With the holidays upon us, you may be struggling to find something for that frequent traveler or music junkie on your holiday buying list. These may have you covered.

Any frequent traveler will agree that there’s nothing worse than trying to relax to your favorite album or movie, only to have that audio be replaced by the roaring sound of the plane’s engines or a crying baby. Look no further than to a pair of noise canceling headphones, which may be perfect companion for that frequent traveler, music junkie or anyone wishing to hear the beauty of their collections without background noise getting in the way.

The first thing any shopper should be concerned about is the price and at $79.99, JVC’s HA-NC120 noise canceling headphones are a steal for the quality of sound they deliver and their overall performance.

As you set your eyes on a pair of these NC-120 headphones, one can’t help but notice the compact and sleek design of the product with its an all black and shiny, mirror like finish with chrome trim running along the outline of product. There are two switches on the device, which can be found at the bottom each individual headphone and enable/disable volume limit and function as a power switch. Under the left headphone, the product features a nice retractable 3.5 millimeter headphone cord which can be extended by simply pulling out on the cord and retracted by pressing a small button which sucks the wire back into the headphones where it is stored nicely and out of the way. This feature alone is great because it makes for easy and quick stowage by virtually eliminating the cord, saving you the time and hassle having roll and pack away the cord.

My favorite feature is that they can be folded down to about half their original size, allowing for easy portability. When not in use, the NC120 headphones can be folded in half and the individual headphones can then be swiveled and folded inward condensing the product to fit easily in a small purse, glove compartment or forward set compartment.

Sound quality was overall very good, considering the relatively low price and the small design of the product. When in use, music sounded crisp and lifelike, and the base levels were much better than I initially expected from a product in this price range.

JVC claims these headphones are capable of 88 percent ambient noise reduction, and I decided to put this claim to the test and take these headphones along with me on an eight hour flight to Europe and see just how well they blocked out the loud engine roar and passenger cabin noise. The results actually stacked up to be pretty well, and I found the headphones did a decent job at removing background roar. One thing to keep in mind with these headphones is loud background noise is only eliminated when music is playing, so you might find ear plugs to be a better solution if your trying to sleep in say a noisy environment.

In conclusion, I was very much impressed by both the performance and design of this product for its price range. At $79.99, this product is definitely worth the money and is an overall great set of headphones that sound excellent, look great and are a breeze to travel with for the money.

When you think of the iHome brand, chances are your familiar with their compact clock radio speaker systems. These inexpensive devices sound great and scored highly in our reviews, but lately the company has been stepping things up a bit, entering into an entirely new territory focused more on audio performance.

The iHome iP1 debuted the company’s new line of performance-based audio products, named to be their “Studio Line.” Being the first product in this new line, the iP1 showed consumers that the company means business and their latest “Studio Line” iP3 is no exception.

Offering up to 50 watts of power along with Bongiovi Digital Power Station technology which specializes to better enhance and restore lost details due to audio compression, the iP3, iPod/iPhone audio system packs a punch of power and is sure not to go unnoticed. Music on the device sounded great and audio levels were excellent for the small overall size of the unit. If loudness is what you are looking for, you will be very pleased with the iP3 as the unit cranks and will just blow you away in terms of volume, despite the idea you might get from its small form factor.

The Bongiovi Digital Power Station technology is exclusive to both the iP3 and iP1 and is without a doubt worth mentioning. Sound quality when using the technology was very good as opposed to when the technology was turned off which was dull and almost computer speaker sounding. We decided to really put the technology to the test by playing a few of our favorite tracks and toggling on and off the Bongiovi technology just to see how much of a difference it made. When enabled, music sounded loud, crisp and had a strong base and when switched off, tones sounded dull and low quality.

From first glance, the product offers a basic, yet compact design featuring an all black body with a transparent border that obtrudes from out and around the speakers. This makes for a unique design allowing the product to be placed practically anywhere and blend in with the surrounding background. On the front of the unit, between the two speakers houses an adjustable iPod dock that no longer requires an iPods inserts — definitely a nice plus. Toward the bottom of the system, you will find the audio controls, which from left to right include the Bongiovi on/off button, power button, and volume up/down controls. Finally along the backside of the unit you will find a power port, component video out connection and a line in port, giving you the ability to connect other devices to the unit rather than just an iPod.

We’re very pleased to see iHome included a component video out port on this device. If you are unfamiliar with what this is, it allows for the video on your iPod to be displayed on an external television or other type of display.

While the unit does sound great, there are some shortfalls to mention, with the price being the number one con of this device. At almost $200, this product is quite costly and we’re not sure it’s worth its high price tag. The iP3 sounds nice, but it has some tough competition out there, the Sony MHC EC709iP being on top of the list. This 180-watt system is $50 less and offers some added functionality like an AM/FM tuner, which isn’t available on the IP3.

It would have also been nice to have seen support for the iHome+Sleep application like featured on the A5. The iP3 does not offer any type of alarm clock functionality, which is what made iHome famous in the first place

Overall we’re pleased with the performance, design and portability of the iP3, but it’s not perfect and lacks a few features that should come with a hefty price tag.

There are always those electronics that are a pain to shop for, especially those that you’re not able to test out prior to purchasing. Headphones and earbuds are prime examples. Sure you can return them if your not satisfied, but how many trips to the store are you going to be willing to make before you become frustrated? Hopefully we can help simplify the process here at Blast with our review on Wicked Audio’s Wicked Empire WE-8803 in-ear earbuds.

From the clear little window on the box, you really can’t help but notice the sleek design and nice styling of the product. With an all black finish, long cord length, and an eye-catching design/symbol on the ends of the buds, its no wonder why the product is so eye appealing.

While looks are important, sound quality is crucial and can make or break a product like this, but the product delivers well for its price range. We were very impressed with the sound quality for these small mid-priced earbuds. Both base and treble sounded great, and the earbuds had no problem reaching louder volumes without distorting all that much.

One thing however, is that the product may not be for everyone especially with people with odd ear sizes and people that are planning to exercise while using these earbuds. We noticed when running or fast walking with the earbuds in, that they slid around a little. This creates slightly annoying pounding noise.

The product retails for $39.99, and you can find them cheaper on Amazon and other online outlets.

Start this fall season off with burst of fashion while also showing your green side towards helping the environment with Xoopi’s, RPET and Yorki reusable style bags. These bags are designed for pretty much any occasion and feature an urban art twist made from used plastic bottles.

Choose from one of two art enriched style bags — The RPET bag, which features a flat fold design, strong versatility, interior pocket, side mounted water bottle holder and has the ability to stand when filled. Or consider the more compact Yorkii style bag, featuring everything mentioned above, along with a much more compact design that folds down into about the size of a guys wallet and can easily be stowed away in a pocket, purse, glove box or elsewhere.

Xoopi’s collection of reusable bags range in price from $17.99-$19.99 and are sure to fit pretty much anyone’s budget, especially those of environmental enthusiasts. Browse though many of the designs and pick up your own at xoopii.com.

Like many Americans today, I have a variety of gadgets that I use on an everyday basis. There’s my Blackberry, iPod, laptop, handsfree car system, camera and more. How do I manage to get everything charged? Frankly, I have a whole shoebox full of chargers and it’s almost impossible to keep the wires bundled together, so you always end up with a mess of wires. Then there’s the problem of never having enough outlets available to charge all your electronics, especially with the ones that use large power bricks.

A product from IDAP called the IDAP i4 recently came across the desk and claims to help to change all this and free up your outlets. The IDAP 4 is a charging station that allows you to charge up to four different devices simultaneously on just one plug, without the need for messy cables. The device comes with a series of interchangeable tips that insert into the three slots on the product and the other end simply plugs right into the device you wish to charge. Also along the side of the device is a USB port for devices that need to be charged via USB. The company claims the IDAPT i4 is compatible with over 3,500 brands of mobile devices, including Apple, Nintendo, PSP, Blackberry, Garmin, and more. The IDAP i4 creates a hassle free and mess free solution that doesn’t require you to dig out tons of cables or allocate lots of space for charging your gadgets.

The IDAP i4 ships with either six tips from the factory or you may choose up to four of your own tips online. Additional tips can also be purchased for $9.99 and an AA/AAA battery charger tip is also available for $19.99. Customers may decide purchase additional power cords for $13.99, which is a great option especially for travelers who plan to be in another country and want to still use the IDAP i4 to charge their gadgets.

I found the device works perfectly. Gadgets fit well when placed onto the unit and can be removed also very easily. I’m pleased to see that the company included both small LED status lights directly in front of each charging slot that indicate that charging status and a main power switch located in the back center of the unit.

The IDAPT i4 sells for $59.99 and is available online in three-color choices of black, white or silver.

