News

Mobile technology news from the New York Times Gadgetwise Feed

1. A Groupon for Your Dinner Party - A free iPhone app called Pozzle lets you create events and offer friends a Groupon-style incentive to attend.
2. App Smart Extra: Parenting Apps - An iPhone app for parents who want a trove of pediatric medical information at their fingertips.
3. A Droid With Better Battery Life - At C.E.S. Motorola introduced a version of its Razr that has a much more powerful battery.
4. Putting Action Cameras Onto Wi-Fi - Two makers of wearable cameras, GoPro and Contour, demonstrate products that connect the cameras to Wi-Fi networks for live broadcasting.
5. Nvidia Pushes Into Mobile Processors - Nvidia announces a new Asus touchscreen tablet, powered by its new, more powerful processor.

NY Times Frugal Traveler Feed

1. $100 Weekend in Austin, Tex. - Going down to the last cent, and a few dollars more, to enjoy the full flavor of a $100 weekend in Austin, a city with a worldly heft all its own.
2. Road Trip! But First, Saving Money as You Plan - Before the Frugal Traveler heads to Texas, here are some tips on saving money on car trips.
3. In Portugal, Mirandese Spoken Here - and Only Here - In an isolated corner of Portugal, searching for Mirandese, the country's second official language, means a new -- and frugal -- reason to travel.
4. In Rural Portugal, Ancient Villages and Homemade Delights - Christmas season was the perfect time to visit the villages of Trás-os-Montes, in the isolated northeast corner of Portugal.
5. A Portuguese University Town, Both Familiar and Foreign - A visit to Coimbra, in central Portugal, yields cheap lodging, meals and music -- and plenty of history.

PopGadget Blog

1. The Love Box lets you record different angles with your iPhone -

   

   This handmade video mixer for the iPhone 4/4S, created by Honest & Smile, allows you to record two sided videos. You simply slide the device in, adjust the mirrors and angles slightly and start shooting your video. What a great idea!

   We're not really sure why it's called 'The Love Box', but presume it's so you can capture both sides of a loving couple's conversation?! However it's designed to be used we think it's pretty cool, and would be great for getting a quick video of an informal interview or remembering a fun meal with a friend.

   Check out a video of The Love Box in action.

   Available from thelovebox.com for $90.

2. Converge charges your gadgets in style -

   

   We love this stylish charging dock from Quirky.com, which shows off your fancy gadgets while giving them a bit more juice.

   The curved edges mean most of your tech will fit, in fact anything with a USB port will work on the Converge, whether it needs to be side-connected or bottom-connected.

   Available from Quirky.com for $39.99.

3. Leaf wireless mouse runs off its own kinetic energy -

   

   We're not quite sure how the Leaf mouse works... but know a device that's powered off its own kinetic energy sounds much more economical than one which needs its batteries changing every week!

   The design looks really slick and ergonomical too, ideal if you depend on a mouse everyday and can't stand fooling around with the trackpad.

   Like most of the amazing ideas on Yanko Design, the Leaf is just a concept now. But watch this space, any product which uses alternative forms of energy is bound to be a big hit over the next year.

   [Via Yanko Design]

4. Basic House: Now you can carry your house in your pocket -

   

   This crazy looking gold stuff isn't a Christmas decoration or a really tacky accessory for your home, but it's a pocket sized portable shelter. Weird, huh?

   The Basic House is made from a clever metalized polyester material, which can be folded down into a tiny package or unfolded and inflated by the owner's own body heat to create a temporary shelter.

   It may seem like a crazy concept for now, but we imagine it'd be useful during emergencies or in extreme weather conditions, as it uses body heat to keep those inside the right temperature.

   [Via Like Cool]

5. The clever Erascan whiteboard scanner -

   

   We've seen pens that record the written word into their internal memories and allow you to send it onto different devices, like the devices from Livescribe and this clever (and slick) recorder pen from last month.

   But now you can record the writing, diagrams and crazy scribbles that you've drawn all over that whiteboard too. The Erascan looks a bit like a regular eraser, but as you wipe away your doodles it saves them for you into a built-in memory chip. You can then send all of the data wirelessly to an email address of your choice.