The HTC Flyer Arrives …

The HTC Flyer Arrives …

Not much to say about it, as the picture says it all! The Best Buy WiFi version of the HTC Flyer has just arrived, and I can’t wait to start playing with it! Just thought I would share my excitement! =)


iPhone 4 Gear Review: monCarbone Magnet Force Carbon Fiber Case

monCarbone has made a name for themselves with their beautiful and protective carbon fiber iPhone and iPad cases, which we’ve reviewed in the past. I was recently sent their new Magnet Force iPhone 4 Carbon Fiber Case, and while at first glance this case might appear similar to the monCarbone HoverCoat, I would soon see the Magnet Force’s claim to fame in action. The Magnet Force adds barely any weight or bulk to the iPhone 4; just like the HoverCoat Dan and I reviewed last November, it is so inconspicuous that you might even forget that you are using a…


Random Liger Alert: Napoleon Dynamite … the Cartoon!

We missed out on Napoleon Dynamite when it first came out, but when our kids were a bit older we watched it together, and it remains one of their favorites. All of us pull quotes from the film on occasion. Apparently after enough years that it has properly faded into obscurity, cult classic Napoleon Dynamite is returning in cartoon form. Here is a bit of info from the press release (you can read the entire release below). NAPOLEON DYNAMITE (Heder) is a 16-year-old boy convinced – for no apparent reason – that he is destined for greatness and blessed with…


Speed Painting Jack Sparrow

We all know Photoshop is a great product.  While I may be partial to the open source program called the Gimp, Photoshop is still the king of editing programs.  When you really know your stuff, you can do some pretty amazing things with Photoshop. A co-worker and teacher of mine, Gene Strickland, has done something pretty amazing, and he’s posted it on YouTube for all to see. The above video is Gene painting Captain Jack Sparrow.  The results are fantastic!  The video has been greatly speeded up so you can see him paint the picture in what seems like mere minutes….


Camtrol Expands Camera Control

For more than a quarter-century I have been serious about photography and videography. And for more than a quarter-century I have discovered that one cannot have too many gadgets/accessories when being serious about photography/videography. A press release arrived at the GearDiary.com inbox that caught my eye recently. It is touting a new customizable free-shooting stabilizing platform called Camtrol. It looks like something straight out of a Transformers movie. It is designed to work with handheld digital video cameras as well as the new breed of HDSLR cameras. Basically it is an action grip attached to a wide base platform with…


Review:Swann Flying High with New RC Indoor Helicopter Line

With Father’s Day right around the corner and fuel prices causing many to think perhaps of a “staycation” this summer, those looking for a different sort of gift should check out Swann and their new line of RC Indoor Helicopters. Many ask themselves, “Aren’t remote control helicopters difficult to fly?” Yes they are, or were. Swann, a company mostly dedicated to security devices, offers a break from the routine with this new line of rechargeable RC Indoor Helicopters. Within minutes of making my tester “flight ready” I was buzzing around the den and terrorizing the cat. Fun is had in…


Giveacar.co.uk Helps You, uh, Walk off into the Sunset

We here at Gear Diary thought we’d make you aware of a way to rid yourself of technology; automotive technology, that is. Old, unwanted automotive technology, of course. (You don’t really think a site called GEAR DIARY is going to encourage you to dump your technology and go all monk-like, do you?) If you have a car you are not using (or which is no longer usable), but aren’t sure of how best to dispose of it, Giveacar.co.uk (oh, yeah, and you need to be in the UK, did I mention that?) will help you dispose of your old or…


Music Diary Songs of Note: What’s Going On?

It was an entirely different era … sure there was war and our kids were dying in far off lands for questionable causes, but everything about the way it was handled and perceived was different. And into the mess of the post-Woodstock Zeitgeist Marvin Gaye launched an album that simultaneously soothed and questioned. This week marks forty years since “What’s Going On?” hit record stores and the airwaves. To mark the anniversary, Motown is putting together a 40th Anniversary edition 2-CD/LP ‘super set'(Amazon link). According to his Motown Website: On May 21, 1971, Motown Records released an album unique to…


iPad 2 Case Review: Case-Mate Barely There

I love a minimalist case for my iPad and iPhone. I appreciate being able to add some protection to the somewhat delicate devices without losing the slim, light look and feel Apple has been able to achieve. It is the reason I have been a fan of Case-Mate’s Barely There series  cases since they first appeared on the scene, and I have been lucky enough to review one for pretty much each of the devices I have owned since. The company has released the iPad 2 version of the Barely There and were kind enough to send a review sample…


Adventures in Cloud Computing Brought to Me by WildBlue

image courtesy of toothpaste for dinner Cloud computing. It is here. It is powerful. It is growing. It is a good thing? Had you asked me a week ago my answer would have been a resounding “Yes!” A week later, I’m not sure sure. Read on if you care to join me in my wireless nightmare … For many years, Dial-Up was the only way most people could get online reliably, and the two main sources of internet access seemed to be AOL and to a lesser degree, MSN; because I wanted to be different, I went with MSN, and…


Pop Goes the Music Diary: Beware the Rapture!