Alawar Entertainment has released a new vampire game for the iOS platform called Vampire Saga: Pandora Box. The new game built for all iOS devices including the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, focuses on engaging the player in a virtual world of fear and horror, where the player must advance though the storyboard in a Victorian style location and search for the over 300 hidden objects along the way.

Vampire Saga: Pandora Box embraces the tradition of the finest Hammer horror movies and classic novels by H.P. Lovecraft. The main character plays the role of Matthew Ward, who steals aboard a cargo ship to elude from the Spanish-American War and later awakens to the site of menacing coffins and a vacant crew. Mathew feels he is being watched, has strange visions and has no clue where they crew had vanished to.

To help him figure this out, Mathew needs your help and you must venture through several scary Victorian style locations, find over 300 hidden objects and be ready for the creepy surprises that this game has in store.

We decided to take the plunge into the world of unknown and give Vampire Saga: Pandora Box a shot in our tests. Upon launch, I couldn’t help but notice that the graphics were very good. The maps seemed to have decent definition, clarity and resolution.

While I felt the graphics were good, I found game play to be more on the difficult side and it took me a while to figure out how to move and get to where I needed to accomplish the various scenes in order to advance though the game. I found the storyboard and in-game sounds to be well thought out and implemented, but again navigation was a problem for me and I wish there was some kind of on screen navigation pad, rather than having to tap on sparkly spots on the screen to advance forward.

The game starts out at Grandpa’s house and your forced to get inside, in which the door is locked and you must break thought he window and find items to advance further within the game. I’ll stop here, as I don’t want to give too many details away and ruin all the fun.

Check it out for yourself–the game is reasonably priced at $2.99 in the iTunes App store and an iPad version is available for $6.99. If you’re not up for the paid version yet, or just want to try the game, there is a free light version in the iTunes store as well.

The use of cell phones while driving not only poses a danger for yourself, but for everyone else on the road as well. Hand-held cell phone use while driving is distracting and its no wonder many states are prohibiting it while driving.

Currently eight states including: California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Washington as well as the Virgin Islands and D.C now have laws prohibiting drivers from using hand-held cell phones while driving. In Boston, young drivers can’t be caught on a cell phone and no one is allowed to text while driving.

You will need to pickup a hands-free device to avoid a hefty ticket if you get caught.

Moshi feels they have the right handsfree calling solution to keep you safe while driving, allowing you talk on your cell phone handsfree with their Bluetooth Handsfree car kit. So you’re probably wondering what exactly is it?

Basically the device is nothing more than an advanced speakerphone about the size of a standard garage door opener transmitter, just like the one that attaches to your visor. But don’t let this fool you because it does much more than act just as a speakerphone. The device ships with integrated Bluetooth, so as soon as you get into your car, it will automatically connect to your cell phone and give you the ability to dial and check basic phone status information like battery life, signal strength and allow you to place calls using the built in voice command system, all hands free.

Once you pair the device up with your phone, just say "Hello Moshi" to activate the voice commands and your able to say commands like "redial," "call back," "call favorite # 1-5," "call home," "call voicemail," etc.

I found the device to work very well. Callers were able hear me clearly and vice versa and the voice recognition picked up on what I was saying almost every time. I was also impressed to see that the device recognizes voice commands even from a long distance away. Battery time is also decent with six hours of talk time and 40 hours of standby time.

The device ships with the Moshi Car Kit, magnetic visor clip, car charger and a manual. I was impressed with the design and build quality of the accessories. Normally this isn’t something I pick up on, but I do like the design and how they incorporated in a magnetic visor clip instead of using something non-detachable like plastic. The device removes easily from the visor clip and it is a breeze to bring it inside your home or to switch it out from car to car. The included USB car charger is also a nice plus since it uses standard USB, which can be used to charge other USB devices you might have laying around in your car like a maybe a cell phone or iPod.

There were a few things I didn’t like about the device however. One being that you don’t have the ability to say extension numbers for the device to dial. You also can’t disconnect from a call without pressing any buttons. I also wasn’t pleased when receiving a call from someone in your contacts, the device doesn’t say call from (Persons Name here); instead, it will just read out the person’s number. I found this annoying because I don’t know everyone’s number and I rely heavily on my phone’s contact book for numbers. Finally, I would have liked to have the ability to play my own custom ringtone or jingle rather than having the voice prompt’s machine voice tell me I have an incoming call.

Overall I would recommend this device to anyone looking to go handsfree. Setup was simple, it took less than a few minutes and once the product was paired to my phone, it worked great and connected no problem every time. Another added plus is the compact size and weight of the product. Its almost the exact size of a garage door opener so you can practically charge it up, leave it there and forget about it.

The product is available for $79.99 at moshilifestyle.com.

LaCie recently announced a brand new product to its portable flash drive lineup called the XtremKey. This new drive offers industrial strength and guaranteed protection of your files in some of the most extreme environments.

Featuring a military tested Zamac enclosure; composed of zinc, aluminum, magnesium and copper, the device is practically indestructible and is tested to withstand drops up to 10 feet, endure 10 tons of truck resistance and can tolerate temperatures ranging all the way up to 392 degrees to as low as -122 degrees.

The list continues, with a fully waterproof design of up to 333ft, wear-resistant screw threads as well as a rubber O-ring to keep water and other materials out and if speed is the only thing your worried about, you will be pleased to hear that the XtremKey offers maximum read speeds of up to 40MB/s and 30MB/s write speeds, which is very good.

So even if you find yourself to be biggest klutz, you should never have to worry about dropping or somehow destroying an XtremKey flash drive and having it bust into a million pieces like a regular flash drive might.

With all these cool stats and claims LaCie throws out at us, I decided to actually go outside myself and put the product to the test. I witnessed some pretty impressive results from this product. First off, I threw it up a few feet and let it drop onto the concrete a few times. No physical damage was present and when I plugged the drive into my laptop, I was able to access my files no problem. Finally, I took a five-gallon bucket, filled it up to the top with water and submerged the product. When I unscrewed the metal casing, there was not a single drop of water inside.

Aside from the rugged design and strong build quality, the product performed no different than a regular 16GB flash drive. Files loaded on and off the device very quickly and I really like how when plugged into a Mac computer, the product displays an image of the device on the desktop instead of the regular drive icon. This makes the XtremKey really easy to find on a cluttered desktop. Another nice plus is that the company includes a two-year subscription of four gigabytes of online storage through Wuala.com as well as a two-year product warranty.

One thing I found that I wasn’t happy about is when the drive is plugged into the computer, it generates a lot of heat and since the drive is metal, naturally it acts as a conductor and retains the heat. As soon as I went to disconnect the drive out from the USB port, I noticed the product was almost burning hot and I wasn’t able to hold it for more than a few seconds without burning my fingers. I would have also like to have seen an LED light or something on the drive to show activity and that it is plugged in correctly. My final gripe is I wish LaCie had scaled down the end of the product since it sometimes can block access to other USB ports. Other than those few things, it’s a very solid product.

So is the XtremKey for you? If you are in the construction field or outdoors and need to carry your files, the XtremKey is a must. It is also great for people that misplace things often since chances are if you do happen to leave it outside in the rain, the product shouldn’t be affected. I found the XtremKey to work as advertized and I don’t consider it a bad value for the money. The XtremKey is available in eight, 16, 32 and 64 GB capacities ranging from $49.99 to $249.99.

Last Tuesday marked the day for a refresh in Apple’s personal desktop computer line. The company updated its iMac product line with new Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 processors as well with brand new ATI graphic cards. Both price and design pretty remain the same, however you’ll get more punch for the price with this new hardware update.

The iMac line now comes in four configurations which are as follows: The lowest price model starts at $1,199 and includes a 21.5 inch screen at 1920×1080 resolution, an Intel Core i3 processor at 3.06 GHZ, a 500 GB hard drive and a ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics card with 256MB of video memory. The second configuration is priced at $1,499.00 and includes a 23.5-inch screen at 1920-by-1080 resolution, a 1 TB hard drive and a ATI Radeon HD 5670 graphics card with 512MB of video memory.

Next comes the 27-inch model, which includes a large 27-inch screen at 2560-1440 resolution, a 1TB hard drive and a ATI Radeon HD 5670 video card with 512MB of video memory.

Finally, the last 27-inch configuration includes a 27-inch screen at 2560-by-1440 resolution, a 1TB hard drive and a ATI Radeon HD 5750 graphics card with 1GB of video memory.

*All models come with a 4GB of ram, wireless Magic Mouse, wireless keyboard, built in iSight camera, Snow Leopard, built in wireless connectivity, speakers, and an 8x double-layer Super Drive. Also the company offers a 256GB solid-state drive for an extra $600.00 only to 27-inch model customers.

