Cisco's Valet Router is a "no-brainer" for easy setup

Why the iPad Will Change Everything

READ complete article on Newsweek.com

"What's the big deal about Apple's iPad, currently arriving in stores on the biggest wave of hype since, well, Apple's iPhone? The easy answer is that the iPad comes from Apple, and we always expect big things from Apple because it is run by Steve Jobs, whose California garage was the birthplace of the personal computer in 1976. Since then, Jobs has transformed computing by making machines people actually like to use. He's changed the movie business, buying Pixar and ushering in the era of computer animation, and he's led a takeover of the music business with the iPod and the iTunes music store. Then came the iPhone, and even now, nearly three years after its introduction, no other phone comes close.

Jobs is a relentless perfectionist whose company creates such beautifully designed products that they have changed our expectations about how everything around us should work. He has an uncanny ability to cook up gadgets that we didn't know we needed, but then suddenly can't live without. The iPad is his personal pet project. It's something he's been working on for years, reportedly even while he was recuperating from a liver transplant. Jobs calls it 'a truly magical and revolutionary device,' and supposedly has told people close to him that the iPad is the most important thing he's ever done.

Which is why so many of us raced to San Francisco in January to get an up-close view of the miraculous tablet. Yet my first thought, as I watched Jobs run through his demo, was that it seemed like no big deal. It's a bigger version of the iPod Touch, right? Then I got a chance to use an iPad, and it hit me: I want one. Like the best Apple products, the user interface is so natural it disappears. The iPad runs on the iPhone operating system, so it's even easier to use than a Mac. Like the iPhone, the iPad is a sleek, slim device. It has a nice 9.7-inch screen, weighs only one and a half pounds, and can play movies for 10 hours on a single battery charge. Right away I could see how I would use it. I'd keep it in the living room to check e-mail and browse the Web. I'd take it to the kitchen and read The New York Times while I eat breakfast. I'd bring it with me on a plane to watch movies and read books.

That may not be life-changing, but is it worth 500 bucks? Yup. Done. Sold. No wonder, then, that by some accounts Apple has received preorders for 240,000 iPads, and some analysts project it could sell up to 5 million units in the product's first 12 months. One early adopter is Steve Wozniak, who cofounded Apple with Jobs. Woz has already ordered three iPads and plans to camp out in front of an Apple store the night before the iPad's debut, just for kicks. 'We all say we want things to be simpler, and now here is this simple thing. I think it will be a huge success,' Wozniak says."

iPhone App to Sidestep AT&T

READ full article on Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

"For a little $1 iPhone app, Line2 sure has the potential to shake up an entire industry.

It can save you money. It can make calls where AT&T's (T) signal is weak, like indoors. It can turn an iPod Touch into a full-blown cellphone.

And it can ruin the sleep of cellphone executives everywhere.

Line2 gives your iPhone a second phone number -- a second phone line, complete with its own contacts list, voice mail, and so on. The company behind it, Toktumi (get it?), imagines that you'll distribute the Line2 number to business contacts, and your regular iPhone number to friends and family. Your second line can be an 800 number, if you wish, or you can transfer an existing number.

To that end, Toktumi offers, on its Web site, a raft of Google (GOOG) Voice-ish features that are intended to help a small businesses look bigger: call screening, Do Not Disturb hours and voice mail messages sent to you as e-mail. You can create an 'automated attendant' -- 'Press 1 for sales,' 'Press 2 for accounting,' and so on -- that routes incoming calls to other phone numbers. Or, if you're pretending to be a bigger business than you are, route them all to yourself.

The Line2 app is a carbon copy, a visual clone, of the iPhone's own phone software. The dialing pad, your iPhone Contacts list, your recent calls list and visual voice mail all look just like the iPhone's.

(Let's pause for a moment here to blink, dumbfounded, at that point. Apple's (AAPL) rules prohibit App Store programs that look or work too much like the iPhone's own built-in apps. For example, Apple rejected the Google Voice app because, as Apple explained to the Federal Communications Commission, it works 'by replacing the iPhone's core mobile telephone functionality and Apple user interface with its own user interface for telephone calls.' That is exactly what Line2 does. Oh well -- the Jobs works in mysterious ways.)

