Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

If you are like me, you have an Outlook Calendar for work and Google Calendar for your life.  Often, I find the need to have the two mix and I am far too lazy to enter everything in twice.  Now you don’t have to.  Google announces their download Sync helper to add your Google Calendar to your Outlook Calendar with lots of options.

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It’s no secret that cell phone batteries typically suck, sometimes not even lasting us until we get home in the evening.  What’s the secret to good battery life?  The general rule of thumb is that if your phone is doing anything, your battery power is being drained.  And if you’re doing something fun on your phone, you can bet your battery meter will be running low shortly.  This means photos, games, and web surfing will all impair your battery’s performance significantly more than regular use.  So what are some steps you can take to maximize your battery life without sacrificing the fun?  Read on for 10 things you can do to increase your phone’s battery life:

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GPS is a hot industry today.  There are new stand alone devices announced almost everyday with added functionality like photos, music and in Asia, TV.  But do you need another device to lug around?  I believe the answer is in your phone.

Set Up

Can the phone be an easy-to-use GPS device?  To find out, I contacted Telenav (listed on AT&Ts site) about doing so.  My phone, a Samsung Blackjack, requires an external GPS receiver that connects via Bluetooth, their application and an account with Telenav.

I chose to install the software OTA (over the air) instead of the optional sync process).  The file loaded easily with no issues.  Upon running the software it found the GPS receiver, which brilliantly turns off after 10 minutes of non use, without me even turning on the phones Bluetooth.  It did it all automatically.  Within minutes my location was fixed.

Initial Impression

The software takes a few seconds to load.  The user interface is pretty good, simply logical.  When you think about it, GPS is just a receiver and software and this software worked excellently.  Inputing where I want to go was easy to do and directions were located and validated by Telenav, a nice feature.  Directions flowed almost instantaneously.  Wrong turns are quickly re-routed.

Costs

Be prepared to shell about a little less than $100 for a GPS receiver if your phone doesn’t have internal GPS.  After that the monthly service charge from Telenav is $9.99.  Be advised that using the system will use some voice minutes and some data minutes.

Summary

So far, I am very pleased with Telenav.  It’s directions have been spot on (even better than other GPS devices).  I’ll be doing a head to head test in the coming weeks, pitting Telenav against the popular Tom Tom One.  Stay tuned for that head to head plus a full report on the Telenav system.

Product Page [Telenav]

Hundreds of thousands of people will scramble to line up at any place that can be possibly carrying the iPhone on Friday. Thieves and muggers will be looking for people carrying cash. People leaving the store will be targeted for their newly bought iPhones. The iPhones are even being delivered in armored cars.

Is this survival guide necessary? Oh, heck yea.

1. Plan your strategy. Get friends ready to help you out. Have interns wait online. Throw your camping gear in the car.


2. Rent a friend. Many “stand in liners” are selling theirselves for as much as $122.


3. Find out the store’s policy about lines. Some might not allow you to camp out or stay overnight in your car.
4. Also, bring cash or an Apple giftcard in the amount of the iPhone plus tax. Credit cards are accepted, but not an ideal choice for short-tempered staff and an unruly crowd.


5. If you don’t get a phone Friday, remember that Apple has a website. An order made on Friday will be there by next week.

Thursday is Bike to Work Day.  With gas at $3+ all around town, using your bike makes more sense (and cents) now than ever.  But how do you get started?  Never fear, Gadgetell brings you our Bike To Work Guide to all the best gear.

First you’ll need a bike.  Short on cash?  Check out the Giant Bowery, at just $500 it is simplicity defined. One gear (dramatically reduced maintenance), aluminum frame and hand brakes. A nice light rig that will get you A to B.

Electra Amsterdam is a euro-inspired design that allows you to keep your>Cannondale Road Warrior 800 is a stiff flying machine thanks to it’s made in the USA aluminum frame.  Too minimalist? The  

Speaking of traffic, you have to protect your melon. Few helmets do it as stylish as the Giro E2.  24 gaping vents allow you to keep your cool. $130

And for the tech-lover in us all, how about something that tells you speed, heart rate, distance and altimeter reading, all in one and all at once.  Meet the Sigma Sport 2006 MHR.  Also great, you can use this computer on different bikes you own as without having to reprogram it to a different wheel size, sweet!  $107

Spilling anything near or around expensive electronics can be a heart-stopping experience, and I know. Spilling a glass of water on your desk that just happens to flow in the direction of your 3 week old notebook is not one of the best moments I’ve experienced in my life. Well the guys over at Grynx.com have given you the tips to prepare yourself if disaster were to strike, or even worse, your young sister running around with a full glass of water.

