Plantronics Calisto 825 Speakerphone System

The Plantronics Calisto 825 Speakerphone System allows multi-device hands-free communications in the office. This device allows hands-free communications via Bluetooth. It can also seamlessly switch in between PC calls and mobile calls. A 2.4″ color display and touch dial pad allows easy dialing, caller ID viewing, switching and muting across different connected devices.
The Plantronics Calisto 825 also comes with its own remote answer,end and mute control for added convenience. Better audio quality is possible via the wideband audio feature in partnership with advanced noise cancellation technology. The Plantronics Calisto 825 Speakerphone System is available at Plantronics for US$260.
Image Source: Plantronics

Light Blue Optics Light Touch

The Light Touch is a device unlike any current device you might have seen. It also offers a function that may introduce lots of other uniquely innovative gadgets in its wake. The Light Touch, in simple terms, is an interactive projector that is capable of projecting a functional touchscreen display into any surface.
The Light Touch makes use of full color holographic laser projection technology to allow it to create an interactive display. With the Light Touch, a virtual keyboard can be projected into any surface that can be used for possible inputs. It can also be used into display videos as well as play projected games using its touchscreen function. The Light Touch is currently available only for exhibit purposes to show its capabilities and other possible uses. But it does provide an innovative approach that may someday add into the many ways that people may interact with the devices they use.
Image Source: Light Blue Optics

Google Clamping Down On Duplicate Content

According to a new entry on Google’s blog, they have been working on further improving the online search experience for users. Their focus on the recent updates on the Google search engine involved controlling content spam. The company has been working on reducing the amount of spam search results by focusing on copied content.

According to the google blog post, Google has been working on a redesigned document level classifier for indexed sites to detect spam content. But it has also been working on trying to shift its attention to so-called “content farms” known for coming up with low quality content. This led to the company instituting certain algorithmic changes onto the search engine that targets low-quality content sites.

Although it may be a relatively new set of changes for the online search engine, there are already some people who are getting concerned about this. Some are concerned whether the algorithmic changes may affect other legitimate content sites in the process. It has not been said whether Google has already tested this new feature change. But it may just affect some sites possibly because of the changes.

According to Google, they instituted the changes because of some increasing feedback from users regarding the issue. It was done not of their own accord, but as a result of feedback from concerned people who wish to see a more improved Google search engine. The changes made may or may not catch on. But it is Google’s way to further improve the features of their popular search engine to get in step with its main competitors for having the best Web search experience.

7 Things to Stop Doing Now on Facebook

Using a Weak Password

Avoid simple names or words you can find in a dictionary, even with numbers tacked on the end. Instead, mix upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and symbols. A password should have at least eight characters. One good technique is to insert numbers or symbols in the middle of a word, such as this variant on the word "houses": hO27usEs!

Leaving Your Full Birth Date in Your Profile

It's an ideal target for identity thieves, who could use it to obtain more information about you and potentially gain access to your bank or credit card account. If you've already entered a birth date, go to your profile page and click on the Info tab, then on Edit Information. Under the Basic Information section, choose to show only the month and day or no birthday at all.

Overlooking Useful Privacy Controls

For almost everything in your Facebook profile, you can limit access to only your friends, friends of friends, or yourself. Restrict access to photos, birth date, religious views, and family information, among other things. You can give only certain people or groups access to items such as photos, or block particular people from seeing them. Consider leaving out contact info, such as phone number and address, since you probably don't want anyone to have access to that information anyway.

Posting Your Child's Name in a Caption

Don't use a child's name in photo tags or captions. If someone else does, delete it by clicking on Remove Tag. If your child isn't on Facebook and someone includes his or her name in a caption, ask that person to remove the name.

Mentioning That You'll Be Away From Home

That's like putting a "no one's home" sign on your door. Wait until you get home to tell everyone how awesome your vacation was and be vague about the date of any trip.

Letting Search Engines Find You

To help prevent strangers from accessing your page, go to the Search section of Facebook's privacy controls and select Only Friends for Facebook search results. Be sure the box for public search results isn't checked.

Permitting Youngsters to Use Facebook Unsupervised

Facebook limits its members to ages 13 and over, but children younger than that do use it. If you have a young child or teenager on Facebook, the best way to provide oversight is to become one of their online friends. Use your e-mail address as the contact for their account so that you receive their notifications and monitor their activities. "What they think is nothing can actually be pretty serious," says Charles Pavelites, a supervisory special agent at the Internet Crime Complaint Center. For example, a child who posts the comment "Mom will be home soon, I need to do the dishes" every day at the same time is revealing too much about the parents' regular comings and goings.

