Smartphones & Gear

Comics by Comixology (Iconology) for iPhone and iPod Touch Review

When I was younger, my whole family was big into comic books.  We’d buy all sorts of titles.  Although we didn’t think about it much back then, today we recognize the work and effort and artistry that goes into comics.   The problem is, however, comic books have not translated well into electronic formats.  ebooks, in general, have had a difficult time making the transition (mostly due to the policy decisions of publishing houses, i think), but comics have an extra hurdle – the graphics.  Not only are they bigger, but you have difficulty deciding how to handle viewing them.  If you…


Track Your Trips in Real-Time with GPSed for iPhone

If you have the travel bug and enjoy sharing your adventures with your friends and family on Facebook, Twitter, etc., then GPSed is definitely for you.   If you are a hiker, runner, or biker and just want to track your journeys in real-time, then GPSed is for you. In fact, just about anyone needing to show their location via GPS, archive their trips, or keep a log of their where they’ve been on GoogleMaps will likely find something useful with the many features in Shape Services‘ GPSed.


Palm Pre App Catalog. 30 Apps in 30 Days. Day 14: LinkedIn

I have to admit that I am not terribly interested in social networking.  Email is usually enough for me, though there are a few sites which I do find to be particularly enjoyable or useful.  One of those sites is LinkedIn, a social networking site for business connections.  As much as I enjoy LinkedIn however, I have always found their mobile versions to be a bit lacking.


Palm Pre App Catalog. 30 apps in 30 Days. Day 13: Open Table

Open Table is pretty similar to Good Food, which we looked at yesterday.  Like Good Food, just enter your current location (either by city name or using the GPS).  Open Table will then pinpoint affiliated restaurants in your area, which you can view either on a map, or in a list view.


How to get more than 11 pages of iPhone Apps

By default the iPhone limits the user to a total of 11 visible springboard aka home screen pages. Dayna from PHP-Princess has discovered a way around this limitation. Yes needing more than 11 pages of applications (180) is truly for the hardcore iPhone app user, but there are a lot of them floating around. This was a trick I discovered while moving around my icons. First, you have to be an app-aholic and have 11 pages of iPhone apps (and more hidden ones since they can’t be displayed). Then move some of the default apps you do not use like…


Palm Pre app Catalog. 30 Apps in 30 Days. Day 12: Good Food

We are going to quickly tackle two apps in one tonight.  I was planning to bring you a look at SplashData’s SplashID, the only secure information manager available for the Palm Pre.  Unfortunately, I had terrible problems with SplashID on the Palm Pre and could not get it to load at all.  Every time opened it, it froze.  I know others have had much more success with this program, and I have enjoyed it on other platforms, but it just would not work on my Palm Pre.  So, that is all I have to say about this one.  If you…


Where GPS for Android OS Review

I reviewed Sherpa yesterday.  While it was very good, it was slow as molasses.  Where GPS, or what most of my friends just call Where, is an app that does a lot of what Sherpa does and more.  It does it very fast. At the core, Where utilities your phone’s GPS in almost every aspect of its operation.  You can manually change to any location by entering in a Zip code, so you can use this for trip planning as well.  When you first launch Where, it asks if you are still where you were the last time you ran…


Audible BlackBerry App Review

Audible provides audio books.  Customers can download the audio books to their computers or mobile devices — including iPhone/iPod, a variety of MP3 players, and BlackBerry devices.  Last week, the Audible team released an upgrade to their BlackBerry application (version 1.4.2). It is no secret that I was less than thrilled with the first release of the Audible application.  Performance was painfully slow (when it worked), and the process proved — for me — to be more cumbersome than simply plugging the BlackBerry up via USB and dragging the audio book over manually via Mass Storage Mode and playing the…


Palm Pre App Catalog. 30 Apps in 30 Days. Day 11: Classic!

One of the complaints I heard (and voiced) about the Palm Pre before its release was the lack of support for PalmOS apps and games.  It felt like Palm was missing an opportunity to feature an enormous, ready-made library of apps.  Additionally, with the large (but admittedly shrinking) army of devoted Palm users, it seemed like there was an almost built in path to an automatic upgrade.  By not supporting those apps, it seemed as though many users might choose to stick with their current devices rather than risk giving up significant functionality with an unknown operating system. Apparently, Palm…


Tobias Batton’s Proto iPhone Game Review

What do you get for around a dollar?  A donut or some candies and change? Maybe a drink?  For around a dollar you won’t get much that lasts long.  Except maybe an iPhone app, and even that is not guaranteed to last very long or be useful.  Proto from Tobias Batton’s Game Studio costs around a dollar, and I think it is worth every cent.


