Ways To Prevent Identity Theft

You’ve probably seen and heard those commercials on TV and the radio, where LifeLock CEO Todd Davis comes out and gives his Social Security number. I always thought that was a gutsy, even arrogant thing to do, and someday someone would crack it. Sure enough someone did - that’s what happens when you put your personal information out there as a challenge.

Thankfully identity theft has not hit my family, but I’ve seen it happen to a couple of friends. The results are stressful and very draining to deal with. I know I’m just as vulnerable as anyone else, but as a good start, I find that good situational awareness of what you do with your information is the first step in prevention.

My husband teases me for shredding everything, but it’s what I do. As a “minimum,” anything that has my name and address on it goes in the shredder, especially those pesky credit card offers. I know that alone won’t do much, but it at least stops the Dumpster divers.

There are other steps you can take electronically to help your identity theft prevention move along smoothly. Many services are available to offer you identity theft prevention, but LifeLock is at the top of my mind since I keep seeing/hearing its commercials. LifeLock charges $110 per year, but the foundation of almost everything it does you can do yourself - minus a few features and the guarantee.

The features of LifeLock include contacting the credit bureaus - “setting the locks,” junk mail restriction, pre-approved credit offers blocked, wallet loss support and monitoring services. The monitoring scours known criminal websites (eRecon) for the illegal trading/selling of your personal information. Additionally, the TrueAddress function notifies you when any new address information is associated with your name in nationwide address databases. The biggest attraction to LifeLock is the guarantee. It will pay up to $1 million if a failure in the service happens (per member, per lifetime).


If you want to try to set up your own protection, the main thing you’ll want to do is set up a fraud alert with the major credit bureaus. A fraud alert is something that is attached to your credit report, and when you (or someone else) try to open an account (i.e. credit card, cell phone, etc.), the lender will contact you by phone to verify that you are who you say you are. This should slow down anyone trying to open credit with your name.

Here are the credit bureaus you can contact to setup fraud alerts:

TransUnion: www.transunion.com/800-680-7289

Equifax: www.equifax.com/800-525-6285

Experian : www.experian.com/888-397-3742

Once you activate the alert, you should receive a confirmation in the mail within two weeks after your call. If you don’t hear back from them, place the alert again. Your name will then be removed from all pre-approved credit and insurance offers for two years, and the fraud alert will remain in place for 90 days.

You’ll need to re-activate the alert or, if you’re a victim, you can apply for a victim statement that will keep it in-place for seven years.

A stronger approach would be a credit freeze, but in Hawaii you can only do this if you’re a victim of ID theft and have a police, investigative report or complaint filed with a law-enforcement agency (Hawaii Law HB 1871, Credit Freeze).

As a follow-up, you should request copies of your credit report from all the bureaus at least once a year just to make sure there’s nothing out of the ordinary. After you’ve done all this and decide you want to remove the fraud alert for some reason, you’ll need to request it in writing, or you can simply wait for the 90 days to expire.

Taking all of this into consideration, you know it’s important to protect your identity, but the method is your decision. As long as you don’t mind doing the legwork, it’s not difficult to do on your own. With a service such as LifeLock (www.lifelock.com), you’ll have to pay out of pocket, but will have everything done for you. You can kind of compare it to mowing your lawn - do you want to do it yourself or have a yard service do it?

Video game overload: Highlights of E-3 2008

It’s that time of year again - video game overload with the E3 Media and Business Summit (formerly known as Electronic Entertainment Expo, an annual video game industry trade show).

I’m sad that I physically missed it last week and the opportunity to see and play the new upcoming games, but I still followed the show closely to see the latest releases. Everything that was there would not even come close to fitting on this page, but I’ll just touch on the three main E3 players: Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony.

Microsoft:
Microsoft cut the price of the 20GB Xbox 360 to $299 (from $349) and will begin selling a 60GB version for the original $349 price tag.

The whole look of the Xbox 360’s display is being reinvented. The original Xbox LIVE foundation that we’ve come to know will remain the same, but Microsoft wants to make the existing features easier to use and improve the social experience of LIVE. The navigation will be different and closely resemble Windows Media Center.

