Gear Patrol

Some companies wilt in the face of technical evolution and changes in consumer behavior. We love you Kodak — but you’re a classic b-school case study on this. Famed MPC maker (which, FYI, stands for music production center) could have followed a similar path in the face of exploding new device categories like tablets. Their…

After buying out Ericsson’s share of their joint venture earlier this year, Sony’s inaugural run of solo-branded smartphones shows the Japanese heavyweight has no intention of ceding the market just yet to Korean competitors like Samsung and LG without a fight. The Xperia S features a 4.3-inch 720p display with a 1.5GHZ dual-core processor, a…

Jetsetting is a nightmare for untethered internet junkies — particularly when papa corporation isn’t footing the tab. Sure, most U.S. wireless carriers can keep the data flowing, but at their rates, careless users will lose their shirts faster than a night of craps at the Bellagio by just checking email. Frugal types may go through…

The game that changed the gaming industry and inflamed parents across the globe thanks to its unabashed encouragement of senseless violence recently turned 10. To celebrate, Rockstar has re-released the classic for newer iOS (iPhone & iPad) and Android devices for a shocking price of $5. Essentially it’s the same experience most will remember, just…

Yeah, we know. Another day, another iPod Dock. But unlike the one sitting in your bedroom, the 8-foot by 4-foot Behringer iNuke Boom ($30,000) probably won’t fit on your nightstand. Then again, it won’t win any awards for classy product names either. Inside the 700 pound stereo beast, the iNuke has been endowed with 10,000…

We credit the Rams’-like looks of the new hidden radio & Bluetooth Speaker on Kickstarter for catching our eye this morning — despite our luke warm feelings about most Bluetooth audio. The monolithic can avoids spoiling its clean lines with external buttons by incorporating a simple but effective twist top design. The first twist turns…

Question: what does over one million dollars worth of app production and development entirely for the celebration of iconic classic cars look like? Answer: Road Inc. ($10). From the Murciélago to the Mulliner Fastback Bentley Continental R, the original Model T to the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing, Road is quite possibly one of the most…

Now that Samsung and Motorola have shown their Android super phone hands for the holiday season, it was only a matter of time before HTC followed suit. After signing a $300 million deal to buy 51% of Beats Electronics back in August, HTC’s first Sense-skinned Gingerbread 2.3 phone with Beats audio is now here. Besides…

There’s no denying that the folks at RIM have gotten more things wrong than a bro on Wheel of Fortune College week. The newly announced Porsche Design P’9981 BlackBerry has no chance of making a dent in the company’s sagging bottom line, but it does illustrate that RIM still understands the direct correspondance between exclusivity…

The Nokia Lumia 800 is the first overwhelmingly positive result born from two mobile underdogs. It’s essentially Nokia’s gorgeous N9 on the hardware side, packed finally with a mobile OS (Windows Phone 7) whose tombstone isn’t already chiseled. Its curved, 3.7-inch, 12.1mm-thick polycarbonate frame and ClearBlack AMOLED display looks and feels almost like the iPod…

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is the latest showcase device developed under Google’s close supervision, built for one purpose: to make Android’s latest incarnation look like the belle of the smartphone ball. Its 4.65-inch, curved contour glass, HD Super AMOLED display boasting a legitimate 1,280 x 720 (720p) resolution is just the start of a stellar…

The original RAZR kept Motorola’s Mobile Devices division in pay dirt throughout the late 90s, but surprisingly when the smartphone revolution came, the company pushed in a new branding direction with the Motorola Droid. For those reasons alone, the fact that the newly announced Droid RAZR bears both heavyweight titles is a pretty big indication…

HTC’s Titan may be our dark horse favorite smartphone of the fall. It’s biggest claim to fame (literally) is a hipster-pants-tearing 4.7-inch, 480 x 800 Super LCD touchscreen slapped on a body that measures only .35-inches thick. A 1.5Ghz processor, 512MB of Ram, 16GB of on board storage, a MicroSD card slot, 14.4Mbps HSPA+ download…

Oh the torture! Our Pavlovian anticipation for a new iPhone every 12 months has been pushed to the limits this go around, especially after being teased earlier this summer about what to expect from iOS 5 (which, FYI will be available to all current iPhone 4 owners October 12th). Now the news is out and…

