For anyone who’s fallen for x-ray specs, sea monkeys or anything else that you could order from the back of a comic book and found it to be a complete crock, it’s hard to believe that any product with a gimmick can deliver true value without a catch. Thankfully there’s a phone that delivers on two fronts, it’s immensely cool, while still being practical and powerful That phone is the LG Thrill 4G.

The first thing you’ll notice is the massive ...There's more

If you're looking for a happier happy hour, or for someone to spend that happy hour with, there's an app for that...

Happy Houred

Happy Houred is a free app that helps you find drinking deals when you're on the road, or looking for something new at home. Whether you're jonesin for gin, or yearnin for bourbon, it will geolocate you, let you chose the type of drink, the type of bar and the time you want to get drinking, and then delivers results on both map and list. Happy Houred is a user-generated database that has more than 20,000 bars and 75,000 happy hours in nearly 1,000 cities across the US and Canada. Download here and start getting happy.

meetMoi NOW

Here's the problem with most dating sites: You've got to do a lot of digging to find someone who's right for you. Or at the very least, right for right now. The free meetMoi NOW app however, is a "first" for the dating category ...There's more

The problem with wanting to bring your tunes to the beach, campground, slopes or trail, is that you either need to find a really long extension cord, or bring along a Sherpa to carry all the batteries you'll need.

So Etón, a leading emergency preparedness company and creator of green-powered electronics for outdoors, gives us the Soulra. It's a new portable sound system for iPod and iPhone that features a large, high-efficiency solar panel and a rechargeable ...There's more

Get your news, delivered your way, right to your phone. Hearst LMK (which stands for "Let Me Know") is a free app that helps you keep track of whatever matters to you most, especially when it comes to athletes and sports teams, and strips out the rest.

All you do is browse the list of over 2,000 topics that includes everything from college and professional sports teams, to music, movies, business, breaking news, politics and more. Select what interests you, then create your own personal up-to-the-minute news stream.

Featuring news, pics, and stats culled from 1,500+ sources that's filtered, curated and edited by experts -- and updated constantly -- the LMK app makes it easy to grab all the latest breaking news on all your sports teams, interests, celebs, politics, media and more, in one place, all for free. Plus all the updated player stats make it a must-have for Fantasy sports info.

To learn more about LMK head over to lmk.com or search the App Store for “LMK” to download. Your Fantasy league trophy awaits.

Listen, there's only one excuse for drinking green beer. And that would be if you are with a group of really hot chicks, and they want some.

So, should the luck if the Irish be with you, and you happen to find yourself in that situation, Waterfall Mobile can help you locate the pubs that are serving green brew on St. Patty's Day, via text.

Available in four major cities - San Francisco, Boston, Los Angeles and New York City - text “greenbeer” to MSGME (67463) and select your closest neighborhood. You'll get back a text with a nearby pub or brewery pouring the emerald suds. And hopefully something else for you.

We all have those situations where we need to tell someone something, but don't actually want to have to talk to them, lest we get into a heated discussion over it - I won't be making it to your niece's 4th birthday party, I blew the rent picking Ohio State over Penn State, I hooked up with your best friend and you and I are done - and we pray for the call to go to voicemail.

Now you don't have to leave it up to chance, or dialing at odd hours, to ensure you get a recording over a human. Slydial is a service that lets you skip the ring, and go straight to "leave a message at the beep." There's no sign up and no fees, all you do is dial 267-SLYDIAL from any phone, enter the US mobile phone number of the person whose voicemail you want to connect to, and you'll be directly connected to their voicemail. No arguments, no interrogations, no sitting through weeping and begging, just leave a message and hang up.

And since there are a bunch of situations where Slydial would come in handy, they want to know how sly you really are. They are running a nationwide YouTube contest where you can submit as many videos as you like, showing creative ways to use the service. The overall winner gets $3,000 cash money, and five $500 prizes are being given for Most Viewed, Most Creative/Unique, Best Use: Short on Time, Best Use: Avoid an Awkward Convo, and Best Use: When a Text Message Just Won't Cut It.

If you've got a video camera and think you're slyer than the next guy, you can enter the contest, and see the competition, by going here. The winners will be announced on January 9, 2009. Probably by leaving you a voicemail.

www.slydial.com

I've said this many times before: I won't drive without an earpiece - which I promise I only put in if I need to make a call, I don't wear it 24/7 - but do they all have to look so damn goofy? Makes me feel like I'm on my way to a Trekkie convension. The new Dragon V2 earpiece from CallPod fixes that with a new design that lowers the Geek Factor, while adding some needed features.

