I have said it before, and I will say it again — PC gamers need a good set of headphones. Headphones are a great way to keep the neighbors/wife/girlfriend/mom from complaining every time you fire up Call of Duty to frag some noobs. Headphones also let you hear more nuances of the sound as well.

Plantronics makes all sorts of headphones and headsets for different tasks — including PC gaming. The latest gaming headphones from Plantronics are called the GameCom 777 and are connected to the PC and powered by one USB connection. The headphones have a built-in USB sound card and utilize Dolby Pro Logic II and virtual 5.1 surround sound.

The new Samsung X360 laptop looks like it might be something special, measuring in at only 0.66-inches thick and weighing 2.8-pounds, it obviously wants to compete with the MacBook Air. The 13.3-inch laptop is powered by a Centrino 2 ULV processor and sports 1GB of RAM and can support up to 4GB.

You can choose from 64GB or 128GB SSD, or a 5400RPM 120GB HDD, X4500 integrated graphics. Some other features are a 7-in-1 card reader, three USB ports, PCI ExpressCard/34, HDMI, VGA, LAN, docking port, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0+ EDR and a 1.3 megapixel camera. No optical drive. The battery will supposedly give you 6 to 10 hours. No word on price yet.

When you think about the French, chances are you think comedy involving mimes and baguettes dancing with their comedy god Jerry Lewis. Is that just me? Alright then. The French are doing something interesting with USB and trains. A kind of wireless easy-pass for trains. French public transportation company SNCF is getting 1,000 customers to help it test an RFID-enabled smart card that doubles as a USB drive, known as the Weneo ID Smart.

SNCF wants to expand its contactless payment system, and the plan would allow customers to plug their train passes into their PC at home. Which makes sense, because at home they can add money to their account, avoid missing trains because the train is pulling away as they rush to put money onto a card, and it probably helps with crowds as well. Schedules can also be downloaded to the card and it’s a photo ID. Once on the train, the fare would be deducted from the card by an RFID reader or an attendant with a handheld device. They’ll have to see if it’s a success first, but if so, the SNCF may want everyone using the system by 2010.

Anybody else getting tired of hearing the same old thing from the big N regarding shortages? The company just issued a statement regarding shortages of Wii Fit and it’s a familiar tune: Regarding Wii shortages in November of 2007 they said: “The demand for Wii hardware globally has been unprecedented and higher than Nintendo could ever have anticipated.” Fast Forward to NOW, regarding Wii Fit shortages: “Nintendo had a substantial supply nationwide for launch, though some stores saw spot shortages due to unprecedented demand for this unique product.”

Correct me if I’m wrong, but if you have a huge demand for the core product, wouldn’t the demand for a fitness accessory be nearly as huge? And shouldn’t you have planned for it rather then having to pay PR people to explain that there is a Huge demand? Nobody is taking you seriously.

This thing looks like it’s alien in origin, but it’s made right here on Earth. It’s the future people! It’s the size of a small apple. And they crammed a lot inside. A 300 MHz processor, 16MB of onboard flash memory, 64MB of SDRAM, and a 1GB CompactFlash card loaded with Red Hat Linux. On the outside, it’s got a single USB port, VGA, Ethernet port, RS232 port, and mic and speaker plugs.

The entire deal is powered by a 5V plug. But that’s not all. It’s also got a “Space Wire” port, which is a proprietary interface used by people like the ESA, NASA and JAXA, for when the Cube actually goes into space. Get it? Space cube. But it’s not just for space, you can get your own soon, “once a few technical issues have been ironed out”. They will retail for as much as $2,769.

Many people who shoot lots of digital pictures are big fans of digital photo frames. The frames give somewhere for all of the digital pictures they shoot to be viewed. Digital frames have become much more useful since makers have begun integrating Wi-Fi into the frames.

Samsung introduced four new digital photo frames today called the SPF-85H, SPF-85V, SPF-105P, and SPF-105V. The 85 models have an 8-inch screen and the 105 models both have a 10-inch screen. Both the 85V and 105V have built-in Wi-Fi connectivity with 802.11b/g. The Wi-Fi frames are optimized for Windows Live Spaces for photo sharing and can display RSS feeds from USA Today and more.

The camera gods of Olympus have rained down a fair number of new digital cameras this week – another one is a new member of the rugged Stylus SW series. It is known as the Stylus 1050 SW and you’ll find it pricing around $300 when it comes out in October.

The Stylus 1050 SW is a 10.1-megapixel shooter which Olympus says has a shockproof, waterproof and freezerproof body. It is available in four body colors and can be controlled with a simple tap on its top, back or sides, “which is made possible thanks to the new camera’s 3D accelerometer that detects the direction of the force on the camera’s body.”

