Is the Apple iPad "magical"?

Today was 2010's first iDay- the announcement of a new or updated Apple product, predictably following months, or in this case years of feverish speculation. Steve Jobs gave the gathered press the first glimpse of the super-tablet himself, proudly declaring the new iPad not just revolutionary, but magical. It is undeniably sleek, beautiful, and impressive to look at but is it necessary, especially for people already toting around iPhones or iPod Touches, along with a MacBook or a MacBook Air?

Here are the specs:

-9.7" LED backlit, fully multi-touch display, with IPS technology (IPS provides wide viewing angles and good color reproduction, important for a tablet that you may use both laptop-style, and as a media player). There's also a special fingerprint-resistant coating, obviously good for a screen with a touch interface.

-Up to 10 hour battery life for video, music, and wifi surfing.

-Half an inch thick, weighs 1.5 lbs, 9.5" high, 7.5" wide.

-Wifi, Bluetooth, and optional 3G through AT&T (yay, not). Assisted GPS on 3G models only.

-On-screen keyboard only- but wide enough, apparently for something approaching touch-typing. Jobs typed with all his fingers, not just thumbs during the demo. There's also an optional hardware keyboard which also charges the iPad.

-The iPad will run all current iPhone/iPod Touch applications, plus have its own iPad-only apps.

-The iPad is an advanced e-book reader, using the iBooks app for reading and the iBookstore app for browsing and buying books. iBookstore has licensing deals with some of the biggest publishers so book selection should quickly get competitive with the Amazon Kindle's, plus iBook supports the EPUB standard, which offers thousands of free books. The best part? The Amazon Kindle and BN Nook use low-powered e-ink displays which are easy on the eyes and give great battery life, but they are not backlit or in color. The iPad is both, and while battery life is sure to be less than the Kindle's, 10 hours is still really, really good.

-iWork, Apple's answer to MS Office will be available for the iPad. Pages, Numbers, and Keynote (Apple's versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) will be $9.99 each, a great price for a full featured app.

What are the advantages of the iPad over the iPhone or iPod Touch? The screen, obviously is almost three times the size, a huge improvement for web surfing, watching videos and viewing photos, email, and working on documents. The on-screen keyboard, which will surely elicit much discussion, won't please everybody, but will surely be more comfortable for typing longer docs and emails, and there is the optional hardware keyboard.

LG's Lotus Gets Elite

LG and Sprint are continuing their partnership with the release of the successor to the stylish Lotus phone. The LG Lotus Elite has all the looks of the original Lotus, but has stepped it up a notch with a few exclusive features.

One of the new features on the Elite is the 2.4-inch external touchscreen that allows users to easily navigate all their pertinent information without having to open the phone. The screen has a 320x240 resolution which makes for a vibrant phone experience. Other features include the new three dedicated shortcut keys for social networking, email, and text. The social networking button, dubbed Social can be mapped to a person's favorite social network.

Sony Wants You! $10,000 Scholarship up for Grabs

Contrary to popular belief, there are more than a few girl gamers out there, serving up their own brand of pwnage with a smile. When it comes to game development, women continue to be an underrepresented segment of the industry. Sony Online Entertainment is doing their part to remedy the situation with the G.I.R.L. scholarship.

The G.I.R.L. (Gamers In Real Life) program was created to affect how women are portrayed in video games. And there's no better way to change the machine than to work from within. In conjunction with the program there is also a scholarship was created with the express purpose of recruiting into the fields of video game production and design.

Cast Your Vote for Computer Engineer Barbie

Now that geeks are considered sexy, we techies are finally being appreciated for our sparkling intellect, and almost obsessional love of tech. In my mind, we were always sexy, but it just took mainstream society awhile to catch on. Now one of our most treasured mainstream childhood icons might be getting in on the geek sexy angle.

Mattel creator of the iconic Barbie doll is asking people to vote on the dolls next career. Since her debut in 1959, Barbie has had over 120 careers. She's been an astronaut, a rock star, and a veterinarian. Hey, she has to pay off the mortgage for that dream house and Ferrari somehow.

Listed among the possible careers is computer engineer. I can think of no better way to show the next generation the coolness of tech than presenting some lucky youngster with a shiny ne "Computer Engineer" Barbie. Please lend your vote and let's initiate Barbie into our ultra-cool society of tech.

The results on the voting will be available on February 12. So vote and keep your fingers crossed.

Via CrunchGear

Ritmo Advanced Pregnancy Sound System

Any expectant mother can tell you, it's never to early to start communicating with your child. Besides having extended conversations while baby is in-utero, music has been proven to assist with positive fetal development including displaying "advanced intelligence, coordination, and learning abilities."

