Gadget News & Tips for Techno Divas & Gals

Gizmodo has first pics of LG Prada Phone

2006-12-20T13:46:00.000-08:00

LG's Prada phone features a touch-screen interface and interesting UI. But is it really worth $400-500? Read the Gizmodo article for more details.

Last minute stocking stuffers

2006-12-19T06:53:00.000-08:00

Since it's a little late for ordering anything online, here are some nifty stocking stuffer ideas that you can pick up from your local stores.

1GB iPod Shuffle with Clip
This is a little expensive ($80) for a stocking stuffer, but I don't know anyone who wouldn't enjoy receiving one of these from Santa this year!

Portable Speaker for MP3 Player
The Presidian Portable MP3 Speaker is the perfect size to take your music on the go. This flat panel speaker is lightweight and folds for portability. Features a compartment that will hold most MP3 players and an additional compartment for a memory card.

XtremeMac TuffWrap Accent Skin for iPod® nano
TuffWrap Accent protects the iPod nano against scratches and bumps, and protects the screen and click wheel with optional inserts. Features stylish ribbed sides that provide a comfortable and secure grip. It also keeps your iPod from sliding on surfaces like the dashboard of your car.

Motorola® SX700R GMRS/FRS 2-Way Radio 2-Pack
This walkie talkie set is a fun way to communicate with friends and family around the house or on outdoor adventures. It features changeable faceplates and NOAA weather alerts to warn you of incoming storms. Up to 12-mile range, depending on terrain and conditions.

Logitech QuickCam Instant Messenger
Add video to your favorite instant messenger. Also lets you shoot high-quality videos and photos at up to 640x480 resolution. Includes built-in microphone.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Good Vibez

2006-12-17T20:10:00.000-08:00

This sleek, new MP3 player from TrekStor caught my eye while reading the New York Times this morning. It supports MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG, FLAC and Plays For Sure downloads. It also features crossfading, gapless playback and a special DJ mode that easily creates playlists on the fly.

But the coolest thing about the Vibez is the exterior. The casing is made of a high-grade steel with rubber on the front to help keep a good grip on it. And the scroll wheel is pretty unique, making this a nice alternative to the iPod.

A Diva's Resolutions

2006-12-17T17:46:00.000-08:00

Since striving to be organized is what initially drove my love of digital gadgets, I’m already thinking ahead to what I’d like to do better next year.

First on my list is to resume this blog more regularly. My day job has kept me very busy and shows no signs of lightening up. So the rest of my resolutions are really about how to squeeze more time out of my day.
My second goal is to embrace my Treo phone. I’ve complained about it quite frequently, but I’ve decided to give it another try. One thing I’d really like to do is figure out how to get videos and music from one of the subscription services like Rhapsody onto the phone. I already use my phone for things like keeping track of my grocery list (Jshopper is great!). But I’m going to look for other apps to help me be more productive.
My final goal is to work on my posture. It's somewhat related to being more productive because I figure it takes less time than working out and can still make me look 10 pounds lighter without having to diet, which is right down my lane.

Best wishes for the holidays and may you achive your goals in the coming year!

Coming Zune

2006-09-16T06:55:00.000-07:00

There's been a lot of hype over the new Zune device/service/platform/blah-blah-blah this week, but I've decided not to rehash the details that have finally been released by Microsoft. Instead, I will wait for them to actually launch their iPod killer, which they claim will happen by the end of the year. And if you believe that, then you probably still believe in Santa Claus, too!

Great music for working all day on a PC

2006-08-30T11:56:00.000-07:00

I'm forced to do some pretty mundane work today on my computer, so I fired up Rhapsody and am enjoying a great playlist featuring classic alt 80s hits. I hope you enjoy them, too!

Rhapsody's Top Modern Rock Classics Countdown

World's Most Expensive MP3 Player

2006-08-26T20:29:00.000-07:00

Amazon is selling what they claim to be the world's most expensive MP3 player selling for $19,999! It's 18-karat gold, encrusted with jewels and endowed with 1GB of memory for your favorite tunes.

