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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Microsoft has made Internet Explorer 8 available to developers at http://www.microsoft.com/ie/ie8.

If you are an IE user, this means an upgrade is on its way.

The new version will have some cool features. One will be the ability to save work being done on a web site down to your personal computer when an Internet connection goes down.

Another lets you highlight a street address on any web page and, with one click,  see a map of that location. You’ll also be able to highlight product names and click to see if they are available for sale on eBay.

Perhaps the most anticipated feature of this new browser is what it doesn’t do: demand an upgrade of web site designs. Unlike IE7, the new release sees the most standards-compliant version by default when loading a site. Web designers everywhere will be happy to learn that they need not redesign all their codes.

It’s not an altruistic move or even one meant to assuage developers. After the IE7 release, European Union nations launched an antitrust investigation into Microsoft and how Microsoft ensures rival Web browsers are not fully compatible with Internet Explorer.

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Ever wanted to run around with one of those larynx microphones attached to your neck like Keanu Reeves’ moved Speed? Well, RoadRunner has just released their Bluetooth Communicator that does just that.

It is a regular Bluetooth headset that connects to your cell phone normally - except  that you wear this one around your neck instead of on your ear. The microphone “hears” the vibrations from your larynx in your throat. To listen, there is a piece that connects up to your ear.

If you’re wondering why anyone would want one (and I did!) - the larynx headset is not susceptible to any outside noises. It is a good device for loud venues or sensitive situations where you wouldn’t want the background noise telegraphed to the person you are speaking to - like concerts, conferences, or even the back of on a motorcycle.

It’s selling in the UK and EU for about $80.

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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 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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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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Looks like the good folks at Google and the other good folks at Nokia are officially getting official. News has it that Nokia handsets are going to be launching Nokia handsets that are fully integrated with Google Search on them!

This, to me, is exciting. I love Nokia products, and I love Google search, and so having the two join together in a happy marriage makes me feel like their giggling adopted son. According to the article I just read,

“This plan was released at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. Google search will be available in more than 100 countries on a variety of handsets. The first Nokia products to be loaded with Google will be the Nokia N96, N78, 6210 Navigator and 6330 classic.”

Looks like folks at Nokia realize just how valuable tossing Google’s amazing search capabilities onto their handsets is. The entire user experience, in my humble opinion, will go way, way up. Kudos Google, Kudos Nokia…well played.

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