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Using Video to Preserve Family Recipes

Gina Clark — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 22:43:58 +0000

I’m sure that some of you out there have a favorite family recipe that is a challenge to make. No matter how many times you’ve tried to make it, there’s something missing or different. One of the tragedies in my family is our inability to duplicate my mother’s spaghetti sauce and meatballs. I watched her make the meatballs and sauce many times throughout her life, and even wrote down the ingredients, but something always seems to be missing when I try to duplicate the recipe. I wish I had a recording of her making the meatballs that I could play on my laptop while I’m in the kitchen – I’m sure it would reveal the sleight of hand that added the secret ingredient or her special technique for rolling them. So if you have a favorite dish that your mom or dad makes, be sure to pull out that webcam and make a video record before it’s too late.

My Fifteen Albums

Tim Leehane — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 21:05:59 +0000

Okay, I admit it—I’m an avid Facebook user. And one of the latest fads on Facebook is answering survey questions and forwarding them to your friends by tagging them in the note, “25 Things I Didn’t Want To Know About You.” I typically ignore these virtual chain letters, but when I get tagged by one that has to do with music or audio, I just can’t help myself.

The latest music-related one that intrigued me is titled, “15 albums.” The premise is simple enough: make a list of fifteen albums that “had such a profound effect on you they changed your life or the way you looked at it.” This is one of the things that makes music so amazing and so powerful. Good, bad or ugly, music can take you back to a specific memory in your life within just a few beats – almost like a time machine.

What’s even more amazing to me was how quickly I came up with my list. I didn’t have to scan my iTunes library or glance at my old CDs. They were right there in my head, ready to be listed. So here I present to you the 15 albums that changed my life:

I could tell you the stories behind each and every one of these, but that would take a whole new blog post. I hope you enjoy reminiscing about the 15 albums that changed your life. I’m even more excited about the new ones I’ll add to this list in the future!

Customers Agree: Logitech WiLife Security System Easy to Set Up

Evan Tree — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 19:50:53 +0000

According to a recent customer survey, 96% of Logitech’s WiLife Video Security System users rate the system setup process “easy” to “extremely easy.”

The primary reason that people feel our installation process is easy is because the WiLife system virtually eliminates the need for wires, drills and ladders. Instead, you simply install the Command Center software on your PC, plug a receiver module into a nearby wall outlet and connect it to your PC via a USB cable. Then, plug your WiLife cameras into any wall outlet throughout your home and you’re good to go. The WiLife system uses HomePlug powerline technology to transmit the video back to your PC using your existing electrical lines, so you don’t have the hassle of additional wiring.

Once you’ve completed the installation process, the Command Center software gives you the ability to watch live video not only locally, but from any Internet-connected PC or Windows Mobile Phone, regardless of where you are in the world. You can also easily view motion-based recorded video events or receive e-mail and mobile-phone alerts.

If you don’t want to take my word for it, feel free to read some of our customer reviews to learn more about the products.

The New Logitech Harmony 1100 Advanced Universal Remote Control

Lloyd Klarke — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 08:01:17 +0000

Hi! I’m Lloyd Klarke and I’m part of the Harmony team in Toronto, Canada that makes kick-butt remote controls. My job at the office is the director of product marketing, but at home, I’m the backyard bar-b-que king.

I’ve always enjoyed the annual trek to Las Vegas for CES to see all the new products. TVs are always a highlight with bigger screen sizes and thinner profiles (I read that Samsung is now at 6.5 mm!). But what really amazes me is the dizzying amount of new devices launched every year for our living rooms. Thousands of manufacturers and thousands of products – that’s where Harmony remotes come in.

At this year’s CES, we’re announcing the newest addition to the Harmony line, the Harmony 1100, a 3.5” touch-screen, tablet-style remote. Like all of our Harmony remotes, it makes all those new (and old) devices in your living room work together. You just touch the button that says “Watch a Movie” and your Harmony powers on your TV, stereo, DVD player and sets all the inputs. (One customer told me that it even starts his popcorn maker!)

What sets the Harmony 1100 apart from the rest is its ability to deliver personalized control for my unique entertainment habits. Each of the main screens includes 2 sidebar areas where you can place whatever command you need (or want). For example, I have a HDTV and rent a lot of DVDs so I’ve added a surround sound button and an aspect ratio button to the screen that shows play, pause, and stop, (the transport screen). When we watch TV, I go for the movies and a few sports channels but my wife likes watching Brothers and Sisters and Lipstick Jungle on network TV. To make us both happy, I added channel logos to favorites screen and because we use a DVR, I then added a few TiVo commands.