Amazon.com Product Description
The TrekStor i.Beat organix Gold MP3 Player is built for every person who loves digital music. Okay, scratch that, this MP3 player is built for every millionaire who loves digital music. TrekStor received a special order from Russian-Canadian billionaire and owner of the Midland Formula 1 team, Alex Shnaider, to develop the world's most expensive MP3 player. What you're looking at is TrekStor's answer to the order. This unique, custom-made device is based on TrekStor's widely successful, award-winning i.Beat organix, but with a little extra bling.

Just don't try taking this guy on your morning run. It would be a shame to lose a gem from the casing. Although I guess for most people who would purchase this ludicrously expensive gadget, the only running they're doing is to their personal jet.

DJ Ditty History

2006-08-24T06:59:00.000-07:00

Dell announced that it will no longer sell the Ditty, a flash-based music player that was launched to compete with the iPod Nano. Given the stronghold Apple has on the market, it's no wonder the folks in Texas decided to call it quits. However, given Microsoft's Zune news, could it be that Dell saw the writing on the wall and realized that competing against the two would be a no-win situation? Unfortunately for consumers, more and more device manufacturers may come to the same conclusion, leaving us with a dearth of choice when it comes to playing our music on the go.

Dell stops selling Ditty music players [USA Today]

Apple to pay $100 mln to Creative in settlement

2006-08-24T06:51:00.000-07:00

Creative has taken a huge bit out of Apple by winning a $100 million settlement for the patent litigation which arose from Creative's hierarchical navigation model used in both companie's portable music players.

I love the iPod, but it's nice to see the underdog win for a change!

Apple to pay $100 mln to Creative in settlement [Reuters]

iPod Nano rival from Sandisk offers twice the memory

2006-08-21T07:14:00.000-07:00

Yet another iPod killer is unveiled. This time, Sandisk is offering an 8GB music player, which is twice the memory of a Nano, for about the same price. The new player will retail for just under $250. By comparison, a new 4-gigabyte Nano is priced at about $249.

SanDisk is the second largest seller of portable music devices behind Apple. They are also the world's largest provider of flash memory.

SanDisk unveils new music player, cuts prices [Reuters]

New Treo coming next month

2006-08-20T12:28:00.000-07:00

Palm and Vodafone just announced plans to release the Treo 750W on September 12th.

The Californian-based firm said in July the new version will operate on Vodafone's (VOD.L: Quote, Profile, Research) high-speed third generation (3G) network and be powered by Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) Windows Mobile operating system, however details about the handset's functionality remain sketchy.

For now, the 750W will not be available in the U.S. But perhaps it will include some nice new features that we can look forward to.

Palm to unveil new Treo model next month [Reuters]

Headphone organizer (at last!)

2006-08-20T12:16:00.000-07:00

I recently spent 10 minutes trying to untangle a pair of headphone cables the other day. Techie Diva uncovered the Tetran Cable Winder which could be the solution I need. Looking something like a blowfish, this can also be used as a stress ball for those really bad days. Just stick the earbuds into the mouth and wind the cord around the body.

Product Features

Store your Earbuds Neatly
Squeeze for Stress Relief
2.25" x 2.4" x 2"

Earphone Organizing Stress Ball [Techie Diva]

iPod Flower Power

2006-08-20T12:05:00.000-07:00

Target is selling these cute Flower Pods which are speakers for your mp3 player. They're reasonably priced ($12.95) and perfect for those of us who don't have a green thumb! The Flower Pod is not yet available, but you can pre-order from the Target website.

The Flower Pod, a flower-power boost to tunes [Gizmodiva]

iPod NanoClutch

2006-08-15T12:59:00.000-07:00

Pacific Design's new iPod NanoClutch is the nicest looking purse/iPod case I've seen yet. The price is right ($29.99), it comes in a variety of colors, and it's just darn cute!

The NanoClutch features:

Built-in, dual-access iPod nano case
Four (4) I.D. or credit card slots
Ear-bud/cord mesh storage pouch
Billfold
Small bus pass or credit card pocket inside front flap its 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB iPod Nano

I'm always on the look-out for a wallet or purse that is designed specifically for gadgets (can anyone recommend one for the Treo 700p?)?

"Girl Power" lives on

2006-08-14T20:54:00.000-07:00

According to a recent LA Times study, today's tween girls were influenced by the "Girl Power" movement in the late 90s.

