As someone pointed out in response to the Galaxy Nexus commercial – that was made by Google, which is why it was excellent. Now we get one for the Galaxy S II made by Samsung … and it is NOT.

Back in the 80′s Apple produced two infamous commercials – 1984 and Lemmings. They are well known by name more than 25 years later for very different reasons: 1984 showed a single person striking out against tyranny to choose her own path and give others the opportunity to make their own choices as well.

Lemmings was infamous for … well, calling PC users a bunch of mindless idiots.

Which is pretty… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

I had already written about just how great the Samsung Galaxy S II commercial was a couple of months ago, but at the time Apple and Samsung were in the midst of the ‘copy me, copy you’ spectacle and so I wrapped it around a tongue-in-cheek accusation of copying. Certainly Samsung has learned that the macho specmanship approach of Motorola has a very narrow appeal, which shows very well in this new ad as well.

The upcoming Nexus has gotten some very positive early looks, and should be a big success for Samsung and give a great look at the new Ice Cream Sandwich Android 4.0 OS. We even learned that the Nexus… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

As a small town guy living in the Chicago area, there are a lot times when I get frustrated with the traffic, the density, and the general inconveniences that are necessarily associated with urban living.

Then again, there are times like today, when I’m happy to be living in one of the larger metropolitan areas in the country because we tend to be among the first to get new technologies, such as AT&T’s new LTE network.

At the moment, AT&T has two phones able to take advantage of the LTE network: the HTC Vivid and the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket. The Vivid offers a 4.5 inch qHD screen, but the Skyrocket has a slightly faster processor and is part of the popular Galaxy S II line of Samsung… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

I’m not much of an artist–which is a polite way of saying that my drawing abilities totally stink–but even I think that stylus that you can see above is pretty durn cool.  And of course given that it’s from USBFever, it’s hardly the only thing that they’ve released this week, because that’s just the kind of bunch they are.  So without further ado, the full list of USBFever launches for this week includes:

• TUNEPENCIL DrawPro – stylus pen for iPhone / iPad / Smart Phones
• Twine Leather(Carbon Look) Case For APPLE iPhone 4 / 4S
• TUNEPRISM for iPhone 4S/4 case
• iSolider – The Mighty Stand for your iPhone

When it comes to cases, PDAir simply does not sit on their hands.  If you think it’s hard for you to keep up with all the new smartphone releases (and it seems to me like a new one is released every other day), think how they must feel–not only do they have to keep up, but they have to come up with a bunch of cases for each one!

But they do it.  And this week’s bunch is below.  Surf on over and take a look for yourself.

This week’s set of releases from PDAir includes:

• Aluminum Metal Case for Samsung Infuse 4G SGH-i997 – Open Screen Design (Silver)
• Aluminum Metal

Have you seen the commercials for the Droid Bionic? As my kids put it “it doesn’t make me want the phone, but it sure is cool’! And the Verizon Wireless iPad commercial? Yawn! It there anyone who can make a commercial for a smartphone that is as interesting and compelling as Apple?

Turns out their supplier/competitor/collaborator/arch-rival Samsung is doing a pretty good job.

The new commercial is called “The Way We’re Wired”

Unlike Apple, there is loads of mentions of tech specs, capabilities, and so on. But similar to Apple the point is to evoke positive feelings and then link them to a product. In this case, Samsung is… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Last week I attended Samsung’s rollout party for the US Samsung Galaxy S II. The screen was like nothing I have previously seen on a mobile device! Spec-wise the rest of it was pretty impressive too. The phone features a Dual-core 1.2GHz Samsung Exynos Processor, has dual facing cameras (8MP rear, 2MP front), 802.11n WiFi and 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot Capability for up to 8 devices. The Super AMOLED Plus touchscreen display is 4.52″, it runs Android 2.3 OS (Gingerbread). Of course the phone has Bluetooth and GPS and Samsung claims you can get up to 8.7 hours talk time.

