Introducing the Infinite USB. When I first heard that a flat plug won the IF Concept Award, I had a weird look on my face. That is, until I saw this genius of an invention. Have you ever tried to use a jump drive and a usb wireless card on your MAC? It’s kind of impossible. You could just use a USB hub but what would be the point of sharing generic and dull solutions? We know you need stylish and chic so behold, the solution. The Infinite USB – an alternative plug on devices that kinda acts like a tag team.

The design speaks for itself, so no point focusing on that, however let’s discuss my likes and dislikes. For one I don’t think we can tag too many devices one behind the other. I suggest at the max 3 or 4 before the tag starts to look overdone, but the color coding on plugs will make it easy to identify which plug belongs to which device. Genius!

New app “iCarly: Sam’s Remote” allows users to turn their iPhone or iPod touch into Sam’s remote, and includes iconic sound effects from the show like Sam’s insults voiced by Jennette McCurdy animations and more. In “Go, Diego, Go: Musical Missions”, users can play along with Diego as he uses music to rescue the shy animals of the world. The new Nickelodeon apps are available for $1.99 each from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore/.

Do your children have either an iPhone or iPod touch? Do you let them play with your phone? I love that Nickelodeon has developed apps for the kids but my iPhone is very much my mobile office and I never let the kids in to my office, so why would I let them play with my phone? I like the idea of my children having their own device. You too? We have you covered. Between now and February 19th, 2009 we are giving away one 8 GB iPod touch to one lucky member of our community!

I told you being a member would pay off one day! All you have to do is leave a comment below telling me what your child’s favorite Nickelodeon show is.

Please note that in order to win, you would have had to be a member prior to today. We still encourage you to sign up (NOW) as more exclusive contests will be coming up soon. Good luck!

Looking a tad like a very thin Blackberry, Peek’s Twitter-friendly gadget features a QWERTY keyboard, color screen and click scroll wheel. Available only on Amazon.com for $99, users get the first six months of unlimited service free, and thereafter one must pay $7.95 per month for service. Unless you spring for the $199 model, then you get unlimited service for life. Free tweeting from anywhere in the U.S. for life!

You know how much we love you right? We are giving away 4 Peek Prontos to our loyal readers-you! We had 5 but we had to give one away on Twitter! The Peek Pronto is a clever gadget that sends & receives unlimited email and text messages from anywhere in the US for a super affordable monthly fee (as low as $14.99/month). Best of all, you don’t have to sign up for a contract or pay outrageous activation fees with Peek’s hassle free pay-as-you-go monthly service.

Here’s how you win:

1. Tweet This Message: Take a Peek at the New SKM,with a link back to this post!
2. Leave a comment below telling us what you like most about Twitter.

Good Luck! Contest ends on January 31st at midnight. As always, Past Contest Rules Apply.

Here are four tips from Randolph Hock, author of The Extreme Searcher’s Internet Handbook (Information Today; $25) on the best way to Google on Google:

To Find: PDFs, Excel spreadsheets or Power Point Presentations-

Use: filetype:pdf, filetype:xls, or filetype:ppt

Example: Beauty manual filetype:pdf

Why: If you include the filetype in your search, Google will turn up only relevant files.

To Find: A product you saw online (but can’t remember where)

Use: intitle:

Example: intitle: “Tory Burch boots”

Why: Using the term intitle: searches the words in the title bar of Web pages and can be especially helpful if you recall the name of a product you liked but not where you found it. Note: Don’t put a space after the colon and use quotation marks around the search phrase.

To Find: A verbatim phrase

Use: quotation marks

Example: “spa retreat”

Why: Using quotation marks around a phrase or a person’s name can eliminate many of the irrelevant links you would otherwise see pop up, states Hock.

To Find: Narrowed-Down Information

Use: a hyphen (minus sign)

Example: jaguar -cars -football

Why: You want information about jaguars-the animal, not the car and or the sports team. Placing a hyphen before terms you want to exclude will omit pages with those words. Note: Type a space before the hyphen, but not after.

Here are 7 things you can do directly in the Google search field:

• perform calculations- To figure out what 10 percent off that $48 skirt amounts to, just enter “48x.10″ into the search field, click “search,” and the answer will show up at the top of the page. No additional clicking required.
• convert measurements-How many cups equal a gallon? Simple type “cups in gallon”; You can also find out currency conversions (”20 dollars in pesos”)
• track flights-Find out if your flight is on time by entering your airline and flight number.
• locate packages-Missing that important shoe shipment? Enter “track” plus the tracking number for a direct link to the status page
• look up addresses-Type in a person’s home phone number and, if they’re listed, Google will turn up the mailing address
• find movie showtimes-Type “movies” plus your city or zip code to see theaters and showtimes for the next three days
• listen to music-Thanks to a Google partnership with music site lala.com, you can type the title of a song and its artist and a playable file will appear at the top of the results page.

Think outside the box. Fill holiday crackers with little surprises such as a mini flash drive, movie tickets, or even a personal note. Make your own paper poppers with buyable cracker “snaps” oldenglishcrackers.com or buy them ready-made at plumparty.com (search for “party cracker”)

Compact video cameras work with just the touch of a button to make shooting and sharing home videos easy and fun.