But enough about me. I’d love to hear about your customized setup!

Buying CDs on Amazon Using Your Squeezebox

Robin Selden — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:39:37 +0000

I admit I’m not exactly 21st century when it comes to buying music. I still buy CDs and rip them to my iTunes library when they arrive in the mail. I like to own the music I truly love and use it the way I want. That is why, when I do download (for those times when I want immediate gratification), I download from AmazonMP3, not iTunes. Music purchased on iTunes can only be played on Apple devices and I do not want to be held hostage to any one device. Anyway, I digress.

Getting back to my CD problem. You know that feeling when you’re listening to a great song on Pandora or Rhapsody and you just have to own it? You want the music, but by the time the song is over, you haven’t figured out the name of artist and the moment is lost. Well, we’ve just added a feature to every Squeezebox to make it easier to buy a CD when you are in that moment.

If a song comes on your Squeezebox that you’re interested in purchasing, you simply select “on Amazon” and the albums that feature that song will be displayed. You select the one(s) you want to buy (there is no limit to the number of CDs you can add to your cart), and then you can either go to the Web to review your cart on Amazon.com for immediate check out, or you can save the album(s) in your cart for purchase at a later time. I recommend you try this – it is very cool.

Hope all your holidays are bright and alive with music,

Robin

Logitech’s New Comfort Lapdesk

Simone Chevalley — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 08:01:32 +0000

Hi, I’m Simone Chevalley and I’ve been with Logitech for almost 3 years as Global Product Marketing Manager within the Notebook Accessories team in Switzerland, I am a huge fan of cinema, I love to travel (been around quite a lot), I try to do some outdoor sports like running or playing tennis when it’s not too cold (which is rarely the case in Switzerland), and otherwise I ski (second thing you learn after walking around here).

Do you remember how liberated you felt when you got rid of your old desktop PC and switched over to your first laptop/notebook PC? Well, I sure do!

While I like working from home from time to time, I hate being stuck in one place – at the desk. Once I got a laptop, I started using it all around my home. Today, I mainly use it on my couch because it allows me to spend some time with other members of the household and at the same time get things done. I like the flexibility. I have to admit I also like to do my online billings on my couch while watching TV (it makes it less boring…).

While I appreciate being able to use my notebook anywhere in the home, last year I began to notice posture discomfort from having an unbalanced notebook on my legs. I realized that I couldn’t sit in as many positions as I’d like and I hated how hot the computer felt on my lap.

The Logitech Comfort Lapdesk is THE answer! I developed this product to protect the body from laptop heat and to provide additional posture comfort (thanks to its design and wide base, which provides stability when on your lap). The Comfort Lapdesk holds the notebook still in almost any position so you can enjoy even more flexibility of movement. It also raises the notebook screen closer to your eye-level for more comfort.

I am personally very sensitive to details of design in my home, so I wanted this product to fit any home environment, not just mine… (LOL). I think it’s very important to people nowadays to be surrounded by products that fit their lifestyle so I chose a sleek, attractive design in hopes of achieving that goal.

The only problem? I’ve found that once I started using it, I was truly addicted! Hopefully you’ll love the Logitech Comfort Lapdesk as much as I do!

New Logitech G9 Customized Grips

Erik Charlton — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 08:01:49 +0000

I’m intrigued by the various mods I’ve seen gamers make to their gaming machines. There is some really amazing stuff out there – great lighting, cool paint jobs, amazing water-cooling systems, and then there amazing total-system mods like the ones I saw at this year’s Maker Faire in San Mateo, California.

So, as you can imagine, I’m really looking forward to seeing what kind of mods our customers will design for our new G9 customized grips. If you own a G9 Laser mouse, you can now customize it by adding an image you choose. You can choose to add your guild logo, a family photo, or you can choose from among several designs we’ve developed (including a few from Command & Conquer Red Alert 3).

The ability to mod the grip isn’t the only new feature – this is also a new grip shape. For those of you who’ve been asking for a larger, even-more-comfortable grip for the G9, this puppy is for you. Our goal was to provide the shape of our popular G5 mouse with the performance and features of the G9 mouse.