Today’s Gear Deal brings is the opportunity to pre-order Sprint’s version of it, the Samsung Epic… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

So the day has finally come where the official announcement has been made for the Samsung Galaxy S II to hit US soil. The press conference is under way right now (Dan is there as I type), and just as we thought details are slim. A 4.5″ SAMOLED+ screen is destined for AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint, while Verizon is holding off for the Samsung Galaxy Prime, or Nexus Prime or whatever they decide to call it. As I watch the blogging commence I noticed while reading over at TmoNews some of the announced features of the new phone. What caught my eye is the promise of the robust Enterprise features that will be included with this phone… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

I am a big believer in having extra battery power handy, just in case.  I travel an awful lot–once a week on average–and having, say, a Mophie Juice Pack Air for my iPhone 4 is very nice indeed; it relieves me from having to worry about looking for free plugs at the crappy Southwest terminal in San Diego (which doesn’t have many–I really hate that terminal).  ”So what?” I can say to myself; “I’ve got this here extra battery pack, just in case!  Life is good.”

PowerSkin wants you Nexus S 4G owners to feel that same sense of freedom unbound with their new battery case.  It’s available through their web site, as… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

image courtesy Brighthand

When the alien invaders arrive, they’ll no doubt swing by the International Space Station for a quick rest stop before invading Earth. Let’s hope they’re fans of open source software and not iOS fans, since they’ll find Samsung Nexus S phones powering several satellites there.

According to Brighthand:

SPHERES were created by a group of undergraduate students at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in conjunction with the Department of Defense and NASA, in 1999. Present on the International Space Station since 2006, SPHERES are individual satellites self-contained with propulsion, power, navigation and computing. Each SPHERE was designed with an “expansion port,” with the idea that additional sensors would be added.

The

So just the other day I was driving with my fam’ (including the dawgs) out to the ‘rents-in-law in Louisiana.  I killed our battery a while ago and had to install a new one, which means our GPS system in the van doesn’t work.  No problem: I use the trusty iPhone.  Unfortunately, I can’t mount the durn thing on the windshield without some kind of aid.  The kind of thing that USBFever puts out regular-like, not just for the iPhone, but for a whole host of devices, just like you see in this here post.  Among other stuff.

And the full list of USBFever’s releases for this week is:

• CF to iPad Connection

Austin advertises itself as (aside from being weird) the “Live Music Capital of the World.”  Which is probably true, honestly; almost every restaurant and bar in the city has at least a tiny stage and a place for an audience.  Seriously, you can drive down any street with a bar or restaurant or, for all I know, an ice-cream shop, in the evenings and hear music coming out.

But another thing that Austin–the home stomping grounds of Lance Armstrong–has is bicyclists.  An ungodly number of bicyclists, frankly, zipped up into their spandex, shaving their legs, making left turns into the right lane because they didn’t bloody pay attention, blasting through stop signs, riding three abreast down… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

When I was a wee laddie, back in the 70s, a friend of mine had one of those spy cameras.  Not one of the cheap ones that you get by answering an ad in the back of the latest issue of “Legion of Super Heroes” (by a much, much younger Mike Grell), but a real one that used 110 film and was made out of metal, and slid into a tiny little package that you could slip into your sleeve.

How cool is that?

Well, this isn’t quite that cool, but among USBFever’s releases this week they have a device that… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

This is Chu, from Blade Runner.  He just does eyes.  Only eyes.  Genetic design, only eyes:

PDAir just does cases.  See, only cases.  Lots and lots of cases.  And this week, they’ve release one for the Samsung Galaxy S II GT-i9100 (which I maintain is one of the stupidest names for a phone ever–long, incomprehensible, unpronounceable, and impossible to remember; good work on that one, Samsung!), and a couple for the Apple iPad.  And they can keep up their incredible pace because cases, they only do cases.  See?

PDAir’s list of releases for this week includes:

• Luxury Silicone Case for Samsung Galaxy S II GT-i9100 (Black)
• Aluminum Metal Case

So you say you managed to get over the fact that it has a long, unpronounceable, and nearly impossible to remember name, and you went ahead and got yourself a brand new Samsung Galaxy S II GT-i9100, right?  What’s the very first thing you wondered as you were unboxing your new toy?  No, no, not that!  The other first thing!

That’s right; what to cover it up and protect it with!  And as per usual, PDAir has a plethora of choices for you, all available at their web site for around 28 bucks.  So don’t sit here reading my drivel; get up off your virtual duff and head on over to their site and start a-buyin’!… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...