Smartphones & Gear


The Alltel Motorola MOTOROKR Z6m Mobile Phone Review

With all the smart-phones that we cover here on Gear Diary, it can be easy to overlook a huge segment of the mobile market…the dumb-phone. No, these phones don’t have low IQs and they certainly aren’t stupid, they just don’t offer the PC-like capabilities and advanced features which are generally associated with phones running the Palm, Symbian, or Windows Mobile operating systems. Although the Alltel Motorola MOTOROKR Z6m fits into what I consider to be this “dumb-phone” category, it certainly does not fall short on features. It offers a 2 megapixel camera with video, has a built-in graphic equalized MP3…



The WirelessGround USB Leather Hand Strap Review

I never thought I would be one of those people that used a hand strap, but at some point over the last year, I decided that I really like having one. I’ve been using a little freebie strap that came with a PQI flash drive, but the WirelessGround USB Leather Hand Strap I was sent convinced me to try something new. Why would I want to add a 7.5? long x 0.3? wide leather strap with a 0.6? square near its end to my Mogul? Well…check it out!


The Palm Centro Review, Part Two

My how time flies when you are having fun! A month has come and gone since I received “my” Palm Centro review unit: a month in which I got to try out nearly everything, a month during which I was able to decide if a device such as this could meet my needs. When I first received the Centro, I posted its unboxing, gave a description of the hardware, and posted my initial thoughts. If you haven’t already read that portion of this review, click here and then come back; as always, I’ll be waiting patiently. In this portion of…


PDAmill GameBox Asia II Review

As I have become more and more active in reviewing games both here and at Just Another Mobile Monday, I have been learning more about the origins of many games, particularly what could be considered classic board games. Sometimes, the origins of a game may be shrouded in mystery or controversy. Oftentimes, however, simply by learning the basic rules of a game, you can determine its origins fairly easily. Japanese games, for example, tend to be puzzle oriented (Sudoku, Kakuro, Hitori, etc.). Chinese games, on the other hand, tend to focus more on strategy. This is exactly what I found…


My First Nokia, the Nokia N95

My name is Judie, and I have never owned a Nokia mobile phone; I’m not exactly sure why I haven’t, it just never happened. It’s not that I haven’t been curious, especially with the release of some of Nokia’s newer models – such as the N81, the N92, N93, and yes – the N95, but I just never took the plunge. Why is it that I feel like I should be admitting this glaring error of my gadget repertoire in the confines of a 12-step program meeting? Probably because until today I was one of, oh…maybe fifteen people in the…


The AT&T Tilt Review

It’s hard to believe, but a month has come and gone since I received the AT&T Tilt, posted its unboxing, gave a description of the hardware, and posted my initial thoughts. If you haven’t already read that portion of this review, click here and then come back; I’ll wait. In this portion of the review we’ll cover my user experience, the Tilt’s battery life, its camera, and a rundown of the included AT&T software. Let’s dive in, shall we?


The Palm Centro Review, Part One

Things have been so crazy today (in a good way, thanks for asking), that I am just now getting settled down to tell you about the package that showed up this morning. Inside that FedEx box was the brand new fire engine red ruby Palm Centro, the $99 Palm OS smartphone that was announced earlier this month, and that has been showing up all over the web as other review sites have also been receiving theirs.


The Device that never was: Palm Foleo

Well here ya go, the unboxing of the device that never was: The Palm Foleo Ah a new toy that was never meant to be. What to do, what to do…I know, Play Time. Here are some unboxing photos of this device that just wasn’t meant to be. Granted this is only the unboxing but still, there is nothing like playing with a device that was never meant to be; it kinda of reminds me of the Motorola MPx300. More details to follow on the use of the device. I’ll let everyone know this though, the Foleo reminds me of…


The AT&T Tilt Unboxed and Discussed

Yesterday, as my Fujitsu T4215 was experiencing an irritating hardware failure, and as the whole world was grinding to a complete stop, a box in a plain brown wrapper showed up on my doorstep. I had had little advance notice, and there was absolutely no fanfare. Inside, was this – the new AT&T Tilt, AKA the HTC Kaiser. Finally, a bright spot in my day. And no, I do not get to keep it. The box content list is printed on the side… The opened box… All of the included AT&T paraphernalia, program disks, special offers, etc… Opening the tray…


Sync your mobile digital lifestyle: The Ford Focus | Sync Review

[THIS is a monster post with lots of photos – so give your browser some spinning wheel time!] GearDiary was invited to join traditional media and automobile journalists to experience the launch of the redesigned Ford Focus and Ford Sync™. Hosted in Seattle, Washington by Ford Motor Company and Microsoft, the program included significant drive time with the Focus vehicle, demonstration of the Sync technology and a visit to the Microsoft campus to view the House of the Future. Geekness and coolness personified ❗ . Sync is the newest mobile technology to emerge from the Ford-Microsoft relationship. Debuting in the…


