Gadgets Blog

Sports season playoffs are coming into full swing, there’s the NCAA, the NFL, and all sorts of European soccer to watch, revel, and cry over. But what do you need for accompaniment? A great soundtrack that is ready to be on the move, traveling to games and parking lots everywhere so you and the guys (or the gals) can get your groove on no matter what the temperature or sporting event. Smarter.com offers a great selection in portable audio and video devices, but I’m here to tell you about some of the great portable audio devices that will get you jamming and pumped up for the big game, whether you’re playing in it or not.

Spectating is a sport in itself. It takes preparation, skill and time. I recommend designating priorities to those who do them best: leave the cooking to your friend the restaurant owner and the technology to you, my fair techie friend. Here are some great portable devices to think about for your next purchase:

Keep it old school with the Boombox, throw it over your shoulder and lead on to the barbeque:

jWIN Electronics JX-CD462 Portable CD Boombox with Cassette Playback: $29.99

But for the more technology-inclined, the iPod speakers. Total classic:

ILUV i552 Portable Radio & iPod Docking Speaker System with Remote: $49.99

Shop for more portable audio systems at Smarter.com.

How are you preparing for Thanksgiving? Are you the designated cook in the family, basting the turkey days in advance to have the most delectable turkey of the season, maybe you’re even handpicking the cranberries for the sauce yourself? Maybe you’re the organizer, making sure everyone has a place at the table and Great Aunt Mindie has someone to pick her up at the nursing home. But as I suspect, you are probably the techno-elite of the family, and you’re in charge of capturing for posterity the Thanksgiving festivities. You need to hone your camcorder steadiness and photoshop skills to get all the food stains off niece Betty’s Thanksgiving formal wear in record time–but wait, don’t have a camcorder just yet? Then stop right there! You need to get that first.

There are plenty of camcorders on the market, but you want to make sure you get exactly what you need. Not too much memory, not too much bulk or fanfare. Here are some real affordable products that you won’t feel bad getting some mashed potatoes on:

Sanyo Xacti VPC-CG10BK Camcorder - 720p - 10.0 MP - 5 x optical zoom: $169.95

PURE Digital Flip Mino F360 Camcorder - 0.31 MP: $99.00

Shop for discount camcorders at Smarter.com.

Image: Thomas Hawk

Remote printing makes it possible to use different computers to share printers. It also allows you to print directly from an application, such as Word, Outlook, or Photo Editor, to any printer in the world that is connected to a computer. Basically, you’re printing isn’t limited to the local printer.

Another useful feature of remote printing is to use it for faxing documents to just about any printer that you wish. This would make fax machines obsolete, which can help save money on having to buy them in the first place. It’s also possible to send a fax over the Internet to any fax machine using the same process – it’s as easy as printing a document.

There are a variety of different ways to configure a local computer to print to a remote location. Possibly the easiest way to setup remote printing from a computer to a remote printer is to use software that allows you to configure a local computer with just about any printer. When it comes to remote printing software, there are many good choices out there – some are free, some are not. Here’s a short list of easy to use applications for configuring your computer to print remotely to any printer.

1. Remote Print Manager (RPM)

RPM is a cross-platform print application that can receive documents from any type of client (Mac, Linux, PC, AS/400 etc…) and print them out to any printer. RPM will only install on a Windows-based PC, which is one of its only drawbacks. This software can also convert documents to PDF, HTML, and PCL. In all, The RPM application will allow you to print to as many as 24 printers at once.

2. Net2Printer

Net2Printer is an alternative to faxing and e-mailing documents – it can basically eliminate the need for a fax machine. The software works by turning your computer into a virtual fax machine that can send an unlimited number of faxes to any printer that that is configured to accept these transmissions. The process is very easy to do, and it makes remote printing as easy as sending an email. The software itself is free to download, but anyone who sends documents to a remote printer will have to pay an annual fee for doing so – the person receiving the faxes are not charged a fee. Overall, Net2Printer is a much more cost-effective way of sending faxes than having a dedicated fax line from the phone company.

