You may not be familiar with the company Tronical but you will know their work because they are responsible for Gibson’s Robot Guitar tuning systems. Well judging by this video it appears that Tronical are about to launch some standalone systems that can be retrofit to pretty much any guitar be it a Les Paul [...]
Category: Gadgets
5 Awesome Things You Can Do With Google Voice
Blog from your phone, call for free or use your computer to make free phone calls. Google Voice isn’t the easiest Google service to explain to non-techies, partially because it can be used for so many different things. Find a short list of those things below.
Using only a phone to manage voicemail is old fashioned: Google Voice does a much better job. Manage your voicemail on your computer or phone, and enjoy unlimited free texting within the US and Canada. It’s a service no human should be without, but which is sadly (still) limited to humans who reside in the United States of America. Google, remedy this!
Find below just a few advanced Google Voice tricks. Know some more? Leave them in the comments below the article and share them with the world.
Blog From Your Phone
Imagine being able to blog by phone, from anywhere. It’s not farfetched: our very own Ryan devised a method of voice blogging. It’s not perfect, but it’s a great way to get in a quick blog post from the road.
Free Calls and Texts To Canada
Cell phone has no concept of long distance, provided I’m calling or texting a US number. It’s another matter when you call or text Canada: that costs extra. Good thing I have Google Voice: it allows you to call or text Canada for free.
You can do this one of two ways. The first is to call Google Voice number from my cell phone, then call Canada from that. It’s easy, but requires some extra dialing.
The second way requires some setup, but works very well: have your Canadian friend send a text message to your Google Voice number. Assuming you’ve set up Google Voice to forward texts to your phone, you will now have an American number you can use to reach your Canadian friend. Save this new number and you can call your friend as though it were a domestic call, anytime.
Free Calls From Your Browser
This isn’t exactly a secret, but many people don’t seem to realize it: you can make free phone calls from within Gmail, provided you’re calling a number inside the US or Canada.
Even cooler: if your Google Voice number is your primary phone number, you can pick up your phone calls in Gmail. You just need to turn on chat and install the Google video chat browser extension.
Another related but also lesser-known trick: you can add any phone number to a Google Plus Hangout, allowing you to include people without Internet access in your conversations.
Combine Google Voice and Skype
Skype is a very affordable way to make long distance phone calls, but there is one problem with it: unless you set up a call display number you appear as ‘unknown caller’ on the phone of the person you’re trying to reach. Many people will, assuming you’re a scam artist, and refuse to pick up.
You can buy a phone number from Skype to avoid this. Or, if you don’t want to spend money on a subscription, you can set up your Skype account to display your Google Voice number for call display. That way people you call will see a real phone number.
You might consider doing this even if you’ve paid Skype for an incoming number: people will call you back at your Google Voice number instead of your Skype number, meaning you’ll get the call on all of your phones instead of just Skype.
Add a Voicemail Feature To Your Blog
Want to hear from the people who read your blog? Add a voicemail button to it. This allows people to leave you a voicemail without telling the world your phone number. People who visit your site can enter their phone number and, in one click, connect their phone to your voicemail inbox.
Read the full instructions for setting up a voicemail feature on your blog here.
Other Cool Tricks
Of course, there are many more cool things you can do with Google Voice. Ryan outlined several of them in 2010, and his tricks still work very well. They are:
- Integrating Google Voice for all mobile calls
- Listening in to your voicemail in real time
- Automatic transcriptions of all voicemails
- Recording phone calls
- Custom greetings for different groups of people
(Via MakeUseOf.com.)
Emergency Hood While Wearing This Backpack
You probably won’t always remember to bring an umbrella when the weather is gloomy, but as long you’re wearing thisPuma Urban Mobility Backpack from designer Hussein Chalayan, you’ll always have a quick way to keep your head dry.
As an added bonus, when the backpack is particularly full and heavy-laden, you can put the hood up for some extra support. After all, haven’t doctors been telling us to lift with our necks all these years? There’s no word on pricing for the pack just yet, but it will be available as part of Puma’s upcoming Spring/Summer line. [Puma via Hypebeast]
Raspberry Pi in demand
Just to get a brief idea on how much the Raspberry Pi computer was in demand, here is a statistic that you might be able to identify with – we are talking about 700 units per second. That amounts to 42,000 each minute, and it is no wonder that the demand for the Raspberry Pi during its recent launch actually led to the website crashing. This is truly a phenomenon, where a British-designed system that costs a mere £22 is in such high demand, at least according to one of its main distributors in the UK. Meant to make programming a snap as well as accessible for children, the Raspberry Pi also picked up plenty of envious glances over from a Middle East country that is outlining plans to furnish each schoolgirl with a Raspberry Pi. This is one unique case study that goes to show how the most powerful hardware necessarily “wins” in the long run, giving people what they want and need tend to ensure victory instead.
(Via Ubergizmo.)
Gibson Firebird X Guitar Features Auto-tuning And Built-in Effects
Not everybody will want tech wizardry on their musical instruments, but if you do, the Gibson Firebird X is definitely something to consider. The guitar features automatic tuning, previously seen on the company’s Robot guitars, and offers a suite of effects built-in. You’ve got the standard pickup selector, volume and tone controls, an 11 position rotary knob for selecting effects such as echo, reverb, compression, distortion, modulation and EQ. There are also switches for mixing effects’ signal strength and changing between the standard and piezo pickups. The inclusion of Bluetooth for wireless pedal switching also takes it one step closer to gadget Nirvana. Pricing hasn’t been mentioned just yet, but it’s expected to be available on a limited run from December 11th 2010, so don’t expect it to come cheap.
