BlogHer 09′ Room of our Own Session: Gadgets For Blogging

First, I want to apologize for being MIA for the past couple of months. I’ve been going through a lot of changes (all good) in my life, and starting a new venture  called GadgetSpin with a group of talented women you all may already know. Go check out our new video blog at www.GadgetSpin.com. You guys are probably already familiar with these gals since they are everywhere online. They are Ponzi Pirillo from Ponzarelli.com, Beth Blecherman from TechMamas.com and Eliane Fiolet from Ubergizmo. Speaking of which, we will be heading to BlogHer this weekend and will be livestreaming as well as conducting a panel called “Gadgets for Blogging.” We’ve all be blogging for a very long time, so we’ll be sharing our wisdom with fellow bloghers. If you happen to be attending the conference, make sure you stop by our vlogging station and say hello. Below are more details…

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LEGO Diamond Ring Proposal

Remember when everyone was finding some geeky way to propose to their girlfriends back in 2006? Yeah, well here’s another example of what to do if your girl has a passion for LEGOs or all things geeky. The giant LEGO ring housed a real diamond ring inside a transparent brick stone. Not the most subtle way to say you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, but what is?

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Belkin’s makes new mice more comfortable

Mice and comfort are two words that aren’t frequently together in a sentence, but Belkin wants to change the way we feel about that annoying devices next to our keyboards. I just hope its Comfort Mice nice product line feels as good as it looks. Gizmodo says the Comfort Mice are available with a retractable cable, in Bluetooth, and wireless. They’ll be available in Midnight Blue, Pitch Black, Fushia, and Candy Red when they are released at the end of July in Europe, Asia, and Australia.  More details here.

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Study: Consumers still confused about netbooks

We have three netbooks in our house, and to be honest, I rarely use them unless I’m going on a trip. They’re actually very useful if they have a big screen, a webcam, and full-sized keyboard, otherwise they’ll just sit in a corner to collect dust like my first netbook did.  I’m sure Techie Diva readers don’t have this problem, but according to a recent study, the average consumer can’t tell the difference between a netbook and a notebook.  That is a serious problem.  Sadly, consumers believe the two have the same functionalities!  So next time you’re shopping for a notebook, keep this in mind and shell out the extra cash for something you’ll be happy with in the longrun. Netbooks are meant as a companion, not a replacement.

Check out the study below for more details regarding the study.  Via Engadget

NPD Finds Consumer Confusion about Netbooks Continues

Port Washington, NY, June 22, 2009 – Netbook, notebook – they sound the same. According to a new report from leading market research company, The NPD Group, many consumers believe the two have the same functionalities. NPD’s Netbooks II: A Closer Look report, found that 60 percent of consumers who purchased a netbook instead of a notebook thought their netbooks would have the same functionality as notebooks.

That confusion about functionality is leading to some dissatisfaction. Only 58 percent of consumers who bought a netbook instead of a notebook said they were very satisfied with their purchase, compared to 70 percent of consumers who planned on buying a netbook from the start.

Satisfaction was even harder to ascertain among 18- to 24-year-olds, one of the main demographics manufacturers were hoping to win over with the new products. Among that age group, 65 percent said they bought their netbooks expecting better performance, and only 27 percent said their netbooks performed better than expected.

One marketing aspect that has interested buyers is the portability factor. It’s been the key marketing tool for netbook manufacturers, and consumers agree that it is a great feature. Sixty percent of them said that was a main reason they bought their netbooks. However, once they got home, 60 percent of buyers said they never even took their netbooks out of the house.

“We need to make sure consumers are buying a PC intended for what they plan to do with it,” said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis at NPD. “There is a serious risk of cannibalization in the notebook market that could cause a real threat to netbooks’ success. Retailers and manufacturers can’t put too much emphasis on PC-like capabilities and general features that could convince consumers that a netbook is a replacement for a notebook. Instead, they should be marketing mobility, portability, and the need for a companion PC to ensure consumers know what they are buying and are more satisfied with their purchases.”

Methodology
Nearly 600 adults from NPD’s online panel who were identified as netbook owners completed this survey between April 27 and May 4, 2009.

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Facebook on your desktop with Facebook(er)

I’m an avid Facebook user, and most of the time I update it from either my iPhone or through the browser, but the folks over at Widget Realm developed a sweet widget so you can keep an eye on Facebook from your desktop. Facebook (er) allows you to see all your friend’s status updates, change your status, and see if you’ve received any new messages, pokes, friend requests, group requests, and more.  The application is free to download through Facebook or  Yahoo! Widgets, but you’ll need to download the Yahoo! Widgets application to your computer first to get it working. As you can see from the image above, the interface is very clean, easy to use, and I love how easy it is to scroll through your friend’s status updates. When you mouse over your buddy’s profile picture, small icons appear over the image giving you quick access to their pictures, comments, pokes, and messages. Your current status update constantly scrolls above the status update,  and you can change the widget’s refresh rate, so you’ll always have the latest updates appear on your desktop.  It’s a wonderful widget to have so download it, and come back to tell us what you think. I’m still testing it out, but so far I’m really digging it.

