From Concept to Consumer by Phil Baker

Staying in sync (San Diego Transcript column)

Right now I'm using three computers -- a MacBook, a desktop iMac with a 24-inch monitor and a Lenovo X300 ThinkPad PC.

While I may be guilty of computer proliferation, it's highlighted for me one of the problems with using more than one computer for maintaining important information such as contacts, a calendar and files.
Ideally, we'd like to be able to use multiple devices without worrying about which one has the up-to-date phone number, appointment or PowerPoint file.

Syncing software is designed to solve this problem; to let us add or change a contact, appointment or file on one computer and have those changes ripple onto all of the others. That allows us to use different computers at different times and always have updated information at our fingertips. Those who sync their smartphones to their computers can appreciate this.

We're beginning to see some new attempts to address this need. While none are perfect, they represent the beginnings of an important new category of software that will make things easier for us in the future when we may want to access the same information from home, office or even from the car.

DotMac
DotMac makes it a snap to keep your contacts and calendar in sync on any number of computers, as long as they're Macs. The service costs $99 per year and provides a number of elements, including 10 gigabytes of online storage. But its best feature is its sync capability. It's limited to iCal and Address Book, the excellent contact and calendaring applications that come on every Mac.

Setup is simple; it works in the background and you never have to think about it. Enter a new appointment or contact, or edit an existing one on one Mac and it will show up on all your Macs within a few minutes. (You can set the frequency of syncing at one hour or longer). What happens is DotMac maintains an up to date copy of your address book and calendar and syncs it with each of the computers. It always knows which is the newest or most recently edited entry.

DotMac also syncs a number of other items between computers, such as mail accounts, notes, passwords, signatures and browser bookmarks.

Once I sync my iPhone with any of the computers, the phone becomes part of the syncing group; additions I've made on the iPhone are synced to all of the computers, while the iPhone is updated with the latest

The Sanctuary: An elegant solution for charging your devices

The Sanctuary is another clever product from Bluelounge Design of Pasadena. (www.bluelounge.com). It solves simply and elegantly a problem many of us have, charging our devices each night. It's a tray where you place all of your devices and can charge everything without a tangle of wires and adapters. Under the tray are a dozen connectors, all attached to the housing for thousands of different devices. Just select those for your devices and bring the short cords up through the false bottom. I'm using it now to charge an iPhone, BlackBerry and a Plantronics Bluetooth headset.

A USB plug lets you add your charger cord for any device that doesn't have a cord such as a Jawbone headset.  It's a very clever solution that's unlike anything else.  Simple to set up, simple to use. And attractive, as well. $129.95.

Livescribe Pulse smartpen: Practical, powerful and affordable (San Diego Transcript)

First there was the desktop computer, then the laptop and most recently, the handheld. Now there's Pulse, a pen computer from Livescribe, a startup company in Oakland, Calif.www.livescribe.com.

Pulse looks like a futuristic fountain pen, about the size of a jumbo Mont Blanc, weighing 1.3 ounces, constructed of charcoal-blue anodized aluminum. But it's also a computer containing a 150 MHz ARM processor, 2 gigabytes of memory, a camera, OLED display, battery, microphone and speaker. Packing all of this into such a small package is quite an achievement, but nothing compared with what it can do.

The primary function of Pulse is to take notes using specially designed notebooks with dot paper. When it's docked to a computer, a copy of the notes is transferred and displayed in the Livescribe desktop software, just as they appear in the notebook, arranged page by page. The notes can then be copied into other documents, e-mailed, archived or shared with your friends and workers using your personal online location provided by the company.

Most significantly, your notes can be searched on your computer using the built-in word recognition software. If this sounds vaguely familiar, you may recall Logitech offered a peripheral that also took notes. But it was much larger and had none of the intelligence of the Pulse. Both are based on dot paper technology from Anoto, a Swedish company.

Kensington SlimBlade Trackball Mouse

With the millions of mice sold you'd think it would be hard to come up with something new. But the SlimBlade Trackball mouse is one of the cleverest to come along in a long time. It's a Bluetooth mouse that has two modes, conventional and trackball, switchable by the push of a button. The trackball mode is best for limited space as on an airplane tray or for added precision. It's powered by 2 AA batteries and has a built in battery gauge. It's attractively styled and feels good in the hand for both left and right handers. About $50. www.kensington.com.

Mophi Juice Pack: Extend your iPhone battery

The Mophie Juice Pack is an excellent solution for extending the run time of an iPhone.  The JuicePack is a combination lithium battery and case.  Slide the iPhone into it and it will double the run time, providing 8 hours of talk time or 24 hours of music.  An LED battery gauge on the back tells you the charge status. While the battery increases the size,, mostly the length, the iPhone is still pocketable. Another way to use it is as a portable charger. When the main battery is running low, plug it in and it will charge it up. www.mophie.com. $100.

Taking the complexity out of video (San Diego Transcript column)

I recently purchased a small, simple video camera to take videos of my family, including my new grandson. I chose the Panasonic SDR-SW20 ($399) because it was compact, simple and used SD memory cards. These cards are plummeting in price, provide lots of storage capacity in their tiny form factor, and make it easy to transfer the videos to the computer.

