As the title implies, we are currently looking for another writer to join the team. Right now we are looking for someone to come aboard as a weekend writer. Someone who knows how to get around WordPress and someone who is familiar with gadgets and the internet. Your posts can be about mobile goods, notebooks, crazy gadgets and even the crazy stuff that happens on the internet.

In short, we are looking for someone who is obsessed with gadgets, tech and the internet.

Now for the important details — this position is for a weekend writer. We are looking for someone that can write each and every Saturday and Sunday. If you feel you can make that happen, you would be expected to write 3-5 posts each weekend day for a total of 6-10 posts per weekend. You will be paid on a per-post basis.

Anyway, without dragging this on any further — here is what we need from you. Send an email to robert at gadgetell dot com telling us a little bit about yourself, what you currently do, how much time you can realistically dedicate to GadgeTell and why you think you would be a good fit.

As for that email, you should use “Gadgetell Blogger Hiring” as the subject and also include either some sample posts or some links to your current writing. And no attachments.

On January 5, 2012, Moo.com started making and giving away business cards that are designed after an individual’s Facebook Timeline. It was a very unique idea and was bound to attract a lot of customers because everything was free. I got my second order (I’ll explain later) of Facebook cards in the mail recently and am quite pleased with their quality.

The cards I got earlier this week were actually the second batch of cards I received from Moo.com. The first set of cards arrived while I was at CES. Unfortunately, I was sent someone else’s cards. Moo was very fast correcting the issue and quickly sent me a new set of cards. I should point out the original arrival date for the cards was January 19 and I ended up getting two shipments before then. In my experience, Moo worked fast.

The cards shipped in a fairly solid, vertical holder. The holder is used to protect the cards from getting bent or stained. The holder also has a lid that covers everything except the Facebook logo at the bottom of the holder. Inside the holder are 50 cards and two dividers for separating your cards from cards you collect from others.

The image quality on the cards is quite nice. Naturally, the better your actual Facebook Timeline cover photos are, the better they’ll print on the cards. The cards themselves are also made from trees that were grown in a “sustainable forests.” If that doesn’t make you feel good, the quality of the paper should. The cards are not flimsy and they don’t bend easily. I also enjoy the smoothness of the paper. I definitely wouldn’t mind handing these out.

My only regret is not having enough Timeline cover photos in the beginning to differentiate my cards. That’s on me though.

Site [Moo]

During my time at CES 2012, Kingston was kind enough to give me one of their 16GB Wi-Drive devices. The Wi-Drive is wireless storage for the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. It connects to a computer via USB and functions just like an external hard drive. Once you load up the Wi-Drive with music, videos and documents, you can view them on up to three iOS devices wirelessly at the same time. The Wi-Drive is a good solution to extending the storage space of your iOS device without sacrificing built-in storage.

Setting up the Wi-Drive was very simple. All I had to do was plug the Wi-Drive into my computer, and drag and drop files onto the Wi-Drive. I then downloaded the free Wi-Drive app on my iPod Touch. This app communicated with the Wi-Drive and enabled me to view everything I stored on it. My iPod didn’t have any issues finding the Wi-Drive. The Wi-Drive also separated files into specific folders so I didn’t have to dig through a bunch of pictures in order to find a single video.

One catch to using the Wi-Drive involves potentially giving up the connection to your home wireless network. The Wi-Drive acts as its own access point, so you can’t surf the internet while connected to it. There is a way to bridge the connections so you can use the Wi-Drive and the internet at the same time, but it may involve tweaking your router’s security settings. This may not be complicated to some users, but it’s still something to be aware of.

I’m currently watching a movie on my iPod Touch as it’s being streamed from the Wi-Drive. The quality of the video is excellent and the audio is synced perfectly. I also haven’t noticed any stuttering or artifacting.

The 16GB Kingston Wi-Drive is available now for $49.99 through Amazon. There’s also a 32GB version for $89.98. Kingston is working on making the Wi-Drive compatible with Android devices as well. There’s even the possibility of a Wi-Drive with a SD card slot that will boost storage even more.

Site [Kingston]

At this year’s CES, I’ll be only traveling with the essentials. I learned from my last CES trip that bringing too much stuff can really bring down my mobility and comfort. Advances in technology has also made me more reliant on using single devices to handle multiple tasks.

1) Toshiba Satellite – I’m calling this girl ol’ reliable at this point. It’s past time for an upgrade, but until then, this laptop is the single most important thing I’ll carry around.

2) HTC Sensation 4G (not pictured) – This phone will perform many duties while I’m at CES. It acts as my phone (duh), my back-up live blogging tool, primary point-and shoot camera, secondary camcorder, portable internet (while tethered), navigator, calender and much more. I’m hoping the majority of the CES crowd won’t be using T-Mobile’s network so I get more data for myself.

3) Samsung Camcorder – This camcorder is nothing fancy. It takes decent video, it’s light and holds a good charge.

