Who needs a flash drive that can survive spills, shocks, drops and smashing? We do, that is who. If you’re a mobile road warrior, you know how hard the road can be on your delicate electronics. You’ve seen what can happen to a peripheral in the airplane if it’s allowed to dangle loose, you’ve seen the effects of baggage handlers on electronics. Yikes.

Enter Corsair Survivor…Exit Worries. I just found the coolest USB flash drive I’ve ever seen. According to the specs, it is “engineered to be the industry’s toughest USB drive, Flash Survivor is water-resistant, CNC-milled aluminum encased, and shock-proof.” Wow. So all you entering the war-zone that is business travel, fear not, yet another indispensable goody has just entered your Must-Have list.

Head over and check out the Flash Survivor, then head over to Mogo and learn more about the Road Warrior’s mouse that is already on everyone’s must-have lists. Remember what I told you about baggage handlers…imagine what they do to a mouse that Doesn’t hide itself inside your PC Card Slot…yikes is right.

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“Hi, I’m a Mac.” “Hi, I’m A PC.” We’ve all seen the commercials, we’ve all heard the debate, Apple vs. Windows, yada yada yada. What about all you folks that run the other software?

No worries Linux users, all is not lost if you’re running a Linux laptop…you too can enjoy all the sweet benefits of a MoGo Mouse on the road. The process is a little more work than pairing it to a Mac of a PC, but then again, if you’re running Linux, you’re probably ok with things requiring a little more smarts. Lucky for you, I found a walkthrough that makes it even easier than you might think!

That said, here’s how to get your MoGo Mouse paired with your computer, it’s not as bad as it sounds:

“First, find the Bluetooth address of the mouse with the hcitool command:

% hcitool scan

 Scanning …


        AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF       MoGo Mouse BT

Then tell the Linux HID daemon to connect to that Bluetooth device and use it as a mouse:

% sudo hidd –connect=AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF

If your GNOME Bluetooth setup is configured correctly you’ll be asked to enter the mouse’s PIN and then you’ll be connected.

For convenience I’ve set up a GNOME application launcher to run the following command so that I don’t have to connect the mouse from the terminal every time I want to use it:

gksu –message=”Enter your password to authorise the connection to the MoGo mouse”  

    “hidd –connect=AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF”

I’m not going to lie, I really don’t have a clue what any of that said, but if you’re a Linux user, I’m guessing you do! Enjoy!

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CNN did  an article last month on their favorite high-tech toys for travelers.

On that list? The  Swimman’s waterproof iPod Shuffle.

On the road,  I use hotel pools to get my daily exercise fix.

The bad news about hotel pools is that they are often full of hotel guests. The experience is decidedly not like slicing through the calm quiet waters of the YMCA pool in the early morning or cutting through the waves along Lake Michigan.

No. The experience is exactly like 20 rowdy kids doing cannon balls over your head.

Which is why the idea of this waterproof iPod has just blown the top of my head off.   It’s slim and light, because the waterproofing is on the inside.

Technology at its best offers us something we can truly use. Something that improves the quality (and even the quantity) of our lives.  Which is why a gadget likes this - one that will help me extend my patience in the pool (by blocking out those lovely fellow travelers) and thus, allow me to get my workout AND enjoy it,  is always such a great find.

Now we just need to work on the next obvious piece - getting a MoGo waterproof headset to match.

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Steve Jobs has spent a lot of money to make those white wires hanging from your ears ubiquitous, but it’s time to tell truth to Apple: they’re annoying, yo.

An entire generation has had the lovely privilege of suffering from the scrapes and tugs that come from having the earbuds unceremoniously ripped out by something catching on one of the wires.

Ah, what millions put up with it in order to enjoy Nelly Furtado’s latest.

By February, 2005, techies began to look at the obvious solution: combining Bluetooth with iPod. By last April, it seemed as though a Bluetooth iPod would be released at any moment. Stuff.tv even did an article as a precursor to the product announcement.

It never happened.

Why not?

The major reason is that Apple is notoriously paranoid about illegal music sharing and copyrights.

Maybe it comes from having spent the equivilent of the working budget of Iceland in litigation with the Beatles over their name.

Who knows?

The upshot is that a lot of sharing functionality that the Napster generation had come to take for granted was locked away from iPod users.

And the integration of Bluetooth with an iPod would have cracked that vault.

