New electrowetting technique could do e-paper on real paper, lead to disposable Kindles

Wahey, another day another theoretical display that will revolutionize the world, this time one that fits right in with your disposable, capitalistic lifestyle. Researchers at the University of Cincinnati have found a new way to utilize electrowetting, modifying the water repellency forces of a given surface to move colored ink and create a reflective display -- a technique that has long been the domain of Liquavista. This new version of that technique enables the creation of e-paper on actual paper, requiring no glass or fancy circuitry and, in theory, creating displays nearly as cheaply as magazines are printed today, opening the door to disposable e-readers and the like. No word on when such devices might be available outside of a lab, but we'll go ahead anyway and take this opportunity to remind you should always recycle your high-tech future e-readers.

New electrowetting technique could do e-paper on real paper, lead to disposable Kindles originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Nov 2010 06:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Most Helpful Ways to Use Google Voice that You're Not Using [Video]

Google Voice is suddenly everywhere—in Gmail, Android devices, and now even on iPhones. Beyond the basic call/text/voicemail services, though, Google Voice can do some pretty incredible things. Here's a look at the more unusual—and unusually helpful—alternate uses.

If you're just getting into Google Voice and all its call-routing, free-SMS-sending, and voicemail-transcribing ways, we'd suggest taking a glance at our tips on easing your transition to Google Voice and these 10 clever Google Voice tricks. Also, if you're signed up for Google Voice, but as a voicemail-only user, take note that not all of these uses may be available to you (but most are).

The Killer Alternate Number

Signing up for the "full" Google Voice service provides you with a new number in your area code of choice. Maybe you don't want to change a number you've had for a while, though, or you just can't bear to switch again. Here are some clever uses for that free Google Voice phone number that don't involve completely changing your number.

Permanent Emergency Contact Number:

Rather than provide your own number, your spouse or parents' numbers, and try to be on top of any changes that occur in perpetuity, set up a Google Voice number and give that out as your emergency number. Hook that number up to your phones and any other emergency contacts' phones, and swap them in and out as your lives progress.

Get a Second Number in Another Area

If you're keeping your standard cellular number, but you'd like to get a number in another area code for logistics or appearances, grabbing a Google Voice number is a free and fairly pain-free way to do it. But what if you already have a Google Voice number and would like a second? Do what reader Phillip did and set that number as a "home" or "work" for the second account (or on both accounts, if you plan to use them equally). Your secondary number won't be able to forward text messages through standard SMS, but you can have them emailed to you instantly. On most smartphones these days, that's as good as SMS.

Trade Pre-Paid/Trac Phones Under One Number

If you're not a heavy phone talker, or you just like the contract-free nature of pay-as-you-go phones, you can at least keep the same incoming number without having to go through a manual switch by hooking those phones into your Google Voice number. Dialing out isn't as convenient, but can be made easier, once you learn your contacts' Voice-specific numbers (detailed by Gina).

Hand Out Your Voice Number, Then Screen It

It's not really a hidden or even obscure feature of Google Voice, but the depth of call screening, filtering, and blocking in the service likely goes unexplored. If you're not dedicated to your Voice number, you can have your contacts keep calling your trusted number. Your Voice number? Give it out to companies or pepole you know will be phone-spamming you, or use it on personal business card (or discrete slips of paper). You can have Voice make each caller say their name and present it for you before taking the call, and set offenders of your free time to always go to a specific voicemail. Truly egregious jerks can even be sent to what sounds like a wrong number. Now, that—that is sweet justice.

The Free Voice-to-Text Transcription Service (for More than Just Voicemail)

Google Voice's voicemail transcribing powers are far from infallible, but it's often good enough to get the gist—especially if you're the one talking, and you know how to speak steady and clearly.

Create a Searchable Personal Dictation Machine

Calling your own voicemail to speak your own ideas is weird. Emailing yourself while driving is deadly. Instead, set up Google Voice to take a call from your own number, transcribe it, and keep it stored in your Voice or Gmail database, or forwarded to any service you use. We turn to Mark Stout's setup and Drew Vogel's idea for inspiration. Vogel sends along his messages to Outlook, while Stout keeps his stashed in Evernote. Mix and modify to fit your own speech-as-text needs.

Blog or Write to Other Services

You can set up Google Voice to blog to a WordPress site when you leave a voicemail, as MakeUseOf.com details. We'd recommend expanding their filter to require an activating word, so that not all of your self-dialed voicemails end up on your site, but it's a great picture overall of how Voice's transcribe-then-email function can interact with any web service that functions through automated email checking.

The Phone Upgrade Tool

By its very nature, Google Voice makes your phones smarter by knowing when to ring them, and ringing them all from one number. But it has a few unofficial ways to save you money and boost your phone's own convenience powers.

The Bill Reducer

Google Voice officially offers free calls through Gmail, but there are other ways you can connect through the service to call for free. We covered one VoIP setup that basically turns Voice into a Skype-like service, and there are solutions for Android phones, too—the How-To Geek's compendium offers an updated how-to on connecting Android to SIPgate. And while Google Voice's official smartphone apps now connect you through individual dialing numbers, you can make what you know will be a long call a freebie by assigning your Google Voice number as one of "your 5" on your cellular plan—just call your own Voice number, then dial out from the menu prompt.

Add Contacts Faces as Speed Dial Icons on an iPhone

There are apps that create custom shortcuts for iPhone screens; some of them require jailbreaking. Using a Google Voice account and a little Web Clip magic to add Google Voice visual speed dialing to an iPhone. It's a little wonky to do over and over, but once you've set up one or two important contacts, you get access to all their numbers, right from your home screen.

