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July 29, 2004 |
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Looks like it was a great week for budget shopping. A new, cheaper iPod; a fabulous deal on the Treo 600; and a brand-new Siemens phone that actually leaves you with $50 extra dominated your searches over the past week. Want more? Buzz on over. |
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iPod
Hey, now here's some shocking news. Apple announced a new iPod, and it's cheaper than previous incarnations have been--$299 for the 20GB version, as opposed to $399 for iPods past. Also, the new version has been redesigned, and it finally incorporates begged-for changes such as the return of the click wheel. On top of that, we gave it an almost unheard-of 9.0 rating and a CNET Editors' Choice award. Guess what happened then? You guys just couldn't stop searching for it last week. Cause and effect; it's an amazing thing.
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Treo 600
 Everybody's always hungry for a deal, but the ultrahot and quite expensive Treo 600 has rarely fallen into that category. However, with rumors swirling that a new Treo will be released this fall, AT&T is now offering the Treo 600 for just $149 after rebate, with service activation. That's a seriously long way from its $600 retail price, and it's low enough to get a lot of interest from you, dear readers. It can be painful to buy a new gadget right before the next version comes out, but in this case, it's not that painful. Buzz advises: Go for it!
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Siemens CF62
We first had a gander at Siemens's first-ever flip phone back in March at CTIA, and it looked pretty promising then. Well, it looks pretty promising now, too. When it rocketed to the top five in our search results, we knew something was up. Sure enough, T-Mobile has quite the introductory special going on: It's giving away the cute little clamshell (after rebate)--plus another $50 rebate, leaving you in the black and holding a brand-new phone. No wonder you're interested. Watch for our forthcoming review for the full skinny, but at that price, the CF62 is probably worth it.
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VoIP
You guys were searching for VoIP, or Voice over IP, but we think what you really meant to look for was Skype. You know, VoIP, Skype--said out loud, they sound quite similar! In any case, with queries for VoIP up last week, we figure Skype's new server-free Net phone call service could be the catalyst. SkypeOut, as the service is called, lets you pay to make Internet calls to regular telephones anywhere in the world. That's on top of your normal VoIP service, wherein you can call between PCs or PDAs for free. You can buy $12, $30, or $62 worth of voice minutes.
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Picasa
Since Google announced its purchase of digital photo management company Picasa about two weeks ago, we're guessing that your current level of interest in Picasa indicates future shareholder research. Picasa has been a Google partner for several months now, enabling Google Blogger users to easily upload photos. Now, Google's made an honest company out of Picasa, and we're hoping maybe add-ons such as these will help justify that stratospheric share cost.
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