PopSugar

Blinded by the Light: Have You Been Fooled by a Commercial?

GeekSugar — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:05:28 -0700

I was stoked after seeing a commercial for the Powermat, a wireless gadget charger that claims to charge any of your electronic toys without wires, cords, or trouble just by placing your device on the Powermat - finally a solution to my cord-management problems! A few days later I saw the Powermat at my local Best Buy and considered forking over the $100 listed on the price tag for convenience alone. But then reality (and an explanation from the sales rep) set in: $100 is not the bottom line on this super charger.

The Powermat does exactly what it says it does: charges your cell phones, PSP's, smart phones and other gadgets, but it does so with the help of dedicated cases that have a receiver attached to the back. Bye-bye custom iPhone and Blackberry cases - you'll be rocking the Powermat case and battery pack (which sticks out on the back) from now on. What's more, each gadget case starts at $30, and you'll need one for each device you want to charge! For me, this meant spending over $200 just to have all of my daily accessories covered. I walked away a little disappointed, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who's been fooled by a gadget commercial before. Share your gadget commercial rants, or about the time you bought a gadget and it wasn't what you expected below!

No More Power Cords! Sony Announces Wireless Technology

GeekSugar — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 05:47:35 -0700

Last week, Sony announced they have developed a "highly efficient" wireless power transfer system. Meaning that soon you can purchase a Sony TV without a power cord! The technology is based on magnetic resonance, meaning that electromagnetic energy will be transferred between a transmitter unit and the device. Currently, the transfer can occur at a distance of about two feet.

Similar technology already exists in Dell's new Latitude Z notebook computers that charge without wires. When this sort of technology was first announced in 2007 by a team of researchers at MIT, 74 percent of you said you were into the idea.

Sony hasn't set a release date for gadgets containing the new technology, but the thought of wall-mounting a completely wireless TV is pretty exciting!

Key Ring WiFi Finder: Totally Geeky or Geek Chic?

GeekSugar — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 06:56:47 -0700

You know I've got my iPhone loaded up with a few WiFi finding apps so that I can hop online wherever and whenever, but what if I'm without my trusty smartphone? Hopefully (knock on wood), that will never happen. But if it does, then this little gadget could come in quite handy in a pinch.

Called the WiFi Seeker and Light, this keyring attachment is always there when you need to find a signal. With a push of one button, it shines a small LED light so you can find your way in the dark, and the other tells you the strength of any surrounding wireless signals. I tested it, and it does actually know when there's a wireless signal. Now if it would just tell you the security password so you can actually use them, I'd call it a miracle! I couldn't find the exact one online if you wanted to get one for yourself, but there are a few choices on Amazon.

Geek Tip: Set a Password For Your Home WiFi Network

GeekSugar — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:32:43 -0700

If you have WiFi and live in an apartment building, you may notice there are lots of other WiFi networks visible on your network list (and naturally, your neighbors can probably see yours as well). Although this fact alone isn't dangerous, it can be if your own network isn't password protected. Leaving your wireless signal open could put you at risk of intruders illegally downloading on your bandwidth, stealing personal info, and even gaining access to your personal documents on your home computers and laptops.

So when setting up wireless Internet at home, make sure you set a password that is long and hard to remember so your home network isn't hacked. Read through your wireless routers instructions carefully for step-by-step instructions. And, hey, Mac users - just because your computer is at a lower risk for viruses, that doesn't mean your wireless can't be hacked as easily as everyone elses, especially if you're using a lame password!

Listen to iTunes Music on Your Phone With Didiom

GeekSugar — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 11:25:18 -0800

Considering a majority of North Americans have cell phones with decent audio output, this is something that may be the wave of the future. Didiom is a new application that makes it possible to stream music from your computer to your phone - for free and wirelessly. All you have to do is download Didiom to your phone and desktop and you can start streaming tunes to your phone (they offer the service to over 200 phone models). And if you don't have an extensive music playlist, you can download music from the Didiom Marketplace, which offers over 1 million songs.

The good news about this is Didiom recently signed a deal with EPM, which offers many high-quality DRM-free record labels, so with this, users will be able to access and buy more music.

Going Cruising? Cellular at Sea Has You Covered

GeekSugar — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 04:00:35 -0700

I just got back from a fab trip - a bunch of friends and I boarded a Carnival Fun Ship in honor of their birthdays. I have to admit, although I was looking forward to a relaxing vacation, I was nervous because I knew I would be out of cell range while we were spending the day at sea. What is a geek girl to do when she is totally disconnected!? Sure there are those iCafes aboard the ship, but who wants to spend money on those shared computers? So of course, I was ecstatic when I picked up my phone to see full reception – 23 miles off the coast!

