Tech Team Newsletter - Volume 6 Issue 2

Tech Team: In the Trenches

March 2008 Volume 6 Issue 2

Table of Contents

Innovative Products and Services

Eye-Fi Card
This new device, small enough to fit in your palm, allows digital cameras to upload like never before. Using the Wi-Fi enabled SD memory card, your pictures are uploaded wirelessly from your camera directly to a photo-sharing site or your PC if you prefer. Of course, you have to do a small setup for this to work properly, but totally worth the effort.

The setup is simple – insert the SD memory card into the USB card reader and plug the USB into your computer. Your computer will recognize the card, install software to establish a wireless connection, and then ask you to select the location you want the pictures to go (a website, your computer, or both). Once this is configured, you put the SD memory card back into your camera and start the photo shoot! The camera will automatically upload the pictures as you take them, as long as you leave the camera in the "on" position, and stay within the Wi-Fi range, of course.

With virtually no limitations to the image sizes uploaded, and at a cost of only $100, this is a great product that will definitely make you and your camera a hit at your next party! See more at http://www.eye.fi/

Financial Freedom with Mint.com
With so many incidents of fraud and identity theft today, people are becoming more proactive at defending their assets. One such resource developed just for this is Mint.com, a website that monitors your financial accounts and daily transactional data. Once set up it will notify you via email or cell phone alerts, if it recognizes any unusual spending or large withdrawals from your balance.

Of course, there are skeptics to this service – mainly because you have to add your bank and credit card accounts to Mint.com, however all you’re providing are the usernames and passwords you use to access these accounts online. Mint will never ask you to share your actual account numbers with them, nor does it capture or store this information from any other source. So you’re secure from hackers and even in-house Mint employees.

Perhaps one of the coolest features about Mint.com is that it automatically categorizes your transactions into spending groups such as, Food and Dining, Healthcare, Bills and Utilities, etc. so you know exactly where your money is going. You can even compare your spending with other individuals in the U.S. in any of the categories.

And not only does it manage your accounts, it also suggests other checking, savings, and credit card products on the market that could help you save money. The average user finds over $1000 in savings, as stated on their website (www.mint.com). With no cost for this personal money manager, why not try it for yourself?

Read more about this service on their official website at http://www.mint.com/.

Yamaha Tenori-On The newest toy for all those music lovers and music makers out there – the Tenori-On, a mini digital musical instrument. The Japanese hand-held device comes complete with 256 built-in sounds, which are controlled by the LED-illuminated buttons spread across the face of the device. It also comes with a slot for an SD Card where you can import original samples from your own your computer. For those that are really music savvy, you can use it’s MIDI-out port to connect to other music software or hardware instruments to create your own integrated sounds.

Designed by the Japanese media artist Toshio Iwai, the device allows all people to play music, creating what they call a "visible music" interface. The Tenori-On is made up of 16 layers, also known as one block. Each of the layers can be thought of as individual "recording tracks," and those 16 layers are divided into six performance groups. The Tenori-On can store up to 16 programmed blocks, which you can switch back and forth between, adding additional sounds to each.

As you can see, it gets quite complicated, but the mere display of lights and sounds will attract all types of players, from novice to expert. However, at a price of about $1200, it may be awhile before it becomes used by the masses.

See this musical device in action at www.global.yamaha.com/tenori-on/what/index.html.

Powertraveller’s Portable Chargers
Do you travel frequently for work, or enjoy the outdoors or areas that lack electricity? Have you run out of juice on your cell phone or digital camera that you needed right away? Well, there’s a new product on the market that appears to be able to get you charged up, no matter where you are.

The Powertraveller’s charger kit combines traditional charging with a new solar charging option, to give you a bit more versatility, especially when in remote places without outlets. The kit comes with a few key pieces:

The Powermonkey-eXplorer unit – the water resistant battery piece used to charge your devices
The Solar Slave – a light weight, folding solar panel which can charge your devices, as well as the eXplorer unit, using just pure sunlight
Universal world-wide charger – a set of four international plug adapters (compatible in 150 countries)
Tip-pack – a group of adapter tips that work with most common cell phones, iPods, digital cameras, PDAs, etc.

How does it work?
Plug your "charge-less" device (i.e., cell phone) into either the Powermonkey-eXplorer, or the "solar slave," using one of the adapter tips, if necessary. You’ll know it’s charging by the red light on the device, and once the charge is complete, the light will turn green. It’s that simple!

If your Powermonkey-eXplorer needs to be recharged, you can use the "solar slave," the universal charger, or your laptop/computer (connecting via USB cord).

How long does it take to recharge my Powermonkey-eXplorer?

Using the universal charger it takes about 3 ½ hours to fully charge
From a USB connection from your laptop, it will take about 6 hours to fully charge
With 6 hours of sunlight from the solar slave, the Powermonkey-eXplorer will have enough life to charge a cell phone

Hours of Usage
Once your Powermonkey-eXplorer is fully charged, it will charge one of your devices in the similar speed that the original charger would have. After fully charging your devices, you can look forward to:

40 hours of power on your iPod
96 hours for cell phones
1600 pictures for your digital camera
48 hours for PDAs

Note: Performance statistics come from their official website at www.powermonkey-explorer.com/

The cost of the Powertraveller’s kit is about $130, but found it on one site for $99.99 after rebate. While it sounds a bit pricy, if you can’t be without power it might be the perfect purchase for you!