(Via Ubergizmo.)
Guitar Sidekick – Media Device for Guitarists
A Macworld article indicates there are currently over 500 guitar-related iPhone apps.
Every up-to-speed tech geek, guitar player will want this mechanical interface.
You’re looking at the Guitar Sidekick, an accessory for mounting your iPhone, Blackberry, Droid or other similar media devices to your guitar. The above article link tells you all about it, but the picture basically says it all.
The Guitar Sidekick is available at: www.castiv.com
(Via Strat-O-Blogster Guitar Blog.)
Top 5 DIY iPhone Stands
You’ve already forked out plenty for your iPhone or iPod touch, so why tax your wallet further by buying an expensive stand?
Whether you want to save money, keep your personal drain on the planet’s resources to a minimum, or are looking for a quick-fix solution at your desk, we’ve found five fantastic iPhone stand designs that require no more than everyday objects — and some MacGyver-style skills.
Have a look-see below at our homemade docks, then have a go at making your own and let us know the results in the comments box below!
1. The Paper Clip Stand
What you’ll need:
Overview:
This solution utilizes a large paper clip, cunningly straightened and then twisted to make an impromptu stand for your iDevice. Depending on how strong you are, you might need pliers to help manipulate the clip, but the principle is pretty darn simple — and pretty darn effective. Mods include wrapping a rubber band around the ‘legs’ to aid stability.
In the immortal words of MacGyver himself: ‘A paperclip can be a wondrous thing. More times than I can remember, one of these has gotten me out of a tight spot.’
MacGyver Rating: 5/5
2. The Cassette Case Stand
What you’ll need:
Overview:
We love that this takes (almost) obsolete tech and upcycles it into a useful object. You can use either a cassette case from an old camcorder tape, or an old audio tape (which, if you’re of a certain age, you’ve almost certainly got lying around at home).
Put the tape and the cardboard sleeve to one side, open the case, flip it around, and — presto! — a minimalist desk stand. To make it a super-stable solution in landscape, you might want to use a file to make a nice neat groove for the iPhone to better sit in.
This really works for us as an easy way to keep our iPhone out of calamity’s way on a desk surface.
MacGyver Rating: 4/5
3. The Pencil Stand
What you’ll need:
Overview:
This easel-esque stand can be created from five pencils and several rubber bands. It will require some dexterity to get the pencils in the right place, as you use the bands to hold it all together, and then a little more to get it to stand up straight. However, it is a strikingly simple design once made, and can be collapsed down to nothing again, should the occasion require.
Although this requires the most stuff to actually make, the Boy Scout-style binding process keeps it firmly in MacGyver territory.
MacGyver Rating: 4/5
4. The Sticky Tape Stand
What you’ll need:
Overview:
Perfect for those ‘I just want to catch ten minutes of [insert favorite show] while I eat lunch at my desk’ moments, this devilishly simple solution requires only a roll of sticky tape to work. Simply stick a bit of tape to the back of your iPhone or iPod touch — and voila! — your iBuddy is propped up at a nice angle while you consume both your lunch and choice of video-based media.
It’s not quite duct tape, but damn!
MacGyver Rating: 5/5
5. The Paper Stand
What you’ll need:
Overview:
The instructions call for the use of at least a 270 gsm paper or card stock, so assuming you have that, simply print out the template (available for both A4 and U.S. letter size paper), cut, fold, and faster than you can say ‘origami,’ you’ve got yourself a new dock.
And this one really is a dock (rather than just stand), as it includes space for the iPhone’s cord underneath. We would suggest that anyone not old enough to have a Facebook account should find a responsible adult to take care of the craft knife elements.
(Via Mashable!.)
i-Tab Offers Rock Stardom By Way of Huge Geekdom
Music and technology aren’t unfamiliar bedfellows, but the i-Tab offers a unique method for enhancing your guitar with gadgetry: clamp it on. Like a TomTom for tunes, the electronic songbook prompts players with chords and lyrics for thousands of songs.
For hundreds of years guitarists have mastered their instrument with patience and practice. But this is 2010—who has time to practice? The i-Tab accelerates the learning process by offering thousands of dynamic tabs, scrolling chords at any tempo while you stumble your way through the song.
The device has a 5′ touch screen—using your guitar pick as stylus is encouraged—and 4GB of memory to hold the songs, which can be downloaded through a tab store. The company claims there will be 5000 tunes available at launch.
On some songs you can accompany your noodling with backing tracks that can be played over speakers or headphones. And youll probably need them—having the i-Tab clamped to your guitar isnt likely to win you many bandmates. Sure itll fast-track your fingerpicking, but at what price.
Well, the price of $199 and looking like a dweeb, as it turns out. Pre-orders are slated to be filled first week in March. [i-Tab via Oh Gizmo]
(Via Gizmodo.)
Just a Cheap iPhone/iPod Adapter USB Hub
If the Griffin Simplifi is too expensive for you, this $15 generic iPhone/iPod 3-port USB hub will allow you to sync an Apple product while accommodating up to three other devices that resent your favoritism. [USBFever]
(Via Gizmodo.)
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