The camera can also be submerged to 5 feet, making it great for use while shallow snorkeling, which my wife Jane and I will be doing on an upcoming vacation. I wanted sufficient resolution for viewing it on a notebook and TV, but with small enough file sizes to make it easy to share among family and friends.
When I got the camera I tried it out on a variety of scenes, both indoors and out. While the videos came out fine, the files were saved in a format, not recognized by the Mac or Quicktime, even though the specs said it would work.

After three calls, Panasonic's tech support department advised me to look for third-party software to convert the files each time. While I eventually found one and was able to open the files, I returned the camera because it was just becoming too big of a hassle. I'd have to instruct others I sent the files to on how to open them, depending on their computer type. All the effort took away the simplicity and spontaneity I was looking for.

After talking with an expert, it turns out my experience was pretty typical. Files from video cameras come in a wide variety of formats, and have a long way to go to match the ease of use of still images, which standardize on a jpg format that can be easily shared and viewed.

Another option
Since then I came across the Flip Video Camcorder, an inexpensive camera that's designed to make it simple to shoot, share and save videos. While the product is missing many of the features found on more expensive cameras, it has one big difference. Anyone can use it with no effort at all. After using the Panasonic, the Flip was almost magical.

Gadgets you've never seen before

VISORGANIZER

Use your head and stay organized! The Visorganizer is a revolutionary carrying case for everything you need to make it through your busy day whether you're a pro golfer, a retired ship builder, a club DJ, or a busy mom on the go. And it clips on the front of your favorite hat. Pack it with up to 7 lbs. If it has a visor, it needs a Visorganizer!

PRO WHISK SET

New from Sal Romano's Cook Goods kitchenware, this 28-piece professional whisk set is perfect for mixing, beating, folding, blending or stirring! World-renowned chef and owner of The Dolce Escargot, Sal has perfected the art of whisking. Now, he shares his passion with you. Includes 30 of Sal's favorite recipes that use whisks and the DVD Cooking With Whisks—let Sal walk you through which end of the whisk to hold!

PEACEFUL PROGRESSION SMOKE ALARM

Awake to your next fire calm and refreshed with DigiPliance's Peaceful Progression Smoke Alarm. Choose the perfect way for your family to wake up—from the peaceful sounds of the rainforest, to the celebration of Dixieland jazz, or the hot pulse of the Caribbean—because a fire doesn't have to be a disaster.

AUTO POWER STRIP

Take your office on the road and say goodbye to your "cable car" with this car power strip from Route 56. Plug in up to eight electronic devices at once! Scan, print, and send with two USB ports, an ethernet port, even a 25-pin parallel connector for you computer's monitor. Mounts easily to most standard rearview mirrors.

And now a note from The Onion where I discovered these products:

No, the products aren't real. But the empty boxes are. Wrap your otherwise forgettable gift in this gift box, and watch as the recipient struggles to feign enthusiasm.

Available from The Onion; $20 for all 4 boxes, $8 each.. 

Dash Express displays local traffic (San Diego Transcript column)

Manufacturers of portable GPS devices, called PNDs (personal navigation devices), are adding all sorts of features, many of dubious value such as picture viewers and music players.

What users want most, however, is traffic information. But that's only been available for highways. Two companies, Inryx and Traffic.com, collect highway traffic data, based on historical patterns and real-life data provided by road sensors, cameras and commercial vehicles that send back information as they travel. Companies such as XM Radio and Clear Channel then distribute this traffic data to the users' PNDs, auto GPS devices and cell phones.

While this methodology works for highways, it hasn't been practical for surface roads, which may be more important for many of us, particularly when driving in our own community and on our daily commute.

With the recent launch of its Dash Express device, Sunnyvale startup, Dash Navigation, has taken on the challenge of providing accurate, real time traffic data for all arteries, both highways and surface roads.

To accomplish this, it has developed a PND for the car with two-way communications that exchanges traffic data among all of its users. Each PND sends back traffic information to the company on a continual basis. The company processes the information using its own algorithms and database, and sends back the traffic conditions to its users.

The traffic information is sent from each device anonymously, using a built-in cellular radio. The more Dash users there are, the more widespread and accurate the information is. The company says that having several hundred users in most cities is sufficient. While it's most accurate if the data is provided in real time, Dash also uses the information it receives to create historical traffic data for all arteries, for each 15-minute increment throughout the day, and for each day of the week. It also supplements its highway data using Inryx, so in the worst case, it's as good as other devices.

The Dash device displays the traffic as dashed and solid lines in red, yellow and green superimposed on the roads. Dashed lines represent less accurate data, often based on historical information, while solid lines are the most accurate, derived from data from its own users.

 

Portable WiFi access point (San Diego Transcript column)

CradlePoint's new PHS300 Personal Hotspot provides a portable WiFi hotspot using a cellular USB modem that's typically used with notebook computers. Just plug the modem into the PHS300. It has a built-in rechargeable battery that supplies 2-3 hours of use away from an outlet. I tried it with the tiny Novatel/Sprint Wireless Ovation U727 during a short-term cable outage. It allowed all my computers at home to connect. It's ideal for use where you'd like to provide Internet access to more than one device and bring the coverage of cellular to computers without requiring any software to be installed. $179 at cradlepoint.com.

