By Andrew Liszewski

Wow, I don’t even know where to begin with this thing. While it looks like an electric pepper mill, the Photo Album Story Teller is actually an audio recording device that lets you capture personal messages or descriptions for photos in an album. Now it’s not a terrible idea, particularly if you’d like to preserve memories from an elderly loved one before they pass on, I just think it could be far better executed.

First of all, instead of it using any kind of clever image recognition, you’ll have to fill your photo album with not-so-aesthetically-pleasing color coded stickers so the device knows what sound file to play. It also only comes with 500 of those stickers, limiting how many memories you can record. As an alternative, even to image recognition, I think a small PC application to generate and print QR codes would be far more flexible. At $99.95 the Story Teller is also kind of pricey, but at least the memories will last *forever. (*Forever being limited by your supply of AAA batteries.)

[ Photo Album Story Teller ] VIA [ GeekAlerts ]

By Andrew Liszewski

If TomTom’s Star Wars voice offerings aren’t doing it for you, particularly their not so spot-on impersonation of Han Solo, maybe you’ll prefer their new Looney Tunes options. Of course you’ll have to settle for today’s Looney Tunes voices given Mel Blanc is no longer around to record custom directions, with Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam available at launch followed by Daffy Duck and Sylvester in October and a couple with Pepé le Pew (including one for the ladies) in November. And like with the Star Wars voices the new Looney Tunes ones are $12.95 each

[ TomTom - Looney Tunes voices now available for TomTom devices ] VIA [ SlashGear ]

By Chris Scott Barr

Here in the US we’ve been enjoying the streaming services of Netflix for quite some time. Our friends up in Canada, however, have not. In fact, they haven’t brought the service to any other part of the world until today. Yes, all of that changed when they announced the availability of Netflix streaming in Canada for $7.99 a month.

In addition to streaming to your PC and Mac, the company announced that you will be able to use your Wii, PS3, iPhone (and other iOS devices) and Blu-ray players from Samsung and Toshiba. Notably absent is the Xbox 360, which should be available later in the fall. Since Canada is a multilingual country, it should be noted that the service will only be available in English at launch. However, they did say that French will be added as an option at a later time.

Oh, and if you’re wanting DVDs, you can keep waiting. As of now they are only offering streaming services.

[ Netflix ] VIA[ CrunchGear ]

By Andrew Liszewski

We know the feeling, you’ve just dropped a cool grand on a brand new MacBook, but the only options at the Apple Store for protecting your investment are uninspired neoprene and microfiber sleeves. So if you can hold off for a few days, or more likely a few weeks, you can contact Rainer Spehl who’ll make you one of these truly impressive wooden sleeves complete with a leather lined interior. If you think it looks expensive then your instincts are spot-on since the largest version, which accommodates a 17-inch MacBook, will set you back almost $350 (€260) plus an extra ~$60 for shipping if you live outside of Europe.

[ Rainer Spehl's Leather Lined Wooden Laptop Case ] VIA [ Freshome ]

By Andrew Liszewski

There’s no mention of it on their website just yet, but Pocket-lint spotted this updated version of Manfrotto’s miniature, foldable pocket ‘tripod’ at their Photokina 2010 booth. There are actually two versions to choose from now, the MP3 which is designed for use with smaller P&S cameras, and the MP1, pictured here, designed for use with heftier DSLRs. Like the previous version it’s designed to attach to the underside of the camera VIA the tripod mount and fold-up when not in use allowing you to shoot handheld as well without it getting in the way. No words on pricing or availability just yet, but I’m going to assume it will be hitting the market in time for the Christmas season.

[ Pocket-lint - Manfrotto Pocket tripod hands on ]

By David Ponce

We reviewed an HP Touchsmart PC a while ago, and while that particular model was more recent with a few more features than the 310 in the deal today, it was also more than double the price. For $649 after a $200 rebate and an additional $25 stackable coupon, you’re looking at a 20-inch 1080p all-in-one PC, multi-touch screen, piano-black finish with chrome accents, 6-in-1 card reader, built-in adjustable tilt webcam & mic, swivel base, wireless keyboard & mouse, removable feet for wall mounting, Windows 7, optional TV tuner and more. This deal even comes with a 640GB hard drive upgrade thrown in for free.

[ HP Touchsmart 310 for $649 ] VIA [ LogicBuy ]

By Andrew Liszewski

It’s hard to imagine someone making something as simple as a USB flash drive more useful, besides of course larger capacities, but Verbatim’s Clip-its are a clever mashup of a flash drive and a paperclip that end up being greater than the sum of their parts. Designed by Arman Emami the Clip-its were awarded a much deserved Red Dot ‘Best of the Best’ 2010 design award and I’m sure they’ll be quite popular at CES next year clipped to brochures, press releases and other ancient forms of communication. No word on pricing just yet, nor mention of them on the North American Verbatim site, but they’ll be available in 2GB or 4GB capacities, and hopefully not just in Europe.

[ PR - Store ‘n’ Go “Clip-it USB Drive” – Verbatim´s Red dot Award-winning USB Drive ] VIA [ The Red Ferret Journal ]

By Andrew Liszewski

It’s kind of like swatting a mosquito with a brick, but if you’re sick and tired of reception issues with AT&T you might want to look into their new TerreStar Genus satellite smartphone. On the plus side you’ll have coverage literally anywhere in the United States with a direct view of the sky, including Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and surrounding waters, but that big advantage is kind of overshadowed by a long list of cons. For starters you’ll have to give up your iPhone or other smartphone of choice for a ‘plump’ $799 Windows Mobile 6.5 device, and if that price tag wasn’t enough of a sticker shock, the service plans will be.

The TerreStar Genus doesn’t require a contract surprisingly, but according to SkunkPost.com it does require a regular AT&T voice and data plan, plus an extra $25/month to have access to the satellite service. And then whenever you do make a satellite call you’ll be charged an additional 65cents/minute. But the satellite service offers data too so you don’t necessarily have to ever make a call, just don’t think you’re cheating the system since data costs a whopping $5 per megabyte! I mean the phone might save your life one day if you’re ever lost in the wilderness, but who wants to come home to that cellphone bill?

[ PR - TerreStar Genus™ Dual-Mode Cellular/Satellite Smartphone Now Available from AT&T ] VIA [ SkunkPost.com ]

By Andrew Liszewski

While adequate for entering URLs, passwords and the occasional search criteria, at a recent press event I discovered the iPad’s on-screen keyboard is quite terrible for any kind of serious note taking. Thankfully I had Apple’s own wireless keyboard to fall back on, which worked like a charm, but admittedly it’s maybe not as small as it could be. I have no trouble squeezing it and the iPad into slots previously occupied by my laptop, but I can understand that others might prefer a more compact solution.

And that’s basically what the Jorno wireless keyboard offers. Not only are the keys about 15% smaller than standard keys, still allowing for touch typing, but the whole thing folds down to a pocket-friendly pseudo-cube. To be perfectly honest it’s not really that much different than the folding keyboards offered years ago for devices like the iPaq and Palms, except for Bluetooth connectivity which lets you ditch the included docking cradle for that last extra ounce of portability. It’s not available yet though, and the “most likely in early 2011″ statement on their website doesn’t fill me with much confidence, but you can pre-order one now for just $79, $20 cheaper than the regular price of $99 which comes into effect on December 25. Wow, bah-humbug!

[ Jorno Folding Bluetooth Keyboard ]