• Premium sound quality, Compact size, and Sleek design
• Soft silicone ear buds provide a super comfortable, noise reducing fit
• High intensity listening experience with crisp, clear sound and deep bass
• Works with every iPod, mp3 player, CD, portable DVD, PSP, MD, and Laptop
• Goldplated 3.5 mm audio jack for premium, no-loss sound connection to your audio device.

JBuds are the perfect companion for your iPod, mp3 player, laptop, portable DVD, MD, radio, or other audio devices, combining sleek design, premium sound quality, noise reduction, and maximum comfort. The soft silicone earbuds fit perfectly inside your ears, allowing you to comfortably enjoy your music non-stop while blocking outside noise. The new JBuds give you a high-intensity listening experience with crisp, clear sound and powerful bass. Includes 3 pairs of silicone earbud tips in small, medium, and large to assure the perfect fit! Generous 4.5ft wire with standard Y-formation to the earbuds. Available in white, black, or pink. One-year full warranty.

Rating: (out of 1674 reviews)

List Price: $ 49.95

Price: $ 9.95

Samsung USB 2.0 8x DVD Writer External Optical Drive for Mac and PC SE-S084C/RSBN (Gloss Black)

• Compatible with Mac and PC’s alike. Full 8X DVD functionality in an ultra slim tray load design
• The perfect accessory for Netbook users
• Tray Loading Drive for easy access to media even when the drive is turned off. No need to power the drive on to remove your discs.
• 8X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 6X DVD+R DL 8X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 5X DVD-RAM 8X DVD-ROM 24X CD-R 24X CD-RW 24X CD-ROM 2MB Cache USB 2.0
• Nero Software Suite (NERO Burning ROM, NERO Showtime, PowerDVD) included.

The first Samsung external DVD drive that is compatible with Mac as well as PCs. A “must have” accessory for all NetBook users. The SAMSUNG 8X Tray load External Slim DVD Writer is designed to provide the highest quality DVD functionality in a sleek design that is not much larger than the CD/DVD itself. Simply plug it into your USB port and you are ready to watch movies, install software, copy photos, play music, etc. Furthermore, this model supports both 12 cm & 8 cm discs. The Manual Disc Eject function allows the disc to be ejected even when the power is off.

Rating: (out of 312 reviews)

List Price: $ 65.99

Price: $ 44.99

• Compatible with Mac and PC’s alike. Full 8X DVD functionality in an ultra slim tray load design
• The perfect accessory for Netbook users
• Tray Loading Drive for easy access to media even when the drive is turned off. No need to power the drive on to remove your discs.
• 8X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 6X DVD+R DL 8X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 5X DVD-RAM 8X DVD-ROM 24X CD-R 24X CD-RW 24X CD-ROM 2MB Cache USB 2.0
• Nero Software Suite (NERO Burning ROM, NERO Showtime, PowerDVD) included.

Product Description
The first Samsung external DVD drive that is compatible with Mac as well as PCs. A “must have” accessory for all NetBook users. The SAMSUNG 8X Tray load External Slim DVD Writer is designed to provide the highest quality DVD functionality in a sleek design that is not much larger than the CD/DVD itself. Simply plug it into your USB port and you are ready to watch movies, install software, copy photos, play music, etc. Furthermore, this model supports both 12 cm & 8 cm discs. The Manual Disc Eject function allows the disc to be ejected even when the power is off…. More >>

Samsung USB 2.0 8x DVD Writer External Optical Drive for Mac and PC SE-S084C/RSBN

• Compatible with Mac and PC’s alike. Full 8X DVD functionality in an ultra slim tray load design
• The perfect accessory for Netbook users
• Tray Loading Drive for easy access to media even when the drive is turned off. No need to power the drive on to remove your discs.
• 8X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 6X DVD+R DL 8X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 5X DVD-RAM 8X DVD-ROM 24X CD-R 24X CD-RW 24X CD-ROM 2MB Cache USB 2.0
• Nero Software Suite (NERO Burning ROM, NERO Showtime, PowerDVD) included.

Product Description
The first Samsung external DVD drive that is compatible with Mac as well as PCs. A “must have” accessory for all NetBook users. The SAMSUNG 8X Tray load External Slim DVD Writer is designed to provide the highest quality DVD functionality in a sleek design that is not much larger than the CD/DVD itself. Simply plug it into your USB port and you are ready to watch movies, install software, copy photos, play music, etc. Furthermore, this model supports both 12 cm & 8 cm discs. The Manual Disc Eject function allows the disc to be ejected even when the power is off…. More >>

Samsung USB 2.0 8x DVD Writer External Optical Drive for Mac and PC SE-S084C/RSBN

By Ian Chiu

[ The following article is syndicated with permission from Everything USB ]

USB 3.0 is here. While not everyone has immediately hopped on the bandwagon yet, several major motherboard and storage manufacturers have been actively pushing out SuperSpeed USB devices, and one of them is Seagate BlackArmor PS 110 Performance Kit. Bearing an ambitious name, the BlackArmor PS 110 is one of the industry’s first portable USB 3.0 2.5″ drives. The kit – backed by a generous 5-year warranty – comprises of a 7,200-rpm 500GB drive that now becomes the performance bottleneck instead of the USB interface; a single-port USB 3.0 ExpressCard/34 card; an auxiliary power cable; and a backup software suite.

