SugarSync Bumps Up Its Free Storage

SugarSync, the nifty service that lets you store folders full of files in the cloud and sync them among PCs, Macs, and smartphones, has long given away 2GB of free storage as a way of introducing new users to its paid, larger-capacity tiers of service. That’s nice. This is nicer: It’s increasing free accounts to 5GB of space. SugarSync CEO Laura Yecies told me that the company thinks a more generous free version will actually help it make more money, since the 250% increase will make it easier to explore its potential before plunking down any money

The service’s paid options range from a 30GB account for $4.99 a month (or $49.99 a year) to a 500GB one for $39.99 a month (or $399.99 a year); there are also multiuser business accounts.

SugarSync’s closest counterpart, Dropbox, still offers 2GB for free, but with any luck, SugarSync’s move will set off a free-space war. (Microsoft’s Windows Live Mesh already let you sync up to 5GB of data into a SkyDrive account, but Microsoft doesn’t seem to be giving the service much love these days.) Other services such as Mozy, Carbonite, Norton Backup, and Google Storage make it possible to back up larger amounts of data to the cloud for less money, but they lack the syncing and other features that make SugarSync so versatile.

[Update: A representative of Box.net sent me a note to point out that it started giving 5GB of storage to users of its free version in October.]

Make Yourself Invisible to Wi-Fi Hackers

You’re at Starbucks, busy working on your Facebook page. Bad news: The guy at the next table is a hacker, and he’s also working on your Facebook page. Sit tight, I have a few ways for you to make yourself invisible to hackers.

One Very Serious Threat

There’s a pervasive, serious Facebook and Twitter exploit that leaves you wide open to any and every hacker who can download a simple-to-use, free tool called Firesheep. It’s a threat if you’re using an unsecured, public Wi-Fi network, typically available at an Internet cafe, airport, hotel, or RV campground.

Last week TechBite paid subscribers got the first dispatch about this in the Extra newsletter; here’s a more detailed version.

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YouTube Gets an Android Remote With One Neat Feature

Google’s YouTube Remote app for Android might ease the pain of changing the channel on web video, so to speak.

The free app controls YouTube Leanback on the desktop or on Google TV. Once synced by user account on both devices, the app can play, pause, rewind, fast forward and adjust volume on YouTube clips. But the killer feature, I think, is the ability to find new videos or add them to a queue.

Back when I subscribed to cable, changing channels was the most inelegant part of the experience. You press the “guide” button, and your picture becomes a thumbnail, surrounded by a wall of programming information. Because this is so distracting, you’re under pressure — from your family or whoever else is watching — to find a new channel as quickly as possible so you can get back to the big screen.

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A Tip of the Hat to Tech Ingenuity

Make your own custom fit earphones.

Each year, for the past 10, I brace myself for The Last Gadget Standing, an event at  International CES that admires the spirit of creativity and the fact that CES attendees not only appreciate cool technology, but that they can pick the winners from the losers.

As the competition starts to heat up I’ll point to a few of my faves and faves yet to come.

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Arrington on Facebook Data Exporting

I still don’t get why I can’t sync e-mail addresses and phone numbers from Facebook onto my iPhone, like I can do with an Android device. Do I blame Apple, Facebook, both, or nobody?

The BlackBerry PlayBook Will Apparently Start Under $500

I’m still not sure if RIM’s PlayBook Tablet will be any good. But it’s ambitious, and the specs are top-notch–and it will apparently sell for less than five hundred bucks.

A Bespoke Fit for Off-the-Shelf Earphones

Last Gadget Standing Nominee: Sonomax Soundcage

Price: $199

I have oddly-shaped ears. I’m not sure if they’re oddly large or oddly small–all I know is that most headphones either fall out or sting. Or sometimes both. So I’m interested in the idea, at least, of Sonomax’s Soundcage–a set of headphones you buy, then custom-fit yourself. The fitting process takes four minutes and involves a special headband, shown to the right.

The $199 price may sound stiff, but it’s a pittance compared to fully customized headphones such as Ultimate Ears’ $999-and-about models which are produced from molds of your ears. I wonder how close the quality comes–and whether these would stay in my ears without hurting?

Soundcage is scheduled to ship in February of next year.

Apple’s TV Game Console: iPad + iPhone

Apple may never release a dedicated game console, but for now, an iPhone and iPad can do the same job.

Big Bucket, developer of an 8-bit platformer called The Incident, announced on its blog that the game’s next version will allow for TV playback, using an iPad as the video source and an iPhone or iPod Touch as the controller. When plugged in, the game runs at a widescreen aspect ratio, created specifically for this purpose.