Source : YahooNewsFinance

iPhone Desktop Handset

This iPhone Desktop Handset can convert your iPhone into a desktop handset phone in style. This device plugs into the iPhone’s headphone jack. You can then use the handset of the device to answer calls while using the iPhone to navigate through the different apps and functions. This combination makes it a unique item to have on top of your desk. The iPhone Desktop Headset is available at Hammacher Schlemmer for US$60.
Image Source: Hammacher Schlemmer

Desktop notifications for emails and chat messages

If you use Google Chrome, these days can be over since we just launched HTML5 desktop notifications which display pop-ups whenever a chat message or new email arrives.

To turn them on, click on the Settings link in the top right corner of Gmail and scroll down to the “Desktop Notifications” section. If you just want to get notified about chat messages, or if you use Priority Inbox and only want to get notifications for important messages, you can customize your settings from there too.

This functionality is currently only available for people using Google Chrome, but we’re working to make notifications part of the standard Web platform.

Introducing Nokia Reader 1.0 Beta for Symbian

Looking for a simple and easy to use RSS reader to manage news feeds on your Symbian^3 or S60 5.0 device? Nokia Reader pushes your favorite news feeds to your homescreen allowing you to quickly catch up on current events.

This useful application is easy to setup: Just select your favorite feeds from a pre-populated list of major news sources or add a new feed just by typing the website address.

And thanks to push notifications, battery consumption is modest and content is always fresh.

Main features include:

Uses push notifications

Content directory

Homescreen widget

Supports Nokia Account

Synology DiskStation DS411slim Compact 4-bay NAS server

Synology has officially launched their newest NAS server that called the Synology DiskStation DS411slim. New NAS device is a fairly compact body with measuring 120 x 105 x 142 mm.

The Synology DiskStation DS411slim is comes with 4-bay 2.5-inch SATA hard drives (HDD), solid state drives (SSD) or hybrid hard drives. It is offers total capacity of up to 4TB and pre-loaded with DiskStation Manager 3.0.

Synology DiskStation DS411slim NAS server is provides Gigabit Ethernet, one eSATA and two USB 2.0 ports, as well as support DLNA media server.

The Synology DS411slim NAS is delivers read and write speed up to 106.9 MB/s and 48.6 MB/s (in RAID 5 configuration).

Specs of Synology DiskStation DS411slim NAS device is a 1.6GHz processor (most likely, Intel Atom), 256MB DDR3 RAM, and 16.8W power consumption in use. The price of DiskStation DS411slim is not reported yet.

Tip & Tilt Internet Radio

The Tip & Tilt Internet Radio is quite unique in that it does not have the usual knobs and buttons for control. Designed as a portable and small box speaker, the Tip & Tilt Internet Radio features a built-in gyro sensor that handles the functions in absence of buttons. To control volume, users only have to sway the radio forwards and backwards to either increase or decrease loudness. Users can also preset four favorite Internet radio stations and simply switch from one station to another by turning the radio from side to side. The radio can get signals from a home’s WiFi connection. This unique Internet Radio is available at Firebox for 90 UK Pounds. That’s around US$144.

Image Source: Firebox

iPad App tells JFK's story

Fifty years after John F. Kennedy's inauguration, a new iPad application dedicated to the late president's life aims to be a multimedia museum for history buffs.

The app, by New York City-based historian and publisher Marc Schulman, includes a new biography titled "JFK History Maker - A Fifty Year Retrospective" as well as photographs, video and audio clips, the text of major addresses, letters, and his calendar.

"The paper book is limited, in that you can't see all the supporting documents, videos and photographs," said Schulman, who simultaneously created the app as he was writing the biography.

Schulman gives the example of someone wanting to learn about Kennedy and civil rights. The user could look into his meetings on the issue and how much time he dedicated to it, watch video clips and read the full text of Kennedy's speeches.

The app, JFK Historymaker, was released this month.

Source: Reuters

Smartphone apps to help you spot singles

A whole new array of applications on the Web and smartphones are designed to help you spot singles near you.

Five sites out of these are:

Ratio Finder: It uses data from location-based social network Foursquare to map out local businesses based on where men and women tend to meet.

The site calculates Foursquare check-ins by gender and then visualizes the data on a map, currently only available in New York and San Francisco.

The New York map, for example, shows a giant pink dot over the rooftop garden cafe at the Metropolitan Musuem of Art, where it says there are 91 per cent more females.