So you have a second line on your iPhone. But that's not the best part."

How to clean your keyboard

CLICK to read more on Shine

"It’s important to remember to show your keyboard some love every now and then both for the sake of good hygiene and to ensure it functions properly. Those keys take quite a beating everyday, and all the little crevices are excellent at trapping things like dust and hair, and if you ever eat near your computer, it’s easy to wind up with sticky surfaces and crumbs buried between the cracks. Ew, right? Here, step-by-step instructions to get your keyboard in tip top shape."

How low can low-cost wireless carriers go?

READ complete story at Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

"At a time when major wireless carriers are beginning to require expensive data plans for many of their users, low-cost mobile companies keep making their prepaid calling plans broader and cheaper.

Cricket, the low-cost, pay-as-you-go wireless carrier operated by Leap Wireless (LEAP), said Tuesday that it would begin offering the nation's first $30-per-month unlimited nationwide talk and text plan. Coverage will be available in 125 U.S. cities across all 50 states.

That's $10 a month cheaper than any other prepaid nationwide unlimited plan available in the United States. Low-cost rival MetroPCS (PCS) offers a $40-a-month plan and competitor TracFone Wireless' Straight Talk has a $45-per-month plan.

As for the major carriers, Sprint's (S) Boost Mobile has a comparable prepaid plan for $50 a month, and T-Mobile and AT&T (T) both offer similar prepaid plans for $60 a month. Verizon (VZ) does not offer a comparable prepaid unlimited talk and text plan."

Are smartphones worth it?

Courtesy of MSNBC.com

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

5 things learned at South by Southwest (SXSW)

READ complete article on CNN.com

"Austin, Texas (CNN) -- For techies, the South by Southwest Interactive festival produces a firehose of information.

With keynote speeches, hundreds of panel discussions, a trade floor full of new gadgets and nonstop networking opportunities with 15,000 or so like-minded folks, it's impossible to take it all in.

It also may be too soon to pinpoint the most important things to come out of the festival, which ended Tuesday. The most significant outcome may be an idea sparked in a panel or a party conversation that someone takes home and turns into the next Facebook or Twitter.

But after five days of reporting, we can identify some key themes. So here, in no particular order, are five observations from five days in Austin."

Newest Verizon Wireless Smartphones

From abcnews.com

Verizon's Mike Maiorana shows you the company's latest smartphones.

CNET Top 5: Best products of the winter (VIDEO)

Dom-com celebrates 25 years (VIDEO)

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

"iPad Killer" May be Palm's Last Hope

READ more on Yahoo! News

NerdBoyTV NOTE: This is an interesting strategic idea from writer Tony Bradley of PCWorld on how Palm might salvage its company by possibly abandoning the Palm Pre smartphone and instead focus on taking its superior WebOS operating system to build their own "iPad Killer" tablet. What do you think?

"The Apple iPad has captured the imagination--and a fair share of the news headlines for the past few months. Palm has been in the headlines as well, but for entirely different reasons. Perhaps, Palm could reverse its fortunes and regain its former glory if it went back to its PDA roots and developed a tablet PC to compete with the iPad?

Humor me. Let's consider this for a second. Palm's future isn't looking very bright. While a different business strategy may have led to entirely different results, the reality is that Palm is dragging in last place for smartphone market share with little hope of rebounding.

Palm fans are quick to share the belief that it is a superior smartphone platform. Comments from readers on recent articles include:

• 'Palm Pre's multitasking capability is second to none and still holds the best record of maximum simultaneous running apps (Plus). No matter how you look at it, having the ability to run multiple 3rd party applications is far more advanced than iPhone's inability to do the same.'

• 'The Palm Pre is still a superior product and the benefits of WebOS are still undeniable. If you did a poll on the majority of Palm Pre owners, I'm sure you'll find that most will respond positively satisfied.'

• 'I find the iPhone comical next to my Palm Pre. It is true that if all apps remembered where they were at, multi-tasking would be less necessary. However, multi-tasking is still better. I can look up information on my Pre and then use it in another app without closing either of them.'

It seems that those relative few who have the Palm Pre or some other WebOS-based smartphone from Palm not only like it, but passionately believe it is superior--even to the vaunted iPhone. I can't shake the feeling, though, that Palm users sound a lot like IBM OS/2 and Commodore Amiga loyalists clinging to dying technologies as the ship is going down.