Recently, from Netflix, we experienced the launch of the Roku box that allows us to watch movies on TV. Now Netflix content will be viewable via Xbox LIVE (Xbox LIVE Gold members). As long as you have the movies/TV shows saved in your Netflix Instant Queue, you’ll be able to access more than 10,000 titles for instant viewing via your Xbox 360 without the Roku box! Additionally, content from NBC Universal, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, SCI FI Channel, USA Network and MGM will be available for purchase in standard or High Definition (HD).

Last but not least, my favorite part from the Microsoft announcement is the new games! Here are a few of the hottest titles:

Final Fantasy XIII is the eagerly anticipated title from Square Enix that takes full advantage of the superior power and technology of the Xbox 360. Intuitive controls and seamless transitions between real-game gameplay and in-game cinematics make this latest addition to the Final Fantasy series worthy of the phrase “next generation.”

Gears of War 2 - with an allnew, five-player cooperative mode, called Horde, you can battle a seemingly endless onslaught of Locust Horde forces.

Halo Wars expands the Halo universe as the story is revealed through the Five Long Years trailer, showcasing the brutal struggle for control of Harvest early-on in the Human-Covenant wars. Halo Wars will put you in command of the entire battlefield, with the ability to lead both UNSC and Covenant forces.

South Park - one of my favorite TV shows is now coming exclusively to the Xbox LIVE Arcade in 2009.

Visit www.xbox.com for more Microsoft E3 information.


Nintendo:
Sticking with its user-friendly tactics, Nintendo unveiled the Wii MotionPlus, Wii Music, Wii Sports Resort and a few other titles for the Nintendo DS.

Wii MotionPlus attaches to the end of your Wii Remote and, combined with the accelerometer and the sensor bar, allows for more comprehensive tracking of your arm position and orientation. Each slight movement made with your wrist is rendered identically in real time on-screen and provides a true 1:1 response to your gameplay.

Wii Music makes it easy for you to jam to tunes, even if you don’t know anything about music. It transforms your Wii Remote and Nunchuk into more than 60 different instruments, including a violin, steel drums, electric guitar and even a cowbell, to name a few.

Wii Sports Resort is a sequel to the popular Wii Sports game and makes use of the new Wii Motion Plus accessory, which plugs into the base of the Wii Remote controller. It includes new game experiences such as Sword Play, Power Cruising on a water scooter and Disc Dog.

Visit http://e3.nintendo.com for more information on Nintendo’s E3 announcements.

Sony:
Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) launched its new video delivery service on the PLAYSTATION Store for PlayStation 3 (PS3) and PlayStation Portable (PSP). You now have the ability to download full-length movies and TV shows, from 300 movies or 1,200 TV episodes to choose from. The pricing ranges from $2.99 to $5.99 for a rental (24 hours to watch once playback is started), or $9.99 to $14.99 for purchase. You’ll also be able to transfer the content back and forth between your PS3 and PSP.

An 80GB PS3 will be available in September. It will sell for $399 and take the place of the current 40GB model. Same price for double the storage space - good deal! Additionally, a few new titles were unveiled:God of War 3, SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation, Resistance 2, Killzone 2 and MAG.

Some of the new PSP games include Resistance: Retribution, LocoRoco 2 and BUZZ! Master Quiz.

If you’re looking for a bargain, these PS3 titles will be placed into the PS3 Greatest Hits Program July 28: Warhawk, Motorstorm, Resistance: Fall of Man, Call of Duty 3, Need for Speed: Carbon, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas and Assassin’s Creed.

See www.us.playstation.com for more information.

Share/Stream Music With Aerielle’s i2i

Another neat product I discovered at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) was Aerielle’s i2i Stream, a oneto-many wireless portable audio streaming device. This is the first solution that allows you to stream audio content from the media source of your choice. Intrigued by this, I spent the last couple of weeks playing with a pair of i2is.