MeetMoi: Uses your phone to update your location information in real time and send you alerts when potential matches are nearby.

It exists on iPhones and Android phones and uses GPS technology to help users meet people while they're out and about.

After you set up a profile, the service finds two nearby users with matching preferences; it sends each a message, opening the door for conversation.

Skout: lets users see nearby singles and reach out to the ones they want to meet. According to the company, it helps them connect with weekly emails on new singles in their area.

It doesn't disclose the exact street addresses of its users, so the only way others can locate them precisely is if they willingly provide their locations.

Grindr: bills itself as the "the go-to place for gay, bi, and curious guys to meet" and uses GPS technology to help users connect with other men in their area.

Users upload a picture and complete a profile and then use the service to see who's nearby. Accessible via Apple mobile devices and BlackBerrys, the service says its the largest all-male location social network.

PinPointsX: gives users what it calls a "Passion Map." The adult-oriented service says it's the leading application for hookups and can lead users to a night of fantasy and sexual fulfilment

Users upload a picture and complete a profile and then use the service to see who's nearby. Accessible via Apple mobile devices and BlackBerrys, the service says its the largest all-male location social network.

PinPointsX: gives users what it calls a "Passion Map." The adult-oriented service says it's the leading application for hookups and can lead users to a night of fantasy and sexual fulfilment.

Logitech's M515 Mouse is Built for the Couch

The newly announced Logitech Wireless Mouse M515 is designed for use on any surface, even textured ones like fabric and plastic. 

The M515 features a hand-detection sensor on the top so the mouse is only active when there's a hand on top of it, and saves battery life any other time. Logitech says that the mouse can live up to 2 years on one set of batteries, and uses their tiny Unifying Receiver to connect over 2.4GHz wireless. 

The top and bottom of the M515 is built with as few seams as possible and is closed up so it won't collect dust and fuzz. It'll be available in Europe first, arriving in April and retailing for approximately $79.99 USD.

Cloud Computing as Top Technology Priority for CIOs in 2011

The worldwide CIO survey was conducted by Gartner EXP from September to December 2010 and represents CIO budget plans reported at that time. The survey includes responses from 2,014 CIOs representing over $160 billion in corporate and public-sector IT spending across 50 countries and 38 industries.
A ranking of business strategies reported by CIOs (see Table 1) indicates that growth is a core expectation for 2011 and beyond. The move to growth appears to be more of a change in emphasis than a restructuring of business strategies and business expectations for IT, as prior top concerns for reducing enterprise costs and improving business processes remain important.
Table 1Top 10 Business and Technology Priorities in 2011

Top 10 Business Priorities	Ranking	Top 10 Technology Priorities	Ranking
Increasing enterprise growth	1	Cloud computing	1
Attracting and retaining new customers	2	Virtualization	2
Reducing enterprise costs	3	Mobile technologies	3
Creating new products and services (innovation)	4	IT management	4
Improving business processes	5	Business intelligence	5
Implementing and updating business applications	6	Networking, voice and data communications	6
Improving technical infrastructure	7	Enterprise applications	7
Improving enterprise efficiency	8	Collaboration technologies	8
Improve operations	9	Infrastructure	9
Improving business continuity, risk and security	10	Web 2.0	10

Source: Gartner EXP (January 2011)

 

Read More At Gartner Website

Sauna Boy USB Humidifier

This unique Sauna Boy USB Humidifier certainly can be a welcome option for those who hate dry heated air, especially when in front of a computer. The Sauna Boy is a small personal humidifier that is powered via USB just add water inside and it can humidify the surrounding air comfortable enough while you are using your PC. Quite an ingenious yet simple device, the Sauna Boy USB Humidifier is available for order at the Japanese OTAS site for 1980 Japanese Yen or around US$25, not including shipping.

Image Source: OTAS

Wowee One Portable Speaker

new Wowee One Portable Speaker that offers more than just being a standard portable speaker.

The Wowee One Portable Speaker is designed for use with other portable media devices with a headphone jack output slot. It features a standard speaker but also makes use of hybrid technology for added audio quality unlike any portable speaker its size. A standard speaker provides audio for mid to high frequency sounds. It also employs a unique Gel Audio driver that allows it to create a makeshift subwoofer to whatever surface the speaker is placed on. The special gel inside the speaker transfers the sound into the material it is placed on, providing a wide range of deep and low bass range sound options. The Wowee One Portable Speaker is available at the Wowee One website for 50 UK Pounds or around US$80.