Cellular at Sea is the Wireless Maritime Service that provides you with reception on a number of cruise ships, even when you are in the middle of nowhere. There are plenty of roaming partners that work with Cellular at Sea, so you should be able to make your calls while on vacay. But let's get real, you should keep it short – you're supposed to be relaxing!

How did my Cellular at Sea experience go? Find out when you read more.

There were times when I got the dreaded "No Service" message after dialing, but for the most part I had great reception everywhere on the boat. Just be advised that international roaming charges do apply, so you may want to restrict your calls to only those that are absolutely necessary. I haven't received my phone bill yet, but I'm crossing my fingers I didn't go overboard on the phone calls home! Get it? Overboard? I know . . . I'm pretty funny.

Upload Pics Wirelessly (and Instantly) With Eye-Fi Explore

GeekSugar — Thu, 15 May 2008 04:30:24 -0700

If you haven't heard of Eye-Fi before, it's basically a SD card that allows you to connect to your home network via WiFi and upload pictures automatically on your laptop or computer - no cables or cords required! All the bloggers at the Touch Diamond event were using them and I have to say, once you have one, you can't imagine your life without it!

Well Eye-Fi has just come out with an even better product called Eye-Fi Explore thanks to their partnership with Skyhook Wireless. With Eye-Fi Explore, you can now conveniently upload your pics from over 10,000 WiFi hotspots across the country and your photos will automatically get "geotagged" so you'll know exactly where they were captured! Eye-Fi Explore SD cards include 2GB of storage each and are priced at $130. How great is modern-day technology?!

Wireless "Eye-Fi" Photo Card Available in More Places

GeekSugar — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 09:00:15 -0800

Starting Jan. 11, Eye-Fi users can upload photos directly to Microsoft Windows Live, Microsoft Windows Live Photo Gallery, and Costco's Photo Center.

If you recall, the Eye-Fi is the first wireless memory card for digital cameras that allows users to wirelessly send photos directly from their digital camera to their computer or online photo sharing site using home Wi-Fi networks. These new upload choices mean Eye-Fi users will be able to select from a total of 20 photo destinations.

According to a press release, Eye-Fi cards will be sold at additional retail channels including Costco, PC Mall and Mac Mall for $100, which means the cards will be more readily available to all the photography geeks that want to test the cards out.

The PLUG + PLAY Wireless Speaker System

GeekSugar — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 08:00:40 -0700

This PLUG + PLAY wireless speaker system came about during a ten week industrial design bachelor degree project whereby research was conducted to better identify the needs of the user. Designer Per Brickstad worked in collaboration with Swedish speaker company Audio Pro to develop these unique transparent speakers that can play music from cell phones, computers and mp3 players. In its early design phase, audio files were sent from each device by small plug elements.

Discussed on Yanko Design, the only problem with this plug and play method was its inability to be comprehensive on the whole. So the designers tweaked the prototype to create a system of speakers with bluetooth receiver, and plugs with bluetooth sender. The existing plug goes into the side of the speaker for charging, and the speaker has a transparent LCD-display in the glass which shows the music equalizer and provides song title, etc.

To check out more images and read what I think about this device, read more

View 6 Photos ›

The device interests me for three reasons. No. 1, it's shaped like the Helio Ocean device. No. 2, it's transparent and chic. No. 3, wireless speakers are always intriguing, but very rarely as amazing (in terms of sound quality) than their wired counterparts. Could this one be different?

WiFi Memory Cards Coming Soon

GeekSugar — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 13:00:18 -0700

In the next few months, Eye-Fi plans to release Secure Digital memory cards with integrated Wi-Fi chips. The card will allow digital cameras to automatically send photos to home computers or to photo-sharing websites. The company says their products and services "intend to make the 'ease of use' promise of digital photography a reality."

According to Eye-Fi, four out of five digital photos are never printed or shared, because of the complex, multi-step practice required to get photos from your digital camera–a time consuming process that deters even the most motivated consumers.

Eye-Fi plans to provide the first and only effortless way to send images directly from your camera to a host of destinations, including a computer, and online photo and social networking sites for instant sharing. In the mean time, you can use sites like Radar, which allows you to send photos you've taken on your cell phone and send them to a free hosting website, or send pictures from your cell phone to your Myspace page. What do you think - will you use this Eye-Fi service?