Oh how we laughed and cried when Colin Firth tried to woo his non English speaking Portuguese lady in Love Actually.

Because we know there’s nothing worse than going to a foreign country and not being able to speak the lingo.

Yes, shouting and making wild gestures to show what you mean will land you nicely with a fat lip or prison sentence (depending on the gestures) but it often does nothing to help the cause.

We can also bet you haven’t got the time or inclination to sit in a language school like Mr Firth and learn the language either which is why we absolutely love Lastminute’s new solution - a number of phrase books for your mobile phone.

All you have to do to get tell that Italian/Greek/French/Spanish/German bloke that he looks like Brad Pitt is download the software from Coolgorilla, pick out the correct phrase from the 300 provided, put your phone close to his hear and wait for it to parrot it out, complete with an authentic accent.

Oh and Colin it's also available in Portuguese for when you want to tell your Love Actually interest that you are leaving her for us – well its not something you would really learn in a lesson now is it?

May 1, 2007 in Websites | Permalink | Comments (1)

Come on admit it, we all like a bit of bling – well we wouldn’t be girls if we didn’t like a bit of sparkle now and again, and whilst diamonds are a rich girl’s best friend, Swarvoski crystals are ours.

So imagine our glee when we stumbled across a newly launched site that encrusts a range of gadgets in these little gems.

Yes, yes we know, there are hundreds of companies exploiting our little buddies and doing the same thing but what makes The Crystal Chick so different is the fact that all items can be personalised to suit your tastes so you can be as bling or as subtle as you like. 

Now we are usually quite calm but we nearly had to be escorted out of the building whilst on this site - jumping chimpanzees are clearly not allowed in the Techboutique office.

The site is like a treasure chest. As well as the standard encrusted earphones it also contains other treasures such as jewel encrusted mini mice (keep your eyes peeled for a review later on this month) and iPod Nano covers with Swarovski cartoon characters – oh dear someone hide our credit cards now.

April 11, 2007 in Websites | Permalink | Comments (2)

Ok so a poll has shown that women are far more interested in gadgets than many first thought; huge pat on the back for coming up with that conclusion ten years too late.
Frankly we are disappointed that our sister site Gizmodo had to go to such great lengths for this to come out.

Yes there is still a gender divide in some industries such as hair and makeup, (how many guys know what GHD stands for?) and cars (how many girls blame their other halves for the smell a catalytic converter makes?). However, the technology gap is closing as quickly as your other halves wallet when he see’s the price of the Gucci bag you want.

Gizmodo is definitely on the right tracks when it comes to girls and the gadget market and guys should take note of their wise words- pink is patronising and mentioning menstrual gadgets (do they even exist?) will give you more slapped cheeks than pats on the back.

What guys and gadget sites need do to do is give us a bit of TLC- Technology Loving Comments.
We can’t deny we don’t like pretty shiny things, what girl doesn’t? But instead of lumping us with products that are fluffy and cute, treat us the same as you would the guys and give us comments that relate directly to the technology of the product rather than the exterior. If you do this we are far more likely to read it and listen to our other halves when they talk to us.

To the men who complain that their other halves don’t have an interest in gadgets, if you let us play with them once in a while without moaning about us scratching the screen or pressing the buttons too hard, and spent as much time with us as you did playing the latest game then maybe, just maybe, we would begin to respect rather than resent the world of technology.

And one last thing- to those guys who shy away from admitting they are gadget geeks we think its more sweet than freak so stop hiding behind your lager lout mates/disguises and talk technology.

January 3, 2007 in Websites | Permalink | Comments (1)

If you find that typing in a seemingly innocent word into the Internet brings up a whole host of nasties that you would rather not see, then new predictive web search site Scandoo.com could be right up your street.

Simply go to the home page, put in your search term and Scandoo.com will scan every result for anything malicious, providing classifications next to each result. For example, they can advise whether site is safe (with a green tick), approached with caution (an amber ?) or a no-go area (with a red x). The site can also detect malware or spyware and any other offensive or illegal content.

Give it a go, the results are quite accurate and this could be a boon for families who find searching the web is risky.

May 22, 2006 in Websites | Permalink | Comments (0)

DIY and home repairs can be a real headache if you don't know what you're doing and it can sometimes be a nightmare to find a reputable tradesman to help you out, so here's a website we think could be really useful.

Rated Tradesmen helps you locate skilled professionals in your area, which have already been rated by past customers. Simply type in your project details online and you will be put in touch with three trademen in your local area who are ready to give you a quote.

When the job is completed, you then leave a review of the work you had done, rating quality, value and reliability.

We think this is a great idea, as long as there are enough people contributing, and it means you know that whoever you choose hopefully won't leave you with a leaky roof for three weeks!

May 15, 2006 in Websites | Permalink | Comments (1)

If you have a penchant for gambling, then new poker site PKR.com could be right up your street.

With 3D high-res graphics enabling you to really get into the game with facial expressions and body language, you can personalise your character. As you build up loyalty points, you can even have a complete replica of yourself made up from a photograph by the site's design experts.

Apparently around 30-40% of online poker players are women, not that we've met any, so maybe many of you are closet gamblers. If you fancy a whirl head over to the PKR site and you can pre-register and take a look before the big launch in June.

May 12, 2006 in Websites | Permalink | Comments (0)

When you are out and about and you need to know what street that funky new bar is on or where the best place is for cocktails, then look no further than 82ASK, a new information service for you mobile.

Text any question you want to 82275 (82ASK) and within moments you will have an answer, any place, any time, anywhere. Or you can register online and ask from the web.

At £1 a go it might be a little pricey to use all the time, but when you need information on the move, it could be an invaluable service.

May 9, 2006 in Websites | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google have created a nifty calendar which lets you access your diary via the web, so you can organise your time and never miss another important event.

This free tool lets you share dates and events with others, and you can even set up groups for your friends or societies so you can see what everyone else is up to, plus you can import and meetings from Microsoft Outlook or Yahoo calendars.

We've had a quick go and it seems pretty easy to use, and with the ability to recognise events mentioned in emails (if you use Gmail) you'll have no excuse to miss important appointments again.

Take the tour of the Google calendar and check it out for yourself.

May 3, 2006 in Websites | Permalink | Comments (0)