If you’re into sharing your music with headphones, you know there is no perfectly comfortable way to do it. It could be done with a Y-splitter, but even at that you’d be leaning into the person next to you, and if you’re just sharing headphones, you’d be distracted by noises heard in your other ear that doesn’t have a headphone. Avoiding all of the hassle, the i2i Stream device offers the capability of music sharing wirelessly up to 30 feet away (with its 2.4 GHz transceiver). You can share music off just about any music source - iPods, other MP3 players, speakers, computers, DVD players or basically any device that has a 3.5mm jack. “Whether it’s friends hanging out and listening to a single iPod or the desire to stream music wirelessly to speakers in the home, the i2i Stream is the perfect solution,” says Art Cohen, president and CEO of Aerielle. “We’ve created a way for friends to listen to music content without the hassle of sharing ear buds or swapping MP3 devices. With our oneto-many capability, friends and families can now easily share tunes wirelessly.”


You can have up to three channels broadcasting within the 30-foot area, and no interference. The seven color codes on the i2i Stream indicate the frequency: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and white. For most of my testing, I had it set on the blue channel - it’s just a nice, soothing color to look at. I also had it streaming music from my laptop downstairs while I peddled on my exercise bike upstairs. It was convenient to have that little thing to listen with.

Although the i2i is tiny, it has a dial on it that controls the volume/mute and power. The two other buttons for transmit and receive are difficult to mix up. The battery will last you up to seven hours on one charge (via USB). Don’t even worry about the “setup” - there’s almost nothing to it. Just plug it in, push either the transmit or receive and you’re ready to go.

I can’t say that the i2i Stream is an absolute necessity, but if you’re tired of sharing your headphones with your spouse/buddy, this could be ideal for you. The sound quality is good and surely holds up to the promised 30-foot range. While it was hooked up to my laptop, I was able to hear the music throughout my entire house, out in the yard and even walking down the street a few houses away.

The i2i Stream sells for $99.95 for a two pack (best choice) or $59.95 for a single unit. Find it at www.i2igear.com or www.amazon.com.

Waiting for the iPhone 3G

I decided to stand in line for the iPhone 3G at the Kahala Mall Apple Store (as I did with the first iPhone launch last year), knowing there would be less of a crowd there to deal with. My husband and I arrived there at about 5 a.m., along with about 15 people in front of us. First in line was lucky Patrick Wong (see picture).

We all waited three hours until the store’s gate opened to loud cheers at 8 a.m. After all that waiting, I was one of the unlucky ones who walked away with no iPhone 3G in-hand. Mahalo to Dan at the Apple Store - he was extremely helpful in trying to get us out of there with our new phones,but apparently AT&T’s database wasn’t communicating real-time with Apple’s system, and the policy is to have the phone activated in-store.We were instructed to try the AT&T Store, but after driving past three with long lines outside, I really didn’t feel up to standing in line anymore.

Additionally, we were not among the lucky ones who were allowed to just buy one and activate it at home because of the big glitch ...so here I am with no iPhone 3G yet. I think I’m going to wait a couple of weeks for things to settle down then go ahead and brave it again. Despite my experience and other stories similar, 1 million iPhone 3Gs were sold during opening weekend. In comparison, it took 74 days for the first iPhone to sell 1 million.

The biggest thing I was looking forward to with the 3G is the new App Store. There are more than 500 downloadable applications for your iPhone or iPod touch, and in the first three days of its release, more than 10 million applications were downloaded. Many of these take advantage of the iPhone’s large display, Multi-Touch user interface, fast hardware-accelerated 3D graphics, built-in accelerometer and location-based technology - very different than any other application I’ve seen on mobile devices. The categories include games, business, news, sports, health, reference and travel.

“iPhone represents a new software platform for developers, combining the most advanced mobile operating system, sophisticated developer tools and a breakthrough way for developers to wire-lessly sell and distribute their applications right onto every iPhone,” says Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide product marketing."The reaction from developers has been very, very positive, and we’re opening the App Store with over 500 native iPhone applications available for immediate purchase and download.”


From the huge selection of apps, some of my favorites are:

* Remote (free): Control iTunes content on your computer or the Apple TV. It works with your Wi-Fi network so you can control playback from anywhere in the house. You can play, pause, skip, shuffle and see your songs, playlists and album art on the display of your iPhone or iPod touch.

