It seems that every year stores bring out the holiday decorations even earlier than last – and this year is no exception. With less than a month until Thanksgiving, most stores have already laid out their festive Christmas holiday wares. If you’re in a “ba humbug” mood due to the economy – here’s one item from the Target web site that might cheer you up. Modeled after the tree seen in the 1965 Charlie Brown Christmas special that plays each year, this 24″ tall plastic tree is a little pricey at $23.99 but guaranteed to bring back childhood memories galore as well as provide the perfect decoration for any office cubicle.

Charlie Brown Tree – $23.99

I received notice tonight from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission of two recalls which might concern some of you; both pose a fire or burn hazard.

The first is for the DYMO® LabelWriter® Power Adapters used with printers, and the second is for Lithium-Ion Batteries used in Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba and Dell Notebook Computers. If it’s possible that you might have products affected by the recall, please take a moment to check and be safe.

DYMO Recalls Power Adapters Sold with DYMO® Printers Due to Burn Hazard
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product.

Name of Product: DYMO® LabelWriter® Power Adapters used with printers

Units: About 17,000

Manufacturer: DYMO, of Stamford, Conn.

Hazard: The power adapters can fail, causing the printer to overheat. This can pose a burn hazard to consumers.

Incidents/Injuries: DYMO has received 11 reports of printers overheating and emitting smoke and/or a burnt smell. No injuries have been reported.

Description: This recall involves the external power adapters sold with the following DYMO LabelWriter® 400 series printers: DYMO LabelWriter 400, DYMO LabelWriter 400 Turbo, DYMO LabelWriter Twin Turbo, DYMO LabelWriter Duo and DYMO Desktop Mailing Solution with housing date codes 2407, 2507, 2607 or 2707.

The date code is printed on the plastic housing of the adapter.

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Google is rolling out free SMS text messaging from within your Gmail online chat screen (access this by selecting a contact and then clicking chat). The capability is a Gmail Labs feature (experimental) and must be activated from the settings tab of Gmail. For now you can only send SMS to US numbers and SMS messaging only works within the chat in Gmail. It doesn’t, for example, work in any of the other Google gadgets or instant messaging clients. Update: Looks like this has been delayed a few weeks. Google found some glitches and pulled back the feature.

CNET

Here’s a really interesting security product for anyone that has a rental property – or kids who are constantly forgetting and/or losing their house keys. It’s a lock that accepts unique ID codes instead of keys. The codes are entered on a keypad and you never have to connect the lock to a computer or pay any monthly fees. These codes are unique (based on your lock’s serial number) and only valid for a set length of time. After their expiration they can never be re-used. You generate these codes via unique software on your computer. Working in conjunction with the serial number of your lock, the software generates a unique key code which can be used to unlock the door for the period of time you specified when generating the code.

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Dave Farrow has been living (and reading) in the Data Vision store window located on 5th Ave in New York City for the past 30 days. His Sony Reader Revolution is a publicity stunt to draw attention to the Sony eBook Reader as well as call attention to reading. For every page Dave reads, Sony provided an eBook library of 100 eBook classics to a school or educational institution. I don’t know what the first thing Dave will do upon emerging from his 2′9″ x 17′2″ storefront home – but I have a good idea what I’d do… If you hurry (Dave exits the window at 5pm EST) you can catch his final moments and watch him emerge from the window live via the web at the link below.

Dave Farrow Sony Reader Revolution Image via Sony Reader Revolution Facebook Group

Can it be true that Motorola won’t have an Android phone until next Christmas?? According to Silicon Alley Insider that’s exactly what soon to be former CEO Sanjay Jha said on this morning’s earnings call.

What is Moto doing with their resources? Making a 73rd colored edition of the Razr? I’m serious.

If the forecast for production is accurate, expect that in the interim Motorola will roll out another boring offshoot of the Moto Q in some offbeat color with a slightly different shape but the same boring underlying design and the same lousy battery life. And, no, I don’t think a $2,000 luxury cell phone that looks like a re-cycled V70 is going to help Motorola….

Holy cow. I wonder if Motorola will even have a cell phone division by next Christmas? Update: Silicon Alley Insider is reporting that Motorola is firing 3,000 – mostly from their Cellphone Division

Link: Motorola: No Google Android ‘GPhones’ Til Next Christmas

Sprint appears to have finally let loose with an official picture mail upgrade for Windows Mobile devices that don’t already ship with the ability to receive picture mail. Until now the receipt of picture mail on those phones has happened via a link to a web site instead of directly into the WM device. To access the upgrade go to softwarestore.sprint.com/wap from your phone’s browser then free/demo then picture mail. Update: Audiovox PPC 6600, HTC Mogul, HCT Touch, Motorola Q9, Motorola Q9C, Palm Treo 800W all presently have updates visible via the web interface.

via: Sprintusers image: WmExperts

What better way to celebrate 25 years of manufacturing cars in America than with an all-new version of your best-selling model.