Image Source: Wowee One

Samsung NX11 Digital Camera

New Samsung NX11 are designed to provide easy functions as well as better performance to help users capture those perfect images. These features are combined to give photographers more convenience as well as freedom to get the shot they require.

The Samsung NX11is the latest addition to the NX Series of cameras. Not only does it come with inter-changeable lens, the Samsung NX11 also features other functions that makes its use quite convenient. The NX11 Digital Camera features the i-Function system for the lens at a touch of a button. The camera’s i-Function lens can be controlled by using the i-Function button as well as the ring on the lens to control camera settings quicker and without taking the camera off its target.

The Samsung NX11 also has Smart Auto features, shooting modes, smart filters and others make shooting more convenient for the photographer. It is also capable of shooting and recording video in 720p HD quality. Its larger APS-C sensor allows for better quality videos and images. The new Samsung NX11 Digital Camera has just been recently introduced but may not be available yet on the market. Samsung has not yet stated how much it will cost.

Image Source: Samsung

Apple Sells 7 Million iPads In The Last Quarter

During the last holidays alone, the very first popular tablet was able to sell a staggering 7 million units.

According  iApple n announcing its financial results for the first quarter for fiscal year 2011 which ended on December 25, 2010, it sold a total of 7.33 million iPads. This is on top of a very profitable quarter for Apple that posted an overall revenue of $26.74 billion. This is enough to gain a net quarterly profit of $6 billion for the company.

Considering that the Apple iPad was just launched in the 2nd quarter of last year, it may be quite normal to expect such incredible sales. But then again, many competitors are slowly coming up with their own tablet versions that the market will be saturated with new tablets in no time. But it may be quite unfortunate for Apple to be the company to open up this new market for devices that previously hasn’t yet been established.

Credit should be given it to Apple for revolutionizing a tablet market that was once considered as a niche area with no big players and garnering only little attention. Now that Apple has paved the way for this market to enjoy explosive growth in just a span of less that a year, it is getting the attention it deserves with more and more tablet players coming in. It was a big risk that they took with various criticisms floating around concerning tablet devices and how it might not catch on. But they took the risk and are now reaping profitable rewards for it.

The 7 million iPads sold may just be the tip of the iceberg. It may just be an indication that consumers still hunger for such devices in the future. But then again the question remains as to whether people may be as quick to change their tablets for newer versions, just like what usually happens in the smartphone market. Competitors in the tablet market are also trying to obtain their own share and might pose a challenge to Apple and its iPad. It is still quite an interesting market to watch out with probably a lot of surprises in store for the rest of the year.

Tips Help Your Kids Become Better Readers

1. Hunt for words wherever you are. Play “find the letter” games with your children in the car, at the park, wherever your day takes you. In New York City, it’s easy to find signs with all of the letters, so we take turns going through the alphabet. On the road we use license plates.
2. Pick out books that interest your kids. This sounds obvious, but we all have biases regarding the topics we think our kids be interested in or what we’re interested in ourselves. While Power Rangers and Scooby Doo books may not be great literature, they inspire my son to become a better reader. We leave the “good stuff” for when we read to him.
3. Bring books to life using “voices.” When you read aloud, “voice” the characters and add drama to the narration. In a pinch use a reading tool like the LeapFrog Tag or log on to a pre-reading website. Both resources will read books aloud.
4. Ask questions. Ask them what the events in the story remind them of in their own lives and how the characters are feeling. Or have your child to come up with an alternate ending to the story. Check out Learning if Fundamental for more ideas.

PBS Launches Free Video Streaming App for iPhone

The new PBS streaming video app for iPhone. The free app offers more than 300 videos from 30 shows, including full-length episodes, segments and previews with new content updated daily.

Shows from some of PBS' most popular series are available, including: Antiques Roadshow, Great Performances, History Detectives, Julia Child, Nature, NOVA, and Secrets of the Dead.

While not all of the shows have full episodes available (PBS Kids is notably lacking), most have at least a handful. And some, like Julia Child's Cooking with Master Chefs series from the 1990's, are a real treasure. My favorite is the episode with a pre-celebrity Emeril Lagasse looking downright trim while cooking a classic shrimp etouffee.

The PBS app also lets you look up when future episodes will be airing on your local cable channel and set up reminders in your iCal calendar app.

The PBS app is available through iTunes, and there is a similar app for iPad, as well.