Simply put, the same protocols that allows marketers to blast commercials to your Bluetooth-enabled phone allow Bluetooth-enabled iPods to become small radio stations - allowing others to sit and jam to your music mixes, even transfer playlists and songs back and forth.

But where there’s a will, there’s a way.

In mid-2005, a start-up company named “Wi-Gear” announced the release of the very unfortunately named “iMuffs”. They’re packaged with a specially-designed iPod Bluetooth adapter. They became so popular that eventually, the Apple Store began carrying them. This gave iPod users a solution without making Apple culpable for the security flaws of bring Bluetooth and iPod together.

But the iMuff (shudder) workaround wasn’t the same as having Bluetooth integration in the iPod itself

And as technology advanced, Apple’s customer base is no longer needed to wait for it. They leapfrogged over the situation by dropping by the electronics store at the mall and buying an all-in-one MP3/texting/camera phone with a Bluetooth headset to enjoy it all.

In January, Apple responded by announcing the release of the iPhone - their Cingular-partnered phone that does it all, too. Slick as only an Apple product can be and yes, finally, Bluetooth-integrated.

The device is a natural evolution for the Apple gang and the combination of customer loss and the next-gen Bluetooth having much more sophisticated security code made the time right.

But what about all those iPod enthusiasts waiting for their Bluetooth? Those consumers, like myself, who want to be able to workout at the gym without a dangerous wire hanging loose as I pedal the elliptical or, worse yet, having work be able to interrupt because my music player doubles as an elctronic leash.

More good news. PC Pro announced yesterday that, once again, a third-party retailer (iSkin) has come up with a possible solution. This time, a much more robust one:

iSkin will begin shipping Cerulean, a line of Bluetooth audio streaming add-ons for the iPod and Mac, in May.

The Cerulean TX attaches to an iPod’s Dock connector to give it stereo streaming features, without using either batteries or drivers.

Docking its partner, the Cerulean RX, with a set of standard iPod speakers turns them into an output for the TX-connected device, whether an iPod or a Mac or PC. Again, it requires no drivers, and will automatically seek out and pair with TX-equipped iPods and computers.

The third member of the line-up is the F1, which combines a stereo Bluetooth earphone with a mono mobile headset. Again it connects wirelessly to a TX-enabled iPod, but also works as a standard Bluetooth headset for mobile phones connecting to both devices at the same time. It will then automatically switch between the iPod and phone when it detects an incoming call.

For those who don’t like having both ears stuffed (like me), the good news is that the add-on makes the iPod compatible with other Bluetooth devices as well, including MoGo’s upcoming headset.

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Hey, I’m the first to admit I like things latest, greatest, fastest and, well, coolest.  I love when technology catches up with movies and science fiction, but sometimes, I think technology might go a tiny bit overboard in making things, tiny.  I think we first saw examples of this tiny-ization (not a word, I know) in movies, and I distinctly remember it being made fun of in the movie Zoolander when the main character held up a cell phone the size of a quarter to his ear to speak.  Well, the future is now.

That’s right, I just found a new headset that is, for now, a concept headset that is very, very tiny.  I’m not one to judge, but if you ask me, it’s way too darn tiny, and will quite possibly suffer the same fate of being extremely uncomfortable for a great deal of the population. (See Also: Apple Earbuds)   The bottom line is, when your product is this small, it’s not very customizable as far as fit and feel, not to mention you’ll absolutely look like you’re talking to yourself in public now!

My favorite quote from the little blurb I just read on it, that makes me absolutely excited for the MoGo Headset to finally launch is this:  “…once they figure out a way to get these things comfortably rammed into your ear canal, look for more headsets to shrink down to sizes like this.”

What are your thoughts?  Is this a good trend, bad trend?  What do you think?  Sound off…

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I have a bad feeling that despite all the buzz, despite all the hullabaloo, not enough of you are actually taking the plunge and buying a sweet MoGo Mouse. I can’t stress enough just how awesome this product is, how much I’ve used it since getting mine, and how happy I am to be the proud owner.

What I have noticed is this: Prices are lower! A quick run through Froogle showed that prices on the MoGo ranged from around $54 to right about $69.99. Folks, for that price, you can’t afford NOT to own one!