Looking more like a single headphone than a headset, the Dragon's round design makes it less bulky than typical bluetooth sets, and comes in Titanium Silver, Black Chrome and Carbon Fiber. Besides the look, it also offers dual-mic noise cancellation technology, multi-device pairing ability, a walkie talkie function, and a range of over 328 feet - ten times the average range of most devices - so you can roam the office without having to carry the phone with you.

For you guys who use your phone a lot, it gives 8 hours of talk time on a single charge, and 300 hours of standby time. And it'll switch back and forth from your cell to your PC for Skype calls with a single button push. But they had me at "Carbon Fiber".

$99.95
www.callpod.com

Ever given your number to a girl at a bar, only to sober up and realize she's a psycho stalker whose sole mission is to call you at all hours of the day and night to tell you how you've ruined her life because you didn't show to the love sacrifice ritual she arraigned for the two of you? Me too.

You can avoid the awkwardness (and relentless calling), with a Vumber. A "virtual phone number", it's a disposable two-way calling service you can link to any phone.

Once you subscribe, choose any area code in the US (told that blonde at happy hour you were a Wall Street big shot on vacation? Get one with a 212), and an available Vumber is generated. When someone calls that number you can either answer the call normally, have it ring busy, send it to a special voice mail, or have it play a recording that the number is no longer in service.

Your privacy is protected on outgoing calls, too. Just dial your Vumber, then dial the number you want to call. Your Vumber, not your actual phone number, shows up on their caller ID.

You can set up multiple Vumbers in multiple area codes and have them all go to multiple voicemail boxes. Which works, say, if you are a business trying to look like you have offices in multiple states. Or a frequent traveler who likes to give out a local number.

Use it for giving out on dating sites, social networks, job boards, when posting items online for sale, or when making purchases that require a valid phone number. It'll keep your phone spam to a minimum. And protect your privacy.

www.vumber.com
Limited time special - $4.99 per month, with 30 days free.
(Regularly $9.99 per month)

Finding your way from a printed map was fine back in Lewis and Clark's day, but not for you. You're a man of the 21st century. You haven't mailed a letter with a stamp since 1998. You haven't gotten your news from a newspaper in years. So why should you be expected to get directions from a static, paper map? You need cutting-edge technology. You need interactivity. You need a female voice ordering you what to do.

TeleNav GPS Navigator is a full-function navigation system that, instead of coming as an expensive, stand-alone piece of equipment, resides entirely on your mobile phone. I gave it a shot this week, and I was surprised how much was packed into what is essentially a cell phone app.

Once you launch TeleNav, (and agree not to do anything but listen to directions while actually driving), it gives you the option of getting driving directions by searching over 10 million businesses, coffee shops, ATMs, WiFi hotspots, hotels and even gas stations by price. Choose one and you'll get detailed voice and onscreen turn-by-turn directions. In 2D, or in 3D.

If you need to get to a specific address and you're already on the road, typing it in while driving isn't exactly the safest thing to do. TeleNav lets you hit one button and "talk" your destination into their system through a toll free number. Switch back over to the GPS, select the address when it pops up on the list, and you're off. Miss a turn and it'll reroute you.

The TeleNav Traffic function can even color-code the maps to alert you to traffic situations the whole way to your destination. If there's an accident ahead ...There's more

The iPhone gets all the buzz, but a lot of cell phones store and play MP3s. They may not hold nearly as many songs as your regular MP3 player, but they do let you bring a few key tunes along to serve as your own personal soundtrack. The only downside is you have to choose between using the corded stereo earbuds, which deliver the sound the way it was meant to be, or your much more convenient wireless Bluetooth headset, which only lets you listen out of one ear, defeating the whole purpose of having a stereo phone.

The new Plantronics Voyager 855 Bluetooth headset gives you both - stereo sound in a convertible wireless headset. Sharing many of the features of their other headsets - compact, lightweight design, the one-touch buttons that control music and calls, the sliding mic boom and clarity enhancing technology of AudioIQ - the 855 also comes with a detachable stereo ear bud and cable that clips to the headset and doubles as an ear clip.

The 855's earbuds come in three sizes to ensure a personalized fit, and are designed to seal out surrounding noise so you can hear your conversation or music more clearly. (Never mind the approaching fire truck.) A single button lets you switch between calls and music.

When you're not using the extra bud just snap out the cable, converting the 855 back into a mono headset. A single charge gives you 7 hours of talk/listening time and about 200 hours standby time.

$149.95
www.plantronics.com