We are very excited to launching this new service and look forward to your feedback. If you think your design is particularly creative, feel free to send it to blogitech@logitech.com so we can post the best designs.

Pandora Signature Series Squeezebox Boom

Robin Selden — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:46:01 +0000

I consider myself a pretty heavy radio listener. I am not a TV person, so I rely on radio to keep me informed and to help me discover new music. Playing and re-playing my own music collection can get me into a rut, not to mention that it annoys my 16-year-old daughter.

One of the greatest revolutions that is quietly happening on the Internet is the transformation of radio. Radio can now be listened to on your terms. You create the channels and you decide when and where to listen. The Squeezebox has dozens of fabulous music partners – Slacker, Rhapsody, Last.fm, RadioTime, RadioIO, Shoutcast, Live365, and Sirius, to name a few.

I have latched onto Pandora as my station of choice for parties and social occasions, using the variety of Pandora channels within different genres (for example, a Bob Dylan channel, David Bowie channel, Luce channel and Johnny Cash channel). I use the Johnny Cash channel when my father is visiting and it never fails to impress him. The great thing about Pandora is that it keeps serving up songs similar to your artist of choice and adjusts the playlist when you provide feedback about whether you like the song or not. Pandora has millions of fans and, for them, we’ve teamed up with Pandora to offer a signature series of Squeezebox Booms that have been personally signed by Tim Westergren (the founder of Pandora) and Sean Adams (the founder of Slim Devices. Yes, Tim and Sean sat down and personally signed 50 Squeezebox Booms.

We hope you enjoy them and I’ll be back here, on the blog, again soon. In the meantime, log onto an Internet Radio site and start listening. You will never think of radio in the same way again.

Introducing the New diNovo Keyboard, Mac Edition

Rory Dooley — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 08:05:02 +0000

This morning, on the heels of the recently announced diNovo Edge, Mac Edition, we announced the second keyboard made specifically for the Mac — the diNovo Keyboard, Mac Edition.

This latest product is a favorite of mine. I use a relatively old iMac at home (it’s a G5 system) and I had the chance to attach this new keyboard to it a few weeks ago. It immediately gave the system a newer, cooler feel and the design language of the keyboard sits well with the Mac, as well as in my living room, which is where the system resides.

I imagine that some of you might ask why we chose 2.4 GHz instead of Bluetooth? The answer is simple — responsiveness. This keyboard has no perceptible lag and is always connected (and the battery life is an amazing 3 years!). We spend a lot of time and energy (no pun intended) trying to minimize the power requirement of our devices. This is better for the environment (fewer batteries) and makes it essentially maintenance-free for the customer. Our 2.4 GHz technology also uses many proprietary algorithms for trouble-free operation, even in the busiest wireless environments, and offers a range of up to 10 meters for those using a Mac Mini with a large-screen TV.

One of my tests these days when trying a new product is to measure the time it takes from the moment I open the box to having the product running on my system. In this case, it was impressively fast – 2 minutes to have the hardware up and running and 10 minutes total with all the software installed (more later on the need for software). The key here is that the 3 AAA batteries are preinstalled and the packaging is a piece of cake to open.

The layout of the keyboard matches the layout of the full sized iMac keyboards. It also has all of the expected Mac shortcut keys (Safari, iTunes, etc.), but you will need to install our LCC software in order to take advantage of those shortcuts. The reason for this is that the Apple OS only recognizes Apple-made keyboards in terms of supporting the shortcut keys.

In my opinion, the real beauty of this product is that it includes our Perfect Stroke key system. This is really the highlight from a usage perspective. I love the responsiveness of the keys and also the forgiveness for my more-than-occasional off-center key hits. The product also has a metallic palm rest that provides ample support for my wrists — it really is incredibly sleek and beautiful from a design perspective.

As far as I know, the DiNovo Keyboard, Mac Edition is the only wireless keyboard for Macs on the market today that offers all this functionality and a full-sized numeric keypad. I look forward to hearing what you think when units begin shipping later this month.

Logitech Acquires SightSpeed

Gina Clark — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 01:56:27 +0000

I am very excited about the announcement we made today that Logitech has agreed to acquire SightSpeed of Berkeley, California. The great team at SightSpeed will be joining my business unit to help us drive the next wave of video communications technology.

They bring incredible passion and dedication around video communications and we are happy to welcome them to the Logitech family.