Palm has a proud heritage, though. Before the BlackBerry was the 'CrackBerry', the Palm PDA was a ubiquitous business tool. Business professionals had to have a Palm to sync up calendar events and contact databases. Prior to the convergence of the two to create the concept of smartphones, a Palm PDA was a required companion to the cell phone for mobile business professionals."

Apple's iPad is one of a slate of slates

WATCH slideshow on Wireless- msnbc.com

"Apple started taking orders for its iPad tablet March 12, and some reports indicate first-day pre-orders of 120,000, a strong initial showing for the device due out April 3. The first version of the iPad is Wi-Fi only; another that also has 3G connectivity through AT&T should be available in late April.

There are many other companies jumping into the tablet arena. Among them: HP, Dell and Samsung. Google and HTC are reportedly working on a slate, and Sony may be interested, too. No one really knows yet whether consumers will gravitate to tablets, and Apple’s “is not the first media tablet,” says ABI Research senior analyst Jeff Orr. “But it does help define this new device category,” and is definitely the 1.5-pound gorilla in the room.

CLICK on link above to learn more about other tablets."

Cashmore Sees Mashable Becoming "Major Media Player"

If you had to pick the one buzzword that’s dominating social media chatter today, it would have to be location. Just over a year ago, Foursquare burst onto the scene at the SXSW conference in Austin, TX. Since then, it’s only grown dramatically.



The result has been a battle for domination in the geolocation space. While many still think Foursquare could be the next Twitter, rivals such as Gowalla (Gowalla) are giving the mobile startup some heat, and big players such as Facebook (Facebook) and Twitter (Twitter) are launching location features or are about to launch them.

Mashable's Pete Cashmore sat down with Bloomberg’s Cris Valerio to discuss the location trend, the battle brewing between Foursquare (Foursquare) and Gowalla at this year’s SXSW, the gold mine that is location-based advertising, the iPad and even a little bit about the future of Mashable (Mashable).

It’s quite a fascinating video — if you do watch it, let us know what you think of the location trend (and Pete’s on-air performance) in the comments.

Sneak Peek: Rhapsody’s Upcoming iPhone App

READ more on Wired.com

"Subscription music service Rhapsody showed us a new version of its iPhone app that includes the feature we’ve been clamoring for: the ability to store music on the iPhone so that it can play even when you’re on the subway, plane, highway or another location where it’s difficult or impossible to get a strong enough signal to support high-quality music streaming.

Company spokesman Ryan Luckin said Rhapsody expects Apple to approve the app — after all, Apple allows Spotify to cache playlists on the iPhone’s memory in countries where it’s available.

Not only will this offline playback feature make it possible to listen to thousands of Rhapsody songs without a strong wireless data connection, but it also significantly extends battery life — a crucial consideration for any portable device, seeing as how batteries appear to be the only area of technology not subject to Moore’s Law.

Rhapsody adds another twist that has yet to appear in the Spotify iPhone app: a “force offline mode” that temporarily removes all non-cached songs from the Rhapsody app’s library. The utility of this feature may not be readily apparent, but it’s actually useful, because it lets you shuffle through your library, playing only the music contained in cached playlists."

Tricks to Keep Your Device's Battery Going and Going

READ more at Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

"f you're a recent convert to smartphones, you're probably still discovering all the amazing things that your new BlackBerry, Android phone or iPhone can do. But one thing you most likely found out right away: the more you do, the shorter your phone's battery lasts.

While a standard cellphone's charge can easily go three days or more, many smartphone owners are dismayed to learn that their new mobile toy requires charging every 24 hours, or even more often. It was great that I could use one device — my iPhone — to check my calendar and respond to multiple incoming calls during January's Consumer Electronics Show, but I paid the price when its battery died at 2 p.m.

The answer was not to desperately search for an electrical outlet to recharge the phone (though I've done that) or to consider giving up the phone (done that, too), but rather to figure out a strategy to reduce energy consumption while still having it available for essential tasks. Whether you're using a laptop or a smartphone, the devices can be tweaked to get the most out of its lithium–ion batteries."