4) Energizer Energy-To-Go Battery Pack – I think having a back-up power source at CES is essential. I will use this battery to give my phone and camcorder extra juice. It’ll only be used when there is no other alternative for charging.

5) ClarityOne Earbuds – I reviewed these earbuds a while back and found them to be really good. These earbuds will be used on the plane to drown out noise, and possibly double as earplugs.

6) Sandisk 2GB flash drive – It’s small, portable storage. Why not?

7) Pencils, Pen and Memo Pad – Believe it or not, some things are easier to do without using technology.

Third Generation iPod Touch – The iPod Touch will mostly be used for in-flight entertainment. I good long podcast distracts me from the three and a half hour flight I have to endure.

Read [GadgeTell @ CES 2012]

We wanted to take a moment and wish everyone a Happy New Year. And what that really means is we are going to be taking the day off. We also encourage you to do the same. Shut down the computer, put away your tablet, smartphone or other internet connected device and do something offline — hang out with some friends and family. Or maybe just sit around and recover from the celebration that you had last night. Either way, this will be the one and only post from Gadgetell today.

But that being said, we do have some big things coming in 2012. We are coming back with a fresh new design, something we soft launched about a week ago along with a new TechnologyTell brand. In short, you may have noticed the new design already and while you can continue to visit the site directly by surfing to www.gadgetell.com, you can also head to www.technologytell.com where you will have access to the entire family of Tell branded sites including AppleTell, GamerTell and HomeTechTell.

Otherwise, we will have a crew on site in Las Vegas for the kick off of CES 2012 so you can expect to see plenty of hands-on show-floor coverage from Gadgetell.

Image via: Open Clip Art Library

As we near the end of 2011, I thought it would be nice to share some of the Android apps that have retained my attention this year. My phone has seen plenty of apps come and go, but there are a few that I doubt will ever be threatened by my compulsive need to uninstall anything that isn’t being used at least semi-regularly. I intentionally left some no-brainer apps off the list such as Facebook, Twitter and Gmail because everybody uses them. Without further ado, let’s jump into the list.

1) Google Reader – I’m on the internet all the time. There are a ton of websites I visit several times a day, and jumping back and forth between them can get really tedious really fast. That’s why I use Google Reader to give me a brief synopsis of all the new content from the sites I subscribe to. Google Reader is one of the first apps I check every morning and it probably gets more use than any other app on my phone. I also like that I can mark things as read on my phone and they won’t be highlighted once I sit down at my computer.

2) Read It Later – I use Read It Later whenever I don’t feel like staring at my computer’s screen to read a long article. All I do is click on the Read It Later button in my bookmarks bar, and the page is automatically saved to my account and synced to the Read It Later app on my phone. I can even save articles to Read It Later from my phone’s browser. I like this app because it’s very simple. It shows my reading list, what I’m currently reading and it keeps an archive of everything I’ve read. I also love the fact I can change the background color, resize the text and strip out any of the website ads that may accompany the article.

3) Gas Buddy – One of the things I hate most about 2011 are is gas prices. We’re all getting ripped off and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. I use Gas Buddy to inform me of when the greedy people at the top decide gasoline needs to go up 30 cents a gallon in 12 hours. The community support is quite good in my area and Gas Buddy has saved me a lot of money since I downloaded it.

4) Google Docs – Google Docs is a great fit for me. I spend most of my day writing and I never know when something might go wrong. There have been times when I lost a decent chunk of work because I went a whole five minutes without saving. That’s why I love the autosave feature in Google Docs. I never lose any progress. Plus, I can access all my documents and edit them right on my phone. I think Google needs to completely redesign this app for smartphones to make it more user friendly, but it still gets the job done.

5) Any.DO – Any.DO is the productivity app I use for tasks that aren’t quite appropriate to put in my Google Calender. Any.DO reminds me to do non-work related things such as buying Lock Ease for my car. I like the clean Windows Phone 7-like interface most of all.  Any.DO was also just updated with larger widgets, so now it occupies one of my seven homescreens as well.

6) Paper Camera – Paper Camera is just a fun camera app. It has a decent number of filters and it’s really easy to switch between them all. The results are actually pretty good too. It’s not my default camera app, but I use it whenever I just feel like doing something different.

7) SiMi Folder – Android’s default folder scheme is boring. There came a time when I wanted my folders to have a little more spice to them. That’s when I picked up SiMi Folder. I can customize the folder’s icons with images that I feel best represents the content that lurks inside. I also like the slide-out drawer animation whenever I click on a folder.

8 ) Lookout Mobile Security – Lookout is constantly running on my phone. Malware on Android devices rose sharply in 2011, and it’s probably going to get worse. Lookout immediately scans every app I download just to make sure its safe. The app also periodically does a full scan of all my apps. Thankfully, I’ve never been alerted to anything suspicious.

