While the computer industry is feeling the hurt from the slow economy Apple is quietly gobbling up market share in America and growing its user base. With the number of Mac users growing many manufacturers are starting to release more products that are compatible with the Mac OS.

SanDisk announced today that its Cruzer Enterprise secure USB flash drive is the first flash drive to fully support the Mac. The new support for Mac OS X allows IT pros to issue Mac users secure flash drives that function correctly in the Mac environment. The Enterprise drive uses hardware-based USB encryption to put mandatory access control on all files transferred to the flash drive to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive information.

So, you’ve been waiting for the iPhone to hit Walmart, so you can stock up on paper towels, buy a DVD and throw an iPhone in your squeaky cart all at once. Well you’re in luck assuming you didn’t get killed by greedy shoppers during black Friday. Looks like Apple will begin selling the iPhone at Wal-Marts on December 28th.

Wal-Mart employees are apparently already receiving training on iPhone activation. Today Boy Genius Report claims that Apple may be reintroducing the 4GB iPhone to be sold at Wal-Mart for only $99 with a two year contract. They aren’t completely confident about the report, so it should be taken with a grain of salt. However, the Walmart training materials pictured above have been seen so that suggests there is some truth to it.

We’re used to shortages during the holiday season. The Wii comes to mind. And you are probably aware of Amazon’s kindle situation. The iPod may be next. Word is that Apple is having trouble keeping up with the demand for the iPod as more and more customers place purchases during this holiday season, they may run out. The information comes from a research note from Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu. The Amazon.com stock levels seem to confirm the notion as well, since it currently takes up to 5 weeks to get your 8GB second-gen iPod touch. It’ll take 3-5 weeks for the 16GB version.

It looks like the shortages may be model specific and color specific, as some are more popular. Wu concluded that Apple may very well sell 21 million iPods in the holiday quarter.

Here’s an iPhone case that’s a bit different. If you’re in the market for a case for your iPhone 3G, but you “tire” from the search, this may be for you. The Case-Mate Vroom Tire Tread Pattern Case features 100% impact resistant rubber and it’s only $15.

Its rubber case can protect your expensive phone by cushioning the blow of impact of course. But there’s an unseen danger most users ignore. What if…Just what if it slipped from your gadget loving hand? The tire tread pattern will prevent iPhone hand slippage and at the same time send others a message. Presumably, “Don’t tread on me.”

We’ve seen our share of knock-offs coming out of China, but this one is downright funny. They’ve taken the iPhone and turned it into a clamshell style phone. Funny thing is, it resembles a MacBook more then an actual iPhone.

It is attractive with the brushed aluminum casing and the iPhone look inside, but I’m guessing that performance isn’t up to par. Surprisingly, the camera is 3-megapixels, more than on most mid to low-end phones. It also sports a 2.6-inch display with a resolution of 240 x 320. It’s pretty small at 105 x 53 x 17mm and about 110 grams. One giveaway that this is a crap-gadget are the LED lights under the apple. I guess that’s the best they could do.

Here’s an interesting clone. The m888a will let you own a smaller sized iPhone, with dull specs. An iPhone mini-me. Just keep in mind that your fingers remain the same size. Specs include: a 2.4-inch touchscreen with stylus, dual-band GSM and a VGA camera, even comes in black and white in an Apple-like package. One thing that the original doesn’t have and the m888a does is dual-SIM support and freedom to be on any GSM network.

It’s that time again. Greenpeace has released their new Guide to Greener Electronics. Compared to last year, there are many changes. Some you might expect, some you may not have foreseen.

Some manufacturers went up on the scale, while others went down. Nokia is the standout at the top, right at the 7 out of 10 mark, but poor Nintendo… The Big N is once again stuck at 1 out of 10. How did Apple fare? They fail once again and drop to the 14th position out of 18 companies.

Smartphones are the top growing mobile phone category. The Apple iPhone may be at the top of the sales charts, but it has many competitors looking to take that top spot away. One of the smartphones that hoped to steal some of the iPhone thunder was the HTC Touch Pro.