Set Recurring or Temporary Quiet Hours on Your Phone

In the Advanced Settings area of Google Voice's Phones menu on the web, you can set the times in which each hooked-up phone will ring. But if you're about to hit crunch mode, or you should otherwise be without rings or buzzes, you can set up a do-not-disturb timer on your account for X minutes, hours, days, or weeks.

The Automatic Voicemail Forwarding Service

If you're in a long-term relationship, you know that sometimes the two members of the team often assume that each person knows everything the other person has heard from friends, relatives, and other contacts. Google Voice itself can only forward all or none of its messages to certain email addresses—but if you forward to a Gmail address, you can then use your Gmail Master filtering skills to have certain messages automatically forwarded to others (i.e. "has the words: 'New voicemail from Dave'"). That way, when the contractor calls and says the appliance delivery is set for Monday at 9 a.m., nobody's left wondering if they'll come home to a refrigerator on the lawn.

The Tool That Turns Gmail Into a Land Line

Adam already covered eight ways to put Google Voice to use in Gmail. The theme of the batch? With Voice calling available from inside Gmail, your regular workstation—desktop, laptop, or other—can serve as a kind of VoIP land line. Switch your calls from your cell to your PC to save on minutes, take a speakerphone or conference call through Gmail, use the pop-up call windows as a form of instant caller ID, and get more control over call recording—just as if the boss had given you one of those fancy phones from the 90s with all the 80+ buttons.

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We racked our brains, asked our friends, and dug through the deep archives to find these nifty uses of Google's free phone service. What do you use Google Voice for that's not on the label? What's the cleverest Voice hack you've seen? Tell us about it in the comments, and we'll add it to the post and give you the glory.

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How to Get the Best Deals with All Your Online Shopping [Deal Week]

Online shopping can quickly become overwhelming during the holiday season. Here's how to stay organized, focused, and keep on top of all the great deals when shopping online.

Deal Monitoring Browser Extensions

It's easy enough to check deal sites, like DealNews and Dealzon, for the best price, but it's just as easy to forget. Browser extensions PriceBlink and Invisible Hand both handle this problem by suggesting a lower price for any item you're shopping for if it finds one. There are subtle differences between the two extensions, but for the most part they're the same. Notably, PriceBlink will also provide related coupons and mail-in rebates, even when they apply globally to any store, and Invisible Hand will suggest low prices during a Google search. You'll be served equally well by either extensions, but many users have their preferences (we're pretty split here at Lifehacker) so we're offering you both.

PriceBlink  •  Invisible Hand

Coupons, Coupons, Coupons

Before you buy anything, check for a coupon. Even if you don't have one, you can generally find one online through a number of web sites. While there are a bunch of options, RetailMeNot is particularly easy to use. You just search for the store you're looking for and it'll display a bunch of coupon codes. RetailMeNot also displays success rates for each coupon so you can see how it worked for others. If you don't want to have to visit the site each time you're going to buy something, RetailMeNot also has a browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox, letting you check for relevant coupons while shopping on a specific site.

Monitor Your Daily Deals

In addition to your basic coupon searches, you should keep an eye on group coupon sites like Groupon and LivingSocial. Many have plans to offer their best deals during the holiday shopping season and you may be able to save quite a bit of money by keeping a watchful eye.

Daily deal sites like Woot! are also great to watch, as you can often find an item you're looking for at a huge discount (especially if someone on your gift list wants a refurbished flat screen television or a Roomba). Check daily to be sure you don't miss out on anything good. If you want to make things even easier, you can install the Woot! Watcher browser extension for Chrome or Firefox.

Stay Organized with Wish Lists

Keeping track of all your online shopping can be a lot of work, so it's best if you keep everything nicely organized. A shopping list on a piece of paper, or with a great to-do app, will work just fine, but you can make things a lot simpler with wish lists. Amazon's Wishlist is a great choice because you can add products outside of Amazon and organize multiple lists. With browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari, as well as a wish list bookmarklet for other browsers, you can browse to any product page and quickly add a product to any of your lists. When you've got everything organized you can tackle all your buying quickly by going down your wish list.

Amazon Wish List | Chrome • Firefox • Safari

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Got any great tips for getting the best deals for online shopping? Let's hear 'em in the comments!

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Nielsen: 31 percent of kids want an iPad, other stuff

Hey look, a chart with the iPad on top. Aren't statistics fun? And yet, this chart may not mean quite what you think it does. The Nielsen Company presented a cadre of individuals with a list of nice, shiny gadgets and let them cross off anything and everything they'd like to buy in the next six months, and 31 percent of kids 6-12 picked the iPad as one of them. That doesn't mean these youngsters wanted the iPad any more than a game console, mind you, it just means more of them picked the tablet than any other single game console on the list. Also, it turns out that the iPad was the only tablet PC available, so it could well ave served as a proxy vote for other slates -- Galaxy Tab, anyone? The survey results also don't factor in ownership, so if the Xbox 360's low on the buy list, it could be because respondents already have one... but we suppose this is the definitive proof we've been searching for that e-readers are on the outs in the 12-and-under crowd. Jeff Bezos is crying over his evening oatmeal right now. After the break, see what the same chart looks like for teenagers and adults. (Hint: they aren't all that hot on handhelds.)

Continue reading Nielsen: 31 percent of kids want an iPad, other stuff

Nielsen: 31 percent of kids want an iPad, other stuff originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Nov 2010 00:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Data Visualization, Visualized [Chart]

We love nice charts and data visualization. That's why we like this meta-chart: Data visualization, visualized. Design, user interface, information, data journalism, communication and visual communication, merging. [Ffunction]

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