All Entries Tagged With: "Cool Stuff"

North Face E-Tip Gloves are Tech Friendly

Here’s a new one: The North Face has released a new pair of gloves that play nice with your touch-enabled mobile gadgets.  The gloves feature special pads of X-Static material on the index finger and thumbs.  No matter how cold it gets, you’ll still be able to answer your phone or browse your mobile music library.  The E-Tip gloves can be purchased for $40.

Via Uncrate

Touch and Tablet PC Showroom

So I really can’t tell you much about this showroom as it’s in French and I can’t hear any sound in the video, but boy is there some cool stuff in the showroom!  Lots of touch and pen interaction going on!!  Check it out, it’s worth it even without the sound or being able to read it :)

UPDATE - Google Translate is your friend:

Three types of interactive activities designed by MOONDA EVENT:
- The Tactile Display cases which were retro-projected plans of the various meeting spaces,
- Photo Kiosks Pinboard: guests can be photographed and then customize their image on the touch screen of the terminal. Their souvenir photo was then printed on the spot (all photos were broadcast on a plasma screen in the form of lively gallery)
- The virtual animation dedication: all participants were invited to sign or give their impressions on a tablet PC. Each entry was then projected onto a large screen to ultimately form a word.

Mobile Edge Releases the Elements

Mobile Edge has announced a line of new briefcases designed by women for women. The Elements line of bags look like a great option for women who need a more professional look than the adorable CuteBug Sheba I reviewed last May. The new Elements briefbags are available in green,brown, and pink, all with brown leather-like trim. With three large sections, it holds up to a 15.4″ laptop, perfect for just about any Tablet PC. I’m partial to the green, myself. Subdued, yet different.

The bags are lined in a contrasting striped material which makes it much easier to find all the small things that end up in my bags. Also, the Elements line features a small bag that blocks all WiFi signals (visible in the below picture on the right - the black section).

Retails for $89.99 at Mobile Edge 

Technorati Tags: Mobile+Edge,Elements

Laptop Security Tips

Lifehacker is featuring an excellent how-to that demonstrates the steps necessary to secure and protect your laptop.  Their tips are broken down into the following phases:

• Phase One: Lock and Key
• This phase discusses ways to physically protect your machine from being stolen.
• Phase Two: Alarms and Security Cameras
• How to keep an eye on any unauthorized individuals that might use your machine.  The embedded video shows iAlertU, a program for Macs that essentially sounds an alarm when someone tries to jack your mac. 
• Phase Three:  Retrieval
• This section highlights methods to get your machine back when someone else has taken off with all your priceless ‘puter.

There are additional tips like encrypting your hard drive, or accessing your laptop remotely.  Since school time is here or right around the corner, these tips will ensure that your laptop is safe and your homework gets finished.

GBM Back to School Tip: Mosquito Ringtones

As an educator in the United States public school system, I am noticing that students are using technology to socialize more than ever.  Text messaging, e-mailing, MySpace, Facebook and cell phones are a few high-tech ways that students stay on top of gossip and often find their way to the principal’s office.  Mosquito ringtones, also known as Teen Buzz, are another tool students are using to bypass parents, teachers, and administrators to enhance their communication and sometimes cheat at all levels of education.

As we age, our ability to hear various frequencies weakens.  Ultimately, we are unable to hear certain frequencies altogether.  This process is known as Presbycusis.  Mosquito ringtones are files that produce a sound outside the audible range of hearing for most people over the age of thirty.  People in the early twenties and below use this inaudible ringtone as a way to fool teachers, parents, and older folks.  The mosquito ringtone allows younger students to be notified of incoming calls or text messages without alerting their instructors; it allows students to use technology to make their communication more mobile.

Many argue that the mosquito ringtones came about largely from the use of The Mosquito, an alarm system designed to deter underage loitering.  The Mosquito Alarm plays a loud noise that is similar to the sound emitted by real mosquitos.  This sound occurs at approximately 17.4 kHz.

Students should be warned, however.  Educators and parents are getting wise to the use of mosquito ringtones.  Many of the conferences that discuss education and technology examine the different types of ringtones and ways to combat technological interference in the classroom.

You can put your own hearing to the test and listen to which frequencies are audible.

Photo credit: kainet (flickr cc)

Drag and Drop.io to Share Files Quickly

Sharing files among computers and your friends continues to progress into an easier and faster process. Drag and  Drop.io is a new Firefox extension that allows you to literally drag and drop files into Firefox so that they are available to others.  According to the Drop.io web site, a drop is a chunk of space on the web that you can use to store any file privately.  There is no registration, account, or email address required to share files via the web.  Drops are not searchable and only exist online as private points for exchange between people or groups.

