Do you have a TomTom navigation system? They are pretty darn fabulous.
Wanna know what makes them extra fun, though? Check out this Yoda Navigation Voice Upgrade ($13) for TomTom.
Yes, I still have friends who are using turn-by-turn maps on their smartphones. Whatever. THIS SPEAKS TO YOU IN YODA SPEAK. Yes, YODA guides you on your way.
Seriously, can getting lost GET any cooler?
First, full disclosure: I was reluctant to jump on the text messaging bandwagon. A few years ago, I rarely texted and actually found it intrusive and annoying. Today, I text friends and family often and see the benefits and convenience, but limit my text conversations to close friends and family.
Recently, I encountered someone who uses text message much more liberally — he’ll text a doctor when running late for an appointment or message the principal at his child’s school with questions.
Since I am not a big texting fan and consider it to be a communications platform for close acquaintances, these behaviors strike me a completely rude. I wouldn’t fathom texting the principal at school or my son’s doctor reminding him to send me a copy of a report. I started to poll my friends asking them where they draw the texting line…most agree that it’s a quick messaging solution reserved for friends and family.
Tell us: Where do you draw the texting line? Do you think it’s appropriate to send text messages to your child’s teachers, your doctors or your accountant?
When my first son was born in 2001, I installed a Nanny Cam in our home so that I could monitor when my childcare provider came in and out of our home while I was at work. The $500 camera offered grainy, poor-quality images at best which would be emailed to me whenever anyone entered the front door. It gave me the peace of mind I needed since I couldn’t be with my son during the day, but was bare-bones at best.
Fast forward ten years later, and home security cameras have come a long way: Logitech’s Logitech Alert home security system offers a host of features and HD cameras without a hefty price tag or difficult setup.
First, the system is truly plug-and-play. Simply install the Logitech Alert Commander software on your computer and register on the Logitech site. After that, you just plug in cameras where you want them and Logitech’s Commander software instantly recognizes and adds the camera.
Second, in addition to offering live viewing on your PC, on smartphones and even on televisions with Google TV, Logitech Alert also can alert users via email of activity and then records footage when it detects motion, so you can review video and audio with the click of your mouse.
The Logitech Alert 750i Master System comes with the Commander software and one indoor HD camera and starts at $299. Add on cameras start at $229.
Logitech Alert 750i Home Security System – starting at $299 at Logitech.com
Who woulda thought that listening to digital music that comes out of a palm sized electronic rectangle could look so handmade and natural?
These Birch Headphones with Fabric ($85) give a whole new look to being plugged in.
Best of all, beyond the available fabric options, you can send in your own fabric or even images you’d like transferred onto the wood of the headphones! I love customization!
I’m sure you saw it coming.
Throughout the dad/grad giveaway season, we’ve given away everything you need for an ideal home entertainment Man Cave: A Blu-Ray, stereo systems, and much, more more.
However, there’s been a crucial central focus missing: A bad-ass basketball TV.
For real.
I think many of us have an HDTV at this point – but how many of them really truly stick out of a crowd. Sure, they may be larger or slimmer, but beyond that…don’t they all look sort of the same?
Well, color me stunned when I was introduced to the Hannspree Basketball television.
Available in both 55″ and 28″ sizes, it’s a high-end LCD TV framed by a well-crafted basketball-shaped frame.
OK, it’s absolutely not for everyone — it’d look somewhat weird in my pink polka dotted apartment — but for those of you who love a bit of ball throw in your cave, the basketball frame around the TV gives it a nice touch of personality.
It is 1080p HD capable — so it’s great for watching basketball on ESPN HD or playing NBA on the PS3. The 55″ model packs four HDMI ports, while the smaller 28″ has only two HDMI ports. Both TVs have standard VESA mounts for easy placement on existing TV brackets. Watching sports on TV, like basketball, has to be more fun this way, doesn’t it? (For those of you who watch said sports, let me know!)
For hardcore basketball fans, this may be your summer Christmas. It’s super high-end — a LCD screen that features 1920 x 1080 resolution, 16:9 aspect ratio, HD A/V sync technology, 50,000:1 contrast ratio, 5 millisecond overdrive response time, and 4 HDMI inputs (in the 55″ version). Plus, it’s shaped like a big basketball! That IS pretty cool.
The Hannspree Basketball TV is available now, with the 28″ featuring an MSRP of $499 and the 55″ MSRP – $9,999; though we’ve spotted the 28″ model going for $299.99 on Amazon. However, ONE reader will win the 28″ model for their own man cave!
To win, please tweet me at @alywalansky (You must be a follower AND retweet the contest) and tell me why you need this for YOUR man cave. Also, for extra credit, you can follow Hanspree on Twitter or like them on Facebook.
Deadline to enter is June 5! Good luck!
I confess, I’m been a little wary of the android world.
Then again, I too am afraid of the iPhone — so there’s good company in that club.
However, over the last few weeks, I’ve been sent a few androids to review, and I’ve surprised myself – there’s some awesomeness in the lot. I’ll share findings, independently, for each of the phones I’ve been playing with over the last few weeks, but tonight, I want to share a really special one — and a great dad/grad gift time find.
I’m sure you’ve heard of Motorola’s Atrix 4G — it’s pretty awesome — a true superphone that can transform itself into a PC. It’s like the power rangers of technology, and as PC Magazine pointed out in their review, shows how we’ll likely be using our mobile devices in the year 2020.
