Best Buy announced that beginning in 2011 they will begin using Clearwire's 4G mobile network under the Best Buy Connect service. This will be the first 4G option offered by Best Buy Connect.

"Our strategic wholesale agreement with Clearwire will enable Best Buy Connect to leverage the Clearwire 4G network’s speed and bandwidth to deliver compelling new mobile broadband experiences for our customers," said Jed Stillman, vice president of Best Buy Connect. "This agreement paves the way to providing one-stop shopping and support for mobile broadband as more people become more connected across all kinds of devices. We believe consumers will appreciate the added advantage of relying on Best Buy Connect for both 3G and 4G mobile broadband services beginning next year."

Additional details can be found at www.bestbuy.com/bestbuyconnect.

Power strips. Everyone has at least one power strip/surge protector either at work or at home protecting their electronics. Have you ever wondered what would happen if it got wet? Scary thought, isn't it? Well, a company called Wet Circuits thought they would come out with a power strip that is both water-resistant and shockproof. Built to withstand accidental spills (even rain and snow!), with a Wet Circuits power strip you can feel safe knowing your electronics are still powered up and good to go! Heck - you can even stick a tweezer in the outlet and you won't be electrocuted.

Check out these demonstration videos:

Experiment 1

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The new Samsung Intensity II is available online at www.verizonwireless.com now and in Verizon Wireless stores within the next few weeks.

The Intensity II features a 2.2-inch QVGA screen, Bluetooth, a horizontal slide-out QWERTY keyboard, microSD card slot (supports up to 32 GB), a music player, one-touch access to social networking sites, and a 1.3-megapixel infrared camera with night vision.

Being eco-conscious, Samsung made the device partly from recycled plastic. The exterior battery cover is made from 35 percent post-consumer materials, and for those interested in calculating their own carbon footprints, the Intensity II has an eco-calculator to track car fuel mileage, efficiency and estimated amount of carbon dioxide emitted. Read more

Best Buy announced a special for those who have purchased an iPhone 4 at Best Buy (or plan on buying one): a free Side Shield from invisibleSHIELD. The Side Shield is a clear shield that is applied to the outer edges of the device which is said to address the iPhone 4's antenna issues. ZAGG, the makers of invisibleSHIELD products, have tested the Side Shield and say that it prevents antenna issues that occur when skin contacts the antenna of the iPhone 4.

The Side Shield is available free of charge, with installation included, to anyone who purchased or will purchase an iPhone 4 from Best Buy and is extended to all existing Reward Zone customers. The Side Shield is also available to the general public for $9.99, including installation. Read more

The folks over at Panasonic have been busy bees lately. Yesterday we told you about the new 3D camcorder and today we have two new Panasonic camcorders that double as web cams, the HDC-SDX1 and HM-TA1.

The HM-TA1 is a pocket camcorder that shoots 1080p HD video as well as 8 megapixel stills. It also doubles as a web cam and microphone by just connecting it to a computer via (included) USB port. Software is integrated as well, so using video chatting services such as Skype easy.

The TA1 features a 2.0" LCD monitor, 4x digital zoom, and records to an SDXC/SDHC/SD memory card. A built-in LED light is included for shooting in dimly-lit locations. This pocket cam measures just 2.09 inch (w) x 0.70 inch (d) x 4.09 inch (h), and weighs just 0.25lb (and that's with the battery and SD card!). Read more

Amazon this week announced a smaller, lighter and faster Kindle. The latest Kindle also has a new electronic-ink screen with 50 percent better contrast, a new design with a 21 percent smaller body while still keeping the same 6-inch-size reading area, and a 15 percent lighter weight at just 8.7 ounces.

The new Kindle also offers 20 percent faster page turns, up to one month of battery life, double the storage to 3,500 books, and built-in Wi-Fi -- for only $189, and it still comes with free 3G wireless.

The device also uses a new (experimental) web browser based on the open source browser engine, WebKit. The updated browser is said to be faster, easier to navigate, and has a new "article mode" feature that lets you view just the text-based content of web pages. The new Kindle also can read to you with its Text-to Speech feature, and the device has a new lighted leather cover with a built-in, retractable reading light.Read more

SanDisk has a new USB flash drive that is super-tiny. In fact, it is the company's smallest to date. About the size of a standard size paper clip, the Cruzer Blade fits easily on your keychain or mobile phone dongle. It won't weigh it down either. The Cruzer Blade weighs about the same as a penny.

The SanDisk Cruzer Blade is available in capacities ranging from 2GB to 16GB, with a 4GB drive storing approximately 1,000 songs, 1,200 high-resolution photos, or 8 hours of 768kb/s video.

"At half the size of some other USB drives, our compact Cruzer Blade provides consumers with highly portable storage at a great value," said Kent Perry, director, retail product marketing, SanDisk. "The drive lets users transfer their digital data quickly between computers, and delivers a storage boost to devices such as netbooks that often need additional memory but are difficult to upgrade easily."

The SanDisk Cruzer Blade USB flash drive is available now at sandisk.com, with prices ranging from $14.99 to $77.99.

Panasonic this week unveiled the HDC-SDT750 3D camcorder, which the company calls "the world's first consumer 3D camcorder." 3D video content can be recorded thanks to the included 3D conversion lens that you attach to the device. The 3D conversion lens records right-eye and left-eye images simultaneously through its two lenses, with both sides recording at 960 x 1080 pixels.

But 3D video is not all the SDT750 can do. It records full 1080p HD in AVCHD video when the 3D conversion lens is not attached, and also features a 3MOS system, a Leica Dicomar lens and a 12x optical zoom. It also has a Time Lapse recording feature, allowing you to record at intervals of one second, 10 seconds, 30 seconds, one minute, or two minutes.

A built-in 5.1-channel audio recording sound system uses five microphones which record from the front, right, left and back for playback on a 5.1-channel home theater system; and a Focus microphone function picks up the sounds in front of the camcorder, whether near or far away. Read more

Meridian has two new products in the Sooloos Series - Control 15 and Meridian Media Source 600.

Control 15 combines all the functions of a Meridian Sooloos Digital Media System - storage, playback and control - into one device. Just add Meridian's DSP Loudspeakers, and you have a complete digital system.

Features of Control 15 include a 17-inch touchscreen, 500GB hard drive, CD drive and it can also stream Internet radio from a networked broadband modem. Control 15 stores around 1000 CD albums in lossless format – along with MP3 versions that can be exported to a personal music player.Read more