Magellan, a pioneering GPS brand, today announced the introduction of the Magellan eXplorist 310 GPS receiver, a power-packed, waterproof, and rugged handheld GPS designed for essential outdoor navigation.

The newest addition to the eXplorist family of dedicated outdoor GPS receivers, the eXplorist 310 provides outdoor enthusiasts with many of the features found in higher-end devices, including a premium world map and the ability to upload detailed topographic maps. Whether for an avid outdoorsman navigating to a favorite fishing spot, an up-and-coming geocacher graduating to more complex finds, or an experienced backpacker looking for a powerful, yet light and portable GPS receiver, the eXplorist 310 is the perfect companion for hundreds of outdoor activities.

With a vibrant, 2.2-inch transflective color screen, a highly sensitive GPS chipset providing 3-5 meters of accuracy, and the ability to record hundreds of waypoints, tracks, and routes, the eXplorist 310 GPS receiver provides all the essential navigation features required to venture into the great outdoors. It comes pre-loaded with Magellan’s World Edition maps that include the road networks in more than 200 countries. The device supports 10,000 paperless geocaches and users can expand the map detail and coverage by adding regional versions of Magellan’s Summit Series topographic maps. Users start each adventure with a single click, record every step, and monitor their progress by viewing the track summary statistics or quickly find their way home using the backtrack function. Two AA batteries provide up to 18 hours of continual outdoor use.

“The eXplorist 310 is a key addition to our outdoor lineup as it provides users with a high-quality navigation device at an outstanding value,” said Justin Doucette, Director of Product Marketing, for Magellan GPS. “From novice to expert, Magellan now offers the right handheld GPS receiver for anyone who ventures into the outdoors anywhere in the world!”

The eXplorist 310 will be available in March 2011 at an MSRP of USD $199.99.

Soteria Systems, LLC announces its breakthrough mobile personal security system, FORSSE ™ (pronounced FORCE), is now available to Android users. By subscribing to the FORSSE service, users have the peace of mind knowing that the FORSSE team is there to quickly respond to potentially harmful situations 24/7 anywhere a FORSSE subscriber has cellular coverage. Subscribers can launch the Market from their mobile phone to search for and download the FORSSE app.

FORSSE is a complete on-call, personal security system, providing its subscribers the ability to instantaneously notify a response team of a threat or crisis by simply pushing a button on the Android. Unlike other mobile personal safety applications that merely notify a user’s selected contacts through email or text message, a FORSSE alert is handled by an experienced and well-trained monitoring team that is on call 24/7 to coordinate the resolution of the crisis by notifying the nearest and most appropriate emergency response team.

Upon activation of an alert, the FORSSE team is able to review critical information concerning the subscriber and the incident, including continuous GPS location information of the subscriber, audio recordings of the incident to validate the crisis, and a complete personal profile created by the subscriber during registration. Using this information, the FORSSE team is able to quickly and efficiently notify the best-suited and nearest emergency response team to respond and resolve a crisis or potential threat.

FORSSE is kicking off a nationwide campaign with a fall tour to a diverse group of colleges and universities to generate awareness of the FORSSE service and promote the safety and well-being of others. At no cost to the school, colleges and universities choosing to participate are able to monitor and respond to any alert triggered on campus grounds. FORSSE improves the peace of mind of both students and parents while their loved ones are away from home. The FORSSE service is not just for students, but provides an ideal solution for all who have concerns about their personal safety.

Soteria Systems has completed the FORSSE application for the iPhone and it is currently in the review process for the iTunes store. A version for Blackberry smartphones will be available later this year.

Mint.com and Zillow.com® have partnered to help customers determine their homes’ value as part of their overall financial portfolio.

Mint.com is the leading online personal finance solution, and Zillow.com is a leading real estate and home shopping website. As the result of a new partnership, Mint’s home valuation exclusively uses Zillow’s proprietary Zestimate® algorithm for real estate analysis. Updated regularly for continued accuracy, Zestimate values factor in a range of data, including comparable sales and individual home facts, such as number of bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage, lot size and remodels.

“This will give Mint users a more complete financial picture so they can save and do more with their money,” said Aaron Patzer, vice president and general manager of Intuit Personal Finance Group and founder of Mint.com. “Because a home is usually a person’s largest asset, it makes perfect sense for us to integrate with Zillow, to help our users track their home’s Zestimate in their Mint account.”

The addition of Zillow information can also lead to better financial decisions.

“Zillow and Mint have a common goal — to empower consumers with information so they can make more informed decisions regarding two very important areas of their lives – their home and finances,” said Spencer Rascoff, chief executive officer of Zillow.com.

Mint users who have already added their home to their Mint.com account will see their home’s estimated value from Zillow the next time they log in. Others can add their home value at any time. To view Zestimate values for their homes, users simply add a real estate account and enter their home address in the property search box. Users can then decide whether they’d like to accept the Zestimate value or manually enter their estimated home value.

