DigitalTech TouchStone Digital Hand Warmer and Portable Gadget Charger

One thing we love here at TFTS is gadgets that fuse seemingly unrelated functions together in a single device – resulting in something truly unique – and this digital hand warmer and portable gadget charger, known as the Touch Stone, from DigitalTech certainly falls neatly into this category.

Looking itself like an MP3 device (we are reminded of Creative’s Zen Stone MP3 player) this device will not only serve to charge your portable gadgets, such as cell phones, PDAs, digital cameras and MP3 players via a 24-pin connector, should they run out of juice but it will also act to keep your hands warm whilst out in a blizzard thanks to a user defined warmth setting.

Powered by a rechargeable lithium-polymer battery, the pocket sized DigitalTech TouchStone, apart from keeping your digits snug, will provide enough additional juice to power cell phones for up to nine hours whist, as a hand warmer, the unit offers around six hours of continuous heat.



Available in red or black, and measuring a mere 98 x 64 x 16 mm, the DigitalTech TouchStone Digital Hand Warmer and Portable Gadget Charger retails for 39,600 South Korean Won (approximately $44 / £21 / €30.

Read: DigitalTech TouchStone Digital Hand Warmer and Portable Gadget Charger » TFTS – Technology, Gadgets & Curiosities

Sourc: http://nexus404.com/Blog/2007/11/02/digitaltech-touchstone-digital-hand-warmer-and-portable-gadget-charger/

Cook With the Pros And Play Ball As One: iPhone Apps Of The Week

(Credit: CNET)

The big Apple iPhone news this week involved a new app approved in the iTunes App Store called Skyfire Web Browser (link will open iTunes). This new Web browser's claim to fame is that it can display Flash content by using an interesting workaround. The browser sends Flash content to its own server, converts it to HTML5, then streams the content back to your iPhone. Jessica Dolcourt wrote about Skyfire's shaky launch here.

Apparently, within 5 hours, Skyfire's servers were overloaded (imagine that!) as people swarmed to a new way to view Flash on the iPhone. To be honest, I haven't run into many problems with not having Flash, but I definitely hope that Apple and Adobe or someone can come to an agreement so any smartphone user can get ALL the Web content available.

As of right now, Skyfire is still available at the iTunes App Store, but I have to wonder how it could not know there would be an onslaught of traffic and prepare accordingly. It also makes me wonder if it's really worth the trouble.

What do you think? Are you content waiting for developers to convert everything to HTML5 (if that's even possible)? Should Apple just throw caution to the wind and make it so Flash works (and open the platform to those alleged dangers)? Let me know in the comments!

This week, get cooking with chefs from the Food Network and play a fun arcade baseball game.

Once you find a recipe, use the top buttons to see a list of ingredients and how to cook the dish.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)

In The Kitchen ($1.99) gives you a recipe database made up of delicious recipes from all your favorite chefs from the Food Network. The interface offers a number of ways to find a good recipe, either by using a search tool or by touching the image of a chef from the Food Network.

Browse through thousands of recipes from popular chefs including Bobby Flay, Alton Brown, Paula Deen, Giada De Laurentiis, and Rachael Ray, and get reviews for recipes from other users. Once you decide on a dish to make, you can have In The Kitchen create a shopping list for you so you can check off ingredients as you walk around the store. The shopping list is particularly helpful because you can add just the items you need or all the items from multiple dishes. Even if you don't want to make a particular recipe today, you can store favorites in a Recipe Box so you can get back to them later.

Along with tons of recipes from your favorite Food Network chefs, handy tools for shopping, and a Recipe Box for your favorites, In The Kitchen offers timers so you don't even need to set a separate one. With all these features and the addition of special seasonal recipe collections, anyone who wants to add to his or her cooking repertoire should definitely download this app.

You'll need to use your all stars (pitchers mound) to get out of difficult game time situations.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)

Baseball Superstars 2011 ($4.99) lets you play a cartoony, but surprisingly deep version of America's favorite pastime on your iPhone. You can choose from 10 teams initially with varying skills (some have better batting, whereas others might offer faster runners, for example) and play a standard baseball game. The graphics are more cartoonlike than realistic, and you won't be able to choose your favorite team (Baseball Superstars is not licensed by MLB), but you'll quickly forget your team is "The Dolphins" once you start playing in an exhibition game, home run hitting derby, or even a 45-game season.

Baseball Superstars 2011 offers plenty of depth and replay value by allowing you to customize a batter or a pitcher with items you can buy in-game. You also have special pitches and a super-hitting button with special players you can unlock as you play. Though you don't have full control like you would in a console baseball game, Baseball Superstars 2011 manages to use the iPhone touch screen very well. Fielding the ball is done automatically, but you have full control over the type of pitches you throw and ball placement.

Even though Baseball Superstars 2011 is not a realistic-looking baseball game, and doesn't come with our favorite players and teams from the pros, this title will still appeal to baseball fans offering some RPG elements and plenty of extras to keep the game interesting. My only question is, why did they release this game after the World Series was over (go Giants!)?