Office for Macintosh 2008 offers eye-catching features (San Diego Transcript column)

If you've been watching the TV ads with the PC and Apple guys going head to head on Mac vs. Vista, you might be surprised to learn that Microsoft offers its own product that's nearly indispensable for some Mac users. Office for Mac is used by about 50 percent of all Mac owners and is a big profit maker for Microsoft. Its files are fully compatible with the Windows version of Office, eliminating the problems of opening attachments and reading files that plagued the Mac in its early years. An entirely separate group from the Office for Windows team developed the product, but both teams collaborated to ensure compatibility.

Microsoft has introduced its latest version, Microsoft Office for Mac 2008, which replaces the 2004 version. It's the first version written specifically for the Intel Macs, but will work on older Macs, as well. Like its Office for Windows 2007 counterpart, it includes four applications -- Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Entourage -- the latter being a combined mail, contact and calendar program similar to, but less powerful than Outlook for Windows.

The Mac version of Office is less of an upgrade and different from the latest Office for Windows 2007 that has a ribbon interface -- a device that presents commands organized into a set of tabs.

The biggest improvements relate to making it easier to find features often buried deep in menus and to provide new ways to improve the appearance of the output. The menu system now has three rows of elements, the normal drop-down lists, an area displaying customizable icons of commonly used commands and tabs that provide access to a variety range of graphic elements and templates.

For example, in Word you can access preformatted pages and elements for a cover page, table of contents, and headers and footers. A horizontal array of thumbnails opens under the tab and shows how these elements will appear in the document.

Lugbuddy: Simple travel accessory that works well

If you travel with a roller bag, the Lugbuddy lets you secure a second bag to the handle in an instant. It works much better than hanging the second bag out in front of the roller bag, because if your roller is full, the hanging bag usually flops to the side. I came across it at the recent Travel Goods Show in San Diego.

CTIA showcases new wireless products (San Diego Transcript column)

This year's CTIA show in Las Vegas, held April 1-3, had 1,200 exhibiting companies and more than 40,000 attendees from 125 countries.

CTIA is the major U.S. show that covers the cellular and wireless industry, made up of carriers such as Sprint, AT&T and Verizon, equipment suppliers such as Nokia, LG and Samsung, and components companies such as Qualcomm and TI.

What was new? More phones, many emulating the large screen/no keyboard form factor of the iPhone. There was new talk about how the carriers are opening up their networks so new devices can work on them without requiring long and costly approvals. These, of course, are the same carriers that have resisted opening up for years and have been dictating what features are put onto and left off of the phones. And companies unveiled more services to use on your phone, including GPS, mapping, social networking and entertainment.

San Diego's Qualcomm had one of the largest booths showcasing a wide range of products and technologies. Qualcomm's inGeo chip, for example, can track the location of individuals, people and pets to provide location information using its built-in GPS and data communications technology. Its new Snapdragon chip combines high-speed wireless connectivity with the processing power of a fast computer, yet with exceptionally low power consumption. Qualcomm's new Mirasol black and white displays provide clear visibility in bright light with virtually no power consumption. That means devices can have an always-on display with little effect on battery life.

TomTom showed new routing technology for its next generation GPS devices. Through built-in historical traffic patterns that vary by time and day, the devices will guide you to the fastest route. However, both TomTom and Garmin products are facing competition from carriers which add more GPS capabilities to their phones and provide real-time traffic information.

For example, Networks in Motion of Irvine announced AtlasBook Navigator, a new software platform enabling people to bypass traffic jams, explore a new town, plan social activities on-the-go or just find their way home using their GPS-enabled mobile phone. Its products are available from Verizon. (networksinmotion.com).

Fighting back, Garmin showed its new Nuvifone, although it was a non-working mock-up under a plastic dome. It's another all screen phone, similar in size to the iPhone, with a powerful GPS. It will be available later this year. (garmin.com)

Apricorn BIO secure portable drive (San Diego Transcript column)

Poway-based Apricorn introduces a compact portable back-up drive that offers a high level of protection using a built-in fingerprint reader and real-time 128-bit AES hardware encryption, making the drive impossible to penetrate even if it's removed from its enclosure. You can access your data with the drive plugged into any computer; no software is required. The BIO come is several capacities from 80 GB ($159) to 250 GB ($259) and includes everything needed to work with a PC or Mac. It's ideal for business travelers that want to carry a backup without fear of it being lost or stolen.

Also, of note, Apricorn is celebrating its 25th birthday this month. The company has developed more than 600 products, including a range of hard drives to replace and upgrade existing notebook drives. Its upgrade kits are simple to use and excellent local support is available to assist. Apricorn's products and service are well regarded by the technology industry.

