Roku has been making streaming media players for some time now (we featured their Soundbridge in 2004!), but seems to have just recently made real waves in the entertainment industry. As more of our entertainment comes via the Web or Internet, with services like Netflix streaming, Hulu, and YouTube, having a device that can integrate all of that plus your tv entertainment on your television is almost essential. This is where a Roku box solves your diversity-of-entertainment problem.

Many of us use expensive gaming systems or our personal laptops to access our online media through our television. While this works , it can also be annoying to have to set things up and access your different services through various devices. A Roku box allows you to access everything in one interface. It connects to your television and wireless network at home. The customizable Roku remote lets you toggle between the different choices. Roku supports Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant, Pandora, and many other channels (such as NBC news, NBA game time, HBO Go, and more).

What makes the Roku such a great option for streaming video is how simple and inexpensive it is. The most basic Roku (the ‘purple’ box) is only $50 whereas the most advanced device (Roku 2 XS) with the most features is $100. Even the most expensive is still significantly cheaper than buying a PS3 or an Xbox 360. The PS3 and Xbox 360 are the only other devices that offer the same capabilities for viewing Netflix, Amazon Plus, Hulu, etc., but they cost hundreds of dollars more. Yes, you can play games on these devices and not on the Roku, but if you are just looking for an entertainment aggregator, the Roku is for you.

Looking to the future, Roku is doing away with their small box and turning to something even smaller – a thumb drive. While the miniature Roku stick may be too far ahead of the game (unable to connect to a lot of older TV ports), it is certainly something to look out for when more TVs are better connected.

Sci-Fi meets extrapolation meets imagination meets entertainment meets crowd-sourced blog is how I like to view PhutureNews. This site/blog is all about predicting the future but not in the boring “in the future, we think…” style, but rather as headlines and stories with future date stamps. Although they just launched, they have some rather interesting ‘stories’ like “Steve Jobs rising out of the iCryo”, “China wins the 2046 World Cup”, and or the more realistic “Self driving cars mandatory in California”.

Two suggestions for PhutureNews: first, please go buy the FutureNews.com (or dot whatever domain) and rename the site! The “ph” doesn’t quite work. And second, you absolutely need RSS feeds. Other than that, keep writing cool and interesting stories.

This is one product category that has tons of nondescript entrants, and for the most part, they all do the trick more or less, and that’s to wipe your gadget’s screen. Kimberly-Clark decided to try something a little different – make them dry, disposable and inexpensive.

The KIMTECH Touchscreen Cleaning Wipe are made especially for touchscreens, which we all seem to be adopting at a rapid rate. I tried out a sample and wasn’t disappointed. These come 10 to a pack, and while dry, they are soft, and had no fear of using it to wipe the screen on my iPad or smartphone.

It got rid of my fingerprints and smudges. Now if you have the kind of grime that has built up over weeks, you may need a liquid cleaner, but if you’re good about keeping your screens clean, the KIMTECHs should usually do the trick.

A 10-pack is only $3 and you can get them in dollar-stores and at Amazon; actually, Amazon has a 2-pack (so 20 wipes) for $5. Even at $3 for a 10-pack, it’s a good deal, and that way you can have a wipe everywhere you need it – in the car, in your bag, on your desk at home and in the office, with some to spare.

(Disclaimer: Gizmos for Geeks received a complimentary review copy of this product.)

Happy New Year!

For some, a new year is time to start anew. Perhaps last year was particularly rough with relationships or monetarily or perhaps there were physical or mental issues that put a damper on 2011 but with the start of a new year we can start all over and work towards a better you in 2012!

