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Radio Shack’s Black Friday deals have been leaked and here’s what you can expect. There are no Early Bird deals, but I still recommend you get to the store early as quantities will likely be limited!

Camcorders:

Sanyo Xacti VPC-CG10 10MP HD Flash Camcorder (Red)  $169.99
Vivitar DVR 865HD Flash Camcorder $69.99

Computer Accessories:

Gigaware Wireless Optical Mouse   $12.99
Netgear Basic Wireless-N Router $34.99
Pinnacle PCTV USB HDTV Tuner $39.99
Iomega Prestige 320GB Portable Hard Drive $49.99

Digital Cameras:

Casio Digital Camera Gift Bundle - 10MP, 3x Zoom, Leather Case $89.99
Kodak Easyshare M381 Digital Camera - 12MP, 5x Zoom $99.99
Nikon Coolpix Digital Camera - 10MP, 3x Zoom $129.99
Olympus Digital Camera - 12MP, 7x Wide-Angle Zoom $149.99
Vivitar ViviCam 8225 8.1MP Digital Camera $49.99

Cell Phones:

LG Xenon (2 Yr. AT&T Contract Required)  FREE
Motorola CLIQ with MOTOBLUR (2 Yr. T-Mobile Contract Required) $79.99
Motorola i776 Prepaid Phone (Boost Mobile) $69.99
Nokia 2720 No-Contract Mobile Phone $9.99
Palm Pixi (2 Yr. Sprint Contract Required) $99.99
Palm Pre (2 Yr. Sprint Contract Required) $99.99
Samsung Impression (2 Yr. AT&T Contract Required) $29.99
Samsung Instinct s30 (2 Yr. Sprint Contract Required) FREE

GPS:

Garmin nuvi 255W GPS Receiver $119.99
Garmin nuvi 265WT GPS Receiver w/ FREE Lifetime Traffic Updates $169.99
Mio Moov M400 GPS Receiver   $79.99
TomTom XL 330-S GPS Receiver w/ FREE Dash Mount $99.99

Laptops:

Acer 15.6” Laptop - AMD Athlon 64 Dual Core, Windows 7, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD $399.99
Acer Aspire One 11.6” Netbook - Atom, 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD, Vista $249.99

iPods:

Apple 8GB iPod nano (FREE $15 RadioShack Gift Card on 11/27)  $149.99 Apple 8GB iPod touch (FREE $20 RadioShack Gift Card on 11/27) $199.99

Televisions:

AUVIO 3.5” Portable Digital TV $79.99
AUVIO 7” Portable Digital TV $119.99
Envision 22” 720p LCD HDTV $199.99
Samsung 32” 720p LCD HDTV $399.99

Video Games:

XBox 360 Elite Bundle Deal w/ LEGO Batman and Pure $299.99

Read [BFAds.net]

• Pangea announces Black Friday sale, new free holiday game
• Teen calls police because his parents took his Xbox
• Black Friday 2009: Gamestop’s videogame sales, doorbuster deals

AT&T Wireless’ war against Verizon was dealt a blow when a judge denied the company’s request for a restraining order barring Verizon from airing their “There’s a Map for That” ads that highlight AT&T’s truly pathetic 3G coverage.  AT&T is furious over the new ad campaign, insisting it is misleading to consumers, and vows to continue the fight.  Verizon responded in a legal filing:

“This motion is a blatant effort to ask the Court to do what the marketplace will not do: shield AT&T from truthful comparative advertisements that Verizon has a right to air and that consumers have a right to see.”

One wonders if AT&T would be better off spending money on increasing its 3G coverage than on this silly lawsuit.  It’s inexcusable that a major carrier offers such lame 3G coverage when fellow carriers like Sprint are already offering 4G coverage.  Its clear AT&T made the mistake of resting its laurels on the iPhone and for whatever reason, couldn’t be bothered to invest in its own infrastructure.  This has resulted in a legion of angry iPhone users, who lament having a cutting edge cell phone with little high speed coverage, and angry non iPhone coverage who are unhappy at the burden the iPhone users have placed on the network.

GSM may be the more popular technology, but here in the U.S., given the troubles both T-Mobile and AT&T are having, CDMA carriers Verizon Wireless and Sprint seem to be better choices.  Now if only Sprint could find a competent advertising team…

Read [PCWorld]

• Pangea announces Black Friday sale, new free holiday game
• Teen calls police because his parents took his Xbox
• Black Friday 2009: Gamestop’s videogame sales, doorbuster deals

If T-Mobile is trying to drive themselves out of business they are doing a pretty good job. First there was the great Sidekick Nightmare, which caused most U.S. users of the device to lose their data and the company to temporarily halt sales, and then a few weeks ago T-Mobile customers had to contend with an outage that left them unable to make calls or send text messages.  Now it gets even worse.