What's your favorite iPhone app? Are you excited that you finally have the recipes from Food Network favorites on your iPhone? What do you think of the arcadelike but surprisingly deep gameplay in Baseball Superstars 2011? Let me know in the comments!

Sourc: http://download.cnet.com/8301-2007_4-20021985-12.html?tag=mncol;txt

Top 10 free iPhone apps

With the iPod (probably the iPod Touch) and the iPhone swiftly becoming a must required gizmo for almost everyone across the globe, various apps for both these devices are readily coming up over the internet and also on iTunes. The iPhone apps range from simply annoying to useful ones as they have actually revolutionized these devices.

Here is the list of 10 free iPhone apps that have topped the list of best free iPhone apps:

• Facebook-Frankly, you cannot name someone who is not actually using this social networking service. Free facebook app will allow the user to upload pictures, chat and check the status messages of their friends.

• Stanza-This is the best app for those people across the globe who love book. Stanza proves to be a great competitor on the iPhone as compared to its competitor, Kindle, launched by Amazon.

• PhoneSaber-This is a free of cost app that can actually be of zero practicality and almost no use but who doesn’t require to be a Jedi? With this app you can go mad by swinging your iPhone all around your head and look the lightsaber on your iPhone moving to and forth along with you.

• Light-O-Matic-This is absolutely true that you have had the situation when you try to apply the dim light of your phone to search or find something when it is dark. This app, Light, is a genius yet simple free app that will turn your own iPhone into a sort of flash light.

• Twitterific-This is a fact that almost everyone uses twitter these days and why not as it is the best place to put up views and thoughts to share with all your pals. This free app makes life easy for you to chase your followers’.

• Shazam-The word truly appears like the one used for a magician. This can help you know the title or the artist sing a particular song that you just heard on the radio.

• Tap Tap Revenge-Rock Band and Guitar Hero fans can now rejoice. This free app designed by Tapulous is crazily sort of addictive and you will tap your feet and fingers on your iPhone while you listen to it.

• Google Earth-Keeping it easily, now you walk with the entire world in your pocket. This is a powerful and free app that allows you to look at amazing imagery by the satellite just on the palm of your hand. This applet is very useful for those who have interest in geography and satellites.

• Pandora-Pandora is actually a personalized radio available free of cost. The sound of it just sounds perfectly incredible. You can now tune into your favorite radio station over the internet or even make out the radio stations through their genres. You can now tune into those stations almost anywhere.

• EBay Mobile-Now electronic agents for auctioning can leave their houses in peace. You can now track your auctions on eBay, activity and sales all using your iPhone and this free app. Using your iPhone You can place your own bid!

Sourc : http://www.comptalks.com/top-10-free-iphone-apps/

Magellan 2010 Lineup of GPS Navigation Systems

As you may already know Magellan just introduced a bunch of new GPS navigation systems for their RoadMate series. The new models range from 4.3″ screen to 5″ but all of them come with integrated Free Lifetime Live Traffic. Also all models are capable of text to speech, multi destination routing, and know about 6 million points of interests. The prices will range from $170 to $300.

Without further ado here are all of the seven new models:

4.3″ screen

• RoadMate 2035: 48 states and Puerto Rico
• RoadMate 2036: add Canada, built-in AAA Tourbook, Roadside assistance, lane assistance
• RoadMate 2045: add microSD card slot

4.7″ screen

• RoadMate 3045: maps of U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada
• RoadMate 3045LM: add lifetime maps
• RoadMate 3055: 3045 + bluetooth, voice dialing
• RoadMate 3065 Commuter: adds the exclusive Traffic Wake-up and Periodic Reporting.

5″ screen

• RoadMate 5045: 3045 with a 5″ screen

You can read about the flagship model Magellan Roadmate 3065 Commuter here.

Magellan Announces 2010 RoadMate GPS Device Lineup

Magellan introduces its new 2010 RoadMate line of GPS navigation devices. These new GPS devices also come with integrated Free Lifetime Live Traffic and the exclusive OneTouch personalization feature allowing you to save favorite places, categories and searches.

In total there are 10 models and all of them feature spoken street names, 6 million points of interest, QuickSpell for error-free address entry and multi-destination routing as well as the Automatic Parking Lot Finder parking feature.

Models:

RoadMate 2000-series

• RoadMate 2035 – 4.3-inch Display, Maps of United States and Puerto Rico – $169.99
• RoadMate 2036 – All features of 2035, adds maps of Canada, built-in AAA Tourbook and Roadside Assistance and Highway Lane Assist – $179.99
• RoadMate 2036-MU – All features of 2036, adds one free map update – $199.99
• RoadMate 2045 – All features of 2045, adds microSD card slot – $199.99

RoadMate 3000-series

• RoadMate 3045 – 4.7-inch screen, Maps of United States, Canada and Puerto Rico – $199.99
• RoadMate 3045-LM – All features of 3045, adds Free Lifetime Maps – $229.99
• RoadMate 3045-MU – All features of 3045, adds one free map update
• RoadMate 3055 – All features of 3045, adds Bluetooth and voice dialing – $249.99
• RoadMate 3065 Commuter – All features of 3055, adds Traffic Wake-up and Periodic Reporting – $299.99

RoadMate 5000-series

• RoadMate 5045 – All features of 3045 with 5-inch screen, maps of United States, Canada and Puerto Rico - $219.99

[magellan]

New GPS X Guider

Sometime ago we mentioned a new GPS for back tracking – called GPS X-Guider. We decided to get this GPS back tracker for a thorough review and want to share our findings here.

