Callpod has introduced the Callpod Fueltank Uno, a small rechargeable battery that allows users to charge their devices some 3-5 times off of one Fueltank Uno Charge.

The Fueltank™ Uno can charge one small electronic device without the use of an outlet. It contains a rechargeable lithium ion battery. The Fueltank Uno has more than 4 times the capacity of a standard mobile phone. The Fueltank Uno uses device-specific adapters covering more than 3,000 different devices from all major manufacturers including: Apple, RIM/Blackberry, Motorola, Samsung, LG, Sony, Jawbone, Plantronics, Nokia and many others.

The Callpod Fueltank Uno costs $39.95 at Best Buy [ view product here ]

[ Callpod ] [ Related: iPower Apple iPhone Battery Case ]

So, how about a small sampling of the Cyber Monday Sales? I’m not too thrilled so far, but if you know of any, send us a tip!

Newegg Cyber Monday Savings – Notable purchase, LG 37″ Widescreen LCD HDTV 37LG30 [ view here ]
Dell Cyber Monday Savings
Staples Cyber Monday Sales Event
Best Buy Cyber Monday 2-Day Sales Event – Best Buy is so bad, they’re changing the rules of what Monday truly means
MacMall 3-Day Cyber Monday Sales – Mac Mall ups the ante… Monday is now 3 days
Kmart Cyber Monday Savings – Hey, toys are an extra 5% off
Karmaloop Clothing – Save 15% extra via coupon: 15BF
Cyber Monday Listings from Dealighted.com – Many savings, notable purchase, Virgin America $39 flights
Cyber Monday Listings from Dealnews.com
Frys Cyber Monday Savings

I’ll update more after I find more that are worthwhile. A lot, just aren’t worth it so far it seems.

Got a tip? Send it on in

tips [at] removethelabels [dot] com

I’ve already written about the Mint Digital Music Station 220 here before at RTL; it remains one of my favorite little things ever. It can dock and charge up your Apple iPod or iPhone while playing tunes that are on it. And if you’re anything like me, you probably have a sizable MP3 collection that resides on your main PC.

You’re in luck. With the Mint USB wireless transmitter, you can listen to whatever streams on your PC directly on the Mint 220 up to 45 feet away via their Mint Di-Fi™ technology – which means honestly that your music will stream over the air without any loss of quality whatsoever.

From the build quality – it’s surprisingly heavy, to the sound – it’s honestly deeper in bass than I expected and able to handle even Barry White at full volume, it’s a good little dock that matches the finish of my Sony Playstation 3 and fits in well into most any other room by just “fitting in” and not sticking out.

Back to the wireless PC music part. Just plug in the supplied Mint USB Wireless transmitter into your computer and once your machine finds it – my PC found it in like 15 seconds – it’s already streaming music and sounds out to the receiver. That’s it. And yes… it works on Mac or PC.

Currently, the Mint 220 can be bought at your local Best Buy, but at the moment you can buy it online at Mint’s website for an additional $20.00 off using the code DS220 at checkout bringing the price down to $129.99.

Definitely worth the purchase for the music lover in your life.

[ Mint DS ]

Next!

Prior RTL* Last Second Shopper Gift Guide Options:

• #8 – Microsoft Blue Track Explorer Mouse
• #9 – KOR ONE Water Hydration Vessel
• #10 – Nike Zoom Potro PrizeFlight Premium
• #11 – Tank Theory Dungeons Belt Buckle
• #12 – Vaja Case iVolution Case for the Apple iPhone3G

Combined with marathon gaming sessions and many hours of Adobe Photoshop, a good, comfortable mouse is definitely something that’s on each and every geek’s list at one time or another. Enter the Microsoft Blue Track Explorer Mouse. And Microsoft delivered a blue LED (yummy!) enabled mouse that can track movement on just about any surface. Table top, glass, your flannel shirt, that week old pizza slice… it’s all game for the new blue LED tracking dubbed BlueTrack™.

Yeah, I bet Bill Gates thought of that one by himself.

With the following features:

• Microsoft BlueTrack Technology combines the power of optical with the precision of laser for remarkable tracking on more surfaces.
• The battery status indicator tells you when a quick recharge is needed. The compact, stable recharging base is easy to use. 3 Weeks between charges via the included rechargeable batteries and easy to use recharging base.
• Reliable wireless on the go. Microsoft 2.4 GHz wireless and the snap-in mini-transceiver deliver a reliable connection with up to a 30-foot range.
• The glowing blue light effects and comfortable curved surfaces set your mouse apart.

Hell yes. And totally comfortable to use for a long time. Normally $99.99, currently on sale at Best Buy for $59.99. Make your geek happy.

Next!

