2009 | Gear Diary

qTweeter Gets New Name, Apple Approval But Loses Key Functionality

qTweeter is one of the best reasons to jailbreak. Once installed via Cydia all you do is draw your finger down from the top of the screen and an input window appears and allows you to quickly update your Twitter or Facebook status. Now the app has been approved by Apple and released in the App Store for $.99. That’s the good news. The bad news?? The key drop down functionality that lets you launch the app from the status bar is missing.

Reviews

GelaSkins Review

Many of us like to keep our overly expensive gadgets protected. We always want them looking like they did when we first pulled them out of the box. There are several ways to do so. Cases are popular, as are clear protective skins. But GelaSkins are another way to not only keep your device pristine but also keep it looking stylish and personalized. GelaSkins are removable covers for protecting and customizing your portable devices. They feature stunning, photo-quality graphics ranging from fine art prints to contemporary urban images designed by the company’s growing family of artists from around the globe….

Reviews

Aqua Jigsaw for iPhone OS Review

Over the summer my family takes a long vacation at our home in the Outer Banks. One of our favorite past times to do at the beach house is to all gather around the kitchen table with a large piece count jigsaw puzzle. We usually get one going and then come back to it over the time we’re there and end up finishing a few during our stay. With Aqua Jigsaw from 99 Games, I don’t have to wait until next summer to continue the jigsaw puzzle tradition my family enjoys. I can keep it going right on my iPhone.

Reviews

RDM+ for iPhone Review: BlackBerry Really Puts Your Computer on Your Phone

You’re out of the office, get a call and the boss needs a quick change on a presentation. You’re an IT admin, you’re enjoying some time out of the house for the weekend and you need to reboot a server — while your laptop is back at home. You want to show off a photo of the kids from vacation while you’re at a soccer game, but then you realize it’s back on your home computer. What do all of these scenarios have in common? Each situation used to require you to physically use the computer that is in the…

Reviews

iPod nano 5th Gen First Look

As I’m sure many of you know Apple have announced their latest refresh of the iPod Touch and iPod nano lines, and while neither were really overhauled the nano picked up a few more features than its big brother. It’s been widely speculated that the iPod line-up would gain cameras, but the rumours were only half right, with the Nano squeezing in a VGA 30fps camera, whilst the Touch had to make do with a performance boost and higher capacities. The look hasn’t really changed much, with the same basic design of the 4th generation Nano. It is still super…

News & Features

Quirky PowerCurl Keeps Mac Laptop Power Cables Organized

Anyone with a MacBook knows that the MagSafe Power Adapter’s block has an elegant winding device built right in – there are little wings that flip up from the block itself to hold the cable. This works very well as long as you are only winding the thin power cable that comes from the block itself. The remaining removable portion that goes from the block to the wall outlet is a much bulkier cable, and it generally has to be looped over itself and tied off somehow. That’s where the quirky PowerCurl comes in. PowerCurl wraps both cords (plug end & MagSafe…

Reviews

There is a case for that: The OtterBox Defender for iPhone 3G/3G S Review

Oh the joy of acquiring a new iPhone – it’s shiny, sexy, has tons of apps and full of user interface goodness until the unthinkable happens: It is that precise moment with joy turns into sorrow, followed by denial, anger, rage, resentment, depression and reality that $99, $199, or $299 just left your bank account. There is a case for those moments when the law of gravitational pull yanks the shiniest gadget (the iPhone) out of one’s hands. I am talking about the OtterBox Defender case for the iPhone.

Editorials

Why Music Subscriptions Make Less Sense Than Ever…

As Larry just posted, Apple actually approved the Rhapsody app for streaming music if you have a RhapsodyTo Go account. So now we have RhapsodyToGo available in the US and Spotify available in much of Europe. That’s awesome, and a bit of a surprise but still… I don’t quite get it. Rhapsody to Go is $15 a month. That comes down to $180 a year or $360 over the contract-life of the iPhone. (As if iPhone ownership weren’t costly enough already.) Worst of all at the end of that year you own NOTHING! Contrast that to the Simplify Music app…

Reviews

Review: Dataviz Documents to Go Version 2.0 for Android

Since I got my G1, I have been interested in viewing documents on my G1. However that was not possible, except for PDF files. I was able to quickly find a good PDF viewer in IcViewer. However, there have been times that I would like to create a Word document or Excel spreadsheet. Since there is no Open Office port for Android, I had to make do with some note apps, bringing the text into a document once I got back to my desk. Once that was done, I either had to print to a PDF file to view it…

Game Diary, Reviews

Yahoo! Fantasy Football ’09 for iPhone/Touch Review

Last week the Blue Plate Special was an app to get us through our fantasy drafts. I used the app to help me make decisions as well as keep track of the entire draft. It was much better than trying to find players on paper lists and scratching them off. Game on, wherever you are. Log in from your phone, and manage your team when you’re mobile. Add or drop players, check their stats and see the match-ups from any team in the league. Sign up for StatTracker® on your PC, and get up-to-the-minute stats on game day, on your phone….