3. PrinterShare

This remote printing software package is one of the best, and easiest, on the market right now. PrinterShare is compatible with Windows, Linux and Mac operating systems, although at this point it’s not fully-compatible with Windows Vista. The best part about this software is that it’s completely free to use, although it does include some banner advertising on prints (as most free applications do). There’s also a paid subscription option that will eliminate the banner ads, but it’s a bit more expensive than the other remote printing software alternatives.

4. The Phone Company’s Remote Printing Service (TPC)

This isn’t actually software, but it’s a way to send a fax to just about any fax machine around the world through either email or a web browser. TPC is a very useful site for sending faxes, and the process to do so is as easy as sending an email (see screenshot). The best part about this service from TPC is that it’s completely free to use. There are limitations to this service though, the main one being, only certain areas of the world are within the coverage of this service. Check TPC’s Remote Printing Coverage List to find out if they service the area you wish to fax.

5. I’m InTouch

This useful software package is perfect for someone that’s always on-the-go and needs access to their computer’s desktop from remote locations. I’m InTouch not only provides a good remote printing feature, but it also provides full access to the desktop of any computer that is configured with the software. You can gain access to the desktop of any computer via laptop, desktop computer, or other portable devices such as a Blackberry. This software is only compatible with Windows operating systems.

6. GoToMyPC

This popular software package is a lot like the I’m InTouch application in that it allows the user to access their entire desktop from their home or work computer via any computer in the world. GoToMyPC will automatically sync files and folders between computers, and it will also print to any configured computer remotely. This software is loaded with features and government-standard encryption for the highest security possible.

7. TeleDesktop

TeleDesktop is again a way to access your home or office desktop from any computer in the world. This is a Windows-based program, which is it’s main drawback, because Mac user’s are out of luck. This application will print remotely over the Internet, LAN, WAN, dial-up. Maybe the best feature of this software is the fact that it’s entirely free to download and use.

If your nana is like mine, then she is adamant about not jumping into the 21st century and is convinced that computers are too complicated for her to bother with. And if you are scratching your head wondering just what would please her this Christmas, you might want to hear about this:

A new computer called SimplicITy helps people over the age of 60 who have never before used PCs or the Internet experience the simple pleasures of chatting, social networking, online gaming, online shopping, online dating perhaps if she is single.

The simplified desktop opens to a bare bone screen called Square One that is designed not to overwhelm. It displays just six clickable buttons that will direct users to basic tasks such as e-mail, chat, browse the web, store photos and write short documents. Each machine is pre-loaded with 17 video tutorials from television presenter Valerie Singleton. Grandma will never have to worry her pretty head about login screening or drop down menus. If she has a problem she can just go ‘back to Square One’ and start all over again. Moreover she can make new friends as all SimplicITy users with an eldy.org address will be able to chat to each other via the “chat” button.

Each machine is built on a Linux operating system. Users can replace the SimplicITy desktop with a standard Linux desktop if they feel confident enough to move on.

The made-to-order computer can be ordered by mail and takes two weeks from request to delivery. You can order the PC from SimplicITy website, using your PayPal account.

Source: BBCNews

Printers have become a household necessity. We all love to think our identities can be stored completely digitally, but sometimes printing out important information is key. Records, train tickets, flight confirmations, resumes, transcripts, online bills, gift receipts, e-mails, photos—the list goes ON and ON. Printers are a hassle, I know this from experience: they are always running out of ink at the most inopportune moment, and many brands are anti-Mac or only solely PC compatible.

So, to make your shopping a little less dire, I’ve constructed a list of some printers on clearance sale. So you can bicker away with the Best Buy or Target employee about compatibility and sustainability of these wayward machines, but you can’t bicker about the price.

Epson Stylus NX200 All-in-One Printer - Refurbished from Epson.com: $36.00

Epson WorkForce 600 All-in-One Printer - Refurbished from Epson.com: $99.00

Find more deals on Epson printers at Smarter.com.

Giving gadgets as gifts is always a bit of a hassle–you want to make sure you give an eclectic gadget that is useful, compatible and fun. Hard drives don’t count, even if they are carved into blocks of wood (kinda cool, but not the thing to give your hubbie on Valentine’s Day. If you wouldn’t give it as a sign of affection, then what’s the point of giving it?) ThinkGeek.com has wonderful odds and ends to make your gift giving season a total success: I suggest we start with the basics, the wrappings. Sometimes how you wrap an object makes people see it in a different light.

