Hasta La Gadget!

How well do your shoes fit? Are you doing more harm than good by training for that marathon? Arizona-based eSoles wants to help you answer that question with custom-made, electronic insoles that will soon be able to communicate with 3G smartphones.

The company started in 2005 and initially catered primarily to athletes, particularly those in biking, running, or golfing. Glen Hinshaw, eSoles CEO, was himself a cyclist and found that his teammates were all facing problems finding a properly fitting shoe. ESoles had success making high-end insoles for athletes on the U.S. Olympic team in 2007, but Hinshaw thought the technology could also translate to the average consumer.

Enter the eSoles kiosk: Place you foot on an electronic panel, and the system will wirelessly transmit data about your foot and suggest the proper insole. ESoles is currently in the process of rolling out these kiosks in Sam’s Club stores across the country, and they are also available in specialty bike and golf stores and PGA Tour stores.

The insoles come in two varieties–the eFit and the EPro. You can be fitted for an eFit insole in as little as 5 minutes for $69.99. For a more customized fit, wait a week and upgrade to the eFit for $249. All the data about your feet are stored in an online profile, so you can re-order or upgrade at any time.

(Credit: ColorWare)

Interested in giving your PS3 Slim a fresh coat of paint? How about a unit in fruity hues? ColorWare is offering the sleek Sony console in 46 solid, metallic, and pearl tones, as well as different color combinations–right down to the DualShock 3 controller. Users can send in …

The battle to wrap your fifth generation iPod Nano is bright colors is heating up, and now iLuv has launched its attack! It was only two days ago that I told you about Griffin and ezGear debuting some eye-catching Nano cases. Now iLuv has stepped in with three electrifying lines of its own. There’s going to be blood in the water.

Style one (above, my fav) offers four city scenes on clear plastic cases. These go for $24.99. Style two includes three crazy tattoo-inspired silicone cases for $19.99 each. Style three includes three designs on clear plastic that make your Nano look like a video camera, selling for $24.99 each. This one could be the sleeper hit of the season.

No doubt Nano Case War 2009 is just getting started. Check back often for new developments and casualties.

This article was written on June 21, 2007 by CyberNet.

Any time I’ve gone out to purchase a laptop, I’ve consider my options carefully and looked around to find out what promotions were going on. I don’t know about you, but I always want the best bang for my buck. If you’re going to be purchasing a Dell computer, below you’ll find some “insider tips” that might help you save some money.  They come from the Consumerists article titled “22 Confessions of a Former Dell Sales Manager.” A former Dell kiosk manager was kind enough to share these tips with them, and I thought a few were worth passing on to you.

He wrote to them saying:

I am a former Spherion rep that later became a Dell Branded Rep (manager) of a Dell kiosk in the Philadelphia, PA region. To work at one is to work at all, and I worked at four different kiosks in the region. I worked from July 2005 until October 2006, but keep regular contact with some of the guys I trained and brought up. Other than the usual complaints, I have no problem with the company.

And then he offered tips and broke them down into things most people probably know, and things they may not know. You can read all 22 tips over at the Consumerist, but I’ll point-out a few here:

1. Small business is better than home and office – I can vouch for this one! When I configured my laptop under the home/home office category versus the business, there was a significant difference. For my particular configuration, it was about a $300 difference with the promotion that I used.
2. Tech Support over the phone – This is one that I was not aware of. If you purchase a computer through home/home office, the tech support is outsourced. Meaning, if you purchase from the business category, you’ll be able to easily understand what’s being said when you have a question that needs to be answered.
3. Promotion styles/cycles – Good info to know! Thursdays are the first days of new promotions. Holiday weekends are also good times to check for special sales. They also vary in the type of promotion such as one week an offer for a percentage off, and another week an offer for cash off.
4. Price Match – Say you purchase your computer one day, and the next day the price goes down, all you have to do is call and you will receive a price match.
5. Fiscal Calendar – When is the best time to buy? Well, if you can hold off until the end of January or February when their fiscal year ends, you’ll probably find yourself a great deal. Another important thing to note is that shipping will be free or deeply-discounted if you purchase on the last day of a quarter.

Those were five that I found really interesting but really, if you plan on purchasing a Dell computer, they all could be helpful. Especially if you are going to purchase from one of those Kiosks in the mall, the ex-employee offers special tips just for that. Example: Sales reps have a $$ goal for each transaction, or in other words, they’re going to push you to upgrade and purchase accessories. If you’re going to purchase there, learn to say no before you go.

If you work or have worked at a Dell kiosk, feel free to chime in with additional tips! Beginner computer buyers, this list should come in handy for you. The one thing to always keep in mind is never pay full price for a Dell computer because there is always some kind of promotion going on that will save you money.

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Yes, yes we know these are two very different products. The Zune is a touchscreen spouting, 32GB touting, 720p outputting multimedia powerhouse. The new Nano is a diminutive sliver of plastic and aluminum with a VGA camera slapped onto it. But both gadgets were announced around the same time and both represent significant divergences for their respective companies. That’s why Mark McClusky and I sat down and sparred about the merits of each device. Don’t worry we’re not really pitting them head to head, just engaging in a friendly exchange of ideas. And besides, arguments are fun!