The girls of Julia's age were influenced by the late-1990s "girl power" phenomenon and now are often more accomplished, higher achievers than their male counterparts, economist and historian Neil Howe said. They're also more likely to use technology to socialize, according to the survey findings. More than half of teenage girls reported regular instant-messaging, about two-thirds report writing and reading e-mail regularly and just under half report visiting social networking sites.

"Today it's the girls at the front of generational change," Howe said.

Girls today are multitasking experts that put Martha Stewart to shame. While doing homework, they're chatting, surfing the web, sending emails and downloading music. I can't wait to see what girls are doing in 11 years when my daughter is a "tween."

"My Name is Earl" contest on MySpace

2006-08-12T19:34:00.000-07:00

This isn't gadget news, but since "My Name is Earl" is one of my favorite TV shows, I wanted to make sure everyone knew about this. MySpace, NBC and 20th Century Fox Television have partnered to create the "Friends of Earl" contest that could put your mug in the credits. The contest ends on September 5. Three winners will be randomly chosen. Hurry up and enter before Karma stops you in your tracks.

Treo 700P woes

2006-08-11T15:06:00.000-07:00

I spent the past 2 weeks on vacation. In an effort to unplug as much as possible, I left my laptop and mp3 player at home and planned on using my Treo 700p as my sole source of web and email access (with the goal of only going online for helpful things like getting directions).

The first 10 days were a huge success. I felt so light and unencumbered as I flew from LAX to Charlotte and then on to Chicago. The day before I had to return home, my phone started a reboot loop. I tried everything to get it to stop. Luckily, my husband had his laptop so I was able to get online to search for troubleshooting information.

Palm had some limited information, but in the end, they basically said that I would need to do a hard reset. For those of you lucky enough to not know what this is, a hard reset wipes everything off your palm pilot. As you can imagine, this is not the situation I wanted to be in. My travel itinerary was stored on my palm pilot, as were all of my phone contacts. I also had taken photos with my Treo of my daughter's first ice cream. I dreaded losing all of that information, however, it boiled down to the fact that I needed to be able to use the phone first and foremost. So I did the hard reset and lost everything. But I was able to make and receive phone calls and that was the most important thing at this point.

When I got home, I synched the Treo with my laptop. For some reason, the hot sync didn't copy everything over, because Hot Synch seemed to think that I had intentionally deleted all of my apps and files. So I had to go through my Archive folder and reinstall everything. And, of course, things still aren't working. I have not been able to get my contacts synced back up.

I still don't know what went wrong with my Treo 700P, but I have to say that I remain unimpressed with this phone. Maybe I should go back to my Razr???

I lost my XM virginity

2006-08-09T14:00:00.000-07:00

I rented a car from Avis on a recent trip to North Carolina. Since I had to drive 2 hours to my destination from the Charlotte airport, I chose a car that included free XM service. I've never used a satellite service before, because I tend to listen to music in my car via my mp3 player. However, I wanted to travel light and left my Zen Vision at home.

I was pleasantly surprised by the eclectic choice of music available. When driving alone, I opted for Air Musique, featuring new and emerging music broadcast in French. When driving with the family, we listened to The Joint, which plays some awesome reggae. My daughter enjoyed the kids channel.

Listening to XM almost made me wish I spent more time in my car. I'm lucky that the commute from my home to my office takes 7 minutes. I can't really justify the expense of XM for such a short car ride. But if I ever have a longer commute, I would definitely consider it.

Females Flip for Flip Phones

2006-07-25T20:31:00.000-07:00

A recent Sprint survey provides some interesting data on women and their mobile phones. 72% of the women surveyed prefer a flip phone, with only 1% choosing a smart phone. Gee, I'm in the one percentile... I feel so special.

Microsoft: Plays for Us

2006-07-23T20:33:00.000-07:00

The boys at Digital Music News were the first to cover the Microsoft Zune news, but Engadget’s finally calling it like it is. Here are my personal favorites from their post “Zune: what we know, think we know, and don't yet know”:

What we know (for sure)
The Zune media device will be drive-based, and have WiFi.
The service and device will not be PlaysForSure compliant, meaning you will not be able to use your Zune player with Napster or Vongo, for example. This will be an entirely new system. Microsoft will continue to support and develop for their PlaysForSure initiative, but all things PlaysForSure are handled by two entirely separate division that will not have any crossover.