Nuvo Group's new device helps deliver soothing sound to your baby with the Ritmo Advanced Pregnancy Sound System. Kind of like a speaker system for your unborn bundle of joy, Ritmo is a lightweight belt that fits comfortably around mommy-to-be's tummy. The belt has four built-in speakers that utilized patented Safe&Sound Technology to make sure that the sound level is perfectly safe for baby's ears. The belt also comes with a controller used to plug in an mp3 player.

Gravida Nurse Puts Prenatal Education in the Palm of Your Hand

The Gravida Nurse Prenatal Education Device is a great gift for first time mothers. Instead of spending a small fortune on parenting books, expectant mothers can turn to this handy gadget. The device is a small handheld device that features helpful articles focused on providing good prenatal care for both baby and mom.

There are also voices recordings and pictures to help reinforce the information. Everything can be accessed via the large touchscreen. There's also a slot for a memory card and it can be hooked up to a computer via USB. No word on if additional information can be added to the Gravida using these means.

The Gravida Nurse is small, cute, helpful and going for $22.65

Via UberGizmo

Reebok's new Easytone shoe: Does it really tone muscles?

Reebok recently started selling a walking shoe, called Easytone, that is supposed to tone your leg and butt muscles while you walk.

And the buzz machine swung into action. The Easytone shoe has made a huge splash--TV appearances, newspaper and magazine articles, buzz, buzz, buzz.

If the shoe fits, does it really firm up those muscles? Does the Easytone shoe work?

Dan Ariely is James B. Duke Professor of Behavioral Economics at Duke University is skeptical. He points out that the scientific evidence is thin. Reports of Easytone effectiveness may, he speculates, may be due to the placebo effect. (Placebos are inert pills or any item that can't possibly be of direct medical benefit, but still makes people get better.)

The placebo effect is enormously important in medicine. When a new drug is tested on people and turns out to be effective, a notable number of people in the control group, who received a sham pill rather than the real thing, always get better too.

As it turns out, the placebo effect contributes heavily to the positive effects of exercise too. When people are told (falsely) that a particular activity is good exercise, many of them believe it so strongly that they lose weight and body fat and their blood pressure even goes down. Which has me wondering how I can convince myself that reading in bed, sleeping late, and taking long hot showers will make me thinner.

Samsung Presents the "Diva Collection"

2010 marks the year of the Diva...phone that is. Samsung has announced that two new phones will be hitting the market and they "will satisfy every woman’s fascination and desire for mobile phones." Named the Diva and the Diva Folder now called the Samsung Olivia, both phones are decked out with quilted back covers, because nothing says haute couture like quilts.

The dynamic duo also come with some unique features including a "Beauty Effect", a retouching function that makes photos "flawlessly beautiful. There's also the "Lomo Effect" that makes makes plain pics look like works of art (umm, okay). The phones also have a wish list, etiquette mode, and security features like "SOS Message" and "Fake Call" to save ladies for those uncomfortable bad date situations.

LED flashing umbrella

I am really not a big fan of umbrellas, they always seem to be in the way, keep one hand constantly occupied and if they are not small and vulnerable to the weakest of winds, I forget them everywhere. For me to use an umbrella it really has to rain pretty hard, the kind of heavy rain you can’t fence off with good waterproof outwear clothing.
This LED flashing umbrella on the other hand, would almost make me wish for a rainy day, because it would make me look like Luke Skywalker and for me that would be a cool thing.

This “Lightsaber-umbrella is available at gadget.brando for $44,- in five different colors. The LEDs are placed inside the umbrella tube and have four different light modes: dim light, light, flashing light and dim flashing light.

Smart Umbrella Tells the Weather

Ever missed the weather report and got caught in a torrential downpour? With this handy gadget you'll never have to worry about the rain again. The Ambient Umbrella is an intelligent accessory from Ambient Devices. A series of flashes in the handle indicates whether it's preparing to rain or snow and whether it will be a light drizzle or a heavy thunderstorm.

The umbrella receives local updates from Accuweather.com. Not sure how the umbrella itself will hold up in rough weather. The website says that it was constructed with a "top-quality "gust-buster" umbrella canopy design." If you're interested in owning a smart umbrella, you can pick one up for $129.

Via Technabob

Denim jeans protect you from snakebite

You've always loved your jeans, and now here's another reason: denim protects you from snakebite.

Of course, to be fully protected, you may need to give up those skinny jeans that show off your, um assets. Go shopping instead for something like the technology breakthrough fabric invented in the 18th century but still beloved in the 21st: Armor-like heavyweight denim fashioned into Mom jeans.