8 HDTV myths demystified

Shopping around? Check out these claims often heard at big-box retailers

READ more on PC World- msnbc.com

"If you're buying your first HDTV or an upgrade from a starter set, your new television may deliver a better picture than the one you're used to.

But picking the right HDTV can be confusing, especially when your favorite blue-shirted salesperson may be steering you in a certain direction in hopes of a bigger commission. Or maybe the rep is just misinformed. Whatever the reasons, the environment has encouraged a cavalcade of claims about HDTVs — some of which were true for first-generation sets but have little relevance to today's buyers, some of remain valid, and some of which were never true.

I'll highlight some of the most prominent assertions made on the showroom floors of big-box retailers and explain the realities, along with tips and details for buying an HDTV, selecting the best content, hooking up the set at home, and more."

Top 10 must-have gadgets and electronics

CLICK to see them CNET Reviews

"This month's picks include the Nexus One and the Squeezebox Radio. What else is hot on our most recent Must-Have Gadgets list? The Palm Pre Plus and a stellar flat-panel TV, to name just two. Rather than trying to compare gadgets across multiple categories, we present them in alphabetical order, because when you get right down to it, we think they're all must-haves."

Apple To Charge $107 For iPad Battery Replacement

By cbs5.com

"Apple said it will replace iPads with dying batteries for about $100.

Apple Inc.'s iPhone and iPad both have sealed-in batteries that owners can't replace themselves. As it does with the iPhone, Apple said it will give people whose iPads have a 'diminished ability to hold an electrical charge' an entire new unit. The service will cost $99 plus $6.95 in shipping charges.

The information, posted on Apple's support Web site, was reported earlier by the AppleInsider blog.

Apple's first iPads, which can connect to the Internet using Wi-Fi but not cellular networks, go on sale April 3. The least expensive model will cost $499."

SHOW #88 - NerdBoyTV: iPad & Photo Makeover

In this episode of NerdBoyTV, Ryan Yee shares why you may want to wait on buying the Apple iPad on April 3rd. Also, he shares a demo of Reallusion's iPhone app, Photo Makeover.

Should You Pre-Order An iPad?

By Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

"Owning a cutting-edge gadget has a certain cool factor, but early adopters rarely get a great deal. Some observers say Apple's new iPad, available to pre-order Friday for an April 3 release, isn't likely to be an exception -- though there will probably be no shortage of shoppers wanting to go first.

'Most people are better off waiting for the technology to mature,' says Rob Enderle, the principal analyst at the Enderle Group, a San Jose, Calif.-based technology research firm. First versions of emerging technology are at premium prices and riddled with glitches. 'Even the first iPhone owners were pretty unhappy.'

Apple, which did not respond to requests for comment, charges $499 for 16GB version of the touchscreen tablet with WiFi. 32GB and 64GB go for $599 and $699, respectively. (Later this spring, the company plans to offer iPad models with both Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity for $629, $729 and $829.)

If the prices don't spook you, and you're still determined to own, you might consider pre-ordering, since demand for popular new gadgets tend to eclipse availability. When Barnes & Noble moved to introduce its Nook reader in late 2009, for example, so many consumers tried to buy, the company had to push back shipments by up to two months and ended up offering a $100 store gift card to consumers who were promised delivery by Christmas Eve. Shoppers who order close to the April 3 launch may have to wait.

Not completely sold on the need for instant iPad gratification? Hold off. Some of the difficulties with early adoption are likely to disappear within a few months. Consider these five reasons to wait."

Click above link to read the whole story.

Sony's motion controller named 'Playstation Move', priced under $100

By Plugged In - Yahoo! Games

"Sony is on the Move.

During an event at the Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco, the company officially unveiled the name of their upcoming Playstation 3 motion control device: Playstation Move. The controller will hit shelves this fall.

'It's fast, precise and accurate,' said Peter Dille, Sony's senior VP of marketing. 'We like to think this is the next generation of motion-gaming...we're really approaching this as a platform launch.'

Sony's response to the Nintendo Wii remote, the Playstation Move system requires both the new wand controller and the Playstation Eye camera to work. Though exact pricing has not been set, Sony confirmed that a 'starter kit' of one controller, one Playstation Eye and one game will be sold for under $100. The Move will also be sold as a standalone product or bundled with the Playstation 3 system itself.

