GelaSkins for your treasures

Hey guys, I came across these GelaSkins for the laptops and phones, mostly APPLE products :). I actually went ahead and bought one for my iPod Classic 160 GB and for my friends 13" MacBook.

When the package arrived I couldn't wait to see how the graphic sticker looked. I was blown away by its quality. These are actually graphics by designers around the world, who I guess are paid a part of the price as royalty for their work. They are so easy to apply on your iPods and laptops. It just sets you apart in the crowd. They also provide a scratch resistant layer for your precious personal gadgets. Well, they are precious for me atleast. I got a really naughty one for my iPod. :). Check them out.







You can find a whole range of graphic designs at www.gelaskins.com

Also, be ready to pay quite a handful for them. The iPod skin cost me $15 whereas the MacBook skin cost $30. They are a bit more than you expect to pay for a skin to protect your gadgets but they are worth every penny!!!

Easiest way to create mp3 ringtones

A lot of us get annoyed when we hear those default ringtones built into most cell phones today. If it wasn't for my optimism that things will get better, I would have broken atleast a 100 cell phones around me by now. :).

All of us have mp3, wma and other audio files stored on our computers, ipods and what not. But when you want to use them as ringtones in your cell phone, it always says that the file size is too large (about 5MB). What do you about this? Well, here comes Audacity to your rescue. One of the finest, lightest, free audio editing tools around, it is available for both the MAC as well as the PC. The interface is easy to understand and the controls are a breeze to get used to.

All you have to do to create that mp3 ringtone (avg. 30 seconds)is import your original mp3 file into audacity and then use the timeline to select which 30 seconds of the song you want as your ringtone. You can even cut, paste, and blend different songs to create your own DJ masterpiece. One final step would be to Export the file as mp3. Kudos!!! You are done. Now you can have friends call you when you are sitting on the bus next to a cute doll and you want her to know that you have great taste in music and not to forget your DJ skills. :)

P.S: Keep your ringtones length to 30 seconds on an average. This will ensure proper playback on your cell phone without any file size errors.

Buy your MacBook now, Pay Later

I was fishing around for a deal on a MacBook for my friend, when I came across this website www.onsale.com. Then I found a deal I couldn't resist. Buy the MacBook right away and defer your payments for 6 months with no interest charges. That is a sweet deal considering my friends and I are going to graduate and find a job and earn some money and then pay it off :). I liked the idea and pitched it to my friend who bought it in a blink of an eye.

For all you Mac lovers out there who do not have the financial resources to buy one, consdier this option. It's not the only one out there but it is a good one. I know a lot of online stores offer such payment options now, but I came across very few which actually have these offers available for the Apple products. Let me know if you have any in mind.

Sony's Wonderland

Sony has long been a leader in consumer electronics with its state-of-the-art home theatres, cameras, sweet multimedia cell phones and what not. We always expect quality and high pricing from sony :). Its gadgets are something I would drool over. I can never get my eyes off them. Same is the case with its new lineup of gadgets for 2008. You can check them out here.

Sony's 2008 lineup

Just don't wet your monitors by drooling over them :).

Apple's Time Capsule

Let's face it. How many of us actually backup our data? I do, but do you? If you don't then you should start doing it right away. Have you ever faced the dilemma of your hard drive crashing and all your precious movies, music, photos, etc. just disappearing as fast as you can say ***K.

Most of us, well everybody now has wireless setup at home. If you are reading this and if you don't have a wireless network setup at home, then I would say you should buy the Time Capsule. Now, coming to Apple's Time Capsule which is again a white squared little box similar to Apple TV. It combines the latest wireless specification the 802.11n with a 500GB or 1TB hard drive. It is basically a wireless base station, something you can connect your DSL or Cable modem to and create a wireless network at home. Combined with the hard drive and the software-setup for your MAC & PC you can then wirelessly backup all your data to the built-in hard drive. Isn't that cool?

Imagine a central data HUB which can be shared by all the computers in the network. I would fall for that. And along with the latest 802.11n technology, file access and transfers would be a breeze. I wish I could order one right now. The only thing holding me back is my credit card company :). Well, common guys go out there and buy a Apple Time Capsule and start backing up your data. You won't regret it.

P.S: The 500GB & 1TB models are priced at $299 and $499 respectively. Not to forget the additional taxes :). They just won't let us have it for cheap, will they? :)

Update: Upgraded MacBook Models

While writing about the upgraded MacBook's from Apple, I forgot to mention the inclusion of the multi-touch controls in the trackpad of the MacBook Pro models. This was originally introduced in the MacBook Air released by Apple earlier this year.

These controls are a handy bunch. You can use your fingers to zoom in and out, rotate pictures and lots of cool stuff. I only wish they had come out with this a year back when I had bought my MACBOOK PRO. But what the hell, I could just buy a new one :).

Also, I was interested in what you guys think about the Macbook Air? I was at the mall the other day and I had a chance to hold this GODLY piece of innovation in my hand. I was 2 inches above the ground when I was admiring it in the Apple Store. But there was one thing which really put me off and by popular criticism was the absence of an optical drive. If that was some how built-in to this model I would have grabbed the thin AIR. :)

Lets try to request Apple for an upgraded AIR model with an optical drive before the economy falls (recession) and there are price inflations everywhere :).

Which email-client should I choose?

Gone are the days when we needed to login to Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo Mail to check our mails. Email-clients have been around for quite a while and there has not been any one as popular as Microsoft Outlook. But with Mozilla churning out Thunderbird and Apple's Mail application, things have changed.

I personally am a MAC user and therefore prefer the built-in Mail application in OS X Leopard. But when I started using Microsoft Office: 2008 MAC edition, I noticed the changes in Microsoft's Entourage email-client for the MAC. It was colorful, neat and had notes, calendar, and my personal favorite 'MY DAY' built in. MY DAY is a short desktop widget if you will which displays events, reminders, etc. It is a cool tool to have and something which is missing in Leopard. But MAIL has its own elegance and charm to it. Simple yet productive. That is the key about APPLE, all its products have a simple elegance to it. You can't take your eyes off them. :). There I go again being a little MAC CRAZZZZY.

I want to hear from you guys, which email-client do you use? I know that offices and businesses prefer Microsoft Outlook, but what about you end users out there? Personally, for me these would be the ideal choices:

WINDOWS - Microsoft Outlook
MAC - Apple MAIL

Let me know what you guys think.

iPhone update 1.1.4+Upgraded MACBOOKs

Seems to have been a busy week for APPLE with a number of things happening for them. The latest update for the iPhone does not provide any new interface or 'cool stuff'. It is supposedly just to fix a few bugs from the last update as well as a rumored gearing up for the development kit announcement for the iPhone. I have to be honest. The iPhone is addictive. But since I have been a Windows Mobile user too, I only longed for add-on software on the iPhone which will be made possible in a week's time now. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Also, I woke up last morning only to find out that the new upgraded MACBOOK models were released. My friends had just bought the 13.3" MACBOOK about a week back and when I had to break this bad news to them they were flabbergasted. Since this is not a 'R' rated blog, I cannot use the kind of language I had to bear from them :).

Also, looking forward to the Development Kit release from APPLE which would open up the horizons for a whole new set of add-ons for the iPhone. I love my iPhone and I hope the day they release the SDK (I believe it is March 6th, 2008) I will be able to show off my iPhone infront of the Windows Mobile users again :).