The NeatReceipts Scanalizer Professional is a great tool for people who like to keep organized. It’s a portable, sheet-fed, USB-Powered scanner that scans, digitizes your receipts or business cards, and analyzes them to record key information that it can export to applications such as Quicken, Microsoft Money or Excel. The NeatReceipts Scanalizer Professional retails for $229. (Source: Laptop Magazine, February 2006)

Hop-On has released a GPS tracking phone for children that kids can wear like a
wristwatch. Called the Chitter
Chatter phone, the company claims it is the smallest GSM / Enhanced Locator
Phone in the world. Children can phone home by pressing the "Track Me" star
button which quickly identifies their location within 300+ feet.  Within a
minute parents receive an SMS message on their own phone with the details of
their child’s location within a 300+ foot range.  The device is tri-band, and it
will store up to 7 speed dial numbers and 7 phone book entries. The phone also
features a speaker function. Battery life on the Chitter Chatter is mediocre –
it’ll last up to 2 hours in talk time, and 100 in standby. Accessories such as
belt clips and neck straps are available to compliment the Chitter Chatter
phone. (Source: Chip Chicklets)

PopCap just announced the release of Mac OS X versions of many of their popular games, such as Bejeweled Deluxe, Zuma and Bookworm. Finally!

You can play all the games online before you purchase the full version CDs. Trust me, they are so addictive that you’ll want to play them offline too.

It has been an exciting month for us! Just last week we announced the opening of Chip Chick Hispano. Today we are happy to announce the debut of Chip Chicklets, a blog dedicated to reporting about the latest Technology & Gadgets for Kids.

There is a countless number of companies out there that make skins for your cell phone or ipod. However, when it comes to personalizing your laptop with a skin, there really isn’t a large selection. A while back we posted about the Skyn Mobile Style Laptop Covers and also the Schtickers for your Laptop. At CES we discovered Cellfan, another company offering skins for your laptop. Cellfan’s fun designs were initially what caught our eyes. They definitely have the most diverse selection of laptop skins we have encountered so far. There are several different categories for their skins including sports teams, music artists such as the Rolling Stones and Elvis, as well as many other categories. The skins retail for $24.95 and will fit many models from Acer, Lenovo, Dell, Apple, Sony, HP & Toshiba. Aside from skins for your laptop, Cellfan also offers vinyl skins for your ipod, pda, cell phone or PSP.

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Push the button on this USB powered ashtray and it will absorb the smoke left hanging around from your cigarette. The ashtray has four slots so that it can hold up to four cigarettes at a time. It gets better – the ashtray also comes in a car or soccer ball shaped design. AudioCubes is selling the USB ashtray for $49.95.

Simpletech’s Napster MusicVault is just a run-of-the-mill USB 2.0 external hard drive, except for the fact that it has the Napster logo emblazoned on its side. Along with the logo, the MusicVault also comes with two free months of Napster and 5 free songs – a $34 value.  So why is this thing called a "MusicVault"? The sales pitch is that you can store your whole music collection on it. But other then the Napster branding and $34 gift, there is nothing special about this hard drive, so really the name is just a gimmick to sway you to choose their hard drive over the onslaught of other external hard drives out there.
Atleast the pricing is affordable; it comes in 3 different capacities – 160GB for $130, 250GB for $189, and 400GB for $344. (Source: PC Magazine, February 7, 2006)

Two years ago we could count the amount of fashionable laptop bags available for sale on our fingers. Nowadays they’re everywhere, so much so that it’s hard to keep up. Frances & Grace is a new company to add to the list. They have some very feminine and classy laptop bags. Chances are you wouldn’t think these were laptop bags if you saw someone carrying one. All of their bags come with a laptop sleeve, which is ideally something that all other laptop companies should emulate. Our favorite bag in their collection is the pink Marlo Bag with black ribbon trim and black leather handles. Because really, how much girlier can you get? Unfortunately, their bags are pretty pricey, for example the Marlo bag is selling for $369. (Thanks, tferenchik)

There are only about a zillion ipod and cell phone cases out there, yet when it comes to dressing our digital cameras there seems to be a very slim selection. That is why I got excited when I saw an ad for Conico’s digital camera cases. They have a large variety of different style cases that are made special to fit popular models. For example, their Stunner DB7-T7-S is a silicon case that fits the Sony DSC-T7. Its available in orange, lime, white, aqua green, or grey and it retails for £14.95 ($26 USD). Their Re-ignite series also has some funky designs, including the B & M-i750-R that is made of leather and has a british flag motif running around it. It’s made to fit the Canon IXUS 750 and retails for £29.95 ($52 USD). There are a lot of other funky cases on their site, so check’em out!

Sick of the man in your life paying more attention to ESPN then to you? The TV-B-Gone TV Jammer is the key to your sweet revenge. The little bugger will magically turn the television off anywhere from 20 to 50 feet away. Go ahead, watch them cry and curse as they scramble to figure out what’s going on. This torture device retails for £19.95 (about $36 USD) at Boysstuff.