Velocity Mobile introduces hit phones at CTIA

This week's CTIA show showcased a number of new phones. Samsung and Sprint announced the Instinct, an iPod look alike, but, alas, not a work-alike. They plan to spend $100 million dollars on advertising. I tried it but it was very unstable, obviously an early prototype. The verdict awaits further testing, but in my short time with it has a disadvantage with its proprietary operating system/

But what I think are the hit phones of the show are not the new phones from Samsung, LG, Nokia, Sony Ericsson or RIM, but the line of Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional phones from Velocity Mobile. These are stunning, all black phones with an entirely new interface that finally makes Windows Mobile enjoyable. You can add a few widgets to the screen so it only shows what's of interest. It's elegant and polished, not like the ungainly interface HTC puts on some of their Windows Mobile phones. I never thought I'd lust after a Windows Mobile phone, but these phones changed my mind.

There are two models that will be released in a few months, the Velocity 103 and the Velocity 111. The 103 has an incredible 2.8-inch screen with VGA resolution as well as a trackball like the Blackberry. It has WiFi built-in and 3G. The Velocity 111 adds a Blackberry like keyboard beneath the screen. Best of all these will be sold unlocked and can be used with AT&T or T-Mobile or with any local SIM card around the world.

A powerful portable scanner that's also versatile (San Diego Transcript column)

Fujitsu has introduced the smallest scanner ever to read both sides of a page and feature an automatic document feed.

The S300 weighs three pounds and measures 11 x 31/2 x 3 inches, compact enough to take with you almost anywhere or to hide on a desk. It lists for $295, but is available from many retailers for about $250.

Because of its portability, it opens up all sorts of new uses. It can convert documents into electronic PDF files to be e-mailed, scan business cards at a trade show directly into Outlook, and be used to send copies of your receipts for reimbursements from the road. It works as a substitute for sending faxes of signed documents and is useful for adding simple sketches or diagrams you create into your documents. It's ideal for sending your handwritten notes to the office while traveling.

The S300 is simple to set up and use. Install the software and plug two cords into two USB ports on your computer -- one for data transfer and power and the other for power -- or use the AC adapter that's provided. It comes with three software programs -- ScanSnap Manager, ScanScapOrganizer and business-card scanning software -- that all install at the same time.

ScanSnap Manager provides a simple control panel to change settings and preferences. Organizer provides viewing and organization of the scanned content. Documents are shown as small thumbnails that can be edited, moved to folders or e-mailed. When scanning, you can enable the optical character recognition to translate the entire document or the first page to text to make it easy to search.

The no-thinking backup solution (San Diego Transcript)

The ClickFree HD700 external hard drive provides one of the simplest means ever for backing up one or more PCs (no Macs yet). Simply plug the drive into any computer and it will locate and back up your files automatically. There's no software to install. The device can also be used to back up multiple computers and always knows which computer it's attached to. I've been trying the HD700 and it works as claimed. It's much easier than the many one-click solutions available, which require software to be loaded and configured. Cost is $169 with 120 GB capacity, which is enough for several computers. www.goclickfree.com.

2-in-1 Etymotic High-fidelity, hands-free headset + earphones; perfect for traveling

Etymotic has combined the performance of their $400 ER-4 stereo headphones with an excellent headset for use with the iPhone. It has the same response accuracy of Etymotic's ER-4 earphones and the highest noise isolation of any earphones. That means it seals out twice as much ambient noise than Bose's noise reducing headphones, yet fits in a pocket, making it great for traveling. The quality of the sound is stunning because of its accuracy with no false coloration.  $179 from Etymotic.

Revo iSkin iPhone case - best for full protection and gripability

I've been searching for an iPhone case with these three attributes:
1. Full protection including the screen
2. Provides a more secure grip than the slippery metal body
3. Doesn't add bulk so the phone still can fit in a pocket

I've scoured the Internet and the Apple stores and finally found a solution. It's the Revo iSkin.  Unlike other rubber cases, the iSkin has a clear panel that covers the screen for protection and then snaps off and stores on the back of the case when using the phone. It even has a little door that covers the headphone socket, keeping out dust. (Dust in the socket is a known problem that can prevent the speakers from functioning.) The case comes with other extras that I promptly discarded including a screen protector/privacy screen. $39.95.

Compact universal travel adapter

Here's a handy Universal Travel Adapter With USB Port that I've been trying out. It has plugs for worldwide use and also provides a 5-volt charge through it's USB connector. Has a convenient lighted indicator to confirm that the outlet is live and  the plug is  working. $17 here.

Travel goods revealed at annual trade show (San Diego Transcript column)

This past week, the Travel Goods Show, the industry's annual trade show, was held at the San Diego Convention Center.

Also in town was Peter Greenberg, the Travel Editor for NBC's "Today" show, CNBC and MSNBC. I joined him on his syndicated radio show broadcast from the spectacular new Grand Del Mar Hotel and discussed some of the best and worst travel gadgets. Here's my complete list:

Best travel gadgets:
Computers: Apple MacBook Air and Lenovo ThinkPad X300 (recently reviewed). Each is lightweight with a full-size keyboard and excellent screen. The Air's screen is so bright it can be used outdoors.