This was the final giveaway we ran as E-Gear. From now on, when you sign up to become a TechnologyTell member, you will be automatically entered into each of our giveaways. Signing up is free and easy and gets you chances to win high-end gadgets, access to our digital edition, and more. Just click here to become a member.

Here’s some more detail on what Beth won.

The Store ‘n’ Go Car Audio USB Drive is an 8 GB flash drive with a low-profile design that makes it perfect for plugging into an in-dash car audio system. It can store up to 2,000 songs for the road, and it works with any other USB devices, and retails at $29.99.

The TUFF-’N'-TINY USB Drive is ultra-portable and ultra-rugged. You can hook the lanyard onto your keychain and use it everyday, feeling secure since it is dust, water and static discharge resistant, and offers password protection. At 32 GB, it has an MSRP of $82.99.

The Store ‘n’ Go USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive is your big storage solution in a still portable package. USB 3.0 ports can transfer files up to 10x faster than USB 2.0 can so you can try your best to fill up a whole 500 GB of memory. This one is an $89.99 value.

Turn an iPad or iPhone into a mobile work station with the Wireless Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard. The keyboard is ultra-thin and folds up into a carrying case for portability. It also comes with an iPhone stand, and the keyboard includes a media console for controlling iTunes music, and would retail for $79.99.

Last and not least is the Mini Wireless Slim Keyboard & Mouse. Get rid of the cord clutter with this wireless combo for Windows computers. This is a great desktop space saver with an ultra-slim design and low profile. Responsive touch and 2.4 GHz wireless communication eliminate delays, the system operates on four AAA batteries and the set is a $44.99 value.

Become a member of TechnologyTell for free and all of this and more could be yours. Our first huge giveaway is coming up soon and we promise you won’t want to miss it. Sign up for free by clicking here. And good luck!

With 2011 almost over, it has been a tradition by Google in cooperation with NORAD to track Santa’s whereabouts. Today, more than ever is it more enticing and exciting to track Santa’s flight as Google offers more ways of doing. This tradition of tracking Santa on Christmas Eve can now be done through Google Earth, Google Maps and on the NORAD Santa site using not only your computer’s desktop browser but on your mobile phone as well. To track’s Santa tomorrow simply point your mobile phone’s browser to www.noradsanta.org and that’s it, find out whether dear old Santa did really have a use for Siri on his iPhone 4S and managed to perform his duties and obligations to the billions of kids worldwide.

Additionally, you can track Santa via the following Google services:

• On Google Maps – visit www.noradsanta.org and see where Santa is heading next and you can even track him down through the “Santa cam videos” situationed worldwide
• Google Earth plug-in – things have changed, you can now even track Santa’s whereabouts in 3D
• On Google Maps for Mobile - no matter where you are and what you’re currently doing, you can now track Santa on your mobile phone
• On Social Media – Follow Santa’s whereabouts through Facebook, Twitter and of course Google+
• On YouTube – That’s right, Santa tracking now has its own YouTube via the NORAD Tracks Santa YouTube channel

Via [Official Google Blog] ]]> http://www.technologytell.com/gadgets/87196/google-and-norad-santa-tracking-2011/feed/ 0 http://www.technologytell.com/gadgets/81274/e-gear-and-verbatim-are-giving-away-a-350-prize-pack-find-out-how-you-can-e/ http://www.technologytell.com/gadgets/81274/e-gear-and-verbatim-are-giving-away-a-350-prize-pack-find-out-how-you-can-e/#comments Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:34:31 +0000 Robert Nelson http://www.technologytell.com/gadgets/81274/e-gear-and-verbatim-are-giving-away-a-350-prize-pack-find-out-how-you-can-e/ more »]]>

We imagine that most readers would be happy to win some stuff. More specifically, win a prize pack worth more than $350. That being said, E-Gear and Verbatim have partnered up and are having the Mobile Lifestyle Giveaway. And nicely done, not only is entering rather simple, but it also gives you the latest digital copy of E-Gear Magazine. As to what is included in the prize pack — a Store ‘n’ Go Car Audio USB Drive, TUFF-’N'-TINY USB Drive, Store ‘n’ Go USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive, Wireless Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard, and the Mini Wireless Slim Keyboard & Mouse. With that, click the ‘via’ link below to read more about the goodies that you could win along with the fine print and perhaps most important — the entry form. Good luck.

Via [E-Gear]

The weekend is once again upon us and what better thing to do than sit back and do nothing for a minute or so. Well, in reality we are planning to sit back and do nothing for much longer than a minute, however just to get that relaxing started — here is the latest animated video from Zepto Labs. And for those who do not recognize that name, they are the ones behind the popular Cut The Rope games. That being said, this video comes titled “Om Nom Stories” and is 1 minute and 19 seconds in length. Enjoy, the video and your weekend.

Via [YouTube]