Whoa... do you people realize what this means for all of those poor smucks who’ve rallied around Plays For Sure? They’re now f&(ked!

What we think we know (and are pretty sure of)
Microsoft will buy your way out of iTunes in order to convert you to a Zune user.

Gee, it would be nice if they buy your way out of Napster, Urge and Yahoo, too, since any tracks you bought from them won’t work on the Zune device.

iPod alternatives

2006-07-22T06:36:00.000-07:00

C|net offers a nice summary of iPod alternatives. They do seem to be missing the new iRiver Clix, which seems like an oversight since they originally gave the Clix a user rating of 8.7 out of 10. I've been playing with the Clix recently and it's better than I thought it would be.

If only I could figure out how to convert and transfer a bunch of Noggin video files I have in time for my cross-country flight with my toddler daughter!

How to make your own ringtones

2006-07-19T21:44:00.000-07:00

If you’re like me, the idea of making your own ringtone seems like a cool way to make your phone a little more fun. It’s great that mobile phones come loaded with so many different ringtones built-in, but who wants to go with the canned sounds when you can hear “This is radio clash…” (one of my favorite ringtones).

There are a couple of different ways you can go about making your own ringtone. For starters, you can buy and download a ringtone from your mobile service provider. This is definitely an easy way to do it, however, it does cost anywhere from $1-2 each plus air time charges.

Another option is to use an application like Xingtone. Xingtone makes it super easy to edit your favorite song to a nice clip and automatically transfers it to your phone. The software costs about $20 and you will incur a data charge from your service provider since the ringtone is sent via your carrier.

The third option is do to it yourself by transferring the song to your phone over a Bluetooth or USB connection. This is the cheapest option and gives you the most flexibility.

Tips for making your own ringtone

Pick a song that’s appropriate. If your phone rings while you’re in a meeting with the VP of Marketing, you don’t want to be embarrassed by a ringtone that’s trashy.
If you’re creating your ringtone from a CD (or transcoding from an existing file), copy the track to a different folder than the rest of your mp3s so the ringtones don’t get mixed up with your music library.
Once you have a song picked out, edit it down to a short clip. Using a full-length song will take up a lot of space on your phone. And, most likely, you’ll never hear the entire song because you’ll answer the call right away. The ideal ringtone clip is approximately 10-20 seconds in length.

Of all the ways to make your own ringtone, Xingtone is my favorite because it’s just so easy to use. However, I’m a Verizon customer and Verizon has put a cap (sound familiar? They do this a lot!) on the size of the ringtone allowed by Xingtone, which means they can only support a ringtone of about 5 seconds. If you can come up with a cool and catchy ringtone that’s less than 5 seconds in length, I want to hear about it.

So since I’m an unhappy Verizon customer and I can’t use Xingtone to its fullest ability, I use the USB option to send ringtones to my Treo. It’s not easy, but it works. And now when my phone rings and I hear “Communication Breakdown” by Led Zeppelin, I always smile, even if it’s my boss who’s calling.

Workout like a star

2006-07-19T13:37:00.000-07:00

iTrain has put together 10 Hollywood personal trainer workouts combined music that can be downloaded to your MP3 player of choice. The series includes programs for flexibility, strength and cardiovascular training. An "a la carte" package lets you buy programs at your leisure, or you can subscribe on a monthly basis ($9.99/month) or for a year ($49.99). Sounds like a great way to get motivated for that morning run!

Tivo HD DVR coming soon

2006-07-18T20:04:00.000-07:00

TiVo has notified both the FCC and cable operators that CableCARD compliant HD Series3 units are currently being tested and should be released to retail soon. I'm so excited! I've been a huge fan of DVRs for 3 years now and the only reason I haven't tried Tivo is because they don't sell an HD DVR. "Zatz Not Funny" has a few more details. In the words of Morrissey, "How soon is now?"