CO2 Dress Senses Pollution, Owns the Runway

The pretty frock in he picture is more than the latest piece of haute couture. Thanks to the efforts of Forster Rohner, Alexandra Institute, diffus.dk, and The Danish Design School this dress is not only fashion-forward it's also eco-friendy.

The LEDs embroidered into the dress actually show the levels of CO2 in the room. The dress monitors CO2 levels and transmits the information to the LEDs which flicker in response to the data. I wonder if the decision to make the dress a charcoal gray a purposeful one made by the collaborators to symbolize our declining air quality. At any rate, this is another example of how technology and fashion can come together to create something that's beautiful and functional both on and off the catwalk.

Via Fashioning Tech

Turn A Window Into a Garden

The Windowfarms project turns your window into an urban farm, using inexpensive and recyclable parts. The results are a "curtain" for any window that is also a year-round, high-yield, vertical, hydroponic, modular, low-energy, edible garden. The open designs are free to download and easy to implement. The project also encourages the community to innovate and share improvements.

Britta Riley and Rebecca Bray started this project in February, 2009 during their artist's residency in New York's Eyebeam Art and Technology Center. Their mission is to encourage sustainable solutions that can be implemented today by anyone. Recently, Riley presented developments of Windowfarms at the New York chapter of http://dorkbot.org/dorkbotnyc/04.nov.2009/Dorkbot.

Diamond Weather Station

So, it's officially winter and, therefore, as important as ever to keep a close eye on the forecast. Now you can do it with style!

Sparkling away with dozens of Swarovski Crystals™, the Diamond Weather Station from Oregon Scientific adds a bit of glamour to the world of otherwise… shall we say… 'conservative' electronic weather forecasters. The crystals light up brightly in one of three different patterns / colors – red sun, blue cloud, or green rain – to clue you in to what to expect from the sky in the coming hours.

This beautiful unit Features a remote sensor to transmit outdoor temperature to the display and a digital clock that auto-syncs with the Naval atomic clock for precision time. A quick wave of your hand over the top of the unit switches the display between time, indoor temperature, and outdoor temperature, or you can put it in an automatic mode.

But wait! We've saved the best feature for last… If you utter the enclosed incantation while waving your hand over the unit, you can change the weather to… well… okay… not really on this one. You can still be prepared and be stylish, though.

Green Tech: Green jobs outlook, hope or hype?

Is the promise of green jobs all hype, or are more and more green jobs on the way in the US? Popular Mechanics has just published an extensive report on green jobs that is mostly optimistic.

At the moment, green jobs account for a minuscule proportion of US jobs--just under half of 1%. But between 1998 and 2007, green jobs grew at a rate of 9.1% annually , compared with overall job growth of 3.7%. That initial burst may help cushion job green job decline during the current recession, experts hope.

Among the green jobs growing fastest, Popular Mechanics reports, are fuel cell engineers, smart-grid engineers, green architects and builders, and energy auditors. A few states have taken the lead in green job growth. In Oregon, for example, green jobs are already 1% of total Oregon jobs, the highest in the nation. Other states on the move are Idaho, California, Colorado, Minnesota, Ohio, Massachusetts, and Maine.

10,000 gifts under $50

OK, I exaggerate. It's actually only 9,195 gifts under $50.

But still.

That's the number I got when I plugged HolidayUnder50 into the Search box at Etsy.com. Don't know Etsy? Etsy's tag line is "Your place to buy and sell all things handmade," and that says it all.

What can you get at Etsy? What can't you get there? Yes, there's hand-thrown pottery and handknits and handmade jewelry in unique designs. But there are also slightly naughty panties and monogrammed dish towels and Hello Kitty custom soap. And I haven't even mentioned Vintage items like the Polaroid Land camera (I remember those magical photos!) and the Lenox china Christmas angel brooch, and the wooden desktop paper sorter.

And several thousand more. And there's also a page of gift guides organized by price and category--stocking stuffers, food gifts, personalized items, and more.

Pictured above, a handmade iPhone/iPod case recalling the old Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) control pad. If you plug iPhone into the Etsy Search box, the number of items you get is, wait for it, 3,820.

Tiny LaCie Rikiki Lives up to Its Name

LaCie's newest hard drive is tiny, cute, and functional just how I like it. At 4.3 x 2.9 x .5 in.the LaCie Rikiki portable hard drive is one of the smallest hard drives around. The name Rikiki is French for tiny. The diminutive drive is big on storage space however, with storage capabilities starting out at 250GB and maxing out at 640GB. Being that this is a newly released product, I wouldn't be surprised to see terabyte versions of the Rikiki in upcoming months.