The Mac Pro line got a speed bump as well offering up to a twelve-core processor, new ATI graphics along with the option to include up to four 512GB solid-state drives. The company offers two choices of pre-configured machines on their site. Either a quad core model, which starts at $2,499.00, or an 8-core model, which sells for $3,299.00. Consumers can start at one of these base configurations and upgrade hardware as they desire.

Along with the new iMac and Mac Pro hardware changes, Apple unveiled their new 27-Inch LED Cinema display, bringing three more inches of viewing space from their original 24-inch model. This model includes MagSafe charging, an iSight Camera, speakers, USB ports and a crisp 2560×1440 resolution screen.

The good doesn’t stop here; Apple introduced a new accessory for iMac uses called the Magic Trackpad, which is a large glass Trackpad, similar to the ones found on their notebook line. This new trackpad gives iMac users the ability to use gestures found on their notebook line of computers.

With the new hardware updates I can’t stress enough that now is the time to purchase a Mac if you are looking for one. Apple is offering a free iPod Touches for college students, so now is the time to buy!

Expandable phone systems have been around for quite some time now, but what makes the VTech LS6245 so much different from the others and worth mentioning?

How about if we told you this phone system can wirelessly connect to your cell phone via Bluetooth and give you the ability to use your cell phone plan minutes while enjoying the ease and comfort of your home telephone system? Best of all, if you no longer have a landline phone or you are considering getting rid of it, in place of using your cell phone, your in luck as the LS6245 does not require a landline phone connection and will seamlessly work off just your cellular connection.

The unit is also designed for individuals who receive poor cell phone reception in most of their home. The LS6245 is great in a situation like mentioned above because users can connect their cell phones to the unit and leave their phone in a spot where cell service is plentiful and then use the LS6245 handset to travel around their home, even in the basement where you would never receive cell signal, all without having to worry about dropped calls or reception issues.

Out of the box, the system includes a base station with one handset that lives and charges on top of the base station. From there, you can connect up to 12 additional handsets to the base station, which do not require to be connected to a telephone jack. The first thing you notice when your unpack the device from the box is the sleek, shiny, all black design with brushed aluminum trim, which makes for modern looking, nice appearance. Both the base station and the handset use touch sensitive buttons pressed against an all black shiny surface. It’s almost similar to the two front soft keys on a first generation Black LG Chocolate phone. The shiny, all black surfaces look great and give the unit an elegant, yet modern feel; however one thing to keep in mind is that it does attract a lot of fingerprints. VTech is aware of this and includes a black microfiber cloth that easily removes dirt and fingerprints from the unit.

When you remove the handset from the base station, the first thing you notice is the eye appealing backlit keys that pop out and can easily be seen in both day in night situations. We really have to hand it over to VTech for doing such an awesome job with the backlighting on the handset and the stellar appearance. We also really like how they added a red circle around the navigation buttons, which is especially helpful at night and adds better organization. We can’t say that about the base station however. The company did such a great job with the backlighting on the handset, that it seems they forgot about the base! It’s disappointing that only the home and cell button keys light up, which makes it almost impossible to dial or operate the unit from the base station at night.

Aside from that, we’re pretty impressed with the LS6245. It paired very easily and works excellent with a BlackBerry Bold 9650. The entire pairing process took just a few minutes and was very simple. Once paired, the unit was very easy to operate, and call quality was excellent on both the handset and base. We initially thought that the touch sensitive keys might be a problem and make dialing and navigation issue, but that wasn’t the case. Both dialing and navigation was very good and I didn’t end up with one misdialed call, which we have had happen with other phones that utilize touch sensitive buttons. Dialing took a little to get used to since after you enter the number, you must press one of two buttons: one with a house on it or another one towards bottom of the handset that says "Cell." As you would imagine, these buttons correspond with the type of phone connection you wish to use. Calls placed though the landline gateway sounded loud and clear, even when using speakerphone on the base and handset.

Calls being placed though the cellular connection will connect via Bluetooth to your phone and the phone will then dial and place the call. One thing to note is the LS6245 does not charge your cell phone and your phone will continue to work off battery power unless you have it plugged in and charging through and AC adaptor. Also keep in mind that your plan minutes still do apply when you are connected though the cellular connection. Its also nice that the LS6245 has a nice little battery meter in the corner, which keeps you posted on the battery life for the cordless phone, but not the battery life on your cell phone.

The LS6245 is feature packed offering answering machine with remote access capability, Bluetooth connectivity, a directory, call log, intercom support, handset locator, inferred sensor, customizable ringers for each handset and for both landline and cellular calls, call transfer, call waiting, hold, voicemail, conference calling, call screening, automatic redial, caller ID, call sharing, DECT 6.0 technology for better call clarity, range and more.

We also like the intercom functionality. This feature alone is a key selling point of the device and it is incredibly useful. It almost works like an extension system you would find a public building. Select intercom from the main menu from either the base station or from a handset and then select which unit you wish to call. This will ring that phone or base station and you can have a one-on-one conversation with the person where the phone is located. This is perfect for families since they’re now able to call each other for simple things, rather than have to walk across the house for just a short message. One feature we would have liked to have seen, is the ability to broadcast a message to all the handsets at one time. Again, think how useful this could be in a family situation. Mom could say, "Dinner is ready" and broadcast the message to everyone simultaneously, rather than have to yell across the house or call room by room. I’m not complaining though; the one room at a time works for now, but in the future or through a software update, it would be nice to see a broadcast message feature.

There were a few things we didn’t like. In the directory, you must manually program each contact into the phone. This is not only time consuming, but is a pain and We’re not sure why VTech didn’t include the ability to import contacts via Bluetooth. The missing backlight on the base station makes it hard to dial at night and the phone can only be connected to two Bluetooth phones or a handset at a time, but paired to four, which may be an issue with large families. Finally, the LS6245 isn’t really an expandable phone system out of the box and to give it that functionality you must purchase additional handsets that cost around $40.00 per phone.

With its excellent call quality, ease of use and Bluetooth functionality, we can’t help but to recommend the device. It works great, looks amazing and is feature packed. The system is available online in a variety of configurations.

A recent poll from Engadget.com stated that only 42 percent of current BlackBerry users plan to stick around and purchase another BlackBerry device in the future.

Is it that consumers are ready for an operating system overhaul with a UI refresh, better browser, more features and an overall better user experience, more comparable to what you would find on other smartphones such on Apple’s iPhone or Google Android devices? Will the release of OS 6 and the new BlackBerry Torch be enough to drive back and attract customers to the Blackberry Platform?

Blackberry OS 6 will bring a lot of well-deserved and anticipated updates that Blackberry users have been demanding for quite some time now. Highlights include an improved search, webkit based browser with tabbed browsing, ability to add links to the home screen and HTML 5 support, better social networking with feed aggregation, a new and improved user interface as well media player and better multimedia support. Other features include better support for podcasting with a dedicated app, which allows users to wirelessly download and then listen to podcasts. Other new features and updates include: improved camera modes for better shots, an integrated YouTube application, a new viewing experience with five customizable views and a new Wi-Fi based media sync, which allows users to sync with their music library over their home network.

With the announcement of OS 6.0, RIM introduced the first device, which will run the new OS 6.0 software, called the Blackberry Torch. The device sports a slider design with a large 3.2-inch touch screen, trackpad and a large QWERTY keyboard. Along the back is a five megapixel camera and LED flash. BlackBerry is taking a new approach with the Torch being the first slider phone they have ever offered and the phone is exclusive to AT&T. Despite this, the phone seems to be plastered on posters all over AT&T stores nationwide. If you’re an existing BlackBerry owner, not into the sliding design or not ready to sign a new two year contract with AT&T, you’ll be glad to hear that OS 6.0 will be coming to current select BlackBerry devices with carrier approval. Compatible devices able to run the OS 6.0 software will be: the BlackBerry Bold 9700, 9650 and BlackBerry Pearl 3G, as well as future BlackBerry smartphones.

So keep your eyes peeled for the new OS 6.0 update, as it will bring many new features and OS enhancements. If the new Blackberry Torch 9800 interests you, it will available at AT&T stores and online starting August 12 for $199.99 with 2-year service agreement with AT&T.

We’ve been really pleased lately with some of the new products from iHome. We love all the improvements and it seems like the company has been innovating a lot and the iP90 is no exception.

The iP90 is a Dual Alarm Clock Radio and also functions as an iPod speaker system. Simply place your iPod or iPhone onto the dock and the product will instantly start charging it and allow you to listen to some of your favorite tunes through the built in stereo quality speakers, which surprisingly sound very good for such a small unit.