Obviously, what makes this drive so special is the speed. The on-board USB 3.0-to-SATA bridge chip boosts average performance to consistently high between 60 to 95MB/s. This is up from 30MB/s range registered by USB 2.0 FreeAgent Go. A review by Everything USB confirmed that the BlackArmor PS 110 USB 3.0 is indeed the bottleneck as a 3.5″ 1TB drive inside a WD My Book 3.0 easily bumped speed even further to 110MB/s. Keep in mind BlackArmor PS 110 3.0 is only first generation product. So it could take a year or two before the potential of USB 3.0 is fully realized. Read on for the full review for all the benchmark data and usability test results.

[ Seagate BlackArmor PS 110 USB 3.0 Review @ Everything USB ]

With Creative Live! Cam Voice you can now sound your best because of the Directional Live which is revolutionary. All you hear is your voice not the unwanted surrounding noise due to the audio blocks. The high-quality ultra-wide angle lens and advanced CMOS sensor lets you capture snaps up to 5-megapixel photos and large 1.3-megapixel videos. Here are some technical details for this coolest webcam: Bundled Muvee autoProducer lets you create videos quickly and easily , high-speed 2.0 connectivity delivers smooth 640×480 resolution and smart-face tracking keeps you in the video frame , true 1.3 megapixel video at 30 frames per second are delivered by high-quality, 1.3 megapixel sensor, Webcam delivers unrivaled video and voice clarity, dimensions – 10.7 x 8.1 x 2.4 inches.

Live! Audio technology lets you transmit crystal clear voice and reduces background noise . What gives you an amazing 85˚ field of view is the high quality glass lens . With Live! View technology you can enjoy sharp images , vibrant and smooth video . Live! Cam Voice features high quality glass lens, intelligent auto exposure and 1.3-megapixel sensor . The camera automatically follows you as you move about , with Smart Face Tracking activated. Everyone can get in on the conversation because it tracks many people. Even if your PC has a lower USB connection it is perfectly compatible with your computer because Live ! Cam Voice is also USB 1.1 compliant .

When you’ll receive the cam , in the box will be the following articles: a complete user’s guide, Orb with OrbSecure, SightSpeed, muvee autoProducer, Creative Photo Calendar, Creative Photo Manager, Creative hands free headset, Quick Start guide .

Creative Labs WebCam Instant Works with instant messenger services , Windows Messenger, MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger. Other technical features : Flexible three-way base sits, USB 1.1 connection , 352 x 288 (CIF) CMOS sensor .

Think of the Myka ION as a nettop built for your HDTV. The little media streamer utilizes an 1.6 GHz Intel Atom 330 CPU and an NVIDIA ION GPU to provide your TV with quality high-definition content. Actually, the Myka ION is more computer than dedicated media playback device, which is good thing. Well, a Linux-powered computer with Boxee and XBMC installed, that is.

The company claims that the Myka ION has enough juice to power Boxee, Hulu, and other Internet sites as well as playback HD content encoded at a high bit rate. After peeking the specs, which includes 2GB of DDR2 memory and the aforementioned hardware, I don’t see why it couldn’t. Video can be outputted to a display via VGA, DVI, or HDMI and the audio can ride on either optical or dig-COAX digital channels or over analog outputs. There is even a wireless network option, along with a Blu-ray drive and various hard drive size options.

But it’s the software that makes a streamer successful and this guy is stacked. It has everything: Boxee, XBMC, Hulu Desktop and it’s own GUI powered by a full version of Ubuntu 9.10. Needless to say that the Myka ION can probably play back any video file you throw at it.

All this nerdy goodness doesn’t come cheap. The base model Myka Ion without wireless or a Blu-ray drive and only a 160 GB hard drive, costs $379 and will take 4 – 6 weeks to ship. Once you add all the options, the price climbs to a $769, which is on par with media centers from Dell and HP. But Dell and HP don’t ship with what looks like to be a killer software suite.

Years ago, when Microsoft started pushing Internet Explorer, it enjoyed favorable adoption rates because, well, it’s already on there, so why not use it? (Law-breaking aside, of course!) That may be what Microsoft is thinking this time around with Office 2010. Redmond will allow OEMs to install Office Starter 2010 on brand new Windows 7 PCs. It will be a pared down version of Office, and one that will be ad-supported. That, of course, has caused the Internet to freak out.