Here are 10 ways you can improve yourself and keep your New Year’s Resolutions by using Technology:

1 Habits 2012 – Reach your Goals with this highly customizable Habits app. In Habits 2012, the app offers a habits-focused set of items such as “Live a Healthy Life” that allows you to daily track the various tasks required to reach you goal. For example, have you flossed and did you sleep at least 7 hours? If you’d like to use a broader set of items like customizable, visual scales then you can move up to the developer’s Track & Share app, which comes in a Pro and Lite version. (Pricing options from Free to $0.99)

2 Toodledo – Be more productive by using this online to-do list. You can organize your tasks using folders, tags, contexts, subtasks and more as well as search and sort easily. With Toodledo’s hotlist, customizable alarms and sortable online to-do list you can become more productive and using your mobile phone, email, web browser, iPad or through several integrations (Ceptara Organizer for Outlook [$49.95] for example), your to-do list will always be handy. (Pricing options exist from Free to $14.95/yr to $29.95/yr)

3 Philips Sonicare Diamondclean Rechargeable Toothbrush – While this toothbrush won’t force you to brush, it will compel you! I received one of these as a Christmas gift and since then I really look forward to brushing my teeth! The rechargeable toothbrush has a dual charging system which includes a charger glass (induction) and a USB charging travel case… yes, USB charging travel case! The patented sonice technology drives fluid to stimulate the gums and in fact the first 25 brushes provide a ramp up time to get your teeth and gums ready for the full force. The toothbrush includes five modes to offer a custom cleaning experience including: two-minute standard mode (clean), teeth whitening mode to lift surface stains (white), teeth brightener and polisher (polish), three-minute mode to improve gingival health (gum care) and a gentle motion for sensitive teeth and gingival health (sensitive). Of course the DiamondClean includes standard features such as a smarttimer and quadpacer so you don’t have to watch the clock to know when to stop brushing.

4 Kindle – Exercise your brain in addition to your body by picking up a Kindle to read one of 800k titles available for $9.99 or less or pick up an Amazon Prime Membership to read from over 50k titles and former New York Times Bestsellers for free! ($79 – $199)

5 Health through Breath for iPad – Breathing is life and proper breathing is critical to reduce stress and for health. Unfortunately we forget how to breath properly as we get older but this app offers a structured course of customizable sessions allowing you to de-stress and increase your overall wellness through timed, conscious slow breathing aided by animated graphics and musical cues. In addition to iOS, it’s available for Android, Windows Phone 7, Mac and PC. (Free)

6 Mint.com – Mint pulls all your financial accounts into one place allowing you to set budget, track financial goals and do more with your money – for free! Imagine total visibility into your finances to see what’s happening with your checking, savings, investments and retirement while being able to pull reports of your net value as Mint also tracks assets such as cars and houses and even automatically updates your housing pricing using Zillow. Mint also has an app for visibility on the go! (Free)

7 eBay – 2012 is the year of decluttering or, at the very least, “one in – one out”. What does that mean? If you bring a possession into the house, you need to remove a possession and what better way that to easily sell through eBay? (Varies)

8 LIVESTRONG.COM App – The LIVESTRONG.COM Calorie Tracker can help you reach your diet, weight loss and fitness goals by tracking your daily calories and exercise. Lose weight easily by setting your weight goals and track your calories and progress with our comprehensive online food journal containing over 1 Million food and fitness items. Tracking works. You will lose weight like millions of other members. ($2.99)

9 Free Online Courses – Get free online courses from the world’s leading universities. This collection includes over 250 free courses in the liberal arts and sciences. Download these audio & video courses straight to your computer or mp3 player. (Free)

10 Rosetta Stone – Learn a new language in the New Year. Rosetta Stone has the best track record for helping business, government employees and individuals learn a new language through their method: learn naturally, speak confidently, immerse yourself and stay motivated through achievement.

What are some of your resolutions?

During the holiday season, many tech-oriented shoppers will be scrutinizing the market for the best valued tablet. While most analysts point to the iPad as the pinnacle of current tablet design and functionality, consumers have one big beef with the product: its price. The iPad 2 starts at a whopping $499, a price that most consumers simply can’t afford in this economy. So let’s set aside the iPad 2 and consider some of the more economical tablet options for the holiday shopping season. Of course there are the other most talked about tablets to consider, Barnes and Noble’s Nook Tablet and Amazon’s Kindle Fire. Now that both tablets have been released, analysts expect the competition between the two to be fierce since they come in at similar price points and offer comparable features. But which of these tablets would work best for you, dear consumer?

Amazon’s Kindle Fire

Amazon and tech bloggers did a good job of building up the hype behind the Kindle Fire prior to it’s release in mid November. Even before its formal release, millions of people had pre-ordered the tablet without ever personally seeing it work in real time, and for good reason—the tablet starts at $199.