As soon as I unpacked the iP90, the first thing I noticed was its very sharp appearance, featuring an all black design with silver trim along the front, which accents the product very nicely. As you glance at the face of the iP90, you can’t help but notice the large glimmering LCD screen and the two stereo speakers, in which are covered the black-wired speaker grill. As you work your way to the very top, you’ll notice an array of backlit glowing, large sized buttons that are very easy to see perform well. On the back of the iHome, you really find anything interesting there besides a line in jack, power port, FM and AM antenna ports, the set time zone and the manual clock set/time sync buttons.

Aside from design, performance is what really matters. So how does this product rack up? Music playing from the iPod dock through the built in stereo speakers sounded impressive for the small device size. There was a good amount of base, tones sounded loud and clear and when I increased the master volume, I really didn’t hear much distortion at all, which again is a nice plus.

When using the duel alarm clock, I found it worked well and when pressed and held the settings are very customizable, which is superb. Users can set the time they wish to wake up, select whether the alarm just be weekdays, weekends or seven days a week and then finally choose to wake up to either the buzzer, playlist, iPod or the Radio. Then when the alarm does sound, the unit will gradually increase the volume over a period of time, so you wont be startled out of bed, which I really like. Also, for those of you who can’t get out of bed and relay on the snooze button, you’ll be pleased to know its located at the center front of the device.

A nice touch on the iP90 is sleep mode, which lets you gradually fall sleep to your favorite audio. Simply set the sleep timer from 120, 90, 60, 30 or 15 minutes and the iHome will gradually lower the music and shut off once you reach the allotted time. Other notable features include: fade in sound, a play/pause button directly on the unit and on remote, ability to skip songs using the plus/minus toggle, daylight savings time and time sync switch, battery backup and more.

I was also very pleased with included the remote control. Not only is it well built, feels great in the hand, but it allows you to control almost everything the unit does from a distance. I’m very glad to see such a functional remote, since on my prior iHome iH6 unit this wasn’t the case.

A few disappointments I had with the unit were its large depth and the fact that the input/line in button doesn’t list the iPod as a source; Instead, I found to get to the iPod source you have to press the pay/pause button. This isn’t entirely a big deal, but I’m not sure why iHome doesn’t list the iPod as a source there and why the unit is so large in the rear. One small thing to note is the unit doesn’t come with every insert for the iPods that it supports. If in the box you don’t get the proper insert for your device you can order one the company. In my case, the unit didn’t ship with an insert for my first generation iPod Touch, so you have to place a call to order one.

Other than those small things, the iHome iP90 is sounds fantastic, is well priced, performs great and because of its relatively small size, it is ideal for college students living in dorms or for any room in that matter. The iHome iP90 is available for $99.99.

So we’ve all been in one of those frustrating and utterly annoying situations when you are forced to sit next to some loud annoying person, whether it be at on the bus, train, airplane, doctors office, commute to/from work or even sometimes at home. But before you decide to pull your hair out, or even ask that person if they would mind keeping it down so you can hear your self think or be able actually listen to some of your favorite tunes consider a longer look at our review of ableplanet’s True Fidelity NC300 noise canceling headphones.

Out of the box, the NC300 headphones include everything you need to get started using the headphones — except the iPod or MP3 player of course. The box contains the NC300 headphones, a hard protective carrying case, airplane adapter, AA battery and a 1/4" home stereo adapter. With this, you will be glad to find that everything packs away easily in the included hard protective case for easy portability, so there wont be any lost cables or accessories.

The first question with headphones is always “how do they sound?” In my experience, after using the headphones for a while, I wasn’t all that impressed with the audio quality and noise cancellation for the $150 price tag. I found the audio when using the headphones to have more bass than normal and at times the voices were almost suppressed by the low tones. While keeping in mind that people often like heavy bass, it just seemed somewhat overpowering toward the vocals.

I did like the design of the product. The build quality of the headphones seems to be solid, besides the battery door being a little flimsy, but this shouldn’t be too much of an issue.

But I can’t say I’m impressed by the noise cancellation either; while it does filter out slight noises, you can still hear some background noise. There was also a slight hiss when using the noise cancellation, which was less noticeable when you’re listening to something loudly.

ableplanet’s True Fidelity NC300 noise canceling headphones are available for $149.99 in either white or black online from ableplanet’s website. Audio quality wasn’t horrible, but I did feel it wasn’t on par of what you expect with a product in this price range. I feel the $150 price tag is way too steep for the product and the most I would pay for these headphones would be around eighty dollars. If your still interested in the NC300s, I definitely recommend you try them for yourself before you buy. You may even find the added base to be a plus, however for me, I don’t think I’m ready to dump my $10 JVC Gumy earbuds for the NC300 headphones just yet, although the solid build quality, comfort and the light weight was definitely a plus.

Hate messing around with cables? Want to put the music from your BlackBerry onto your home stereo system without a lot of hassle? BlackBerry users will be very excided to hear about the BlackBerry Music Gateway, a companion accessory for your BlackBerry from RIM.

This device allows you to wirelessly transmit music to your stereo system from your BlackBerry Smartphone or any other compatible Bluetooth Mobile device. The process is simple; choose a song on your BlackBerry Smartphone or any Bluetooth enabled device that supports the A2DP profile, hit play and you’re hearing that song through your stereo speakers wirelessly via the BlackBerry Music Gateway.

The first thing I noticed about this device is its compact size, measuring in at 50 millimeters both horizontally and vertically. The device is so small that you could easily place it somewhere and forget about it. On the front of the BlackBerry Music gateway is a LED light, which indicates the status of the device. Along the back is a Micro-USB power connecter and a 3.5 mm stereo jack. In the box, RIM includes an RCA auxiliary cable in addition with a 3.5 mm stereo cable. The RCA auxiliary cable allows you to use the standard red and white RCA audio connecters to connect the product to your home stereo system or you may choose to use the standard 3.5 mm connection.

Once powered on and connected, the product performed very well. Setup was a breeze and the included manual and documentation had very clear directions on how to get the product up and running. All that is necessary is for you to pair up your phone or device with the BlackBerry Music Gateway. Next, select a song and your wirelessly streaming it to your stereo via the Blackberry Music Gateway. The sound quality and range were excellent and I was able to walk around my entire house without any drops in audio. The music sounded loud and clear and I really like how it gives you the ability to adjust the volume directly from the device and stream music within applications. I was able to launch Internet radio applications like Pandora and Slacker Radio and hear the music streaming over 3G to my stereo via the BlackBerry Wireless Gateway with great clarity.

One small disappointment is that the product does not include a power cable in the box; instead they urge users to use their existing travel charger. This may bug some users, especially Blackberry Tour owners like myself, as the Tour travel charger that RIM urges you to use isn’t compatible with the Music Gateway. Tour users must purchase an additional travel charger in order to power the device, which is a minor drawback.

I find this product very useful and I love how it creates a seamless integration between your BlackBerry Smartphone and your existing home stereo. The $89.99 price tag along with the $30 cost for an optional adaptor if your device charger isn’t compatible, may be a bit steep, but the product definitely performs well above my expectations and does everything RIM claims. Sound quality, setup and range were all very good and if you own a BlackBerry Smartphone and you’re tired with messing around with wires to hook up your Berry to your stereo system, you really can’t go wrong with the BlackBerry Music Gateway.

The device sells for $89.99 and is available directly from BlackBerry.

Organization is key for large companies, institutions, medical facilities, small businesses and even homes. Many Americans simply shove things into their desk drawer; some have their folders piling up with documents of all sorts stashed inside. What happens when you have to find something of importance in a short amount of time? For many of us, this means shuffling through our overcrowded desk drawers or various overloaded folders.  A filing cabinet is a good way of organizing, but how do you go about labeling the folders so you can find that one document in a short amount of time?

A product from The Monticello Corporation called The Paper Tiger Professional ($169) tries to tackle this problem. Once you purchase this product from their Web site and install it into your PC, its main focus is to create a database of all of your folders and filing cabinets where you can index and tag folders and documents inside for easy searching. In a nutshell, you tell the program where your folders are located and which documents reside in each folder. Then you can tag each document so that later when you need to find it, you can just search for it using The Paper Tiger’s built in search.

Installation was pretty easy. Once you download the software from their Web site, it takes about ten minutes or fifteen minutes to install, depending on the speed of your computer. Initially, when I went to download the product I thought it might be a scam based on the look of their site. The site didn’t feel welcoming at all and was very outdated.

