22 Abr 07 Twenga, shopping search engine

#Sponsored Post #

If this blog is about product and services reviews, the website we are presenting you now is more or less about the same, on a shopping search engine format :-). We talk about Twenga, which despite being still in their beta version, looks like is gonna be one of the majors search engines about new products and shopping options for european consumers. The search engine is focused so far in 4 european countries (France, UK, Spain and Italy), and according to their creators, Twenga is defined as a next-generation shopping search engine, which, since it was launched in 2006 uses a proprietary crawl technology to agregate merchant offers so to make it powerful and easy to use.

I have been playing around a bit the site to find out its capabilities. I like that the main categories are displayed quite nicely on the top bar, so it is easy to go directly to the directory of the item you are searching for, be it computers, photo, video gaming,  or supplies,  to name the ones I am more interested in.

While looking for a laptop ( yes, I want to change mine :-)), it was quite easy to sort out the different options by brand, price, store and other parameters, so I finally got up applying several filters to get to the one I may buy soon. In this way, it works in a similar way as Yahoo Shopping!, and although I would have liked to see more filters so to digg more in the products, I am quite happy with the choices I got.

Another option to help us consumers find out best products out there, which is indeed not always easy!

21 Abr 07 MarketingMule, plenty of tools for marketers online

# Sponsored Post #. From time to time you find on the net new directories compiling the best of many things: the best sites about movies, the best web 2.0 blogs, the best decoration shops, etc. Now for almost everyone having something to offer via internet, this one, that we have discovered thanks to Sponsored Reviews, could be one of the handiest to keep in your bookmarks.

 

We are talking about MarketingMule, a directory of internet marketing tools and software with more than 1000 items on their list (not bad really :-)). The site is clean, with a well organised and easy to search database, where you can find almost anything you may be interested or you may need. I am, myself, pretty interested in all those kind of helping-stuff to make this great blog better known on the net ( yes, I know, even more! ), so going through the categories I found tools for creating rotating banners like Adpeeps,  track ads like Hypertracker,  or analysing my traffic stats with ActiveStats, among many  more.

I guess we can spend the whole day  browsing their archives for cool utilities to improve our website, online shop or blog. And apart from that, you get a full review of each product in a single page, so you can read about it before trying it, which is always good when there are several options. Also, in the home page, you will see an interesting section of updated articles on marketing to get more knowledge on the subject. So not only for professionals, but actually for everyone to improve our marketing capabilities!

 

19 Abr 07 Outpost-Earth, for bloggers needing traffic

Every single blogger dreams having lots of traffic to their little babies. Myself, of course, also ;-). I am very happy with all you guys following the info we post here continuosly and I am sure many of you have blogs on your own as well. Well, I have recently discovered a blog directory that actually does something for you :-).

I am talking about Outpost-Earth, which is a dynamic blog directory and world network organized by location and topic. The primary objective of the site is to provide exposure, drive traffic to and generate valid relevant link backs to our member’s blogs. Taking some information from their own site description, you can see immediately some differences.

Most blog directories simply place your site in it’s assigned category and there you are getting dusty and ignored. Unless someone goes looking for you you’ll never be found or visited. Outpost Earth addresses that issue by bringing a member’s blog front and center for all to see with each new post. A member’s blog not only appears on the Outpost Earth front page but it also appears at each location and/or topic “Outpost” it is registered at.

Also, if your blog is registered at Outpost-Tokyo and Outpost-Photography. With each new article/photo you post to your blog, your new update will appear at Outpost-Earth, Outpost-Asia, Outpost-Arts, Outpost-Japan, Outpost-Tokyo and of course Outpost-Photography plus it will also appear on the ‘Front Page” block located at each and every Outpost at the bottom of the second column.

That’s seven “plus” chances to be seen and visited with each update of your blog! One final thing, a visitor will notice our member’s area where member’s avatars are randomly displayed and organized by Outpost. Each one of these avatars is linked to the member’s profile page where you’ll find the member’s last five posts and personal information if the member chose to share.

With all of these possibilities to be seen, now we leave it up to the member to upload an eye catching avatar and post attention getting headlines to finish the job of generating traffic for themselves.