Amazon was true to their word about the Kindle being a new kind of tablet. Shoppers should note that the Kindle Fire is unlike an iPad in a number of ways. For one, its specs are much more limited than those on the Apple tablet: the Kindle Fire has a 1GHz dual core processor with 512MB of RAM, and 8GB for storage of music, movies, etc. It’s the perfect tablet for consuming mass quantities of digital media—the tablet it built around the user’s ability to download songs, films, or books on Amazon—without too much effort. Silk, Amazon’s newly minted browser for the Kindle Fire, helps users surf the web without taking too much of a toll on the tablet’s functionality. And you’ll need Silk for all the tasks you put to the Kindle Fire. For instance, if you purchase Amazon Prime, you get access to unlimited streaming of the latest television shows, movies, and music for duration of your subscription. You’ll be able to toggle between watching the latest blockbuster, reading your favorite fantasy novel, and listening to a blues album with just a few simple taps. And rest assured, the interface on the Kindle Fire is very simple to understand.

On the downside, the Kindle Fire has been criticized as being too limited for tablet. True, you can’t do all the things on it that you can do on an iPad, but what do you expect in a $199 tablet? Maintenance on the Kindle Fire is another issue, as there isn’t a physical store where you can have your tablet serviced. Theoretically you’d have to ship the tablet to Amazon if you need it fixed. The device has also been cited as being a little bulky and aesthetically rougher than the iPad.

Barnes and Noble’s Nook Tablet

If you’re not sold by the Kindle Fire but you still want to save money on your tablet purchase, definitely consider the Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet. At $249 it’s a slightly more expensive machine, but you get more for your money. For starters, the specs are better than the Kindle’s; it has the same processor, but boasts 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage space. What’s more, the Nook Tablet has a slot for portable memory cards up the 32GB in size, something lacking on the Kindle Fire.

On the hardware and functionality side of things, the Nook Tablet certainly has loads to offer. It features two screens, a large LCD screen for displaying content and a much smaller touch screen to interface with the tablet. This setup stands in contrast to the Kindle Fire’s all-in-one touch screen interface, but fans of the Nook Tablet don’t seem fazed by the difference in design.

The Nook Tablet similarly gobbles up eBooks, video content and music files with the same voracity as the Kindle Fire, but the dual screen feature may entice consumers looking for a more dynamic device. The Nook Tablet will also have the advantage in customer service, since people can go to their local Barnes and Noble store whenever they have a question about their tablet. Some analysts even speculate that the stores will install a type of Apple Genius Bar for Nook Tablet customers, built solely to accommodate their concerns.
While the Nook Tablet has plenty of enjoyable features, consumers won’t be able to tell much difference between it and the Kindle Fire after a quick comparison. It certainly stands alone as its own tablet, but the $50 price differential may sway more consumers to Amazon.

Hatch & Company released an iPad 2 Keyboard Case called SKINNY. The keyboard case is only 0.6 inches thick and connects to your iPad via Bluetooth.

The thin but functional SKINNY comes in white or black.

Buy now!
Price: $89.95
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Could the FitFlop be the world’s first smart shoe, without actually containing any technology? Fitflop use their own system of changing the amount of material at the front, middle and back of the shoe to help your body out.

They claim that wearing their shoe increases your leg and bottom muscle activity by up to a third (over regular shoes we’re guessing). This should help you tone up these muscles whilst walking. They also absorb more shock than normal shoes, which is better for your joints. Some wearers of FitFlop sandals have even said that they have provided relief from many joint problems. So how do they work?

FitFlop put a high density material in the heel of their shoes (to absorb shocks), low density in the middle (to increase leg muscle usage), and mid density in the toe to increase the speed of your walking.

They don’t just offer one design either, there’s a whole range of them from trainers to sandals to boots. Prices range from $50 to $130.

Buy now!
More info from the manufacturer
Price: $50.00 – $130.00
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Here’s my list of favorite, must-have, daily use Web and tech products (mainly software) inspired by Michael Arrington and his annual list over at Techcrunch. For some reason, this year, he hasn’t published a list (yet?). [Here's his list from Jan 1, 2010.]