Prior RTL* Last Second Shopper Gift Guide Options:

• #9 – KOR ONE Water Hydration Vessel
• #10 – Nike Zoom Potro PrizeFlight Premium
• #11 – Tank Theory Dungeons Belt Buckle
• #12 – Vaja Case iVolution Case for the Apple iPhone3G

Have you visited Best Buy yet?

Best Buy has made several resources available to help people understand what’s happening with this transition. I’ve got press documents I can send you, but the major points are these:

-Beginning in early 2006, Best Buy began providing consumers with in-store and online information about the DTV broadcast transition including brochures and a dedicated page at BestBuy.com/DTV.

-In October 2007, Best Buy was the first CE retailer to exit the analog business, pulling all analog tuner products from store shelves.

-Best Buy has launched a dedicated hotline – 877-BBY-DTV9 – where consumers can call and speak with a trained home theater specialist to ask questions about the DTV transition and to learn about their options to get ready for the switch.

-Customers will also be able to redeem their DTV coupons and order converter boxes through this hotline if they are unable to get to a Best Buy store.

-Best Buy store employees across the U.S. have received training on the DTV broadcast transition and the options available to consumers. Store employees in positions that are most likely to assist consumers with DTV broadcast transition inquiries have participated in an additional series of in-depth training sessions since June 2007.

Hurry up… February will be here sooner than you’d think.

Anybody remember the whole Betamax vs. VHS battle? Sony, the chief backer of Beta, wasn’t as nice as Toshiba and the retailers are pertaining those that purchased the Toshiba and Microsoft backed HD-DVD.

This time, some said that HD-DVD was doomed from the beginning with the Sony PlayStation 3 serving as their “trojan horse” to get into millions of homes and help push Blu-Ray over HD-DVD’s popularity. Meanwhile, earlier released Blu-Ray players were having problems playing such recently released and Blu-Ray profile updated titles like Pirates of the Caribbean.

With that said, just under a month ago, Toshiba finally pulled the plug on HD-DVD and a lot of people are looking at their last movies coming out, or have came out. Terminator 2 will be the last real release – I think there’s a Veggie Tales that’s being touted as coming out a bit later, if Paramount doesn’t stop that from being released as well.

So what to do… what to do.

Seems like Best Buy got your back. Yeah… that Best Buy.

Until December 31st, 2008, if you purchased a HD-DVD player and/or HD-DVD attachment (think: Microsoft XBOX360 HD-DVD add-on) before February 22nd, 2008, you’re eligible for a $50.00 that Best Buy will be proactively mailing cards to some of its customers and expects to distribute more than $10 million in gift cards. Also feel free to hit up the Best Buy HD-DVD trade-in program.

This offer starts March 21st.

Even though I avoided this battle for the “next generation” of video, this might be helpful for quite a few of you – I’m still enjoying my Betamax

Let’s face it. Not everybody can use or even wants an iPod. Shock. Horror.

It usually means that you have to install iTunes in order to sync up your music, and if you’re not careful you will download the Quicktime + iTunes download as well. The current iPod out of the box does not have the ability to listen to FM radio nor can you use stereo Bluetooth headphones. Sure, you can download YamiPod instead of iTunes. You can get the Jabra A125s Bluetooth Adapter for the iPod to enable stereo bluetooth/a2dp headset compatibilty.

Enter the Insignia 4gb Pilot. It plays video, mp3, has a built-in FM receiver and supports stereo bluetooth from the very beginning. And it’s about 20 bucks cheaper than the iPod nano. Sports a 2.4 inch screen, has support for Real Audio’s Rhapsody music store.

Oh yeah… it also accepts SDHC chips as well. So slam in another 8gb SDHC card for even more memory for songs.

So why not pick one up for your Apple hating significant other for Christmas. And the cool thing, if you need to, buy it online, choose in-store pickup, and Best Buy will have your order ready in 45 minutes or so.

Last minute holiday buyers rejoice…

Ok, it’s finally under one week to go for Christmas and you’re probably wondering what to get your bothersome significant other that either has an iPod already, probably works in an office, or just doesn’t have a lot of room in that closet they call an apartment.

In a series of quick reviews for “Last Minute Gadget Gift Ideas”, one per day until Christmas Eve, hopefully you’ll find that one object that you just might have overlooked.

Via Best Buy’s in-home brand named Insignia comes the first gift idea. It’s their small-ish 75W shelf CD/DVD/HD Radio system, model number NS-HD2114. At first, it’s bright green box arrived and I thought that it was entirely too light and probably going to be made quite cheaply to be honest.

I was wrong.

