There have been some rumors lately that Barnes & Noble wouldn’t be accepting its own gift cards for ebook purchases, but the company now denies those claims. The company says that they will be accepting physical gift cards and online gift certificates as payment for ebooks very soon.

The cards will work on purchases made on B&N’s website and also for sales through the Nook itself. It also applies to other devices that use B&N’s eReader software. The new policy goes into effect in “mid-December.”

Dell’s thinnest laptop ever still isn’t shipping out to consumers, but at least the Windows 7 machine is now configurable over on Dell’s website. The base price is $1,799 and includes a 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo SU9400 CPU, a 128GB solid state drive, 13.4-inch WLED panel, 2 megapixel camera, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, GS45 integrated graphics, WiFi and a USB Ethernet adapter.

Sadly most of the components are not upgradable, but there are a few upgrades available if you have the money. You’re looking at a December 22nd estimated ship date.

I’ll be honest; I don’t get the desire for video calling. I can see if you have family or friends that you don’t get to see otherwise it might be appealing. For me, I don’t want to talk to most of the people who call me, much less see them. Still if video calling is one of the things you want, Saygus has announced that its VPhone will support 2-way video calls and is the first to do so.

The VPhone will operate on the Verizon network and has a VGA quality forward facing camera for video calls and a 5MP camera on the rear with flash and autofocus for pictures. The handset has a large 3.5-inch screen with a resolution of 800 x 480 that supports multi-touch.

One of the things that I really hate about the mobile phone industry today is that they won’t just give you a good price. All of the carriers want to offer you a price that looks good, but what you really pay is often much more than that until a mail-in rebate comes in. Thankfully, Best Buy Mobile is cutting through the crap and offers all of the good prices with instant rebates in its stores.

The latest deals include the Sprint HTC Hero and Samsung Moment each for $99 with instant rebates applied. That means no paying more and waiting to get your money back. Both phones are originally priced at $179.

Subsidized netbooks really aren’t that great a deal when you stand back and look at the price. You don’t save that much money typically, but if you need mobile broadband, anyway they may be a decent deal. AT&T is building up its subsidized line with the Samsung Go netbook.

Starting on November 22, customers can get the Go for $199 after a new 2-year agreement for a data plan and mail-in rebates for $199. The data plans will cost either $35 monthly for 200MB or $60 monthly for 5GB of data. That’s not much for the money honestly.

If there is one common truth about external storage solutions it is that you always use more capacity than you think you will. This is especially true of you are the type who produces and consumes lots of digital media. Hitachi has announced several new external storage devices boasting 2TB of space.

The external solutions include the SimpleDrive USB 2.0 storage solution selling for $249.99. It works with both Mac and Windows computers. Hitachi also crammed 2TB of storage inside its SimpleTech line of solutions. The SimpleTech Pro Drive has USB, FireWire 400/800, and eSATA connectivity to go along with its 2TB HDD for $299.99.

Winter is upon us my cold and chilly friends, so while you are huddled in front of the fireplace reading the ‘Brick, we offer up some info on Thanko’s latest gadget that will keep you warm. The USB Blanket.

The blanket comes with a built-in heater. Just connect it to a USB port, and it will heat up making all your dreams of warmth come true, leaving you toasty. As long as you don’t wander too far away from a USB port anyway.

Here’s yet another super-slim ION-powered nettop from Chinese-based JIEHE, dubbed the Giada Slim N10. If slim is your thing you might want to check this one out. It’s light too weighing less then 1kg.

Some features include a dual core Intel Atom N330 CPU, NVIDIA ION graphics, up to 4GB RAM, a 2.5-inch hard drive bay, 3-in-1 card reader and your choice of either Windows Vista or 7 OS. As far as connectivity ports, it offers 5 USB 2.0, eSATA, VGA, HDMI and Ethernet.

This Gerbil shirt will insure that you have no friends whatsoever, though it will make your gerbil happy. It was patented by some dude who really loved Gerbils and as far as I know it was never endorsed by Richard Gere, which explains the lack of a gerbil love tunnel crossing the border of this kids pants.

The Gerbil Shirt wraps around you, giving your little buddy plenty of room to run around. The interior surfaces are textured for traction and have air vents for easy breathing. How do you clean it? Just attach it to a faucet.

The Tio ghost concept comes from designer Tim Holley. The idea is to teach kids the value of conserving electricity in a fun way.

The switch will stay green whenever it has been left on for an hour or less, and the longer it is left switched on, the more the color will gradually change to yellow, until you end up with an angry red ghost. This might be a great way to teach them about time as well. Who knows, we may see this move beyond the conceptual stage and bore kids for real with learning stuff.

At last, you can measure kitchen ingredients and dock your iPod at the same time. Because you can’t go anywhere without your iPod right?

And you no longer have to thanks to manufacturer Rihanna, who is working on this $100 kitchen scale due out next year. It sports an iPod dock and a 2W speaker under the glass platform. Your iPod displays the song while a black and white LCD displays the weight info.

Leica has now confirmed the limited edition Leica M7 Hermes Edition. This is the second collaboration between Leica and Hermes and there will only be 200 of these limited edition Leica M7s produced, 100 will be in orange and 100 in green. Each camera will also feature a special sequential serial number between 001 and 200.

All of the control elements of the LEICA M7 Edition ‘Hermès’ have been manufactured exclusively in metal, and the back of the camera is finished in silver chrome. While the red color of the engraved AUTO and flash settings on the shutter speed dial have been replaced by the shade of the camera’s leather.

It’s that time of year again and yeah Thanksgiving isn’t even here yet, but it’s time for the crappy Santa USB drives to arrive. Who buys these? Do you buy these? Do you have them given to you by the office dork? This one is from PQI. The limited edition Intelligent Drive-U825 Santa USB flash drive.

It’s water and dust proof so when someone gives you one and you throw it in the street, some other dude can find it and use it. It’s available in capacities from 4GB to 16GB. It can also be used as a dongle decoration. Oh joy.

Nokia has announced the Nokia 5330 Mobile TV Edition, a mobile handset that focuses on mobile broadcast TV (DVB-H), social networking, music and gaming all in one compact 3G slider. This handset is all about offering users a convenient way to access TV while on the run. It features a 2.4-inch QVGA color display and a 3.5mm headphone jack so you can use a set of superior headphones if you like.

Some other features include a 3.2 megapixel camera with LED flash and One-click access to live broadcasts. The Nokia 5330 Mobile TV Edition will pick up all the available channels and set reminders for your favorite shows and even create personal channel lists with Nokia’s Electronic Program Guide (EPG). The battery life allows users to watch three football games or six episodes of a soap opera for example before recharging.

Thanksgiving is all about stuffing yourself with great food after waiting way too many hours for that Turkey to cook in the oven. And turkey isn’t all that great if we’re honest. However, frying things is always the answer. But as you’ve no doubt seen in many youtube videos, frying up a Turkey can be dangerous.

The Butterball Turkey Fryer makes it a whole lot safer for just $120. This fryer can handle birds up to 14 pounds and features a digital timer, adjustable thermostat control, a fold-away lid with viewing window and built-in filter. The included cooking basket also works for foods other that Turkeys too.