Technology & Gadget Blog

Just the mention of IKEA makes me all warm and happy inside.Their designs are modern, super affordable and they go to great lengths to keep things eco-freindly. Basically, IKEA rules.

However, if I were to nit-pick, I do find the task of writing down aisles and bins and trying to find all the products in the warehouse a little tedious. I’m more of a ‘I see, I like, I pick-up’ kind of gal.

The iPhone app store has come through once again, this time with an awesome application called SwedeShop, where you can track the IKEA items you want for easy finding at the end of your trip.

5 cool features:

1 Record items you see in the showrooms and organize by section (cooking, textiles, etc.)

2 Add details to items like the name, quantity you need, price, and priority on your shopping list

3 Take pictures of items for reference and add to the item’s folder

4 Differentiate if the item is self-serve (i.e. in the warehouse) or in housewares (IKEA Marketplace)

5 List items you will need to order from the store

To purchase for $0.99, visit the iTunes App Store.

Cluttered desktop = icky (although my work desk is not exactly in tip top shape at the moment). Wires and cables create a disaster area on your desk, especially when you’re charging your phone, syncing your iPod and using an external hard drive all at once (want to win one a hard drive from Western Digital? Click here!).

Check out this super neat charging shelf that takes all of your wire woes away. Named the BackPack, you simply secure the little shelf to the back of your iMac then place plugged in accessories on top. You can wrap your wires up and place them on the shelf as well, so there’s no danglers hanging down. This is such a cool idea, and is pretty sleek so you can even attach two or three. So simple — why didn’t we think of this before?

BackPack $35, available at the Apple Store.

As much as I love iPhone apps, I get bummed out when they cost more than $1.99 (I did buy The New York Times Crossword app for $10, but that took several days of convincing myself).

Style at Home assistant editor Jenn Houlihan just forwarded me a link to the absolute coolest app I’ve seen in awhile. Best thing about it? It’s 100% free! It’s Benjamin Moore’s Ben Color Capture app, and it basically lets you take a pic of anything you want, tap on any colour in that image, then shows you the Benjamin Moore paint swatches that most closely match your colour. Brilliant!

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A little while back, I blogged about the ridiculously fantastic gold-plated Mac goods from Computer Choppers. I didn’t think anything could match the over-the-top bling of a gold Macbook with diamond logo detailing, but ColorWare has stepped up to the plate with a simply chic and more affordable alternative.

Whether you’re a Blackberry fanatic or your iPod is an extension of your arm, ColorWare doesn’t discriminate between brands — or colours. With a vast array of hues to choose from (in a luxe metallic or sleek lacquer finish) and options of what shade you want on each part, ColorWare pimps your tech gadgets with a durable coating, elevating them to new levels of cool.

You can buy your colour-personalized gadgets straight from the company, or US customers can mail their own in and pay for custom work (tip: if you know someone with a US zip code, use their address to get around international restrictions!).

Check out the ColorWare website for more info and pricing.

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It’s a fight to the finish line – at least, in my head it is. Who will win the coveted award of downloading the billionth Apple iPhone/iPod application? The stakes are high with this one, as the winner gets a $10,000 US iTunes giftcard, an iPod Touch, a Time Capsule, and a MacBook Pro. With swag like that up for grabs, I am determined to win, and have been downloading apps like crazy for the past few days. The internet is abuzz with dates on when the tally will hit a billion, the favourite being April 23rd (follow the countdown on the Apple website).

To get you on the road to the grand prize, here are a few of my fave apps:

Tweetie: One of the most popular Twitter apps. Allows you to use all of the conveniences of web-based Twitter on your iPhone/iPod Touch. ($2.99)

Camera Zoom: The answer to your iPhone camera’s prayers. This app is only $.99 and gives yo 4x digital zoom on your phone’s camera. When zooming, it looks a bit blurry, but focuses automatically when you hit the capture button.

Urbanspoon: Not sure where to go for dinner? Let this app decide. Your device’s GPS finds your location and Urbanspoon will randomly suggest a place to eat and give you contact details. You can also manually search within their database.

Remote: I love this app for those lazy Sundays when I don’t want to get off the couch to change the music on my iMac. Remote allows you to control your iTunes music and playlists on your computer directly from your iPhone or iPod touch. Best part? It’s free!

Who Has The Biggest Brain?: This is my fave game to play while riding the subway in the morning. The perfect way to exercise the brain, this game tests your skills in 4 segments (analytics, math, memory, visual processing) and analyzes your brain size based on how well you scored combined with how fast you worked. ($.99)

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Oh, the inconvenience of hearing a great tune on a friend’s iPod and not having immediate access. I, for one, am a music fanatic, and hearing an amazing new song gets me instantly excited (much like new tech gadgets themselves!).

