Nokia first netbook, the Booklet 3G will go on sale in mid November.

Nokia, the world number one cell phone maker is set to release its first netbook, marking effectively its entry into this new and hot category of inexpensive devices deigned primarily to access the Internet. Nokia's Booklet 3G as it is called, will hit the market in mid November and the reviews give it a passing grade. Starting with its look, the Wall Street Journal noticed the resemblances between the designs of the Booklet 3G and those of Apple's. One thing that will jump out according to the Journal, is its high resolution screen of 1,280 by 720 pixels, which seems noticeable in the netbook category. Another thing that will make this netbook stand out, is its unusually long battery life which should last a decent 10 hours under normal circumstances. The Nokia Booklet 3G will cost $300 if purchased with AT&T two year Data Connect Plan at the tune of $60 a month for five gigabytes of data. The one nice thing about the AT&T plan is that users are offered the option to choose at all times between a cellular 3G or a WI-FI connection which should ensure almost a constant connection. Without the AT&T plan, the Booklet 3G will cost $600 and Best Buy has started taking pre-oreders this week. The Booklet 3G comes preloaded with Windows 7 Starter and one gigabyte of memory plus the Nokia Social Hub software which is designed to allow its users to track their social medias interests and text messages.

For more, see WSJ.com

Shoeboxed iPhone app offers an easy way to keep track of receipts.

For people with the need to keep track of everyone of their daily expenses, one of the major obstacles of achieving that may have been laying in the cumbersome nature saving the actual physical receipts. Indeed, it can be tedious, time consuming and require a lot of discipline. Now, thanks to the Apple iTunes store, help has arrived in the form of a free app called Shoeboxed offered by Shoeboxed.com.Shoeboxed is not the first digital receipts keeping solution in the market, Quicken Online Mobile has been offering a way for users to type in their receipts on the spot. What makes Shoeboxed different is the fact that there is no typing involved from the users. The way it works is very simple, according to the New York Times which has tested the app.First of all, you will need to download the free app either from the Apple store, or from Shoeboxed.com and after that, you can start taking pictures of your actual receipts using your iPhone camera;once in the system, the data will be extracted and organized into your private own account. Even if you do not own an iPhone, you still can use the service as long as you own a Web capable phone with a built-in camera. Just like with the iPhone, snap a picture of the receipt and email it to Shoeboxed.com; the service will extract the data and enter it into your safe private account for immediate access. People who lack both an iPhone and a Web accessible phone, can still use the service by mailing all their receipts and even business cards using some provided prepaid mailing envelopes to the company for it to do the scanning and the filing for them. As said earlier in this post, the app is free but the service is not, requiring a minimum $9.95 monthly membership for unlimited uploaded or emailed receipts and up to 50 receipts or business cards.

For more, see NYTimes.com

Crapware free PCs sold at Microsoft stores.

One of the surprises that greeted customers at Microsoft's newly opened first retail store in the U.S. since its announced come back in the retail business, has been the availability of PCs offered for sale without the traditional load of crapware or unwanted useless software that generally come with such hardware.
And according to Ars Technica, almost all of the traditional PCs makers models are represented in this new experience. But, there is a catch; even if these PCs come free of the usual crapware, there are loaded with Microsoft own software including Windows Live Essentials and Microsoft Security Essentials, as well as Adobe software.

For more, see ArsTechnica.com

Retailers to use free shipping to lure shoppers for the holiday.

This coming holiday shopping season in the midst of a recession, has all the markings of a buyer's market. Economic experts have been busy all summer watching consumers spending and almost all signs point to some unease when it comes to people opening up their wallets. Well aware of that, retailers from the brick and mortar with an online presence to the ones with online only presence, are gearing up to make sure they don't miss the opportunity to grab their share of the dollars spent online.
To reach that goal, many retailers are reverting to free shipping as their secret weapon.
Already standard with some online retailers like Zappos.com and Shoebuy.com, free shipping is starting to become spread across the board. Retailers giants like Target, who has offered free shipping around the holidays, is starting the offer two weeks earlier this year, starting in November 1st and applying it to twice as many items as in years past, according to the Wall Street Journal.
For its part, Wal-Mart which is locked in an epic battle with Amazon.com, is using it as a knock out punch, even applying it to the already heavily discounted books that it is selling online.
Last but not least, shoppers can expect the number of retailers taking part in the annual Free Shipping Day organized by Freeshipping.org and held on Dec 17, to double from the 250 stores that took part last year;
and the event this year is set to draw first time participants like Toys "R" US.

For more, see WSJ.com.

New Flip MIno HD Premium is more stylish and offers more memory.

If you have ever tried the popular Flip pocket camcorder Mino HD, chances are you liked for its simplicity and for the results it yields. Now, its maker have introduced a new model which is not radical move from the original but rather a nice little makeover with the addition of more memory. The new Mino HD has a eight gigabyte memory, or double the capacity of the standard one, and can store two hours of 720p footage according to the New York Times.
It also has a larger two-inch LCD screen with an improved resolution of 960 by 240 pixels and a new nice feature consisting of a mini HDMI connector that will allow you to connect the device to a HD TV to view your recordings. At $230, the Mino HD is only $30 more than the standard one with double the memory and certainly, double the fun.


For more, see NYTimes.com

Best Buy and SEARS offer free delivery and set-up for large screen TVs.

To entice people to make the purchase of that big screen TV, Best Buy is offering a free delivery and set-up for TVs priced at $999 more. This new offer comes on top of another incentive from Best Buy of free recycling of your old TV. There is no indication on how long this offer will last, but chances are that given the current economic conditions, it is going to be around for awhile and even expended to others products, or adopted by others retailers.
The latest seems to be already the case with SEARS offering a similar program for certain large TVs.

For more, see WSJ.com