Computer accessory: The Battery Geek 222 Lithium Ion Portable Power Station, will relieve any concern about running out of notebook power on the longest flight. This 4-pound, slim package provides 15-20 hours of power for a Mac or PC notebook. The individual batteries are made by LG and there's circuitry added to insure longevity and safety. This is one of the few companies that offer a cable with a magnetic connector that works with the current Mac notebooks. $499. A 6-8 hour version is available for $299. Batterygeek.net.

Cameras: The Pentax K20D digital SLR is my current favorite for travel. It's the company's latest, top-of-the-line product and based on early tests the images are better than anything I've seen from any digital SLR. It's the same size as its older K10D, but has a new 15-megabyte sensor and many new features including live viewing. A full review is planned soon. Why is it best for travel? It's weatherproof, more compact than most SLRs, and used with Pentax's pancake lens ($250), it's easy to fit in a briefcase, eliminating the "snout" of most SLRs. $1,299. pentaxslr.com.

For the best ultra-compact camera, I'm partial to the Canon Elph series. I'm still using last generation's 900SD, but anticipate that the new 890SD IS, just announced, will be even better. It has a 5x zoom, image stability, face detect, and an optical viewfinder. $399.

Phones: I like both the iPhone and the BlackBerry Curve 8310. I use both, the iPhone in the United States and the BlackBerry for e-mail around the world and calling when I'm out of the country. The BlackBerry is better than the iPhone for e-mail, while the iPhone is better for Web browsing and music.

Music players: The Apple iTouch is the best iPod yet. It has a large touch screen for watching videos, viewing album art and surfing the Web using its built-in WiFi. You can also buy and download content over a WiFi connection from the Apple iTunes store.

Best computer briefcase: Glaser Designs' new briefcases have a system of add-in organizers for storing your gadgets, paper, computer and accessories any way you want. They are all meticulously handmade in its San Francisco workshop using the finest leather, which is processed in-house. Its products are unmatched for durability and wear. While not inexpensive, they're a bargain because of their longevity. I've been using one for 10 years. From $800.

Worst travel gadgets:
iPhone with costly data plan: The iPhone is one of the worst phones for International use, not because of the product itself, but because of AT&T's data plan. Unlike the BlackBerry that has an unlimited international data plan ($70/month), the iPhone has none. That means you can rack up hundreds, possibly even thousands of dollars in data charges for a week or two of use. For example, sending a large PowerPoint file costs $6.

Motorola phones that lock out chargers: Lugging multiple travel chargers is a pain, but some companies have begun using the same mini USB connector for charging, so one charger will work with many devices. Motorola sells phones with USB connectors as well, but designed them to detect the charger, and if it's not a Motorola brand, the phone won't charge.

Planon's R800 scanner: This portable scanner is a thin cylindrical device that scans documents and receipts into its internal memory and then lets you move the file to a PC. But this $300 device was nearly impossible to use. Scanning was very tricky and most attempts were futile, due to an inability to move it smoothly across paper. Good idea, but terrible execution.

Travel Goods Show
The Travel Goods Show is a trade exhibition of luggage and travel gadgets. Here are a few of the more interesting products I saw.

ETA, part of the company that makes Swiss Army brand luggage, introduced a two-piece luggage locator with a transmitter and receiver. Attach the receiver to your suitcase and carry the transmitter. When you arrive at the carousel, press the transmitter and your bag will beep and flash. Works up to 60 feet. $30. etatravelgear.com.

Syncing multiple computers and an iPhone using Dot Mac

I've recently started using an important feature now that I'm using more than one Mac. Currently I have a MacBook, a recently purchased iMac desktop and a MacBook Air on loan from Apple. I'm using a Dot Mac account ($99/year) that provides on-line storage and sync capabilities. Every hour each computer automatically syncs my address book and iCal with my dot Mac account. So all my computers have the same up to date address book and calendar. Since I sync my iPhone to my MacBook daily, entering an appointment or contact on any of the three computer finds its way to my iPhone each day..... completely automatically. Another terrific feature of the Mac that anticipated a need I didn't know I needed until now.

Charging on the road: Chargepod review

On my current trip I brought along a Chargepod to try out. It’s a product that can charge 6 different devices at the same time using a hub-like device connected to a large wall adapter needing just a single AC outlet. It’s perfect for those outlet-starved hotels.

Most phones, iPods, Bluetooth headphones and other small designs can be recharged from a small charger. The Chargepod has a much bigger wall transformer that provides six times the power providing distributed among the 6 different devices. You need to buy six short little cables to connect your devices to the Chargepod.

The good: It works well and makes it easy to charge a number of devices at the same time without carrying a tangled mess of cables.

The bad: It’s expensive, costing about $50 plus $10 for each cable, and the large wall transformer has no folding plug making it a pain to carry.

www.callpod.com.

Chumby: A network star born in San Diego (San Diego Transcript column)

I'm sitting on a comfortable chair with a new device in my hands from a San Diego company of the same name. It's called Chumby, a cute name for an equally cute little product. It looks unlike anything I've seen before, sort of a small softball-sized leather beanbag with a 3.5-inch color screen just begging to be picked up. You wouldn't know that it's a tiny, but powerful computer.