Fidelity Electronics this week announced the launch of the VPC – Very Personal Computer: a fully preloaded, Wifi portable netbook computer at a very affordable price.

Very portable: The VPC weighs only 1.5lbs and measures just 8.4” x 5.5” x 1”

Very functional: The VPC has both wifi and ethernet connections and a full function keyboard to connect, work and play.

Very affordable: All programs and applications are preloaded and ready to use.

“At a $199 SRP, the VPC is perfect for students and people on the go,” says Richard Kizner, Director of Marketing for Fidelity Electronics. “Preloaded programs include internet browser, spreadsheet, word processor, a media player for movies, music and pictures, e-book reader, dictionary, calendar, PDF reader, email, chat, calculator, file manager and much more. VPC comes with a full function keyboard, touchpad, 7” TFT display with 800 x 480 WVGA resolution, 802.11g Wifi, 100 MHz internet browser, 2 GB internal storage, 3 hour rechargeable battery, microphone and a headphone jack. It has onboard USB, SD and Ethernet ports that make the VPC an incredibly affordable yet versatile device,” he adds.
The VPC is expected to retail at $199.99 USD and should arrive in stores beginning March, 2009.
Fidelity Electronics Inc. is a leading provider of innovative personal electronics and consumer products including award winning Fidelity digital picture frames, digital memory and imaging accessories. Fidelity operates from Vaughan, Ontario; Buffalo, New York; Hong Kong and Shenzhen, China. For more information, visit Fidelity’s website at www.fidelityelectronics.com.

Mint.com, the leading online personal finance service, today added an inbound SMS feature to its award-winning product, allowing users instant access to an overview of their entire net worth – wherever they are. Users can simply text “Bal” or “Balance” to shortcode “MyMint” (696468) to receive real-time balances for the checking, savings, credit union and investment accounts they track using Mint.com. Because the free online service now supports over 7,500 financial institutions, Mint.com is now offering free mobile access to the majority of US banks. Mint.com users can now find out in the checkout line whether they should use debit or credit, and which of their cards to use. This new inbound SMS feature helps avoid overdrafts and other fees, and lets users maximize reward points.

With nearly 600,000 users, Mint.com is the fastest-growing personal financial service, tracking more than $50 billion in transactions and $15 billion in assets. And it’s free. Mint’s “Ways to Save” feature has already identified more than $100 million in potential savings for its users. This new inbound SMS capability is the latest in a series of MInt.com innovations which help its users stick to budgets, avoid unwanted fees, and ultimately save and do more with their money.
“90 percent of our users tell us they understand their spending better after using Mint, and about half have already changed their spending behavior,” said Aaron Patzer, founder and CEO of Mint. “In the past few months, we’ve seen an even sharper change, with users cutting hundreds of dollars in monthly spending across categories. As the holiday season approaches, we’re proud that the more than half a million Mint.com users are well-prepared to shop within their budget and avoid crushing debt, especially in this uncertain economy.”

A January, 2008 Mint.com survey found that over 4 in 10 people spent more than they’d planned during the 2007 holiday season. At that time, 6 in 10 respondents said they planned to make some changes to their holiday spending this year. And in fact, the majority of Mint.com users have adjusted their budgets downward since the beginning of the American economic crisis in September, reversing a more typical seasonal trend to increase budgets for the holiday season. Overall, Mint.com users are planning to spend 3% less in the coming months, with the largest reductions planned in Travel (down 20%) and Personal Care (down 24%). Users are planning to maintain, not increase, their average monthly spending this holiday season by shifting spending from general Shopping purchases (budgets down 7%) toward Gifts (up 8%). Thousands of Mint.com users have already added customized Gifts and Shopping budgets since Mint.com introduced personalized spending categories last month.
In addition, Mint.com’s blog features tips and tricks for surviving the holidays. Among Patzer’s key recommendations: Don’t spend more than one paycheck on the holidays. For someone making $60,000/year, that means spending no more than their average $1,500 bi-monthly paycheck on gifts, decorations, food and drinks for parties— everything.

“For many, budgeting is a dirty word. But in this economy, with the generosity of the season pulling at our wallets, budgeting is essential and doesn’t require as much work as some think. Pick a few problem areas – you may go out to restaurants too much, or spend too much on clothes. If you track and budget in just those categories, you’ll likely find enough money for gifts,” continued Patzer. “We recently had a user write in that after Mint showed her the ‘error of her ways,’ she’s cut out $5 visits to Starbucks, $7 visits to the work cafeteria, and is eating and drinking at home more. After two months, she’s not only cut $680/month in spending, but she’s also lost 3 pounds!”