* WeatherBug (free): Look at live, local weather conditions from more than 45,000 locations around the world.

* Twitterific (free): Here you can read and publish your “tweets” (posts).

* Pandora Radio (free): Stream personalized music - start with the name of your favorite artists or songs and Pandora will create a “station"that plays music to your preferences.

* Super Monkey Ball ($9.99): A cute, entertaining monkey game. You tilt and roll your guy through a variety of slopes and turns.

* Texas Hold’em ($4.99): Play against your friends over a Wi-Fi network and switch between immersive first-person or top-down gameplay by rotating your device.

* SCRABBLE ($9.99): This helps me practice my words so I can prepare my next win at real SCRABBLE with Dad Stewart. This iPhone SCRABBLE allows you to zoom in and out and drag and drop tiles right onto the screen. There’s even a “cheater function” that helps you make the best word for the maximum points (you can only do this four times during the game).

Visit your nearest Apple Store or AT&T Store to purchase the latest iPhone 3G ($199/8GB, $299/16GB). As for the apps, take a look at the iTunes Store for a complete list of the available apps - iTunes 7.7 is available as a free download from www.apple.com.

A Cell Phone Shutterbug Survey

I used to carry my camera with me everywhere, but I became lazy and don’t want to lug too much in my purse. As much as I love my camera, I leave it at home unless I’m traveling or going out to a special event or party.

Sometimes it’s just nice to have the convenience of a decent cell phone camera. In fact, the accompanying photo is of my napping Senegal parrot Duncan. He fell asleep on my shoulder and I had to maneuver very slowly and carefully to reach for the nearest camera - my phone.

I know it seems obvious to say that cell phone camera usage is way up from perhaps a couple of years ago, but I thought the actual statistics released by Wirefly.com last week were interesting. The survey was done on cell phone camera phone usage, and it indicated that cell phones are the cameras of choice for young adults in the United States - 63.8 percent of users ages 18-30 say they use their cell phone’s camera at least once a week, while 26.3 percent reported using it daily. Those figures fall to 40.7 percent and 13.2 percent, respectively, for consumers over age 30. Additionally, about three out of four (73.5 percent) adults age 18-30 assign photo IDs to people in their address books, while 47.4 percent of the over-30 crowd do the same.

“Family events” and “scenery/sightseeing” remain the top reasons cited for using a camera phone, but social uses separated the younger adults from the over-30 crowd - 58.3 percent of cell phone users ages 18-30 report using a cell phone regularly “to document nightlife,” while just 29.9 percent of those over 30 made a similar claim. In addition, individuals ages 18-30 use their camera phones to publish photos to online social media four times as much as respondents over 30 years of age.


Other interesting results from the survey’s respondents:

* 96.3 percent of adult cell phone owners report that they have a cell phone with a camera. (No surprise here, since most cell phones now come with a camera.)
* 19 percent of adults prefer to use their cell phone as their primary camera for all photography.
* 77.2 percent of photos taken remain stored in the phone, 45.4 percent are used as wall-paper and 38.6 percent are sent to friends via MMS.
* 20.2 percent of respondents say they have snapped a photo of an attractive man/woman, and 7.5 percent have photographed an unsuspecting stranger.
* 46.4 percent of all adults and two-thirds of adults age 18-30 say they use their cell phone to snap self-portraits.
* 19.8 percent say they have snuck a picture while pretending to do something else.

“Sharing and social media are the drivers,” says Scott Ableman, Wirefly’s senior vice president of marketing. “Fifty-eight percent of adults age 18-30 tell us they use their camera phones to document nightlife, and one in five says they’ve published camera phone pictures to a social website or blog. It’s a more spontaneous kind of photography that’s perfectly suited for the cell phone, and as more low-priced and free phones come with quality cameras and high-speed Internet connections, all barriers have been removed.”

The data above was collected from a U.S.-based online survey and conducted from a pool of customers who purchased new wireless phones and service plans from Wirefly.com between May and June 2008. The respondents were 55 percent female and 45 percent male. Twenty-seven percent were ages 31-40, 17 percent were 24-30 and 8 percent were 18-23.

