Speakerphone That Moves With You
Holding your cell phone to your ear while driving is dangerous, but an in-ear hands-free device isn’t ideal in the car. A Bluetooth car kit is the answer to this problem but some car kits are nasty to install and if you spend most of your day indoors, they could seem really expensive too. So take a look at the Sony Ericsson Bluetooth Car Speakerphone HCB-120, retailing at 110 euros.
The speakerphone attaches effortlessly to a car’s sun visor and provides for safer hands-free calling. It comes with a digital display that includes a built-in tilt sensor to show who’s calling. Talk/stand-by times are up to 24 and 450 hours respectively. The spearkerphone works with many handset brands. The device can be moved easily from the car to the home or office where it can sit on the desk or table top and continue to provide speakerphone functionality.
MacBook Gets an Update
Apple has updated its MacBook notebooks with faster Intel Core 2 Duo processors, 1GB of memory and larger hard drives in every model. The MacBook is just one-inch in width and features a 13-inch glossy widescreen display. Advanced connectivity in the MacBook includes built-in 802.11n wireless networking, for up to five times the performance and twice the range of 802.11g.
Every MacBook is also equipped with a built-in iSight video camera for on-the-go video conferencing, Apple’s MagSafe Power Adapter that safely disconnects when under strain, and iLife ’06, a suite of digital lifestyle applications. The MacBook’s operating system is the Mac OS X version 10.4.9 Tiger.
Organize Your Life
If you’re obsessed with making lists, you gotta get gubb (www.gubb.net). Gubb is a free service enabling users to organize their lives through an easy-to-use web-based list making and sharing application. With gubb you can even make your lists mobile so they can be available through your cell phone, 24/7 from anywhere. The gubb service may be accessed via text message if a member is without a browser-enabled phone. There is no software to download and no special keystrokes to learn.
Gubb has also created the new Application Program Interface (API) that enables developers and programmers to integrate gubb using the formats: XML, JSON, HTML and Text. Gubb’s API is simple to work with because it uses HTTP(S) communication. With gubb’s API, lists come alive, allowing gubb to “talk with” other popular online and desktop calendaring and e-mail applications, mobile enhancements and of course — widgets.
Help Hearing Impaired Enjoy TV Again
Watching television is a family activity in most households, but unfortunately individuals with a hearing loss are often left out of the fun. When the volume is turned up extremely high, family members find sharing an evening in front of the television to be unbearable and with the volume at normal levels the individual with hearing loss can’t understand the on-screen dialogue.
To solve this problem, turn to the Clarity Professional C120. The C120 uses infrared technology to wirelessly transmit sound from a television, stereo or MP3 player to a lightweight amplified headset. The C120 amplifies incoming sounds up to 50 decibels and uses patented Clarity Power technology to make sounds not only louder, but clearer. The device offers telephone ring notification through the user’s headset and includes adjustable volume, tone and balance, plus two rechargeable batteries, providing up to eight hours total listening time. The C120 is available for $189.95 through www.clarityproducts.com.