Smartphones & Gear

The Smartphone Experts Screen Protector for Apple iPhone Review

When I first got my iPhone, Vincent said he was going to hook me up with a bunch of cool accessories from the MY iTablet store. I told him no problem, as long as he didn’t mind me writing reviews about the items he sent. I figured he’d send an iPhone case or two, but what I got instead was a box full of goodies. If I didn’t already know this about V, it would have all been confirmed with this shipment – the man does not mess around. What will follow are several reviews about the accessories he sent…


The Smartphone Experts Metal Cover for Apple iPhone Review

This case is for all of the minimalists out there – those who want to put their iPhone in a pocket, who don’t want a lot of bulk, but who are worried about the screen because things can happen inside pockets. Well, there will be one less thing to worry about if your iPhone is in the Smartphone Experts Metal Cover. This is another of the cases Vincent sent me from the MY iTablet Store, and knowing me as well as he does – he arranged to have the hot pink version sent. For those of you that aren’t feeling…


E-TEN X650 Unboxing

I arrived home the other day, to a WONDERFUL surprise. E-TEN’s X650 arrived! I wasn’t even expecting it, and its here!  The E-TEN X650 is the upgrade to E-TEN’s X600, value series GPS enabled Pocket PC Phone.  Its running WM6 Professional, and has a VGA screen (the X600 did not). Without much further ado, here are the very cool pics… The box the X650 comes in is even smaller than the box for the X800.  I was really surprised.


TrakAx Mobile Media Mixer for the Masses Review

When I first started using portable devices, way back in 2000, I thought they would be a fantastic vehicle for editing photos and creating slideshows and picture movies. They weren’t. At least not then. Fast forward to 2005, when I discovered Resco Photo Viewer. At last , a mobile photo editor which was comparable, in many ways, to my desktop. Now we were talking. But still, I could not find a way to mix my photos with music or video to . Well, now there is TrakAxe Mobile, which allows you to “create mixes in three easy steps.” Hit the…


E-TEN X800 Unboxing

The E-TEN X800 is here!! As promised, here is the grand unboxing.  I really enjoyed this, as the X800 seems to be a truly awesome device.  I’ve owned a number of different E-TEN devices, the M500, the G500, the M700, and now the X800 (and soon to be X650).  I was really concerned about this particular device, as the build quality of the previous three devices left a little to be desired. In fact, my daughter has been using the M700 for the past three months or so, and the device has got some serious problems now. It is constantly…


By land or sea: The OtterBox Apple iPhone Defender case REVIEW

The Apple iPhone is one amazing device. Yes, some naysayers will hem and haw about the lack of features, but on the flip side, 1.4 million people love the iPhone dearly. Of those 1.4 million humans who own the iPhone, they fall in three lifestyle categories: aquatic (water), terrestrial (land), or amphibious (water and land). If you’re in a cubicle, that’s can be considered a sub lifestyle / human category. Anyway, the folks at OtterBox cater to the aquatic and amphibious lifestyles with their unique line of rugged cases from iPods to laptops and specialty cases. Brand new is the…


How I turned the HTC Advantage into a laptop replacement

I’ve been quite the busy little Windows Mobile bee over the last couple of days. Inspired by Aura Mae’s comment that she used the HTC Advantage as something of a computer replacement, I set out to see whether I could achieve the same. Any boy, was I blown away by the results! The Advantage’s 5inch screen (which is the same size as some UMPCs) and VGA resolution means you can cram more into the screen – especially when you use the RealVGA utility to run it as its native 640 x 480 resolution. This, combined with a big helping of…


Verizon Powered Palm Treo 755p Review

I have written reviews of just about every current Treo on the market. I looked at the Verizon Powered 700w on pocketnow.com, the Sprint Powered 700wx on pocketnow.com, and the Cingular (now AT&T) Powered Palm 750 here on Gear diary. I also wrote a couple of follow-up articles on the 700w on pocketnow (Good Night Sweet Treo…or Not, and Over the Air Synching Issues Investigation) that really stirred things up. However, problems are problems, and if they need to be resolved, I’m not necessarily going to hold back. I’ve been using the 755p for a little bit, and honestly, while…



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…