Just some food for thought the next time you pick up your cell phone camera to snap a picture ...

The Human Touch Experience

I just finished a long run a few hours ago and my back is crying out for a massage. I’m thinking of the wonderful massage chair I sat in at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) - the Human TouchTM HT-7450 Zero-Gravity Massage Chair. You may remember that I wrote about the Sanyo HEC-DR7700K zero-gravity chair from last year’s CES 2007, but this Human Touch chair is on a whole other level.

It took Human Touch four years to develop the HT-7450, and it was an honoree for the Consumer Electronics Association’s Innovations 2008 Design and Engineering Award (Furniture Category).

It was recognized for its multi-patented massage technology, such as the Acupoint Detection System that scans the entire length of your back and creates a map of key pressure points to target during your massage. I didn’t believe that actually happens until I sat in the chair and felt it focus on my lower back.


“With over 20 years of experience in developing products that make people feel better, we are thrilled that the Consumer Electronics Association has recognized the chair that we consider to be the pinnacle of the Human Touch experience,” says Rich Jorgensen, CMO of Human Touch. “After years of development, we are excited to offer the first massage chair that effectively counteracts the everyday effects that gravity has on the human body’s muscles and joints. It is gratifying to be recognized for a product that uses advanced massage technology to make people’s lives better.”

This massage chair is the first to incorporate the latest advances in massage and back-care technology to counteract back and muscle pain. Once you’re seated, the chair’s back, seat and footrest synchronously recline to situate the body in a position that reduces physical strain. The Acupoint Detection System then proceeds to do its scan, and next thing you know, you’re in the middle of a nice chair massage. Key pressure points along the sciatic nerve are focused on with pulsating seat massagers that pinpoint your problem areas.

In addition, the chair includes a tension-relieving eight-point pulsating seat massage system, a built-in adjustable foot and calf massager, dual-lumbar back heat, neck-contoured comfort pillow and a memory foam seat cushion that gives you similar sensations that NASA astronauts have as they venture into space.

As the HT-7450 reclines horizontally, its back, seat and footrest synchronously move to place your body in a virtually weightless condition - the ideal position for an effective massage. This “neutral posture” is recommended by doctors to relieve your spine of the pressure from standing, walking and sitting. In fact, my chiropractor is always telling me that it’s better to sit in a recliner as opposed to a regular couch. Since I do not have a recliner (I always thought they were too bulky for my living room), this is the perfect excuse to buy one now, isn’t it?

What I enjoy about the HT-7450 in comparison to a “regular” massage chair is it’s not bulky and still does a wonderful job on your back. It’s almost as small as a normal-sized chair and won’t take up a great deal of your floor space. One of these would fit nicely right next to my couch, or even in the bedroom next to the bed. Not to mention it’s made out of nice top-grain, corrected, Aniline-dyed leather, giving it a modern look.

The Human Touch HT-7450 Zero-Gravity Massage Chair comes in black or a dark chocolate color and will cost you a slightly steep $3,999, but well worth it if you can afford it - www.vitalityweb.com (free shipping to Hawaii). Visit www.humantouch.com for additional information.

New iPhone

Questions about the new iPhone 3G have been flying at me left and right from everyone around me and in e-mails from you faithful readers. You probably already know - July 11 is the day. Some people I know (such as my husband) are taking the whole day off from work just to stand in line for this new iPhone 3G!

Now here’s an update that many have been itching to know: Breaking away from Apple’s strict rules regarding the first-generation iPhone, AT&T announced last week that a no-contract-required option will be available for $599 (8GB) or $699 (16GB). I wish I could tell you a date (and I know people will ask anyway), but sorry, no dates have yet been announced!

Believe me, I want to know too! If you don’t care about a contract, you can always purchase it starting July 11 for $199 (8GB) or $299 (16GB) with a two-year contract. Also note: For you existing AT&T customers “not eligible” (determined by the amount of time remaining on your current contract and payment history), it will be $399 (8GB) or $499 (16GB).

See www.apple.com or www.wirelessatt.com for more information. This time around, the stores will begin selling the iPhones at 8 a.m., as opposed to the evening time last year.