Once installed, the Setup Wizard asked me to name my new database, choose an optional password, specify a location, and enter a capacity of folders for this location. I entered "Home" as my location and told it that I wanted it to only take care of ten folders. From here, it created a series of tabs for my ten folders and named them "Home 1-Home 10." It then instructed me to print out the tabs so that I could also place them on physical folders. Once complete, the program shows you every folder in your database and allows you to then edit each folder, so you can specify what documents are in each folder. After you choose the folder you wish to start with, a prompt asks you to enter a name for the folder, enter keywords, choose or enter a category and specify a date. After you tell the application what is in each folder, it brings up the browser- the index of all of your files. It displays the folder names, item names, any keywords you assigned, categories, dates and the status of the folder along with any notes.

I really like how this program gives you the ability to print out an index of all of your folders. This would be very useful to stick on a side of a filing cabinet or to keep in an accessible place as backup. The Paper Tiger also gives users the option to create and archive files and to back up the entire database. Other features I liked were the ability to transfer folders, toss folders, categorize folders and view folders in different ways (location view, category view, reminder view and a search view).

The user interface of this program is excellent! It incorporates the user very well by offering various ways of doing the same task but in a non-cluttered way. I do really like the large buttons at the top for common tasks and the search function makes the program. It will even search the notes section of a folder and the application has a wonderful advance search that allows for you to narrow down search options even more by entering a date range, category or location.

A few drawbacks of The Paper Tiger are that it is only available for Windows, the expensive price and the initial setup could take months depending on how many folders and files you have. For each folder, you must set up keywords, name the folder and tell the program what files are inside for it to be able to index the folders correctly. This could be a very difficult and time-consuming process for a large company or organization. If you have hundreds, thousands or more folders, expect to spend at least a weekend or longer importing all of your folders.

Would I recommend this product? Yes. I feel that it does the job very well and while the initial setup could be difficult depending on how many documents and folders you have, it does do what it advertises. Once everything is indexed within the program, it is a snap to locate even the smallest document. So get rid of that cluttered desk drawer or that piling up folder and try out The Paper Tiger.

The product is available for $169.95 from http://www.thepapertiger.com/

If you’re into the creation of professional animated graphics or you’re an artist looking to design your very own masterpiece using live-like animation, Smith Micro’s Anime Studio Pro 6 for both Windows and Mac is an impressively powerful tool.

Smith Micro’s Anime Studio Pro 6 ($199) is a vast update over the previous versions and adds many great new features. Enhancements to version 6 include motion tracking, integrated lip-syncing, a scatter brush, auto shading, morph targets, a new sequencer, HD video support along with the ability to export to more video formats and better scripting. This edition also adds speedier production times, improved drawing and design enhancements, the ability to directly upload content to YouTube right from the application and a large collection of predesigned graphics, sounds and templates.

I decided to put Mac version of the product to the test and the results stacked up well. One thing to note is this is a very large piece of software. The installation took about 578 megabytes of disk space, so I would recommend you have plenty of space before you go ahead and decide install this product. Other than that, the installation was smooth and took only about two minutes.

Anime Pro sports a sleek, clean interface, reminiscent of Photoshop or Flash. Performance-wise, everything seemed to run smoothly and I never ran up on any errors. Because this product is designed for professional use, there’s a bit of a learning curve and training may be necessary to fully utilize the capabilities of the software, but those who have used this product before will be satisfied with the interface, commands, tools and navigation of the application.

The applications preloaded content is especially useful for people who are just starting off. Within fifteen minutes I had my own animation going (AnimeStudioPro sample). It’s simple, but it just shows that in less then fifteen minutes, someone who has never used this product can get right to work with the simple, yet familiar interface.

The product retails for $199 new or $129 to upgrade from a previous version. If you currently use previous versions of this software, the new features are definitely worth the upgrade cost.

You can purchase this product online from Smith Micro’s online store.

Here at Blast, we’re all about backing up everything digital in our lives. We recently just got our hands on EASEUS Todo Backup, a free backup client for Windows and we are very impressed on how well this product looks and performs. Sure, it’s not as simple as Apple’s Time Machine which has only a single on-off switch, but this product does everything it advertises very well, and it’s absolutely free, so you can’t really complain.

Home screen of the EASEUS Todo Backup software.

The interface is fantastic with large buttons for the most common tasks such as backing up your entire disk or just a few partitions, as well as an option to restore your backed up content. There’s even a clone disk option where everything on your drive is duplicated to another hard drive. On the right hand side of the interface, there is a long, easy to read menu, marked with icons for more advanced options like mounting and unmounting a disk image. EASEUS did an excellent job with navigation and presenting an easy to use application, while maintaining a clutter free workspace.

Performance was great as well. In our tests, we were able to successfully backup up our drive and then later restore it. Todo Backup works by making a disk image of your entire drive, essentially duplicating it elsewhere. If a file ever gets deleted or Windows encounters a problem, it’s simple to just restore the files you need off your backup and be up and running again. The program also has a few nice features like the ability to set a priority to a backup, compress your backup to save space, and split your backup among disks. The splitting feature alone is a great because it enables you spread your backup among drives or discs; if you had a large backup that wouldn’t fit onto just one DVD, the spitting feature allows you to place your backup between as many DVDs or CDs as you need. The application also gives you the option to create a bootable disk, meaning if you’re main hard drive were to fail “" woe the day that happens “" you can plug your bootable drive in and run your computer from it.

Advanced configuration options in the EASEUS Todo Backup software.

There are, however, a few things we felt Todo Backup was missing. The ability to back up on to network volumes would have been nice. Also, the the program only allows you to backup the entire disk and doesn’t give you the option to select certain files and folders to backup. It also has limited security; we didn’t see any encryption or security support at all, but clearly this free piece of software is meant for home use and not designed for enterprise users.

For all the features, ease of use, and the fact that it’s completely free, EASEUS Todo Backup is a must download for Windows users looking for an easy to use backup solution. The interface, setup, and feature list are excellent and the program does everything EASEUS advertises. While it may have room to develop, for most users looking for a quick backup, these shortfalls probably won’t be an issue. Definitely give this product a try and test it out for yourself. You can download this free product from the EASEUS website.

There are many methods and products for ensuring data encryption, but unfortunately many can run you hundreds of dollars along with countless hours of time in the process.

I’ve always felt that some of the best software is free — take Mozilla Firefox for example.‚  SafeHouse Explorer is another great free product and in my use, I’ve found it to be a comprehensive data encryption solution for most Windows users.

One thing that I’ve noticed and enjoy about SafeHouse Explorer is its very clean look and simplicity of use. The application is designed to have the same appearance as the Windows Explorer and some of the most frequent tasks such as the “open volume” button are well placed and labeled, making the overall interface very functional, yet simple.

SafeHouse Explorer works to protect and encrypt your files by first letting your choose the size of its database or volume file. Then you create a password. I recommend that you choose a strong password (use the password strength indicator to help you), considering this will be your “master password” to all your files that are stored in that one volume. Once this is complete, you can simply drag and drop files into the window, and the program will then index and encrypt the files upon exiting the program.

One feature worth noting is the secure move-ability. This feature enables you easily move files to the SafeHouse application, and once imported, it destroys the files in the original location where they were dragged from.

Recovering your files is simple as well, and there are a variety of ways to regain access to your encrypted files. Users can create desktop shortcuts, double click on the volume file or simply launch the application and use the “open volume” button and navigate to the database or volume file. From there, users must enter their password- in which they assigned previously when they created the volume. SafeHouse Explorer then displays all of their files and the user can make changes. It then automatically creates a network drive when it recognizes you are logged into a particular volume. Once you close SafeHouse Explorer it deletes the network drive from Windows. This option makes it incredibly easy for users to easily gain access to their files using the familiar genuine Windows Explorer without having to use SafeHouse Explorer to access files. When volume is open in the application, users can make modifications directly to the file in SafeHouse Explorer. Many other clients require you to re-import files to make changes.

The company also offers a pro version of SafeHouse that offers additional functionality, but the free version is more than enough for most Windows users just looking to safeguard and encrypt files. There’s no Mac version, however.

You can download SafeHouse Explorer for free at: http://www.safehouseencryption.com/

With many of us trying to be more secure online by choosing better, less redundant and overall more secure passwords, the real question is “How do we remember them all?” Atek, a California based company, thinks they have a solution with their Logio Password Organizer Device.

It’s tiny –‚  only 1/8″ thick. The device reminds me of a cheap oven timer, and with that take on things, it’s very disappointing with flimsy thin plastic that almost breaks in half if you type with firm pressure.

The keyboard is somewhat acceptable yet very cheap-feeling again. I’ve found most of the other buttons take a few presses to get the unit to respond.

I found performance to be below average but manageable when you apply heavy pressure to the keyboard, which is really just a pain. I also found the interface to be very slow, and it often took a few seconds to respond to basic commands.

