You all have one – a person in your immediate or extended family (or perhaps very extended group of friends) that is next-to-impossible to shop for because he has everything he wants. That’s where SanDisk, and we at beststuff.com, come into play. Take the hassle and stress out of finding that perfect gift and give your materially blessed colleague extra storage space for his phone or MP3 player.

SanDisk's 16GB mobile memory card fits with phones and mp3 players with a microSD slot and is sure to give your loved one all the room he needs to store songs and pictures. Smaller than a fingernail and less than 100 dollars, the SanDisk microSD 16GB memory card is sure to make life just a little simpler for your friend without lightening your wallet too much.

• John Lentz Jr.'s blog
• Add new comment

If you are using Skype, then you already know how great it is to communicate affordably. In the age of controlling your telephony and voice communication, and now video phone, it is only fitting that Skype makes it easy to buy products that work with their services. Sure, some computers have cameras built right into the screen frame. What about those who don’t want to buy a new computer for a camera? The Skype Shop has all you need.

Here are just a few of the products available directly from Skype:

Logitech High Quality Web Cams – There are three Logitech Web Cams available in the Skype Shop. The QuickCam Pro 9000 and QuickCam Pro for Notebooks are both $99 MSRP. The Logitech QuickCam Orbit AF is $129.  read more »

• jeff's blog
• Add new comment

HP isn't new to touchscreen products. They started producing them in 1983 – 25 years ago. The user has the choice of finger tip or stylus pen. The Touchsmart tx2's Multi-touch technology means you can use two finger gestures such as pinch, rotate, arc, flick, press and drag, and single and double tap. They say, "The convertible design with a twist hinge allows consumers to enjoy the TouchSmart in three modes: PC, display and tablet. With a rechargeable digital ink pen, users can turn the tx2 into a tablet PC to write, sketch, draw, take notes or graph right onto the screen – and then automatically convert handwriting into typed text."

The enhanced HP MediaSmart digital entertainment software suite is optimized for multi-touch input to make it simple to enjoy high definition movies, TV, music, or pictures. MTV is partnering to provide rich video content from 10 television channels including Nickelodeon and Comedy Central.

HP Imprint designs range from cutting edge to elegantly sophisticated and the "Reaction" styled case design for the tx2 should follow nicely.

It is powered by AMD Turion Processor at a starting U.S. price of $1,149.

Read the press release for more information.

• Joe Stewart's blog
• Add new comment

November 19, 2008 – iriver, a leading innovator of stylish digital devices, kicks off the CES countdown with a bang, being named a 2009 CES Innovations Design and Engineering Award Honoree for its SPINN MP4 Player and P20 Portable Media player. The winners were announced at a Pre-CES event in New York. The annual Consumer Electronics Show takes place in Las Vegas, January 8-11, 2009.

iriver’s SPINN MP4 Player earned the award with its striking and distinctive metallic design, brilliant 3.3” AMOLED touch screen and unique spindle interface. The SPINN System Technology gives the user the ability to control the device through a spindle on the side of the player. With a simple movement of the thumb, the user can navigate through icons by rotating the spindle and pushing down on it to select options. The roster of impressive capabilities includes video, music, FM radio, picture viewer, voice recording, wireless headset support over Bluetooth 2.0 and more.  read more »

• Add new comment

November 19, 2008 -- HP today announced the industry’s first convertible notebook PC with multi-touch technology designed specifically for consumers.

Building upon the touch innovation HP developed for its TouchSmart desktop PCs, the HP TouchSmart tx2 Notebook PC was developed for people on the go who value having their digital content at their fingertips – literally.

The enhanced HP MediaSmart digital entertainment software suite on the tx2 allows users to more naturally select, organize and manipulate digital files such as photos, music, video and web content by simply touching the screen.  read more »

• Add new comment

November 19, 2008 –SEGA of America just announced that Sonic Unleashed for the Wii home video game system and the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system has officially shipped to stores across North America. Packed with stunning internationally-inspired locations and classic fast-paced gameplay, Sonic Unleashed promises an action-packed adventure for gamers of all ages featuring an extensive variety of missions and puzzle stages as well as unlockable content throughout the game for players to uncover.