Editorials

The Blurring Line Between “Smart” Phones and “Feature” Phones

My fiancée is on Verizon, and I use AT&T. It’s becoming clear that we really should just bite the bullet and move to a family plan on one of these carriers, as the combined savings would ease the pain of an early termination fee, plus we wouldn’t waste minutes calling each other from the grocery store. (This could also be solved by me simply writing down in more detail what we need before I leave, but that’s too easy.) Unfortunately for me, she’s very pleased with Verizon and is reluctant to leave. I tried enticing her by offering to purchase…

Vehicles & Gear

2009 Toyota Venza – but what is it?

So what is it? Is this a car, a sport wagon or a sport ute? Is this the new Camry station wagon or the Toyota version of the Lexus RX? What it is is the all-new 2009 Venza from Toyota.

Reviews

Tattoo Mania for iPhone OS Review

Handy Game’s Tattoo Mania puts you in the seat of a tattoo artist in charge of your very own tattoo shop. Every tattoo you paint on your customers earns you points. The faster and more precise you are the more points you earn. But watch out. Everyone has their own pain threshold and if you exceed it you might find your shop quickly out of business. Let’s take a look at the game.

Reviews

CaseCrown 8.9″ Alligator Slim Case

As many of you tech-loving ladies out there know, it can be very difficult at times to find a nice, feminine looking case for your gadgets. I love clothes and accessories just as much as I love technology, and I hate putting a gadget in a boring case into a cute handbag. I just don’t understand why tech accessories have to be boring! When I saw the CaseCrown Alligator Slim Case, the first thing I noticed was that it was stylish looking and came in PINK…not just soft baby pink, but bright hot pink! I knew I had to try…

News & Features

HTC’s Tattoo: Cute? Yes. Unexpected? Not Entirely.

It’s great to see the new Android handsets trickling in, and as usual – HTC is leading the pack with a new cutie called the Tattoo. Of course, the minute a case is put on it, the cuteness factor will all but evaporate. So is there anything else that sets the Tattoo apart from every other matte black handset? According to HTC, “people [will be] able to design and purchase their own unique covers or search and select from popular cover designs, altering the look of the phone to reflect their mood or individual tastes.” It will be the second…

Reviews

Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks: Week Two into the Rosetta Stone TOTALe Program

Oh this week was harrrrrrrd. Let’s see…when we last left off my goal was to get through four more lessons this week, and be up to number seven. Well guess what? There is no seven, and it basically took me all week to get through lesson four. Maybe I should have paid more attention to the way the TOTALe program is set up, but better late than never. Evidently the lessons are broken into Units, and Unit One (at least) is broken into four major sections, each composed of separate lessons. The sections start off easily enough, and I got…

How to Do It Yourself!

PALMisLIFE.com Puts a Red Wrapper on Hui’s Apple iPhone

[Editor’s note: This article first appeared in Chinese on the site PALMisLIFE.com. Past Gear Diary contributor Larry Liaw did the modifications and translated the story for our readers. Larry has done some pretty radical upgrades in the past, most notably to the Palm Treo series; this marks the first time he has shared an iPhone mod with us, and what a mod it is!] And here’s the story… Once upon a time, a key webmaster of “PALMisLIFE.com”, Hui, owned an iPhone 3G and was happy with its features and elegant looks. He used it for texting, messaging, gaming, web surfing…

How to Do It Yourself!

Understanding and Removing the Application Lock on Windows Mobile Standard Devices

One of the more frustrating things about owning a Windows Mobile Standard device, particularly the ones which are tied to a certain carrier, are the sometimes you’ll find that there are these inane application locks in place. You usually won’t even know about the lock until you try to install a program that you think will make your life easier or your device usage more satisfying. When you try the installation, it is error city and the application will fail every time. I ran into this with the Pantech Matrix Pro that Julie and I reviewed this spring: Is the…

Gear Bits

Giving the 17″ MacBook Pro Laptop a Try

I’ve been greatly enjoying the HP dv6 that I recently upgraded to Windows 7, and that got me wondering about Snow Leopard (OSX 10.6). Dan was evil kind enough to send me a link to the latest Apple refurb sales last week, and I couldn’t help myself…after perusing the wares, I bit.

Reviews

Case-Mate Barely There Chrome for iPhone 3G/3GS Review

In addition to the Smooth Case Case-Mate recently sent me for review, they were also kind enough to include one of their Chrome Barely There Cases for the iPhone 3G/3G with a mirrored screen protector. With visions of 20″ chrome spinners on a tricked out car from some episode of Pimp My Ride I slapped the case on my iPhone 3GS and took it for a test drive. The version of the Chrome Barely There I was sent included a mirrored screen protector and sells for $24.99. A similar version of the case is available from Case-Mate without the mirrored…

Reviews

Case-Mate Barely There for Blackberry Bold Review

Yesterday Larry took a look at the Case-Mate Smooth for iPhone 3G/3GS. I would say he liked it! I too have long been a fan of Case-Mate’s products. In fact, a Case-Mate case was the very first cases I got for my original iPhone. The company doesn’t limit itself to iPhones however. They offer solutions for protecting a wide variety of handhelds including, as luck would have it, the Blackberry Bold I began carrying last week. I always tend to prefer a minimalist approach to protecting my devices. I like a “real” case so invisible skins don’t do it for…