TiVo Market Research

I thought you TiVo owners out there would be interested to know that a couple of weeks ago TiVo and TRA, a media and marketing research company, partnered to offer a service to businesses that fuses together viewing, demographic and purchasing data. As the data is collected, it’s packaged in anonymous statistics, so it is not invading your privacy.

This is not completely new - in 2007 TiVo started sampling 20,000 units with the “Top Commercial Rankings” via the TiVo Stop||WatchTM service. In comparison to the new offering, it was definitely a lighter data pull. To me, this type of action is no biggie, especially since it’s anonymous. For some individuals I know, it could be disturbing. However, from a business point of view, this service is brilliant. With the agreement, TRA will draw anonymous viewing data from TiVo’s base of 1.7 million stand-alone subscribers. With the TRA Media TRAnalytics service, this is the only research with the ability to correlate household purchasing behavior with media exposure to effectively evaluate the ROI (Return on Investment) of a company’s media spending.

David F. Poltrack, chief research officer, CBS Corporation, and president of CBS Vision, says, “As a TiVo Stop||WatchTM and Media TRAnalytics subscriber, the level of actionable, detailed reporting that each provides is extremely valuable in helping us evaluate TV viewing behavior and the efficacy of our advertisers’ campaigns. By combining forces, TiVo and TRA will essentially be offering the ‘single source’ measurement of television viewing and product purchasing behavior that the marketing community has been asking for since the 1970s.”

TRA has been producing anonymous, aggregate reports associating TV viewership with household purchasing data based on cable data since October 2007. The company intends to expand its use of cable television data and harmonize cable and TiVo data to produce the largest and most representative anonymous sampling of the United States’ television audience.

The TRA engine has the ability to analyze viewership data from television digital set boxes (DSTBs) as well as cross-tabulate second-by-second advertising audience data from a significant number of DSTBs with other media touchpoints, household demographics and actual household product purchasing data in the same homes. TRA’s web-based research reports permit advertisers and agencies to reallocate their advertising, shifting money to advertising that produces higher sales per dollar.

David F. Poltrack, chief research officer, CBS Corporation, and president of CBS Vision, says, “As a TiVo Stop||WatchTM and Media TRAnalytics subscriber, the level of actionable, detailed reporting that each provides is extremely valuable in helping us evaluate TV viewing behavior and the efficacy of our advertisers’ campaigns. By combining forces, TiVo and TRA will essentially be offering the ‘single source’ measurement of television viewing and product purchasing behavior that the marketing community has been asking for since the 1970s.”

TRA has been producing anonymous, aggregate reports associating TV viewership with household purchasing data based on cable data since October 2007. The company intends to expand its use of cable television data and harmonize cable and TiVo data to produce the largest and most representative anonymous sampling of the United States’ television audience.

The TRA engine has the ability to analyze viewership data from television digital set boxes (DSTBs) as well as cross-tabulate second-by-second advertising audience data from a significant number of DSTBs with other media touchpoints, household demographics and actual household product purchasing data in the same homes. TRA’s web-based research reports permit advertisers and agencies to reallocate their advertising, shifting money to advertising that produces higher sales per dollar.

T-Mobile@Home

Last week T-Mobile announced its T-Mobile @Home, a new service that enables you to make unlimited nationwide calls from your home phone for $10 per month. It’s yet another alternative to a landline phone, and it allows you to keep your existing home phone number and add your phone line to your T-Mobile service.

“For years, the traditional landline companies have been great at consistently delivering one thing to their customers - a high monthly bill,” says Robert Dotson, president and CEO, T-Mobile USA."T-Mobile is now delivering the best-priced home phone service in America for our existing and future customers. In addition, we are not only delivering the traditional features of a landline service, we are also including the innovative features consumers love in their more widely used mobile phones.”

Almost exactly a year ago we saw T-Mobile’s HotSpot @Home make its debut, but the difference between the two is, with this T-Mobile @Home service, you can use your regular touch-tone phone (corded or cordless) as opposed to a specialized phone with the HotSpot @Home service. It’s designed for easy setup in a couple of minutes, not to mention that no special phone is required in comparison to VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol).

