March 2012

Gevey Ultra S Carrier Unlock – Multiple Versions and Multiple Confusion

About a month ago the iPhone 4s unlocks started to appear. This is an excellent thing if you want to use your locked iPhone 4s (especially AT&T users!) outside of your normal carrier. Since AT&T fees overseas are astronomical and don’t even work in all countries (even when the GSM radios support connection) this is one of the only ways to handle traveling if you have an AT&T iPhone 4S. Among the recent entries into this arena is Gevey, long known to be the “high quality” player in the unlock world. Well this time I think they made a mistake and…

How to Do It Yourself!

SBCGlobal Users, Are You Having Trouble Sending Your Mail? Here’s Help!

Image courtesy of OrganicKuwait blog Hi there, SBCGlobal users! I’d like to speak to those of you who work on Macs or Macbook Pros; I’ve been off Windows for a while (wow; I make it sound like heroin, don’t I), so I don’t know if what happened to me today is true on Windows boxes as well as Macs. Read on if you like, though, because maybe you’ve bumped into this problem, too! One of the things that pleased me when I upgraded to OS X Lion was with regard to the email program. I like Apple’s email program; I…

Music Diary

Great Music Videos from Before MTV

Image courtesy of ICanHasCheezburger Many folks think that the birth of the music video can be traced to the launch of MTV … but that really doesn’t make sense when you think about it. I mean, even knowing that MTV started as a small local station before transitioning to a major cable network … how would they have established themselves without existing material? The reality is that there have been music videos produced since the early days of sound-based video. With the advent of television and its popularity in 1950s, we started to see promotional videos attached to network shows…

Game Diary, Reviews

Youda Survivor Kindle Fire Game Review

Youda Survivor joins games like Civilization Revolution, Jack of All Tribes and Tiny Token Empires and other casual strategy games that have journeyed to handheld tablets. These games all work well with the touchscreen interface, present more than a trivial experience, and are still playable in small time increments. All of those games are available on the iPad … but Youda Survivor is the first one to venture to the Kindle Fire! Let’s take a look! The Hype: For all real fans of time management games – the most frenzied adventure yet! Can you survive on a mysterious island as…

News

StarTech’s New USB 3.0 HDD Docking Station

If you build computers or do any maintenance on computers or just want a quick way to offload the data off of an old hard drive, then StarTech.com has a new solution for you. Their new HDD docking station supports 2.5 inch or 3.5 inch SATA or IDE hard disks and connects to your computer with the faster USB 3.0 standard. It’s supported on pretty much every OS out there as well. The dock will allow you to: Connect a SATA and IDE hard drive at the same time or separately, through a single USB 3.0 connection at up to…

Gear Bits

Why Do We Lose Power So Easily?

Ever lose power when the sky is blue? That happened to me this week at both my place of work and my home. While at home the answer was not clear, at work it was totally apparent. There is a pole in front of our building that has not once, not twice but at least 3 times since we moved in the building had at least one of the three wires break. For those who don’t know how power works in your home or business, it typically has 2 or 3 phases. Each phase requires a wire. In the case…

News

Nokia Lumia 900 Now Available for Pre-Order from AT&T

For those chomping at the bit for the Nokia Lumia 900, AT&T is now offering the phone up for pre-order on their website. Retailing off-contract for $449.99 or $99.00 with contract, this has been a heavily anticipated phone in Windows Phone circles. For me, this device will mark my departure from the Android realm for the first time in nearly two years, so I am very excited to give the Lumia 900 a whirl. Sporting a 4G LTE, a 4.3″AMOLED screen, Carl Zeiss optics with an 8 MP primary camera with dual LED flash, autofocus, a 1 MP front camera…

News

Missing some Zzzs? Try zsnuz Nap App for iPad/iPhone

It’s a curious thing, perception of Time as a child as compared to that of an adult’s. As children, Time was a thing without meaning as we played and played, until our parents found us and compelled us to take a nap. Suddenly Time became a precious commodity, now subjugated by cruel Afternoon Nap rudely interrupting fun. As adults, however, Time can seem to be a slave under the domination of the twin temporal tyrants Responsibility and Obligation. Meeting deadlines, raising children, maintaining a home and so forth devours our time and more than a few beleaguered adults wish for…

Reviews

Just Mobile Highway Car Adapter for iPad and iPhone review

How much can you actually say about an in-car charger? I mean, seriously, so long as it plugs into your power adapter and can charge your device you are good to go right? Maybe, but as with so many things, when the tool you are using for a task is well-conceived and beautifully executed and when the object in question is made from high quality materials and does exactly what is promised, it is something abut which to take note. That is the case with the Just Mobile Highway in-car charger. I’m using it in my new car and it’s…

eBooks

Amazon Kindle Newsstand Versus Zinio on iPad

I took the plunge recently and bought a new iPad! One of the first things I looked into was Zinio, based on the exuberant reviews of the other Gear Diary editors. Then I realized I hardly read magazines. So while I peeked at a few prices and poked around, I didn’t really give digital magazines much thought. Today I was doing my usual Amazon Kindle browsing to find some new reading materials, and I stumbled on the price for “Running Times”, one of the magazines I had considered on Zinio. The price was $20/year on Zinio, but only $0.83 an…

