Gadgets & Technology

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Giveaway: Win a Toshiba 47″ 3D TV AND 3D Wifi Blu-Ray Player

I believe in going big or going home.

And if I’m going to have an Oscar viewing party – I’m going to do anything in my power to make sure it’s the best one on the block.

So, check this out. For your future big TV nights, we’re giving away BOTH a Toshiba 47″ 1080p 3D TV and a Toshiba 3D Blu-ray player.

The Toshiba BDX5200 blu-ray player has built-in Wi-Fi, 3D compatibility, a simple user interface, and all the streaming media services my happiness requires, including Netflix, Vudu, and Pandora. The Toshiba TL515U 3D TV has crazy good picture quality, even screen uniformity and very good video processing. Its Internet suite includes built-in Wi-Fi. Passive 3D on this TV has minimal crosstalk, is brighter than active, and Toshiba includes four pairs of lightweight, non-powered 3D glasses with the TV.

Do you want to win this AMAZING Oscar-viewing party themed giveaway? Please tweet what your favorite Oscar nominated picture is and why to @ToshibaUSA and @alywalansky with the tag #oscars. (Be sure you are following both of us and RT as well). You can go to Toshiba’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/ToshibaUSA) and leave a similar comment on the thread on the wall. Deadline to enter is March 3. (And obviously, if you do ALL these things, you score extra credit! Please only one entry per person per day. Thanks!)

The winner will score:
(1)47″ TL515U passive 3DTV
(1)BDX5200 3D Blu-ray player
(2)Former Best Picture-winning Blu-rays

Good luck – and happy viewing!

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Oh no: Can your Spinbrush be putting you in danger?

I love my fancy toothbrush — but something has suddenly made me wonder if it loves me.

The FDA has posted a warning about the dangers of the seemingly harmless act of brushing your teeth when using a Spinbrush electric toothbrush. There have been reports of the brush head breaking off or popping off in the user’s mouth while turned on. This has resulted in cuts to the mouth and gums, chipped or broken teeth, swallowing and choking on the broken pieces, and injuries to the face and eyes.

SCARY.

The FDA says the unexpected release of any part of the powered toothbrush occurs, there is a potential for serious injury, and to not take that risk – just throw it out immediately. Here’s some tips to keep you safe:

Inspect the Spinbrush for any damage or loose brush bristles prior to using. If you notice any damage or loose brush bristles, DO NOT USE.
Check to be sure that the headpiece is connected properly to the handle of the brush and test your brush outside of the mouth prior to using. If you notice the connection feels loose or the headpiece easily detaches from the handle, DO NOT USE.
Supervise children and adults who need assistance when using the Spinbrush. Do not bite down on the brush head while brushing.
Do not bite down on the brush head while brushing.

By the way, if you check here on the Spinbrush website, they already advise replacing brush heads after 3 months of use, or is brushes or damaged, or if parts have become loose. FOLLOW DIRECTIONS.

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Giveaway: Lark Un-Alarm Clock and Sleep Sensor (for iPhone/iPad)

Do you have problems sleeping? What about waking up in the morning?

Join the club — and whether it’s seasonal affective disorder, stress, or just plain stuff on your mind, its’ something that can ruin anyone’s night. (And the next day.)

I’ve been sent LARK to try out for my own SAD issues (which, trust me, have been rather unique this season!) – it’s a silent un-alarm clock linked to your iPhone, iPad or iTouch — a wristband, charger and app — that wakes you up without disrupting your partner’s sleep and trains you to sleep better. It offers a 7-day sleep assessment and becomes your personal sleep coach. It retails for $99 and is available at all Apple stores.

The product was created by Julia Hu (age 26) who was sick of getting woken up by her fiancée’s alarm clock. It consists of a wristband and sensor that communicates with the iPhone. After charging Lark in its docking cradle — you can use the dock to keep your iOS device charged, too — (added benefit!) and you can set an alarm using the Lark app. Then, right before bedtime, you place the band around your wrist, securing it with Velcro. From then on Lark monitors your sleep behavior, telling you how long it took you to fall asleep, how many times during the night you woke up, and when you woke up for good. Lark was developed with a Harvard sleep expert and a sleep coach who trains professional athletes.

