GeekSugar

Gadget Girl: Blair Still Rocking the Orange LG eNV!

GeekSugar — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:00:46 -0700

Even though Gossip Girl's relationships can change in an instant, as we saw on the season finale, it's nice to know that some things never change!

Showing some loyalty as her character usually does, Blair showed up filming for next season using the same orange LG enV phone that she used for most of last season (although in my poll, most of you said she seemed more likely to have a Prada phone). She had it constantly, as you can see in my compilation of last season's tech quizzes.

The LG enV no longer appears to be available in orange through Verizon, but I admire Blair for stickin' with a phone that's a little more hard to come by these days. And I always kind of wondered why her character would choose that color, and now I think I have an answer: It goes with these shorts!

For more GG thirst quenching on the Summer hiatus, make sure you take my Ultimate Season 1 tech quiz!

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Flynet and photos courtesy of The CW

Geek Goods: Blair's New Maroon Cell Phone on Gossip Girl

GeekSugar — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 10:01:39 -0700

Loyalists to geeksugar's Gossip Girl tech quiz would know that this season, the casts' season one cell phones have been replaced with flashier, more up-to-date cell phones. Mizz Blair Waldorf here, you'll note, had an oft-matching orange LG eNV last season, but is now sporting the new version of the same phone: the LG eNV2.

What's fun about the choice is that the older and newer version both came in black, and then a couple random color options. Both times, Blair has had the fun color; first orange, and now maroon. It's an interesting fashion choice because though black is always chic, color is bold and daring (not unlike how Blair's prim siren dresses).

Want to follow in my favorite mean girl's tech footsteps? The eNV2 is available from Verizon for $100 and includes a full QWERTY keyboard, a music player, Bluetooth support, and a 2.0-megapixel camera. And yes, it does come in black for those not as bold as Blair.

Photo courtesy of The CW

eNVious: Vanessa's Cell Phone on Gossip Girl

GeekSugar — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 02:00:06 -0800

On the arm of Nate, Vanessa's social status - and screen time - has definitely increased on Gossip Girl. The onetime gal pal of Dan, Vanessa is now holding her own at places like the opera, in gorgeous formal confections. She also carries a pretty stylish cell phone, a silver LG eNV.

The original eNV is a great little phone, but it makes for interesting placement on Gossip Girl. That's because the original eNV, in orange, was Blair's cell phone in season one, and if you've been paying attention, you'd know that she upgraded to a maroon eNV2 for the second season.

The silver eNV that Vanessa carries is not even available on Verizon's website anymore, so I wonder if this is an intentional characterization for Vanessa, who's treated as an inferior by Queen Bee Blair because of her Brooklyn status.

Is it just coincidence, then, that Blair has the same phone - just newer, and slightly better?

Photo courtesy of The CW

Blair on her orange LG enV

GeekSugar — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:45:34 -0700

Blair on her orange LG enV

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Celebrity Geek Hideout: LG House Malibu

GeekSugar — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 09:00:10 -0700

We're all too familiar with the celebrity red carpets at cell phone and gaming console release parties, but how else are electronic companies wooing celebs? LG electronics turned a trendy beach house in Malibu, California into what Oh Gizmo calls a "geeks dream home." The 3,500 square foot abode is right on the beach and outfitted with the latest electronics and appliances from LG, such as a 71” LG plasma HDTV connected to one of LG’s dual format HD DVD “Super Blu” players, the new enV Orange phone and the LG VX9400 phone, and of course, a LG HDTV refrigerator that has a 15” HDTV in the door.
Sadly, the beach house isn't for regular geeks like you and me. Chris Brown, Nick Cannon and Emmy Rossum have had parties at the pad while Universal Media Studios used the LG House for a party for the cast of shows like Heroes and The Office. What's a girl gotta do to get an invite?
Source: Oh Gizmo

Upper East Side Upgrade: Serena Got Another New Cell Phone!

GeekSugar — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 06:00:24 -0800

I recently highlighted Serena's brand-new cell phone for this season, the black LG Venus. But it looks like you just gotta give this girl a couple of episodes, and she's down at the Verizon store, upgrading that thing. Maybe she was taking a cue from Blair, who carries a maroon LG eNV2, and likes adding color to her wardrobe - the new cell is cherry red.

That's not all that's saucy about it; it's the Samsung FlipShot ($170 after discounts), which boasts a 3-megapixel camera (the iPhone's is 2-megapixels) - my fave feature. You can also record video and give black and white effects to your cameraphone photos with the FlipShot - maybe she's trying to be more arty like her new beau?

On that note, do you think Serena upgraded or downgraded (I meant about the phones, but opinions about the old vs. new boyfriend are certainly welcome too)?!

Photos courtesy of The CW

Gossip Girl: What the Boys Are Carrying

GeekSugar — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 04:01:12 -0700

Pop may be concerned with who the hottest guy is on Gossip Girl, but I have yet another way to judge them beyond their pretty faces: What gadgets they've got! As I mentioned earlier this season, all the characters have new cell phones, like Blair's new LG eNV2 and Jenny's HTC Touch, but the love wasn't limited to the ladies. The guys have new cells too, and this season they're used for situations as scandalous as the girls get into. Check out what the dudes are dialing! Photos courtesy of The CW

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OMG! Can You Text As Fast As Paris Hilton?

GeekSugar — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 15:10:39 -0700

Have you ever wondered if you can text as fast as texting junkies like Paris Hilton or Rosario Dawson?

While I have no clue how fast either of the ladies text, LG is hosting the National Texting Championship NY edition and you too can get in on the finger fun. Players will compete in pools and be asked to type phrases on their enV / V handsets (yes, you have to be an LG user) exactly as they appear with no typos or abbreviations.

