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.

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.

I have to say, when I read about this, I almost cried (only because Apple hasn’t come up with something similar for the iPhone). The geniuses at RIM have developed a TiVo app for the Blackberry that will allow users to remotely schedule tapings from their phone. So what the heck does that mean, you ask? Basically, Blackberry and TiVo users can now set up their home PVR to record a show, regardless of where the user is located. I could be getting off the subway to go for dinner and remember that Mad Men is on in an hour — no problem if I’m a BB user! I can just look it up on my phone and hit record and a signal will be sent to my TiVo at home.

Since I am a Tivo user, I’m just waiting patiently for Apple to come up with their own TiVo app.

Okay, so we don’t have Virgin America flying out of Canada just yet (let’s be hopeful!), but man-oh-man would I love to cruise the air in one of their jumbo jets. Check out the pic below of their first class lounger chair:

Not only do the lounger chairs look great all done up in white leather, but guests are treated to the full VIP tech treatment too. You can plug in your laptop and surf the web, play video games, or watch a movie on the screen in front of you. Are you and your friend sitting at opposite sides of the plane? No worries there — Virgin has introduced the Seat-to-Chat feature where you can have an instant messaging convo with other people on the flight. And, if you want to tune out the chatty person seated next to you, scroll through the 3000 MP3’s available at the press of a button.

Picky eaters aren’t left behind either. Choose what you want from an a la carte menu on your personal screen and just swipe your credit card to pay. Even better? Virgin strives to give you the best flying experience for the lowest price possible. I’d say that’s a mantra that sounds pretty sweet!

For more info and flights within the U.S., check out virginamerica.com.

I spotted these adorable (said in a French accent, btw) earbuds on our senior web editor Natalie Bahadur’s desk and I fell in love upon first sight. Mixing music, tech and glitzy style all in one? Doesn’t get much better than that folks. Here’s what Natalie had to say about them:

“I adore anything that’s got a touch of bling and these earphones from chicBuds are fantastic! They’re so girly and stylish and are adorned with Swarovski crystals, which instantly takes them from ordinary to extraordinary. But they’re not just about form; they’re big on function too. The earphone wires are rolled onto a retractable wheel (also adorned with crystals!) that keeps them from getting tangled. And as I’m sitting here listening to my iPod, I’m amazed at the sound quality. Crisp, clean, clear. Perfect.”

Check them out for yourself (chicbuds.com) — tons of colours and designs to pick from!

A vintage style camera that’s pretty-in-pink is just too hard to resist. This retro Mr. Pink Diana F+ camera from Urban Outfitters is a cool reproduction of the classic Flash Diana — only now with a limited edition pink hue. It uses all varieties of medium format 120 film and has 3 different aperture settings. Not too shabby for a blast from the past!

$110 US, available at Urban Outfitters.

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