Image courtesy of xkcd There is a lot being made of the claims of some Christian groups that the so-called ‘Rapture’ will occur on May 21st of this year. At 6pm. By time zone. Apparently this orderly ascent of ‘the chosen’ is well detailed in coded messages in the Bible (despite direct statements in the same book in direct conflict with such knowledge), as revealed in an NPR interview: On May 21, “starting in the Pacific Rim at around the 6 p.m. local time hour, in each time zone, there will be a great earthquake, such as has never been…


Gear Games Review: Fierce Laser Gaming Mouse

Gamers are a funny group when it comes to controllers, and none are more particular than PC gamers with their mice. I remember years ago buying a BOX of Microsoft Intellimouse 3.0 mice … that is 5 mice! That way I had one for any situation or possible computer I would access. The reason? The two side buttons were perfect for games like Jedi Knight II where I could assign them to Force Push and Pull. The question now: is the Fierce Laser Gaming Mouse something to inspire that sort of idiotic devotion? Read on and see! The Hype: We’ve…


Castle Runner for iPhone/Touch

I remember a day when gaming was simple. The graphics were simple but made the point and game play required timing and easy actions to get as many points as possible. It is not that I do not love new games with fancy graphics and complicated game play, but sometimes it is fun when I have a few minutes to kill to go old school with a nice side scroller where timing is the name of the game. Castle Runner does just this and in a truly challenging manor. Let’s take a look. Castle Runner is an action themed side…


Netflix? More Like NetHOG!

Have you ever wondered where all of that internet bandwidth is going? Apparently the answer is Netflix, according to a recent study by sandvine reported at TechCrunch. Here are some details: Netflix video streaming is now the single largest source of peak downstream Internet traffic in the U.S., according to a new report by Sandvine. The streaming video service now accounts for 29.7 percent of peak downstream traffic, up from 21 percent last fall. That puts Netflix above HTTP websites (18 percent), BitTorrent (11 percent), and YouTube (10 percent) as a source of downstream traffic during peak times in North…


The Linksys E4200 Max Performance WiFi-N Router Review

A few months ago Linksys announced their new E4200 Wireless N router. Linksys was kind enough to send out a review unit, which I have been using for a few weeks. The dual band router sports both a 2.4 and 5 GHz radio setup and a six-pack of internal antennas to maximize wireless coverage and throughput. Wireless N is pretty much the standard these days, and as you all know the force behind WiFi N is the need for streaming media. With all the new web connected TV’s and streaming media services, the last thing you want is your router…


BlackBerry Playbook Case Review: Pop! for BlackBerry PlayBook

I cannot help but feel a bit bad for the BlackBerry PlayBook. After all, the device has a great form factor, excellent build quality, a responsive touchscreen, and two things that are lacking on most tablets: both the front and rear facing cameras are quite good and the forward facing stereo speakers don’t sound half bad. Still, weeks after the device was first introduced into the market, the number of high-quality applications for it is disgraceful low. The result is a device whose utility continues to be all but crippled as a result. I would not keep it hanging around…


Gear Games Update: Sony’s Rollout Has PSP-Only Users Singing …

… but sadly the song of choice is ‘But not for me’. Sony has announced their restoration plans, their ‘Welcome Back’ plans – which include the PSP incidentally – and other things. I will list those details in a bit. But unless you have a PS3, you will NOT be doing anything anytime soon! How bad is it? Sony pretty much assumes that PSN = PS3, as noted in the header message on the PSN Blog Thank you for your patience and encouragement over the last few weeks. As covered in the post from earlier today, you can now update…


Award Winning “Ring” Mouse Now Available in North America

Coming to you straight out of Taiwan, a small country off the southeast coast of China, the most innovative mouse available in the mainstream tech world is now available in North America. Crafted to fit snugly around your fingers, the newest entry to the remote control family is activated solely by your thumb, providing a uniquely flexible take on computer peripherals. Created and manufactured by the aptly named Genius corporation, the mouse is meant to come as a pint-sized revolutionary, a wireless liberator fighting off genuine banality and discomfort. Really though, it’s just a ring-shaped mouse. As the recipient of…


Is Intermittent WiFi on iOS 4.3.3 an Issue?

Two things happened on the same day a couple of weeks ago: 1) I bought an iPad 2 and, 2) Apple released a firmware upgrade for iOS. Unfortunately, the latter all but enfeebled the former. Like a good little Apple fangirl, I upgraded to iOS 4.3.3 on both my new iPad 2 and on my original iPad. Within a few hours I noticed a problem: the WiFi kept dropping its signal on both devices. Here’s how it seemed to go: I’m using the WiFi and it suddenly hesitates, ultimately grinding to a halt and up comes that dreaded “no connection”…


Slacker Launches Slacker Premium Radio with On-Demand Access to Music Library

I’m a huge fan of Slacker Radio but I have to admit, it has been a little long in the tooth lately. I mean, they still haven’t got an iPad app which means you need to use the Slacker iPhone app at 2X resolution on your iPad. Ugly!! Moreover, services like RDIO have made selective music streaming seamlessly ease while Slacker has kept to their same old model. Well, Slacker is hitting a milestone today with the release of a new iPad app AND Slacker Premium, a service for selectively streaming the music you want when you want it! So…


iPad Accessory Review: miFrame Photo Frame Dock for iPad

Although I use my iPad 2 most of the time I kept a 16GB WiFi iPad 1 around for review purposes (as well as the convenience of keeping an iPad in the den full time). I’m glad I did keep the original iPad because I am still coming across some awesome accessories designed specifically for it. And since there is still a strong market for the original iPad (you can get a refurb unit in perfect condition on the cheap right now) there is still a good market for iPad 1 accessories. A good example of that is the miFrame…