Head over and check the price ranges at the following sites, I’m sure you’ll find a deal:

• Froogle
• Nextag
• PriceRunner
• PriceScan

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This is my last post on this particular road trip. Tomorrow, I head back into Chicago. In addition to an excellent field test for my MoGo mouse, this has been a great challenge for Tris’ ‘Road Warrior Kit‘.

I have some things to add.

First of all? A jump drive. Sometimes the fastest path between two points has nothing to do with a network. Having one of those $5 jump drives can mean the difference between a presentation WITH your PowerPoint gels and one WITHOUT.

Second? An extra Cat5 or network cable. On those occasions when there is a LAN/Internet available - but it isn’t wireless. While all the hotels I’ve stayed at claimed to have WiFi, only one of the corporate locations did. Expense to install, security concerns, and architectural challenges keep many companies firmly LAN-locked, so to speak.

Finally? One of the people I met on this trip had a privacy screen that slipped over his laptop’s display. I’d seen one for table-top monitors but never for a laptop. As he pointed out - you never know who is sitting next to you on the plane. Keeping his company’s private information private was worth $100.

Although it seems a sad commentary on society, it is a good point.

On this trip, I’ve also discovered that the MoGo Dapter can’t get on the market fast enough.

There are many older laptops whose owners much envied my wireless mouse. And would love to be able to use a Bluetooth headset with an older laptop in order to catch up on those YouTube and Google Videos without broadcasting them to the entire airport lounge.

Well, that’s all from here. Have a great weekend.

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I think I see a pattern emerging here…Elizabeth and I seem to inspire each other.  Kindred Bluetooth Spirits, in a way.  That said, her post yesterday, truly inspired me today as I Just found even more evidence that Bluetooth is stepping out into the great wide open with their technology.

As she mentioned yesterday, it truly is becoming an “umbrella technology,” and I just found an article with a very cool, very hip, very Healthy way that Bluetooth might soon be used for.  How cool would it be if you were in a gym and every time you go to use a specific machine, it remembers you!?  That’s right kids, very cool.  When I say “remembers,” I literally mean, soon, the machines could remember your fitness level, your goals, and what your health is like.

As the article mentioned, “information on their heart rate, blood pressure, weight and vital statistics would then be correlated with the data in order to give a comprehensive assessment of the user’s health and fitness levels. ”

Wow.

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I’m in the tail winds of a Nor’Easter, as they call these windy storms here on the Atlantic Coast.

The MoGo Mouse? It was snugly tucked away inside the laptop inside the case that I had to carry through sideways rain. It’s working just fine; I don’t think I’ll be warm again until August.

A good time to catch up on my reading, then.

And? Big thoughts about the evolving applications of Bluetooth.

In addition to Tyler’s much anticipated , check out Wireless Weekarticle yesterday that talked about that next generation of Bluetooth gadgets.

They will go well beyond peripherals. Taking advantage of the better security and the faster data rate of the recent release, Bluetooth is morphing into more of an “umbrella technology”.

An example of the new kinds of uses? A “Bluetooth-enabled picture frame with a camera phone, which would allow the phone to send a photo to the frame without necessarily establishing a permanent pairing”.

Cool.

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I seriously can’t stress enough just how excited I am about the MoGo Headset being launched. Why am I, you might be asking? For starters, my current Bluetooth headset is, well, awful.

Right now I’m using a Logitech Bluetooth headset and I must admit, I paid over $80 for it. Here are my gripes:

1. It hurts when you wear it any longer than 10 minutes. No, really, it HURTS. It makes it feel like your ear just got done being in the ring with Mike Tyson.
2. It is static-y, and if you move any further than 12 inches away from the phone itself (yes, even it you try to leave the phone in your pocket) it starts to break up radically and make it sound like you are literally trapped inside your TV’s snowstorm when the cable goes out.
3. It is big and looks big on my head. I feel like I should be beaming people up when I wear it, or lip syncing Britney Spears songs on stage somewhere.
4. It takes a long time to be “found” by my cell phone. It’s not like my phone has to go on a treasure hunt, 50 paces this way, 90 paces that way, dig. Just find the silly thing!
5. I have to charge it externally ALL THE TIME, and that means I have to constantly plug and un-plug the charger and move it around whenever I need to move around or travel. This, folks, is not helpful.

So, all those combine to form a powerful index of compatibility between me and my Logitech Headset. I really can’t wait for the release of the MoGo Headset. I really can’t.

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