PRINTGo-go gadget
YouTube and camera phones are so last month
July 3, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Sure, you love updating your Facebook status and telling your friends to check out the latest video you uploaded to YouTube. But you could do better. You could be cooler, smarter, faster and sexier. To guide you in adoption of the latest and greatest, we’ll tell you what’s hot now and which tech tools have just gone stale.
On your computer
iPhoneG
The Flip Mino
Sony Rolly
The Old: YouTube. Even Grandma’s watching “Two Girls, One Cup.”
The New:Vimeo.com
If YouTube and Flickr had a video-sharing lovechild, this would be it. For the longest time, amateur video producers really only had one option for putting videos online: YouTube, the hands-down champion of streaming content. But to escape the world of viral videos and find ones with more substance, click on over to Vimeo. The removal of copyrighted material, decreased amount of compression on uploaded videos and support for HD formats make this site the perfect place to connect with other filmmakers who take their work seriously.
The Old: Hitting up multiple news Web sites each day.
The New: Current.com
With a single mouse click, viewers of Current TV can choose which stories matter most to them, voting them to the top of newscasts on this around-the-clock news channel. The global cable and satellite TV network (available on both Dish Network and Direct TV) is tied to current.com. Site visitors browse the network’s library of user-created content, prioritizing news stories, á la Digg.com’s style of news where it’s all about the users’ preferences in headlines. It’s an innovative take on journalism, executed wonderfully with intuitive controls and plenty of networking opportunities for tech-savvy socialites.
The Old: Facebook Mobile and that hypnotic news feed.
The New: Twitter.com
Like a Facebook status — on crack — Twitter allows you to keep friends and family updated on your every move. You can upload your life, 140 characters at time, to share with whoever else on the site feels he or she needs to know that you’re currently downing margaritas or smiling at squirrels on your way to work. You can also change your status via text message, which means you’ll always be able to tell your friends what’s on your mind. The site’s novelty is its simplicity; the idea is to share your life through “microblogs” and nothing more.
In your hand
The Old: What’s that, iPhone owner? You like watching the rest of us fiddle with our inferior Razrs? Well, now you’ve been outdone, too.
The New: iPhone 3G ($200)
Apple’s iPhone used to be the coolest thing you could put in your pocket — and it still is. The latest iteration comes with everything the original lacked: GPS, 2.4-times-faster 3G network compatibility and support for Microsoft Exchange services. This means custom-tailored directions to the nearest IHOP, quicker downloads and browsing speeds, and access to the calendars, address books and e-mail you use at work. The phone also boasts a slimmer profile and sleek black casing. Meow. It hits stores July 11.
The Old: Taking a fuzzy video on your phone of your best friend humping a street sign during a pub crawl.
The New: The Flip Mino ($180)
Choppy, low-resolution cell phone video is so last year. This super-portable, intuitive video camera with built-in USB connection makes transferring video to your computer easy. Plus, it’s slim and stylish, and it begs you to play with it. This gadget is good for the budding amateur street videographer who is more concerned with always being ready to capture video and upload it without hassle than dealing with heavy equipment and fussy connections. The downside is the video quality. With the current trend toward HD quality, it falls a little short.
The Old: A bland iPod dock that plays music (bor-ing).
The New: Sony Rolly ($400)
Of course, the first thing you’ll notice is the outrageous price for what seems to be a dancing iPod dock. But gaze into its color-morphing rings of light, watch it shimmy across a table as it grooves to Ricky Martin, and prepare to entertain questions about where to find one. Rolly became an instant sensation in Japan before it came to the U.S. in March. It’s cuter than a Furby, has the ability to stream music from some Bluetooth-equipped phones and computers, and you can even create your own dance routine with the included software.