Mint.com has recently released major updates to the product, adding: support for 1,000′s of new banks; mortgages, loans and investment tracking; customizable spending categories; and automatic budgeting features.

Effective immediately, DBL will begin marketing SPOT-1 to customers nationwide. This state-of-the-art personal messenger with GPS tracking, once activated by a satellite subscription, will send the exact coordinates of your location to International Emergency Response Center or 9-1-1. If your exact coordinates cannot be obtained, the device will send a distress signal instead. Other excellent features include personal messaging capabilities that reaches out to friends and family to request for help or to let them know you are okay. In addition, SPOTcastingSM sends a message to your account every 10 minutes, allowing your friends and family to view your entire route through GoogleMapsTM. Designed for maximum reliability, Spot performs a self diagnostic test every time it is powered on. It works worldwide and even in the most remote areas where cell phone service is scarce.

“This new and innovative product and technology introduced by Spot has revolutionized the navigational market,” stated Tim Coakley, Senior Vice President of Merchandising for DBL Distributing. “Its tremendous versatility coupled with its unique functionality greatly appeals to customers within our navigational product segment.”

SPOT-1 was included in DBL’s new Spring/Summer catalog featuring nearly 520 product lines, 5,200 new items and over 20,600 products. To order SPOT-1, please call DBL’s dedicated sales staff at 800.733.6766 or order online at www.dbldistributing.com.

Sonos, Inc., the leading developer of wireless multi-room music systems for the digital home, today announced a new release of Sonos System Software v 2.2 that will bring Pandora* to the award-winning Sonos Digital Music System. Pandora, the developer of the ground-breaking personalized radio service, and Sonos have collaborated to provide music lovers with an exciting new way to discover music from the palm of their hand, and enjoy that music all over the house. Today’s addition of Pandora expands Sonos’ unsurpassed home audio experience—providing access to more music services than any other whole-home digital music system on the market. The free software upgrade is available to all registered Sonos customers via Sonos’ wireless handheld Controller.

Pandora’s innovative approach to radio combined with Sonos’ industry-leading digital music system signals a new era for radio enjoyment in the home. With Pandora and the wireless Sonos Controller in hand, users can create and play up to 100 radio stations based on their favorite songs or artists. Using Pandora’s Music Genome Project®, Pandora’s highly-trained musicians analyze songs, one at a time, using close to 400 musical traits including melody, harmony, instrumentation, rhythm, vocals, lyrics, and more to automatically build a station with songs that share interesting musical similarities. Users can take hold of the Controller and rate the music they hear to further refine the station’s playlist on the fly.

The Sonos Digital Music System allows music lovers to create and play Pandora radio stations all over the home without ever installing an application or turning on a computer. It is possible to play the same Pandora radio station in each room, perfectly synchronized; or, play different stations in different rooms to fit the mood. In fact, Sonos can simultaneously stream 32 different Pandora radio stations to 32 different rooms—an industry breakthrough. Starting today, new and current Sonos customers can listen to Pandora for free with a 30-day trial—no credit card required. Following the free trial, Sonos customers can continue their Pandora service for $36 annually.

“Pandora has melded the human judgment of music experts with the best of computer science to create a new, breakthrough experience in radio,” said John MacFarlane, CEO of Sonos. “Combined with Sonos, Pandora gives you the feeling that there is someone magically guiding your music listening throughout your home.”

“Our mission is to work with exceptional companies like Sonos to expand the reach of Pandora and our Music Genome Project,” said Tim Westergren, Founder of Pandora. “With Sonos, we continue to unite the Pandora experience with groundbreaking devices that truly reinvent the way music lovers interact with music in the home. This partnership illustrates what radio looks like in a connected world – anytime, anywhere.”

In keeping with Sonos’ tradition of continually improving the home music experience, the Sonos 2.2 software release also includes better music services support, more alarm clock choices, improved Internet radio reliability with automatic connection restart, FLAC album art support, and more. For more information about any of these new Sonos features, visit: http://www.sonos.com/support/software_updates/.

The Sonos Digital Music System is the first and only wireless multi-room music system with a full-color Controller that lets consumers enjoy digital music all over the house. To learn more about Sonos, to place an order or to locate an authorized Sonos dealer, please visit www.sonos.com.

DXG USA announced today the new DXG-Roadster all-in-one Personal Media Center that lets you take your entertainment on the road wherever you go. The DXG-Roadster (Model DXG-521) is the only device you’ll ever need to capture precious memories and keep you entertained while traveling. The Roadster is a combination 5 Megapixel digital and video camera, video game and music player with FM radio, voice recorder and storage device, with 32MB of internal storage and an SD slot for additional memory.