The Move packs a ton of tech into its slim controller. A three-axis gyroscope, a three-axis accelerometer and a magnetic field sensor work in tandem with the camera to purportedly provide more accurate spatial recognition than the Wii remote."

Leaked Dell Streak flyer shows multitude of color options, confirmed specifications

By Engadget

"There's no denying that the Mini 5 is real, but up until now, we've had to provide all of our own promotional material. At long last, it seems as if the suits in Round Rock are finally getting around to crafting the first advertisements for the upcoming slate, and while we knew about the 5-inch WVGA (800 x 480) touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, capacitive touch front buttons, front-facing VGA camera (for video chatting) and the 30-pin docking connector, we weren't aware of Dell's plans to reveal a slew of vivacious color options. If this here flyer proves legitimate, we could eventually see the Mini 5 available in an array of premium finishes and hues (thanks, Design Studio!), and we're hoping for a few different spec builds as well. So, are you opting for the pink, or are you crossing your fingers in hopes that Dell allows you to print that embarrassing shot of you and Mr. T on the rear of one?

Update: Oh, snap! We just landed a few more official slides from an internal Dell document, and it's safe to say that the company is going to call this beauty the Streak. Or, at least that's the internal codename. Better still, it looks as if it'll launch with an Amazon content partnership, which will bring a Kindle e-book reader app, Amazon MP3, Amazon video streams and pretty much any other material that Amazon sells in digital form right to the slate. C'mon now -- how's about a ship date and a price?"

Nexus One Hands On Review

By Josh Spear, Trendspotting

"By now you’re probably inundated by news of the Nexus One, an HTC built phone that many dubbed the Google Phone. The Mountain View company stayed true to their word and while they did not manufacture the phone, it is clear they had a heavy hand in its design. The phone is the only one current running the latest and greatest (2.1) Android build and boasts an impressive hardware suite: 1Ghz Snapdragon processor, 11.5mm thick, 5MP camera with LED flash, 3.7-inch WVGA AMOLED display, 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth, 512MB RAM, 512MB ROM, 4GB microSD in-box expandable to 32GB.

Many people were looking at this phone as being a game changer, an iPhone destroyer, even after they looked at the specs and saw the leaked videos and images. In the past 10 or so years there have only been two really important phones – the Motorola RAZR and the iPhone became king (2007). I feel like Google never set out to destroy the iPhone overnight. After all, in order to do so, a phone would have to be as revolutionary as the iPhone was three years ago. Clearly this is not the case. With the Nexus One, Google is trying to disrupt the market by giving users more options."

Google: Desktop PCs to be "irrelevant" in 3 years

By Christopher Null : Yahoo! Tech

"f you're reading this on a computer, you're about to be lost in the past, at least according to a Google Europe executive, John Herlihy, who has proclaimed the PC era just about over.

By 2013, says Herlihy, the desktop PC will be irrelevant, and the smart phone will be the platform of choice for most Internet use.

Silicon Republic says Herlihy's audience, a 'Digital Landscapes' conference at University College Dublin, was 'baffled' by the statement, although many a pundit has made this prediction in recent months. Other Google executives have also posited that the company's primary focus going forward will be on mobile technologies.

It's unclear how much Google will focus on phones versus other mobile devices such as laptops and nascent tablet devices like the Apple iPad, but it's clear that in the long term, all PC-based devices are at risk of being made irrelevant by more pocket-friendly machinery."

HTC Legend: Frankly, it feels expensive

By Wireless- msnbc.com

"With HTC's upcoming crop of Androids, you'll be able to separate people into two distinct groups: those who spring for the brainier, better-specced Desire, and those who get bowled over by the beautiful, yet lesser-specced Legend.

The Desire (or Nexus One) is the final word in the Androidsphere — it's a mark of someone who knows what they're doing, who wants to show people they NEED that extra computing power. If you compare it to the Legend, you could be justified in saying Legend-salivators are more shallow, ignoring the might of a Snapdragon processor in lieu of a unibody aluminum shell and slim build.