Forgive me if you know about this capability already. Big Bucket isn’t the first iOS game to add TV Out — that distinction, I believe, goes to Majic Jungle, which put Chopper 2 on big screens a couple months ago — but it’s news to me (and to TechCrunch’s MG Siegler, who found the news about The Incident), and I think more people should know about it. If more app developers get on board with TV Out, I might spring for an Apple composite AV cable.

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More Projector Phones? Yes, Please.

Front-facing camera? Feh. As far as bells and whistles go, I’d take a smartphone with a built-in projector over one with video chat any day, so I’m happy to see that Sharp is keeping the dream alive, at least in Japan.

MobileCrunch reports that the SH-05C comes with a built-in DLP projector, good for up to two hours of video on the nearest wall. It’ll launch through NTT Docomo, Japan’s largest wireless carrier, in February 2011.

I like the idea of blowing up photos and videos from a phone for everyone to see. Unfortunately, projector phones still have a long way to go before they can become practical additions to top-shelf smartphones. DLP projectors, like the one in Sharp’s phone, aren’t ideal for well-lit rooms — the folks in Sharp’s press shots seem to be hanging out in the dark — and its resolution is a mere 640-by-480. The DLP projector accessory for LG’s Expo, a Windows Mobile 6.5 phone that’s no longer available from AT&T, is even worse, with 480-by-320 resolution.

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Ask Not…

Ask.com–the search engine forever best known as the search engine formerly known as Ask Jeeves–is getting out of the search engine business and focusing on its recently-introduced Q&A service. I like competition–especially competition in product categories dominated by one massive player–so I’m sorry to hear it. But I’m not surprised. Basically, Ask never seemed to know what it was, and if it didn’t, how could its users?

A Cocoon for You and Your Media

Last Gadget Standing Nominee: Acousticom Sound Egg

Price: $1450

If your name is Maxwell Smart or you’re an urban dweller who can never escape ambient noise, the Sound Egg is a sound investment.  The 70’s style egg chair has been reworked as an audio cocoon,  First seen at CES 2010, The Egg lets you immerse yourself in 5.1 Surround Sound without disturbing the people around you. It plays movies, music, video games, and any other media source through its array of speakers, including a 10″ subwoofer.  The chair is molded from colored foam.  At $1450, it’s a lot to pay for your own private world of sound, but for some, it may be worth it.

I Have a Galaxy Tab. Do You Have Galaxy Tab Questions?

Over at TIME.com, you’ll find my first take on Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, which I’ve been exploring since last Friday. Executive summary: It’s not an iPad killer, but it is the first legitimate iPad alternative; the hardware is nice, but the biggest downside is that the software makes it more of a giant-Android-phone-that-doesn’t-make-phone-calls than an all-new tablet.

I also blogged at Techland about Steve Jobs’ recent attack on the very idea of 7″ tablets. Spending time with the Galaxy Tab left me feeling like the size has possibilities, but simply cramming the iPad experience down onto a 7″ device would be a lousy idea which Apple won’t pursue.

I’ll have more to say about the Tab as I use it a bit more. At the moment, I’m having fun with it in a very real-world setting: I left for a business trip to New Orleans yesterday, and took it with me as my primary source of entertainment. (And mobile productivity, too: On the cab ride from the airport to my hotel, I sent an urgent e-mail using it.)

Got any questions about the Tab? Leave them in comments and I’ll try to answer ‘em before I send it back to Samsung.

Microsoft: New Slogan, (Slightly) New Logo

Microsoft not only has a new slogan (“Be what’s next.”–an infinite improvement over the insufferable “Your potential. Our passion.”) but has improved the posture of its logo (which dates back to what, the early 90s?).

Technologies vs. Tools

I like Alexis Madrigal’s distinction between technologies (which are subject to frequent change) and tools (which aren’t).

Windows Phone 7: The Road to Launch

Windows Phone 7 phones hit the US today. (Like many reviewers, I found lots to like about the new OS but think Microsoft remains in catch-up mode.) To mark the launch, Wired’s Brian X. Chen has a fascinating story on how Microsoft scrapped its initial plans for Windows Phone 7 in December of 2008 and started over again. Amazing to think that it took almost two years after Apple announced the iPhone for Microsoft to find its way–I wonder what shape WP7 would be in today if it had come together more quickly?

Google’s Free Holiday Wi-Fi Skips Layovers, Boards the Plane

Google is bringing back free Wi-Fi to holiday travelers, but with one major difference from last year: Airports are out, more airlines are in.

Delta, AirTran and Virgin America are all participating in the free Wi-Fi offer on all domestic U.S. flights, powered by Gogo. Last year, the offer was valid only on Virgin flights, and at 47 U.S. airports. A splash page will promote Google’s Chrome web browser.

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