Photo Via: HTC Diamond Web Site

Vincent at PhoneMag.com posted some great pictures of the new HTC Diamond taken at the London press conference earlier today. Check out his full live summary of the event here. Then read Vincent’s excellent writeup about the event here. Finally, join me in the comments as I wonder aloud “Holy Cow - Did HTC Just Reinvent the iPhone on Windows Mobile 6.1? How do these guys stand up in front of a press conference with a straight face…in front of a sign that partly reads - HTC INNOVATION…”. Update: This only has 4GB of internal storage, includes a GPS, 3.2 megapixel camera, 900 mah battery. More stats on the next page.

Link: via PhoneMag - Summary of HTC Diamond Press Conference
Link: HTC Image Gallery
Link: HTC Diamond Specifications

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As part of the Gear Diary team, part of what I try to do is wander the Internet looking for useful things to share. Lately, I’ve noticed a disturbing trend on the Internet - people presenting their personal opinions as if what they say is fact.

Let’s be clear - stating an opinion on the net is nothing new. Hey, I’m doing that right now! What seems to be happening with increasing frequency though, is that someone will make a statement online, others will pick it up and spread it, and before you know it people are repeating the original opinion as if it’s a hard fact; when, in fact it was really just someone’s opinion.

Rumor and opinion suddenly become fact, and it’s just wrong. Worse - it seems to be happening more and more.

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Photo via BGR

Behold the newly leaked photographs of what can only be a prototype for a future clamshell Blackberry smartphone. There’s no information about what’s under the hood with this Berry, code named “Kickstart”. While certainly RIM is praying this model will continue their lucky sales streak, there are several things on my wish list for this phone. Will RIM introduce improvements to the Kickstart or is this a page from Motorola’s failed playbook of “release the Razr in umpteen colors and variations”. There are 6 things that will have to happen before I’ll spend money on this flip phone. Want to know what they are? Keep reading.

via: BGR

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Judie: Here’s how it all started. I got a press release from Kevin Doel regarding FlipSide, a new Windows Mobile MP3 Player which features “”Swooshing” Album Art as Part of Acclaimed Visual Interface.”

FlipSide, the MP3 player from Electric Pocket that has had BlackBerry users buzzing, is now available to users of Windows Mobile devices such as the Treo 700xw, Mogul, Ace, and Blackjack. The feature that has made FlipSide such an instant hit among BlackBerry users is its iPhone-like interface that allows users to visually “swoosh” through their music quickly and easily.

Navigating through music and selecting tunes is a simple process with FlipSide: scroll through the Album Covers, or flick through them using your finger on the screen, then click on the navigation button to open up a vertical list of the tracks. The spacebar is used to start, pause and skip songs, while the navigation button is used to scroll either left or right to either fast forward or rewind within a song.

While FlipSide comes with the features expected of any MP3 player, the feature that gets the most buzz is the attractive user interface that makes FlipSide both visually enjoyable and very easy to use. Its ability to “swoosh” through the full-color cover art of an entire music collection within seconds using the navigation control button makes FlipSide stand-out as both a simple and fun MP3 player. FlipSide downloads and displays the cover art of each album and even links to FlipSide Extras to provide biographies of the artists, recommendations for similar artists and more.

FlipSide for Windows Mobile plays music stored on memory cards in MP3 & WMA formats. FlipSide retails for $19.95 and a free trial download is available now from the FlipSide website at http://flipside.fm.

As I’ll usually do when I get a product announcement, I forwarded this release to the team to see if anyone might be interested in covering the item or reviewing the product…and then their emails started rolling in. It wasn’t long before we had another full blown GearChat Roundtable on our hands.

Sit tight; this one was a doozy…

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When I see products like TrimWater I wonder how any of it gets sold except through slick marketing. The company, the same one that makes TrimSpa diet products, used to market this through a now expired agreement with the TrimSpa diet folks, appears to have taken …. water … added flavoring and sweetener (10 calories per drink plus 3 G sugar) - and then marketed it as TrimWater. Since when is ADDING 10 calories, 50 mg of caffeine (12 oz Diet Pepsi has 35 mg for comparison), and 3 grams of sugar (no matter how small an amount) to water - justify slapping an additional label of TRIM on a product that starts off with no calories or additives? I am not making this up - their web site reads:

With that in mind, we created TrimWater. Lifestyle Beverages wants to give you the ability to drink truly healthier, without giving up the flavor you enjoy. The benefits of drinking water are well known & documented. We’re about allowing you to reap those benefits & making it taste great while doing it!

Is it healthier to drink water with additives - or when dieting would just plain water do the trick? Check the nutritional label on the next page if you don’t believe me.

Link: Trim Water Press Release
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United States Economic Stimulus Payments are now due to arrive starting on Monday (calculate the amount you may receive here and find out WHEN your check will arrive here). Leave it to the Government to reward poor fiscal management by providing free money with which to practice more poor fiscal management. Retail stores are getting in on this concept and many such as Sears, Staples, SuperValue and Kroger are offering additional bonus amounts if you bring your entire check to them and exchange it for one of their gift cards. PS - How funny would it be if mortgage companies got into the act and offered lower rates and even shadier terms in exchange for your stimulus check…

Link: Fatwallet Economic Stimulus Deals
Link: IRS Official Economic Stimulus Payment Calculator
Link: IRS Chart Showing When Your Check Will Arrive

I’ll admit to being a little intrigued by the whole Twitter thing. I’ve concluded that Twitter, as it stands, is primarily a year 2008 version of CB Radio for Bloggers and their cult followings. That doesn’t keep me from trying to understand and use it. I’ve been having a lot of fun finding local users with twitterlocal.net This evening however I received an email that “Gingivitis” is now following me on Twitter. When will Twitter get a real time Black Hole for spammy accounts like my friend Gingivitis and Managementsyste who both tried to follow me. When I reviewed their Twitter page - it was all links to spam sites. I’m unaware of any system for determining which Twitter accounts are spam. Who will be the first to implement this?

Link: Twitter.com

Anyone remember a time when Pocket PCs came with proper styli? They were thicker, stronger, and most importantly they didn’t fold up like a picnic blanket.

These days manufacturers have been stealing space from the old stylus slot to cram ever more stuff into their devices. While I understand they are under pressure to make stuff thinner and smaller, they need to consider how it compromises usability in the process.

I’ve really come to notice this stylus origami since trying to ink on the HTC Shift and the Fujitsu U1010. They include these tiny little toothpicks reminiscent of the CLIE styli that are too thin, too light and they are constantly collapsing when you use them! The Shift has the added excitement of an overly sensitive touchscreen that makes getting that tiny pointer onto the screen (without brushing your hand on the screen) very difficult.

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This morning, as I’m reading news that the 3G Blackberry may be delayed so as not to collide with the 3G iPhone launch, I became convinced that Blackberry’s lengthy run atop the food chain of corporate mobile devices is ending. Why would I think that? Here’s 5 reasons that Blackberry device usage will peak in 2008 never to return to these heights again

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…or is renewing a credit card now a 40+ minute phone sales pitch?

Maybe it’s just me.

Have any of you tried to activate a credit card sent to you in the mail recently?

I *just* got off the phone with American Express. They’re nice enough to provide automated activation via phone. Except the automated service never “works”. This system worked right up to the point it asked me for my Mom’s birthday. Once I punch it in — it’s off the to sales pitches.

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