Developed by Sonic Team in Japan, Sonic Unleashed is filled with classic 2D/3D gameplay and incredibly fast daytime action. Sonic has a series of new moves that make him even faster including the Sonic Drift (to corner quickly without losing speed), Ring Energy (faster speeds brings more ring energy), QuickStep (to move side to side without losing momentum), and Sonic Boost (uses Ring Energy to give Sonic a speed boost)-each move allows Sonic to reach unparalleled high speeds. Bringing a new twist on the Sonic series, Sonic Unleashed also introduces the Werehog – Sonic’s dark alter ego who comes out when the moon shines bright. Within the nightime levels, players can take advantage of the Werehog’s strong and flexible arms to fight tough enemies using his powerful punch and crazy combat moves. Gamers can also use the Werehog’s stretchy abilities to climb and swing reaching all new heights in the game.  read more »

• Add new comment

The pocket video camera is all the rage with those regularly posting to YouTube. Now HD (high definition) video is more important than just "plain-old-video". Where 720p at 60 frames per second produces quality content for your 16:9 LCD or Plasma televisions in smaller cameras. The Kodak Zi6 has a USB arm that “pops” out of the side of the camera when prompted. The camera powers itself from two AA batteries, and Kodak makes sure you have rechargeable batteries with the charger with this purchase. The expandable memory card slot is a great option, as there are 32 GB SD memory cards in the market. There are also cables that come with this camera for easy viewing on any HDTV.

For $179 MSRP this camera is worth the money for the easiest solution to capturing video today. As Yoda would say, "A Great Holiday Gift this would make." Who knows … the person you buy this for might be the next George Lucas.

• jeff's blog
• Add new comment

Netflix' New Xbox Experience premieres nationwide November 19. This helps Microsoft achieve their long held goal of creating a set top box for television viewing. The Xbox 360 stands out from other Netflix-ready devices to let users instantly watch movies and TV shows streamed from Netflix.

According the the press release, "Netflix members simply add movies and TV episodes from a growing library of more than 12,000 choices to their instant Queues at the Netflix Web site. Those choices are automatically displayed on the TV screen via the Xbox 360 and, once selected, will begin playing in as little as 30 seconds." There is no additional monthly fee for Netflix members who are also Xbox LIVE Gold members.

• Joe Stewart's blog
• 1 comment

November 18, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Netflix, Inc., the world's largest online movie rental service, today announced that Netflix members can have thousands of movies and TV episodes instantly streamed to the TV via the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system when the New Xbox Experience premieres nationwide tomorrow. Adding to a growing number of Netflix-ready devices, the Xbox 360 is the only game and entertainment console that lets users instantly watch movies and TV episodes streamed from Netflix to the TV. There is no additional monthly fee for Netflix members who are also Xbox LIVE Gold members.

Netflix members simply add movies and TV episodes from a growing library of more than 12,000 choices to their instant Queues at the Netflix Web site. Those choices are automatically displayed on the TV screen via the Xbox 360 and, once selected, will begin playing in as little as 30 seconds.  read more »

• Add new comment

Gateway  is getting on board the Core i7 train with a couple of nice gaming focused desktops. The quad-core Intel Core i7 processors run the preloaded 64-bit Windows Vista Home Premium OS. Accompanying the performance design of the Core i7, they use fast DD3 memory.

These desktop PCs have a nice black with copper accent tool-free chassis that provides easy access for expansion. A backup button on the front is assigned to the backup feature in Microsoft Windows Vista to help users have simple data safety. A few other good features are the 15-in-1 media card reader with Smart Copy Button and HDMI output (via DVI-HDMI dongle).  read more »

• Joe Stewart's blog
• Add new comment