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Lego dress for geek fashionistas

Who says you can’t be stylish and geeky at the same time? Here’s the Lego Dress by designer JC De Castelbajac that has printed the famous Lego brick design all over it in different colors, and just like Lego bricks that are able to fit to one another perfectly (it’s magic, I know!), this dress will also fit all shapes and sizes, as long as, you know, it comes in your size. Well, would you fork out $135 for this perfect summer dress (to those who’re living in the northern hemisphere, of course)?

Source: Geek Sugar

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WikiPock Twitter Contest

Those who don’t have an iPhone or internet connection when you need it the most, need something like WikiPock. WikiPock brings Wikipedia to your mobile phone so you can search for information anytime, anywhere without the need for an internet connection. The guys over at WikiPock sent me a review unit, and I’m loving it, so we decided to give away a copy to 10 lucky winners. WikiPock is available for Blackberry, and Windows mobile phones. Normally, this application is available for $9.99 as a download or it can be preloaded on a microSDHC memory card for an extra $15, but you can win one here before you head back to school or go on vacation.

To enter this contest, simply spread the word about this contest and WikiPock on Twitter by using the hashtags #wikipock and #techiediva in your tweet.

Example: I’m entering the #wikipock contest on #techiediva. Check it out.

If you don’t have a Twitter account, just leave us a message below in the comments section, and make sure you use a valid email account so we can contact you.

You should also visit WikiPock or visit their Twitter page at https://twitter.com/wikipock to learn more about this wicked cool application.

We will select the winners on June 24, 2009, so get your entry in before then. The contest is only open to U.S. citizens over 18.

Good luck everyone!

Update: We’ve extended the contest a few more days to give more people a chance to win, so make sure you enter.

Contest is now closed. Thanks to all those who entered!

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Win a AT&T Pantech Matrix Pro Smartphone!-Contest closed

We are giving away an AT&T Pantech Matrix Pro smartphone along with a $100 AT&T gift card to one lucky Techie Diva reader. The contest will run starting today until May 6, 2009 11:59 EST. We will select a winner on May 7th at random, so make sure you get your entries in before we announce the winner. The contest is only open to U.S. residents. To enter, you must do the following:

1. Join our Facebook Group or Facebook Page.

2. Update your Facebook status with: Win a Pantech Matrix Pro at www.techiediva.com (or something like that)

3. Send an email to matrixpro@techiediva.com with your name, and a link to your facebook profile. This will count as your entry, so make sure you do that.

That’s it! We are making this very easy for everyone to enter and have an opportunity to win this awesome phone!

Updated: We got a winner! We are now awaiting confirmation back from them, and once that’s done, we’ll reveal the name. Thanks for entering the contest!

We have two more contests coming up next week, so come back to find out what the prizes are and how you can win!

Contest is closed! Congratulations to C. C. Syner, winner of the Pantech Matrix Pro.

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Sir Richard Branson gets techie on flight to Orange County

Virgin America’s inaugural flight from San Francisco to Orange County took place on April 29th, and I joined in the all-day festivities to bring you some interesting bits about some of your favorite reality TV stars starting with Sir Richard Branson (”The Rebel Billionaire”).  If you guys are following me on Facebook, then you got to see my instant updates throughout the day ( I wish it was as easy to update this blog from my iPhone, but it’s not, so make sure you follow me on Facebook). Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to see Sir Richard Branson sitting next to Arianna Huffington across the aisle as they conducted a live  interview for Digg fans on UStream. You can see a list of questions they asked him here. Personally, I wanted to find out just how social media savvy Sir Branson really is, and while he’s not on Facebook, he did tell me he follows his fake profile there for laughs. He was also proud of the fact that he  updates his own Twitter account on occasion and even has a blog, which is more than most billionaires can say. What’s even better is that he conducted his first Twitter interview from the sky with the LA Times using hashtags (#vx2oc)! How times have changed!

Miss iJustine was also on board hosting Virgin America’s celebrity air-to-ground stream for the OC flight launch, and celebs like Shaun White, Sunset Tan, The Real Housewives of Orange County, and others were there to celebrate the launch. We’ll be posting video of the event shortly, so stay tuned for the rest of the interviews. Meanwhile, check out our Flickr stream for more candids, and the pictures below.

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Mother’s Day Ideas: Lime green Nintendo DS Bundle

Mother’s Day is only a few days away guys, so I know you’re all looking for fun ideas. According to our gal pals over at GeekSugar, Nintendo will roll out a new lime green DS Lite gaming bundle on May 3 just for gamer moms. The bundle includes a copy of the Personal Trainer Cooking video game, along with a matching lime green case with swirlies to protect your DS lite. No specifics on price yet,  but we’ll update you as soon as we find out.

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