CES 2009 is only days away now and the hoards of new gadgets and HDTVs that will be shown are probably showing up at the convention center in Vegas right now. Each year there are a myriad of world’s first launched at the show, and often they can only claim that title for a day, if not mere hours because of all the product introductions.

LG has laid claim to the title of world’s first TruMotion 480Hz LCD TV panel. The typical HDTV has a 60Hz refresh rate, though some are on the market now sporting 120Hz. I expect that we will see many 240Hz sets at the show and LG may not be the only maker showing off a 480Hz set.

Whether there is any shred of truth to the iPhone Nano or not, it sure is stirring up some big rumors for such a small device. Adding to these rumors, case-maker Vaja today quietly added the category to its website. We’re not sure what to think. At this point, it’s a lot like the X-Files. The truth is out there. Somewhere.

Apple could produce a cheaper phone, but why? They could just as easily add another on the high-end. Yet, there it is on the site of a reputable accessory manufacturer with a brand new phone listed. Something seems to be afoot, but what?

This one is for Apple fanboys and girls who want to profess their love of the company loudly and with light. These illuminated t-shirts feature the old school rainbow Apple logo and they light up using an electroluminescent display that responds to music and other ambient sounds.

Apple hasn’t used the classic rainbow logo since 1998, so I guess it’s time to bring it back. Probably against Steve Jobs’ wishes. I’m sure that’s why the apple leaf is facing the wrong way. Might be a good idea to get one now before any lawyers get involved. They’ll cost you between $20 and $45. Video below.

Sometimes solutions are so simple and elegant, you wonder why no one figured it out until now. That’s the case with the Flexicord HDMI cable featuring a patented Memory Cord Technology. It will debut at CES 2009 and help consumers to always have the right cable length to hook up their gadgets.

Pretty novel idea. And simple too. Sometimes coiled cable can be a problem with too much slack, but the company says that it can bend anywhere along its length and hold the angle indefinitely. It’s like those bendy action figures. You know the ones you pose, that stay in whatever position you leave them in.

This is hardly shocking news, but according to the Wall Street Journal, both Nintendo’s Wii and the Xbox 360 clobbered the PS3 in holiday sales. U.S. sales fell nine percent from this month last year. During the same period, sales doubled for the Wii and were up eight percent for the Xbox 360.

That’s what happens when you fail to cut prices on your system, and the lack of exclusive game titles didn’t help either. Not to mention a bunch of inexpensive Blu-ray players. The end result is that the PS3 was the least attractive option for buyers. Apparently, it’s not even fit to roast a decent weiner.

This one isn’t rumored to surface at all and we don’t expect to see it at MacWorld 2009. It should arrive eventually though, just because it is well thought out and just makes sense. This concept was born because Mat Brady wants to get rid of his Nokia N95 but won’t buy an iPhone due to the lack of a physical keyboard, no good camera, and not enough storage.

Mat’s concept is called the iPhone Elite. It’s an iPhone with 60GB of storage, true 16:9 aspect ratio, slide-out keyboard, one megapixel front camera for iChat, and another high quality camera, with better lenses, optical zoom, and video capability.

We knew that eventually a watch phone would show up that packs in all of the features we want.Turns out that it’s LG who has accomplished this with their LG-GD910 model. The phone sports a touchscreen LCD, 3G data, and a built-in camera for videoconferencing and looking cool.

Of course using that 1.43-inch screen, it might be tough to browse the internet, but it’s all about looking cool, not what you can actually accomplish. You can’t get one now and we don’t have a price yet, but LG should be showing it off at CES next month. They plan a release in Japan and Europe, but that’s all we know.

I was among the many who was hoping that the rumor that Walmart would be selling a $99 iPhone 3G was accurate. As it turned out Walmart did in fact get the iPhone 3G, but the price was only slightly less than other iPhone retailers.

However, your hopes of a $99 iPhone 3G aren’t completely dashed, at least not for a few more days. AT&T is currently offering refurbished iPhones while supplies last. The 8GB refurb handset will sell for the magic $99 number.

With all of the digital content in the average home today from digital photos to digital home movies shot with a camcorder there is lots of content that users want to watch and enjoy around the home. The catch is that the digital content is often stuck inside of one computer on the network with no easy method of accessing the content from elsewhere.

HP has introduced a pair of new home servers for Mac and PC users. The HP MediaSmart Server will be offered in two models including the ex485 and ex487. HP says that the server will automatically organize files across the network and stream media across the home network and the Internet.

Battery life on many smart phones isn’t as long as what most owners want from their devices. I hardly think you will find a smartphone user who wouldn’t want longer battery life from their device. You will however find many users who want longer run time, especially among those who use the G1.

One of the worst features for many G1 owners is the battery life, which is oft described as abysmal. The standard battery is an 1150mAh unit that doesn’t cut it for long days of gaming and surfing the Internet. A rumor is circulating that says T-Mobile may be getting ready to give every G1 owner a new battery.

Today the iPhone arrived at that place where workers get trampled by angry Black Friday crowds. There’s bad news and there’s more bad news. The bad news is that you can probably still get trampled by an angry mob in search of rolled back prices. The other bad news is that rumors of a $99 Wal-Mart iPhone were incorrect.

Wal-Mart will sell the iPhone for only $2 less than the regular price with a two-year contract: $197 for the 8 GB model, or $297 for the 16GB model. The ad should read “Save just a little money. Live just a tad better.”

LG is the latest manufacturer to stretch the limits of LCD TVs. LG will unveil the “LH95,” the world’s slimmest LED LCD TV at CES in January in Las Vegas. The LG LH95 is expected to be only 24.8mm thick, which should be good enough to back the manufacturer’s claim. The LH95 will feature a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio screen and come with 240Hz TrueMotion Drive technology.

According to LG, this LED LCD TV will be the 2009 CES Innovation Award winner in the Display category. I’m not sure how much thinner they can go, but this one is pretty darn skinny. Hopefully it lives up to all of the companies boasting.

John Lennon may be long gone, having died 28 years ago, but he’s still a force for change in the world through his music. And now, thanks to technology and Yoko Ono’s consent, the Beatle has returned in a new OLPC spot.

In the ad, the late musician say’s “Imagine every child no matter where in the world they were could access a universe of knowledge. They would have a chance to learn, to dream, to achieve anything they want.” If you are a Lennon fan and believe in the cause, by all means go make a donation and click through to see the video.

TG Sambo has a new all-in-one PC. The LLUON B2 comes with a 26–inch widescreen display and 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 processor and a high capacity 320GB hard-drive. Looks like this desktop is perfect for an entertainment PC. And it will save you some space on your desktop.

Some other features of this PC include a dedicated NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS 256MB graphic card, eSATA port, built-in webcam, USB 2.0 ports and a memory card reader. It runs on the Windows Vista Home Premium OS. Sorry to those everywhere else, the LLUON B2 is currently only available in Korea.

It’s better to water your plants in the evening, when the sun isn’t beating down on them. That way the water doesn’t evaporate right away and the ground can soak up as much as it needs. So that means you need to garden in the dark, but how are you supposed to see what’s going on?

With an LED garden hose of course. This garden hose nozzle has a light on it, so you can see exactly where you’re spraying. It doubles as a defensive weapon as well, should you see an intruder among your plants and vegetables. You’ll be able to see them run away when you spray them.