I first saw the Atrix at CES in Vegas earlier this year — it had all sorts of rad tech specs, but I was super-drawn — like a moth to a flame!) – to the desktop-like computing experience when it is docked.
The handset uses NVIDIA’s dual-core Tegra 2 chipset, has 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, a 5MP rear camera with LED flash, a front-facing VGA camera, a fingerprint reader for secure unlocking, and a 4-inch display with a resolution of 960×540.
Anyway, this was all the buzz at CES – everyone was in love with it — fast forward a few months, and you can get it at AT&T for $199 with 2-year contract, $599 without.
The brawn of this baby is the Laptop Dock that uses the Atrix for its brains and storage, plus a standard dock to use the phone as a television set-top box or as a standalone computing device when connected to a monitor. It also has a 5-megapixel camera is fantastic and as good as I’ve seen on just about any phone.
I’d put this in the top 3 android smartphones I’ve seen this year. What are the other two? You’ll see in a few days 
Like it? I have ONE to give away!
To have your chance to win, you MUST be following me on Twitter at @alywalansky AND RT this giveaway. To enter, tweet at @alywalansky and @ATT and tell them why you need something so smart to help organize YOUR life. (Trust me, you won’t be sorry!) – Deadline to enter is May 25!
Toshiba has just launched its 14-inch USB-powered Mobile LCD Monitor.
The monitor provides 1366×768 resolution, and weighs 2.8 pounds and is less than one inch thick.
The monitor gets both power and video through a single USB connection – no power cord is required. This makes it a good choice for people who need a portable monitor they are constantly moving from one computer to another. The monitor comes with a protective black vinyl carrying case. The monitor has an MSRP of $199.99.
So, what do you think? Do you need this in your life?
Oh. Em. Gee.
Nothing’s worse than Gmail gone wild. With all the daily forwards from friends, online sale reminders, Facebook updates and messages from whatever mailing lists your address has found its way on, an overflowing inbox can make email communication overwhelming and frustrating.
Sure, there’s Priority Inbox, but if you’re like me and your idea of organization is throwing everything into the junk drawer, you may need a few more tools to help control the chaos.
Using a potent (and functional) combo of Gmail’s coolest features — Filters, Labels, Multiple Inboxes and the new Desktop Notification — even the most haphazard of users can keep their email organized.
Want to save time and space and keep unread messages to a minimum, without missing another important message ever again? Here’s how:
After weeks of waiting for a reply to an important email I had sent, an unrelated inbox search confirmed that I had indeed received a response — over two months ago. How did I miss that?! Never again.
Make monitoring your inbox easier by setting up Filters to manage your incoming messages.
1. Click Create a Filter, located at the top of the inbox, next to the “Search the Web” button. Or, just click Settings > Filters.
2. Specify the search criteria, whether it’s an email address or word(s). Use Test Search to see which messages would have been filtered using these criteria.
4. Click Next Steps to choose the action(s) applied to incoming messages that fit the criteria: automatically archive, delete, star, mark as important/unimportant, forward, keep it out of Spam, or label (more on that later).
5. Tick the box at the bottom to apply your new filter to both new incoming messages as well as any from the past that also fit the criteria.
Helpful Hint: When specifying more than one word or name, use Boolean search operators, just as you would for a Google search. Using a space for AND will filter messages that use both of the specified termsAnne Smith AND annesmith@email.com. Using OR includes messages that contain either of the words you type in: Victoria’s Secret OR VictoriasSecret.com. Using “-” for NOT narrows a search by filtering messages that contain one of the terms, but not the other: Google -Voice -Alerts.
Think of Gmail Labels as “folders”; sort messages by sender, subject, importance — whatever you want! But unlike folders, messages can have multiple labels, making your organization process a bit more flexible.
1. Click Create a New Label located in the drop-down menu to the left of the page or just click Settings > Labels.
2. Type the name of your new label then click OK.
View your labeled messages by searching or by clicking the label name in the menu to the left of any Gmail page.
To label a message while you’re reading it, click the Labels drop-down menu located at the top and select the label name from your list.
You can also label a message in your inbox by dragging it to the label name in the menu to the left.
Filters and labels are a great way to sort messages, but Multiple Inboxes really punches up their functionality and makes monitoring for important emails even easier. Instead of switching between labels, use Multiple Inboxes to view more than ‘inbox’ at a time.
To enable Multiple Inboxes, click Settings >Labs, then
Save Changes. You can also configure your settings — the number of messages displayed, the positioning of the panels, etc.
I could do without Outlook but I must admit the pop-up email notifications are helpful. Thankfully, managing your Gmail inbox no longer requires constant vigilance. Get pop-ups whenever a new email or chat message arrives by using the newly launched Desktop Notification for Google Chrome.
1. Click on Settings. Scroll down to the Desktop Notifications section.
2. Customize settings for your notifications and click Save Changes when you’re done.
Got Chrome? Install the Google Reader Unread Count extension to keep a running tab of unread messages displayed in the browser tool bar.
MORE on GLOSS: 6 Gmail Features That Will Rock Your Inbox
Implement these tools and you’ll never lose a message to a black hole again. Now if only Google had a solution for organizing my handbag…
