We’re going to keep the Momentum (ugh) going with our gadget gift guides and suggest a few more great gadgets that any Mother or gadget-loving woman would want to own.  read more »

By Andrew Eisner

The government will be sending many of you a check for $600 or more. Sure you could do the responsible thing and pay off some of your credit card debt but the government is asking you to go out and stimulate the economy. Making an extra payment on your credit card would be downright unpatriotic. So what are you waiting for, go out and treat yourself to a brand new gadget.  read more »

It was opening day at CTIA today and no one was fooling around. I have to say this show is a lot easier to deal with than CES; much more manageable and less crowded. You could actually get a chance to check out the products at the booths and lunch in the press room didn't vanish at 11:45.

Speaking of the press room I ran into a Becky Waring, an old colleague who has a degree from MIT and has been writing a lot recently for PC World. She just finished a roundup of new wireless routers due to be published soon. One thing she told me that I wasn't aware of is how WiFi networks ca  read more »

Retrevo is at the CTIA show in Las Vegas this week. CTIA is the big cell phone conference. Showstoppers is an event held at all the most popular tech conventions that brings the press and vendors together in a comfortable setting. The draw for journalists is easy access to the right people from companies with cool products. The attraction for companies is access to fish or rather journalist in a barrel. The fact that they always have great food helps lure in hungry journalists looking for a free meal. It's always a great place to see cool new stuff and meet interesting people.  read more »

Five states have passed laws making it illegal to hold a cell phone while talking on it in a car. The California law takes effect July 1, 2008 and will cost drivers $20 for the first offense.

Personally I haven't found an ideal alternative to holding my phone up to my ear. Aliph's Jawbone has the best repution for sound quality and noise reduction but there are universal complaints about the fit on your ear. At CES this year Jawbone ran a promotion that offered a free Jawbone with a trade-in of any bluetoo  read more »

The Tech Chronicles' Ryan Kimtakes on social mapping, listing the pros and cons of the big brother-type trackingservice that now comes (for only $2.99)with 25 Sprint and Nextel phones. Really his pros don't seem like pros. He fails to mention any real benefits, like when you have to meet up with a friend who is always late, you can avoid waiting alone for an hour at the cafe by mapping his progress to know when to leave your house. Or how about the safety benefits for children and their parents?  read more »

So here comes another news from Apple. In their usual style, Apple announced a complete upgrade of ipod line of products.  read more »

FCC finally approved the rules for the new 700 MHz spectrum that will be auctioned off next year. Of course FCC is expected to raise as much as $10B-$15B from this auction but that's not the point. The most significant provision passed this time around is for "open access". 22 MHz of the 60 MHz spectrum will be auctioned off using "open access" provision which will allow any cell phone device and any software to work on the network built by an operator using this piece of the spectrum.  read more »

The iPhone is a truly revolutionary product from a design and usability perspectivebut it's not without its flaws. I didn't buy one and maybe this is a way of rationalizing that decision but I recently ran across a few excellent rundowns of some of iPhone shortcomings from some veryknowledgeable technology observers. The List Highlights Despite reassurances that it just takes some "getting used to," the keyboard appears to be the most often mentioned complaint especially for anyone with man-sized hands.  read more »

Engadget introduces us to perhaps a smarter choice of cell phone - if youre a business man who does some serious business traveling - the Blackberry 8830 World Edition. It allows you to talk in more than 170 countries, and surf the web in more than 70.  read more »