Technology & Gadget Blog

Three colourful mice, three colourful mice, see how they click, see how they click…
I can’t help but hum a little tune when I see these uber-stylish mice from Pat Says Now. Available in Cherry Blossom, Polka Dot, Louis XIV and a bunch of other styles (these are definitely my fave), they’re an easy way to jazz up your workspace without spending a lot of cash.

$35 each, available at SoHo Corner Store.

In the words of celeb stylist Rachel Zoe, “I die”. That is, when I first saw this incredible laptop sleeve from mister Marc Jacobs himself. It’s totally sassy in raspberry red and a fun animal print, and it dons stitched letters all over (plus, let’s not forget the designer’s signature black and gold-tone plaque on the front). Looks like I’ll be retiring my 2-month-old laptop bag, because this beauty is a winner.

$68 US, available at net-a-porter.com.

Oh, this is exciting.

If you know me at all, you know that I love my iPhone (love is perhaps too weak of a word). I also adore Chilewich, the company that makes fab vinyl textiles. Now Chilewich has gone the way of the Apple and has created a fab iPhone case. With Chilewich’s signature woven vinyl on the outside and a shatter-proof inner shell, this case is pretty darn close to perfection.

$45, apple.ca

The holidays are on their way and the Apple App Store has everything you need to throw a fabulous Christmas bash. While styleathome.com has all of your party planning, decorating and tabletop ideas covered, these 4 apps are ideal for getting the best food and drink recipes at your fingertips.

1 Jamie Oliver’s 20 Minute Meals ($7.99)
He’s British, he’s cute and now he’s gone mobile. With 50 brand new recipes and over 1000 hi-res step-by-step photos, this app doesn’t mess around. It also includes a shopping list for each recipe that you can cross off once you’ve purchased. Even better? Once it’s downloaded onto your Phone or iPod Touch there’s no internet connection needed to access the recipes.

2 Canadian Living Mobile (free)
Finally, the great recipes that our nation’s own food mag produce every month are now available in mobile format. Follow their holiday countdown or check in daily for the featured ‘Recipe of the Day’. Plus, check out tips on entertaining, holiday and style and bookmark recipes and articles that you want to keep close at hand.

3 Mixologist: Drink Recipes ($0.99)
A party isn’t a party without a great selection of mixed drinks. This app literally has every combination you can think of — over 7,900 drink recipes, to be exact. You can browse recipes, search by what’s in your liquor cabinet and also by category (Jello shots, anyone?). Definitely a must-have app for discovering your party’s signature drink.

4 All Recipes Dinner Spinner (free)
From the net’s best user-contributed recipe website comes an equally wonderful free app. With thousands of recipes to choose from, it may seem overwhelming at first, but the Dinner Spinner portion makes it easy as pie. Just choose the dish type, ingredients and ‘ready in’ time amount and the app selects all the recipes that fall under those categories. Need something that’s gluten-free? When using the recipe search function, you can filter what you’re looking for, whether it’s a variety of vegan dishes or meals with no wheat or milk.

Okay, so I know it’s freezing outside and popsicles are probably the last thing on everyone’s mind, but hear me out! The Zoku Quick Pop popsicle maker is the neatest thing I’ve seen in a long time, so I need to spread the word, regardless of the weather.

It’s a let-down when you want a frozen snack, but making popsicles takes a couple of hours of freezer time. Enter the Zoku popsicle maker which creates fully frozen popsicles in just 7 minutes! No word of a lie, all you do is pour your favourite fruit juice into the molds and 7 minutes later, voila!

The maker uses a proprietary solution sealed inside that ensures uniform freezing. Just store the maker in your freezer so you can be ready to create yummy popsicles at a moment’s notice. At only $50, this is a total steal, and a fab gift idea.

Available at Williams-Sonoma.

We all know stealing music is lame and I’m an avid iTunes user — I like the option of purchasing songs without having to buy the whole CD. Unfortunately bricks-’n'-mortar music stores have suffered because of this availability.

With the holidays fast approaching, I was in the mood to search for tunes to add to my Christmas playlist and I heard about a brand new digital download site. HMV Canada has finally joined the tech world and created a site for you to browse and download music, similar to iTunes (although still in the Beta stage). The benefits of the HMV site is that you have a longer preview time of songs, and it creates a mini-playlist of recently browsed songs. And like iTunes, most songs are $0.99 a download, with the current chart toppers selling for $1.29 each.

I’m really glad HMV decided to do this, not only because I had a blast working at the stores throughout my high school years, but because HMV is a British corporation that invests largely in the Canadian market and not within the US. Even though I love Apple, I’d rather support a company that gives back more to the Canadian economy.

Check it out at hmvdigital.ca