Rum Balloon

So you like to listen to free online music on your iPhone, but for whatever reason, Pandora or AOL Radio doesn’t cut it. Now you have another choice. Slacker, the folks with the personalized radio website, now have a free iPhone/iPod Touch application to listen to online radio while on the go.Like Pandora, you tell Slacker what artists and genres you like, and it produces custom station based on your tastes. Or, if you prefer, you can listen to one of 100 pre-programmed Slacker stations.

If music comes on that you don’t like, you can skip it, but only so many times. If you want unlimited skipping, you have to pony up $3.99 monthly.  It also give you Slacker ad-free.  (Slacker usually shows ads on the screen while music is playing.)

Apple has just launched a new service called Pass for its popular iTunes music store.  It’s like a season pass for a favorite artist, in this case the electro band Depeche Mode. Fans who pay $18.99 for this first iTunes Pass immediately get two Depeche Mode singles, Wrong and the “Black Light Odyssey Dub Remix” of the new track Oh Well.Then, on April 21, they’ll receive Depeche Mode’s new album called Sounds of the Universe. Between now and when the pass expires in 15 weeks, fans will also receive videos, remixes and other content, some of it exclusive. All the material is automatically downloaded (in the DRM-free iTunes Plus format) into iTunes.  Subscribers receive an email letting you know it’s there.

It’s worth noting that the press release announcing iTunes Pass came from EMI Music, not Apple.  Before thinking this is Apple’s entree into the music subscription business, which is something Steve Jobs has pooh-poohed in the past, note that iTunes Pass is quite different.Under an all-you-can eat music subscription plan at a place such as Rhapsody, you have access to the material only as long as you keep paying a fee. With iTunes Pass, you own the content that has been downloaded, even after the pass expires.

It’s a safe bet Apple will soon extend iTunes Pass to other performers. In the release, Apple Vice President Eddy Cue says, “iTunes Pass is a great way for artists to give exclusive music and video, on their own schedule, directly to their fans. iTunes customers are going to love getting additional content directly from their favorite artists right when they make it available.”But Apple isn’t saying who those artists are, much less when the material will be available.

Apple also announced the public beta of Safari 4, which is available today for both Windows PCs and Macs. It incorporates a “Top Sites” visual preview feature, as well as the clever Cover Flow feature (for flipping through your Web history and bookmarks) that is familiar to Mac and iTunes users.I just started testing the new Safari, and it looks positive at first glance.  I’ll let you know what I think once I’ve spent more time with it.

My aunt was highly worried about her 12years old daughter amanta few days back. She spends a lot of time glued to the TV. Either watches her favorite shows or spends watching few movies repeatedly. Such behaviors of kids have worried not just my aunt but many like her. Not to blame her. Amanta’s favorite is Harry Potter series. she has watched it many a times and shockingly she still enjoys watching it, by not showing a hint of boredom.

But this time my aunt was in all smiles about Amanta and her constant watching of her favorite movies. I was astounded. How could my aunt maintain her poise when her daughter is still continuing to do something which freaked her few days back. She made me sit and explain. According to experts from Massey University School of Educational Studies, children who spend a lot of time watching are exercising their mind. According to the study conducted, children not just imitate their favorite character in the movie but also understand the emotions which were not expressed on screen. Doing this children unknowingly train their mind. Certain movies are as educational as reading books. This helps kids in grasping things faster and better.

This is definitely a happy news for all those worried parents. No wonder it is said “Everything happens for good”.

Guys are impossible regarding gadgets. Never till today anybody could figure out why they go crazy for gadgets. Hopefully one day I will understand. My brother is no exception. Any interesting mobile phone that rolls into market he becomes restless and desires to own it. Due to empty pocket he had to cajole me to buying it. Haven’t denied his wishes, gifted him on his recent birthday this month. He was in all smiles. So was I. gifted him Motorola Stature i9 phone. Attractive configurations embedded in it.

The Motorola proudly claims it to be the slimmest ant thinnest flip phone. It has a 15mm slim design and exterior flip is touch sensitive. Motorola together with Sprint and its sub brand Boost Mobile has launched this new phone called Motorola Stature i9. Easy and faster access to music and other applications like GPS is possible due to the external touch sensitive buttons. The phone has a 3.1 megapixel camera. Camera comes with autofocus and flash. Has 8GB internal memory and also has Bluetooth to connect to other mobiles. The device offers to consumers both a post-paid option with Sprint and pre-paid option with Boost Mobile. It works on new push to talk technology. This boosts the consumer demand for iDEN products and shows the heights it has reached in advancement of technology.

In this jet speed generation where people are busy chasing their dreams and desires, neglecting one’s health has become obvious and natural. But now we don’t have to worry about that. Technology has come to our rescue.

