One of the things I’ve spent the past couple of weeks working on has been a comprehensive roundup of some of the summer’s hottest new keyboards, including models from Logitech, Microsoft, Eclipse, and Matias. Logitech’s new Fantasy Collection is affordable, attractive, and aimed at people who want to personalize their workspaces without shelling out a ton of money. Microsoft’s new Arc Special Edition is a media center keyboard with sharp looks, a nice curved design (perfect for lap and couch use) and a tiny receiver, the Matias USB Keyboard + Smartphone Stand comes with a space to rest your phone and a powered USB hub, and the high tech Eclipse Litetouch Keyboard offers sharp looks and a high tech LCD keypad on the right side of the keyboard with customizable function buttons!

I tested each one of the keyboards over the course of several months, and when all was said and done, I had some pretty strong opinions about them all – some of the more than others. Head over to check out the review and leave me a comment either here or there: I’m curious to hear what you think!

[ Tom's Guide :: Keyboards of Summer - 4 New Keyboards, Tested ]

The amazing ThinkGeek has some amazing new gear, fresh off the design line, some of it built and invented in ThinkGeek’s own labs. I’m a huge fan of ThinkGeek and always have been: there was a time when just about every shirt in my wardrobe was a Thinkgeek shirt and had some kind of slogan on it. Since then, ThinkGeek has expanded its product line a thousand fold, and includes a lot more than just t-shirts, although their t-shirt collection is still all kinds of hot.

For this site highlight, I wanted to take a quick trip through some of their new products that I think are worth picking up, or at least adding to your wishlist:

• 
  Star Trek Limited Edition Watch

  I don’t wear a watch – I use my cell phone to keep time, and if I need to know what time it is I usually just pull my phone out of my pocket and glance at it. That being said though, this is the kind of watch that would make me want to wear a watch all the time – partially because I’m a Star Trek fan and partially because it’s just a gorgeous watch. The face is beautiful, with the delta shield carved out of the back to reveal the gears and spinning innards in all of their bronze and ticking glory. It never needs to be wound and doesn’t take batteries, and it just looks sharp on the wrist.

  Aside from that, the Star Trek Limited Edition Watch truly is a limited edition – only 1701 will ever be made and sold, so if you’re interested in one, I’d strongly suggest dropping the cash on one now, since they won’t be around for much longer!

• 
  Star Wars Belt Buckles

  These Star Wars Belt Buckles are perfect to show off your Star Wars fandom without wearing something too over the top. They’re perfect gifts for the Star Wars fan in your household, and since they’re made of die cast metal and attach to just about any standard belt buckle, you don’t have to run out and buy a new belt just to use it.

  Just choose your side: Empire or Rebel Alliance, and buy the buckle that works best for you! I’m not normally a fan of big buckles, but these are well-sized, good looking, and perfect if you wear your shirts tucked in or out over your waist!

• 
  Gravity Activated Flipmill

  I kind of love salt and pepper mills. I have a thing for them, I don’t know why – I don’t collect them or anything, but these ones I think I simply have to have. Just turn them over and they get to work, automatically grinding the salt or pepper that’s in them and dishing out your selected spice all over the food, waiting patiently below.

  Best of all, they cater to the lazy because you can do it all with a single hand – you don’t need to hold with one hand and twist with the other, or push a button, or anything like that – just flip the mill over!

• 
  Mechanical Kitty Coin Bank

  This is probably the most adorable coin bank I’ve ever seen. Just put the coin on the little fish holder, and the kitty pops out of the bank, snags your coin, and then absconds back into his little box, keeping your coins safe until you need them for something. But then again, the whole point of a bank is that your money goes in and doesn’t come out – and fierce little kitty is so adorable you probably won’t ever want to open the bank up and take your money from him, so it’s perfect to help you save!

  The bank is straight from Japan, so don’t mind the text on the side of the box being in Japanese. Also, the kitty is available in brown or white, so snag the one you think is cutest.

• 
  Twist Equation Alarm Clock

  If you’re the type who needs a little mental stimulation when you wake up in the morning, or at the very least you’re the type who hits snooze endlessly and winds up being late for everything, this clock is for you. When the alarm goes off, you’ll have to solve the mathematical equation on the front before the alarm stops and leaves you in peace. Ideally, by that time you’ll be awake enough to actually know that you shouldn’t just roll over and go back to sleep – your conscience will have kicked in and you’ll know it’s time to get up and get yourself together.

  The math here is no slouch, either – it’s not going to be the same thing every day, so don’t expect this to keep you awake one day and then be just a more intricate snooze button every other day – this is a pretty good way to get yourself out of bed in the morning and keep your brain sharp in the process!

There you have it! A little something for everyone – and definitely some gear that’s made its way onto my ThinkGeek wishlist. If you like these suggestions, please consider buying through my links above; your purchase helps support Gears and Widgets when you buy after clicking through from here!