The company is now reporting that it has discovered a data breach at its U.K. headquarters.  Staff there was caught selling customers’ personal information to numerous third parties.  Those parties then approached customers who were soon to be out of contract with sales pitches for other carriers.  T-Mobile said this was done without its knowledge and that those responsible will be prosecuted.

T-Mobile, which recently announced plans to merge with fellow U.K. provider Orange, seems to be a company totally out of control.  The constant service issues, and the severity of them, paired with this latest news, have left them with a very black eye that won’t soon heal.  Their advertising and P.R. people have their work cut out for them!

Read [PC World]

• Pangea announces Black Friday sale, new free holiday game
• Teen calls police because his parents took his Xbox
• Black Friday 2009: Gamestop’s videogame sales, doorbuster deals

The European Union Consumer Commission has announced a crack down on sites pushing free ringtone scams and that often target kids and teens.  The crackdown covered all 27 EU countries plus Iceland and Norway and resulted 9 Italian companies being slammed with nearly $3 million in fines.  Of the 301 websites targeted, 54 were put out of business and more than 150 were made to change their advertising.  The commission said it instigated the crackdown after being flooded with complaints by consumers.

The sites often featured cartoon characters and urged visitors to provide their cell phone numbers to get a free ringtone.  What they failed to reveal, or buried in fine print, was that once they had the number the owner would be signed up for a subscription and charged a monthly fee for further ringtones.

These scams are often seen here in the US, both on the web and on TV.  The ads offer free ringtones (or wallpapers, horoscopes, games, etc).  All you have to do is type in your cell phone number or send a text message.  Then you get hit with all kinds of charges. Some services charge $5.99 a month and other a whopping $29.99 a month.  Getting the subscription dropped can be extremely difficult to impossible and your cell provider is often unable to do much.

Mobile phones are a way of life for most of us, and we seldom go anywhere without them.  Scammers know this.  SMS spam is a particular problem because those not on an unlimited plan must pay for each message.  While it has not yet become a huge problem here, giving up your cell number to websites and in response to TV ads can open you up to a flood of it.  It’s important to guard your cell phone number as you would any other piece of personal info.  Don’t give it out to just anyone, and stick to legit sites like iTunes for ringtones and wallpapers or download some software and make your own.  Free offers often come with a steep price!

Read [PC Magazine]

• Pangea announces Black Friday sale, new free holiday game
• Teen calls police because his parents took his Xbox
• Black Friday 2009: Gamestop’s videogame sales, doorbuster deals

Japanese electronics giant Pioneer has filed suit against Garmin claiming the company is infringing on some of its patents that cover in car navigation technology.  Pioneer has asked the International Trade Commission to block Garmin from importing the products that use the allegedly infringing technology.

“Pioneer has been negotiating in good faith also with Garmin for a license to Pioneer’s navigation patent portfolio,” it said in a statement issued on Monday. “However, since the value of the portfolio has not been fairly evaluated by Garmin, Pioneer determined that litigation is necessary in order to protect its intellectual property in the navigation product field.”

This is the second complaint Pioneer has filed against Garmin.  In October they filed a lawsuit in Germany over the contested patents, which involve various aspects of in car navigation systems.  Pioneer said it feels it has no choice after talks with Garmin broke down.

If you’ve got a GPS system on your Christmas list, don’t worry.  Should U.S. imports of Garmin systems be blocked there will still be plenty to chose from from rivals Magellan and Tom Tom, and lots of deals to be had.  Check out our Black Friday ad coverage for the scoop!

Read [PCWorld]

• Pangea announces Black Friday sale, new free holiday game
• Teen calls police because his parents took his Xbox
• Black Friday 2009: Gamestop’s videogame sales, doorbuster deals

Office Depot’s Black Friday ad had been leaked. Here’s a look at some of the deals they will be offering this year.