17 Abr 07 Optio Waterproof Digital Camera

If you are wondering how to take that incredible picture of colourful fishes swiming in the beach just in front of your house :-), well, what about getting a new waterproof camera?. The good news is that PENTAX has announced the latest Optio Waterproof model so there is no excuses now to do it (unless you can’t swim of course or you don’t have a house by the beach… ).

The waterproof design of the Optio W30 meets the JIS Class 8 waterproof standard, enabling it to withstand up to 30 minutes of continuous operation at an underwater depth of up to 2 meters. This camera is the latest model in the PENTAX Optio W series that are capable of underwater photography without requiring a waterproof case or other accessories, which is something I, and many people, really appreciate.

As well as the previous OptioW20, this model features a Blur Reduction High ISO mode that selects ISO up to 1600, and an upgrade to 7.1 effective megapixels to offer improved image quality in a fun, easy-to-handle package.

In summary, it is good product for this coming holidays, so you can enjoy incredible underwater pictures without having to deal with external protection for your brand new gadget.

16 Abr 07 Going on holidays? Check Hotelreservations.com

# This review is sponsored by Sponsored Reviews #

Easter is almost gone and many of us are already thinking where to go in summer. While trying to catch up again with normal working routine, I had this sponsored review coming, so I believe it is now the best time to present this new service. I am talking about HotelReservations.com, name says it all, doesn’t it?

I am sure you are not short of ideas of places to go, and as far as I can see their booking system can find you hotels almost everywhere in the planet. I just did a search in Bali, and even being in the middle of the high season I could find a few interesting options ( why I go to Bali is a topic for another post :-)) that will keep my budget under control.

But not only hotels can be booked through their website, also flights, cars, vacation packages and even cruises at a very interesting prices. Something I have liked when going through the site to find an hotel in Spain ( where I also plan to go soon ;-)) was that the interface could be turned into Spanish, so making it easier to search for what I was looking for.

Although the home page is condensed with lot of information an offers, it is pretty easy to find out what may best suit you, and they guarantee the lowest rates available on the net for their products. And if you have any question, just use the different customer service number available worldwide to reach their reservations center, you may end saving a nice bunch of euros for your next trip. We may even get to find each other in Bali or in Spain, don’t you think? :-)

15 Abr 07 Workspace Macro 4.6, automate and schedule computer tasks

If you love to automate and schedule any task on your computer to make your life just easier you have here a nice tool to create macros in any Windows application using a simple, intuitive process. You will not need any programming experience but just to record & replay. The tool we talk about is Workspace Macro 4.6, which features unique Smart Macro Technology that gives intelligence to your macros. It senses & automatically adjusts to changes between record and re-play conditions providing users with accurate, reliable & trouble-free macros.

Workspace Macro includes advanced features like password protection, enhanced macro management, many repeat options, accurate high-speed macro replay, IE plug-in, customizable UI, task scheduler and much more. You can also use it to login to websites, automate and schedule routine business processes like checking inventory, importing data into Excel or generating reports. Or use it to perform system maintenance functions, to test applications and web pages, to automate data entry at high-speeds, etc. All with just a single click!

 

13 Abr 07 Selkie Rescue, ready to deal with Vista crashes

The slogan could not be more catchy :-).The well known software Selkie Rescue Data Recovery, a fast and simple tool to recover data, has been tested against Microsoft’s newly released VISTA Operating System, and is fully able to recover date from any crashes of this new O/S, which we believe there will be many in the coming months ;-). Selkie Rescue – formerly known as Lifeboat Data Rescue – came through the latest data recovery tests with a five star report, so it is likely to be the good product their developers claim it is :-). 

The software uses a proprietary secure network file transfer method; rescued, recovered data and files can be safely transferred intact to any appropriate location on an accessible connected network and operates from its own boot CD, circumventing any possibility of corruption by virus, spyware, Trojans and other malware; because the Selkie Data Rescue boot CD is locked, there is no possibility it can be written to or corrupted by any malware

For those among you who wanna try it, a free trial version can be downloaded from Tugboat Enterprises’ website here