Smartphones & Gear

The Samsung SGH-i620 Windows Mobile Smartphone Review, Part One

Reviews March 12, 2008

The Samsung SGH-i620 Windows Mobile Smartphone Review, Part One

The first time I saw the Samsung i620 in the flesh was in the lobby of the Amsterdam Hilton last November. Derek Snyder had brought a white one to Mobius, and Vincent and I couldn’t wait to play with it! Vincent is one of those guys who always has a video camera glued to his hands, and before I knew it, we were shooting. Let me take a moment to say that one of the things I like most about V is that he doesn’t look at me like I’m an idiot when I get excited about a new device;…

The PDair Leather Case for the Sprint Mogul (PPC 6800) Review

Reviews March 7, 2008

The PDair Leather Case for the Sprint Mogul (PPC 6800) Review

Most of our frequent readers know that since I purchased the Sprint Mogul, I have been desperately seeking a good case for it.  I have tried out numerous different brands, which I have reviewed both here and at Just Another Mobile Monday.  Today, my quest lands me squarely in the hands of PDair, and their leather case.  The leather case comes in three varieties: Flip, Book, and Pouch.  We’ll call this part 1 of my PDair case review.  Part 2 will come sometime soon when I look at the PDair Aluminum Case.

GearChat: The Demise of Print Media and a Possible Reason for the Amazon Kindle

eBooks, Editorials March 6, 2008

GearChat: The Demise of Print Media and a Possible Reason for the Amazon Kindle

Once again, we invite you to eavesdrop on our email conversations… Wayne: R.I.P. … the Internet slays another print publication… Mitchell: I was a subscriber to PC World for about 5 years, and then I realised that I was paying for a magazine with content that I had read weeks earlier on the internet. It really is inevitable I suppose, tech magazines just can’t stay ahead of the game with online news sites getting information out hours after release. They have to wait a whole month… Clinton: This is the same problem that many tech magazines face. Granted, most have…

The USB Fever iPhone Aluminum Case Review

Reviews February 19, 2008

The USB Fever iPhone Aluminum Case Review

Perhaps leather cases just aren’t your style – maybe because you want added drop protection without adding too much bulk, or maybe because you just happen to enjoy hard-edged industrial design. Well for whatever reason, when you want tougher than leather and clear cases aren’t going to cut it, the best option is a metal case such as this one by USB Fever, their iPhone Aluminum Case.

AT&T Palm Centro Review

Reviews February 19, 2008

AT&T Palm Centro Review

Last fall, the Palm Centro was launched in the U.S. on the Sprint network. Judie did a review of it and covered everything from the unboxing to her impressions of the device. Rather than repeat covering the basics of this device, I’m going to recommend that you take a look at her review here and here for a basic overview of using the Centro.

No Picture

Reviews February 19, 2008

Nokia N95 8GB: Everything the N95 Should Have Been

I really liked the original N95, but a few things left me with a sour taste in my mouth. For the price, the build quality was absolutely appalling, the battery life was pathetic and it constantly ran out of memory. I reviewed the N95 just under 6mths ago, and in that time they have released a new version titled the N95 8GB. While it shares a similar design and innards to the original, it feels like an entirely new animal. Note: Due to the server crash, the photos no longer have links to large versions. Right-click them and click “View…

The Smartphone Experts Screen Protector for Apple iPhone Review

Reviews February 18, 2008

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

Reviews February 18, 2008

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

Reviews February 2, 2008

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.

No Picture

Reviews January 24, 2008

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

Reviews January 19, 2008

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

Reviews January 13, 2008

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

How to Do It Yourself! January 8, 2008

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

Reviews December 30, 2007

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

Reviews December 7, 2007

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

Reviews November 14, 2007

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

Reviews November 12, 2007

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

Reviews November 7, 2007

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

Gear Bits November 6, 2007

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…