The simple menus are, well, simple. However, it is extremely tedious to keep pressing the down arrow to get to your listing at the end of the list when you store many items. The unit can store up to 200 records, but I couldn’t imagine pressing the down arrow 200 times to get to the last listing.

Two hundred is also a small number, considering several gigabytes of data fit into tiny secure digital cards these days.

The Logio stores all your passwords behind one AES-encrypted master password. Try not to forget that one.

I’ve always believed that as consumers, our pockets are filled with devices. We have our mobile phones, iPods, flash drives and more strapped onto our belt and stuffed into our pockets. Smartphones are beginning to get more and more advanced and with Apple, RIM, Palm and Windows Mobile taking new approaches we might finally be able to free our pockets.

With this in mind, the Atek Logio Password Organizer seems like a safe way to organize passwords and is defiantly more secure than your traditional pen and paper, but it contributes to the device clutter problem. I believe that the prototype would be far more successful if the company could develop mobile applications with this same functionality in mind for Smartphones such as Apple’s iPhone, RIM’s Backberry devices and Windows Mobile Smartphones.

The product retails for $29.95 and is available at http://www.atek.com/

Photos are a huge part of our lives, and the digital cameras that have dominated the market since the early 2000s have really given users the opportunity to edit and quickly share our photos with almost anyone regardless of their location.

Because many people, including myself, tend to overdo it and take far more photos than needed, digital slideshows have become increasingly more popular. But while the concept seems so simple, many people who would like to create a slideshow end up being lost in the creation process.

FXFoto 6, a photo editing application and advanced slideshow application, is attempting to change that. The company offers a few versions of the software, but I decided to stick with the free standard edition for the purposes of this review.

Starting with the installation, the process went exceptionally well. After about a minute and a half the program was up and running. I first tried to import photos, which wasn’t as easy as I’d hoped. The program gives users the ability to import folders; however, I couldn’t seem to get that to work. When using the control key to try to import multiple photos simultaneously, the program would only select one photo at a time, which was a major negative.

After the tedious and frustrating import process, I decided to try out the built-in photo editor to touch up my pictures and remove some red eye off of the subjects. I found the editing process to be the best feature of the application. Although Photoshop obviously blows it out of the water, the basic photo editing that FxFoto 6 provides works. But one disappointment is the lack of options such as brightness and contrast adjustment.

As for the slideshows themselves, I was not impressed at all. The user interface is unorganized, unappealing and poorly designed. I can’t see how any basic user or even a slightly more skilled user could figure out how to effectively produce slideshows with this program.

On top of the aforementioned downsides, the company does not support the Macintosh platform.

Personally, I would stay away from FxFoto 6. As an alternative, the Web site Photobucket (http://photobucket.com) offers a great slideshow creator and powerful image editing tools all for free. Users can also take advantage of online Web hosting so they can share the slideshow they just created with friends and family.

As megapixel quality increases and camera optics greatly improve, photo size greatly increases as well and sharing large photos through email can create quite a challenge, not just for the sender but the recipient as well.

Memeo Inc., a California-based company is ready to take on the challenge with a new product called Memeo Share. Memeo share is a desktop application designed for Microsoft Windows XP that allows users to upload photos to Memeo’s servers where other the recipient(s) can automatically download the full quality photos to be viewed. The service also features a setting that allows the user to upload pictures directly to Facebook and is an overall easy way to transfer photos among computers.

My experience with the photo sharing application left much more to be desired. The download and install was very quick and user friendly but I felt many other photo sharing sites such as Flickr, Photo Bucket or even Apple’s Mobile Me service offers many more options such as RSS feeds, embed codes, photo editors, comments and better photo tagging options, without the need to download and install an application. The interface of the application was designed well and very user simple and the performance of was good as well. The application ran well and seemed to work well without using hardly any system resources.

Overall I just can’t use using Memeo Share as a primary photo sharing application. Sure, it’s better than email, but Flickr and Photobucket provide far more features in a web experience and give Memeo Share a run for it’s money.  Though I’m not a huge fan of Memeo Share, you can give it a try for yourself and let others know your experience by commenting below.

The much-beloved social networking site Twitter allows users to keep their friends updated on their whereabouts and activities through status updates known as “tweets.”

Until recently, the most common ways to tweet were via Instant Message, Web, SMS or a desktop application; however, TwitterFone has developed a system that enables users to make a phone call, record their tweet, and let the company take care of the rest.

TwitterFone just launched into private beta and is currently inviting users to try out the service, so I figured I would give it a shot.

My experience with the service has been excellent. The registration process was extremely easy; just visit their website and fill out a form. Within minutes, I was given a number to instantly record my tweet.  Once again, the process was very user-friendly. Twitterers merely dial the number, record their tweet and hung up. The recorded message is then sent to TwitterFone where it is transcribed and relayed to your Twitter account.

I decided to put the service to the test by recording a tweet right when I woke up and got of bed in a voice still clogged with sleep and TwitterFone was able to understand my message without any mistakes. During the day, I decided to record even more tweets while I was out, and the service’s performance and reliability were top-notch.

Overall, TwitterFone is a new, great, convenient way of tweeting without the need to be stuck at your computer or using up valuable text messages for sending status updates. The service is currently free under private beta, but it’s unclear if the company will eventually begin charging users. If you’re interested in trying out TwitterFone, you can apply for an invite at: http://www.twitterfone.com/.

Email has become a huge part of our lives. In fact it pairs with instant messenger applications as leading ways we communicate with friends, family and clients. It’s just a great way to get your message across without spending hours talking with someone over the phone.

It has greatly expanded dramatically in the new millennium. Today you can access your mail on everything form cell phones to iPods. With email usage booming, many companies have jumped on the bandwagon and developed their own email service. With larger services like Google’s Gmail, Microsoft’s Windows Live/Hotmail and Yahoo Mail, everyone is sure have an account somewhere down the line.

Many companies and small businesses want email with their own domain name (like preble.m@blastmagazine.com) and access to their email beyond their company server, but that can be expensive and require technical staff or knowledge. That’s where Palo Alto Software comes in with their new Email Center Pro, trying to make this process easier and more cost friendly.

Rather than relying on a third party, Email Center Pro essentially lets you use your domain name to create multiple email accounts, versatile mail folders, notes for coworkers and templates for different users.

There is a free version available, but you’re limited to 250 emails per month with five users. The Basic Plan includes five gigabytes of storage, two thousand five hundred emails per month, an unlimited amount of users, five accounts and POP support for $19 a month. The Standard version includes 10 gigabytes of storage, 5,000 emails per month, unlimited users, five mailboxes and POP support for $49 per month. The Premium version includes 20 gigabytes of storage, 10,000 emails per month, an unlimited amount of users and mailboxes and POP and SSL support for $99 per month. Finally the company offers a Pro package which includes: 30 gigabytes of storage, 15,000 emails per month, and unlimited amount of users and accounts, POP and SSL support for $149. All packages also include free backup as well.

After evaluating their Pro package service for a few days, I wasn’t that impressed. The web-based interface was passable, but it wasn’t even as user friendly and feature packed as my free Gmail account. I was also disappointed that there wasn’t any IMAP connectivity — a big letdown considering the high price of the service. There also isn’t an unlimited message package.

While I was testing the service, I noticed that after I clicked the send button it took around two minutes for an email message to leave the Email Center Pro’s server and to make it into my Gmail server. I also experienced downtime with the service as well, which leaves me questioning how reliable it’s going to be in a pinch.

I did like the ability to add notes into a message. There is some good “corporate” customizability there.

You can sign up for a free account here, but I’ll stick with Google for now.

Wouldn’t you love to be able to sit back and enjoy your computer without worrying if it’s vulnerable to attacks just because you clicked the “Remind Me Later” button? That piece of mind can be achieved with an automatic updater.

I recently came across UpdateStar, a great, easy-to-use application that lets you sit back and relax while it take care of all the updating.

The initial installation went quite smoothly. Within a few minutes, I had the program recognizing all my applications. When UpdateStar first launched, I was blown away by its Microsoft Office 2007-esque toolbar with the ribbon-like view. UpdateStar really offers a very simple and well-designed user interface. On the start page, UpdateStar includes a pie graph with detailed information about your application updates. It even includes vast list of all the available updates that are yet to be installed. The ribbon-like menu system gives you the ability to update programs, news, configure settings, increase the text size and so much more. Without a doubt, this has to be one of the best well layout and user-friendly applications I’ve ever used.

But UpdateStar doesn’t just focus on updating programs. It’s also is a great way to uninstall programs – far more intuitive and easier to use than Windows’ “Add & Remove Programs ” pane. Simply click on the programs tab on the ribbon menu system, highlight the program that you wish to uninstall, and click “Uninstall” and it’s done.