You'd be wrong, however."

iPhone Addictive, Survey Reveals

By Yahoo! News

"A new Stanford University survey confirms what many iPhone users may have long suspected: Apple's smartphone can be addicting.

The survey was administered to 200 students with iPhones, 70 percent of whom had owned their iPhones for less than a year.

The most interesting trend was how quickly the iPhone became an indispensable part of the students' lifestyles, and how many of them openly acknowledged they would be lost without it.

Nearly 85 percent of the iPhone owners used the phone as their watch, and 89 percent used it as their alarm clock. In fact, 75 percent admitted to falling asleep with the iPhone in bed with them, and 69 percent said they were more likely to forget their wallet than their iPhone when leaving in the morning.

Many students readily acknowledge how much they rely on their iPhones. When asked to rank their dependence on the iPhone on a scale of one to five - five being addicted and one being not at all addicted - 10 percent of the students acknowledged full addiction to the device, 34 percent ranked themselves as a four on the scale, and only 6 percent said they weren't addicted at all.

And among those who didn't consider themselves completely addicted, 32 percent expressed worry that they would become addicted someday."

It's official: iPad to go on sale April 3, pre-orders begin next week

By Ben Patterson : Yahoo! Tech:

"Dying to get your hands on the iPad? Then mark your calendars for April 3, the day when Apple's long-anticipated touchscreen tablet hits stores, with pre-orders set to begin next week.

Three iPad models will be available come April the third: the 16GB version for $499, a 32GB version for $599, and the 64GB model for $699.

These first three iPads will be Wi-Fi-only; versions with embedded 3G support (the carrier here in the U.S. will be AT&T) will arrive in 'late April,' Apple said, and they'll each cost $130 more than their respective Wi-Fi-only counterparts.

Apple will begin accepting pre-orders for the Wi-Fi iPads will begin next Friday, March 12; you'll also be able to reserve an iPad for pickup at your local Apple store.

So, will there be lines for the iPad stretching around the block? Personally, I'm curious to find out. In recent weeks, we've seen conflicting surveys about consumer interest in the iPad, but the proof's in the pudding. The good news about purchasing the Wi-Fi-only iPad in person is that unlike the iPhone, there's no lengthy activation process, just grab it & go.

I'll be pre-ordering my own iPad next week—probably the 64GB version, although I'll also be double-checking Apple's refund policy in case it's not a match made in heaven. (The standard return policy for the online Apple Store is that you get 14 days to return a product, no questions asked, although you'll also be charged 10 percent for opened items.)

So, are you buying an iPad on day one? Waiting until the reviews come in? (I'll be posting my own iPad review as soon as I get my hands on one.) Or are you simply not interested?"

NerdBoyTV TIP: Microsoft Zune Media Player for $50

"TigerDirect is sweetening its offer of a refurbished Zune 4GB with an FM transmitter and charger, a dashboard grip pad, and a leather carrying case--all for $50 (you can find the new MP3 player by itself at Amazon for over $100).

Microsoft announced that it will discontinue the original line of Zune players in favor of the Zune HD, but we've always liked the wireless syncing, audio quality, and built-in FM tuner of the earlier Zune players."

Here's the sale: GO TigerDirect

Zune HD gets Facebook app, finally

READ MP3 Insider - CNET Reviews: "In what can only be described as the most anticlimactic app release known to mankind, the Facebook app for Zune HD is now available. Originally promised to arrive by the end of 2009, the fabled Zune HD Facebook app has maintained a Yeti-like elusiveness.

Was it worth the wait? Not hardly. An app would need to lay laser-shooting golden eggs to be worth six months of prolonged anticipation. Fortunately, just like Microsoft's Twitter app (which actually arrived in December), the Facebook app is free to download and contains no advertising.

Like any Facebook app worth its salt, the new Zune HD app can update your status, and view profiles, posts, photos, and videos. Users can also send a receive messages through the app.

One neat little extra feature, made just for Zune HD users, is the ability to set your Facebook status to the currently playing song by tapping the Zune logo to the left of the status box.

To download the app for yourself, visit the Zune Marketplace app store within the Zune desktop software, or download the app directly to your Zune HD using the integrated Marketplace menu."