Are you wondering if you need this?

I sort of see it as when I am watching what I eat and keep a food journal — Lark’s sleep tracking statistics give people goals to meet and make them more aware of their behavior and patterns.

Want to try it out for yourself and see how it works for you? I have one Lark to give away to a reader! To have your chance to win:

1. Follow @alywalansky and @ourlark on Twitter or “like” Lark on http://www.facebook.com/ourLARK

2. Comment either below (or in a tweet) about why you need a sleep coach in your own life.

3. Retweet this giveaway.

Deadline February 22.

Good luck!

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Giveaway: Delta Fuse Faucet ($400 value!)

fuse kitchen collection 300x114 Giveaway: Delta Fuse Faucet ($400 value!)

If you want to kick up your kitchen decor a notch, one should consider exploring color options.

Colorful kitchen products and appliances abound. Mixers, blenders, teapots and even faucets are available in a variety of colors, such as blue, red, pink or yellow and can add an unexpected pop to your space.

The Delta Faucet Fuse kitchen collection features a split finish pull-down faucet, which is available in a stainless finish with fun options like cracked pepper, chili pepper or snowflake white finish accents.

The design was inspired by the emerging trend of color in unexpected places and soft contemporary style, and has innovations like MagnaTite® docking and DIAMOND™ Seal Technology.

With a retail value of around $400, this would be a pretty thoughtful Valentine’s gift – especially for someone like my mom who considers her kitchen VERY personal property. As far as the tech stuff — the faucet’s high-arc spout swivels 360º for complete sink access, it has two function spray wand toggles from spray to stream, and a MagnaTite docking system that secures sprayer to spout.

And I’m doing a giveaway! To enter to win one of your own, make sure you are following @alywalansky and @deltafaucet on Twitter(and feel free to RT this giveaway if you want to give extra love!) – then comment below and say why you need it in YOUR kitchen. The faucet will pretty much go with any general kitchen configuration, the Fuse can fit into a faucet with one or three holes – when the time comes, we can work directly with the winner to make sure he/she gets the most accurately fitted faucet. Please enter by 11:59 PM February 20. Good luck!

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Our iPad 2 is about to become obsolete: Apple expected to make iPad 3 announcement very soon

ipad31 300x174 Our iPad 2 is about to become obsolete: Apple expected to make iPad 3 announcement very soon Ready for a new iPad?

Well, Apple is expected to announce the latest incarnation in early March — in fact, according to this report Apple is having a press event the first week in March to announce the iPad 3, and that means the new device should be available within days.

The iPad 2 added some features people wanted on the first iPad, such as the cameras for video conferencing (I love being able to flip the camera on myself!!!) – and rumors are that the new tablet will be faster and have an improved graphics processor. AllThingsD says it may also feature a “2048×1536 Retina Display.”

Update: Tom’s Guide predicts rioting in the streets if the iPad 3 lacks a 2048×1536, LED-backlit IPS Retina Display. Love Apple fanboys.

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Happy National Change Your Password Day! (And a SafeSync Giveaway!)

SafeSync front RGB 211x300 Happy National Change Your Password Day! (And a SafeSync Giveaway!) I’ve heard a lot today about it being “National Rush Day” — but, apparently today is ALSO National Change Your Password Day!

That sounds like a pretty big deal to me — and Trend Micro wanted to help us out to help ensure people have the most secure passwords possible.

Here’s some things to keep in mind when changing up your password.

1. Mix it up: Your passwords should be at least eight characters long and include a mix of upper and lowercase letters, and numbers or symbols.

2. Be impersonal: Any variation of family names, pets, addresses or important dates isn’t secure enough. Spelling them backwards is not safe either as it is a fairly common practice.

3. Be unique: Your password should not be a common word in English or any other language. Hackers can use programs that check all words in the dictionary.

4. Sequence matters: Don’t pick a password that has all of the characters next to each other on a keyboard (12345 or qwerty) because they are easy to figure out.

5. Change is good: At least every 90 days. If you think that someone may have gained access to your system or online accounts, change it immediately.

6. No sticky notes: Don’t store passwords on your computer or on a sticky note next to your screen. Keep it hidden away in a secure location.

