TechTraveler

Chargepod overpowers your electronics mess

When my wife and I go out of town, I seem to pack enough chargers to fill a small suitcase.
There's the chargers for two iPods, two cell phones and two PDAs.
The new chargepod, from Chicago-based Callpod Inc., fulfills the American Transcendalist call to "simplify, simplify." (Somehow, I suspect that if Henry David Thoreau were alive today, he wouldn't have schlepped an iPod to his cabin on Walden Pond.)
Chargepod will enable you to throw (thoreau?) away, or at least leave behind, that nest of cords that clog your duffel and clutter your world.
The $50 charger accommodates six devices that plug into a base unit, which resembles a gas cap from a Ferrari, that itself plugs into the wall.

For the past few years, I have used an iGo, which charged two devices at a time. Early on in the iGo era, my iPod's screen burned to a crisp. IGo denied it was their fault, I still have some lingering doubts. In any case, my video iPod has charged incident so far on the iGo.
Chargepod avoids the crisping issue with "smart" adapters that detect and deliver just the right amount juice required for each gadget. Plus, the chargepod's base unit reassuringly remains cool while iGo's heats up.
Chargepod smart adapters go for $10 each.
There is a $100 bundled product with six popular adapters covering Nokia, Motorola/mini-USB, iPod, Samsung, Palm and Sony PSP along with a wall charger and car charger and carrying case.
Check out the chargepod and the spiffy new dragon Bluetooth headsets, which can pair up as a walkie-talkie, from Callpod at callpod.com.
Move beyond chaos into electronics order with chargepod.

Triumph in dentistry: Not only Bluetooth is wireless

Even when you travel, you should keep up with your oral hygiene.
Oral-B's New Triumph with with SmartGuide, appropriately enough in this age of wireless Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, takes toothbrushing wireless, plus the new brush is smart.

My old Oral-B power brush was rather stupid. It gave me a two-minute warning that my time was up. That was about it.
The Triumph has a standalone unit that displays the progress you're making in with your hygiene. It also lights up if you happen to apply too much pressure; not really a problem for me anyway. The floss-style brushhead has sensors that detect if you are too vigorously brushing and risking gum recession. We may have a recession coming on, but at least we can prevent gum recession and please Dr. Greenspan, DDS.
Back-lighting would be a nice addition to the display.
Oral-B says that this feedback--which includes a goofy smile after two minutes--increases average brushing time from a disappointing 47 seconds. Seconds count in this oral hygiene game, and we need 120, bunkies.
Oral-B Triumph with SmartGuide ilists for $150 and is available at department, retail and specialty stores. There's more information at www.oralb.com.
What's next? How how a brush that detects early decay and zaps it with a laser. Now that would be a triumph in dental technology.

Push-y new WorldMate version looks after travelers

Sitting in the Dublin airport, the BlackBerry buzzed me with an alert: My sister, who started out in San Francisco, had just landed in Vilnius, Lithuania. A couple hours later, I got another alert that my son, who started out in Tel Aviv, had landed.
And in awhile, WorldMate let me know that the Aer Lingus flight for Vilnius was leaving.
WorldMate Live software, from Lod, Israel-based MobiMate, was doing its job, keeping me informed on where I needed to go, with my flight number, my conformation number and departure time.

The software offered more too: conversion rates from Lithuanian litas and American dollars
to euros, the time in Vilnius, Riga and several other cities I had selected,and the name and address of the hotel I was staying at and weather conditions
It was like having a full-time assistant, doing everything buy separating the red and green M&Ms.
WorldMate has been looking out for travelers for seven years in free and premium subscription software in a less dynamic version that forced users to do the work.
The new version pushes live information. Live was introduced on BlackBerrys, the phone most commonly used by MobiMate customers. WorldMate Live will be available on other phones in the months ahead.
WorldMate was more efficient than tracking a trip: gathering e-mail confirmations for hotels, flights and then printing them out.
Register and check into your account at worldmatelive. com and add your travel information along with meeting times and addresses.
The software packages it in a well-organized itinerary.
You can export travel information to WorldMate Live from confirmation e-mails.
Once the itinerary is saved, it is available in minutes on your phone.
E-mail a copy of the itinerary to friends and family.
I tried WorldMate Live on a Blackberry 8300 World Edition from Verizon. downloaded the software and an airplane icon for WorldMate Live. appeared. I entered hotel phone numbers and addresses.
Premium Gold Membership, costs $9.95 per month, or $99.95 a year, WorldMate Live pushes alerts to the phone. It pushes users information when there is a change in
flight status, such as a delay, a cancellation or a gate change.
The non-push version is free.
In any case, to be safe, you still might bring along those printouts.