Nokia N95 Review

As I am sure you have seen, Jenneth has been extremely impressed by the Nokia N95 smartphone, going as far as to call it her “JesusPhone”. I managed to get my hands on one for a couple of weeks to review, and while I agree with many of her points, I have some reservations. The N95 comes quite nicely presented. You don’t even have to take it out of the box to see this gorgeous phone. That large screen dominating the front panel looks fabulous. Like Sony Ericsson with the P1i, Nokia hasn’t skimped on the included accessories either. Not…


The Astraware Solitaire Review

[Note: This is a joint review between Clinton Fitch (Dot) Com! and Gear Diary, and it is being simultaneously posted on both sites. Clinton’s comments appear in black; Judie’s comments appear in italics.] I love card games.  From the first time my mother taught me how to play Spades to my addition on Free Cell on Windows 95, card games have always been at the top of my list of things to keep myself entertained (Nintendo Wii aside of course). I was more of an Uno kid while growing up, but once I discovered Solitaire, Pyramid, and Poker, I was…


Sony Ericsson P1i Review

Last year I bought a Sony Ericsson M600i for several reasons. First off it was very small, fit easily in a pocket without bulging, and felt great in the hand. It also had both a thumboard and UMTS, both features I wanted. The hardware aspect of it was fantastic, and I loved it, but it was disastrous on the software side. It would crash repeatedly, the web browser would often require 4-5 attempts before it would open, and I would regularly pull it out of my pocket to find it sitting on a wonderfully helpful screen saying it had restarted…


The Sprint HTC Mogul Review

[Note: This is a joint review between Just Another Mobile Monday and Gear Diary; it is being simultaneously posted on both sites. Doug’s comments appear in black normal typeface. Judie’s comments appear in blue italics typeface] Even if you have never used a device branded by HTC, you have probably used an HTC device. Most of the popular Pocket PC’s available today were designed and manufactured by HTC, including: the Dell Axim, the HP iPaq, and the Palm Treo (to name only a few). So, it came as little surprise when HTC began branding devices on their own, or that…


Unboxing the HTC Mogul, Sprint’s New WM6 Phone

I got a sweet surprise from HTC on Friday: the brand new Sprint HTC Mogul, which is a major upgrade to the HTC Apache / Sprint PPC-6700 and which incedentally does not appear to be called the PPC-6800 anywhere but on its battery. I’ll have the use of it for a month, and a full review will be coming soon. But in the meantime here is a video unboxing, some information, and a few photos…


The HTC S710 (Vox) Quick Review

As a person who is constantly looking for the next best device for business use, it amazes me that no one came up with this design before HTC did. A quote straight from PhoneArena.Com says it all:  The HTC S710 is the most compact messaging phone with an auto-sliding QWERTY keyboard. It is the first smartphone powered by the new Windows Mobile 6 Standard platform. This new platform provides genuine mobile Office Outlook experience, greater control of Outlook Mobile Calendar, better Internet Explorer Mobile browsing experience and Windows Live. It also offers greater interoperability with Exchange Server 2007 providing you…


Vaja Balance for Samsung BlackJack Review

For years I have seen Judie review many a Vaja case for many a device. I have always wanted one of my own, to smell the leather, see the fit, and have the experience that is Vaja. I was delighted when they sent me a case for my BlackJack. I received a honey yellow case designed to fit the extended battery. The case comes in a nice white Vaja box. While it is no frills, it does look nice, and much better than a plastic blister pack. The case looks amazing. As I said I choose the yellow colour, and…


The ARC Wireless Solutions Freedom Antenna Review

I’m not sure what the problem is, but for the last month, my Sprint cellular signal strength has dramatically dropped when I am inside my home. This wouldn’t be that big of a deal, except for the fact that my mobile phone is also my home phone and my business phone as well; in other words it simply has to work. Conveniently enough, I had a product waiting in my queue which promises to “Increase Your Cell Phone Reception 8 Times!”, “Eliminate Dropped Calls and Dead Spots”, and “Enhance Voice Clarity”. If it can really deliver upon its promises, then…


The Brando Ultra Clear Protector Plus Review

Mitchell and I recently reviewed the Proporta Advanced Screen Protector, a perfect example of a silicone-based adhesive protector with a matte finish providing anti-glare properties and a paper-like writing surface . Today I am going to go to the other extreme and take a look at the Brando Ultra Clear Protector Plus, which as the name implies is a very clear protector that provides an experience as close to that of writing on a PDA’s naked screen as possible – without the worry of scratching. Let’s take a look… Included in the package is…the protector. Unlike the Proporta ASP, the…