The run-down of the process is to immediately remove the battery, this should be a no-brainer as water and electricity don’t mix. Second would be to dump off all the liquid and start to disassemble the laptop. The third and final step is to rinse off all the internal components with tap water and then distilled water (I’ve heard alcohol also works, but please do not hold me to that). Then after you have completed all these steps, let the laptop dry, and then re-assemble when the components are all dry.

If all goes well, you should have a fully usable laptop in the end. Oh, and please don’t use this post as a reason to drink and compute.

Project [Grynx]

If you are a video editor working on HD footage and a workstation upgrade is in the future, Mike of HD for Indies fame has an article on building a workstation (Mac or PC) for HD editing and post/correction.

The article is fit for three main users.

Group 1: Just enough to get by. You can accept some risks and hassles-the classic starving indie category.

Group 2: You need something competent-and want greater work flow comforts-but you’re still budget-sensitive.

Group 3: The fully professional, well-equipped individuals solution, also suitable for a small studio or small facility setup.

The optimal setups Mike recommended for these three main groups are:

Group 1: Mac Pro 2.66 GHz tower, 2 GB RAM, 160 GB boot drive minimum; Final Cut Studio software; Nvidia GeForce 7300 graphics card.

Group 2: Mac Pro 2.66 GHz tower, 4 GB RAM, 250 GB boot drive, 500 GB data drive, with Bluetooth/AirPort capabilities and AppleCare protection plan; Final Cut Studio software; ATI X1900 graphics card; Apple 23- and 20-inch monitors.

Group 3: Mac Pro 2.66 GHz tower, 5+ GB RAM, 250 GB boot drive, 500 GB data drive, with wireless cards and AppleCare protection plan; Final Cut Studio software; ATI X1900 graphics card; Apple 30- and 23-inch LCD monitors.

The article is very high in depth and goes over main different options, for many different kinds of users, with many different budgets. Mike seems to favor the Mac platform for HD editing due to the great hardware and software available, mainly Final Cut for post processing of HD content.

I highly recommend reading this article before you go out and purchase a workstation to edit HD content on - a compelling read.

Read [DV]

Many consumers who have recently purchased MacBooks went for the black version for fear of the dreaded white MacBook discoloration. However the black MacBooks still have a problem..they quickly become infested with finger marks and oily marks.

Josh R. Holloway of MacApper has written a very helpful tutorial post on how to keep your Black MacBook free of finger marks and get it in tip top shape again.

It worked a charm on my MacBook (white version), now it’s your turn.

Read [MacApper]

So ye olde Aunt Edna got you the second season set of The Golden Girls and a crappy Christmas sweater - again - and you could really use a new iPod. The good news is that you may be able to return that well-intentioned junk and get something better. The bad news is that not every store has the same return policy, which can be especially frustrating if she bough the stuff more than a month ago and didn’t give you the receipt. Gizmodo has put together a nifty chart of store return policies for Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, Circuit City and Amazon. Though you might be racking up the RewardZone points at Best Buy, check the chart to see if there might be a better place to go and date restrictions. Based on the chart, Wal-Mart looks to be the best all-round bet, esp. If you are receiptless, many stores do have a Holiday grace period, so check your local stores. Also, if you do go to the Customer Service counter at Wal-Mart, plan to stand in line for quite a while, listening the people around you discus the pillows they just picked up for 50 cents and their love of all things wicker. *shudder*

Read [Gizmodo] Chart [Gizmodo image] Also Read [Consumer Reports] Also Read [Mouse Print]

Sick and tired of looking at those poor quality thumbnails in Windows?  Who says you can’t enhance them?  Follow the tutorial in the video above and you’ll be on your way to better quality thumbnails.  All it takes is adding a few DWORD values to your registry.  NOTE: If you’re not confident with screwing with your registry, or don’t know what a registry is, then you probably shouldn’t be doing this.

Via [TechEBlog]