The term GPS backtracker is quite new – usually referring to small handheld GPS devices dedicated to routing you back to a waypoint you’ve marked. This could simply be the spot you parked your car, your favorite camping site, or even the spot where your buried the body in the middle of desert. This is nothing an advanced GPS device can’t do but it’s nice to have a small easy to use GPS handheld for the job. You could even claim your smartphone can get the job done – but good luck with that battery life. Since acquiring GPS signal usually eats up a lot of power your Android/iPhone may be out of out juice within the first hour of your adventure. You might as well keep the last 5 minutes of your battery life to record a voice message for your loved ones.

But anyhow – back to GPS X-Guider. First thing you’ll notice with this GPS device is its simplicity. Simple menus, only two buttons, but still a lot of features.

Hardware

We’re not sure what kind of GPS receiver chip is in this GPS back tracker but we’re happy with it. Out of the box (cold start) it took less than a minute to get a satellite fix and after that it was literally seconds for GPS X-Guider to figure out where it is.

GPS X-Guider is super light. Without the two AAA batteries it pretty much weighs nothing – really good if you’re anal about how much weight you’re taking with you. The batteries actually add some needed weight – so it feels good to hold. Speaking of battery life; all we can say is that it is really decent. After 3 days of on and off review it still has one bar left but we’re never patient enough to actually run it out completely and give you a specific number. The manual claims 16 hours of straight use. And you can always carry spare batteries with you.

The screen is not very exciting but it gets the job done without wasting power. It is definitely sunlight readable and when it is dark out the neo blue backlight comes in handy and makes it a pleasure to use GPS X-Guider.

GPS X-Guider comes with a really durable silicon case that fits tightly and makes it IPX6 water resistant. Pressing the buttons with the case is still very easy; so no worries there. There’s also neck strap / lanyard in the case so it is ready to attach to your backpack or put around your neck.

Software

Software of GPS X-Guider is very comprehensive. It lets you organize your theme destinations, back tracing way points, route plans, and the tracks you’ve logged. One side of the window is the options we listed and the other pane is live Google Maps. You can drag, zoom, switch between map, satellite, hybrid views just like you’d in your browser. If you don’t like the software for some reason you can always export your tracks to other formats which include KML, GPX, and NMEA.

Say you’re planning a trip: the software even allows you to name each point on your route so you know which waypoint you’re headed to. To be more specific you can call your waypoints as such: “1)car park, 2)trail head, 3)good place for pics, 4)cross over creek here, etc etc”.

Firmware

When we say firmware we’re talking about the menus and options that are actually on the device itself. There’s isn’t much to say here. Once you get used to it is pretty easy to navigate around.

One screen shows the time that gets set automatically using your position and satellite time. Another screen shows compass; arrow pointing north, and the smaller arrow around the edge pointing to your destination. Another screen is the speedometer; which also includes the direction of your destination. In the actual guider you’ll get a giant arrow pointing to where you need to head, and the name of your next waypoint. And then there’s the trip info screen which shows details such as speed, odometer, distance, altitude, etc. Like we said; small device packed with features.

Long story short we found GPS X-Guider to be a very handy and inexpensive hanheld GPS back tracker. We do recommend it. You can grab one at GPS X-Guider for $109. Good deal.

i am LOVE

This weekend I rented I Am Love. I had read about this movie numerous times over the summer but had never seen it in the theatre around me and almost forgot about it. Last week in San Francisco my sister Charity was raving about the movie, beautiful sets, clothing, story, etc. and I had to see it. The movie tells the story of the wealthy Recchi family, a beautiful family in Milan.

The family is a Milanese textile family that has a lot of changes occurring: the patriarch of the family passes away, a daughter has a huge secret, a son gets married, the mother begins a crazy love affair with a chef. The movie is taped beautifully and the sets and costumes are rich. The scene of the birthday party in the courtyard makes me want to have a beautiful party under the stars.

Tilda Swinton plays an amazing tole as the mother. With her Hermes bag and Italian clothing she looks so stylish through out the film. The family's house in the middle of Milan is amazing! Check out the beautiful dining room that is so simply elegant.

I have wanted to purchase these glasses for years from Anthropologie. How beautiful would they look at a formal Italian dining room like the dinner above.

This set from Design Sponge describes Tilda Swinton's style throughout the entire movie perfectly....well that is until she meets the chef! The prawn scene, well, you will need to see it.

Well worth a watch, I am Love.

xoxo~Rebecca