One cool feature of the Drag and Drop.io is that it allows you to simply drag and drop files that you find while browsing the web into Firefox while browsing.  This removes the need to download the file to your desktop, browse for it, and upload it to a certain destination.  Simply drag and drop the items you wish to share into your browser to share them.

With the drop.io service, you have the ability to create as many drops as you like.  You are also able to customize the name of the drop and set a password that restricts people from accessing your drop.  It is possible to create drops by phone, email, widget, web, or fax.  The Drag and Drop.io extension works with Firefox on Windows, Mac, or Linux systems.  Drop.io is a simple and easy way to share files.

Check out this excellent tutorial video that shows the Drag and Drop.io extension in action.

Via Lifehacker

Speed Up Your Linux System with Preload

With all of the netbooks flooding the market, many users are being introduced to Linux for the first time.  Although Linux has the potential to be a little more complicated, many argue that it offers greater flexibility and customization.  TechThrob.com has a great post about Preload, a Linux daemon that runs as a background process to learn your computing trends in order to optimize unused RAM.  Ubuntu users can download the Preload package by performing the sudo apt-get install preload command.  Ultimately, Preload has the potential to improve application startup and overall system responsiveness.

Via asuseeehacks.blogspot.com

eyeOS Celebrates Third Birthday in the Clouds

If you haven’t checked out the eyeOS web desktop lately, you might want to give it another look.  The cloud-based service recently celebrated its third birthday.  According to their web site, the open source eyeOS is a new kind of operating system that resides in a web browser.  eyeOS gives you the ability to log into an on-line desktop from any place that you have Internet access.  The name, eyeOS, is derived from the goal of the project: providing a visual and intuitive operating system for the end user.

Visiting the eyeOS demo allows you to see how easy it is to use; anyone that has used a computer with a GUI will find no trouble navigating the eyeOS desktop.  Using a mouse to click around the desktop within your browser allows you to manipulate icons, opening folders that contain applications and files.  eyeOS offers many of the same services and applications that a local, traditional OS does with the benefit of being easily accessible.  These include:

• File management
• Personal Information Management: Calendar & Contacts
• Office Suite with support for MS Office & Open Office formats
• Network tools: E-mail, IM, FTP, Bulletin Board, & RSS
• System tools: Package installer and repository based ports system
• Desktop that is fully customizable, allows for themes, & the ability to auto-run applications

Read more of our coverage about Cloud Computing.  What are your thoughts about web-based desktops?

Phone + PMP + Watch = CECT YAMI II

CECT, well known for their iPhone clones, surprises us with a relatively innovative product with the YAMI II. Of course it’s not the first watch to offer telephony functionality, nor is it the first to offer mp3 playback. CECT has, however, managed to stuff into this 30gram device a phone, a media player with mp3, wav, and amr playback capabilities, an FM tuner, a voice recorder, Bluetooth connectivity, and microSD support. The best part about the YAMI II is its handwriting recognition capabilities. That’s right, on that tiny 1.3″ screen is a touchscreen featuring handwriting recognition! I can’t wait to see some reviews of this novel device. At the time of this post, no further details were available.

Via iTechNews.net

Quick Vista Aero On and Off Tip

I really like Lifehacker, they are always putting up some nice tips. This one today will help everyone save a few clicks, battery life or gain some performance!  Right click your Aero on and off with this quick little tip they found over on Windows Vista Magazine.  It will require a Registry edit, so be careful!!

Golden Shellback Waterproof Gadget Coating

This is an amazing video - and I would pay the money to get this done to any of my phones/computers.  Imagine the feeling of not having to worry about getting water or anything else on your device.  Watch the video and be amazed (at least I was…).

Golden Shellback Waterproof Coating from gCaptain.com on Vimeo.

New Service to Track Lost Laptops - Free

This looks like an interesting development.  Like many mobile workers the thought of losing my Mobile PC is incomprehensible.  But it does happen - rather more than you might think.  According to one article over 10,000 laptops are lost in the 36 biggest US airports every week!

But if the unthinkable should happen you may be able to locate your lost device and that may help you recover it.

Lose your laptop these days and you lose part of your life: You say good-bye to photos, music and personal documents that cannot be replaced, and if it’s a work computer, you may be the source of a very public data breach.

But now, researchers at the University of Washington and the University of California, San Diego, have found a way to give you a shot at getting your life back. This week, they plan to launch a new laptop tracking service, called Adeona that is free and private.

This is not the first such program  Absolute Software had a product called LoJack, which has now been superceded by the Computrace Laptop Security Suite.  However, it is the first time I’ve heard of a free one.