Epson’s new Megaplex MG-850HD projector ($800) is the perfect home base for digital nomads who typically catch up on movies or TV via their smartphone or tablet. It has all of the usual trappings of a basic 720p projector, pumping out 2800 lumens with connections for USB, VGA, and HDMI sources, and even features an…

There are a handful of companies out there already trying to turn your smartphone or tablet into the universal remote of your dreams, but none of them has the home theater chops of Logitech. Now, after years of making the best universal remotes out there for the average consumer, the company’s new Harmony Link ($99)…

After months of waiting, Samsung’s top-tier Android super phone is now available stateside, on Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile. The phone will apparently ship in slightly different variations to each network. At their core, all U.S. models will still feature Android 2.3, a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 16GB of memory, an 8 MP rear camera and measure…

The new BlackBerry Torch 9850/9860 ($TBA) won’t cause Android and iPhone users to defect in droves. The new handset is a welcomed improvement, though, for RIM loyalists in search of an upgrade from the aging Storm I and II. Its 3.7-inch, 800 x 480 traditional touch screen is the biggest ever on a BlackBerry, making…

So you want sophistication and mobility without having to buy a Rolls Royce Phantom? For a few hundred thousand dollars less, you can show off your Dunhill Solar Charger. Okay, so it probably won’t get you into a posh Manhattan nightclub, nor is it lined with burlwood and rich leather, but it will give you…

Give your iPad 2 a touch of preppy protection with this collab between J.Crew and DODOcase. Taking the already popular DODOcase, J.Crew has added a touch of their signature style with two combinations of contrasting sailcloth lining and contrasting spine (navy and orange, or grey and blue). And of course the wood and linen case…

Don’t feel like shelling out 6 large for this but own an iPhone? Well, there’s a Kickstarter Project for that: the Air Guitar Move. Using a tethered pick equipped with a motion sensor, the Air Guitar Move allows you to unleash you inner Jimmy Page (sans the actual axe) by strumming in the air while…

Landline usage isn’t exactly growing by leaps and bounds, but Canadian designer Joel-Blair is at least helping the technology go out in style with the Detraform 500 Dect cordless telephone ($130). Its polished ploycarbonate and aluminum L-shaped shell is instant eye candy, as is the clean, white numbering and caller ID display. In terms of…

IPhone and iPad owners lucked out when Apple made the find my iPhone application free. But what about other laptops or phones you might have? Recently, a company called Hidden made a big splash in the media world for helping an Oakland resident find his stolen laptop — but we prefer Prey. Why? Well, you…

The speculation started long before today, but now the folks in Cupertino have officially released iCloud, a new service designed to help consumers effortlessly store and access digital assets in Apple’s freshly-minted data centers. iCloud is free to all, and will launch in full with iOS 5 this fall — presumably to coincide with a…

IPhone, iPad, and iPod touch owners will receive a ton of new features in iOS 5. The bad news is that the latest and greatest mobile operating system won’t be available until fall of this year for consumers. On the up side, we’ve made getting a knowledgeable head start on what’s to come super easy….

Unless your endowed with triple jointed thumbs, taking photos with your iPhone can be mighty cumbersome if not downright painful. The Kickstarter project, Red Pop, aims to fix that with a simple, well-designed solution: bringing the shutter button back to its rightful finger (your index) and location. Simply plug-in the adaptor, which also serves as…

Hearing a clip of Don’t Stop Believin’ every time someone calls may never get old to you, but your colleagues and that woman you were chatting up at the bar don’t see things the same way. That kind of move was somehwat forgivable back when your only other option involved using defaults — “Boing” and…

While you were busy BBQ’n with friends and family yesterday, Asus decided to tease the world with the Padfone. Hard facts really aren’t available at this point, but as the picture and videos below illustrate, the main draw of the padfone is its unique tablet shell. We do know the device will run some form…

The GarageBand app for the iPad 2 showcases the power of Apple’s darling of gadgetdom like few other apps. No matter how visually pleasing, or “delightful” the UI is, though, tapping out beats or virtual picking still just doesn’t feel right to practiced musicians. That’s where Pix and Stixs ($16) can help. Each pack includes…

About a year ago, the Samsung Galaxy S created a stir on the Android block when it pranced out with its 4-inch Super AMOLED display. While there’s plenty of tech chatter surrounding its successor, the Samsung Galaxy S II, the Samsung Infuse 4G ($200) is essentially the same phone, and it’s coming to AT&T on…