Cut the cord with the WildCharge iPhone Wireless Charger

Many people would consider them self free spirits in the sense that they live life in the here and now, unfettered by long term promises or goals. Why live for what may never come? Often, such individuals, being the free spirits that they are, can’t stand the daily routine of having to sit down and plug in their beloved gadgets. Thankfully there is now *kind of* (seeing as you still have to attach something to a wall via cord) a solution with the WildCharge iPhone Wireless Charger. Said charger is really a case that fits around the iPhone that will pick up go-go juice from the companion pad that it sits on top of. Again, you have to plug the pad into something so it isn’t truly wireless. But hey, it sure is better than having to actually fumble with some stupid cord isn’t it?

Source: Geeky-Gadgets, Gadget Venue

iPhone Gmail web portal gets new swipe features

For some time now, Gmail users have requested an official Gmail app that would allow them to do so much more with their gmail than the stock Mail.app or online Gmail portal. The reason for the MIA app is unknown, (feel free to speculate your own stories now), however, it seems that users will get something rather sweet that should lessen the regressions felt. Google has updated the Gmail web portal to include swiping features similar to the swiping done in native apps. Remember, this is all done in the browser. Pretty neat stuff. This and more up and coming browser goodies can be attributed to Mobile Safari’s new support for HTML5. One other juicy tidbit on the road map for the iPhone Gmail web portal is that of offline reading. Such features will blur the line between what is and isn’t a web app/desktop app. While the initial swiping functions are rather minor, the possibilities for the near and further future are pretty exciting. Care to agree?

Source: Tech Crunch

HTC Hero finally faced

The HTC Hero is one of those handsets that at least in the true gadget nerds life has been talked about quite often in the last several weeks. The excitement doesn’t come from the fact that it’s an HTC phone. Nor does the Android OS bring much new to the table. The real talk of the town was/is the new UI (previously called “Rosie”…now called “sense”) that HTC has polished up and slapped on giving it a more “unique” feel. From the pictures above, they’ve managed to alter the already good looking Android into a much sleeker interface that begs you to poke and prod it with your greasy fingers. In case you forgot, the Hero features a Qualcomm MSM7200A 528 MHz processor, 512/288MB ROM/RAM, 3.2″ 320×480 HVGA TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen, quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, dual-band HSPA/WCDMA, 5 megapixel camera, GPS/Bluetooth 2.0/WiFi b/g, and 3.5mm audio jack just to name a few. So how is this phone starting to shape up? I am mighty intrigued by this here unit and would actually consider picking one up. However, the lack of 850MHz, U.S. friendly 3G means I’ll be waiting until they hopefully *fingers crossed* bring a more patriot friendly version to our neck of the woods. Happy Drooling!

[Product Page]

Source: Engadget

As usual, AT&T resorts to nickel and diming

All I can say is thank god there will be more than just one turn-by-turn navigation app in the app store. While AT&T’s navigation app looks really nice and has a pretty stellar feature set to boot, the $10/month price tag is simply stupid (read: another money grabbing attempt because they don’t already over-charge you enough for iPhone service). A simple $20-$40 one time payment would have been sufficient. Personal matters aside, AT&T Navigator includes:

• voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation with a 3D view

• automatic rerouting

• 10 million business and interest points

• automatic map updates

• start/stop/re-start service whenever you’d like

• U.S. maps only

Again, the feature set is not bad at all. Heck, it even comes with a pretty face which is something many in house products fail to accomplish. Still, the monthly price comes across as greedy. Though I have to admit the automatic map updates are a nice feature. Eh. Enough talking. What do you think?

Source: Gizmodo

Handmark & Pinstack announce/release new mobile app for Smartphone users

Throughout the relatively short lifespan of the BlackBerry (in gadget years), PinStack has been there providing some of the best BlackBerry news around while also giving BlackBerry users a place to openly share ideas and information regarding the beloved crack devices. In recent times, Pinstack has branched out from just BlackBerries and now covers many different types of smartphones from various walks of life. Even though there was and still is a mobile version of the web site, with mobile apps becoming all the rage, it only seems right that a mobile app be released in that is more polished, feature packed, and all around more enjoyable to use than a stripped down WAP site, right? Thankfully that app is here. A joint venture between mobile giant, Handmark, and Pinstack comes together in their new smartphone mobile application. So what all does it feature? Step on in.

Amazon loves the fine print…and screwing their customers of course

The Amazon Kindle is one of if not the most popular eBook reader around. The iPhone/iPod Touch I would half hazzardly guess aren’t too far behind with the recent addition of an Amazon eBook reader app for said devices. One of the great features of digital books is that you can more or less transfer your books between devices, delete/redownload when storage is low, and generally enjoy freedom. However, according to Amazon and some rather unintelligent policies by Amazon themselves, their eBook business and Kindle devices may not be quite as rosey as before. It appears that there is an invisible download limit on books. The first problem is that there is even a limit. If I purchase an eBook, I have every right to download it a million times to how ever many devices I have. Second, there is absolutely no mention of any limit whatsoever on Amazon’s or the Kindle eBook Reader App Store page. Thirdly, the limit that you can never know is under the discretion of the publisher whom also won’t share that limit information with you. So let’s recap, you have a sliding limit that varies from book to book, that you can’t see or know about until you hit it. Great! That’s some damn fine constomer confidnece building quality there guys. Keep up the great work.

Are you an Amazon/iPhone/iPod Touch eBook reader user who has experienced this crapola first hand? Leave your impressions inside.

Source: Consumerist, Gear Diary

U.S.A.: Against internet sensorship internally, more than happy to help externally

In what can be a sad revelation and truth to come to terms with, the U.S. of A. is not as steadfast in their “free internet” beliefs outside of home grown soil. While the internet in the U.S. is uncensored, and hopefully will remain that way for…..ever, it seems we have different motives elsewhere. When you take a step back and look at the bigger picture, the west *that’s the U.S….among others* is one of the top providers and supporters of internet censoring software and tactics outside of U.S. borders. Surprised? I was. So how exactly has the U.S. aided such anti-American tactics abroad?