It was the partnership heard ’round the world today.

The news is particularly topical to me, because after 6+ years, the TiVo at my house went dark just last week. It was far from dissatisfaction with the product but simple cost concerns.

Now, another reason to bemoan the loss. TiVO has partnered up with YouTube. Now TiVo subscribers will be able to watch their favorite YouTube videos (Like the recent ones by Sarah Silverman and Jimmy Kimmel) on their television.

Woot.

TiVo VP Tara Maitrasays the partnership is “another major step in our commitment to combine television and Web video viewing options in one easy-to-use service.”

Although details are not yet released, this is actually the second TV/YouTube pathway. Apple’s TV device, launched last year, can also channel YouTube videos to your television. YouTube has been available on mobile devices for over a year.

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Raise your hand if you didn’t see this one coming?  Anyone?  Anyone?  Bueller?  Yeah, thought so.  In a recent study done by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, the cell phone has officially taken the throne as the most vital device in the lives of Americans.

Wow.  It is not really a surprise given the fact that cell phones nowadays can do everything (albeit a bit slower) that a computer can do AND fit in your pocket at the same time.  Mobility, as you well know by being Here, is key and the ability to have mobility is of chief importance to us Americans always on the go.  According to the article I just read:

 ”People’s growing reliance on their cell phones, together with wireless internet access from laptops, suggests a shift in expectations about cyberspace…For many people, access to digital information and resources is an ‘always present’ utility for answering questions and documenting what is going on around them through photos or video recording.”

With 62% of all Americans taking advantage of mobile access to digital information, it’s clear that the Mobile Warriors around our country are officially starting a revolution!

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If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times, I LOVE finding people that LOVE finding the MoGo Mouse in their lives.  Nothing makes me happier, well I’m sure there are SOME things, than finding in my RSS Reader a post someone, somewhere did about loving their mouse.

That said, today is that day.  I just found a post over at jkOnTheRun.com in which they give their hands-on assessment of their testing of a neighbors that lead to them ordering their very own new MoGo Mouse.  Here is a brief snipped of their thoughts on it:

“It folds flat and stores in the PC Card slot for both transport and it charges the Bluetooth mouse while it’s in the slot.  I was quite surprised to find that it works so well and the owner couldn’t say enough good things about it.  I tried it for a bit and I must say it felt good in the hand and worked as well as I have heard.  Needless to say I now have one on the way and will show you how well it works when I have it.”

Anyhow, head over, get convinced and then head back and get your hands on your very own MoGo Mouse.  Trust me, you won’t be sorry.

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I don’t know if you’ve read his book yet, and if you haven’t, do, now, but Timothy Ferriss is a hero of mine, and if we’re honest, a genius.  That said, he is the author of the book “The 4-Hour Workweek,” and it’s amazing.  I was just browsing his site, something I do daily to check for rad updates, and I just so happened to see that he just so happened to have met our very own Matt Westover earlier on “The Big Idea.”

Matt gave ol’ Tim some MoGo Mice to use in a give-away contest/promotion on his very own site, and it was awesome to see him using such an awesome new technology to get readers of his blog to answer a very simple, but very important question:  “What is technology?”  Basically if you just upload a video answering this question (no dictionary help folks!) and link him to it, the fastest and best will win a MoGo Mouse from Tim, via Matt and all the good people here at Newton Peripherals.  Very cool.

Head over, get some helpful breakfast tips in the same post, and read about the MoGo Contest Tim Ferriss is running right now.  Always good to see people with like minded goals getting together to really make some changes.  Keep rocking Tim, and if you ever wanna come hang out in Montana, let me know.

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I can’t tell you how much I love it when I find positive reviews of our beloved MoGo Mouse line anywhere online.  I don’t know what it is, but it seriously makes me feel all warm and fuzzy, like watching my kid that I don’t have sing well in his/her children’s Christmas concert they aren’t in.

Wow, that was a scary opening sentence; nevertheless, the fact remains, I just love finding people that are digging the mouse as much as I am.  I just found a review over VNuNet.com that had some pretty great things to say.  Here’s a snippit of their review:

“The X54 fits in the Expresscard slot on the side of the computer for charging and storage, and the stand pops out when the mouse is in use. It uses Bluetooth to connect to the computer - no other software is required but of course you’ll need a notebook with Bluetooth in order to use it…The auto-off switch saves on battery life, and you should be able to work for a day without charging it. This innovative mouse is a real space-saver, and it’s not overly expensive either. “

I agree Anthony.  I agree completely.  Head over, check out the review, then come back and get one for yourself!

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I really rely on my iPod (and my iTunes on my laptop) when I’m on the road. Probably another reason I’m so eagerly awaiting MoGo’s headset!

Here are some fun iPod tricks for those of you also on the go:

1) Listen to Wikipedia articles via your iPod. I recently refreshed my memory on the King Henry’s wives via Wikipedia.  There’s a service called Pediaphon that will automatically convert any Wiki article into a robotic podcast - which is actually way cooler than it sounds.

2) Catch up on NPR. My family has a strange addiction to Car Talk. You know, Click and Clack - the Tappit brothers? No? Oh, well you GOT to try them out. A lot of the shows are available only for a week after broadcast, which is a shame because Terry Gross’ interview with Gene Simmons was legendary.