Gadgets wow crowds at world's top high-tech fair

READ Yahoo! News: "HANOVER, Germany (AFP) – Robots that teach Chinese, computers controlled by moving the eyes and flying alarm clocks were among the weird and wonderful gadgets wowing crowds Wednesday at the world's top high-tech fair.

As the IT sector seeks to bounce back after a disastrous 2009, firms sought to woo punters at this year's CeBIT fair in northern Germany with fun and futuristic inventions ranging from the mind-boggling to the downright silly.

Learning Chinese but finding it tough to find people to practice with?

Meet Amy, the beautiful and uber-smart talking robot with 400,000 sentences at her command and a brain that is programmed with the entire knowledge of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Using artificial intelligence and voice recognition, Amy can chat for hours with her owner, without ever getting bored or tired and never running out of conversation.

About 35 centimetres (14 inches) tall, with a screen for a face and a laser arm to project her image onto a wall, Amy is due to hit the market towards the end of 2010, said Bruce Han from viewmotion, the South Korean firm that created her.

'At the moment, she can only speak Chinese and English, but we hope in a few years to have French, German, Italian and Japanese,' he said.

Big crowds also gathered around the 'eye tracking' stand run by Tobii Technology, a Swedish company.

Its system allows users to control computers using just the motion of their eyes, from scrolling through a selection of music tracks to enabling market researchers to monitor what consumers look at first from a shelf of products.

A similar technology was unveiled by the Fraunhofer Institute, whereby users can point at a screen from up to 20 metres (65 feet) away and 'touch' icons or control a cursor just as they would with a touch-screen.

With music devices like the iPod and MP3 players now so common, several firms used the CeBIT to showcase new ways of enjoying music on the move.

The 'Tunebug Vibe' is a small device that music-lovers can plug into their iPod, place on any surface -- a pizza box, a table, a wall, a ceiling -- and it instantly becomes a speaker, converting the vibrations of the music into sound.

There was plenty of offer for the practical joker, too. Getdigital.de, whose company slogan is 'gadgets and more for geeks', offered a tiny remote control device that can surreptitiously turn on or off almost any European television."

Apple Sues HTC For Stealing iPhone Technology

READ Tech Ticker, Yahoo! Finance: "Apple today filed a lawsuit against mobile devices maker HTC. The suit claims infringement of 20 patents related to the iPhone's user interface, underlying architecture, and hardware.

In the release, Steve Jobs says, 'We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We've decided to do something about it...We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.'

Taiwan-based HTC was the first company to manufacture a cell phone based on Google's Android operating system, which has emerged as a significant competitor to the iPhone, AP reports. It's also making the Nexus One phone that Google is selling directly to consumers.

It looks like the Nexus One, and other HTC phones, may have hit too close to home for Steve Jobs.

Earlier, we supposed that Apple's multi-touch user interface could be the basis for the lawsuit. But after examining the complaint, it appears that Apple is NOT suing over multitouch, but rather a bunch of other software. (When Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone, he touted its multitouch screen, then said, 'And boy, have we patented it.')

Meanwhile, Apple is already tied up in a patent lawsuit with Nokia, claiming Nokia is stealing Apple technology. Nokia says Apple is stealing its technology. Kodak is also suing Apple claiming technology theft.

Basically, Apple's patent lawyers are going to be busy for the next year or so."

All Dr. Seuss Apps On Sale For Only $0.99 March 2nd Celebrating Dr. Seuss's Birthday And Read Across America Day

All Dr. Seuss Apps On Sale For Only $0.99 March 2nd Celebrating Dr. Seuss's Birthday And Read Across America Day: "Oceanhouse Media, Inc. is dropping the price of their entire line of Dr. Seuss iPhone / iPod Touch apps to an astonishing $0.99 on March 2nd, for one day only, in honor of Theodor Geisel's (Dr. Seuss) birthday and Read Across America Day.

The National Education Association's Read Across America is an annual reading motivation and awareness program that calls for every child in every community across our nation to celebrate reading on March 2, the birthday of beloved children's author Dr. Seuss. http://www.nea.org/readacross

Dr. Seuss apps currently available on the App Store are:

* The Cat in the Hat eBook
* Dr. Seuss's ABC eBook
* How the Grinch Stole Christmas! eBook
* Dr. Seuss Camera - The Cat in the Hat Edition
* Dr. Seuss Camera - The Grinch Edition
* Grinchmas! kid's game

All three interactive eBooks, normally $3.99 each, combine the beautiful original artwork of the books with innovative features that promote reading in young children, including highlighted picture / word associations, professional narrations and custom background audio.