There are 19 products on this list most of which I feel are the best web services available today. And while I absolutely use many more times that number of online web services and other software on a regular basis, I took a cue from Mr. Arrington’s list, and this is the top must-have services and products that I couldn’t live without and that I use practically every day, and in most cases in both my personal and work life.

Gmail. Hands-down, the best e-mail webmail account and client out there. I gave up using Thunderbird — excellent product as it is — years ago and now use Gmail exclusively. Throw in its excellent array of powerful (yet optional) add-ons in Gmail Labs and its ability to suck in mail from other accounts and you have a winner. Gmail may be the best example of a perfectly executed Web 2.0 service.

POBox

PObox just forwards my mail wherever I’d like (in this example from john@pobox.com to john@gmail.com). It also does spam checking and filtering using a slew of methods and controls, further simplifying my life. I can also have multiple email aliases (ex: johnsmith@pobox.com). The basic service is more than worth the $20/year of never having to send out an e-mail that says “Hey, please note my new email address.”

Dropbox

Of course, you can also access those files via the Web as well. Upgrade to paying accounts to get 50 or even 100GB of storage.

Evernote

Things you can drop into an Evernote folder include photos, web pages, scanned documents and raw notes. Evernote indexes them all, and in particular does a nice job of scanning text in images. And of course, you can share notebooks (folders) as well.

Evernote is another great example of a well-done Web 2.0 service.

Toodledo

1Password

Agile Web Solutions’ 1Password solves that problem nicely by letting you keep them in sync with Dropbox. It also does a better job of ‘remembering’ passwords that some websites try to stymie the browser from doing so, and will also perform a 1-click and fill-in login.

Available now for Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad an Android platforms. And by the way, their support is fantastic.

Backblaze

I went with Backblaze as it’s unlimited, continuous backups for $5/mo, encryption of my data and a non-intrusive application.

Skype

Facebook

Delicious

Twitter

One of the most important things that Twitter ever did was to create a very open API that allowed hundreds of developers to create clients and tools that far exceed Twitter’s web interface. For example, I use TweetDeck and HootSuite far more than I ever use Twitter.com.

WordPress

Google Reader

Google Docs

Google

And this was just the start of their slew of free online services.

Firefox and Chrome. These are the top 2 web browsers for just about anything and let’s face it – you use web browsers every day as well, quite possibly more than you use any other application.

I used to be a hardcore Mozilla Firefox purist, but Google Chrome has really caught up in the extensions department and just does a fantastic job of rendering JavaScript-heavy pages (like Gmail for example) and flawlessly moving tabs around. I still use Firefox for Web development though, and I can’t wait for version 4 to see how much they’ve improved the speed.

DVR/Digital Video Recorders. Remember when we didn’t have these? Yeah, life was tough then. I feel helpless when I can’t pause, rewind or cue up a previously recorded program – every time I go to a hotel room comes to mind. My drug of choice – DISH Network’s receivers with built-in DVRs rock. Tivos rock too.

Livescribe

And don’t worry, they’ve also got a web service online that let’s you get to your notes via the Web and/or share them with friends/colleagues.

That’s it for now. Tell what you think are the best online services in the comments. See you next year!

If you don’t mind having the ‘fun’ taken out of tuning up your guitar, then this little gizmo should save you a lot of time – a robotic guitar tuner. This isn’t just a simple device that tells you whether your current tuning is too flat or too sharp, it actually listens and then tunes your guitar automatically! The motor inside it knows exactly how far to turn your tuning peg to get the perfect sound.

More info in the video below:

Buy now!
Price: $49.95
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Is this the world’s smallest fully-equipped 4G smartphone? Possibly. The HP Veer 4G is a sliding form-factor phone providing you the benefits of a touch screen, while also giving you a fully-functional QWERTY keyboard when required. The HP Veer also runs WebOS, the same as the Palm Pre. Pricing starts at $99.99 – read on for full tech specs.

• 800Mhz Processor
• 2.6″ screen; 320×400 resolution
• 5 hours talk-time battery; over 300 hours standby
• 8GB internal memory; no expandable memory

Buy now!
Price: from $99.99 (contract)
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)