What I love/hate about my new Treo 700P

2006-07-17T21:06:00.000-07:00

I’ve been a loyal Palm user since 1997. I got my first Palm Pilot back when they were made by U.S. Robotics. At the time, I was working for a company called Concept Kitchen which sold accessories and software for PDAs. The Palm Pilot has since become an integral part of my life. My most recent Palm Pilot, the Tungsten C, was absolutely fabulous, but alas, it died a tragic death two weeks ago (apparently due to my 15-month old daughter dropping it one too many times).

The death of m Tungsten, however sad, presented an excellent opportunity to upgrade to one of the new smart phones. After doing lots of research, I ended up with the Treo 700p from Verizon. I’ve been using it for about 10 days now and thought I would share some of my initial thoughts with you.

Top 3 things I love about the Treo 700P

One handy device replaces my phone AND PDA. I know this is quite obvious, but for someone like me who carries the smallest purse possible, it’s nice to be able to fit the Treo in my little Coach wristlet. I couldn’t do that with my Tungsten and RAZR!
All of my old apps and files transferred over seamlessly. Well, almost seamlessly. I’m having problems with SmartList To Go from Dataviz, but I still need to investigate that.
The phone quality is excellent.

Top 3 things I hate about the Treo 700P

It doesn’t have native graffiti support! I was astonished by this. In fact, despite all of the research I did before purchasing, I never read about this fact. It totally baffles me. I did install an app called Graffiti Anywhere, but haven’t used it very much because you have to activate it by
No wi-fi: this is a known issue. And it doesn’t sound like this will go away anytime soon.
It’s slow. Launching an app isn’t nearly as responsive as previous Palm Pilots.

I debated whether or not I should keep this phone or stick with my RAZR and buy a LifeDrive. But ultimately, the convenience of a smart phone wins out. I guess it will just take me a while to adjust to my Treo.

Verizon cap in the a**

2006-07-14T21:42:00.000-07:00

It's not necessarily news that Verizon cripples the Motorola RAZR from being able to transfer ringtones and media files. The guys over at Wired wrote an interesting article about this topic yesterday. Give it a read.

I used to have a RAZR from Verizon and tried BitPim and a Motorola Phone Tools hack, but both solutions took too much effort. And then there is Xingtone, which is a nifty application that let's you easily create ringtones from music you own. However, Verizon put a severe cap on the file size so that you could only transfer a Xingtone ringtone that was tiny (like less than 5 seconds long).

I understand Verizon is trying to make money off of their own ringtone sales, but come on... if the functionality already exists and you intentionally limit it, that's just plain evil.

Advertisers shouldn't overlook women when it comes to consumer electronics

2006-07-12T07:22:00.000-07:00

According to the NPD Group, of $107.2bn spent on consumer-electronics in 2005, women accounted for 46% of those purchases or $49.3bn. That's an 18% increase in spending by females compared with the previous year, when women rang up $41.9bn in gadget purchases. Men spent about the same amount in 2004 as they did in 2005.

You can read more about this on c|net.

Calling all gadget divas!

2006-07-11T19:10:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, I created this blog in December of 2004. At the time, I was not working, having recently left Musicmatch which had just been acquired by Yahoo (which, by the way, had nothing to do with my leaving). Five months later, I gave birth to my first child.

Skip ahead 15 months... I spend a lot of time reading other blogs and websites about gadgets... Engadget, Gizmodo, Wired, and lots more. One thing I noticed is that these sites are really catering to men. And that's understandable given that the gadget market is heavily skewed towards men. However, I read a recent article in Mobile Magazine that made me realize that there are lots of other women out there just like me who love gadgets and would probably appreciate a place that is tailored to them where they can learn more about the latest, coolest toys.

So if you're a gadget diva like me, I welcome you to my blog and encourage you to contribute with your ideas and suggestions about mp3 players, cell phones, PDAs, PCs, DVRs, or anything else having to do with gadgets.

Welcome!

2006-07-07T05:18:00.000-07:00

Having been a gadget freak for years, I decided it was time to share my obsession with others. This blog contains my personal opinion on various gadgets -- PDAs, cell phones, digital music players, etc.

But let's face it... Most people who are into gadgets are men. And most blogs out there cater to men. Gadgets for Divas is written by a woman for women who love their toys as much as me.