Scientists and technologist are coming up with ideas to make our life more comfortable and easy in this hectic and stressful lifestyle. One such is for those who skip their breakfasts to catch up with their transport facilities. The technology is still being processed. It will give an exact time of the buses or other transport modes arriving at their stops. It is either displayed online or in their cell phones. Companies like TransitTracker will tag the buses and trains to help people track the exact information. This is something really interesting.

 An another thought stimulating technology is soon going to roll into the markets. Charging music players and mobile phones has become a big trouble for outdoor users. People who constantly move and constantly use them like me will find this new technology too handy and helpful. According to scientists, the devices like phones or music players can be charged by just shaking them. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for this new technology to be launched successfully.

Automobiles are equally becoming Hi-Tech to meet the customer needs. Mercedes-Benz is planning to manage fatigue, by the use of Attention Assist technology. This technology enabled cars will set off an alarm if the person is too tired. This will enable decline in accidents.

World is soon turning into a global village. Technology has fared so great that contacting anybody in this global village is no more a dream. My friend recently moved to a place geographically very far from where I stay but of course not totally out of reach. Thanks to Internet, I am regularly in contact with her and hardly feeling the distance.

Many networking sites are now open to users. Orkut, Facebook etc being widely used. These sites are of great help to a large sector of people and I’m one among those. Through these sites I’m getting to know about friends who were difficult to be traced out. Networking sites not just help to be in contact with old friends but also helps in blooming new friends. And here comes a very major problem-Privacy. I have a number of friends in facebook I log in often. Friends are a mixture of old-whom I know and new-whom I hardly know. Sharing everything with everybody was totally a big ‘no’ for me. My prayers were answered. I wanted to share few pictures exclusively with just a group of friends. Such an option is available in facebook and other networking sites too. Facebook allows me to do such things by offering various privacy options. All this is needed because it takes just a few seconds to spread any secret over the net, it might be useful and at times might prove deadly. Though protection is being provided by networking sites its safer to be cautious.

Feelings and information can be shared but not at the cost of somebody’s discomfort.

Have you experienced digital surround sound in your room while using your PC? If no, then let me tell you CREATIVE has launched an amazing sound quality speaker. It’s called Creative Inspire T6100. This 5.1 channel speaker set will give no lesser than a theater effect.

   No matter whether you are playing games or watching movies in your computer, this speaker set will make you feel real. When you play any Car Racing games such as NFS, you’ll feel as though you are sitting in the real racetrack. The centre speaker has been dynamically designed and its sound quality catches the listener towards itself.

  A sub-woofer is provided to make you feel the beats of the music and tone. I own this for my PC and it has been giving me marvellous performance by its digital sound quality. Now I feel that it was worth spending my money to buy this masterpiece and I always advise my friends and colleagues also to go for Creative Inspire T6100 and experience the true sound.

Have you ever imagined next version of Dell laptop and what its features are going to be? It’s called Dell Studio XPS 16. I went to one of the Dell outlet where I came to know that it’ll be very soon released in market publically. I was so much carried away with the features and function of this model, I wish I could buy that laptop right at that time but unfortunately it was not released at that moment.

   The main advantage with this model is that, you can tilt this laptop upto 360* which is very rare with any other type of computers. It looks so attractive that you will be forced to draw yourself towards its presentation. Its every edge is so beautifully designed and you can not just stop talking about its incredibility. It has got 16″ widescreen(LCD). The Studio XPS 16 has speakers with an integrated subwoofer which gives an experience of a 5.1 Dolby Digital output.

    It has inbuilt webcam which gives you clarity of a digicam and microphones that will help to stay in touch with your friends by interacting with them online.

    And of course  the connectivity, you have all the possible connections that you need to have in a laptop such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and LAN connections. If you are a true Dell lover then you need to have a look at this gadget.

You must have been fed up of entering text with a playstation controller because its very wierd and uncomfortable to type text while you are playing. But thanks to Sony for releasing its user friendly and Wireless Keypad. Recently I visited one of the Sony showrooms and thats where I came to know that Sony has released this wireless keypad designed especially for PlayStation 3.

    I feel much comfortable while playing games on PS3 whenever I need to enter the passwords or any other text. You can sit at a distance of even 5mtr away from your screen and still the wireless keypad works as good as it works at a shorter distance. When I saw the demonstration of the keypad in the showroom of Sony, I was so impressed by the features that I immediately bought one for myself. And guess what? I paid just $50. Unbelievable right? But you got to believe this.

   There are several features of this wireless keypad. It consists of battery since its wireless which can be charged by plugging via USB cable. This can be used with other Bluetooth enabled devices also. Isn’t it a wonderful gadget? Just get one for yourself and make your life go easy.