Chumby and the network behind it have been the buzz of the developer community for several years. Early beta versions of the device, as well as its internal design, were provided to developers to experiment with and to create content for it. It's one of the first open devices that allow developers to create all sorts of software and have it distributed over Chumby's network.

Chumby is powered by a 350 MHz ARM9-based processor. It has stereo speakers, a microphone, 2 USB ports, a headphone jack and an accelerometer that detects Chumby's movement and position.
Chumby is now available to the public; it made its debut earlier this month and is available from their Web site (chumby.com) for $179.95. Once you buy it, there are no subscription fees or recurring costs. It comes in a choice of three colors: black, pearl white and latte.

Verizon's Voyager multimedia phone (San Diego Transcript column)

The Voyager from LG is one of Verizon's best phones, particularly for multimedia use. While it looks like an iPhone, it's totally different and, in some ways, that's good. It has a large touch screen on the front and hinges open like a tiny notebook computer to reveal a second screen, stereo speakers, and a qwerty keyboard. It has a 2MB camera, uses Verizon's 3G data network (but no WiFi) and connects to all of Verizon's services including V Cast mobile TV, music and Internet browsing. It has the best form factor of any phone; it's compact and easy to hold, yet sits on a disk for listening to music and watching videos and TV, and has a great keyboard for e-mail and messaging. $299 with a 2-year plan.

A new camera that detects faces, smiles and blinks

Pentax has just announced a camera that detects faces smiles and blinks. No kidding!

The Pentax Optio V20 compact digital camera with a 5X zoom lens, 8.0 megapixels, and aa large 3 inch LCD monitor.  But what sets this apart are three features that optimize portrait photographs:

A Face Recognition function automatically detects and focuses on faces, then sets the optimum exposure.  Smile Capture detects the key facial expression of happy people and releases the shutter automatically.  Blink Detection reports to the user whether any subjects closed their eyes in an image, so that the shot may be recaptured if necessary. $280 retail.

Peter Greenberg Worldwide / Live Broadcast

I'm appearing on Peter Greenberg Worldwide's radio show today at about 8:40 am. I'll be talking about the best and worst travel gadgets.

Thin is in (San Diego Transcript column)

Thin and light notebooks are not new, but they've recently become big news with the introduction of Apple's new MacBook Air and Lenovo's new ThinkPad X300. Sony, Toshiba and Fujitsu have had models with similar weights and dimensions, albeit with more compromises, but haven't captured the attention that these products have. I've been using the X300 and the Air for two weeks and like them both. Since they each use a different operating system, they really don't compete with one another, but it's interesting to see the vastly different approaches taken.

Lenovo ThinkPad X300
While the X300 is the first ThinkPad with the Lenovo brand emblazoned on the cover, it was developed by the same team that created the ThinkPad models for IBM. It's the thinnest (1-inch) and one of the lightest of any ThinkPads, yet it's the first of the long running ultra-light X-series to contain a built-in DVD drive and wide screen.

It also incorporates two of the latest notebook advances, a 64GB solid-state drive (SSD) and LED screen backlighting. An SSD uses memory chips instead of a hard drive to store the OS, programs and files. The LED backlighting replaces fluorescent tubes, which contain mercury, and provides a whiter, more uniform illumination. Both consume less power, as well.

The X300 has ThinkPad's excellent keyboard and a 13.3-inch-wide screen with 1440 x 900 resolution, slightly higher than most screens this size. It also has both a trackstick and trackpad. The X300 is slightly larger and a few ounces heavier than the X61, which remains in the line.
There's no skimping on features. There's an LED that illuminates the keyboard and surprisingly good-sounding speakers forward of the keyboard on the palm rests. An illuminated ThinkVantage button brings up help, setup and maintenance menus.

My test unit was equipped with Windows XP and the extended 6-cell battery, (Microsoft says they'll be discontinuing XP in July and only allow computer manufacturers to ship Vista). The X300 performed well, using it for writing, surfing, and general business use. Startup from sleep was just under 15 seconds, the fastest I've ever encountered, which may be attributed to the SSD. The quality of the screen image was very good, but the matte screen reduced the contrast compared to glossy screens, such as that on the MacBook Air. Still, some prefer the matte screen because of its ability to diffuse strong reflections. Maximum screen brightness was about half that of the Air.

The X300 has three USB 2.0 ports, but no slot for SD memory cards as on earlier ThinkPads. It's well-equipped for wireless with built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and EVDO. The GPS may be the first in a notebook, but it needs additional software for navigation.

The X300 is the best ThinkPad I've used for travel use. It's thin and light without making any sacrifices other than the reduced storage capacity. Battery life was slightly more than four hours, better than on previous X models, and the low voltage processor helped the notebook run very cool. Cost is $2,580.

MacBook Air
The MacBook Air is clear evidence of Apple thinking different. While some of their choices of what to include and what to leave out may be controversial, there's little disagreement that it's the sleekest, thinnest and most beautiful notebook ever.

SpaceStation desktop organizer

The SpaceStation desktop organizer from BlueLounge is a simple, yet cleverly designed product for your desktop that organizes the usual clutter of cords. It's a wide shelf containing a 4-connector USB hub underneath and plenty of space to wind up the excess wires. Wires can be brought out from underneath at any location to connect with devices you want to charge that are positioned on the top. It's a little pricey at $80, but very effective.