During Apple’s press conference earlier in the week, they claimed that the infamous “death grip,” or the common name given to the signal loss you get when holding the iPhone 4 a certain way, is by no means exclusive to the iPhone 4 – they claimed that just about any mobile phone manufacturer suffers from the problem, and that you can find a way to hold any phone that will reduce signal and force calls to drop.

Almost immediately, Apple’s competitors in the mobile space, like Nokia, Samsung, and HTC, all fired back claiming that this was anything but true and their handsets were immune from any sort of “death grip.” So what does a smart tech columnist do? They put it to the test!

The fine folks over at PC Mag grabbed a bunch of phones they have for testing (and other hilarious objects) and decided to see if they could death grip the signal out of them as well. The results are in the fantastic video above – those with a sense of humor only need apply, but the results are pretty interesting – sure, if you pretty much wrap both hands around some phones you can force some signal loss, but in most cases it’s slight or the grip is so unwieldy that you’ll never find yourself holding the phone that way. Even so, other phones suffer from the death grip pretty substantially. You’ll have to watch the video to see the results!

[ PC Mag :: Death Grip Testing on iPhone Competitors Shows Mixed Results ]

So the Motorola Droid X is out in the wild, and sure enough, I’m happy to say that on the day it was released, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to play with one – a couple of my colleagues got theirs on launch day, and trust me, it’s as gorgeous and fast as the reviews have said it is. The esteemed Sascha Segan over at PC Mag gave it 4.5/5 stars and the Editor’s Choice award, and while there’s no disputing the fact that it’s definitely a huge device – larger than most people would expect a phone to be – it’s got a gorgeous screen, Motorola’s UI is attractive (even though you can’t turn it off,) and it’s remarkably thin and light.

Over at Revision3 though, there’s a brand new episode of Unboxing Porn featuring what else but the Droid X! The last episode featured the iPad and was utterly hilarious, and this one’s no different – it’s actually a really great way to describe a new product, do a little unboxing shots, and talk about the new features in a way that’ll hold attention.

…that’s what she said.

[ Revision3 :: Unboxing Porn: Motorola Droid X ]

Today is Droid X Day, meaning that while it’s not as big a deal as a new iPhone or anything, the Droid X launches today on Verizon Wireless.

As much as Verizon Wireless has gotten a great deal of publication, love, and overall approval from smartphone lovers and geeks alike for the release of the Droid by Motorola and the subsequent releases of other powerful exclusive Android phones like the Droid Eris and Droid Incredible by HTC, prior to their releases, leaks, and announcements, Verizon Wireless was the carrier that people begrudgingly signed on to because the voice and data networks were robust and covered the majority of the country – business signed on so they could get their employees cheap BlackBerry phones, and if you wanted a smartphone your options were BlackBerry and Windows Mobile, all on horrible horrible devices – the rest of us either had to jump ship for another carrier that had good handsets and smartphones, or we had to deal with feature phones or simple handsets because we couldn’t give up the network.

I’m in that boat – I was ready to jump ship to AT&T at the end of my contract last year just because I wanted a smartphone and Verizon Wireleess’ selection was awful; and then something glorious happened. The Droid by Motorola was released, and to this day I consider it one of the best technology purchases I’ve ever made, and I haven’t considered leaving for AT&T, iPhone or no, since then. The combination of a solid Android phone that’s not loaded up with Verizon Wireless’ standard suite of bloatware that you find on their feature phones and their amazing network, and even though I still think the iPhone is a slightly better device than the Droid, the combination of the Droid and Verizon’s network simply overwhelm the combination of the iPhone and AT&T’s network.

The odd thing is that I don’t know that I’m not the only one here. So how did this happen? Google and Verizon Wireless are closer now than they’ve ever been, and both are dedicated and determined to working together on Android phones. So did Google ride to Verizon Wireless’ rescue and save their image from cementing as the stodgy, old carrier with cheap voice handsets but good call quality, bargain basement smartphones for individual users, and the only way to get any attention from them is to have a BlackBerry and be on a business plan? Here’s a hint: I think so, and let’s dive into why after the jump.

Continue reading Spinning Gears :: Did Google Save Verizon Wireless (or At Least Its Image?)…

My good friend David passed this along to me, and I thought it was amazing – I love augmented reality apps and utilities, and right now if you want to use an augmented reality app you have to hold a phone with a camera up to your face while you’re walking around to see the interest points that are around you.

In this video, a designer/artist put together a hypothetical take on what the world might look like through our eyes if we had augmented reality systems installed in our brains.

The thing I particularly loved is the assault on all senses that the system launched in the form of advertising, and that in order to even focus enough to make a cup of tea, the person in the video has to turn them down. Even so, turning them down only made them fall into the background to a certain point – and it looked like from a freeze shot of the video that the interpretation is such that with full ads up, the person is making money (or alternatively paying for the augmented reality service) – and then there’s a certain threshold that if you turn it down more than that, you not only stop making money, you either start losing money or you owe money for the use of the service. So the person in the video can only turn the ads back to a certain point.