Computers:

• Acer Aspire 15.6” Widescreen Notebook Computer w/AMD Athlon X2 Dual-Core Processor L310, 4GB RAM, 320GB Hard Drive - $379.99
• Acer Netbook 10.1” Computer w/Intel 1.6GHz Atom Processor N270 - $199.99
• Compaq CQ4010F Desktop Computer w/AMD Sempron LE-1300 Processor, 2GB RAM, 250GB Hard Drive - $229.99
• Compaq Presario AMD LE-1300 Desktop w/18.5” Monitor - $329.99
• HP Notebook Computer G60-508US w/Intel Celeron Processor 900 - $299.99

Digital Cameras:

• Ativa Digital 1080p HD Video Camcorder 4x Optical Zoom - $89.99
• Canon PowerShot SD1200 IS 10.0-Megapixel Digital ELPH Camera - $149.99
• Canon PowerShot SD780 IS 12.1-Megapixel Digital Camera - $179.99
• Kodak EasyShare CD80 Digital Camera Bundle - $79.99
• Kodak EasyShare M381 Digital Camera w/Case & Tripod - $169.99

GPS:

• Garmin Nuvi 1200 GPS Navigation System - $119.99
• Garmin Nuvi 1300 GPS Navigation System - $149.99
• TomTom GO 630 GPS Navigation System - javascript:nullo()$169.99
• TomTom ONE 130 GPS Navigation System - $77.99
• TomTom XL 330 GPS Navigation System - $97.99

TVs

• Digital Prism 7” Portable LCD TV ATSC710 - $84.99
• Samsung 19” 933HD Widescreen LCD HDTV - $199.99
• Samsung 23” 2333HD Widescreen LCD HDTV - $249.99
• Samsung 26” T260HD Widescreen LCD HDTV - $299.99

Office Depot isn’t doing any Doorbusters, but quantities will still be limited so be sure to get there early!

Read [BlackFriday.info]

• Pangea announces Black Friday sale, new free holiday game
• Teen calls police because his parents took his Xbox
• Black Friday 2009: Gamestop’s videogame sales, doorbuster deals

Staples’ Black Friday ad has been released and there are doorbusters and deals aplenty! As predicted the bad economy and shaky consumer confidence has lead retailers to slash prices and offer deals-many long before Black Friday itself! Let’s take a look:

Staples’ Doorbuster items include a 100 pack of CD-R’s for $4.98, a free Canon Photo Printer with the purchase of any digital camera, an HP 15.6’ laptop with a Celeron processor, 3GB of RAM, 160GB HD and Windows 7 for $298, and one with an Intel Core Duo 2 processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 250GB HD for $398.  Other Doorbuster deals available to those willing to get up early (or stay up all night!) and wait in line include a Kodak EasyShare 10.2 MP camera for $109, a SanDisk 8GM memory card for $14.99, a Garmin Nuvi GPS system for $119.99, a Seagate 1TB External Desktop HDD for $69.99, and a 21’ eMachines Widscreen LCD monitor for $89.98

There are plenty of non-Doorbuster deals to be had as well, including a Netgear Wireless Router for $34.99, a Samsung 23’ Monitor/TV combo for $249, a free after rebate Sharp Handheld Calculator,  a Colby 7’ portable digital TV for $99 and 7’ portable DVD player for $49. Computer deals include a Dell desktop with an AMD processor, 4GB RAM, 640GB HDD and a 20’ LCD monitor for $499.

Remember, the quantities will be limited and rainchecks likely unavailable, so get out their early if you want to scoop up these great deals!

Read [BlackFriday.info]

• Pangea announces Black Friday sale, new free holiday game
• Teen calls police because his parents took his Xbox
• Black Friday 2009: Gamestop’s videogame sales, doorbuster deals

Walmart’s Black Friday deals on BlackBerry smartphones have been leaked.  The big box retailer plans to offer the AT&T Curve 8310 for free and the Bold 9000 for $78.88. Sprint’s Curve 8330 will also be offered for free while T-Mobile’s Curve 8520 and its Pearl 8120 Black Emerald have a price tag of $28.88.

Walmart’s Verizon offerings include the Blackberry Storm for $48.88 and the Blackberry Tour for $148.88.  The latter isn’t much of a savings considering Verizon offers it for $149.99 with a BOGO promo.

While some of these deals offer substantial savings, be sure to read the fine print.  A two year agreement is required on all phones and Walmart may charge an activation fee.  Also be aware that in some cases, if you need repair service you may need to go through Walmart rather than your carrier.

Other retailers like Amazon have already matched some of these deals, but Walmart plans to start offering them beginning next Saturday.

