Hasta La Gadget!

Flash drives these days, no matter how fast, are a dime a dozen. A jump drive that does double duty as a wireless streaming dongle? Not so common. SanDisk’s new Connect lineup can pull off the streaming trick whether it’s the flash drives with 16 or 32GB sizes for $50 and $60, respectively, or the Media Drives that pack 32 or 64GB of storage for either $80 or $100. Both sets of devices can stream movies, music or other data to PCs, Macs, iOS and Android devices or even Kindle Fires. All you need to do is grab the SanDisk Connect app for your device, and transferring files is a drag-and-drop affair.

Where the Flash and Media Drives differ, however, is that the latter can serve up to eight devices at a time with regular data, or send out five simultaneous streams of 720p video. Plus, it’s got an SDHC/SDXC slot for further storage expansion, should 64 gigs be insufficient. Sound good? Folks in the US can pre-order either drive today from Amazon, and if you aren’t a Bezos fan, Newegg and Micro Center are taking Flash Drive preorders, too. Save that, you can always go pick one up from Best Buy in August.

Filed under: Storage, Mobile

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At long last, after waiting for quite some time, the iTwin Connect is now available, offering users protected as well as unrestricted access to the Internet, not to mention to home and corporate networks (virtual private network or VPN), too. Lux Anantharaman, CEO of iTwin, weighs in on the situation, saying, “With iTwin Connect users no longer have to worry about their online privacy when travelling, or worry about which online services are allowed in the places they travel to. Now frequent travelers, businesspeople and exchange students can browse privately and without restrictions from anywhere in the world.” Needless to say, what is the whole point of talking about the iTwin Connect when we do not espouse its strengths?

Some of the key benefits of the iTwin Connect will include the ‘Teleport Me’ function, allowing you to browse privately and securely from untrusted networks and access blocked or geo-restricted sites and services regardless of where you are in the world. All traffic will be directed via a private VPN tunnel to the home/office PC, where the public Internet may then be accessed via the home/office PC’s Internet connection. Not only that, ‘Teleport Me’ also delivers private access to the Internet courtesy of iTwin’s dedicated network servers in the United States, Europe or Asia/Pacific, should that be the case.

You will also be able to take advantage of personal, zero-configuration VPN for full bi-directional network access, while Military Grade Security lets you sleep in peace, thanks to hardware-grade security and two-factor authentication. Heck, why not check things out remotely with the ability for you to launch Windows Remote Desktop using a single click, gaining access to applications (and their data) on the home/office PC? Even better is, you will not be bogged down by those pesky monthly fees, as a one time cost will let you enjoy unlimited usage.

If you are interested, you can pick up the iTwin Connect now for $129 a pop.

Press Release
[ iTwin Connect now available copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Passing files over the internet using iTwin’s 256-bit AES encryption’s all well and good, but wouldn’t it be nice if you could use that connection for other things? Luckily for you, that’s just what the iTwin Connect was designed to do. In addition to the usual file-sharing jiggery-pokery, the new hardware can let you surf via your domestic internet connection, control devices on your home network and play with your desktop from afar. Even better, the company is throwing in US, Asia and Europe-based VPN servers of its own, so you can still catch that episode of Duck Dynasty on Hulu if your primary machine’s turned off. Despite the raft of new features on offer, the company isn’t charging a regular subscription, so all of that will set you back a rather meager $130.

Continue reading iTwin Connect turns a humble USB stick into your own VPN (video)

Filed under: Misc, Internet

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Styluses aren’t just for Samsung devices, there are plenty available for iPads and iPhones. While most of them are pretty crappy, the most interesting are the ones that can connect to your iPad via Bluetooth and convey pressure sensitive information.

Ten One Design’s Pogo Connect will start shipping this October. You’ll get months of battery life from a single AAA battery, and thanks to Bluetooth 4.0, there’s no need to turn it off. It uses solid state pressure sensing, offering hundreds of levels of sensitivity with no moving parts. Unfortunately, the stylus still has to have a relatively fat 7mm tip in order to work with the iPad’s capacitive screen.

If you don’t have the new iPad, there will be an app available that will allow you to make the Pogo Connect work with the iPad 1 and 2 as well – but this requires access to an iPhone 4S (or the upcoming new iPhone 5) to act as a Bluetooth 4.0 bridge. The Connect relies on third-party app makers to build support for it, as Apple doesn’t offer any system-level protocol for dealing with pressure sensitivity over Bluetooth. However, there are already a number of apps, including Paper, Procreate and Sketchbook Pro, which will be compatible with it.

The stylus retails for $79.95(USD), and if you’re one of the first 2,000 pre-orders, then you’ll get custom laser engraving on the pen as well.

[via TechCrunch]