Instead of being bored on a plane, waiting at the doctor’s office, at your kid’s soccer practice, or at the Department of Motor Vehicles, why not entertain yourself while waiting? The DXG-Roadster lets you listen to your complete collection of MP3s and videos anywhere you go. You can record TV shows and movies ahead of time directly from any video source via the included AV cable and then watch your favorite “American Idol,” “Desperate Housewives” TV shows, or NBA basketball games on the 2.5” bright TFT LCD screen.

As featured in the March 12, 2007 issue of Life & Style Weekly, the Roadster is the ultimate in design and functionality. Geared towards kids, teens, and young parents, where style, price, and usability are most important, the DXG-Roadster is popular for its price-performance ratio and the multiple features available in one easy-to-tote compact package. Not only can you store and watch your entire media collection of music, videos, and photos wherever you go, you’ll also never miss another once-in-a-lifetime photo-op with the Roadster’s 5 Megapixel camera and camcorder. Also, if you remember something important while on the road, you can record a reminder on the spot with the included digital voice recorder.

“Are we there yet?” How many times do parents have to hear this on a family trip? With the DXG-Roadster, kids can now enjoy their OWN entertainment. The DXG-Roadster features 4 pre-stored popular video games, such as Tetris, Boxman, and Gobang, and is shaped like the familiar Sony PSP™. And since the device is lower cost than competing products, you won’t be as worried about sticky fingers playing with it.

“No other product offers the amount of features at such a low price,” said Paul Goldberg, Vice President – Sales and Marketing, DXG USA. “The DXG-Roadster is a one-of-its-kind mobile experience at a user-friendly price.”

DXG-ROADSTER FEATURES:

5 MP Digital Camera and Camcorder in one:
-Record full-motion video in near DVD-quality, with sound

-Take vibrant JPEG pictures

-4X Digital Zoom

Portable Video Player:
-Watch movie clips and music videos anywhere you go

-2.5” Bright TFT LCD Screen

-Share your videos with friends and family by connecting the DXG-Roadster to a TV

Portable Video Recorder
-Records TV shows, movies directly from any video source via AV-in cable

-Perfect for archiving and digitizing VHS tapes

-Watch your favorite TV shows and movies anywhere you go

-Records video in MPEG-4 video format

MP3 Player with built-in FM tuner
-Listen to your favorite music just about anywhere

-Keep up with current events with built-in FM radio

Voice Recorder
-Capture your thoughts, to-do lists

-Perfect for school, conferences, lectures

Portable Video Game Player
-Includes 4 built-in classic video games: Tetris, Boxman, Gobang, and Memory

Mass Storage Device
-32MB onboard memory

-SD Card slot to accept memory cards

-Connect to your PC to store and transfer data files

-USB2 Interface for fast transfer of files

The DXG-Roadster is available in black and white and comes with a camera pouch, wrist strap, stereo earphones, Lithium-ion rechargeable batteries, USB and AV cables, Mr. Photo 3 and VideoWorks6 software, and user manual. The DXG-Roadster has a suggested retail price of $199 and is available immediately through leading retailers and through www.dxgusa.com.

Google has just released its Browser Sync for Firefox users which brings an amazing and powerful feature to Firefox: full synchronization of bookmarks, opened tabs, history, settings, and even cookies. All of it. Doesn’t matter if you have two, three, or fifteen computes with Firefox, they’ll all sync with each other. Heck, it doesn’t even matter if you have Mac, Red Hat box, or Windows98, because they all will sync with each other, too. Now the only catch is that you can’t have more than one browser open at a time (Google Browser Sync will notify an “old” session that another session has started and disconnect the old session browser.) But is that the only catch?

When SvenOnTech sniffed the terms of service page, we found an interesting few sentences. It reads, near the bottom, “You understand and agree that Google may or may not pre-screen Content and shall have the right (but not the obligation) in its sole discretion to pre-screen, refuse or move any Content available via Google services. You also understand and agree that you nonetheless may be exposed to such conduct and/or Content and that you use the Extensions at your own risk.”

Now while this doesn’t mean Google will sale your information and all, it does mean it will look at it and if you’re in, say China, it’ll do things to it. Maybe dump it; maybe send it to the red commies themselves. But if you read more, you do find that the Google law staff was really smart and opened it up even more to legal interpretation and stated that its general terms of service applied as well, with a link to that page. With that catch-all, all your information is basically open to being searched and indexed just like your Google Mail and Google Calendar. True, Google specifies that it will not sale your information, but hey, do you really want this mega-company knowing all your information? It’s not just about your links to some questionable places that you may like to visit or maybe confidential client information but rather your cache, settings, and cookies. It’s all Google’s to search and index.

This has been the major reason I don’t use my GMail account. I can’t imagine all that e-mail of mine being tucked away into an index server for a rainy day. You GCal users should be scared, too. But hey, if you’re cool with all this, than by all means, go get it. It is a neat download for sure and I’m sure Google has all your rights in interest. I mean, they sure are doing a great job in China, right?