ThinkGeek.com’s “Geek” wrapping paper is perfect for the budding techie or techno-loving hipster in your family. Check out some of the wonderful designs on ThinkGeek.com, with everything from LOL cat paper to “Happy Birthday” written in Klingon, there are all sorts of exciting things to sink your teeth into. And at only $5.99 for 4 sheets of wrapping paper, what’s not to love?

ThinkGeek.com’s Funky Wrapping Paper: $5.99

Shop for discount electronics at Smarter.com.

What do you need to get home safely? You need all the safety protections, plus the correct directions to get you from A to B. To do that, sometimes you need a device that’s a little smarter than the print out from the Internet or your memory. You need a GPS system.

The GPS market is flooded with gizmos and gadgets to get you exactly where you want to be. Here are a couple of the top GPS products for you to test:

Garmin Foretrex 201 Portable Navigator: $107.29

AVIC-S1 GPS from ReFurbDepot.com: $ 129.95

Shop for more affordable GPS systems.

A futuristic digital technology the likes of which we’ve seen in several Sci-Fi movies over the years has now become a reality. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab are working on a revolutionary prototype called “Sixth Sense” which is a wearable gestural interface that augments the physical world around us with digital information and lets us use natural hand gestures to interact with that information.

The SixthSense prototype comprises a pocket projector, mirror and camera worn in a pendant-like mobile device. Both the projector and the camera are connected to a mobile computing device in the user’s pocket. The system projects information onto the surfaces and physical objects around us, making any surface into a digital interface; the camera recognizes and tracks both the user’s hand gestures and physical objects using computer-vision-based techniques. SixthSense uses simple computer-vision techniques to process the video-stream data captured by the camera and follows the locations of colored markers on the user’s fingertips In addition, the software interprets the data into gestures to use for interacting with the projected application interfaces. SixthSense also supports multi-touch and multi-user interaction.

In layman’s terms, with the Sixth sense in hand, you can walk around like Tom Cruise in Minority Report, and get all the info you could possibly need about anything you are looking at with a full display report projected onto the object itself. The object in question could even be a person and you would be able to get information on him or her at first sight. By merely using hand gestures you could get mundane things done like a magician without going through the actual process. For example, You could draw a watch dial on your hand using your fingertip and the time will be digitally displayed instantaneously. You could make a picture frame in the air, and a photo would be immediately taken of the view in front of you. Similarly, you just have to look at the books in a library or the items displayed in your grocery store to get all the info you would need to make an informed decision about the product. By looking at a flight ticket, you would be informed of any delays or changes in flight plans. And what’s more, you will be able to build this dream “machine” all by yourself!

“I am trying to make this tech available to people, and I will provide all the open source software for SixthSense starting next month,” The Economic Times quoted Pranab Mistry, the the MIT grad student behind Sixth Sense as saying. “I notice that it’s hard to for these kind of things to market in some sense. . . because I don’t want this to comply with some of kind of corporate policy. People will be able to make their own hardware. I will give them instructions how to make it. And also provide them key software… give them basic key software layers… they will be able to build their own applications. They will be able to modify base level and do anything.”

The current prototype system costs approximate $350 to build. For a video on how the Sixth sense works , watch below.

YouTube - Watch 

Source: SiliconIndia.com

MonitorOutlet.com is dedicated to selling you any type of electronic you desire at the lowest, wholesale price! Everything from digital camcorders to projectors and projection screens, MonitorOutlet.com has your back and is a great one-stop shop to price compare anything your heart desires. Some of the top products include:

Picture King Dalight Screen Square Format from MonitorOutlet.com: $189.99

Samsung Blu-Ray Disc Player from MonitorOutlet.com: Marked down from their own wholesale price of $349.99 to $321.99.

We all like to fantasize about our favorite video game characters coming to life and helping us fight evil. But what if they came to life, and just performed a basic function that is ingenious, but also not necessarily going to save the world? Take for instance, the Stap Man Stapler from PanicDesign.com: It’s a pretty seedy website, but the design they produce is incredible! Check out some of their top products:

Stap Man Stapler from PanikDesigns.com: 16 pounds (it’s a British company)

Mr. P Mobile Eater Mobile Stand from PanikDesigns.com: 12 pounds