Microsoft is doing this to get people hooked, I guess, on the real version of Office, and to prevent people from using free, online alternatives like Google Docs. The theory is, if you give people a taste of Office, and let them use it without too many restrictions, then why would they go out of their way to find an alternative? Not everyone wants to replace their Windows shell with some fancy thingamajig.

So you’ll have this ad-supported version of Office, which doesn’t include Power Point or Outlook, but then PC vendors will be able to sell license cards at retail, sorta like how you can buy Microsoft Points at Best Buy or Wal-Mart. You buy the card, then use the printed serial number to “upgrade” the starter edition to the Real Deal.

That’s the thing: even though you’re limited in what you can do with the ad-supported version of Office, it’s 100 percent the full software suite residing on your hard drive. That mean cracks will be available within 15 seconds of the first ISO leaking from the manufacturing facilities.

What this means for Microsoft’s online version of Office, which was also supposed to be a sort of introductory version of Office, is totally unknown.

And yet I wonder how many people out there in Radio Land are still running Word 97—Word is the one application that pretty much everyone can use; not everyone needs Outlook or Power Point, you know—because it works just fine?

There is a good amount of quiet hesitation about the xpPhone around the interwebs this morning. It seems that everyone wants to believe that the xpPhone will make it to market, but it almost seems to good to be true. The specs list an unspecified AMD Super Mobile CPU powering the system and it will be configurable with a wide range of SSD and HDD options. But best of all, the company lets you select the 3G module needed for either AT&T, Vodafone, or Orange. That is, of course, assuming the xpPhone will actually be produced even though you can pre-order one today.

Maybe everyone, including us, are approaching the xpPhone slowly because it seems too good to be true. This “phone” would probably be the most powerful on the market. But it’s almost like that because the device is called a phone, some are taking a different approach. If the device was called a UMPC with a 3G connection, there probably wouldn’t be as much hesitation.

But when you compare specs, the xpPhone is really a Viliv S5 with a physical keyboard, a 0.2-inch smaller screen, and probably a special software suite for the phone functions. The Viliv S5 also has a 3G modem, runs XP off of a mobile CPU, and great battery life though. The only thing it’s lacking is a microphone and it too could be a phone.

The xpPhone could totally make it to market. Now this market could be a tiny, niche market of nerds and a select group of inventory control types, but let’s not forget that this device is simply a UMPC with a phone functions. And it’s going to take a special someone to carry the beast.

[xpPhone via SlashGear via Gizmodo]

Microsoft has run through several versions of its free Movie Maker application for various Windows platforms, most of them earning a fair amount of criticism. The latest edition, Windows Live Movie Maker 1.0, does easily turn photos and video clips into slide shows and movies, but it is far from perfect. Released from beta on Wednesday, this is functional freeware that’s aimed squarely at the casual consumer crowd. Although mostly easy to use, its toolset and interface lack a certain sophistication that users of all levels would appreciate.

Installation tips

The fresh-out-of-beta Windows Live Movie Maker (not to be confused with Windows Movie Maker, minus the ‘Live’) is compatible with Vista and Windows 7 operating systems only. It comes bundled into the Windows Live Essentials suite of apps, but you can separate it out with a little click-surgery. To get Movie Maker only, you’ll need to uncheck the boxes for the other programs in the suite, leaving Movie Maker selected. Before the app finishes installing, take care to read the penultimate window; if you race ahead, you’ll be changing your default search to Microsoft’s Bing and your home page to MSN.

Windows Live Movie Maker comes bundled in a software suite.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)

Interface

With its visual ribbon of menu actions, Windows Live Movie Maker emulates the look and feel of Microsoft Office 2007 applications. The preview window is portioned out to the left of the screen and the gallery of photos and clips you’ll import sits on the right. Interestingly, tool tips appear above the Edit, Options, and Format tabs to alert you that these are the menus for video, audio, and text tools. These tabs disappear when you’re not using them. While we like this feature, we also wonder why Microsoft didn’t just dispense with the highlights and name them accordingly.

Making instant movies

Microsoft’s emphasis on the visual hits home when you get started. In addition to adding photos and video clips through a menu button, you can drag and drop them into the storyboard. Likewise, you can click and drag to move clips around. For extremely simple movie-creation, after you arrange the clips, a click of the AutoMovie button (in the Home tab) ties the clips together with a title, transitions, and pan and zoom effects. If it doesn’t add a song clip for you, it prompts you to select one (again, through the Home tab.) Automating movies and slide shows this ways is a great two-second option for casual or time-stressed users. After all, you can always tweak later.

…

Originally posted at The Download Blog

The small print is that in order to get 50% off, you have to purchase any HP consumer notebook or desktop from HPdirect.com. If that’s alright with you, just check the box during the system customization to order the server at $199. We just wish it was $199 everyday.