GadgetReview

I’m gonna keep this post short because there is really nothing to talk about. On April 23rd Plantronics will launch what they’re calling their ‘most technologically advanced headset to date’.   That’s 14 days, 8 hours and 45 minutes as of this posting.

[Plantronics]

Now this has “Risky Business” written all over it.  Letting you use your keyboard, Jam Legend promises “more songs by more artists with more friends.”  The best thing about this program is the simple fact that it is free.  All of it.  Jam Legend is in Beta form right now, and is like a Guitar Hero/Rock Band type of music/guitar game mixed with a social networking site.  Awesome idea considering the unmatched popularity of these two things. Makes me think about that part in Family Guy where the two motorists crash into each other, the one with chocolate in his hand and the other with peanut butter. Using your keyboard as a fretboard, the pic shown here shows how simple this is.

A look at the site suggests total social networking with high scores, profiles, and even the chance for independent musicians to get their songs coded for the game.  I can see this catching on with people turning their old keyboards into axes of pure shred and posting videos of themselves going AWOL.  How many people have already been busted at work playing this?

[JamLegend via CoolestGadgets]

Rumors from unnamed sources suggest Google is considering a buyout of the popular Twitter service. Other reports suggest they’re only collaborating on a real-time search engine. Whatever the case may be, a joint ‘twoogle’ project is sure to be something very interesting.

[PcWorld]

In the past year, Twitter’s user base has had an unprecedented leap from 475,000 users to over 7 million! Those are some crazy figures which makes the 1,374 percent increase sound even crazier.  According to the blogs blurbs of the day, all these new Twitter heads are really clogging up the birdhouse and producing more “Fail Whale” sightings.  The “OG” Twitterers think all the new users are a drain on the system and are trite and exploitive by nature, and they are making the “coolness’ of Twitter less exclusive.  Far weirder has been the recent development of this “Fail Whale” subculture that has been gaining steam in the recent weeks.  People are becoming obsessed with the logo, (see above tattoo) and embracing the symbol of failure through parties and specialty cocktails.  What I don’t understand is that I Tweet most everyday and have never seen this fabled whale?

[CNN]

While Twitter has quickly become the one of the best ways to live vicariously through your favorite s**tbag celebrity, now even you can become part of the rage with a job working for Twitter as a VIP concierge.  The JobScore posting is on hold at the moment and there isn’t much of a job description, but it takes place in San Francisco.  I guess you would sort of be a remote customer service operator that tailored to celebrities and made sure that they were using twitter at maximum efficiency.  How could that go wrong?  Is this a joke?  Check out or top 10 celebrity twitter feeds! Follow GadgetReview!

[TechCrunch via JobScore]

While the Twitter machine is plowing full steam ahead and getting a ton of press, not many people know that the start up company is actually three years old.  People didn’t hear about Twitter until July 2006 but today is the official birthday.  Everybody from celebrities to politicians to soccer moms are on Twitter, and it has definitely gone viral.  Check out the old logo pic below.  Not bad looking but the R looks like an A.  Also check out our Top 10 Celebrity Twitter Feeds! Follow GadgetReview!!

[TechCrunch]

Yet another free storage service has launched, however this one, called Echodio, integrates directly into your iTunes and lets you stream uploaded music.  They’re currently in beta and offering 1GB of storage for free.  To use the service you simply sign up, install a plugin on your computer and then drag and drop the songs you want to upload to a designated playlist.  Right now you can only access your music by launching Boxee, but they hard at work to develop a ‘rich web player’ and an iPhone app.  The service is free, but once out of beta they plan on charging on a per gigabyte basis.

Unfortunately, I really don’t see this taking off since Dropbox offers a comparable service with 5GB of storage for free and you can upload any file you desire.  Sure, it doesn’t integrate directly into iTunes, but uploaded music can be accessed and streamed via any old web browser.  Give me 40GB of storage and an ad supported model and then were talking.

[Echodio via Techcrunch]

I’m closing out the week with some newly added features that hopefully some of you will find useful.  If you have any thoughts please feel free to sound off in the comments section.

• We now have separate feeds.  That means you can get a news only, deals only, or reviews only feed.
• Threaded comments are now working, which means you can respond to someone
• Subscribe to comments by email. This means you’ll get an email when someone responds or adds a new comment to the post.

As mentioned feedback is welcome.  If you’d like to see any other features added please just ‘holla’.

Living vicariously through celebrities has always been an American infatuation.  Even my mom has Perez Hilton bookmarked.  Now the microcosm that is Twitter lets you get even closer to celebrities without having to dumpster dive for Keith Richards’ blood transfusion leftovers.  Here’s the top 10 Twitter celebrity feeds:

Click to follow:

1. Britney Spears

2. Snoop Dog

3. Dalai Lama – Unverified

4. John Hodgman The PC Guy

5. Claire McCaskill

6. Lance Armstrong

7. Shaquille O’Neal

8. Arnold Schwarzenegger

9. David Lynch

10. Ashton Kutcher & Demi Moore

Follow GadgetReview!

[Time]

Finally, a social network with some sort of gadgetry involved.  Ridelink is a relatively straightforward concept: social networking that let’s you meet people who don’t wanna die or receive bodily harm due to drinking and driving.  Perhaps I’m over simplifying.

You see, you join the site, add friends – you know all the normal social networking stuff – but the real magic to the service is in the included watch like device that detects alcohol consumption.  This enables you to select friends who aren’t drunk and are willing to drive you places or pick you up in the event that you drink beyond your means of vehicle operation.  Getting a ride from a friend is as simple as blowing into the provided watch, which in turn notifies your social network that you need a lift if you’re unsafe to drive your own vehicle.  Okay, so it doesn’t sound super practical – you could just call a cab – but I’m floored by the ingenuity.  Hit the video below for a complete walk through of the service.

They’re currently performing tests in Brescia, Italy.  To sign up, go here

[Core77]