the buzz log

From the people who have rocked your abs, mastered your thighs and trimmed your nose hairs comes a device to fix that turkey gullet you call a chin. 

The Neckline Slimmer is the latest As Seen on TV fix-it to rock the Buzz. Yahoo! searches on "neckline slimmer" have swelled, mostly from the double-chinned contingents in Boston, Los Angeles, Dallas, New York City, and D.C.

While we don't doubt "world renowned physiotherapist" Paul Younane for his ingenuity, the little device looks like an asthma inhaler with springs. According to the infomercials, you sandwich the device between your chest and your chin, and raise your head up and down...and for just two humiliating minutes a day, you could look years younger. The slimmer offers three resistance levels (beginner, intermediate and advanced), so you can build jowls so mighty you could break bricks with your jaw.

Of course, people aren't swallowing this fad whole, despite Younane's "personal" guarantee and bonus European firming accelerator cream (with separate shipping costs). Skeptical consumers have been scouting online for "neckline slimmer reviews" and asking "does the neckline slimmer really work." So far, blog comments from people who actually bought the exerciser just complain about shipping costs.

No feedback on its Amazon page either—although under "Customers also looked at" related links, there are at least 14 favorable reviews for the "facial flex" firming tool, AKA the Hannibal Lecter training mask.

But really, this is just one of the classic TV moments. Watch this for just two minutes a day, and the guffaws will make you look years younger. Stick a squishy ball under your chin for the extra burn.

Filed under: TV, Exercise, Gadgets

For years, people have been saying "This is this the year GPS goes mainstream." Well, maybe this year they're right. Searches on global positioning systems have doubled over the past 30 days, indicating the gadgets are a hot holiday gift.

In order help the directionally-challenged determine which system, if any, to invest in, we've ranked the top 20 GPS searches from the last month. May you make a minimum number of wrong turns en route to your final destination.

Filed under: Shopping, Gadgets

Our ears are still ringing from the prerelease hype for the Apple iPhone. Wall Street's senses must have been muddled, too. Even before the revolutionary phone was on shelves, analysts put a shine on their crystal balls, divining that Apple would sell anywhere from hundreds of thousands to a cool million of the products in its first few days on the streets. Yet after iPhone carrier AT&T announced a "disappointing" 146,000 activations in its first weekend, Wall Street wanted to hang up the phone on Apple.

Now that the hype and hot air have come down to earth, we see that sales were in line with what Apple predicted, and notably outperformed initial sales of Apple's other success, the iPod. The buzz on Apple's phone came in crystal clear as well. In its first 30 days on the street, the "iphone" query maintained a strong position in the top 100 searches, and even ticked up a precocious 8%.

Of course, there were a few other relevant searches in the iPhone's first month, including "iphone problems" (+4,652%), "unlock iphone" (+6,208%), and "iphone sucks" (+470%). All of which dials in on the fact that a product and a company's value are defined well beyond Wall street's jibber-jabber.

Filed under: Apple Computer, Gadgets, iPhone