Okay, I’m worn out warning the world of the impending Hello Kitty Judgment day. I’m going to just accept this pink branded camera and relax. Would I like to rid the world of a trillion pink gadgets with a cat head? Sure. But I’m one guy. I can’t stop the Kitty on my own. Even that time I traveled into the past as if looking for John Connor, but really trying to prevent the sale of the first pink product, didn’t help at all. I’m just gonna face it. This is another Kitty item from hell. There will be more where this came from too. I’m okay with it. Really.

It helps that this Hello Kitty version of the Casio Exilim line of digital cameras is a pretty decent camera, with 8.1 megapixels and 3x optical zoom, 2.6 in LCD. Oh, and it costs about twice as much as the non-HK branded version of the Exilim at $538.70. Damn! See, that just gets me going again. It must be stopped. Soon little girls everywhere will kill me, by beating me senseless with their pink devices, but I must prevent this apocalyptic future.

You want outdoors audio to compliment your peaceful garden but you don’t want something pumping out sound which looks like your dad’s subwoofer. Polk Audio thinks it has an answer to your prayers with its new Atrium outdoor speaker system, consisting of the Atrium Sat 30 satellite speaker and Atrium Sub 10 subwoofer, priced at around $180 and $330, respectively.

The Atrium Sat 30, according to Polk, looks like an outdoor light fixture in shape and style. It can be mounted in a variety of spaces, looking like it was made to fit into your garden. The Sat 10 subwoofer, meanwhile, resembles something like that of a plant stand or pedestal table. Both reportedly “are constructed from sealed, weatherproof designs,” meaning you should be able to enjoy them even in the pouring rain.

It truly is digital camera craziness this week with all of these new shooters flooding the market in time for the holidays. Another product announcement this week from Olympus comes in the form of two new FE-Series models – the FE-360 and FE-370, priced around $150 and $200, respectively.

The FE-360 and FE-370, both available now, are targeted towards entry-level shooters. Both offer eight-megapixels, image stabilization, face detection, shot previews and in-camera help guides, among other features. You can get full details after the jump.

Canon the other day unveiled three new digital cameras, among others, which fill out further its A-series line as well as its SX-series of ultra-zoom cameras. These cameras include the new PowerShot A1000 IS and PowerShot A2000 IS as well as the PowerShot SX110 IS. Pricing is set at around $200, $250 and $300, respectively.

Canon says these new cameras offer new looks, robust feature sets and lighter body designs. All should be available by the end of September. You can read full details after the jump.

LaCie’s got itself a new designer external hard drive today which is networked for NAS duty. It is called Network Space and you’ll find this drive offering 500GB or 1TB of storage when it becomes available next month.

The LaCie Network Space, which starts pricing around $150, is the latest design for the company by Neil Poulton. It has a black mirror-polished finish, fanless operation and blue LED strip. LaCie says it is usable right from the box by just plugging into an Ethernet port.

Sony took the wraps today off an expanded line up of its nav-u personal navigation devices. These new models – the NV-U94T, NV-U84, NV-U74T and NV-U44 – price around $400, $350, $300 and $250 respectively and will be available in September.

Sony says new features of these four just added nav-u GPS units include more brand icons, search functionality and photo viewing features. The top dog of this group is the NV-U94T, adding “a photo viewer, audio/video player and stereo Bluetooth technology for streaming audio and making hands-free phone calls using compatible devices.” You can get full details on these models after the jump.

Many computer makers and experts believe that the future of computing will be touch screen devices. Some even feel that the mouse is the bottleneck for input to our current PCs. Several PC makers, including HP and other major PC firms, are already offering touch screen computers.

Tangent announced its new all-in-one touch screen computer called the Evergreen 17. The system uses a 17-inch touch screen with a resolution of 1280 x 1024. The computer uses a VIA Eden 1GHz fan-less processor, but can be optioned with a VIA C7 at 1.5GHz using a low-noise fan. Storage can be up to 160GB with a traditional HDD.

Bluetooth headsets are one of the most common accessories for many cell phone users. Many states require drivers to use hands free Bluetooth headsets or car kits. Mostly all the different brands of Bluetooth devices have the same features. BlueAnt has announced a new headset that adds something new to the common Bluetooth headset.

The headset is called the BlueAnt V1 with Advanced Voice Recognition. BlueAnt says that the V1 is the first headset produced to use the Bluetooth 2.1 specification. The headset uses BlueGenie Voice Interface to allow the user to control the headset and phone functions with their voice.