Gear Diary

February 10th – 12th Weekend Round-Up of PC Download Game Deals

Michael Anderson — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:15:33 +0000

Welcome back to another weekend of game deals for you to enjoy! Things seem to be cranking up again on the deals, headlined by the awesome 75% off sale on the Jedi Knight collection at Steam. Take my advice, skip Jar Jar in 3D and spend the weekend with Kyle Katarn and Mara Jade! As a reminder, I have refocused on only those sites I feel bring great deals AND great customer experience to the table, including Amazon, Beamdog, Desura, DotEmu, GamersGate, Mac App Store and Steam. I have two 'featured' games from Get Games because they activate on Steam, so you avoid their silly install limits. Also, I am more tightly focusing on deals of 75% off or more, with occasional 50% sales, but in addition will also be trimming back to fewer than 25 deals per site to keep the list under control. I am continuing my 'top weekend deals' section where I grab my favorite 5 or so deals of the week and provide direct links! For these games I select based on how good the game is as well as how sweet the deal - but each week there are great games at fantastic discounts! And as always thanks to the crew at Deals4Downloads for their help finding everything. This week I am also going to start properly alphabetizing my list by store! Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Check Out this Awesome Recreation of the Original Star Tours Disney Ride!

Michael Anderson — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:45:39 +0000

Have you ever taken a ride on Star Tours at Disney? The first time we went as a family in 2001 was on a Star Wars Weekend, and taking the Star Tours ride was a major part of the fun for all of us. We rode it again the other two trips we made, and it possesses great memories, although it is clear that it is time for a revamp. This year the ride gets that revamp - but an independent film maker has recreated the entire ride in a 2D and 3D video experience! Here are some details:

In time to help celebrate Star Tours’ 25th anniversary at Disneyland, independent filmmaker Gregory Noacco

Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

REMINDER: Last Day to Enter to Win a FREE Copy of The Darkness for XBOX360!

Michael Anderson — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:35:21 +0000

Just a reminder that the great folks at 2k Games have given us TWO FULL GAME CODES for the XBOX360 version of the original Darkness game! TO WIN: simply comment here confirming you have a XBOX360 with a XBOX Live account so you can use the code. That is it! The contest will run until TODAY Friday February 10th at 5PM, when winners will be picked from valid entries at random. As a reminder, here is the launch trailer for the newly released Darkness II (I'm playing it now ... and it is awesome!)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Head to Embrace the Darkness for more details! So Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Google Music Has a Cool Grammy Sale that Also Reminds Us How Clueless They Are

Michael Anderson — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:15:54 +0000

Quick - what is the first requirement of having a Grammy Music sale? That is right - that music nominated for Grammy Awards is featured! So you should be able to look at the 'best song' or 'best solo' category and then find that song in the 'On Sale' list at Google Music ... right? Well, that is KIND OF how things work at the Google Music Grammy sale - and before I nitpick, let me just say that there is a load of Grammy-nominated music available at great prices. For example, I grabbed 'The Good Feeling' big band recording by Christian McBride. I have it on my MoG collection, but at $3.99 it was an instant buy! Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Special Enquity Detail – The Hand that Feeds for Kindle Fire Review

Michael Anderson — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:00:41 +0000

Mix together a crime-drama mystery, puzzles, hidden objects, and tons of twists and turns and intrigue ... and you have the makings of one of the most compelling casual games made this year. The name of that game is "Special Enquiry Detail: The Hand that Feeds" from G5 Entertainment, and I reviewed the iPad release earlier this year. Now it is available for Android! Let's take a look and see how the port stands up to the original release! Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Gakai Allows You To Check Out The Darkness II or Other Games from Your PC NOW!

Michael Anderson — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:30:17 +0000

I have already written about The Darkness II which launched this week on PC and XBOX360, which I am already starting to play for review. But if you are looking to get a taste of the demo and only have a PC ... you can head to Gakai to try it out! Gakai is a cloud streaming game service - similar to OnLive. However, whereas to play OnLive you need a client and there are speed tests performed ... with Gakai the game just plays. Here are some details:

Gaikai Inc., the innovative cloud gaming service, announced today that a free playable demo of 2K Games’ highly anticipated first-person shooter, The Darkness™

Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

FBI Releases File on Steve Jobs

Douglas Moran — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:30:05 +0000

Steve Jobs passed away several months ago now, and the burst of news at the event, followed by the (just days later) release of Jobs' biography by Walter Isaacson, has pretty much abated. So what possible news could Jobs be making now, from beyond the grave? Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace 3D Hits Theaters Today … Are You Going?