Jamo’s DMR 60 convergence system will woo you with its glossy and super slim looks. But aside from its good looks, it also packs some extraordinary features such as a USB socket and 4 in 1 card reader for playing music and video off of USB keys or memory cards. It even supports DivX and Xvid video files and has a progressive DVD player stashed inside. As for sound quality – each one of the five tiny satellites that come with the DMR 60 have 60w of power. The speakers are even magnetically shielded so that they won’t buzz if placed near your PC or cordless phone. Last but not least, an AM/FM tuner with 40 presets is built-in.
The DMR 60 retails for 500.00 GBP (about $889 USD), which is a good value for a system that looks and sounds like a million bucks. (Source: T3 Magazine, January 2006)

This surge protector concept from Yankodesign seems a lot more practical then the unwieldy Power Squid. The Swivel Socket is a surge protector with sockets that rotate 180 degrees to fit all the bulky adapters and cables running wild under your desk. The dials on the front  allow you to select icons to represent what you’re plugging in, so that you can avoid jiggling random cords and inadvertently unplugging the wrong device. Now all we need to do is wait for a smart company to pick this concept up.

The MFM Pro isn’t the only cool piece of tech that Skullcandy is pumping out. They’ve developed the Jacked Link, a handsfree system created for use both with a cell phone and any portable music player. The Jacked Link has two plugs, one for the handsfree port on your cell phone, as well as a standard 3.5mm music plug for a music player. A wind-proof mic is located on the back of the Jacked Pod for clear conversations. Plug your phone and music player in to the Jacked Link and you’ll be able send and receive phone calls using the same headphones you are listening to music with.

The MFM (Mark Frank Montoya) headphone pro from Skullcandy isn’t just a pair of  headphones – it also has a detachable 512mb mp3 player situated inside of it. Pull the player slide on the battery pack and it transforms into a mini MP3 player for use with any other headphones. The mp3 player itself has an LCD with a backlight display, and it can be connected to your computer via a direct USB connection. You can also run the included patch cable to use the headphones with any other music player. The MFM Headphone Pro retails for $229.95

BuddhaPad is the World’s only mouse-pad created specifically to make good things happen. The pad was peacefully-designed with the tranquil image of Hotei, the happy, or laughing Buddha. BuddhaPad offers contentment, good fortune and superior mouse-tracking for both standard and optical mice. It’s available to purchase online for $10.95. 10% of its sales are donated to the Make a Wish Foundation, so that you are spreading good fortune from the moment you purchase it.
Are you in need of some good Karma for yourself and your computer area? E-mail us with a few words to complete the following sentence and the most creative answer gets a free BuddhaPad.

Using the BuddhaPad will make me ____________________.

Another new technology spotted at C.E.S. last week is HP’s "Design Gallery" which HP is currently building into their new digital cameras. This means you can crop, add a border, or posterize your image right in the camera. It also has what it calls a "slimming" feature, which is an awesome feature to have since the camera always adds 10 pounds. HP Design Gallery seems like it would be comparable to having a mini-Photoshop right inside your camera, very cool indeed! (Thanks, Jennifer DeLeo)

A while ago we posted about Skullcandy’s Audio LINK Pack, a knapsack that allows you to plays music & make calls. When we came across Skullcandy’s booth at CES we were delighted to discover that they will soon be offering a pink version of the Audio LINK pack. They also had a bunch of other pink-schemed accessories on display, including the Bully MP3 watch, a pink waterproof watch with 1GB capacity and built-in microphone for voice recording. They also had a selection of pink headphones, our favorite being the Ti headphones; a DJ style headset fashioned with 41mm titanium drivers for fast responce and monster bass. The headphones feature soft leather touch ear pads, 90 degree swivel speakers and an in-line volume control.

MobiBLU, the company that brought you one of the world’s tiniest Mp3 players, has an upcoming collection of fashionable cases that will give your PSP a more mature look. All of the cases are hand-made out of synthetic leather, each have a detachable belt clip and room for a memory card. It’s safe to say that if you brought your PSP to work dressed in the plaid one (bottom left), no one will guess what is hiding inside.

Over the years I’ve accumulated miscellaneous travel kits for charging my devices on the road, and in the end  I always end up lugging around a heavy bag just for power kits and cables. Yes, there are a few companies that offer all in one devices that will charge all of your devices, but you usually have to spend upwards of $10 for each tip for every unique device that you own. Blackstone International has launched the MFuel line which includes the World Pak products, the ultimate all-in-one power solution for air, car, and wall. These kits are small and travel friendly, and they include ALL the tips and cables in the kit. Yep, that means never having to worry about buying another tip or adapter again. Retractable USB and Ethernet cables are also included in the kit for data transfer between devices. The Pak also features dual power outputs and up to 120 watts of continuous output power – that means that you’ll be able to simultaneously charge one high power device, such as your laptop, along with your PDA at the same time. The World Pak Kits are expected to retail for about $249.95 which is a pretty reasonable price considering all the goodies you are getting – not to mention the time and frustration that you will be eliminating.

Thanks to the hard work of our Spanish Editor Pedro Calbarro we have now launched Chip Chick in Spanish.
Muchas Gracias!

The StashCard allows you to hide away items in your PC slot. You can hide money, memory cards, band aids – or whatever floats your boat. We’re giving two away, so all you have to do is email us a quick line about what you would hide in your StashCard if you had one. Winners will be selected according to the two most creative answers we receive by January 15th.