Top 10 Venture Capital Bloggers of 2010

Here is the list of top 10 - along with the blog URL and VC's Twitter handle - below:

1.  Paul Graham (@paulg), YCombinator, Essays
2. Fred Wilson (@fredwilson), Union Square Ventures, A VC
3. Mark Suster (@msuster), GRP Partners, Both Sides of the Table
4. Brad Feld (@bradfeld), Foundry Group, Feld Thoughts
5. Chris Dixon (@cdixon), Founder Collective, cdixon.org
6. David Skok (@bostonvc), Matrix Partners, For Entrepreneurs
7. Charlie O'Donnell (), First Round Capital, This is Going to be Big
8. Larry Cheng (@larryvc), Volition Capital, Thinking About Thinking
9. Dave McClure (@500startups), Founders Fund, Master of 500 Hats
10. Ben Horowitz (@bhorowitz, Andreesen Horowitz, Ben's Blog

Playboy iPad app coming soon

Playboy will be getting its own App, allowing access to the entire back catalog of the iconic girlie mag, uncensored. Quite how this fits with Apple's notorious censorship of content in other apps remains to be seen - beyond the obvious "Playboy is a really big name, so they get to do what they want" aspect - but, hey! Now you can read it for the articles wherever you go.
The app will be launched in March.

Read more: http://techland.time.com/2011/01/19/playboy-nudity-come-to-ipad/#ixzz1BakWET7Y

Zoho Books

Today Zoho is launching Zoho Books to the public.

Zoho’s 26th productivity app, Zoho Books, is an online accounting software that gives business as snapshot of money flowing into and out of accounts. The software allows you to send invoices for payments, receive online payments, record bills and expenses, monitor bank and credit card transactions, deal in a variety of currencies, manage contacts, and share data.

Users can generate custom estimates, quotes and invoices in multiple currencies-complete with company logos and other customizations. Users can also receive payments online, automate recurring invoices and other repetitive tasks, and send out payment reminders.

The software, which costs $24 per month, also allows business owners to track bank and credit card transactions such as deposits, fund transfers, credit card charges, refunds and expenses. Zoho Books is also launching with a designated app in the Google Apps Marketplace, which is free.

The Guardian Launches Its New Subscription-Based iPhone App

 The Guardian launches a new iPhone app today, which the paper touts as delivering more frequent updates and broader content. But the rationale behind the new app isn't simply to provide a better user experience, but to initiate the new subscription model that this digital version of the app will provide.

The Guardian already has an iPhone app, one that will be supplanted by today's release. Since it launched in December 2009, it's been downloaded over 200,000 times, and paper says it has a "significantly high" user retention rate, with 75% of those who've downloaded it continuing to use it on a monthly basis. 25% use it every single day.

The existing app will continue to be available, but only for the next six months when it will be shuttered.

With the introduction of a subscription fee, The Guardian's iPhone app joins the newspapers that are trying to find new ways to monetize their content for online readers. According to paidContent, The Guardian has "devalued itself on mobile to between four and 12 percent of its equivalent print subscription price." Whether or not that makes it seem like a good deal for newspaper readers, however, remains to be seen.

ShareFile Introduces Cloud-Based File Syncing For The Enterprise

File-sharing services are getting pretty sophisticated these days, using the cloud to do a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to not only transferring files, but managing them as well. ShareFile, a fast-growing company founded five years ago which is based in Raleigh, North Carolina, is releasing a new product called Sync today targeted at enterprises that want an easier way to sync files between desktops and servers. ShareFile competes with services such as Dropboxand Box.net, but is more focussed on IT departments.

Like Dropbox, ShareFile allows you to choose a folder on your computer (PC or Mac) to sync to the cloud. Where ShareFile differs from something like Dropbox is that it makes it easier to sync the same files with multiple users and other advanced workflows. For instance, you can set up one-way syncs just for updating files from a master source, as well as two-way syncs to capture updates from all machines. Also, ShareFile maps to your computer’s existing file structure, so you don’t have to place a file in a special folder to make sure it syncs. Once they are synced, the files are accessible via the Web and mobile as well.

Source: TechCrunch

Ultima Duo Coffee Machine

Different types of coffee creations is not something that any ordinary coffee maker can do. It is something reserved for the Ultima Duo Coffee Machine from Coffee Partners.
Technology lends a hand in the new Ultima Duo Coffee Machine. Aside from being able to provide a variety of different coffee mixtures, the Ultima Duo makes it more convenient by having a 7″ color touch screen for controls. Different coffee specialties can be prepared using the Ultima Duo. It can produce coffee specialties either by the cup or by the jug. The Ultima Duo is designed by Seiger Design and is available at Coffee Partners. It is not indicated how much this coffee machine costs.