Michael Anderson — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:20:51 +0000

I am an unapologetic Star Wars fanboy - my wife and I pulled our kids out of school an hour early back in 2005 to hit an early matinee of 'Revenge of the Sith', and we saw 'Attack of the Clones' in normal and IMAX formats, and of course we own all of the movies on VHS and DVD (we skipped the 'dead man walking' Blu-Ray technology) and watch them on at least an annual basis. We covered the initial announcement of Star Wars returning to theaters in 3D, and after all of the trailers and press releases I questioned the basic value of the 3D releases. Now Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Pocket Legends and Star Legends Pass 100 Million Play Sessions!

Michael Anderson — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:15:55 +0000

I have featured news from Space Time Studios, makers of several free-to-play MMORPG games, several times. Why? Two reasons - they seem to have loads of great giveaways and I love to feature those. And second but most importantly - their games are FUN, play through your browser and work on almost any computer! The reason for the giveaways is clear - they want people to check out their games, because free-to-play games make money by drawing people in to play and get involved. But unless the game is good, people will play something else - which makes this new milestone an amazing success! Pocket Legends and Star Legends: The Blackstar Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Vinyl Re-Visions: The Art Ensemble of Chicago – Reese and the Smooth Ones (Jazz, 1969)

Michael Anderson — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:15:38 +0000

Art Ensemble Of Chicago - Reese And The Smooth Ones

When I first thought about doing a 'Vinyl Revisions' series, there were three records that came to mind: Anthony Braxton's Five Pieces 1975, Steve Lacy's The Wire, and this record. As mentioned in a comment on my Braxton review, that music was compiled in 2008 on the Complete Arista Recordings as a digital release. This record was briefly available in 2002 on Get Back Records as a CD release but has otherwise been out of print - even though Amazon claims a 2009 re-release on vinyl, it has been 'out of stock' every time I have checked. I missed out on grabbing the CD - I saw it, waited a bit and then ... it was gone. So the versions in my collection are digitized from vinyl ... but as I started writing this I discovered something ... the album is available on iTunes for $9.99! Let's take a look: Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Vonage’s New Mobile App is Easy to Use, and It Saves You Money

Dan Cohen — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:15:05 +0000

This is a sponsored post, all opinions here-in are mine.

Make Calls, Save Money

As crazy as it sounds, there are still people in the world who use their iPhones and Android handsets to … make voice calls. I know, Crazy! Right? If you are one of them, and, especially, if you travel internationally, the cost of those calls can add up quickly. Vonage has been around for quite some time, but they've just released a new iPhone and Android calling application that is pretty impressive. I'm already using it for calls when I'm in a WiFi network; although the app works over 3G, over WiFi the calls are fantastic and they don't use any of my data plan. I had a chance to speak with the Vonage mobile app team yesterday, and as soon as the call was over I downloaded the app. I'm impressed. The app is easy to use, loads quickly, and the quality of the calls is excellent. Let's run down what stands out in this app, and then walk through the process of actually setting it up so you can see just how easy it is to use ... Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Sena Creativo Pouch for the iPhone 4S review

Dan Cohen — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:00:21 +0000

I have never been a huge fan of smartphone pouches preferring, instead, cases that protect the device full-time. After all, at the moment you pull a phone from its pouch you remove it from its protective enclosure and suddenly face the possibility that the now-exposed device will tumble to the ground. Kind of defeats the purpose doesn't it? But what if you had a pouch that was (a) so nice you wanted to find a way to use it and (b) was designed in such a manner as to reduce the frequency of having to remove the phone in the first place? That is exactly what Sena has done with the Creativo Pouch for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S so lets take a look. Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

From Evernote Hello to Evernote, Hell No!!