Read [PhonesReview]

• Pangea announces Black Friday sale, new free holiday game
• Teen calls police because his parents took his Xbox
• Black Friday 2009: Gamestop’s videogame sales, doorbuster deals

A still struggling economy and skyrocketing unemployment rates mean this holiday shopping season will be all about finding bargains and reducing spending.  A new study out by Deloitte has found that more consumers then ever plan to use the web and their cellphones to find those bargains.  They surveyed over 10,000 consumers about their holiday shopping plans.

The study found that 45% plan to use their cell phones to research prices and 32% will use them to search for discounts.  25% will even go so far as to actually buy gifts on their phones.

The net will continue to play an increasing roll in holiday shopping.  22% said they will do most of their shopping online with 44% saying they will use online coupons to save money.  39% say they will use online reviews to make purchase decisions and 65% say they are likely to buy a product online after seeing it in a store or catalog.

Social networking will be a big factor as well.  The study found a whopping 54% of consumers plan to use social networking to research gift ideas, 52% will use online wish lists and 60% plan to use social networking sites to find discounts.

What are your plans for your holiday shopping?  Will you be cutting back?  Buying online?  Please leave a comment and share with us!

Read [CNet]

• Pangea announces Black Friday sale, new free holiday game
• Teen calls police because his parents took his Xbox
• Black Friday 2009: Gamestop’s videogame sales, doorbuster deals

Malware is absolutely everywhere these days.  Even if you do all the right things like not clicking on links or opening attachments in emails, avoiding bittorents, porn sites and illegal download sites like Limewire (which is full of malware!), not clicking on pop up or banner ads, and being careful about what apps and notifications you open on sites like Facebook, malware can still sneak in.  This is especially true if you are on a network.  Last night while I was online I was suddenly redirected to a rogue anti-virus site.  I was shocked as I am super careful.  I disconnected my wireless card and started running scans-they found 5 Trojans and a rootkit on my system!  Further digging revealed that my husband’s computer had the same infections plus a few more.  I did some more research and asked a few questions and it seems the Trojans are the kind that search out networks and infect every computer on the ones it finds.  In other words my husband’s computer was contagious!  This doesn’t mean he was careless.  Malware is getting so sophisticated these days that many kinds don’t require the user to click on, run or open them. They do it all themselves! This means if you accidentally make a typo and wind up on an unfamiliar site, or accidentally click on a pop up when you try to close it, that site could quietly download malware onto your computer.  Many businesses buy up the misspelled versions of their domain names because they know if they don’t, scammers and cybersquatters will.

How do you protect yourself?  First of all make sure whatever OS you use (and yes there is Mac malware out there!) is kept up to date and all security patches are installed.  Microsoft’s Malicious Software Removal Tool is quite good and should be downloaded and run once a month.  Keep your anti-virus software updated at all times as well.  If you’re on a network, keep your firewall up and running at all times (My husband had accidentally turned ours off, which I believe led to the infections) and make sure your router is protected.  WPA-PSK security is recommended as most hackers can easily crack the old WEP protocol.  Choose a passkey that is a mix of letters and numbers and change it regularly.

There are several good anti-malware programs out there and you should be using at least one. I highly recommend the following:

Malwarebytes:

This is simple, fast and powerful software that detects all kinds of malware, spyware and adware.  It scans files, registry keys, boot sectors, and memory for infections.  The free version is adequate but if you want real-time protection and the ability to schedule regular scans, you can upgrade to the premium version for $24.95.

Spybot Search & Destroy:

This is another great tool for finding malware, spyware and adware on your computer.  It allows you to back up your registry, run scans and has a useful immunization feature that tweaks your browser to block drive by malware, tracking cookies, malicious websites and other bad stuff.  The TeaTimer feature quietly monitors system processes and terminates malicious or suspicious ones and alerts you.  It also alerts when a program tries to change a critical registry key.

AVG:

This is a top notch anti-virus program.  Unlike Norton and McAfee, it’s not bloatware and won’t hog system resources.  There’s a free version and a premium “security suite” for $54.99.  I find the free version to be more than adequate. The one caution I have is that it sometimes flags legit programs as viruses, This kind of false positive crippled iTunes for a short time over the summer. It was quickly fixed however.

Watch where you surf, what you click on and what you download/install, keep your network secure and your anti-virus software up to date and running at all times, and do regular scans with one of the anti-malware programs discussed above and you will spoil the fun for millions of hackers and scammers!

• Pangea announces Black Friday sale, new free holiday game
• Teen calls police because his parents took his Xbox
• Black Friday 2009: Gamestop’s videogame sales, doorbuster deals