The other amusing thing is that the only time the interface is completely ad free is when the person in the video is browsing their social network. Also, as much as I would love an app to pop up over my fridge to tell me what’s inside and whether it’s still good, I do have to wonder whether or not I need an app that will remind me that I have to go to the bathroom, or at the end of the video, alarm that I need to dispose of some “liquid waste.”

What do you think? Is it just a bit too “minority report” or “Robocop” for you? Sound off in the comments!

if you’re the type of person who’s looking to buy a PC instead of build one, or maybe you’ve already built a computer and you just want to go ahead and buy your next rig instead of spend the time and energy looking for components and putting them together, PC Mag has an excellent guide on how to pick the right pre-built desktop for you and your needs.

Obviously there are the things you should think about regardless of the type of user you are – getting enough drive space, making sure you get a processor that’s up to date, and then considering whether or not you can do with a nettop, or whether you need a high-end multimedia or gaming PC, and then of course, the courtesy warning about bloatware and all of the other junk that most manufacturers include in their retail systems.

Head over for some well heard pieces of advice, and some highly rated systems from the editors!

[ PC Mag :: How to Buy a New PC ]

While Android phones and the Android market certainly haven’t caught up to the iPhone and the iTunes App Store when it comes to games and mobile gaming, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some great games available for Android devices. Being a proud Droid by Motorola owner, I can tell you that there are some really great free titles out there for Android phones (games like Replica Island, Jewels, and Robo Defense Free.)

If you’re an Android phone owner and you’re looking for some free games to help you pass the time, Mashable has this excellent rundown of 10 free games that will work on just about any Android phone, from text games to puzzle games to shooters, and they even include Replica Island, one of my favorites. Check out the full list and start downloading!

[ Mashable :: 10 Great Free Games for Android ]

Today’s a big day for Firefox enthusiasts: Mozilla announced the first public beta of Firefox 4, which includes a new, revamped UI, faster rendering engine, enhanced security, and some features that already exist in some of the competition like Chrome and Opera – things like crash protection for individual tabs and plug-ins (so, for example, Flash can crash without bringing down your entire browser, or one tab can die without bringing all of the rest down with it), and support for HTML5.

Of course, all of those things aside, most people will first notice the new interface, which brings tabs to the top of the window a-la Chrome, adds a “Firefox” menu that replaces the actual menu bar, and overall just looks like it fits with Windows Vista and Windows 7 (although it looks horrible in Windows XP – the massive titlebar ruins the look.) The new interface and new features may make Firefox competitive again in a world where Chrome, Safari, and Opera have been all gaining ground against it.

[ AppScout: Firefox 4 Beta Released ]

If you haven’t heard the news, (and a lot of people heard the news and thought “what’s that?”) Microsoft killed the Kin, the smartphone designed to be a semi-smartphone for young people and teenagers looking for a device that had a focus on social networking and staying in touch with friends but didn’t need enterprise-level features.

Most people in the tech sector saw the announcement (and still see the commercials on TV) and shake our head sadly at what could have been a good product if it had been given the right attention, resources, appropriate marketing, and aggressive prices.

I’m completely agreed with the notion that the Microsoft Kin could have been an amazing product, and could have been the pioneer for a new generation of feature phones that could have stood alongside devices like the LG Envy and dominated them. Instead, Verizon took them and put them on the same stage as smartphones that were way more powerful, at the same price-point, and forced owners to have expensive smartphone-level data plans to support them.

The price was something I would have been able to get over if it weren’t for the fact that Verizon charged data fees on top of them when they don’t for phones that are more like the Kin. The Kin, at least in my perspective, was less of a mini-smartphone or smartphone-lite as it was a super feature phone that would help teens send messages to their friends, send them photos, take video, and then manage all of that content from a Web app powered by Microsoft.

The Kin could have been rolled in with Zune and Zune Marketplace and as a precursor to Windows Phone 7, and positioned as the first in an aggressive new generation of feature phones that would have forced LG and Samsung to up their ante and bring feature phones to the market that would really be fun and useful for young people who don’t necessarily want (or whose parents don’t want them to have) BlackBerry devices or Android phones or iPhones.

Instead, the Kin died a slow and painful death because it was horribly marketed to no specific target group, generically labeled as a “social phone” without any real look at what made it stand out or what the companion Web app was good for, it was priced too high on shelves at Verizon stores, and the requirement of a full data plan for it was the final nail in the coffin. They didn’t sell, and Microsoft pulled the plug.

Over at Engadget there’s a beautiful retelling of the true and inside story of the life and death of the Kin, which includes how things went wrong from the very beginning and the entire project turned into a “just get it finished and out the door” kind of project, even if it was flawed and even if people at Microsoft and Verizon both knew that the way it was positioned meant it wouldn’t go anywhere. It’s worth a read, if not for lines like this:

While it’s hard to argue that Kin is an awful product, the saddest part of the story is that many of the people responsible for it knew it was — they were largely victims of political circumstance, forced to release a phone that was practically raw in the middle.

[ Engadget :: Life and Death of Microsoft Kin: The Inside Story ]