When the Touch Pro first launched it was a Sprint exclusive handset. Verizon Wireless has announced that it is now offering the HTC Touch Pro to its subscribers as well. The features of the handset are the same as the Sprint version with Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro as the operating system. Users get access to Word, Excel, and Outlook on the device.

Mac computers are gaining popularity all of the time. it hasn’t been too long since Apple announced the newly updated aluminum clad MacBook and MacBook Pro computers. If you dropped the coin needed to grab yourself one of these sexy new notebooks, you probably want to be sure it stays scratch free and protect it from drops.

Speck offers up a new case for the aluminum 13-inch MacBook and 15-inch MacBook Pro that uses a hard shell design for extra protection. The case uses what Speck calls a soft touch See Thru Sating design. The exterior of the case is translucent allowing you to see the Apple logo and some of the case though the protective covering.

Most kids these days own a mobile phone and Samsung wants a piece of that action. The Toby or S3030 is targeting pre-teens and young adults. Tobi features unique GUI themes with animated characters, such as Monster theme, Snowman theme and Ocean World theme. The backside cover is changeable with a see-through protective sleeve, so a photo can be placed there. The phone will be available in six colors, Sweet Pink, Loyal Blue, Apple Green, Bright Orange, Oasis Blue and Snow Silver.

The safety features in the phone include SOS Call, SOS Message and Fake Call, allowing access to family members and friends in emergencies. Samsung’s Tobi is made from recyclable and biodegradable bio-plastic and has non-toxic paints and non-allergic materials. Even the earphone is made eco-friendly without any polyvinyl chloride. It will be available in Italy and UK this month and then other European countries, CIS, and China later this year.

As I am sure you are all aware, Verizon Wireless is launching the much-anticipated BlackBerry Storm tomorrow. This device is RIM’s first delve into a touchscreen mobile phone and swing at taking some of the market share away from Apple and the iPhone. We had a chance to get our hands on the Storm on the eve of the launch day and had some fun playing with the touchscreen and its unique clicking technology.

Obviously the most interesting part of the Storm is the single big button of a screen so we’ll just cut to the chase. The touchscreen in general works as you would expect, sensing your touch on the glass and allowing you to scroll through things like lists, menus and across maps. What’s different about the touchscreen on the BlackBerry Storm which sets it apart from other touchscreen phones is that the glass display is like a single large, mechanical button.

Here’s a followup to the iPod Touch Nano concept that’s wearable and even fashionable. Once again, it’s from designer Isamu Sanada. It’s an iPod Shuffle Bracelet with integrated Bluetooth connectivity, dock connector, and a rugged casing.

It even sports a built-in rechargeable battery for 16-hours of continuous playback. Hey, why not? As long as we are playing make believe. This is actually something that the ladies would love, in fashionable pastels. Who knows, one day Apple may get behind it. But we aren’t holding our breath.

We got a chance to get our hands on Griffin’s new Simplifi desktop device recently and we feel they really got the name right on this one. The Simplifi is a small Swiss Army Knife of accessories packed into a smooth silver box that adds some convenience and maybe even a touch of sophistication to your desk.

For starters, the device is a dock and charger for your Apple iPhone and/or iPod. It has the docking port right on top and comes with little plastic adapters to custom …

This is what an iPod Touch Nano might look like should Apple release one. It’s designed by Isamu Sanada and the iPod Touch Nano features a 2.8-inch touchscreen display, 3.5mm headphone jack, dual dock connectors, and would come in a variety of colorful cases. Probably the coolest thing about the design is the removable game controller for when the accelerometer and touchscreen aren’t enough. Maybe it’s just me, but this is probably the one feature that the iPod Touch could use in the real world. Pretty sweet design.

Sometimes going green can be a real pain. Take this green concept for instance. This iPhone hand grip charger will give you Hulk hands before you even get a full battery. Great for a hand workout, but you’d have to be pretty dedicated to your iPhone to stick with it.

This concept is called “You can work it out” and it was designed by Mac Funamizu, who must have huge beefy clown hands and an always working iPhone. Apple should offer some accessories like this ala Wii Fit. Various exercise gadgets to power up Apple products owned by the obese. It would be green and lean. That’s the slogan right there.