Before this unit, I had an Aiwa unit that was more than likely too expensive for what little features it offered. The speakers on this Insignia unit had rubber surrounds on the woofer/midrange unit which last much longer than the cheaper foam surrounds that end up just cracking and getting old the moment you go from one season to another. The small speakers had a nice sized bass port in the back, were actually made out of wood – don’t laugh, some of the cheaper shelf systems out there have plastic back sides or the entire speaker is encased in plastic which to me tend to vibrate if you ever decide to get all jiggy loud with your music and there’s a considerable amount of vocal midrange singing or bass, if not both. Try it… hit up the local Best Buy and turn up a small speaker that’s made out of plastic and notice the vibration. Wood is where it’s at.

The speakers were easy as heck to hook up. In fact, they had a cool plastic connector that clearly stated the positive and negative connections to the back of the main unit. I’m seriously tired of having to use a pair of wire cutters, strip the wires and then try to thread that into the back of a receiver as I have done so many times over and over in the past. This newer method was fun, quick, and even I understood it. I r smart.

The main unit, again… I thought it was waaaay too light to be quality built. Again… wrong.

It was made of a black anodized aluminum and was thick enough to resist me pushing in on the sides and denting it like a coke can. Again, I have to go back to the Aiwa… I leaned on it just a little and you could see where I had placed just a little bit of pressure. The display before I turned it on was flat black alongside the rest of the flat black finish on the main unit. Once plugged in, it’s very bright, almost TOO bright in fact. Easily readable across the room and/or office. And per the typical gadget LED decorum as of late, the volume knob and DVD/CD tray and other buttons have that popular blue LED glow to it. mmmm, blue-y.

Total hookup of all of the bits took me less time than it did to open the box. Serious. In fact, I had to go back and read the manual after I put it together because it couldn’t have been that easy. It is.

So let’s turn on this bad boy… the remote control carries over the black and blue from the display, but it doesn’t light up unfortunately. But the smurf blue buttons actually make it easy as heck to make sure I don’t grab it instead of my other remote controls. Once I set the time, I pop in a Wu-Tang CD… gotta bring the ruckus. And guess what… it didn’t bottom out, it didn’t sound cheap, and above all, this little shelf system is banging out Method Man like a bigger system. I immediately think this is a fluke, so I switch over to the HD Radio and find the local rock station. Amazingly enough, they were broadcasting in HD which means that I can see the station name, and while music is playing, the song name, artist name, as well as the section of music they’re playing… if the station sends that information out. The whole experience of HD Radio is much like you would get from a MP3… information wise that is. Again, I’m find myself rocking these little bookshelf speakers like they’re my Polk Audio speakers that I’ve had for years… simply put, I’m amazed that these little speakers didn’t buckle under the pressure of rocking some rock and roll. Clearly I might add.

The weird thing you’ll notice though, there’s an USB port on the front of this shelf system. Well… if you have an USB MP3 device, you can hook it up there and actually control the thing through the front panel or through the remote control. Or… you could do like I did and just plug it up, see the information of the songs that were on the device, sit there and drool for a bit because you didn’t expect that and suddenly feel bad that you had Michael Bolton on your MP3 player…

I put it there to change the pace of my workout. I promise.

On top of the shelf system comes the cool part… the iPod interface. Also included in the bright green Insignia box was just about every dock connector/adapter for the 1G through 5G iPods, iPod Photo, iPod Nano – which seems to be only the 1G Nano, not the smaller, squat 2G Nano, and oddly enough one that fit my iPhone perfectly even though despite not being listed in the items included in the bright green Insignia box – trust me, this box is visible from outer space.

So I plunk down my iPhone and after a second, it acts like it’s charging and next thing I know, I see stuff that’s on my iPhone playing through the system a little bit louder than the HD Radio and the CD I was listening to earlier. Oops… looks like there’s some gain on the MP3′s off of the iPod stuff. But again, the sound is very clear and I’ve yet to even touch the equalizer and settings.

Oh… this thing isn’t just about music either. On the back of this small system are video composite outputs as well. So I grab a few RCA cables and toss them into the back of my TV. Not only can you set up this thing visually, but it plays DVD’s too via the Y, Pb/Cb, Pr/Cr component outputs. Also lining the back of this small stereo system is fiber optic outputs, left/right audio inputs for other devices you might want to hook up to the stereo, S-Video output and a regular video output. So you can pretty much hook this up in a ton of ways outgoing and incoming. Combined with the front USB ports, I’m quite surprised this little thing had so many hookup options. Once hooked up, I throw in “The Departed” and about one hour later forgot that I was supposed to be reviewing… that’s such a good movie.

Also, you can throw in a disc that has JPEG images, or a PhotoDisc; you know the kind you can get if you take in your digital camera or one of those disposable film cameras to your local drugstore. You just have to go into the directories and then via the remote control select which image you wish to view on the screen. An odd, but quite cool addition to a small shelf system that’s really trying to become the do-it-all system it aspires to be.

