TOUT – This week’s chosen app, TOUT, offers real-time video status updates posting from smart phones. As opposed to Twitter, TOUT is about “Life as it Happens” in full color, sound and motion.” The short video updates are called Touts, and offer a much richer feed of info, unlike written status updates on Facebook or Twitter.

As you can see in the image above, one of Tout’s most famous users is Shaquille O’Neill who, as TOUT claims, announced his retirement exclusively via the application on his mobile phone. Other popular users on TOUT are worth exploring and following as well. There’s no doubt video status updates are more interesting than textual ones, but I seriously hope TOUT will be successful where other video micro-blogging tools such as 12Seconds have failed. Currently TOUT is available on the App Store and will soon be available for the Android and iPad as well.

To learn more about TOUT, watch this video.

Getaround – This innovative startup is the 2011 TechCrunch Disrupt winner. What makes it so special? Getaround has taken an existing concept -car rental- and made it better, more affordable and more accessible. The idea is simple. You find car rentals from real people, private car owners near you at an affordable rate, and you in turn can rent out your own car for someone else when you don’t need it.

SugarSynch – File sync and online backup provider SugarSynch is making Dropbox look a bit weak. SugarSynch offers sweet file storage and sharing (including large-sized files) using the cloud. Dropbox has been, up to this point, the leading provider of file backup that’s automatically synced on multiple devices, but their free track only allows for 2 GB. SugarSynch, on the other hand, offers more than twice as much – 5 GB of space for free plan users. What other features make SugarSynch stand out? You can backup and sync any folder on your computer, upload files via email, share folders with permissions and passwords, publish photos to facebook and many other perks you won’t find elsewhere. In addition, SugarSynch works with Android, Blackberry, Symbian and of course iPhone and iPad. For the complete list of comparison, click here. I’ve already signed up for the free 5 GB file storage plan. What about you? To learn more watch the video below.

The Next Web – With over 100 thousand Facebook fans and millions of unique visitors each month, The Next Web is undeniably one of the most prominent technology resource out there. The site started out as a spin-off to The Next Web Conference, and soon became an authority on startups, Internet and culture in and of itself, with the added value of offering an international perspective.

The Next Web provides insightful news stories on a number of topics including gadgets, the World Wide Web and its cultural by-products, design and development, entrepreneurship and many others. The posts are well-written and to the point, which I can’t say about other leading tech blogs. My personal favorite section is The Next Web’s Lifehacks category, which is filled with productive tips and tools for startups and entrepreneurs. That’s where I found the post Getting Started with LinkedIn by Alex Wilhelm.

Life + Times – Sometimes there simply isn’t an easy way to explain what a site is about except for exploring it by yourself. This is exactly the case with Jay Z’s fabulous Life + Times, “a digital experience” covering art, sports, music, fashion and culture.

Will My Dog Hate Me? – Writer, editor and self-proclaimed ‘dog slave,’ Edie Jarolim is the talented blogger behind this winning Weekly Blog about man’s best friend. Right from the get-go you can tell Edie has a gift for writing, and the blog is filled with beautifully written and engaging posts canine owners will fall in love with.

Although Frankie is Edie’s first dog ever, you would have never known that by reading the blog alone. Find great tips, interesting facts and lots of funny dog photos and videos on Will My Dog Hate Me? Here’s one of my favorite posts I’m sure applies to all the dog owners out there seeking leaner doggy treats: Healthy & Economical Dog Treats.

Correlated – Statistics can be quite entertaining, especially when bizarre relations are made between odd facts. Correlated is all about finding those weird yet entertaining correlation between two unrelated phenomena. I suggest diving right in to fully understand what Correlation is about, and for that purpose I’ve included two examples:

I bet you never thought these were related, did you? To explore other funny correlations and to take part in future ones, visit Correlated and vote in the green colored poll on the right side of the site’s homepage. In case you were wondering, this is how Correlated works out the statistics.

VideoBash – This is a video site claiming to be “a comedic video website…that combines the brilliant idea of user-generated content along with original, licensed and exclusive content.”

Each featured video on VideoBash has, just like any leading video site, user ratings and displays the number of views thus far. And since this site claims to have the funniest videos online today, I thought I’d put this promise to the test. Here’s a good one I found under ‘Recent Videos.’

Uncooperative Barrier brought to you by Videobash

Hidden Heroes – What would life be like without, say, thermal flasks, light bulbs or even baby pacifiers? It’s almost impossible to imagine and indeed, these and many other mundane, widely used -obvious- objects have made our life much easier. Vitra Design Museum has collaborated with plastic-based multipackaging systems supplier Hi-Cone to give the daily objects -the ‘hidden heroes’- we all take for granted the thanks and respect they deserve.

The beautiful exhibition is physically showing at the Vitra Design Museum in Germany, but also online, on this website. At the homepage, pick a number of products and click Enter Exhibition. This will prompt a visual continuum where each of your selected products gets a page of its own with historical background, designer info and product use details.

To give an example, see the product page of the Thermos Flask, patented in 1903. Interesting, isn’t it?

Civil War 150 – It’s hard to believe, but America’s most influential war is a century and a half old. Thanks to the rapid flow of information online and the advancement of technology today, it’s possible to explore the American Civil War like never before. The History Channel offers an exciting interactive spot commemorating the Civil War, and invites you to discover unique relevant details. These include technologies and weapons used in battle, individuals of the time who made history, the five deadliest battles and much more.

The entire Civil War 150 interface is absolutely amazing, and it’s obvious a lot of time and thought have went into the design of this historical project. To give an example, see the beautiful infographic below of the weapons used during the Civil War. Clicking on each of the methods below will prompt another page with explanations and illustrations.

The History Channel’s Civil War 150 is a must for every American, young and old. Kudos, History Channel!

Papa’s Taco Mia – Another order, cook and serve game, this one’s main dish is tacos with different toppings. Take orders from customers, cook the meat and chicken just right, and add the right condiments in the correct order and on time! Don’t let your customers wait for too long, or they won’t leave you enough tips. This game will make you anxious and pressured, but hey, who said cooking up tacos was easy? For more addicting games stay updated via our I ♥ GAMES page.

Onavo – Mobile data can really cost your device downloads data from your carrier, using the Internet without you even knowing. The end result is hard cash you pay for that accumulated Internet usage. When traveling abroad, these costs can grow to an extent where it makes more sense to leave the mobile device at home and rent out a local cellular phone for your trip.