According to a 2007 Scarborough Research report, families spend an average of $65 per month on home phone service. For $10 per month, however, T-Mobile customers can add T-Mobile @Home service to a qualifying T-Mobile wireless plan and have unlimited nationwide long-distance calling, call waiting, caller ID, three-way conferencing, voicemail, call forwarding and other features. In addition, customers will have the opportunity to use features typically associated with wireless services such as CallerTunesTM (ringback tones) and port their existing home phone number so family and friends can continue to call them at the same familiar number.

The drawback is if you’re not already a T-Mobile customer you’ll have to switch over your cell phone service. But, if you’re an existing T-Mobile customer and are paying extra for a landline phone at the moment, this is a great addition. For non-T-Mobile customers, this might not be worth it. To use the service you need a regular phone, an existing broadband Internet connection and the T-Mobile @Home HiPort Wireless Router with Home Phone Connection. The router costs $49.99 from T-Mobile with a two-year service agreement and, of course, the $10 per month fee. Visit your nearest T-Mobile retail store or www.tmobileathome.com.

Bill Gates Exits Microsoft

Just a little fact that you might want to know from the technology world: One of the richest men in the world, software genius Bill Gates, last week announced the final transition from his day-today role at Microsoft to full-time philanthropy with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Gates will remain Microsoft’s non-executive chairman and will still be involved in select projects based on direction from chief executive officer Steve Ballmer and the leadership team. Analysts credit him with changing software into a money-maker rather than just something for the hobbyists.

Grocery Shopping With Ikan

One thing I don’t see here in Hawaii is grocery delivery service or any online shopping options. It’s common on the Mainland, but apparently not very popular here. I remember a couple of companies tried to launch something a few years ago but were unsuccessful. That is really too bad, since I think it would be extremely beneficial to those who are disabled and find it difficult to go out grocery shopping or simply to those of us who are busy or lazy and don’t want to leave the house.

With that in mind, I stumbled across a cool gadget called the Ikan. It perfectly complements the online/grocery delivery market (should it ever arrive here again), and it’s designed to eliminate trips to the grocery store and save you time (and gas).Since Hawaii has no stores with which I could test this out, sadly, I couldn’t play with one directly.

Ikan is basically a Wi-Fi-enabled barcode scanner that you’d want to keep next to your wastebasket. It keeps a database of more than 1 million products, so whatever wrapper or container you throw away, scan its bar-code and the product immediately goes into your Ikan online shopping cart. If your item does not have a barcode or the barcode is worn out, no worries, there’s a voice recorder you can speak into. Just say, “Milk, apples, oranges,” and the messages will be saved automatically to your account and you can access it with the Search & Add section later.


Physically, the device is white with a color screen and the laser scanner is on the bottom. You can place it either on your counter-top stand (included) or mount it on the wall (mount sold separately). With the environment in mind, Ikan claims to be a “green,” environmentally conscious company. When you scan a product that can be recycled, it lets you know and tells you what receptacle to place it in.

This creative gadget was invented by four New York entrepreneurs with young families and never enough time. They decided to do a study on where all the hours go in their lives and found out a great deal of it was grocery shopping. After their research and development, out came the Ikan.

After a successful beta test, the Ikan System launched in the beginning of 2008, starting with the New York City metropolitan area and spreading across the country with different retail supermarket chains.

I can see this being a big hit as more and more stores join in, and perhaps if the $399 price tag is lowered and more features are added (perhaps a recipe database to utilize that Wi-Fi connection even more). More particularly, if stores in Hawaii decide to participate, I think many folks would use it here. With our gas prices so high, think of all the fuel it’ll save you, not to mention turning a few-hour-long trip to the store into minutes. Even a nominal delivery fee would be worth it.

Although Ikan doesn’t have any agreements set up with Hawaii grocers yet, we can only hope it happens in the near future - it would surely save lots of my time. Even without delivery service, you can always use the Ikan to track your groceries so you know exactly what house supplies you need to replenish.

Keep this in mind for your family and friends on the Mainland, or if you’re planning to move there. Visit www.ikan.net for more information and to watch a demo video.