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If you want to keep your e-mail looking nice and neat, a short hypertext link looks a lot cleaner than pasting lengthy URLs.

Though a few handy editing shortcuts are supported in Gmail's rich text editor, inserting hypertext links previously only worked via the link button on the Gmail toolbar.

Lifehacker recently discovered that you can now use a keyboard shortcut, too. Just highlight the word(s) you want to link, then hit Ctrl-K in Windows or Command-K on a Mac, to bring up the "Edit Link" window.

That's it. For more Gmail tips and tricks, … Read more

Unlike a few other major social media companies that declared an IPO in 2011, LinkedIn shows no signs of slowing down.

LinkedIn reported fourth quarter earnings of $6.9 million, or 6 cents a share (statement). Non-GAAP earnings were 12 cents a share on a revenue of $167.7 million, up 105 percent compared to $81.7 million for Q4 2010.

Wall Street was looking for a fourth quarter profit of 7 cents a share on revenue of $159.7 million.

Shares climbed by 4 percent to $79.85 in after hours trading on Thursday.

For 2011 overall, LinkedIn posted … Read more

Mark Ecko beefs up its Unltd.Sound series of streetwear headphones with two new over-ears blasted with bright colors.

The company today announced the Exhibit headphones that make bold statements in green, blue, red, gray, and white. The guts feature standard 40mm drivers but the presser makes no mention of an in-line remote control to control music on smartphones, which sounds irritating for users that prefer to keep their devices in a backpack or tucked away in a pocket.

The bright designs of the Exhibit headphones are inspired and extended to Ecko's matching CE accessories that include a range … Read more

The $145 D-Link Amplifi HD Media Router 2000 DIR-827 is the third I've reviewed in D-Link's Amplifi family of wireless routers, but it comes with lot of firsts.

This is the first true dual-band router from D-Link that I'm aware of that comes with internal antennas, making it much more compact than previous true dual-band routers, such as the DIR-855. It's the first on the market to come with a USB 3.0 port, instead of USB 2.0. And finally, it's the first I've seen to come with an SD card slot, in … Read more

How many contact lists do you have? A new iPhone app from Xobni unifies your contact lists into one app (already available for Android), helping you quickly find contact information from a number of sources.

Smartr Contacts for iPhone (Free) unifies your contacts by scanning your iPhone contact list and e-mail contacts, then grabbing information from social sites like Facebook and Twitter, to merge all the available data into a searchable supercharged contact list.

You start by adding your Gmail account, then social sites like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Once connected, Smartr Contacts goes to work tying your contact data … Read more

LAS VEGAS--At CES 2012, JVC presented an upgraded version of its previous-generation Advanced External mode and renamed the connection "App Link mode."

Those looking to take advantage of iPhone and iPod Touch apps in their car can make use of App Link mode, found in the 2012 line of JVC car audio and video receivers, to display and control supported applications using the stereo's color touch screen. Okay, so JVC's not the first manufacturer to claim this functionality, but what strikes me as interesting is the selection of app partners announced as part of the initial … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Chip maker Freescale sees smartphone integration as the future of automotive infotainment systems.

Luke Smithwick, who runs the Driver Information and Infotainment Business section of Freescale, points out his daughters as an example of how young people's lives are on their smartphones. And no matter what regulations might be passed, those phones will find a way into the car. So Smithwick's mission is to work on technology that can safely integrate smartphones with driver information systems.

Among its displays here at CES 2012, Freescale had a head unit with its version of MirrorLink enabled, a new technology … Read more

LAS VEGAS--You'd better not leave this among the candies, at the risk of swallowing it.

TP-Link showed off at CES 2012 what is arguably the tiniest Wireless-N router yet, called the 150Mbps Wireless N Nano Router (model TL-WR702N). This router is about just the size of a square of white chocolate and looks like one, too.… Read more

LAS VEGAS -- D-Link said today at CES 2012 that it fully supports and is ready for the new era of Wi-Fi that's based on the new 802.11ac standard.

This resonates with the announcements of TrendNet, Cisco, Broadcom and other networking vendors. D-Link doesn't have any 802.11ac products to demo or showcase at the show, however.

The 802.11ac standard the upgrade to the existing 802.11n specification (known as wireless N) and is considered to be the wireless standard for the "post-PC era" of data connectivity. This is because over time, the number … Read more