What They Are: Ultra-compact video cameras are designed with the newbie in mind. Most have just a few buttons and can connect easily to video-sharing sites. The videos are sufficient for big-screening viewing, but these mini recorders are specifically designed for short clips and are ideal for uploading videos to the web.

PURE DIGITAL

Pure Digital’s Flip, including the Mino (shown above) $150, are simple to use. This device has the fewest buttons and a built in USB arm that plugs right into the computer, no cords required. You can personalize the Flip’s look by choosing a design from the online gallery or upload your own image.

KODAK

These pocket camcorders have a little something for everyone,including the Zx1 model $109, which is weather-resistant-ideal for the slopes or the beach. The Kodak Zi8 $149, shown above, shoots in high definition (HD) and has image stabilization and face-tracking features.

SONY WEBBIE

The Webbie (MHS-CM1), $169 is a little closer to a full-featured camcorder than some pocket models. It shoots in HD, has an optical zoom, takes both video and still shots, and has a large LCD screen that swivels out for better angling. Although most pocket camcorders don’t have flash capabilities, the Webbie’s LED light helps in low-light situations.

Good Info: Most compact camcorders come with basic editing software, making it easy to weave short clips together and add a soundtrack.

‘Tis the season right? We are giving one of these cute pocket cameras. We won’t tell you which one just yet but here is how you can enter:

1) Follow us on Twitter.

2) Tweet about this giveaway with a link back to this post.

3) Tell us the moment you hope to capture this holiday season.

Contest ends December 16th, 2009 at midnight.

As always, Past Contest Rules Apply.

Facebook announced changes to their privacy policy yesterday but I wonder if it is enough. They now have  350 million users and decided to make a few changes.  The social networking site is making it easier for you to control how your information is shared. (If it is your information, shouldn’t you be completely in control of how the information is shared?)

Under the new settings Facebook will no longer use regional networks – the categorization of users commonalities like which hometown or high school. Instead you’ll be able to control who sees any content you put on your profile. Even friends in your network will not automatically be privy to your information, unless you specifically allow it.

I would like Facebook to take privacy a step further and protect images that are uploaded by users. As a mom, I love to share my little one’s with my Facebook friends. But anyone can copy those images and publish them to various sites. Popular image hosting sites such as Fotki, or Flickr, have the capability of prohibiting your images from being copied or downloaded.

What are your thoughts on the new privacy changes?

Blue Ant Bluetooth Headset

I like small. I like effective. This new Blue Ant headset is both. My favorite feature is the ability to be completely handsfree. When your phone rings, a voice will tell you which number is calling and at that time you can either accept or reject the call. I can also say “call speed dial 3″ and in nothing flat I am talking with mom about her day. Here are a few more features:

• Patent-pending acoustic design purging wind and road noise
• Dual Microphone Wind Noise Reduction/Echo Cancelling
• Voice Control using the BlueGenie Natural Voice Interface
• Digital Signal Processing software
• Automatic pairing and reconnection
• Automatic Volume Control
• Qualcomm BTS5045 chipset support Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
• Dynamic Receive Signal Frequency Equalization
• Packet Loss Concealment
• Multipoint Technology – Connect two phones at once

Boasting of such brilliant features, BlueAnt Q1 headset comes with a 2-year replacement warranty with maximum talk time of 4 hours and 120 hours of standby time. Pick one up today.BlueAnt Q1 Voice Controlled Bluetooth Headset (Black)


Sanyo-VPC-HD2000a

Today Sanyo introduced its high-end Dual Cameras, the VPC-HD2000A and the VPC-FH1A, as the world’s first camcorders to offer compatibility with iFrame, a next generation video format designed specifically to allow users to easily import, edit and share high quality videos. SANYO’s Dual Cameras have always been at the forefront for compatibility with computers as well as online applications and networking. The two models announced today, feature the iFrame video mode, which records in the same format used to edit on a computer, dramatically speeding up the processes of importing, editing and sharing movies across multiple platforms and devices.

The two new models are nearly identical camcorders in two different body designs. The HD2000A is in SANYO’s signature vertical form factor while the FH1A is a traditional style camcorder shape (horizontal).

These camcorders will be available nationwide through national and regional retailers beginning October 13, 2009, with a suggested retail price of $599.99 for the VPC-HD2000A and $499.99 for the VPC-FH1A. I can’t wait to give this gadget a try to see if it really speeds up the import process. I am such a sucker for new gadgets though.

For more information about the SANYO:

VPC-HD2000A, please visit http://us.sanyo.com/VPC-HD2000A

VPC-FH1A, please visit http://us.sanyo.com/VPC-FH1A

I will not even begin to go on and on about how much I love Google Docs. It is just depressing at times because if this was around when I was in college, I would have had more free time to socialize instead of those endless meetings with the group to go over the presentation. We use this new shared folder feature here in the office but for the life of me, I can’t stop reflecting on the ways it would have come in handy at Temple. Google docs also has the ability to upload multiple files with just one click of the mouse. *sigh* I hope these students know just how lucky they are to have technology evolve the way it has been. I know I am pissed.