Cool Tools RSS feed

Powermat: Charging without cords - magic and magnets!

Keith Shaw — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 04:00:00 +0000

The scoop: Powermat Wireless Charging Portable Mat, by Powermat USA, about $100 (for basic system).

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A wireless mouse you can practically use anywhere

Keith Shaw — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 04:00:00 +0000

The scoop: Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000, by Microsoft, about $40.

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Seagate's DockStar: Instant NAS, just add hard drive

Keith Shaw — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 04:00:00 +0000

The scoop: DockStar, by Seagate, about $100

What it is: A small docking station for Seagate's FreeAgent Go portable hard drives, the DockStar connects via Ethernet to a home router to turn that hard drive into an instant network-attached storage (NAS) drive for the home network. Additional USB ports on the DockStar also let you attach non-Free Agent hard drives to the device, or to create additional storage capacity. The system includes software from Pogoplug that lets you access files from the DockStar from any Web browser via the Internet.

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Zorap lets you video chat, share within Facebook

Keith Shaw — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 04:00:00 +0000

The scoop: Zorap Facebook application, by Zorap, free.

What it is: Launched a few months ago as a stand-alone application/service, Zorap lets you create multimedia chat rooms, in which you can share photos, music, videos and files within a Web-based space. The latest version includes this functionality within Facebook, so you can create a Zorap-enabled chat room with your Facebook login credentials.

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HP SkyRoom adds features to video chatting

Keith Shaw — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 04:00:00 +0000

The scoop: HP SkyRoom software, by HP, about $150 (plus $120 for Webcam and headphones).

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Cool products, companies at DEMOfall 09

Keith Shaw — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 04:00:00 +0000

The DEMOfall 09 show in San Diego showcased more than 60 companies offering pitches of new companies and products aimed to make your life better, whether as an individual user or at your company. Here are a few of my favorites:

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iTunes' Home Sharing nice, but could be nicer

Keith Shaw — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 04:00:00 +0000

Out of all the new product announcements from Steve Jobs at Apple's most recent shindig, I was most intrigued by a feature in the new iTunes software: Home Sharing.

Slideshow: Apple disasters

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3G wireless data goes pay as you go - Virgin's Broadband 2 Go

Keith Shaw — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 04:00:00 +0000

A trek in the family truckster from the Boston area down to Myrtle Beach, S.C., last week not only gave me the chance for rest and relaxation (well, after the drive), but also the opportunity to test out some Internet access devices.

I decided to bring a laptop on the trip for general Web access (personal e-mail, not work), but I didn't know what the Internet access options would be like during the road trip and at our vacation spot.

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Sprint 3G wireless card offers two format options

Keith Shaw — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 04:00:00 +0000

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Discovery 975 headset melds noise improvements with style

Keith Shaw — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 04:00:00 +0000

The scoop: Discovery 975 Bluetooth headset, by Plantronics, about $130 (available at BestBuy.com and Amazon.com).

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