Technology & Gadget Blog

Speaking of camouflaging your home tech, check out this fun update for unsightly cables. For flexible cables, there are tons of solutions for wrapping them up to hide them, but what about the old school ones that have a fixed shape? You know, the ones you find in old apartments and lofts that ruin the perfect look you’re going for.

Well, when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. Try jazzing up stubborn cables with cute decals like these from PA Design. I would probably paint the cord the same colour as the wall as well, so that is blends in. Let’s be honest though — this is definitely a project you can do at home to save a few bucks and have fun with your space.

Can’t read my, can’t read my, no you can’t read my pokerface…

How simply fab are these Macbook decals from Ivy Bee on Etsy? Choose from a hungry chipmunk, a Twilight inspired magic apple, a French bulldog and the newest It Girl, Lady Gaga (and there’s a bunch more, too). I always think it’s fun to jazz up your tech, and these decals are just too cute. You can’t beat the price, either!

Price: $13 US

I know I’ve been posting a lot of laptop sleeves lately, but the ultra-geek inside of me fell in love with this one. It’s the Ludite sleeve from quirky designer Thomas Paul.

For those not in the know, ‘ludite’ now refers to someone who is against technology and prefers to do things the old- fashioned way. Thus, the typewriter image on a laptop sleeve is just classic. Come on, I know I’m not the only one chuckling knowingly about this one!

$50 US, Velocity Art and Design

Isn’t this fab?

I love when tech-cessories take it to the next level with that extra bit of geek. This neoprene sleeve is lined with fleece to protect your laptop or netbook. The exterior is super fun with an old school font spelling out ‘My Document‘ and the universal computer cursor.

Great gift idea for a student or graphic designer!

From $26 US, available at Yanko Design.

These days, there’s no reason to have any part of your home look unsightly. I’ve always had problems with outlets, though, as they rarely look seamless with wallcoverings, whether paint or paper.

I’ve fallen in love with this fab outlet from British brand Forbes & Lomax. Made from acrylic, it disguises itself on the wall, letting your paint or wallpaper show through.

Genius!

Available at Forbes & Lomax.

Tim Burton is the big thing going on at MoMA right now (he has an exhibition of drawings, films, sculptures, etc. on until April 26 2010), so I wasn’t surprised to see these fun laptop skins.

Gelaskins have taken the artwork from Burton’s book The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories and created cool skins for Macbooks and PC laptops (and iPhones too!). With 4 fun designs to choose from, this is the perfect gift for the Tim Burton fan who has everything.

$30 each, available at Gelaskins.

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.

What’s not to love about this bag? Made of a crinkled goathide and topped off with 14 karat light gold plated hardware, Kate Spade’s Lincoln Road Dee bag is the perfect size to fit a netbook or 13″ laptop. Available in white, red, or black this bag brings sexiness into technology.

$475 US, katespade.com.

I’m a bit of a label snob when it comes to my electronics — I love displaying the logos on my Sony DSLR, Flip Mino camcorder, and especially my iPhone, iPod, Airport, and iMac (yeah that’s right, I just name-dropped).

Check out these seriously cool MacBook adhesives from iamhuman. With a sweet slogan selling “human individuality for non-human objects”, the company lets you jazz up your laptop while still displaying that sweet Apple logo. The graphic prints go for a cool $30 US and the wood grain one is $35 US.

Available at iamhumannow.com.

Remember the days when your computer router was an ugly old thing with unattractive antennas and a bland boxy shape? It’s an unfortunate computer staple that’s all to familiar to most of us. These days, one of those most important aspects of home technology is its attractiveness and ability to appear seamless with your home’s design.

Cisco Consumer Business Group that produces the Cisco by Linksys Group is changing the way we view the router, and it’s about time. I had the chance to talk to Linksys’ CBG’s Senior Executive Director of Worldwide Design & Experience, Chris Landry, about the sleek new design of home routers and why they took so darned long to get a makeover.

Tech Style: Chris, technology seems to be evolving at the speed of light. Why did it take so long for the home router to be redesigned?

Chris Landry: The thing is, when we started the redesign 2 years ago, we had 48% market share, so there wasn’t a huge push for us to change anything. We started to think, though, ‘Can you imagine what we could do with a good product like what we have, but with a better design?’. Essentially, it’s easy to get stuck if you’re doing well, but we realized that in today’s world, you can no longer present the same product for more than a few years.

TS: When you set out to redesign, what did you take into consideration?

CL: The biggest thing was eliminating the antennas. Some people actually liked them and perceived them as the only way a router could communicate wirelessly. There was a lot of resistance from our engineers about getting rid of them as well, but they eventually saw that the routers worked just as well, if not better, without them. Consumers also had a distaste for the clunky shape of the router, so we set out to make a product that was contemporary in shape and colour and also left a smaller footprint in your household.

TS: Why did you decide to stick with the standard black colour?

CL: We did a bunch of market research and results showed that most people associate high technology with dark colours. It was interesting to see that North American consumers prefer dark colours, whereas European consumers prefer lighter shades.

TS: So is this product mainly geared towards the North American consumer?

CL: No, not at all. We’re constantly creating demo products and trying new things for consumers worldwide. We’ve actually established design studios in California and Copenhagen, and we have international designers who can tap into what’s popular in the different markets.

TS: And finally, the price — does a sleeker model mean we have to shell out more hard-earned cash?

CL: Nope! The prices of our routers have stayed the same, and in some cases have gone down. They’re also easier to set up, so all in all, this is a better and more attractive product for the same price as before.

For more information on Linksys by Cisco routers, visit linksysbycisco.com