3) Download YouTube to your iPod (or, even easier, use Vixy).  Although this takes longer than watching in a livestream from the site, some of these videos become as favorite as songs and are definitely worth having along to provide a well needed chuckle while on the road.

4) Catch up on your favorite blogs (like this one!).  If you have a corporate laptop and are concerned about loading it up with personal data - like the RSS feeds from the blogs you follow, never fear: there’s a way to actually bring those feeds into your video iPod.

5)  Catch up on your favorite authors or learn a new language. As much as I’m not one to endorse a commercial site, I recently got addicted to ‘Books on Tape’, by which I mean ‘AudioBooks on my iPod’ - a growing selection of which is now available at iTunes. My significant other, meanwhile, has been brushing up on his trigonometry while on the treadmill.

Either way? It’s all good.

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I said it yesterday, and I’m saying it today:  Verizon opened some doors baby.  Looks like those doors are opening pretty darn rapidly as AT&T AND T-Mobile are also now offering Unlimited Plans to their cell phone service customers!

This, my friends is great news.  The more open everything becomes, the more standardized the pricing, the better all of us are.  Looks like T-Mobile is shaking things up by putting their price point at $99/month and tossing in ALL forms of Messaging (voice, sms, mms, AND IM) while AT&T’s entry level unlimited plan is also $99, you’re looking at an additional $35 a month to toss in all messaging and web use.  No word yet on an unlimited plan for the much heralded iPhone, any Blackberries, or PDA’s.  An oversight I’m sure will be remedied quicker than slower.

Bottom line my friends, this is good news.  I want to hear your thoughts:  Sound off on what this means to you, to the industry, and what service provider you use!

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If you were to ask a whole gaggle of Mobile Warriors, what their number one pet peeve is about their cell phone service provider, I’d be willing to bet that a great deal of them would come together and agree its’ the limitations on their plans that bugs them the most.  Whether it’s how long they can talk, how much data they can transmit or receive or just how much it’d cost to do more, it bugs us all.

That said, it looks like one of the Biggest service providers in the country has heard our feeble cries and decided to do something about it.  That’s right friends, Verizon is now unveiling a series of UNLIMITED plans!  The entry-level Unlimited Voice plan, with no long distance or roaming fees, ever, will be at $99.99 a month and will step up incrementally as users decide whether or not to add unlimited SMS or MMS messaging, web use, VCast and the likes.  Bottom line, this is pretty freaking cool and will make things a whole lot easier for everyone to understand.  Believe it.

The greatest thing about this, in my humble opinion, is that it will open the door for everyone else to follow suit and offer their own version of the Unlimited plan.  Rumor has it, and according to the article I just read, Sprint has their own $119.99/month Unlimited Plan that tosses in web use, email and messaging.  The only problem, it’s not Nationwide…yet.

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A controversial new study done in England suggests that 1 in 3 Britons are “addicted to technology”.

Professor Nada Kakabadse of Northampton University in the U.K. published results stating that up to a third of of the individuals they researched feel deprived if they are separated from internet access or the devices that provide it.

“You would be surprised how many people keep their PDA or BlackBerry next to their beds,” she told the BBC.

“Technology has become much more interesting over the past 10 years with the internet and everything. It is much simpler and much more portable which makes it more accessible.”

The study drew from a pool of 360 people, which is not statistically a broad enough reach to satisfy many critics. Otehrs, like the folks at Gartner (a mega-research corporation) say that the study doesn’t dig deep enough into what the Internet represents - is it the technology? Or the conduit it provides to the world?

However, most experts agree that the growing need of individuals to be ‘plugged in’ has become a widespread psychological phenomena.

So the next time your significant other insists you’re addicted to your new iPhone, you can point out you’re in good company!

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This is just my opinion, but…

The biggest wow at MacWorld had to be the “Air” - that new, tragically slim laptop that Apple unveiled. It could be argued that it’s the only other product out there that gives as good as the MoGo in the low-profile department.

But Air’s critics have been mounting. Primarily that it doesn’t come with a CD/DVD Drive (external one costs $99).

It was a bigger issue that Slate’s Harry McCracken came up with that has been ringing around in my head for a couple of weeks.

Now I’m going to put it in front of you.

Why is the Air a step backward from the iPhone?

No, Seriously.

The reason the iPhone (And its non-Apple cousins) blew us all off our feet was because that little device gets it.

The Future is Less Stuff that Does More.

We, the People, do not want to keep marching to the future wearing a superhero utility belt holding our 2 dozen gadgets.

This is why the MoGo rocks - because it is not only cool AND functional, but it stores in the device it augments. One fewer thing to worry about.

The plain truth is that phones and laptops (and computers and televisions) are converging. The iPhone was the standard-bearer of that reality. Internet + MP3 + Phone. That was 3 devices plucked from the utility belt and tossed in the bin, replaced by a single wicked multi-tasker.

The next tick in the evolution should not only have been a thin big dog laptop, but one that does more.  For example, when MoGo rolled out the next gen of its product, it had more functionality.

The Air should have, too. It should be touchscreen, it should have cell-hookup capabilities, it should act like -in fact - an iPhone with a whole lot more memory and display and applications. After all, this is Apple. If they don’t get it, then who will?

So, what do YOU think?

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