Cool Tools

By Keith Shaw

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Keith Shaw is Network World's reviews editor. Contact him at kshaw@nww.com.

Cool Tools Video
Watch Keith's weekly product reviews.

Enhance your videos with handy time-lapse camera: 05/16/12; Shaw reviews Brinno's TLC200 time-lapse camera.
Easy-to-mold custom earbuds; 2TB portable storage for Mac users: 05/02/12; Shaw reviews Sculpted eers by Sonomax Technologies, My Passport Studio portable hard drive by Western Digital.
Some new devices to mess around with Wi-Fi: 04/18/12; Shaw review Stem Innovation's iZON Remote Room Monitor, Belkin's Wireless Dual-Band Travel Router.
HP gives scanning a third dimension: 04/03/12; Shaw reviews HP's TopShot LaserJet Pro M275.
Not-so-magic monitor, tiny routers and a kick-ass gaming headset: 03/22/12; Shaw reviews MIMO MagicTouch 10-inch touchscreen USB monitor, 150Mbps Wireless N Nano Router, GameCom 780 USB headset.
Ditch the PC for your scanning needs: 03/08/12; Shaw reviews Xerox Mobile Scanner, by Xerox.
OnLive Desktop brings you one step closer to ditching your notebook for the iPad: 02/29/12; The OnLive Dekstop is an app for your iPad that gives you a virtual Windows 7 desktop environment, as well as Office 2010 apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Adobe Reader and other basic Windows apps (Calculator, Notepad, Wordpad, Paint, Sticky Notes).
HP high-def webcam makes us look better on Skype: 02/22/12; Shaw reviews HP's HD 5210 Webcam.
Toshiba's 1TB USB 3.0 drive; winter gloves for touch-screening: 02/07/12; The scoop: Canvio 3.0 Plus external hard drive, by Toshiba, about $180 (1TB version).
Galaxy Nexus smartphone a worthy upgrade: 01/19/12; Review of the Galaxy Nexus smartphone, by Samsung.
HP's touch-screen desktop continues to intrigue me: 12/14/11; Shaw reviews HP's TouchSmart Desktop 610 Quad series.
Two Android tablets, different goals: 12/01/11; Shaw reviews the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus and the Motorola Xoom 4G LTE.
Indiana Keith and the Gift Guide of Doom: 11/21/11; Here at this link is the 2011 version of our technology holiday gift guide, Cool Yule Tools. Once again I think we've outdone ourselves. We've got somewhere between 150 and 170 reviews of different products for the technology and gadget-lover on your holiday gift list. Or you might just like to peruse the pages and online reviews yourself if you are looking for ideas to make your own wish list.
Epson MegaPlex lets you project iPad content on the big screen: 11/01/11; Shaw reviews the MegaPlex MG-850HD projector, by Epson.
4G device options beyond the smartphone or USB modem: 10/20/11; Verizon's 4G LTE network has been available in several major cities for awhile now, and it continues to expand to more regions across the U.S. We've done some early network testing, but now have tried two devices (a tablet and netbook) that integrate the 4G LTE network connectivity into the device.
Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet a business contender: 10/05/11; Shaw reviews Lenovo's ThinkPad Tablet.
Jawbone adds a 'Nerd' to its cool Bluetooth headsets: 09/22/11; The scoop: Icon HD + The Nerd, by Jawbone, about $140.
2 tools that can kill dead spots: 09/07/11; Shaw reviews D-Link's Amplifi PowerLine AV 500 4-Port Gigabit Switch, Cisco's Linksys RE1000 Wireless-N Range Extender/Bridge.
Sonos stays on top with its Play:3 music system; Seagate GoFlex Turbo speeds up portable data transfer: 08/17/11; Shaw reviews Sonos' Play:3 wireless music system; Seagate's GoFlexTurbo portable hard drive.
Keyboard links to multiple Bluetooth devices; a lightweight PC headset system: 08/02/11; Shaw reviews Multi-Link Bluetooth Keyboard with Touchpad, by Iogear, and Savi 440, by Plantronics.
HP TouchPad joins the tablet race, but has some catching up to do: 07/14/11; Shaw reviews the HP TouchPad.
Xperia Play: The smartphone for serious gamers: 06/15/11; Shaw reviews Xperia Play, by Sony Ericsson.
Sony's streaming media player has a boatload of content: 06/02/11; Shaw reviews Sony Network Media Player.
Seagate drive streams media to your iPad, iPhone: 05/18/11; Shaw reviews the GoFlex Satellite, by Seagate.
Why my job is still cool: 05/09/11; It's tough to write a 25-year-anniversary column when you haven't been here for 25 years – my time at the helm of the Cool Tools column has only been about 10 years or so now. Instead, I'll reflect on the past 25 years in my own life and how technology (and networking!) has changed not only what I do for work, but within my life as well.