The Top 5 Most Tech-Savvy Celebs



In the past, all celebrities needed was a single talent to make them famous. Singers sang, actors acted, football players played football. How times have changed! To become a globally dominant celeb these days, you've got to step up your game. You've got to know when to Tweet (you forgot to thank your husband in your Grammy acceptance speech!) and when not to Tweet (you're really angry at Cher and you want her to know it!). To maintain your status as a trendsetter, you've got to have your ear to the ground on all the latest trends — and these days that means tech trends, which are no longer just for nerds. And, if you don't believe tech-savvy is cool, just check out why the following five celebs made our list.



1. Ashton Kutcher: Love him or hate him, you can't deny that among tech-savvy celebrities Kutcher reigns supreme. He was the first celebrity to court a million Twitter followers (he now has over 8.5 million). While on the set of Two and a Half Men, he lives in a 007-esque mega-trailer that requires a handprint signature to enter his boudoir, which is decked out with flat-screen television monitors and 24/7 video surveillance. A famous entrepreneur and supporter of tech-related startups, Kutcher ran into some trouble earlier this year when he guest-edited an issue of Details and it was revealed that he owned stock in many of the companies he was hawking — a rather egregious conflict of interest that he should have been more upfront about. Still, when you consider the number of tech brand names that Kutcher is (or has been) in some way affiliated — Twitter, Foursquare, Quik, GroupMe, Hipmunk, Chegg, Flipboard, Milk, TinyChat, Fab.com, Path, Airbnb, Optimizely, Blekko — you can see how he ran into trouble. That's why he's hands-down the most tech-savvy celeb out there.



2. Lady Gaga: When it comes to discussing tech, Gaga knows a lot more than baby talk. The first artist to reach 1 billion YouTube views knows a thing or two about gadgets, as she revealed in March 2011 when she stopped by Google's California campus to participate in an exclusive live interview via Google Moderator, a tool that helps generate meaningful conversation using many different people's questions. Gaga's high-tech brain, by then, had already caught the attention of Polaroid, which named her creative director in January 2010. With Polaroid she has helped develop the Zink "zero ink" printer, a pair of camera glasses, and the new GL30 Instant Camera. Gaga has also been hot on the trail of social media trends, forgoing the usual MTV route to launch the premiere of her "Born This Way" video on Vevo and promoting it using a Facebook event.



3. will.i.am: Black Eyed Peas' frontman will.i.am, also known as Director of Creative Innovation at Intel, has done more than just cultivate a love for high-tech gear — he's made it his goal to make geek stuff cooler and better among the nation's children. His work with inventor Dean Kamen's FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) led to his back-to-school TV special, "i.am FIRST: Science is Rock and Roll," which aired on primetime ABC. The project was covered on NPR's talk show, Fresh Air, which showcased will.i.am's unique passion for changing the world via technology. He created the i.am.scholarship that includes high school academic mentoring with the i.am.scholarship College Track program, and is a co-founder and supporter of the Peapod Foundation with The Black Eyed Peas.



4. Justin Timberlake: He collaborated on "Ayo Technology" with 50 Cent for a reason. An investor in companies such as Stipple and Miso Media, both tech start-ups, Justin Timberlake took part of a $35 million stake in the ailing MySpace in June 2011 — an unheard-of move for a singer/songwriter of such mammoth fame. Timberlake said the goal was to revamp MySpace as a place where fans and musicians could come together.



5. Shaquille O'Neal: A former NBA basketball champ may seem an unlikely leader in the world of technology, but Shaq is not kidding around when it comes to his social media presence — OK, he kids around a lot, but his goals are serious and convincing. With over 4.6 million Twitter followers, Shaq recently launched Shaq.com as a place where his fans can come and laugh — something Shaq uses YouTube, Facebook and other social media outlets to do. As far back as 1998, he pledged $1 million to Boys & Girl Clubs of America to help build technology centers in Clubs, and he also partnered with Microsoft to create an online safety program for kids. Like will.i.am, Shaq wants to give back — and he uses technology to accomplish that.

–JUSTIN JANNISE

Uinterview is proud to have Intel, a company dedicated to bringing great technology to advance your life, as our partner in presenting this post. We can't wait to see how Next Gen technology will make our lives even smarter tomorrow.