Safer disposal of electronics (San Diego Transcript column)

This is an amazing time for new gadgetry of all sorts -- everything from flat panel TVs to printers to digital cameras to computers. But along with the rapid advances are much shorter product lives. Many of us are on to our third printer or second flat-panel TV. In fact, we purchased 22 million computers last year, and will buy 32 million digital TVs in 2008.

And that means as we're replacing products more frequently, we're inadvertently creating a huge stream of electronic waste (e-waste). We're scrapping 400 million electronic products each year in the United States alone.

And where do all of the old products go that are not passed down to others? Only 13 percent are recycled, while 87 percent end up as waste.

That 87 percent represents 2.3 million tons of e-waste being dumped into landfills or going into incinerators and burned. E-waste contains lead, mercury, cadmium and other chemicals used in their production that are toxic to humans and harmful to our environment. A CRT tube TV or computer monitor contains 4-8 pounds of lead. LCD monitors and TVs have their own problems. Most have mercury lamps that contain dangerous levels of the substance.

While recycling may seem like a good solution, it has its own problems. Much of the electronics we bring to recycling centers are exported to China, India and Africa where workers dismantle the products by hand, separating the waste into piles of plastics, metal and glass. Recyclers can make a lot more money by sending the e-waste to these countries (where wages are as low as 10 cents an hour) than recycling locally using safer methods.

That poses huge problems for the workers. Tests conducted in one community in China found 80 percent had lead poisoning and many had ingested dangerous levels of toxic fire retardants used in the manufacturing process. One town now has to truck in their own water, as the local supply is undrinkable. Waste is often burned next to schools and farms extending their poisonous reach to the neighboring population and to their agricultural exports.

It used to be a violation of Environmental Protection Agency regulations to export e-waste from the country without the consent of the importing country. This is no longer the case due to the recent weakening of regulations. Many previously restricted materials are now being exported from here without the importing countries' knowledge.

One of the ways to fight this problem is to put the responsibility on the manufacturing companies to take back their products for safe recycling and disposal. That will put pressure on their engineers to design products with safer substances and make it easier to separate out the hazardous components during recycling. Manufacturers have responded in various ways.

KOGO 600 Radio appearance

I will be on at 10am on AM600 KOGO from San Diego. Topics for the show include:

New products
Lenovo X300 notebook computer
MacBook Air
Harmony One remote
Over the air backup

In the News
Comcast and net neutrality
Virgin America in San Diego
Sharper Image declares bankruptcy

GrandCentral now open to new customers

GrandCentral, a service that provides a free phone number that will ring all of your phones, has just begun to accept more customers. Registration had been very limited since they were purchased by Google. It's still totally free.

Just give out this single number and you can choose which phones to ring using the simple on-line setup. I have been using it for over a year and highly recommend it. I now leave one cell phone in my car and carry another. When a call comes in I can answer either or even my home phone. Once you pick up one phone the others stop ringing. Disadvantages? You need to hit the 1 key on an incoming phone to answer, so using a headset with an answer button won't work. GrandCentral also works as an answering machine and sends you the link by email. There's lots more features. Check it out here.

Extending the battery life of the MacBook Air

One of the limitations of the MacBook Air is its non-replaceable battery, limiting its use away from an outlet. In my testing I'm finding the battery to last slightly more than 3 hours, while I do editing and Web browsing and with the screen at about 70% full brightness.

But I discovered a solution to extend the time: The Duracell Powerpack 100 at about $125. Just plug in the Air's charger into it's AC receptacle. I'll post the exact time after more testing.

3/1 UPDATE - Using the battery pack to charge a nearly empty Air battery brought the capacity up to 50%, a little more than 1 1/2 hours of run time.

Online backup for all (San Diego Transript column)

It's never been easier or more affordable to back up your computer online. You have insurance for most things, why not for all your files, photos, music and important documents as well? You never know when your hard drive will fail or your computer will be lost or stolen.

According to IDC, a company that analyzes industry trends, remote online storage is one of the fastest growing areas of online business. The process is simple; the files leave your computer fully encrypted, avoiding any security issues, and are sent over the Internet to a remote computer and saved on secure servers. In the event of a fire, or if your computer gets stolen, your data is easy to retrieve.

In 2007, online storage began shifting from solely a consumer product to one now being adopted by businesses both large and small. Backing up huge amounts of data online has become more practical with the higher transmission speeds, lower cost of data connections and the tumbling cost of storage. Its popularity has soared because it's fully automatic and backs up computers wherever they are: in the office, at home or on the road. Once you set it up, there's nothing more you need to do.

Even large corporations are finding it cheaper and more reliable to use Internet backup than doing it only in-house, using media that needs to taken to another site for storage. They want to avoid the embarrassment that the state of Ohio experienced last year. A government intern's car was broken into and the backup media containing information on 225,000 people, including their Social Security numbers, was stolen.

