There are still lots of laptop users that like to use their laptops actually sitting in their lap rather than a table or desk. The problem is that some laptops put out enough heat to roast your chestnuts after a bit of use.

Logitech has announced a new lapdesk called the Comfort Lapdesk for Notebooks that promises to prevent the heat from the computer from being an issue for the user and lift the screen up to a more comfortable viewing height.

Seems like we have webcams in everything these days. They’re in everything and they are everywhere. It must have occurred to someone that the one place they missed was our ears. Which is a strange place for webcams, as we usually use them for other’s faces.

That’s what makes this so odd. This headphone/webcam combo will show you everything that is on your side. Maybe designer Andy Kurovets is just really paranoid. Maybe he has enemies that use his blind spots to their advantage. But chances are he just wanted to look like some fashion forward Sci-Fi dude.

Acer has confirmed that it will release its first Acer-branded smartphone in Q1 2009. The handset will be co-developed by Acer’s original smartphone R&D team as well as their counterparts from E-Ten, the company acquired by Acer in September. E-Ten will focus on real-time stock tracking devices while Acer will take the lead in smartphone development.

No specifications, pricing or geographical availability details have been released by the company, but Acer did confirm that the device would be Windows based. We take that to mean it will be using Microsoft’s Windows Mobile OS. The first devices may be launched in Western Europe and Russia.

Price cuts aren’t the only thing Microsoft is using to reel in shoppers, they are also introducing some new colors in order to snag your holiday dollars. The big M has just made blue and red versions of the little PMP available on its Zune Originals site.

Prices start at $249, and the they suggest placing orders by the 19th so you can get it by Christmas Eve. It may not be the Gears Of War 2 edition, but hey, it’s in red and blue. Beats boring black.

Mankind lives in such an amazing techno-golden-age that even the bolt is getting smart. That’s why it’s called the Smartbolt, it’s equipped with a tiny indicator disk on top that shows you just how tight it is. No fancy electronics, just a simple visual tension indicator that starts out red and turns more black as it gets tightened. Looks like a nipple, which makes sense. Mine would turn colors if you gave them a twist too. They even have a more-precise version that goes from yellow to green when 90% tight, then black at 100%.

This is a great invention, mostly because torque wrench’s tend to be large and hard to maneuver in tight spaces. If we can get regular screws to do this, that would be awesome.

The Android Dev Phone 1, a completely unlocked G1, is available to “developers” for just $399 after a $25 setup fee. All you need to do is register as a developer at the Android Market and the phone is yours. Registration as a developer costs $25, but after that, you’ll be eligible for the cheap, unlocked phone.

The Android Dev Phone 1 is fully compatible with Android 1.0, and being able to swap out the SIM card breaks you free of T-Mobile’s service. It’ll also let you use custom Android builds that work with the freshly unlocked bootloader. You can even get free shipping and cool detailing on the back. Google warns that it’s not really meant for non-developers, but we’re sure that won’t stop you.

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.

The Nintendo Wii continues to dominate the sales charts and sell so well that most people who want one can’t find it. Odds are the Wii is at the top of many holiday wish lists this Christmas season. If you have been lucky enough to get your hands on a Wii, you will need some accessories to go with it. One such accessory is a charge station for the remotes.

Nyko has announced a new accessory called the Charge Station Quad for Nintendo Wii that will retail for $49.99. The device has spots for four Wii Remotes and includes new rechargeable batteries and battery doors to allow the Wii Remotes to be recharged.

When it comes to peripherals for PC gaming, normal mice and keyboards that ship with computers today really don’t cut it. Gamers need peripherals with more performance and customization options. Gaming with a normal 800 dpi mouse is not what gamers really want.

Back at E3 2007 I first laid eyes on the Logitech G9 gaming mouse. The mouse offered some interesting features including very high resolution for excellent sensitivity and customization with interchangeable grips to change the look and feel of the mouse. At the time, Logitech said that it would be introducing additional grips with different shapes and customized artwork.

The JukeBrick is a concept that aims to revolutionize portable music, you know should it ever actually exist. It’s a portable audio player, it also doubles as a performer as well. You see, when JukeBricks get together, they each become individual performers, and you are can listen to individual instruments or even vocals since sound sources can be identified via Music 2.0 technology.

Connecting two or more JukeBricks will extend the screen size, add speakers and you have 3-way or even 4-way channel surround sound speakers. It may just take this kind of radical thinking to put the iPod in it’s place one day.

Notebooks sales are being bolstered significantly by the booming sales of low-cost netbook computers. Many may not have been familiar with the name MSI before its popular Wind netbook hit the market. MSI offers more than netbooks in the US market with a full line of notebook computers as well.

Yesterday MSI announced its latest, affordable ultraportable notebook called the EX300. The machine uses a 13.3-inch widescreen display and offers ATI HD3450 graphics. MSI says the notebook weighs 4.5 pounds with the 8-cell battery.

Cooler Master may be most well known for its cool computer cases, but it also makes a line of other gear including cooling products and more. As CPUs have increased their performance, the cooling demands have increased. This means cooling products are larger and often much noisier.

Last month I talked a bit about the limited edition Cooler Master Cosmos Black case bundle. Cooler Master has announced that a special, exclusive HyperZ600 CPU cooler will be part of the bundle with the Cosmos Black. The cooler is all black and adds new cooling features in addition to the black color scheme.

I really like the idea of a HTPC in my living room. I would love to be able to watch A-Team or The Pretender on my big screen rather than my PC display from Hulu. The catch is that I don’t want a big and bulky HTPC machine in my entertainment center, I just don’t have the room, and I want HD capability.

Asus has announced a couple new Eee Box models that could be perfect for my needs. The models are the B204 and B206. Both of them offer HD capability thanks to a new discrete ATI Radeon HD 3400 series video card. The systems also offer HDMI output for connecting to HDTV sets. The B204 adds Bluetooth and an internal battery to act as an uninterruptable power supply.

Onkyo just released the HDC-1L nettop audio PC, a perfect computer for any small office or room in your home. The computer is specially designed for digital audio playback.

It’s powered by an Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor with Intel 945GC Express chipset, running on Windows XP Home Edition and comes with 1GB RAM, 160GB SATA hard drive, DVD SuperMulti drive, Six USB 2.0 ports, Ethernet connectivity and SN ratio of 120dB. The basic HDC-1L is priced at about $640. You can also get the PC with the optional 15-watt stereo speakers priced at $800 and with a 19 inch LCD monitor for $1,070.

Fujitsu Siemens has been showing off its AMILO Sa 3650 and AMILO GraphicBooster add-on for a few months, but it looks like both are now actually rolling out to the general public. The laptop is a 13-inch, AMD-based laptop in your choice of Turion X2 or Athlon X2 processors.

Some other features are an ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics card, up to 4GB of RAM, with either a 250GB or 320GB hard drive. The GraphicBooster add-on currently only works with the Sa 3650 and is based around an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 graphics card. It promises a stunning 470% increase in graphics performance over the laptop’s built-in graphics. No word on price yet, but both the laptop and the GraphicBooster should be available later this month.