Here’s the first pic of a blue Zune flash player. This one is an 8GB version that was seen posted on Fry’s a little while ago. Despite the color, it doesn’t have a lot to be blue about. Apparently there’s a silver one as well, but no pics of that one. It sports some interesting new features.

Users can access wireless hotspots to update music collections, browse the Zune Marketplace, refresh Channels, exchange favorites, and even buy tagged FM songs. “Channels” are custom stations that will give you personalized playlists. It also has a “Games” feature for what else, games. The “Buy From FM” feature lets you listen to FM radio and tag any songs for purchase when you sync with a PC. Not too shabby.

It seems like common sense right? Package gadgets in a way that protects them, yet minimizes shipping materials. Not only is it good for the environment, it will save your company a whole lot of dough. How many times have you opened a box full of Styrofoam and other unnecessary packing materials, only to throw most of it away? Apparently it took awhile for HP to figure this out, but they are feeling much better now.

They are selling the new Pavilion dv692 laptop in its own recycled material laptop bag. Other then that, the only packing material in the bag with the laptop are some air bubbles. They ditched the extra cardboard and styrofoam, reducing the packing materials by a stunning 97%. It’s being sold at Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club, but I think we’d all like to see this become a larger trend. Hopefully other companies are paying attention. It’s simple, economical and beyond time. I recently bought an Acer Aspire 6920 and at the time I was happy to find that the box was not nearly as full of garbage as I feared it would be. This is a brilliant move.

If I had the space in my house, I would definitely prefer to have a projector set up rather than a normal HDTV. With a projector, you can get a giant size HD image that you can’t get with a LCD or plasma TV, short of spending $100k.

Sony has introduced a pair of new home theater projectors at CEDIA in Denver. One of the projectors is high-end and intended for custom installations. The custom install projector is called the VPL-VW70. It has a 60,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio and 800 ANSI lumens of brightness. It can also use an optional Anamorphic lens to provide large screen sizes with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The VW70 will retail for $8,000.

Today Transcend introduced it’s new 64GB JetFlashV20 high-capacity USB flash drive. The device claims to provide seamless data exchange between different operating systems including Windows, Mac and Linux. Users can download and install Transcend’s free JetFlash software pack onto the V20 flash drive to enable V20 to automatically log on to website accounts, temporarily lock the computer to prevent unauthorized access. At 64GB, you can store a ton of data in this little drive with a fast USB 2.0 data transfer. It comes bundled with JetFlash software including Website AutoLogin, PC-Lock, Mobile Favorites, Secret-Zip, E-Mail, DataBackup, and Online Update

THX has more uses then just making a starship battle sound awesome you know. That’s why THX has partnered with Serious Materials to develop some new sound proof doors. The QuietHome soundproof doors are the 2 1/4-inch thick THX-certified doors that claim to be a full 85% acoustical improvement over any other sound proof doors.

How does it work? QuietHome Doors incorporate Serious’ proprietary viscoelastic polymer-based constrained layer damped system, a multi-layer design and advanced seals throughout the door edge. The doors are made up of stainable wood, and come in a pre-hung door package. You wouldn’t want to just replace your front door with it. Well, maybe you would if you are super loud. Your neighbors would appreciate it. But it’s designed for high-end home theaters, commercial studios, offices and conference rooms etc. The doors will cost you $2,500 and will block out so much sound your neighbors will think the place is vacant.

Google has decided to get into the browser business. Meet the Google Chrome browser. They will release the browser in beta, refining it as they go just like Gmail. Google’s plan is to simplify the interface while simultaneously improving it’s inner workings. Will it eventually take on IE, Firefox and Opera? It says Google doesn’t it?

It should be released by Wednesday, if you can believe the rumors and should be available on Windows only, while Mac and Linux versions will be available later. Some of the features include: A UI that places the tabs above the address bar, Incognito mode, which allows users to browse the web in privacy, without recording any your activity, and a new JavaScript engine for speed.

If you have ever tried to work in a dark room you know that it can be hard to find all the keys on the keyboard. This is especially hard for the non-touch typist. Many gaming keyboards now feature backlighting, but backlighting is not something seen on most general use keyboards.

Logitech has announced a new general use keyboard that features full backlighting called the Logitech Illuminated Keyboard. The keyboard uses the Logitech PerfectStroke key system for good feedback and typing.

The time is now for a LEGO backpack my fellow geeks. What with back to school and all. Obviously it’s awesome because it looks like a LEGO brick, but just think, it not only will carry your schoolbooks, but you can also fill it up with LEGOS so you can easily transport all your bricks and build something cool wherever you go.

I know what you’re thinking. Won’t I look uncool? Won’t I get beat up if I wear that? You just might and that’s not my problem. But I figure if you’ve got nerd nads enough to buy this thing, you probably have no problem wearing it whatever the consequences. Each of the little “brick nipples”(Hey, what do you call them?) is an individual zippered storage compartment, so it’s got plenty of storage.

Making its appearance at IFA 2008 in Berlin, the Made for iPod refrigerator is the first of it’s kind. Gorenje might have a winner on it’s hands with this here fancy fridge. Sure, we’ve seen refrigerators with a bunch of multimedia features that allow you to listen to music, watch TV, even surf net, but this is Apple certified. It features a built-in iPod docking station and speakers, so as you might expect, you can play music and video and connect to the internet via a Wi-Fi network.

Apparently by integrating the iPod with iGorenj app, you can control all kinds of Gorenje appliances like washing machines and the oven for instance. The app is not built for iPhone/iPod touch, it’s served from a home server that controls your appliances directly. That way you can use the iPod touch, but also any other web device in your home that uses a Wi-Fi network. Looks like we may have an iKitchen sooner then some of us thought.

Making it’s debut at the 2008 Good Design Expo,(That’s debatable) cellular provider Willcom’s Kuma Phone let’s you talk to a bears nuts while you apparently listen to the voice come out of it’s mouth. Just plain looks wrong and takes the human/bear relationship to places it should never go. It’s totally a real phone. Just one you wouldn’t want to use in public.

It has a SIM card inside just like a real cell phone, and even stores four speed dial numbers, accessed through paw-squeezes. Awww. It vibrates and makes noises when you have incoming calls. When you get a call, just answer by gripping the bear’s tail and end the call in the same way. The Kuma Phone hopes to see the light of day at $500 a unit. I’m not sure how I feel about it. On one hand we’re talking a $500 cuddly bear phone. Which is insane of course. On the other hand, I wouldn’t want to deny any bear it’s obvious pleasure interacting with a lovely Asian girl.

Frequent travelers will likely appreciate this 5-face watch from Diesel, but to me it just looks like a lot of work. It sports five faces to handle different time zones, hence the name. You’ll have the time for LA, NY, London, Paris, and Tokyo, so anytime you visit those places you’ll have the time.

The only problem with this watch is that you might actually want to go somewhere else and know the time. In that event Diesel also has a smaller watch of the same type that lets you memorize which face corresponds to which place, instead of having them labeled. With five watch faces, another concern would be that each face must be really small or the whole watch too large. It will cost you $550 for the larger silver watch or $495 for the smaller unlabeled watch.

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.