In this episode Stephen and Charlie talk about how much work is now done from a distance, and how technology is making it easy with video conferencing, audio conferencing and chat rooms. The Gurus of Cool also talk about the latest iPod rumors and the controversial Blackberry case, where the communications device is facing its possible demise because of a patent violation.

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Features by the Gurus of Cool

The Week in Review
by Charlie White
All week, everybody was wondering if the Blackberry by Research in Motion (otherwise known as a RIM) was going to be shut down, and sales stopped by a court in Virginia. Plus, rumors were running rampant that Verizon may release a brand-new smartphone (the Q, pictured at left) next week, and a company called Chi Mei Optoelectronics in Taiwan (that's the third-largest flat panel maker in the world, by the way) developed an HD display that's unlike any we've ever seen. Here's Charlie White's take on all that and more.
Read More

ExtremeMac Iconz
by Stephen Schleicher
Ever since I got my new ipod I’ve been looking for a way to protect it and keep the screen from getting all scratched up. One listener even wrote in and suggested using scotch tape to cover the screen…. Probably not the direction I would take with my $400 unit. However, when I saw the XtremeMac Iconz for iPod series, I knew that was what I was going to buy.
Read More

Pinnacle Studio Plus 10.5: Feature-Laden, Easy to Use
by Charlie White
Pinnacle Studio is the best-selling nonlinear editing package in the world. There are good reasons why the software made it to this level of popularity, two of them being its ease of use and extensive feature set. This product has been around for a long time, tracing its legacy back to the days of Fast Multimedia, the German company that helped pioneer desktop video editing for consumers. For a low price of $60, you get a lot of editing for your money with Pinnacle Studio Plus 10.5.
Read More

Show Note Links
Quad HD Display
XtremeMac Iconz
Petabyte Drives in Five Years?
WebEx
Microsoft Live Meeting
Citrix GoToMeeting
Convoq ASAP
Eluminate Live Team Edition

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Stephen Schleicher
Charlie White
Adobe Systems
Verbatim
Merrell Shoes
DV Creators
Digital Media Net
Consumer Electronics Net

Rapid-Fire Roundup® of Cool Products

Griffin TuneFlex for iPod nano
Griffin’s $40 TuneFlex is an iPod dock and recharger the use in your car, plugging it into your cigarette lighter. It mounts your iPod nano on a flexible steel arm, bringing that music player up in your face where it's easy to use while you're driving. It's just supplying power, though, you'll still need a device, such as Griffin’s iTrip FM transmitter, to get that music from the iPod to the car radio.

Remote-Controlled Robotic Shark
At a full two feet long, this robotic shark looks like the real thing from a distance. Can go to depth of 9 feet and up to 40 feet away from the remote which works even under water. Battery only last for 15 minutes but that is more than enough time to scare the heck out of your fellow swimmers.

DVICO TVix
Here’s a versatile device that can play back 1080i video either from a set-top box, a personal video recorder or from its own internal hard drive. This 7 inch tall cylinder-shaped network player can store disk images of DVDs and play them back as if you have the DVD installed. You can also play back the files from any PC on your network. You can plug in anything into its USB 2.0 ports including external drives. This monster plays back 1080i HD, but no idea how it's going to handle digital rights management. Set to ship in Japan in March for $341.

ASUS Leather Clad Laptop
25 patents went into creating a laptop that is covered in fine dead animal. A novel idea that will give a whole new look and feel instead of cold dead plastic. It’s not any faster than any other Duo core processor but come on it’s a leather laptop.

HP Misto Coffeetable PC
Here's a PC that's just a prototype so far, but HP celebrated its 40th anniversary by revealing Misto, a coffe-table-shaped PC which has a giant screen that looks like it's about 6 feet wide. The idea is that a group of people would gather around and play board games, look at maps or arrange pictures for viewing. Since it's a concept PC, HP didn't reveal its price or availability.

Glowing Tiki Lamp
This three foot tall carved tiki lamp has built in LED lights that cycle through a variety of colors. Day or night, the tiki lights up to match the mood of your tiki lounge… OBEY THE TIKI

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This week's featured music:
"Irony"
by Farewell June

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