Best of all, it’s free. In my experience, the program keeps the user experience in mind as it performs very well, delivering all the latest updates to one’s computer in a timely and effective manner.

During the past month I’ve been looking for the right case to fit my iPod. I’ve looked at many types and designs, but was shocked when I saw the unique urban, contemporary design of the Tinbot, and I knew I just had to try it.

Essentially Tinbot cases are custom pre-designed solid tin cases, with cut-outs for the iPod’s ports. Tinbot offers 11 great designs, starting at $19.99 for a plain white design and $29.99 for other design cases. Orders must be placed online at http://thetinbot.com and the company is working on expanding their product line to allow custom designs.

In person, it’s amazing how the design just “pops” out. The colors are vibrant and the contrast excellent; however, I was not so impressed at the overall case itself. The form factor of my Tinbot wasn’t good at all, and the case didn’t feel right in my hands.

The overall shape is very “boxy,” and it was a real pain prying the lid off the case when changing songs. The case feels extremely cheap and after a week of use the hinge is ready to fall off any day now. These issues cheapen features like the nice padding inside and excellent design.

Dare I say, the product is kind of tinny.

Tinbot leaves much more to be desired and I would not recommend purchasing, mainly because as of now, the unit is so cheap that I wouldn’t even trust my iPod in it. Overall, it’s low quality for a high price.

Overall: 2 out of 5 stars

One of the things that I cannot stress enough is backing up your files.

We store our work documents, pictures, music, videos, precious family photos and more on our computers, and with one hard drive glitch all our important files can be gone forever. Luckily, there are plenty of easy ways to prevent data loss by backing up your system.

Essentially, backing up produces copies of all your hard drive contents and exports them to one file, typically stored on a remote drive. In the old days this was done with tape drives and CD-R discs, but now this can often be done with external hard drives or flash memory.

Finding the right backup program can be quite tricky, but I recently came across Roxio BackOnTrack 3, and it seems to make backing up my PC easier than ever.

My experience with BackOnTrack has been excellent. The installation process went exceptionally well. Once the program was fully installed, I was taken to a preference window to customize my backup options.

Once that was out of the way, I was brought to a beautiful, simple, well-designed interface where all the options were just a click away. The software makes a statement with its easy to use interface of big buttons and easy to follow prompts.

I started out backing up a 100MB video file, and soon it was in a folder on my drive ready to be restored. I then deleted the file off my internal disk and restored it with BackOnTrack, and again within a few minutes a notification window came up telling me that my restore was completed successfully.

Finally I decided to backup my whole system and see how the product performed. All you have to do is click the “backup drive” button in the frequent tasks pane, select the drive you wish to backup, select the destination drive and click the large orange “go” button. Restoring files is just as easy.

In my tests, Roxio BackOnTrack exceeded expectations, mainly because of its ease of use, large buttons, great interface and overall great functionality. I would definitely recommend the software to anyone who wants an easy backup solution and piece of mind knowing that their files are safe.

It does have a few downsides, like when you try to back up individual files. The program only gives you the option to select email messages, financial data, photos, productivity documents videos and music. I would prefer if you could use the windows explorer and select the files to be backed up, rather then using its choice interface.

With its great features, functionality, ease of use, $49.99 price tag and it’s great user interface, Roxio BackOnTrack is a must have for any PC user.

Quck Hits:

Publisher: Roxio
Developer: Roxio
Platform: Windows XP or Vista
Genre: Backup Utility

Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars

The other day I was browsing around the Internet when I discovered an online shopping tool called the Magicmirror. This product may be a breakthrough innovation in Technology and Science. The product relies on RFID or embedded microchips within the tags. The chips in the tags communicate with the system, providing the user with a great shopping experience.

A company in Sunnyvale, Calif. named Kovio Inc introduced advancements in the microchip field. The company released an all printed, high performance silicon thin-film transistor which will greatly improve print quality and reduce ink costs while providing a faster cycle time. The technology inside this product is very advanced, consisting of dropped silicon, metals and insulators for a more precise and detailed print, compared to standard lithography-based silicon.

Providing better print quality while reducing the price isn’t all Kovio’s goal. The company also will offer low-cost Radio frequency identification tagging system (RFID).

Essentially RFID is a tagging system, which contains detailed product information, far more advanced than a traditional UPC code. The information is then broadcast wirelessly, where RFID readers in range can identify the product, unlike bar code readers where the UPC must be individually scanned.

Because each RFID uses serial identification numbers and is able to identify each individual product regardless of the style or brand, stores will no longer need to count how many products are in stock. RFID technology is soon to be implemented an in variety of places like retail locations, hospitals and transportation facilities.

In recent news Dillards Department stores will be installing and using RFID technology keep track of their inventory, resulting to an overall better shopping experience for their customers. As more and more companies adopt RFID technology, our shopping experience will soon get better and companies will be able to quickly realize that their running out of product supplies and submit additional orders accordingly.

The Magicmirror is one of the first devices to use RFID tagging technology to assist in a better shopping experience. The product uses the RFID technology, which is embedded within the tag of the retail products to quickly identify a given product. The mirror can then offer suggestions of similar products or allow the customers to request a size change.

Kovio’s new innovative technology will have a large impact in the Technology and Science industries — and maybe the common world as well. The tech may change the way users interact with machines doing their everyday tasks, like ordering a travel or show tickets or shopping for groceries.

Because developers are able to construct microchips so small so to be embedded in product tags or transportation fare cards, the overall process should provide customers a simpler, more automated way of completing everyday tasks.

This new advancement may also have impact in the science industry, because we are able to reduce the size of microchips which will result to constructing, smaller, powerful robots that can do dangerous tasks, in effort to save lives.

Kovio’s new technologies are eco-friendly as well, due to the fact that they consume less energy than existing technologies. Kovio has already signed deals with Toppan Forms Co. LTD., a large company and Cubic Transportation System that plans to utilize Kovio’s RFID technology in their fare collection systems, all in effort, to better serve their customers. Eventually, I look forward to buying a printer that uses Kovio’s new, silicon thin-film transistors as well as having a mirror or other device that can identify the any given product wirelessly.

Shinywhitebox’s iShowU screen recording software really packs a lot of power for a low price. I just recently upgraded to a Macintosh computer, and have been looking for a great screen-recording program that can capture both audio and video, but my choices have been quite limited. I’ve tried a few free-based programs such as Jing and Display Eater, but nether lived up to my expectations. Then I discovered iShowU.

Essentially iShowU is an application for the Macintosh platform that captures your computing activity and outputs it to common video formats. This piece of software is especially useful for providing quick tips, tutorials or addressing simple computing problems, while offering the viewer an optimal experience of being able to actually see a detailed view of what’s going on — far superior to reading standard text directions.

The installation process went exceptionally well. I was able to get the application up and running in a matter of a few minutes. Once the program launched, I was surprised on how easy and well set up the interface looked. The interface provides an exceptional experience that caters to both the standard user and the advanced user. On the left hand side is an array of video quality presets, which can easily be adjusted to fit the user’s needs. Separated on the right, is a more advanced pane which lets, the more experienced users adjust, audio quality, input devices, video frame rates, scale size, compression settings and more.

Once the output settings are complete, iShowU gives you the ability to select what you want to be recorded. Users can select from the available presets or drag a custom box around the subject to be recorded. Once finished, click the record button and you’re off. iShowU will even give you a countdown before it records. When the recording process is complete iShowU will open up the video up for playback and save the completed work.

I decided to put the product to the test by making a few short videos, tweaking settings such as quality, compression and more. The finished videos looked great and the product preformed as expected. I was then able to easily upload the video off to YouTube for the world to see.

My overall experience with iShowU was great. The product met my expectations and preformed well for the $20 price tag. One feature that I would like to see is the ability to place arrows or small captions in the recording. If you are looking to screen cast or help friends/family I recommend iShowU for your entire screen casting needs.

Quick hits:

Publisher: Shinywhitebox
Developer: Shinywhitebox
Platform: Mac OS X 10.4 or higher
Genre: Utility
Launch Date: October 26, 2006 (New version on November 26, 2007)

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars

4D released a revision, which offers users a new set of Internet tools while providing user-friendliness and better functionally.

Essentially 4D’s Web 2.0 Pack v11 is an online Internet application, which allows business users access to use a simple drag and drop interface, essential to perform a variety of tasks like: the ability to create graphs, perform basic calculations and much more, all without the need to ever write JavaSript.

4D’s Web 2.0 Pack v11 is mainly designed for mobile platforms such as Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch, however it will also run on you standard browsers seamlessly. This new update offers support for the 4D V11 SQL as well while providing a few advancements, such as improved performance and bug fixes; all in effort to provide a better user experience.