We are excited to honor Theodor Geisel by making these products available at an incredible price for one day only.

Normally $2.99 each, the Dr. Seuss Camera apps allow users to create unique and whimsical photo cards using the iPhone's built-in camera or Photo Library. Users can pose with or choose to become characters from the books. Cards can be personalized with comical and colorful stamps, borders and classic Seussian text and then e-mailed to friends and family or saved to the Photo Library."

http://www.oceanhousemedia.com/products/drseuss/

Online Personal Trainers Give On Demand Access to Highly Motivated Clients

Online Personal Trainers Give On Demand Access to Highly Motivated Clients: "FitOrbit, leading internet-based personal training and workout and meal planning service, presents the results from its recent survey of one hundred online personal trainers. The survey asked personal trainers to evaluate effective motivational techniques for clients they train online verses in the real world.

Personal trainers indicated their online clients benefit from receiving a healthier dose of motivation and support toward meeting their fitness goals then their offline counterparts. The survey also revealed particular techniques that successfully engage clients - over the internet - to partake in regular physical activity and healthy eating in the real world.

The lack of motivation to get off the couch and break serious eating and beverage consumption habits is one of the greatest barriers to reaching personal fitness goals. Survey participants were asked about their use of specific FitOrbit features like SMS text and email notifications, in-system messaging, nudges, and plan modifications aimed to motivate clients to perform the daily fitness activities, which are suggested for them in their workout and meal plans.

In a real-world situation many clients can only reach out to their trainers when they see them for a scheduled workout session. With FitOrbit however, clients can reach out to their trainer whenever they feel the need,' says Trainer Kristy Lee Wilson

Survey participants indicated that the most popular component of their online personal training service is providing on demand access for clients, and giving them real-time feedback when they need it. Personal trainers attributed this factor to enabling the development of a more intimate relationship with their clients, which helps build trust and honesty.

“Non face-to-face methods, such as the mail and the internet, can reduce potential barriers, such as lack of access to fitness facilities and time constraints,” says lead author Bess Marcus, PhD of a research study conducted at The Miriam Hospital Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine and The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Marcus continues, “Different channels of delivery can provide equally effective results”."

http://www.fitorbit.com/

Design Your Own Plush is All The Rage

Design Your Own Plush is All The Rage: "Using the kid-friendly design tools on the CurlyQ Cuties website, anyone can quickly design their own unique stuffed plush toy. Children as young as 4-years-old have commissioned their own $25 made-to-order Monster designs. No sewing or crafting skills are necessary. As a customer interactively selects the color and shape of their toy's body and features, the visual representation of their design is instantly updated in the online designer. Customers clearly see how their customized design will look before they commit to a purchase.

'We focus exclusively on manufacturing one-of-a-kind stuffies from our customer's virtual designs.' said Stephanie Estrin, CurlyQ Cuties' President & CEO. 'Our website's design tools make the design process easy. You create the design, we do the rest.' When a customer places an order, the transformation from their virtual design to a real plush toy begins. Every product ordered from CurlyQ Cuties is handmade-to-order in Texas. No two toys are exactly the same. All orders are shipped to customers in 10 days or less. For those who simply cannot wait two weeks to receive their custom plushie, the company offers optional rush service.

Founded in January 2008 by a mom entrepreneur on a quest to create high quality imaginative toys, CurlyQ Cuties was originally an Etsy.com shop selling ready-made stuffed Monsters. 'We're an Etsy success story.' said Ms. Estrin. ' I started out making Monsters for my children and then for my friend's children. The Monsters were so well received, I started an Etsy shop to sell them to the public.'

After repeated requests for customized variations of her ready-made Monsters, Ms. Estrin recognized an opportunity to provide a collaboratively-designed and made-to-order plush toy at an affordable price. The major challenge was most customers wanted to see what they would receive before they placed an order. This led directly to the development and launch of the CurlyQ Cuties website in July 2008."

http://www.curlyqcuties.com/