Honda North America did just that.

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When I’m driving in the car typically my iPhone sits loosely on my seat. This means that when I take a sharp turn suddenly my phone slides all the way across the seat — sometimes on the the floor. So I was interested to see how Griffin’s WindowSeat would work to keep my iPhone firmly in sight – and in place in the car.

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iSkin offers up their new Vibes cases for the Nano 4G in seven distinctive patterns (Croc, Enchanted, Ivy, Orbitz, Tao, Argyle, Camouflage). The cases are a patterned soft plastic with a glass-like finish. They’re clear which allows your Nano 4G’s own color to shine through. Included with the Vibes is one click wheel protector (adhesive free) as well as a dock protector to insert into the docking receptacle to keep out dirt, dust, pocket lint and anything else you may have rolling around in the same pocket as your Nano 4G. Cost is $24.99. Availability is now.

iSkin Vibes

If this iPod case isn’t the world’s largest – it’s pretty darn close. Measuring 11 1/4″ by 7-1/2″ by 3 ” this pink metal case does double duty by protecting both your iPod – and you (while I can’t guarantee the metal shell would stop an assailant – a swift swing of this case into the groin probably will). As they say on late night TV – that’s not all! You also get a pair of earphones, an earphone splitter, safe screens, an FM transmitter, AC/DC charger. The site seems a little unsure of exactly which model iPod is supported by the accessories (the pictures appear show an iPod Touch). If you’re in the market for a big pink metal iPod case – head over to Thing Fling before this offer expires.

Thing Fling – The Ultimate iPod Accessory Kit with Heavy Duty Pink Aluminum Case – $10.99 + $6 s/h

iSkin today announces a trio of duos – their new cases for the iPod Nano 4G. To make matters more confusing, each Duo case package includes three interchangeable cases (shouldn’t that make the product name some variation of trio?). The Groove, Chill and Cruise pack consist of three different colors each. Also included is a WheelCap protective film for the scroll wheel. There’s also a Visor Screen Guard that is the hard shell to protect your Nano’s glass screen against scratches and breakage. The bottom of the Nano 4G is protected by a port protector (three matching colors included). Rounding out the case is a removable belt clip. Suggested retail is $34.99 and they are available now on iSkin’s web site.

iSkin Duo for Nano 4G

Here we go again. In another round of “iPhone users get free Wi-Fi”, AT&T has apparently re-enabled the ability for iPhone subscribers to once again use the AT&T Wi-Fi connection at no charge. This time around it looks as if you have to renew your connection once per day and they verify it’s really you (and your iPhone) by sending out a text message. I’m guessing they somehow uniquely identify the iPhone so you can’t spoof a laptop’s browser and get free Wi-Fi. I’m not sure what happens if your whole reason for using Wi-Fi is due to having no cell phone signal – which would make it impossible to receive the text message verification that seems to be required to initiate your connection…

Via: SlashGear

I had a chance to try out the Myvu Crystal media viewer this past summer and was blown away! While I never quite got over how “odd” I looked wearing them, the visual and auditory experience (they use Ultimate Ears earbuds!) was amazing. While wearing them it seriously feels as if the video is being projected onto a huge screen about six feet away.

Myvu Corporation just announced that the Crystals are now fully compatible with the Apple iPhone thanks to a new ‘Works with iPhone’ cable that is available from www.Myvu.com for $24.95.

The Myvu Crystal are available in black or amber and offer the highest resolution in the Myvu line (full VGA). They provide the truest DVD quality experience possible from the diminutive Apple devices and now, thanks to the new cable, are now compatible with all iPods capable of displaying video

The MyVue Crystals are available HERE and retail for base price of $299.95 MSRP.

The Brother MFC-790CW color inkjet and all-in-one printer gets the once over from our friends at TestFreaks. They like the wireless (which I find a notable feature for a printer with an estimated street price of $179). They didn’t care so much for the way it consumed ink (luckily they were able to find less expensive replacements at Office Depot). But expensive ink is par for the course with printers these days and I thought their review could be of interest for anyone looking for an affordable Wi-Fi enabled printer. They also offer up two videos. One video is of the un-boxing and another gives an overview of the printer operations.

Brother MFC-790CW All-In-One Inkjet Printer