“The iPhone’s tremendous popularity has increased the need for powerful, mobile business tools,” said Brendan Coveney, President and CEO of 4D Inc. “We developed the Business Intelligence Dashboards for 4D Web 2.0 Pack v11 to give developers the cutting-edge tools they need to meet those business needs.”

The new AJAX powered software is priced at $599 and includes a six-month subscription to any further updates. The company will also provide an additional 12-month maintenance plan, which can be purchased for $249.

Overall it’s nice to see more productive tools for the iPhone and iPod touch mobile platforms. This new advancement will give business access more functionality, all on a simple, familiar drag and drop interface, without all the code.

Click here for more information and a complete list of features.

By the way:
Due to reporting errors, the name of the 4D V11 SQL was reported 3D V11 SQL. The price of the 4D Web 2.0 Pack V11 is $599, not $600, and the 12-month maintenance plan is $249 not $250.

When it comes to converting PDFs to word documents for editing, your software choice options are very limited. Docudesk, a company, which specializes in PDF software solutions, announced it’s deskUNPDF Professional that essentially converts PDF’s into various other formats like spreadsheets, websites and various image formats.

Formats include: Open Document Format (.ODT), Excel (.XLS), Comma Seperated Values (.CSV), Extensibile Markup Language, HTML, xHTML, Scalable Vector Graphics (.SVG), Bitmaps (.BMP), Portable Network Graphics (.PNG), Tagged Image File Format (.TIF or. TIFF) and Joint Photographic Experts Group (.JPEG).

My experience with this product was fairly good. The product installed very quickly and within a few minutes and I had the program up and running. The importing process was very easy as well.

Just drag a PDF located on the desktop into the program and a large preview will appear. Then just select your desired output format and tweak any advanced settings if necessary and once done, click the convert button at the top.

Within seconds the document was finished converting and opens itself up for viewing. The conversion process went seamlessly and seemed very effective. I couldn’t find any traces of distortion, which was a plus.

The trial version lets you convert one page documents, so you’ll have to buy UNPDF to go further.

My overall satisfaction of this product was fairly good, but this product does need improvements. I found that when importing large files the program unexpectedly quit which can be a problem. I would like to see more "eye candy" on the user interface, because having detailed buttons and animations make the user feel more at home, especially if they are running it with Windows Vista.

The price is also very high at $59.95 for a single user license and $269.95 for a five license pack, and it jumps up from there. Most consumers would purchase the single license pack, and I think $29.95 is more than enough for a relatively simple piece of software.

So is this product worth buying? It works as advertised and does its job well. It is expensive, but it’s really up to the consumer if Docudesk’s desk UNPDF is worth the money for the functionality.

Give it a try for free.

Quick hits:

Publisher: Docudesk
Developer: Docudesk
Platform: PC/MAC
Genre: Desktop Publishing Utility
Launch Date: November 27, 2007

Overall: 3.5 out of 5 stars

As the holidays approach, a unique gift idea emerges from DNA 11. Recently. the Canadian-based company introduced its new line of art portraits, which include DNA fingerprints and portraits of your lips and kisses.

DNA 11 offers three innovative and personalized products, and each one will never look the same because it’s unique to yourself. They are sure to make any empty wall look great while adding a personalized touch.

The portraits use customer’s DNA results, which tend to look like small or large rectangles. Customers can customize the portraits with color choice by logging on and choosing one of multiple setup options — such as one person’s DNA or as many as four people’s DNA displayed on one canvas.

The portraits start at $390 frameless and increase in price with people and options. Sizes include 18″x24″ ($390) 24″x36″ ($490) and 36″x54″ ($790). There are also 25 color presets and optional framing.

Personalized signatures and high resolution downloads can also be purchased. After selecting from these options, the customer receives a DNA collection kit, which includes a swab to collect cheek cells that get mailed back so the company can produce the DNA portrait.

DNA 11 also offers signature fingerprint portraits, which expresses a great deal of individuality.The collection and design process is similar to the DNA portraits where customers go online and choose from the standard 12″x12″ size ($190), 20″x20″ or the large 40″x40″ ($490).

Next, the customer must choose a color from the 25 presets or by choosing a custom color from the color palette. Similarly, to the DNA portraits, customers may opt to add a signature ($50) and may purchase a high resolution downloadable image ($50) and can choose from framing options.

DNA 11 also offers “kiss portraits” — outlines of a person’s lips.

The creation process is actually quite simple. First, customers select the configuration of their choice between a single lip outline, double lip outline, close-up or multiple lips. Prices range from one standard kiss portrait ($290) all the way up to kiss double close-up for two people ($390).

Next, customers can choose between the two available sizes 20″x20″ ($290) or 40″x40″ ($490). Once again, customers can choose their preferred color from the 25 presets colors or from the color palette and can then choose from the optional frames available for the selected size. The customer can choose to add their signature ($50) or purchase a high resolution image ($50).

The Kiss collection kit allows the customer to apply the included M.A.C VIVA Glam lipstick and kiss the included sheets until they get the perfect lip print.

DNA 11 products allow customers to personalize art and offer a unique way to decorate any wall where no two pieces will look the same.

A portion of money from Kiss portrait purchases goes to help purchase 1000 condoms in India or 16 HIV tests in Haiti.

After months of what seemed like torture following the release of the iPhone — and listening to consumers, technology experts, news anchors and my peers bragging about it — I must admit that I was tempted buy one. But I had to weigh a huge termination fee on my existing wireless plan in addition to the iPhone’s cost.

Then I heard Apple would release an iPhone without the phone. The 16gb iPod Touch is now in my hands.

The Touch’s design is astonishing, with its gorgeous three 3.5" widescreen display, multi touch user interface and its supermodel thinness at only .31 inches. It’s for any commuter looking to carry around their music, video collections, photos and the internet.

The unit comes in two versions, 8gb and 16gb, respectively priced at $300-$400.

I would strongly advise getting the larger capacity model because it’s still not a ton of space — considering older iPod’s gave you 20gb for just music — if you own a lot of music, videos or pictures, the device will fill up quickly. The operating system alone takes up over a gigabyte.

After using the iPod touch for a few months, my thoughts haven’t changed. The product packs a lot of functionality, which I adapted to very quickly.

One of the key features is the Safari browser. I find it extremely useful to be able to log in to social networking sites and surf the web. I can also read current events, stream media, and do regular tasks I would perform if I were on my computer.

It’s very rare that you find an ultra portable device like the iPod Touch that can stream both audio and video podcasts directly to the unit. It’s $400 spent wisely just in that feature alone.

The revolutionary touch screen interface built on Mac OS X is a head turner. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been complimented on the easy to use interface, which offers the user an optimal experience in every task.

It’s so nice flipping music with a swipe of a finger being able to quickly select a song. If you rotate the iPod Touch into landscape position, the built in accelerometer detects the position and displays you music in Cover Flow mode, similar to an iPhone feature.

Cover Flow is a technology which lets you see all the album art in you music collection. Gently tap on the cover art, and it spins around and lets you select a song within the album.

Sound quality is also impressive, with no skips because of reliable internal flash memory. The touch also offers the built-in iTunes WiFI Music store. I’ve bought a few tracks off WiFi store and was surprised on how seamlessly the store integrates with my music library.

You can browse the top one hundred songs of each genre or the top 100 songs on the iTunes store or search by name, artist, etc. for the song you want. The song will immediately download and appear in the users’ music library.

You can’t download movies, podcasts, games or music videos, but it’s a great start.

The rest of the features like video playback, the photo viewer, clock, calendar, calculator and YouTube application all work the same way as they do on the iPhone.

One suggestion that I have is if you plan to download podcasts, download the file with the Large QuickTime encoding. If you download the small QuickTime version, the video will be fuzzier and pixelated.

When watching videos, I was amazed at the quality of the picture. I sometimes forgot I was watching on a three and one half inch screen because the picture quality is so detailed.

The iPod Touch has minor drawbacks like its battery life, which in normal life only gets three hours when connected to WiFi and less than 20 hours of straight music playback if you enjoy flipping through cover flow and using some of its power hungry features.

Some other drawbacks are that Apple has blocked third party developers from creating native applications. You also can’t add calendar events on the go or download audio files other than the iTunes WiFi store.

There’s also no mail support and no flash support for viewing flash enabled sites, although hackers recently found ways to break through Apple’s encryption to add thirty party applications and features.

Overall, Apple really did a great job creating a device that provides so many useful features. I’m glad to see that Apple has taken the features from its popular iPhone and has added them into a device without the ongoing financial commitments.