giveaway

It's been awhile since we've given away an e-reader, and we have a nice one on tap for you this week: the Iriver Story HD, which has the Google e-book store integrated into it.

The Story HD's key feature is its higher-resolution (768x1,024 pixels) e-ink display, which the company touts as the world's "highest-resolution 6-inch e-reader." While it's the same E Ink Pearl display that's in all the leading e-readers these days, the added resolution--Iriver says it has 63.8 percent more pixels--does provide for added detail in images and slightly sharper text. (Reader our full review here).

So, how do you try to win this Iriver e-reader? Let us enumerate the basic rules. Please read carefully; there will be a test. … Read more

Move over Dr. Dre; we have legendary crooner Tony Bennett to thank for this week's giveaway. Yep, you read that right. We're talking about the one and only Anthony Dominick Benedetto.

Bennett has teamed with Koss, a longtime maker of audio products, to create the Tony Bennett Signature Edition Stereophones in honor of his 85th birthday and the recent release of Duets II. The CD features Bennett singing his greatest hits with such artists as Lady Gaga, Queen Latifah, Natalie Cole, Willie Nelson, and the late Amy Winehouse.

Bennett first donned Koss headphones in the early '60s. Fifty years later, his comfy-looking Tony Bennett Signature Stereophones come with the standard 3.5mm plug, as well as a 6.3mm plug converter, enabling them to adapt to different systems. The headphones fold flat for storage in an included durable cloth-covered case so you can easily tote them along when you leave your heart in San Francisco--or anywhere else. … Read more

commentary Research in Motion, is that really all you've got?

After a critical outage that left some BlackBerry users without e-mail for as many as three days, RIM is offering customers $100 worth of premium apps for free. Enterprise customers also get a month's worth of technical support.

The problem is, the BlackBerry faithful stick with you for primarily one reason: your excellent e-mail service. If they wanted games, media apps and other whiz-bang features, they would have fled to an iPhone or Android smartphone already. You lose your e-mail, even for one day, and you lose your … Read more

Editors' note: The rules have changed slightly for this week's giveaway. Facebook component now included.

First off, congratulations to Veronica M. of Grantsburg, Wis., who won a ChicBuds Fauvette speaker and a pair of ChicBuds DJ Sport headphones in last week's Crave giveaway.

And now, onto this week's prize!

One lucky winner will score a tablet with the Twonky Beam Browser app installed. … Read more

HP's TouchPad tablet became a blazing success at the end of the summer when the company announced it was giving up on its WebOS devices. Inventory quickly sold out when the price was slashed to $99 for the soon-to-be-estranged tab. Now, the TouchPad is one of the first discontinued items in recent memory to be offered up as a hot Hollywood prize giveaway.

You may recall rumblings of one last TouchPad production run after the success of the fire sale, but it appears most of that batch was swallowed up in a special offer for HP employees.

So one of the absolute, honest to god, totally, like, for reals this time, last chances to snag a TouchPad may be a promotional contest for the latest Hugh Jackman flick, "Real Steel." HP touch screens are also some of the stars of the film, which is set in 2020, a time when TouchPads are more likely to be a distant memory.… Read more

Congrats to Patrick S. of Fargo, N.D., for winning last week's giveaway, a Korg digital MicroPiano. The winner of this week's prize should appreciate the virtues of pink--or know someone who does. Yep, we're talking pink, and lots of it.

Our latest freebie comes courtesy of ChicBuds, a maker of fashion music accessories for, in its words, the "couture lifestyle." The SoCal-based company makes some really fun glammy, blingy gear, and we like the fact that during October, it's donating 20 percent of proceeds from its pink products to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

For your double dose of pinkness, you'll be getting a $34.99 portable Fauvette bird-shaped speaker and a pair of DJ Sport Headphones, also $34.99. The speaker chirps away through a 2-watt amplified speaker that gives out four hours of sound on one charge of its built-in rechargeable battery. It's compatible with iPhones, iPods and other MP3 players, and any other device with a standard 3.5mm stereo jack.

Completing the ensemble, the hot-pink and black headphones will work well for the portable set, as they fold up for ease of storage and convenient use.

So how do you score this week's prize? Let us enumerate the basic rules. Please put on your rose-colored glasses and read them carefully. … Read more

First off, congrats to Dean N. of Parsippany, N.J., who won a LifeProof iPhone 4 case in last week's Crave giveaway. And now...

While grand pianos have a, well, grandly elegant quality, not everyone has the grand budget--or the grand space--to accommodate one. That's why we're humming a happy tune about this week's freebie, the Korg MicroPiano, a compact, portable digital piano with grand-piano panache (complete with opening lid).

This little piano that could measures 30.79 inches long by 11.46 inches wide by 5.47 inches deep and weighs just 11.5 pounds, but you can produce all manner of musical genius via its 61-key minikeyboard, 60 built-in sounds, and 25 one-touch musical phrases. For roving pianists, it has built-in speakers and optional battery power, but given that it produces "robust and authentic stereo-sampled grand piano sound," according to Korg, you might want to keep it out of the library.

Korg has been around since the '60s and is considered a well-respected musical brand. Normally, its MiniPiano would cost you $499.99, but you have the chance to score it for a cool zero. So, how do you try to win this week's prize to become the hippest pianist in the 'hood? Let us enumerate the basic rules. Please read carefully; there will be a test--in the key of A Minor. … Read more

We took a break from the giveaway circuit last week, but we're game-on again with the sleek and durable LifeProof iPhone 4 case in black.

As we said in our Top 20 tough iPhone 4 cases round up, the LifeProof Case's claim to fame is that it's very tough (waterproof, shockproof, dirt-proof, and snow-proof, the company says) yet it's slimmer than most of the other tough cases out there, with an integrated clear plastic shield that protects your screen (and, obviously, seals your iPhone into the case).

After trying it, we have to say it does strike an excellent balance between sleek looks and toughness. This one's drop-tested for 6.6 feet and can go underwater. The only downside is that it's expensive at $69.99.

So, how do you try to win this week's prize? Let us enumerate the basic rules. Please read carefully; there will be a test--as well as a strut down the catwalk. … Read more

Olympus is rolling out its new PEN E-PM1 camera by asking random consumers to demonstrate how easy the latest PEN Ready camera is to use.

The PEN Ready Project looks to give more than 1,000 free PEN Ready E-PM1 cams to random people around North America. Those fortunate folks in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto, Miami, and Lehigh Valley, Penn., (Olympus' hometown) can go anywhere they like and take any pictures or HD videos they like (Olympus is asking them to shoot at least 20 still images or vids; those who do will be entered in a sweepstakes).

Olympus is collecting those works of would-be art for showcasing on a new custom-designed Tumblr blog. The company's hope is that people around the world will visit the PEN Ready site to see what the E-PM1 can do, thus wanting one for themselves. … Read more