The USB 2.0 device is decked out in brushed aluminum and has a transfer speed of 60MB/s. According to the website, the included USB Boost software enhances speed and performance up to 33%. Unfortunately, this is software is a Windows-only deal. Other software includes the LaCie Backup Assistant and the LaCie Setup Assistant.

The Windows and Mac-friendly Rikiki is on sale on LaCie's site starting at $74.99 for the 250GB version, $109.99 for 500GB, and $149.99 for 640GB. I wonder if they're throwing in that cute little monkey with the deal?

XShot iPhone case packs in a tripod adapter around your iPhone

Here's an iPhone case that does a teeny bit more than just snuggle around your iPhone. The XShot iPhone case (3G and 3GS) wraps around your phone to protect and exposes a 1/4? thread tripod mount to snap a few pictures, all at once. Though the case has been designed for the XShot tripods, it works with any other tripod or monopod as well. Your iPhone itself will be safely nestled within the chrome plastic case while you are shooting.

Though it maybe a bit frustrating to use your iPhone at other times with the case on as the adapter juts out rather uncomfortably, you need to use this accessory primarily as a tripod adapter for your phone. The XShot iPhone case starts shipping in November, but if you pre-order now, you get $10 off on the sale price of $29.95.

Via The Red Ferret.

Free shipping on December 17!

Not that we want you to postpone your holiday shopping any more than you already have, gulp. But this is just a friendly reminder that Thursday, December 17, is Free Shipping Day!

Free Shipping Day is, duh, the day when online merchants, some 700 of them, will ship your orders for free and vow to get them delivered by December 24.

Thanks to Consumer Reports, which kindly provides details here.

Harlequin Brings Romance to the World of Gaming

What can you say about romance novels? If you've read one plot involving heaving bosoms, rippling pectorals, and furtive sighs with a physical attraction fueled by dislike which eventually turns into lust and love, you've read them all. The question is, would you play a game based on the same premise?

Leading romance publisher Harlequin Enterprises has teamed up with casual game producer Big Fish Games to create Harlequin Presents: Hidden Object of Desire. I could spend a good half hour making jokes about the title alone, but I digress. The game is a mash-up of a romance novel and you guessed it, a hidden objects game. Based on the Harlequin mini-series "The Royal House of Karedes", premise is simple:

Allie`s on a quest to find some breaking news in the Kingdom of Adamas, but must now choose between her friend`s well-being and true love! The bachelor Prince of Aristo is the most enchanting man she has ever met, but she must fend off his charming advances long enough to figure out what is going on. Help Allie find valuable clues in Harlequin Presents: Hidden Object of Desire, an exciting Hidden Object game.

Ideeli's Big Deal

Finding a good sample sale is has to be like hunting prey in the wild. It's illusive, secretive, and gone in a flash. You have to keep your ear to the ground and be willing to hit the pavement at a moment's notice, but once you've found one and saved bundles on that designer purchase, you leave feeling like a mighty lioness ruler of all she surveys. Okay i might be taking it a little far, but there's something crazy thrilling about sample sales.

Online shopping community ideeli, packages that excite and sends it to your inbox daily. The online sample sale site has been up and running since 2007, hawking designer wares in limited-time sales to fiscally-minded fashionistas. A members-only site, you have to receive an invite to play in this arena of shopping champions. And while it may seem counterproductive to have a closed community of shoppers, it seems to be paying off. According to TechCrunch, ideeli has just raised 20 million in funding to keep their members decked out in the exclusive fashions we love so well.

In addition to the big payday, ideeli has also reached the million member mark. Kudos, to ideeli and sites like it that realize that just because we're living in a recession doesn't mean wie have to dress like it.Id

Sony Vaio P is Pocket Friendly

Though netbooks couldn't get any smaller? Guess again. Sony just released the Sony Vaio P in Korea. The 1.3 lbs. netbook has an eight inch display and is small enough to fit in your pocket. There are currently two models, the VGN-P35LK and VGN-P33LK.

The VGN-P35LK is available in Gold, Green, Black, White, and Red. It features a 64GB SSD and an Intel Atom Processor. The VGN-P33LK has a 80GB HDD and 2GB of DDR2 memory and is available in black or white. Both models will have an integrated webcam, Windows 7, and Bluetooth capability.

No word on whether or not these minis will make it stateside.

Via AVING USA

Gifts for the geek home, under $50

More gifts under $50, this time geek gifts rounded up by Unplggd. And therefore more home decor than tech toys.