Not all is great though. The menus during DVD setup, JPEG viewing, and whatnot are decidedly ugly. I’m talking about 1987 VCR ugly. Functional, yes. But ugly. We’re not talking about fully animated and fluffy like the PS3 interface. But the menus are very easy to maneuver and use. If you get confused in this pragmatic menu, just go ahead and call that egghead nephew or neighbor of yours. After a few laughs at you, you’ll see that the menu system is quite easy to use.

Just a tad bit ugly.

The switch to iPod sources seems to be a bit louder than the rest of my audio sources. And by a bit, I really felt the lyrics of Nelly Furtado’s “Promiscuous” in my nether region intimately when just a few moments prior I was listening to Tool at the same volume without really feeling threatened. Perhaps it’s just an odd situation, but one I noticed nonetheless.

Another issue was that the remote control had to be pointing directly at the face of the system. Sure, we tend to get a bit lazy and point the remote control in the general direction, but while being real lazy, I couldn’t just point and click quickly and lower the volume. I would have to actually point the remote control directly to it. Oh, and another weird goof… while setting up the clock, apparently I set it up to turn on each day at 06:57pm. While resetting/removing the time was an odd affair of having to hit the reset button and wait for it to reset totally – I had lost my awesome bass and treble tweaks by doing this, but having this thing turn on the moment I walk in the house was downright spooky – and there’s no light to show you that there is a set timer. For this, I had to turn to the manual, but even this skimpy manual had the answer right there on page 26.

Overall, this thing actually does it all. And does it quite well. Not perfectly, but for the price, the quality of the build and the sound quality is actually pretty darn decent. A must buy for that person that wants a small shelf system and has a ton of gadgets that they could use with the shelf system, or a desire to not waste space and use such an item double-duty. College kids need apply as well.

This would definitely rock in yo’ dorm. And at a pretty good, easy to swallow price. All in all, I give this a 4 out of 5 (Recommended).

See you tomorrow.

Anyway, I have two teenage nieces and shopping for them this holiday season has never made my age and overtly geek qualities more apparent. Sure, I’m hip… I have the iPhone, a Nokia N810, an Insignia MP3/HD-Radio/DVD shelf system with USB ports and not one Tamagotchi or Teletubby or pocket protector in sight, so I’m cool…

I’m cool. No matter how many times I keep repeating it, apparently I’m not

Got some hard to shop for teens on your list and you just might want to take a read of WOW the un-WOW-able: Advice from Drake Bell.

National Geographic and Philip Norelco have hooked up to what basically each and every unshaven man should go run and check out before they become more caveman like.

Not like having whiskers is a bad thing, but I’ve seen some rather incomplete beards on some men over the age of 25. Simply put… you can’t grow a full beard or mustache, use a better shaver. Or use a magic marker and fill in the bare spots.

Ok, ok… the official Conquer Your Neck, Conquer The World contest verbiage. I’ll stop my rant about being unshaven cavemen…

unga bunga.

The new Philips Norelco Arcitec gives you a great shave, even on the neck. Conquer your neck and get ready to conquer the world, because Philips Norelco is sending one grand prize winner on a trip for two to Alaska, Belize, or the Galápagos. Trip includes guided tours with a National Geographic expert and exciting adventures on land and sea. It could be you!

And enter the official Conquer Your Neck, Conquer the World contest while you’re at it. Good luck. I insist that you all enter.

Why can’t Windows and other operating systems be that good on updates? Anyway… due to an unforeseen update issue with Windows and a few programs I tend to actually like and use for creating graphics, et al… until I solve what’s up, I’m stuck on what was to be the next version of removethelabels and postponing until later in the year, if not next year… which is really just a month away.

Otherwise… business as usual. Odd posts here and there. And a late as HECK review on a bluetooth keyboard from Rocketfish.

Welcome to the world of HDTV. Seriously… it’s a confusing world at times and guess who wants to help out with that?

Best Buy, that’s who. And they want to ensure that your HDTV experience equates to “HD Done Right”.

A quick copy/paste job:

Consumer confusion has also created in-store sticker shock. Half of survey
respondents (52%) are only budgeting for the HDTV, not accounting for the
cost of other necessary HD components.

The HD Done Right campaign was designed to address consumer pain points
regarding HDTV, and educate consumers on the four parts necessary to create
a full HD experience: HD-ready TV, source, sound and installation. There
are some great tools at AskABlueShirt.com.

So… that means that when I was looking to buy a television that would support the highest resolution for the Sony PlayStation 3 and I didn’t know about all of the cables that I didn’t have in the boxes and I had to make more than three trips to different stores could have been cut short to just one trip to Best Buy…

Where’s the angry face on this keyboard…

Check it out guys… who knows. You might learn something.