Dan Cohen — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:15:55 +0000

Update by Judie: Dan just called to tell me that it turns out that there is a "Send my contact info when I meet someone" option that is checked by default, meaning that the app is installed to send the offending introduction email. You must uncheck the box, and thereby OPT OUT, or this app will send an automatic email to the contact. My advice would be "make sure that you check that box!" I just downloaded it (on my iPad) to see for myself, and I didn't find any opt-out check box during the set up process, much less any notice anywhere that the app would send an email to anyone. It was only when I went searching after the fact that I found the option inside my personal info in settings. I can tell you right now that if I met some guy at an event and then got an email from him moments later saying he was pleased to meet me, I would think it was more than a little bit weird. To top matters off, there is the "If you'd like to remember the people you meet, get Evernote Hello" tag at the bottom of the email, which makes the sender look like they wouldn't be able to keep people straight if it weren't for the app. My opinion is that it would be best to collect a business card upon introduction and scan it later, rather than fool with this app. I ripped on Evernote 'Hello' when it was first released over a month ago. The "meet people and get in contact" app from Evernote seemed to me to be completely unnecessary. And when they suggested you give it to a stranger and allow them to take their own picture with your smartphone … umm no! Well Evernote Hello got updated, and the update post on the Evernote Blogcast even includes CEO Phil Libin discussing the improvements. Quite frankly when Phil goes into explaining why giving the other person your iPhone in order to take a picture "You almost get a photo booth type experience with them smiling", I had to wonder if some of the explanations were direct responses to our criticisms. Of course they are not, but each (and every) hole we punched in the app WAS addressed. The good news is that the update actually makes a crApp potentially useful. So I went to use it and guess what? This is still NOT an app I want on my iPhone, and you probably don't either. Why? Because it does something I didn't know about, I don't want, and something they don't mention! Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Music Diary Notes: Reflections on the Music Industry in 2011

Michael Anderson — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:59:02 +0000

Over the last couple of weeks details about the music industry results for 2011 have been trickling in, and at this point I figured it was time to share a few interesting (to me, anyway) tidbits ... and then discuss them in more detail. Here's one of the points that I think is really important that also really makes me smile: I am enjoying watching the industry rush to get behind Adele (or more to the point, jump on her bandwagon), while in reality they were never rooting for her. Her album didn't have huge marketing, and took off thanks to a curious method you might have heard about: airplay and listener feedback. People liked her song and voice and bought and requested the song, which got it played more and more and more. Completely organic - labels love the money but hate the lack of control. Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Gear Deal: Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise Canceling Headphones

Dan Cohen — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:30:47 +0000

Today's Gear Deal brings us the Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise Canceling Headphones at a nice discount. They feature noise canceling technology, noise reduction, a digital Equalizer, an internal Lithium-ion battery, and more. Normally $399, our Gear Sponsor has found a number of different ways you can save that, when all are applied, drops the price all the way down to just $229. You'll find details and ordering information here on the deal site. Gear Deal: Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise Canceling Headphones via LogicBUY Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Gear Giveaway- Win One of Two Bodyguardz Discount Codes

Dan Cohen — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:59:11 +0000

Bodyguardz offers some slick options for using and/or enhancing your various mobile products. Sure they offer their BodyGuardz UltraTough Clear Skins but they also offer a line of BodyGuardz armor skins (my favorites!), cases and even their own brand of earphones, the earjax. (I have a pair of the earwax that I bought on CyberMonday and they are great!) Well, Bodyguardz has been kind enough to provide two discount codes for use on their site and, this weekend, we'll be giving them away. Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Checking Out Windows Phone Speed, Apps, Camera, Music Player and Games

Judie Stanford — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:00:51 +0000

Judie: Our saga began when Dan and I received HTC Titans at a Microsoft sponsored dinner while attending CES; it's hard to believe that on the 11th it will have been one month ago. You can catch up on our previous posts before starting with this one by clicking the following links: Considering the Move from an iPhone 4S to Windows Phone Titan Comparing the iPhone 4s Hardware to the HTC Titan and Dipping into the Windows Phone User Interface In that month, my iPhone has never left my gadget drawer. Although I can think of a few times I wished I had it -- mainly when writing up a cool accessory I had just discovered that was 'iPhone only' or when feeling the absence of a favorite app -- not once have I missed it enough to retrieve it from the drawer. That's better than I can say for any other phone running any other operating system that I have tried in the past ... but I'm not sure if I'm ready to list the 4S on eBay just yet! Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Announcing the Winners- Speck FabShell Cases for iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S Giveaway

