seenly

Chat in living color using Video Calls with Facebook

There are a few video-calling options for the iPhone. The built-in FaceTime functionality works very well but is only an option if the person you are calling is using an Apple device (iPad, iPhone, or Mac). Similarly, Skype is a powerful video chat tool, but without a good connection and if your quarry doesn't use Skype, you're out of luck. So, a video chat tool using Facebook is very enticing. Seen - Video Calls for Facebook promises just that, but does it deliver or is it yet another feature-rich, connection-starved video chat app?

Upon installation, you are prompted … Read more

Apple looking into new iPad Wi-Fi issues

Apple is investigating Wi-Fi connection issues on the new iPad, according to a report at 9to5Mac.

The Apple-centric Web site has posted what it says is an AppleCare internal document citing "intermittent connectivity...slow Wi-Fi speeds...[and] Wi-Fi network not seen."

At the top, the document states in red, "Issue/Investigation in Progress" and, under that, "Products Affected, iPad (3rd generation)."

Retail stores and "contact centers" are instructed to "capture" third-generation iPads if they exhibit any Wi-Fi issues, according to the document. In this case, capture refers to picking up … Read more

Drink up! Bottle tops convert your cans to bottles

My husband is one of about six people on the planet who drinks Vanilla Coke Zero. This flavor is so unpopular that it's extremely difficult to find in bottles, which means we buy a lot of 12-packs of cans of soda.

On occasion, my husband doesn't finish a whole can at once. And the leftover soda loses its carbonation and eventually gets dumped down the drain. And then I get annoyed because I hate wasting money. And food. But mostly money.

So as much as I might enjoy making fun of late night informercials, I was intrigued when … Read more

Broil bacon in the microwave

Health concerns aside, one of the biggest drawbacks of cooking bacon is the mess: greasy splatters on your cooktop or stacks of soiled paper towels. The WowBacon bacon broiler ($20) promises to keep grease contained while cooking bacon to perfection--in your microwave.

Of course, cooking bacon in the device is slightly more complicated than just throwing it in a pan. First, you drape the bacon over a six-pronged rack and attach the lid to the top of the rack. Then lower the rack into the grease-catching cup and secure it with the attached clamps. The pitcher-like device is then ready … Read more

Loomia launches 'SeenThis' social app with NBC, WSJ, CNET

Social-news company Loomia announced Wednesday that it has launched a new application called SeenThis, which connects news sites with social-networking sites so users can learn what their people on their friends' lists have been reading. Loomia's inaugural partners in SeenThis are The Wall Street Journal, NBC Universal, and CNET Networks, parent company of CNET News.com.

Like many other "recommendation engines," Loomia's technology can suggest content items to a reader based on what he or she has already viewed. SeenThis goes a step further by using social-networking sites' APIs--the one that the current content partners are … Read more

Seenly copies Photo Booth well

When Apple started putting iSight cameras on the top of its iMac desktops and portable notebooks, one of the fun apps that came along was Photo Booth. This tiny program emulates the experience of good old-fashioned photo booths, the kind you run into in malls and amusement parks. Seenly, which launched yesterday, is a fun service that does nearly everything Apple's Photo Booth does, except it runs in your browser, and as a result works on PCs too.

There are 10 presets to play with, from a simple mirroring mode to a timed nine-exposure shot that will snap nine … Read more