A Brazilian businessman traveling in Germany watched by live video as a burglar robbed his house on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean in Brazil. Once police were alerted, they rushed to the house and arrested the robber as he was trying on clothes. The businessman, Joao Pedro Wettlauser, was in Cologne this weekend when he received an alert on his cell phone from the security system in his beach house in Guaruja in Sao Paulo state. He logged on to his laptop and via the Internet saw live images of the burglar at work. He then phoned his wife, who was not at the house but called the local police.

This morning, the music software and remixing company Nayio is launching its Humming Search feature in the U.S. This tool is supposed to be able to identify songs by listening to you hum a few bars. If you hear a catchy tune on the radio and it gets stuck in your head, and you don’t know the artist, Humming Search could save your sanity.

If you want device protection, but don’t want to hide away your phone, Proporta has an option for you. Crystal Cases from Proporta are made from the same durable polycarbonate plastic as protective eyewear. The Proporta Crystal Case is shatterproof, shock absorbent, and is completely clear. This means that you can always see the screen when the case is shut–ideal when your phone is in constant use. Cut outs give access to ports and controls and a secure closure catch prevents accidental opening. These cases are available for various model.

Boxwave has released new armor, FlexiSkin, and Designio cases, as well as batteries, cradles, and styli for a variety of PDAs and smartphones. Specific devices include the Dopod 838 Pro, the HTC Trinity and TyTN, the Q, O2 XDA, T-Mobile Dash, Nokia 6288, and Sony Ericsson Z610i.

Memory card and MP3 music player producer SanDisk said on Thursday a legal battle with MP3 patent holders is ongoing and shrugged off a statement from a patent pool firm claiming a judicial victory. Sisvel from Italy which collects royalties for audio coding technology used in MP3 players and set top boxes–also on behalf of other firms like Philips Electronics from the Netherlands and France Telecom–has accused SanDisk of not paying for the technology.

The following article is an interesting take on the increasingly popular virtual press conference by Cox News’ David Ho.

SplashData has released a Windows Mobile version of its SplashShopper list manager. Simultaneously, SplashData announced the release of its SplashWallet productivity suite for Windows Mobile. SplashWallet for Windows Mobile includes SplashID, SplashPhoto, and SplashShopper as a bundle for a discounted price. SplashShopper offers a powerful and easy way to manage everything from holiday gift lists to grocery shopping for family get-togethers to keeping track of DVD rentals. SplashShopper enables users to share lists any kind with family members, friends or colleagues. SplashShopper also includes a full-featured Windows desktop application that allows users to quickly synchronize lists between a handheld and desktop computer.

Bummed that the WestBay yacht is going to someone else this holiday season? Dejected that no one would share Alienware love with you? Perhaps you’re still moderately worthy. Here’s our $50-500 gift guide.

Read this Computing Unplugged article.

So, no one’s going to buy you that Bugatti Veyron you’re dreaming of, eh? Well, perhaps you’re loved enough to merit a gift that’s just expensive ($500-$5,000), rather than something in the millions. If you’re looking for geek toy love, you’ve found the right place.

Read this Computing Unplugged article.

Al Shugart, a pioneer in the computer disk drive industry and one of Silicon Valley’s most colorful entrepreneurs, has died. He was 76. The founder of Seagate Technology, now the world’s largest maker of computer disk drives, died on Tuesday following complications from heart surgery, said Julie Still, a family friend and Seagate spokeswoman. Shugart, who once ran his dog Ernest as a candidate for Congress, was beloved at Seagate for his coach mentality in grooming young executives, despite a sometimes gruff manner.