Yes, a plethora of coasters, posters, and pillows, to say nothing of laptop decals. But a selection of more intriguing stuff too, including a shower radio designed to look like shampoo bottles, sure to puzzle houseguests who only want to wash their hair.

My favorite is the emoticon shower curtain from Bed Bath and Beyond for a fairly reasonable $14.99. Brush up while you bathe.

New Samsung Camera Has 14.2 Megapixels, Wi-Fi Capability

I'm chomping at the bit for the new year to arrive. New beginnings, renewed focus, and most of all shiny, new tech. According to Boy Genius Report, Samsung is bringing the new year in a grand fashion with the unveiling of their latest camera. The Samsung ST5500 is a vision of beauty in silver, but it's what's under the hood that will have camera geeks grinning from ear to ear.

ST5500 features include 14.2. megapixel sensor, 7X optical zoom, and Wi-Fi capability so you can upload pics almost instantaneously. There's also 3.5-inch LCD touchscreen, 100MB internal memory, and a microSD slot. The camera also takes video in 1280 x 720 resolution at 30 fps.

We're still waiting for a press release or announcement from Samsung, so no word on pricing and availability as of yet. The only piece of information is that it's set to debut sometime during Q1.

Top Ten--er, Nine--Best Tech Ideas for 2009

Yet another year-end Top Ten list, this time a Top Ten list--Top Nine list, actually--of 2009 tech ideas that get a gold star from David Pogue, technology columnist for the New York Times.

I have experience with a couple of his choices and think they are indeed worth recommending.

One is the cute trick found only on WebOS phones, at the moment the Palm Pre and Palm Pixi. The phones can collect. consolidate, and color-code data from various calendars and Facebook events, all on a single calendar, plus also data from your contact and messaging lists. At last a way to bring together much of your data, online and off, into something like a genuine personal information manager for your phone. And you hardly have to exert yourself at all; the process is mostly automagic.

The other fine tool is Readability, a marvel of a bookmarklet for your browser toolbar that nearly always can figure out what text you want from any old Web page and make it simple, handsome, and free of surrounding clutter. You don't have to use the Select command, and the result is readable--and easy to copy, mail, and/or save to your hard drive. The Readability folks are calling it an experiment, so don't expect perfection. But they are attentive to your needs. I had a problem using Readability on particular pages, dropped them a note, and in their update they fixed the problem. The only response to that is: Wow.

The Times site is free, but requires registration. Happy New Year! We certainly need one.

Ammonia-free hair coloring is here

Here comes a "revolution" in hair coloring, according to scientists. That would be scientists at L’Oréal, who say they have found a way to replace stinky ammonia with a new, odorless, substitute.

You are probably dying to know that ammonia has been a part of hair coloring since L’Oréal's founder invented it a century ago this year. The new dye is called INOA for Innovation No Ammonia, which seems sensible. L’Oréal claims that, in addition to being free of ammonia smell, INOA feels more like a thick skin cream than regular hair coloring products.

INOA is already used in salons in Europe. It will be available at salons in the US and Canada early next year and eventually in home hair dye, the company says.

AViiQ's laptop stand is the most portable ever--and gorgeous too

The AViiQ laptop stand is the most portable I've ever seen--and also the most gorgeous. At 12 3/4" long, unfolded and supporting your laptop, the AViiQ laptop stand is only a little bigger than a sheet of paper. Folded, it's not much bigger than a No.10 envelope and weighs just 5.5 oz, so it fits easily into your laptop bag or even just a laptop sleeve.

I'm a veteran laptop traveler and for years carried a (relatively) lightweight plastic laptop stand that kept the thing from sliding off my lap and folded to provide a decent typing angle. But the fold didn't change its outer dimensions--bigger than my laptop's footprint, which dictated which bags I could carry. The AViiQ laptop stand, said to fit laptops up to 17", is a dream by comparison.

The AViiQ folks, like other laptop stand makers, claim their laptop stand will dissipate heat and prolong battery life. I can't evaluate that claim, but I can tell you that the 12% slope the AViiQ laptop stand achieves is, as they claim, the perfect typing angle. I was actually kinda startled by how much it improved typing ease. All of a sudden I can race along almost as quickly on my less-than-optimum laptop keyboard as I can on the classic IBM keyboard I use with my desktop.

And did I mention gorgeous? The AViiQ laptop stand is a tech beauty worthy of Apple. The stand is four lightweight plates made of Hylite, a composite of aluminum sheets bonded to a polypropylene core. The material is milled to be both flexible and rigid. AViiQ says that in testing the stand was folded more than 5000 times and showed no wear.

With all that perfection, you knew there was some bad news coming, right? Here it is: the price. $80.