7. Think it through: If it’s too easy to remember, it’s probably too easy to figure out as well. You can take a phrase and use the first letters to make a password. For example, “I like to drink 3 cups of coffee” could become the password Il2d3coc.

8. Misspell with purpose: It’s a good idea to misspell words and add numbers in. Instead of “doghouse” try”doGhoWse219″. Since this isn’t a real word and it mixes in upper and lower case and numbers, it would be much more secure than the simple “doghouse” password.

9. Clever is good: Another good way to come up with a password that you can remember, but is still secure, is to substitute numbers for letters that look somewhat similar. For example, the words “bell tower” can be converted to the password “B377T0w3r”, which would be quite hard for anyone to figure out.

And that brings us to our giveaway!

Trend Micro SafeSync backs up and syncs files between your computers and mobile devices. You can stream music and video to your smartphone, share photos with friends on your tablet, or just play it safe and keep secure backups of your most important memories on all your devices.For those of you who already have a DropBox, SafeSync is a different animal — there is no dedicated ‘public’ folder for you to place files that you want to share with others. Instead, you just right-click on any file that is stored in SafeSync to get a Web link that can then be shared with anyone. You can password protect links that you want to share, and even add an expiration date to the link — but it also has some business-happy features I love, like syncing across devices, general sharing, a dedicated folder for drag-and-drop file upload, and pretty tight controls over network processes, such as upload and download speeds.

5 winners will each win a year subscription to SafeSync with 10GB space! To enter, tweet @alywalansky telling me your biggest Internet Security nightmare – is there a time you were hacked? Identity theft? Wish you had changed your password in time? 5 winners will win! Deadline to enter is February 5!

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Giveaway: BlackBerry Bold 9930

BlackBerry Bold 99301 300x238 Giveaway: BlackBerry Bold 9930 It’s hard to be a BlackBerry loyalist in a circle of friends who are iPhone extremists.

They ALL judge me. Judge me hard.

But I stand tried and true, and while our relatonship has its ups and downs (but what relationship doesn’t?) – I still really love my BlackBerry.

And I love my NEW BlackBerry, the new Bold 9930.

For those of you who always tell me how the iPhone is a cooler phone, a younger phone, a hipper phone…I will tell you that my phone has gotten a bit younger and hipper itself. The Bold is…emboldened…if you will in this incarnation.

It’s also faster (much like all that is younger and thinner), with a a 1.2 GHz processor with Liquid Graphics technology, the new BlackBerry 7 OS, and when I used it all day, twittering away, too lazy and tired to get up and plug in, it lasted EIGHT HOURS without draining…something I could never say for it’s predecessor, older brother BlackBerry Curve.

Photos seem to come out clearer — it has a 720p HD video recording and a 5 MP camera – and I haven’t had a single dropped call yet.

BlackBerry has a rep for being a “work” phone, while iPhones are a “play” phone. But what if your work IS to play? The land is murkier…and I’m still stuck on this OS (sue me!).

And for those of you who are ALSO stuck, I have a BlackBerry 9930 to give away to one lucky reader! To enter to win, tell me why you are still a loyal BlackBerry owner, and aren’t going anywhere! Make sure to also follow @Blackberry and @Alywalansky on Twitter, and RT this giveaway. Deadline to enter is February 10. Good luck!

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Adorable: Mr. Burns and Marge Simpson Are New TomTom GPS Voices

marge simpson tomtom gps 300x182 Adorable: Mr. Burns and Marge Simpson Are New TomTom GPS Voices Have some spring break travel plans pending?

Perhaps you’ll want to invite The Simpsons along!

TomTom has added the voices of Springfield’s Mr. Burns and Marge Simpson to its TomTom GPS navigation systems. Mr. Burns and Marge Simpson join the voice of Homer Simpson, which TomTom says is its most downloaded character voice.

Mr. Burns gives directions like, “Take the exit on the right. Trust me – I’m an evil billionaire” and “Take the third right. Do it, driving monkey!”

The voices can be downloaded from mytomtom.com or from TomTom HOME. Users of the TomTom iPhone and iPad apps can obtain the voices via in-app purchase.

Photo: TomTom