Reviews

Brookstone Pocket Projector for iPhone 4 Devices Review

The other day I wrote about one of the Brookstone iOS accessories Elana gave me for my birthday, the iConvert iPad scanner. Today we are going to look at an accessory that lets the iPhone or iPod touch become a home theater. The Brookstone Pocket Projector for iPhone 4 devices is pretty impressive. In fact, when Elana first saw it, she declared it to be “the coolest iPhone gadget ever!”. I don’t know about “THE coolest”, but it is pretty neat; let’s take a look. Here’s what Brookstone has to say about it: Easy to use—just dock your iPhone 4 device…

Reviews, Yum Log

AmazingRibs Meat Temperature Guide Might Just Save Your Bacon Review

There are lots of ways to determine the doneness of meat that you are grilling or roasting in your oven. (Notice I didn’t say “BBQing.” Where I come from BBQ is a noun, not a verb.) In addition to meat thermometers and a nifty little iPhone app that I’ve reviewed lately, sometimes it’s best to go old school. The cooking geniuses at GrillGrate.com have developed what they call the “Meathead’s Temperature Magnet.” If someone calls me a meathead, I take it as a compliment, so I was happy to see this product. There are so many things to like about…

News

Reflection for Mac Puts Your iOS Device on the Big Screen

It is rare for an application to make me go “Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow!” but the Mac app Reflections just had me do exactly that. Seriously, this small utility is one of the best things to come along in quite some time. Be aware that it is only useful if you use a Mac and an iOS device but if that IS your current gear set-up… Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! You see, I’ve always wanted a way to have my iPhone or iPad running on my Mac AND still have the ability to use the Mac. Think about how…

Game Diary, Reviews

Mahjongg Artifacts for the Kindle Fire Review

The Hype: Escape from the rush of modern life into the immersive ancient atmosphere of Mahjongg Artifacts®! The prequel to Mahjongg Artifacts: Chapter 2 and a new fan-favorite comes with three gameplay modes which take you through five exotic cultures. It also comes with innovative gameplay twists, like Special Tiles that allow you to use new strategies to clear layouts, Bonuses for skillful play and Trophies for special accomplishments. Story Mode features an epic quest for lost relics, Classic mode allows you to choose the layout you want to play, and Endless mode allows you to remove tiles from an…

Reviews

iOS Apps for Passover

I have a regular column in our local New Jersey Jewish News where I have the opportunity to share different apps of Jewish interest. The last time out I focused on environmental and conservation apps in conjunction with the holiday of Tu BiShvat since it is a day celebrating trees and nature. This time I decided to focus on apps for the upcoming holiday of Passover. Here is a reprint of the article which appeared yesterday. From the NJJN: In preparation for Passover, I went to the iTunes App Store looking for some specific apps. I wanted an…

Game Diary, Reviews

The Magician’s Handbook: Cursed Valley for Kindle Fire Review

Hidden object adventures continue to evolve on smartphones and tablets, with PC games being ported that are more complex, more interesting and have better stories. The success of games from folks like G5 Entertainment has resulted in an explosion in the category. The latest one to try to capture the Kindle Fire gamer’s interest is the Magician’s Handbook, which I already reviewed for the iPad. Let’s see how it does! The Hype: Remove the evil curse in this captivating adventure by finding hidden objects in the dark and mysterious Cursed Valley! The fabled “Magician’s Handbook” has fallen into your hands….

Gear Bits

Revisiting the Original iPhone

(Original iPhone on the left, 4S on the right) I was doing some spring cleaning this weekend and came across a cool find — the original iPhone! I stood in line the day it came out and it was such a welcome change from my Treo 650! I remember being completely mesmerized by the screen and style at the time. Now, just a few short years later I was using its great-great grandchild and here was the original, the first, the groundbreaker. Of course, I had to charge it up and compare to my 4S! (original left, 4S right) What follows…

Reviews

V-MODA Custom Crossfade LP Hands-On Review

Last month we had a giveaway for V-MODA, and at CES Judie and Dan were very impressed by the headphones. The folks at V-MODA were kind enough to send a custom set along with the Gear Diary logo, and I gave them to my son the aspiring DJ. Now we have gotten some hands-on time with them – let’s take a look and see what we thought! The Hype: Developed over the span of four years in collaboration with some of the world’s top musicians, DJs and producers, the Crossfade LP delivers epic sound with a distinct design composed of…

Game Diary, Reviews

Final Fantasy XIII-2 for PlayStation 3 Review

A better battle system, engaging story, and solid visuals combine with time travel elements in this direct sequel to Final Fantasy XIII that also sets up a likely third installment.

Gear Bits

Is This Revenge for “Frogger”?

It has been an animal-themed week at Gear Diary! First ferrets, then giant bunnies, now a killer frog… Want to know more about the angry frog? Just check out the video below! And does anyone know what game the frog was “playing”?

Editorials

Is Pottermore Going to Change the eBook Market?

As Michael told you the other day, the new Harry Potter official site Pottermore has been launched with much fanfare. Your source for all things related to the Potter universe, including (finally!) electronic versions of all the books. (And your faithful Gear Diary team has discussed that a bit in other posts as well.) Now, this is a big deal, of course, because the Potter books are insanely popular and Rowling’s going to make a ton of money from the site. But Matt Yglesias, a man who is almost always thoughtful when it comes to politics, decided to throw his…

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