The first player in each pool who sends an error-free message to the right contact will advance to the next round. As game play continues, the phrases to be texted will increase in difficulty.

The west coast contest has already happened, but after the East Coast Texting Champion has been crowned, the bi-coastal winners will wage war for an additional $15,000. The LG National Texting Champion will win a total of $25,000. Like OMG - WISP. Oh wait, no abbreviations allowed. Like oh my god - winning is so pleasurable!

Source

Geeky Girl We Love: Peggy of BuzzFeed

GeekSugar — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 10:35:58 -0700

As much as I like to think I know what the buzz is on the net everyday, it's virtually impossible to always know what's hot and what's not. That's why I rely on BuzzFeed, a NY-based site that posts 10 "Buzz Detected" topics per day, so you don't get bombarded with content.

With a clean, fresh layout and categories ranging from science and celebrity to food and tech, you're guaranteed to find the most talked about stories on the net at any given moment. Have you read up on the Stephen Colbert Backlash, did you know James Lipton used to be a pimp and have you ever considered adding scrabble fashion to your wardrobe? Buzzfeed claims they use "technology and human editors to find the hottest buzz" on hot topics and they aren't kidding.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing one of the site's "professional trend detectors," senior editor Peggy Wang. Peggy has been working in the tech industry for the past five years is the total tech-savvy geek chic package so I had to put her on the spot and test out her geek cred. To check out the full interview, read more

Geeksugar: Tell us a bit about yourself...
Peggy: When I started working at BuzzFeed, it was almost a total 180 degree career change for me, moving from computer programming to creating content. Basically, I went from being a code monkey to a "tastemaker," which is awesome because now I get to incorporate my obsession with pop culture, music, fashion, etc. At BuzzFeed, I've always had the opportunity to delve back into the back end, but honestly, it's been a year and I haven't quite had the desire yet!

Geeksugar: With so much content on the Internet, how do you determine what is Buzzfeed worthy?
Peggy: Usually, I'll just spot something I think is interesting either in my RSS reader or in our trend detector, and then I do some research to see if the "buzz" is thought-provoking in some way, especially if bloggers seem to have vehement opinions or even just something clever or funny to say. Also, if I hear about some obscure movie or band or website that is getting some attention from respected resources (early adopters, if you will), then there's a good chance it could take off.

Geeksugar: What is your main goal for Buzzfeed? What are you hoping readers get when they visit?
Peggy: Well, I really love that the trends we choose to cover are a hodgepodge of interesting things that you might have a conversation about at a party. When I was a computer programmer, I didn't have time to read a lot of blogs or newspapers or magazines, and I always felt a little out of the loop and a step behind. So basically, I would hope that BuzzFeed helps our readers feel less awkward at parties. Also, we help make good things popular by giving bloggers ideas to write about. Truly "good" things don't need marketing dollars and huge advertising campaigns to gain steam - word of mouth is so much more powerful. If you've got a friend with great taste who recommends something to you, that means a lot more than seeing some flashy ad. That's why I think having human editors is so important. We use lots of technology to find features on BuzzFeed but in the end everything is written in a human voice by an editor with good taste.

Geeksugar: What are some popular tech and/or gadget trends on Buzzfeed?
Peggy: One of my favorite tech trends we did is The Mullet Strategy because it's a concept that we coined, and bloggers responded by writing about it and sending us their posts to link to. Some other popular ones were Hand-Drawn Video Games, Lifecasting, and Lolsecretz.

Geeksugar: Other than the iPhone, what gadget has created a lot of buzz on Buzzfeed?
Peggy: The Verizon Voyager is doing really well. And, um, stylish sex toys got lots of clicks.

Geeksugar: What websites do you love visiting and why?
Peggy: I love gossip sites that are clever and funny, like Best Week Ever and Jossip. The blogs for Wired and Vice Magazine always have really interesting posts. As far as personal blogs go, I love Momus' blog and this girl Jessica Hopper's blog (she's a writer for the Chicago Tribune, and I love her taste in music and writing style). I'm also addicted to eBay. And the Sugar sites are all interesting and really well designed.

Geeksugar: How many blog feeds are in your RSS reader?
Peggy: I have about 300 blog feeds that I read every day, but they get backed up pretty quickly. They are organized by category and I have a very methodical procedure for going through them. But sometimes if I'm feeling impractical, I'll spend a bunch of time going through my fashion feeds because I need an outfit idea for an event, or my food feeds because I want to make dinner that night. Two birds, one stone! Also, the BuzzFeed trend detector automatically "reads" and filters about 50,000 sites for me so I can see what is bubbling to the top. And I get dozens of tips and suggested links from BuzzFeed readers. All this information comes together in what we call the "BuzzFeed Terminal." It is like our own Bloomberg Terminal for web buzz and all the editors use it to find stuff and publish features.

Geeksugar: How many hours do you spend online a day?
Peggy: I'd say between 8 and 10. It's hard staying away from the internet before bed, but I try to keep an active social life to keep me away from the computer.

Geeksugar: Are you a PC or Mac user?
Peggy: I'm pretty exclusively a Mac user.

Geeksugar: Which do you prefer and why? BlackBerry, iPhone, neither.
Peggy: I was an iPhone pessimist at first, jaded by all the hype. Then, my friend Scott had one at this wedding I went to, and he was able to surf the internet during all the boring parts. Needless to say, I was jealous of his iPhone, even though he looked like kind of a tool. It's probably not the best etiquette to write an email while your friends are exchanging vows, but that's just the sort of power you've got in the palm of your hand with the iPhone. I personally use the LG enV, because I like having a QWERTY keypad for texting. Honestly, I don't really get enough email to justify having a BlackBerry. I wish I got more email. More people should write me.