For those of you with the same musical fervour as myself, you’ll be delighted to hear of the miShare, a handy little device that allows you to swap files and playlists between iPods. All you need to do is create an ‘On-the-Go’ playlist of the songs you want to share, hook up each end to a different iPod, then click the big button on the miShare to swap ‘em over. Unfortunately, the current model isn’t compatible with my iPhone or an iTouch, but it will work with my Nano, so I’m still a satisfied customer (development for accessibility with the two devices is currently in the works, though).

Priced at only $100 US and with a cuter-than-cute slogan (’I think your iPod likes my iPod’), this gadget is a great gift for the music maven in your life.

Check out the miShare website for more info and ordering information.

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There are many things that I love about Apple products, but one of them is definitely the aesthetic appeal; so, you can imagine how fast my jaw dropped when I heard of a company that one-ups the Apple design. I’ve blogged before about cases and ways to dress up your gadgets, but nothing quite compares to the ultra-luxe/incredibly over-the-top custom work shown here. Computer Choppers is an American company that will actually gold-plate your Apple products. Seriously. Think along the same vein as MTV’s Pimp My Ride, but for the tech geek within you.

Not only will they gold-plate your laptop, iMac, iPhone (you name it!), but they do other finishes as well, like platinum or a gorgeous rose gold. If you’re looking for something a little less extravagant, they also do colour anodizing (see the Mac Minis to the right). And if you just love to show off that little Apple logo, well, Computer Choppers have you covered there, too — they will encrust your device’s logo with diamonds. Real, glittery, girl’s-best-friend diamonds. It just oozes glam.
If this is exactly the life of luxury you’re looking for, visit the Computer Choppers site to check out all the services and get a quote on customizing the Apple product nearest and dearest to your heart. But don’t expect it to be cheap — colour anodizing for the new itty-bitty iPod shuffle starts at $129 US, while the gold-plated Macbooks start at a whopping $5,500 US. It pays to look this good.

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I know, I know — we’ve already discussed how amazing the Apple iPhone is. But this being a brand new year with brand new resolutions, I thought I’d resurrect the discussion and focus on the fabulous applications available for iPhone users (and for the iTouch as well!).

Pretty much every year, I resolve to organize — my home, my workspace, my life in general. And pretty much every year, I fall short of this task… UNTIL now. This year, I have begun to digitally organize my life on my iPhone through the cool applications you can purchase, and some you can get for free. I find digitally organizing to be much more efficient because everything is neatly available at your fingertips and many of the applications offer alerts that pop up to remind you of things you’ve logged.

Here’s a list of my top 5 ‘organizational’ applications:

1) IWantItBack: Never again will you forget who borrowed your Waterford Wedgwood casserole dish. This neat little app lets you compile a list of items that you’ve lent to people, when it was lent, who you lent it to and when you expect it back. Little icons let you organize the items into categories, like CDs, money, clothes, etc. ($1.99, iTunes)

2) Spend: I don’t think any of us want to be reminded of our dismal economy, but this app will help you stay on top of budgeting your cash. You can create daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly and yearly budgets — then, whenever you dip into that budget, enter it into the category (i.e. ‘groceries’) and the app subtracts it from your allotted budget amount. ($.99, iTunes; free version also available)

3) Shopper: While some may be budgeting, others may be shopping. I LOVE Shopper. It basically creates shopping lists for you, but in a fail-proof way. You can create templates for further grocery trips, and you never have to worry about forgetting where you saw that gorgeous houndstooth throw because you can take a photo and add it to the list. My fave part, though, is that you can create a list of the items in your shopping cart as you’re walking around a store, punch in the prices, and Shopper will add up the cost and calculate Canadian sales tax. Brilliant! ($.99, iTunes)

4) Calendar: Okay, so this one is a freebie that already comes on your iPhone or iTouch, but trust me when I say it’s the best calendar you’ll ever use. Sleek in design and allowing you to view different calendar layouts (daily, monthly, list form), it also lets you sync it with your calendar on your home or work computer. You can set alerts and organize for a second alert if you’re the super forgetful type. With this digital calendar, you’ll never forget an appointment, birthday, or bill payment (even if you want to). (FREE!, included in software)

5) My Stuff: This application is just one big, organizational mecca. It allows you to create lists of, well, your stuff — but all organized in one place on your Apple device. If you’re a bookworm (like myself), you can create a list of the books you’ve read, then reference it when you’re at the bookstore. Need to store the warranty information of your new laptop? Just organize it in My Stuff. This app is a fantastic way to backup all your information and have it available no matter where you are. ($4.99, iTunes)

** For ideas on how to organize your living space, check out styleathome.com/organizing/