UNIX and Linux folks, and all the rest, it got heated, involved, and nerdly.

It started with a friendly discussion between Francis and Joel as to which device Joel might soon be buying, and it developed from there:
 … Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Last week saw us post a larger number of videos than ever. In them we took a first look at the AT&T Status phone running Android 3.2.2, Carly talked to us about the benefits of Chromebooks and why they might be a great choice for you and we launched not one but two contest/giveaways. Missed any of them? Well we’ve gather all of them together along with links to each post…

Gear Talk: iPad 2 Case Roundup

 Read It!

Judie’s Orbino Padova for iPad 2 Has Arrived: Here’s a First Look

 Read It!

We’re all Palm fans from way back in the day. So while none of us are currently using WebOS, we were all excited to follow HP’s recent announcements! Of course, big geeks that we are, everyone had their own opinion on the new entries to the smartphone and tablet world …

Carly Z: Anyone else following the HPalm stuff? Amazing what HP’s deep pockets can do.

Francis Scardino: yeah, works out for us…(greedy consumers) The touchpad looks awesome. Touchstone support is a winner. No cords for you.

Carly  Z: All… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

(Image courtesy BHConsulting)

Dan: The conversation started early this morning when I read a post over on Apple Insider that just didn’t sit well with me.

Apple Insider calls Tim Cook the most powerful gay man in Silicon Valley

I wrote to the other editors

This just offends me. Do we get articles that begin… “Most powerful heterosexual but currently celibate after his third nasty divorce” or “Most powerful 37 year-old virgin although we have no doubt she is straight”. ???

Who cares if he is straight or gay when it comes to running Apple… and who’s business is it anyhow?

We hope you enjoyed Gear Diary’s coverage of CES 2011! All of the editors of the site worked with various devices, but they all had one thing in common: Google. Yes, Gear Diary at CES was brought to you by various Google OSes and services. What were our favorite Google-y gadgets? Read on to find out!

Carly

My day job is fairly restricted, and so I don’t have access to anything behind the scenes at Gear Diary on my work PC. Thankfully, I have the CR-48 Chrome OS computer, and that made my life very easy all week while Dan, Larry and Judie were in Las Vegas… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Wikileaks facility photo courtesy of tecca

As anyone who is a regular reader Gear Diary knows, we tend to be a rather eclectic group here on Gear Diary. We live in a wide range of geographical locals, we do a wide range of jobs, and we use an ecclectic collection of gear. That often leads to some rather interesting gadget conversations. At times, however the talk turns from gadgets to the issues of the day. That was thd case earlier.in the week when we began talking about the WikiLeaks flood of documants.

Here’s part of the conversation.

Doug Moran
Carly, this really reminds me of… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

For the second time in two days I was giving a technical talk: one at night in a public setting, the other to a project team at work. In both cases I needed to note some questions, discussions, take contact info and jot down some ‘to do’ tasks and follow ups. It was only when someone said something in each case that I even realized – all I brought with me was my iPad.

It has been nearly 8 months since the release of the iPad, and I cannot imagine going anywhere without it. Through numerous discussions I know that many of the other Gear Diary folks feel the same way… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

The other morning I read a post by Warner Crocker about his being upset over the change in the iPad’s screen rotation control between the original version of iOS on the device and the new version 4.2.1. Warner referred to it as a “boneheaded move”, and he went on to write this:

Where Apple got stupid is in changing the screen rotation control from the hardware switch on the device’s side to one that is now only accessible from the multi-tasking dock. I use my iPad mostly in portrait mode but there are some Apps that work better in landscape mode. To keep the iPad from rotating unexpectedly or to allow it to rotate used

Joel Mclaughlin
Carriers, Manufacturers and Amazon are Fracturing the Android Ecosystem!!!
Yes, I said it. And I meant it. Carriers, Manufacturers and Amazon ARE fracturing the Android ecosystem. Ultimately they will be the ones who will be blamed for fragmenting an open operating system and an open App Market, making the Android Operating System (OS) increasingly frustrating to use.
This issue really came to the forefront for me when I heard there was an update for one of my favorite apps, iHeartradio. I learned through AppBrain, a popular application that is basically a way to easily install and uninstall multiple apps. AppBrain said there was an update, but it… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

On Gear Chat #17 Larry and Dan talk new iPods, iPad apps and more.

Dan sent his iPod nano back and explains why…

Larry finds that the iPod touch has the worst single feature of ANY Apple product and offers details. That and much more on the 17th episode of Gear Chat.

Intro Music- Lean On Me- Sounds From the Ground Solarstone’s Chill Out Remix…

Editorial note- we refer to questions as to whether or not the Apple TV was delayed during the episode which was recorded prior to said devices shipping earlier today… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...