Dan Cohen — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:00:29 +0000

'Custom patterns, extra protection and a super-slim fit are what make this iPhone 4S case so “fab.”' That's how Speck describes their FabShell cases for the iPhone 4 and 4S and I have to agree. The cases are quite nice. Fabric patterns give a personalized look and feel and the extra texture helps you keep your grip on the otherwise slipper iPhone. You can check out all the FabShells here on Speck’s site. You can find the special holiday series here on the site. We thought we would give away the three review samples in the picture at the top of this post and here are the winners. Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Adobe Premiere Elements 10 & Photoshop Elements 10 Review

Michael Anderson — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:00:56 +0000

If you use a Mac, then you probably use iPhoto for basic image editing and iMovie for basic video editing. But what if you use a PC? The tools included there are not nearly as capable, friendly or integrated. And what if you want to go further than the basic editing capabilities of the iTools? That is where Adobe Premiere Elements 10 & Photoshop Elements 10 come in - offering integrated photo and video editing and production tools for both OS X and Windows 7. The folks at Adobe sent me a review copy, so let's take a look! Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

‘Godzilla’ Terrorizes City Streets: Mothra and Rodan Flee in Fear

David Goodspeed — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:00:02 +0000

Images: Author

Quick, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind when I say “Godzilla?” For most it is the star of childhood monster movies that feature horrible voice-dubbing. For the true auto enthusiast it means one thing – Nissan GT-R. I took delivery of a 2012 GT-R for Super Bowl weekend and despite a few little things, this is one SUPER car. GT-R is the North American version of the Skyline GT-R, Nissan’s answer to the likes of Porsche 911 and Chevrolet Corvette Z06 and ZR-1. The 2012 model GT-R generates a modest 530 horsepower and Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Sony Finds One Last Way to Screw US PSP Owners

Michael Anderson — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:30:52 +0000

They say that if you want to learn something about a person take a look at how they treat people they DON'T have to be nice to - you know, anyone from kids to animals to waiters and store clerks. If a person treats them poorly without reason they are, quite simply, a lousy person. And you can only expect to receive the same down the line. On the other hand, if they treat you AND others well, you have a partner you can count on. I can hear you saying 'what is it NOW, Anderson? What are you griping about this time?' Well, I'm talking about Sony. Anyone who has a PSP Go remembers how, right up until the release of the Go, Sony was teasing the possibility of some form of 'UMD transfer program' that would allow users to get some value out of existing UMD games by trading them in or somehow 'swapping' them for a digital version. And, in fact, EU and Japanese gamers who had existing PSN accounts with registered PSPs got a set of three digital games. US gamers got ... nuthin'. Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

10 Artists Who Never Got a Grammy And a Presentation We Won’t See This Year

Michael Anderson — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:59 +0000

Before the Grammy Awards last year I highlighted performances by Miles Davis and the double-genre performance by Wynton Marsalis that took more than 10 minutes and would be impossible today ... if those categories still even existed. The Grammy Awards are now all about corporate self-congratulation, highlighting the few artists who sell all the records and those who get rich on their backs. Last year there was outrage when Justin Beiber had "his" best new artist award 'stolen' by the amazingly talented Esperanza Spalding (of course, ANYONE in the category was/is more talented than Beiber, but that is beside the point) and an industry vet railed about how people like Eminem and Beiber paid for those awards. He went on to say that it was the duty of the Grammy awards to just shut up and hand out awards to top-selling artists. Huh?? Apparently he never heard of The Beach Boys, The Who or Led Zepplin. USA Today has a great list of acts that never won a Grammy award. Aside from those acts, Buddy Holly, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Queen, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bob Marley, Diana Ross, Chuck Berry, or The Kinks. Most of those acts had many chances for recognition but were never honored. Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Supermarket Mania 2 for the Kindle Fire Review

Michael Anderson — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:43 +0000

I loved the PC version of SuperMarket Mania 2, and now that it is available for iPhone and iPad I wanted to take another look and see how it would work as a port! Read on and find out how they did! The Hype: Nikki and her friends are back in Supermarket Mania 2! Help her uncle Ross manage and run his chain of grocery stores on the other side of the country. Keep the supermarket shelves stocked up, floors clean and customers coming as you work on improving the stores and increasing profits. It's not all peachy though, as the evil Assistant Torg and his robotic Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Remember the ‘iLike’ Music Service? It’s Dead Now. Did You Even Notice?

