There are a few basic things that people need for their home and office when it comes to technology. Things like cables, ink, recordable CDs and DVDs, and other things of that sort. The problem with massive stereos like Amazon is that it can be difficult to find these basic things and we all want them at a low price.

Amazon has introduced a new line of private branded AmazonBasics gear for consumers that are being sold all in one store to make it easy to find. The AmazonBasics line currently features video cables and blank CDs and such.

The online retailer is getting into the consumer electronics market with the AmazonBasics line, a line of low-cost accessories. No worries, the products all come in “frustration free” packaging. Those products include HDMI cables, Ethernet cords blank DVDs and more.

Jeff Bezos has committed to expanding the line “in the coming months” and the products will be eligible for free shipping if you order $25 or more. Americans can begin ordering today, but the international scene will have to wait a bit.

Bluetooth technology in mobile phones and MP3 players is a great thing. The tech allows us to make and receive phone calls using hands free devices and we can stream stereo music wirelessly from one device to the next.

The new Tenqa line of Bluetooth Wireless speakers debuted on Amazon over the weekend. The line includes three devices that all support Bluetooth A2DP technology. The Tenqa SP-99 Bluetooth Wireless Portable Speaker is compact and is designed to be portable. Volume and track controls are built-in to the front of the device and it sells for $79.99.

They may have taken the first steps in Frustration-Free Packaging last November, but now Amazon is ready for the next phase. I think we can all appreciate this one. Most of us are tired of struggling with the packaging that our gadgets come enshrined in.

Amazon is making good on their promise to kill clamshell plastic cases and other annoyances. With partners like Fisher-Price, Mattel, Microsoft and Transcend, Amazon has now announced that Kingston is also getting behind the initiative. David Sun, co-founder and chief operating officer of Kingston is also pointing out the eco-friendly benefits of the decision. Awesome news.

I am not a big fan of buying new mobile phones. I am with AT&T and I think that the sales people at my local store are mentally deficient. Every time I have ever been in the store it takes a good hour, most of which is waiting for one of the goons to stop harassing the person there before me to buy a memory card and a case with their phone.

Next time I need to upgrade, I might just go online and order. Amazon has launched a new wireless phone offering called AmazonWireless, which is in beta right now. The site offers mobile phones and plans for sale without having to mess with rebates and all phones include free two-day shipping.

The Kindle DX launched over the last few months and is being eyed by some print magazines and newspapers as the future of publishing. The larger screen means that full magazine and paper pages can be reproduced.

The Economist Magazine has announced that it will be offering its publication on the Kindle and Kindle DX e-readers for download on single issue of subscription basis. The subscription buyers will be able to have digital versions delivered weekly when new issues hit newsstands.

Looks like TiVo isn’t the only box offering HD content from Amazon VOD. Now Roku has also announced HD Amazon downloads, available today. The Amazon Video On Demand service came to Roku about a month ago and they seem to be keeping up with updates and supporting HD downloads, which is nice.

We don’t have any details on resolution but pricing should be the same as any other Amazon HD outlet like TiVo where HD TV shows are $3 and HD movies are $4-$5. I don’t think the resolution will disappoint. It seems like a good time to get a Roku box. With Netflix and Amazon support, that $99 purchase is looking pretty good.

Sure, Amazon makes most of it’s hard earned dough by selling and shipping physical items, but they don’t need a crystal ball to know that digital content is the future and they are positioning themselves accordingly. The company is expanding its downloadable video game catalog to include Xbox Live Arcade games today.

The process will no doubt be streamlined in the days to come, but for the moment you buy a code from Amazon that you have to enter into your Xbox. Amazon charges you real money instead of Xbox Live points. The service is live now if you want to take a gander. Does that make the digital content taxable? So many questions. Might as well just get shopping.

If you thought you could count on Amazon keeping the price of their MP3s under the $1 price point after Apple introduced variable pricing to their tunes, think again. And disregard the comparison above. Sorry to dash your hopes and pour salt in your music-loving wounds, but Amazon has decided to go the same route.

They meet the $1.29 price point on iTunes, at least where tracks by popular artists are concerned. Walmart however, throws all caution to the wind and rolls back the price to $1.24 for selected titles. If you like songs that nobody else likes you’ll pay $0.79 and $0.64 on Amazon and Walmart.

If you’re like me, you don’t like spending $50 on a game only to beat it in a few hours and have it sit on the shelf forever. That’s why I resell games or trade them in, so you can get more for your money. Sadly Gamestop’s trade in prices often suck. Well, good news.

According to Webware, Amazon will now buy back used games for more money than Gamestop. Amazon launched the service today, and they currently accept over 1500 titles across platforms. Webware compared some of the bigger, recent releases, and it looks like Amazon offers $2-$3 more for games on average. Shipping is even free. Thanks Amazon. Thank you for caring about my wallet.

Many who shop online head to Amazon when it comes time to buy. Amazon has one of the largest product inventories online and makes shopping fast and easy. Amazon is always looking to make shopping on its site easier for users and has announced its first iPhone App.

The Amazon app will work on the iPhone and the iPod touch. Using the app users can browse the Amazon inventory, view Customer Reviews, and buy using Amazon’s 1-click Shopping and Amazon Prime.

This is news to our ears,fingers and teeth. Amazon is questioning the necessity of those rage inducing hard plastic containers that can presumably stand up to bombs and the jaws of life. They’re actually doing something about it. Starting today, consumers who are tired of fighting with this evil packaging can opt for products in Amazon’s “Frustration-Free Packaging,” which offers streamlined packaging that often includes recyclable cardboard.

19 products are currently available in friendly containers from companies like Fisher-Price, Mattel, Microsoft and Transcend. They have hopes of offering their “entire catalog of products in Frustration-Free Packaging” within a few years. Hopefully others in the gadget world will join in on this.

Just before the close of 2007 Warner Music Group joined EMI and Universal by dropping their digital copying restrictions on downloaded songs and offering DRM-free music through Amazon. Today Sony BMG, the last of the big four and the second largest music company in the world, has joined in and removed copying restrictions on their downloaded music and are offering their songs through Amazon as well. This makes Amazon the first online retailer to offer DRM-free song downloads from the world’s four largest music companies.

DRM’s previously had been required by these large music companies in order to prevent songs from being illegally copied which was believed to hurt overall music sales. The DRM would often limit the number of times and devices a song could be copied, such as a limited number of computers or a particular brand of MP3 player. Most consumers and rival media players manufacturers have been generally apposed to the restrictions due to these limitations.

Warner Music Group announced on Thursday that it would join the ranks of EMI Group and Universal Music Group as the third of the four large music labels to offer their digital music titles for sale without any type of copy protection software. Warner will offer its catalog through Amazon in the common MP3 formats that are free to copy to any player or computer, any number of times.

This move comes after Warner Chairman and CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. defended DRMs at the 3GSM World Conference in Barcelona in February, stressing the importance of interoperability over DRM restrictions likely due to Apple’s DRM through iTunes which restricts music files to be played only on Apple devices.

Amazon.com went full steam into downloadable MP3s today, unveiling a beta version of Amazon MP3, its new digital music download store. Most songs will range in price from 89 to 99 cents, while albums will run you $5.99 to $9.99.

Amazon MP3 features over 2 million songs from more than 180,000 artists represented by over 20,000 major and independent labels. All downloads will be MP3s which are DRM-free, meaning there’s no restrictions on what device or music management software is used to play them. Songs can even be burned to CD.