How does it work?  Well before you lose your device you need to install a free client.  After it goes missing you install another app and log in and you can track your device. 

Adeona doesn’t exactly give you the address and phone number of the person who’s stolen your laptop, but it does provide the IP (Internet Protocol) address that it last used as well as data on what nearby routers it used to connect to the internet. Armed with that information, law enforcement could track down the criminal…

The is a Windows client and a Mac client.  The Mac version will even snap photos of the person using your PC.

Via ComputerWorld New Zealand

Applebee’s Learns to Read Your Mind with ESP

A recent trip to an Applebee’s Restaurant in Ft. Wayne, Indiana yielded a great 100% Angus burger and a new mobile technology experience.  Applebee’s has implemented a pager system for their patrons to improve the overall quality of the dining experience.  The system, developed by ESP Systems, requires the use a small pager at every table which customers can press to request assistance.  When the circular area of the pager is pressed, the server’s watch-like wristband vibrates and indicates a table has paged them.  This improves the speed of service and provides a much easier way to get a refill. 

According to ESP Systems, 60% of customers say that ESP impacts their future dining decisions.  They also cite the number one reason why guests decide not to return for a second dining experience as slow or unavailable service.  When you are seated at your table, the host presses a button on their wristband that wirelessly communicates with the pager and tells it that the table is occupied for dining.  That information is then relayed to the host station where a computer monitors all of the tables and keeps the host aware of each table’s status.  That information is also relayed to the server’s wristband and indicates that new patrons have arrived.  When the server arrives, they slip a small poker-chip-like disc into the pager unit.  This syncs the server with the pager unit and allows for communication between the patron and server when they are not visible.

The ESP System provides better communication between the server, bar, and kitchen by identifying when drinks or food items are prepared for delivery.  The server’s wristband vibrates and indicates which table and a symbol for food or drinks.  The wristband looks like a black, plastic watch and has a small black-and-white LCD screen that is capable of displaying symbols.

Benefits of using the ESP System in a restaurant environment:

• The host is easily able to identify empty tables and increase the speed at which people are seated. 
• Patrons have better access to their server for assistance, refills, or any needed items.
• No more waiting for 20 minutes before getting your bill.
• Better coordination between the host, server, bar, kitchen, and busser.
• Servers are able to communicate with each other through the ESP wristband.
• Restaurant managers are better able to coordinate services to guests and monitor in-house activity.
• Managers are able to track performance data on every employee involved with the ESP System.

While this may appear as a blessing for needy patrons, it could be a nightmare for servers.  No more sneaking out back for smoke breaks, and angry customers, young kids, and immature teenagers could make the ESP System more like a dog shocking-collar than a helpful, friendly device.  Either way, ESP Systems has set out to fix what they believe to be a broken model of restaurant service.  Look for the ESP System to be implemented in Applebee’s, T.G.I. Friday’s, and Fatz Cafe chains.

ESP Systems has a cartoon-like flash demo that explains the ESP System in-depth.

Have you had any experience with the ESP System.  How will technology solutions like this change our eating experiences for the better?

Brian Vickers Team Using Tablet PC’s!

As I have mentioned before, I like to watch NASCAR.  Tonight I was tuning in to watch the qualifying - it was rained out BTW - and caught the tail end of the recorded practice session. During that recording I noticed the team of Brian Vickers using some Tablet PC’s.  Brian actually has one in the drivers seat while they were working on the car!  I caught these very fuzzy pictures, but thought I would share even though they aren’t the best.  NASCAR will be rolling into town here in a couple of weeks for the Brickyard 400 - sure would be cool to get into the pits and grab some photos of these in action - in person!

Review heads-up: Soldius1 Universal Charger.

Being mobile means you have the ability to be connected yet free enough not to be dependent on external power.  The fine folks at mysoldius have agreed to let me test and review their Soldius1  Universal Charger.  They describe the Soldius1 by saying that the unit is light, can fit in your pocket, and has the ability to charge your cell phone or mp3 player in 3-4 hours.  They have a plethora of supported devices, although you might need to purchase an adapter.  The Soldius1 is but one of a new wave of solar charging options to give your favorite gadgets a little juice.  Besides being green and saving a few pennies, solar chargers help you maintain your mobile independence.  I’d forecast that we’ll see more of these devices hitting the market and even implemented into our gadgets.  The mysoldius company indicates that they are currently developing a solar-powered charger for laptops– that’d be a great tool to have.

• Hypothesis:  The unit will fully charge my Motorola Q cell phone in 3 hours with full sunlight.

I’m excited to put this unit to the test and see how it lives up to its claims.  Leave your hypothesis or review suggestions in the comments.