Michael Anderson — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:30:42 +0000

Technology moves so quickly that sometimes we hardly notice the changes ... last night we were streaming music on Slacker that appeared on my Facebook timeline, something that didn't exist just a few months ago. But Facebook has had music integration for a while ... and for a long time the top music integration app on Facebook (and this thing people tell me once existed called 'MySpace', but I don't believe them) was 'iLike'. How huge WAS iLike? Back in 2009 HypeBot asked is there was 'an iLike Effect' as the #1 and #2 albums on iTunes just happened to have debuted exclusively on iLike in advance of their commercial releases. Then iLike Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Gear Deal: 10% off all Apple iPads and iPods

Dan Cohen — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:45:13 +0000

Today's Gear Deal is something you don't see every day. In fact, it is something you almost NEVER see! Today Only! you can save 10% on all Apple iPads and iPods. In addition, they will ship for free and, unless you live in California, New Jersey, Tenessee or Puerto Rico, there won't even be tax. All this means, for example, that you can get a 16GB iPod Nano for $134.99, a 64GB iPod Touch for $359.99, a 64GB iPad 2 WiFi for $647.99 and a 64GB iPad 2 WiFi + 3G for just $746.99. Yes, all iPods and iPads are 10% off but this is for today only! Click here to visit the deal page Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Infographic Tells How Long It Will Take to Enjoy That Game!

Michael Anderson — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:30:49 +0000

Yeah, as a huge fan of RPGs, adventures and shooters for decades and more recently casual games, I would say that gets it about right! Source: NerdApproved via Uniblog, art by Loldwell Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

FingerLabs Pounds the Beat with Awesome DM1 iPad Update!

Michael Anderson — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:45:05 +0000

The sophistication of music production tools for the iPad is simply staggering. I can do more on my iPad than my entire multi-thousand dollar mini-studio from the 90's could ever hope to accomplish! It has gotten to the point where a solid app that lacks a few features - MIDI in, AudioCopy, etc - will get passed over by musicians. Such is the case of DM1, and excellently designed and implemented drum machine and sequencer. It has loads of great programming flexibility and features - but lacking the aforementioned features kept it off of many folks iPads. Now with the 2.0 update FingerLab seeks to remedy that - and based on a few minutes playing around this morning I would say they have succeeded! Here is their description of the update: Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Mystery of the Crystal Portal for the Kindle Fire Review

Michael Anderson — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:00:42 +0000

I had bought and enjoyed Mystery of the Crystal Portal for my iPad and also loved the PSP version in spite of some issues with having to pan around the scene, so I was excited to try out the Kindle Fire version. It had been a while since I played, so it felt fresh as I had forgotten most of the game. Let's take a loot at hwo the experience translates to the Kindle Fire! Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

PhatWare Brings PhatPad to Android!

Michael Anderson — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:15:11 +0000

If you have been around PDAs since the Windows CE days, you know that one of the earliest and best app makers was PhatWare, bringing Calligrapher, PhatPad and other apps to a variety of platforms for nearly 15 years. Now they make the next leap, bringing PhatPad to Android - and making the files compatible between iOS, Android and the older Windows Mobile devices as well! Here are some of the details:

PhatWare today announces the launch of PhatPad for Android, a note-taking and collaboration app featuring PhatWare’s proven handwriting recognition technology. PhatPad, which has already gained a significant following among iPad users, now will turn an Android Tablet or Smartphone into an

Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Gaming Future and Obsoleteness

Michael Siebenaler — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:00:47 +0000

Obsolete describes something that is no longer being used or is out of date. The perception of obsoleteness shapes the upcoming gaming outlook as the Wii and PSP are scrutinized as the “new” Wii U and PlayStation Vita release soon. Continue reading on Gear Diary ...