“Gadgets” collection
Explore a curated selection of personal technology and innovative gadgets designed to improve daily productivity and entertainment. This collection features detailed evaluations of portable electronics, charging solutions, and versatile tools that provide genuine real-world utility.
HTD Tech Briefs
View all →September 8, 2009
How to Set Up an Inexpensive Outdoor Home Theater
Everybody has some sort of a main viewing room or area of the house where there is a larger TV and comfortable seating where families and friends gather to watch movies, TV shows or play video games. The big screen TV has become a digital fireplace of sorts or a congregation point in the house. With hectic schedules governing our…
Read more →September 2, 2009
IOGEAR KVM via USB: Troubles At First, Great in the End
About half a year ago, a PR firm sent me out what I thought would be a very good device to have in my tool chest. This was a device designed to facilitate connecting, viewing and sharing data and desktops between Windows PC all via a USB connection. The device, the IOGEAR "USB Laptop KVM Switch with File Transfer," (Product…
Read more →August 28, 2009
Fix Its: Merge Two BlackBerry Calendars into One & AT&T’s Visual Voicemail Activation for the Bold
AT&T pushed out new firmware and a desktop application update for the BlackBerry Bold this week, supposedly with a new Visual Voicemail (similar to the iPhone). But somewhere in the process of the upgrade, I found that a second calendar was activated which wasn't syncing to Microsoft Outlook. The fix that I detail below allows you to merge multiple BlackBerry…
Read more →August 27, 2009
The Sony Connected Bedroom – My Kids Jump for Joy!
This is my first article from the Sony DigiDads Project that we kicked off last week. You can read more about it here. Our first mission (that I definitely decided to accept) was to do an article on a Sony "Connected Living Room Experience." Well, I ran into a problem right from the start. I already have a huge HDTV…
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August 21, 2009
Open Pandora’s Box with The Livio Radio
Everyone loves Pandora right? How can you not. These are the guys giving you the Music Genome Project where they are mapping out music, one song at a time. Pandora is a fantastic way to get commercial-free music from a browser or application, all based on a single song, artist or genre. Simple create a station and start immediately enjoying…
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August 20, 2009
The Sony DigiDad Project
No, it's not about turning a bunch of dads into Skynet, cybernetic offspring. Nor are there going to be a new line of kids DigiPets that are modeled after fathers (but that would be an interesting idea). The Sony DigiDad Project is actually pretty cool (probably because I'm in it)! So here's the scoop. Sony has teamed up with 5…
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August 12, 2009
WebCam Monitoring & Streaming Via a $5 iPhone Application – iCam
If you travel frequently, have small kids, or just like to keep an eye on things, I have a great solution for you. A few weeks ago, I came across a nice iPhone app called iCam by SKJM which allows you to set up video monitoring of up to 4 sources at a time. Sure, there are lots of webcams…
Read more →August 2, 2009
Honey, I Shrunk the Dongle – Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 6000
Microsoft introduced its BlueTrack Technology in 2008 claiming that its breakthrough technology would allow for users to use mice having BlueTrack on just about any surface (just not glass or reflective surfaces). I decided to put that to the test in this quick review of the Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 6000. I have reviewed several mice and there are truly…
Read more →July 31, 2009
Consumer Heads-Up Displays May Be Sooner Than You Think with the “eyePhone”
I have been thinking about the recent release of iPhone OS 3.1 Beta 3 to the iPhone development community and the fact that there is now the framework and APIs for "augmented reality" applications available for programmers. What are "augmented reality" apps? Basically, applications that use the iPhone's camera as well as GPS, compass and accelerometer to produce visual interactivity…
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July 24, 2009
Review: “Eyes On” with the Dell Adamo 13
I was originally going to have the title of this review be "Hands On with the Dell Adamo 13" but I realized that laptops, notebooks and netbooks are really a dime a dozen these days. While the innards of a laptop can be very similar, what I think sets many laptops apart are their design, functionality and aesthetics. There are…
Read more →July 20, 2009
Altec Lansing’s Orbit MP3 Speaker Means High Quality Sound yet Inexpensive Portability
The nice thing about cell phones and MP3 players these days is that they hold a ton of music and they are extremely portable and functional. But the problem is, most players either don't have a speaker or if they do, it is only good for a conference call now and then and not really for playing your music or…
Read more →July 16, 2009
The Belkin N1 Vision: A Wireless Router Built for Speed as well as Display
If you are like me, you have your wireless router tucked away in a closet, at the top of a shelf or under a desk somewhere. I have one of mine on top of a kitchen hutch because it's in the center of the house, high up (for better reception) and close to the DSL connection. The other is tucked…
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