More information on the Mac Air battery life: "Pretty good results"

James Fallows of the wonderful Atlantic Magazine (now free online) has been using a MacBook Air in some real life situations such as audio streaming radio broadcasts using WiFi. He reports that "Battery life on this machine seems “pretty good,” and the time it takes to recharge the battery is not bad at all."

"I have not turned on any power-saving features or fine-tuned in other ways, but all this makes me think I would get a good 4+ hours of work out of the battery. I’ll know for sure when I do a real test.:

"OK, I have now done an actual recharge test. Took the battery down to 3%, and which point I got nervous and plugged the power in. After 1 hour: 42%. After 2 hours: 71% After 3 hours: 86%. After 4 hours: 97%. And at time 4:20: 100%. Computer has been turned on this whole time, not asleep or turned off, although I wasn't actively using it: "Pretty good results" "

This is very good news and better than some of the early reports. 4 hour run time from a battery is better than average, and 4 hours to recharge with the computer running is the same as I get with my MacBook. Read James full report here.

A very clever outlet expander

Here's a very clever outlet expander that lets you plug in 6 transformers in a space-saving design. Available from EZ Gear for $35.

Sharper Image declares bankruptcy

Gadget lovers with good taste can take some solice in this news item:

"Specialty retailer Sharper Image Corp. filed for Chapter 11 protection late Tuesday with plans to quickly shutter 90 of its underperforming stores. The bankruptcy petition, filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., lists total assets of $251.5 million and total debts of $199 million, as of Jan. 31."

"The San Francisco-based retailer blamed its liquidity crisis on a host of factors, including increased competition and deteriorating gross margins, tightening credit from vendors and suppliers, and the negative impact of pending litigation over its air-purification products. The air purifiers were once one of Sharper Image's highest margin products."

Sharper Image failed because of their mediocre products and the fact that their air purifiers never worked. When Consumer Reports pointed out that the purifiers caused more harm than good, Sharper Image sued them, just bringing more attention to themselves and making matters worse.

Sharper Image's own products over the past few years were some of the ugliest, most useless of any I've seen. While many companies created great looking accessories for the iPod, Sharper Image's were the pits. The last nail in their coffin was bringing out their own branded cell phones that were ugly and overpriced. What were they thinking?

New Centro from Palm and AT&T - with built-in XM radio

Palm has announced today the availability of their Centro phone from AT&T. It's the first Centro model that runs on the GSM network and the first with a built-in XM radio that receives 25 stations. It's available beginning today at $99 with a 2-year service agreement and mail-in rebate.  AT&T’s Centro will be sold in AT&T stores as well as online at www.palm.comand www.att.com. Available in white now and black in about a month. Unlike the Sprint version that's been on sale and uses a high speed network, this version uses AT&T's slower EDGE network, the same as used by the iPhone.

Harmony One Universal Remote: Simpler, but not simple (San Diego Transcript column)

While many companies make universal remote controls designed to combine all your separate remotes into one, few are both easy to set up and simple to use. Many of them are so complex that you need an audio-video specialist to program in the settings.

Logitech's Harmony remotes have attracted a wide following because of some real innovations in its design that simplifies setup and use. Instead of punching in codes or sending IR signals between the new and old remotes, it uses an online questionnaire to set it up. You then plug the remote into your computer and download the software specific to your needs.

Its other innovation is creating activity keys on the remote, so instead of using the remote to turn on and off each device, you chose the activity, such as Watch TV. That triggers a series of commands that sequentially turn on and off the appropriate devices and sets each to the correct settings. (That requires aiming and holding the remote steady for two or three seconds.)

The Harmony One Universal Remote is Logitech's latest model and costs $250. It's a sleek-looking, shiny, black, plastic controller with a non-slip rubberized back that's well-balanced in the hand. It's about the size of a single-purpose remote, with a 2-inch color, touch screen at the top.

The screen is used to display the activities and custom buttons that require special labeling. There are an additional 40 buttons logically arranged into four areas, the channel number keys, keys for controlling movement through a DVD or TiVo, the volume, channel and 5-way control keys and special keys that call up the activities, program guide and menu. It's one of the best layouts of any remote I've used with that many buttons.

The Harmony One uses a rechargeable battery and recharging cradle. There's a motion-sensing switch that turns the screen on when you lift it. The battery needs to be recharged every four or five days if it's not kept in the cradle.

The remote's Activity keys trigger a series of commands that turn on and off the appropriate devices.

My audio/video equipment consists of a Pioneer plasma TV, a Series 2 TiVo, a Motorola cable box from Time Warner and a Boston Acoustics mini DVD/AM/FM surround-sound system. Before trying the Harmony, I had been using three remotes.

To set up the Harmony, you load the software in a PC or Mac. Before you can proceed further, Logitech requires you to enter your personal information, including your name, address and phone number. That should be voluntary, not a requirement.

Duracell DPP-300EP Powerpack 300 (San Diego Transcript)

Duracell's Powerpack 300 is designed for use during road or home emergencies. It's a sealed, non-spillable 14 amp-hour battery with a built-in power inverter that provides 300 watts of power through its AC outlet and 12-volt DC socket. It has a snap-off