Cable Jive iStubz & Dock Extender Review

Cable Jive makes some really simple but very ingenious products for the iPhone and iPod. They were kind enough to send along their iStubz charge and sync cable as well as their Dock Extender Cable for review. These two cables serve different purposes and both provide a great solution for your iPhone or iPod charge and sync as well as overall daily needs.


Sherpa for Android OS Review

One of the most touted apps on the new T-Mobile myTouch 3G is Sherpa.  Sherpa gives you a unique way to discover things near your current location.  Geodelic, the company behind Sherpa has put a lot of work into its interface, and it’s a very beautiful app for Android based phones.  It is also now available on the Android Marketplace, so I installed it on my G1 and gave it a spin.


Palm Pre App Catalog. 30 Apps in 30 Days. Day 10: Sudoku!

I think it is no secret around here that I am a pretty big fan of Sudoku.  I have explored many Sudoku options for various mobile platforms, and even a number of alternate variations on the theme.  For those of you who are new here, Sudoku is a classic Japanese puzzle game, in which you are faced with a grid of 81 squares arranged in nine rows of nine blocks each.  Scattered across the grid are numbers from 1-9.  Your job is to fill in the remainder of the grid by placing each number, 1-9, into each row, column, and…


Palm Pre App Catalog. 30 Apps in 30 Days. Day 9: Tweed

Do you Twitter?  Are you a Twit with your Tweets?  I’ll be honest here and tell you that I really don’t Twitter.  Sure, I have an account, and have tried to understand it, but it just never did much for me.  That being said, I do understand that millions of people out there send what must be billions and billions (sorry, Carl Sagan) of Tweets on Twitter every day (does this make anyone else think of a little yellow canary from Looney Tunes?)


Palm Pre App Catalog: 30 Apps in 30 Days. Part 8: Flixster

Yesterday, we started our two part look at movie listing apps on the Palm Pre with Fandango.  Today, we will wrap that up with a look at Flixster.  To be honest, Flixster and Fandango are pretty similar apps, with one giant difference.  With Fandango, you can actually purchase tickets straight from your phone.  Flixster does not have that option, it only allows you to view information about the movies and listings.


CASECROWN iPhone Polycarbonate Slim Case Review

CASECROWN is a southern California based company founded by self described gadget lovers. They were kind enough to send me one of their polycarbonate cases for the iPhone 3G/3gS to review. An extremely simplistic case, the polycarbonate slim case is one of the most affordable snap on back covers I’ve seen.


Bluebird Pidion BM-150R from SDG Systems Review

It has been a while since I have heard from SDG Systems.  Brian Fuller from SDG Systems contacted me about the Bluebird line and offered to send me one to give the once over.  I chose the BM-150R which is the closest to what Gear Diary readers may want to carry. Let me say this up front: the Bluebird line from SDG is all targeted at enterprise users.  They are not your typical consumer device.


Twitterena+ Pro for iPhone OS Review

If there’s one thing the iTunes App Store is not short on it’s Twitter applications. Anyone who knows me knows I’m a huge Twitter user.  I’ve tried at least ten different Twitter apps on my iPhone and usually end up returning to three or so of the apps I call the “big guys.” Software developer Andrew Weeks has just recently released his newest Twitter client for the iPhone Twiterena+ Pro. Is there a new contender for top iPhone Twitter app? Read on to find out.


Fun Booth for iPhone Review

I recently reviewed a fun new application for the Mac OS called Fun Booth 2. The application allows you to snap pictures of yourself and then add fun props to the picture.  You can also use the props while video chatting or e-mail/upload finished images to your friends and family. Spoonjuice, the developer of Fun Booth 2 for the Mac, recently submitted a version of the application to the iTunes App Store for approval and allowed me to test it out before it gets released.


Astraware Casino for iPhone/iPod Touch Review

The folks at Astraware have done it again and released another premier game for the iPhone OS. Astraware Casino features 11 casino style games all under one title. Included are:  Texas Hold ‘Em  No Limit Poker, Roulette, Baccarat, Video Derby, Texas Hold ‘Em Limit Poker, Blackjack, Video Keno, Craps, 3 Card Poker, Slots and Video Poker. Read on for my full review of this fun filled game from what I consider to be one of the best iPhone OS application developers.


Handy Weather for S60 Review

It’s inevitable…you’re sitting on your couch, relaxing with your tivo and your Xbox…when you realize you need to go outside! But what is the weather like? How will you know whether to wear your crocs or your docs? You could get up and go outside, but that takes effort. Luckily for you, Epocware has the excellent utility Handy Weather so you can check the weather from your Symbian phone before you have to leave the couch.