Bridget Carey: The Digital Dish

Tech heads gather at Crisis Camp Haiti this Saturday at The Miami Herald

This Saturday from noon until 5 p.m., tech heads will gather at The Miami Herald to collaborate on digital projects that can assist Haiti's relief efforts by providing tools for information, maps and technical assistance for relief agencies.

It's a free event, and you don't have to be a programming whiz to volunteer time to help. There is guest parking at The Miami Herald. But just in case it fills up, better bring some money for the nearby parking lots.

Go to CrisisCampMiami.org to learn more and rsvp through EventBright.

View Larger Map

Product Review: eStarling TouchConnect digital photo frame

I got to test out the eStarling TouchConnect digital photo frame, which was shown at CES earlier this month. It's a touch-screen photo frame that works off your home Internet, whether that be Wi-Fi or Ethernet. It's got so many features, I couldn't list them all in 60 seconds. In this week's video, I didn't get to mention that it can access your Google calendar and Twitter feed... but viewing Twitter on a photo frame just seems like a pointless feature.

It can do some cool stuff, like sync your Facebook photos and let you e-mail photos from your phone directly to the frame. And I also like how you can stand it up or hang it on a wall (but it requires a AC adapter so you gotta hide the cord if you hang it).

Overall, it has so much potential for awesome, but it was a disappointment. You can read the print review here, or watch the 60-second review, which is conveniently located below for your viewing pleasure.

Product Review: Samsung Instinct HD smartphone, sold by Sprint

Sprint's Samsung Instinct HD touch-screen smartphone takes great photos and videos, but it'll drive a Facebook junkie crazy with a built-in app that's a little buggy.

The camera allows the user to control a few settings, like turning the flash on or off. The menu also has built-in apps for social networks and for popular sites, like CNN, Bloomberg and ESPN. Touch-screen keyboard has the option to respond to touch with a click and vibrate when a key is hit.

What irks me is that the selling point behind this phone is the ability to connect it to an HDTV to watch videos, but a HDMI cord doesn't even come in the box. Lame. Also, the Facebook app that comes installed on the phone is pretty glitchy -- it kept signing me off every few minutes and sometimes wouldn't let me sign on at all. Hopefully that's something that they can fix in a software update.

Read the full review here or watch the video below to get a better glimpse at the Instinct HD:

Comcast offers free communications hub for Miami's Haitian community

Comcast has set up a communications hub for the Haitian community at the Edison Little River Neighborhood Center, located at 150 NW 79th Street in Miami. Comcast's digital voice services are available fore free for anyone trying to call friends and relatives in Haiti. The hub will be open from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. for the next seven days.

View Larger Map

Comcast also announced today it is donating cash and in-kind services that total about $1 million. The company is providing free air time over its networks for earthquake-related public service announcements from the Red Cross, United Way and National Cable and Telecommunications Association.

T-Mobile not charging long distance for calls to and from Haiti

T-Mobile announced today it is not charging customers international long distance for calls made to Haiti -- that counts for any call made after the earthquake on January 12.

And any T-Mobile customer who is in Haiti can roam for free until January 31 on T-Mobile's partner networks in Haiti, Voila and Digicel.

T-Mobile also said it has pledged its support to donate wireless equipment such as generators and phones.

Verizon opens Haiti Relief Connection Center in North Miami

A North Miami Verizon Wireless store is offering free international calls, text messages and Internet access to anyone who is trying to reach family and friends in Haiti.

The Verizon store, at 14744 Biscayne Blvd. in North Miami (305-957-1101), will start the free service Friday, Jan. 15, from noon to 9 p.m. The free service will continue after that during normal store hours, Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Verizon is also matching dollar-for-dollar to all customers who donate $10 to the Red Cross by texting the message HAITI to the number 90999.

View Larger Map

EveryBlock adds micronews feature for Miami-Dade residents

The site EveryBlock.com has been around for awhile, but now launched a feature called Notify Your Neighbors. Post something that you saw or something that is happening, and anyone in that neighborhood, block or zip code will be notified next time they log on the web or use the new EveryBlock iPhone app.

Below is a screenshot of how you can send notifications to your "block" on the iPhone app. It sounds like a pretty handy micronews feed... just as long as people use it.

The service is now available in each EveryBlock city: Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

Peak 10 announces expanded $95 million credit facility

Peak 10, an information technology services company with a data center in Fort Lauderdale, has expanded its line of credit to $95 million between several lenders. This will help the company grow its data center offerings, such as cloud computing.

According to the news release, RBC Capital Markets led the credit expansion. GE Capital Corporation was the syndication agent and Royal Bank of Canada was the documentation agent. Royal Bank of Canada will act as administrative agent for the lenders.

In late December, Peak 10 acquired Fort Lauderdale-based 1Vault Networks, a business continuity and data services provider.

The Charlotte, N.C.-based company owns and operates data centers in 10 cities, including Tampa and Jacksonville.