If you do not have enough money for an iPhone/iPod case, consider Case-Mate iPhone 3G/3GS Recession Case at $0.99 each. It is a legit cardboard case. You can even buy the “BAILOUT BUNDLE” with 10 cases for $7.99.

The case is not waterproof, flammable if you light on it, and comes with animation instruction on how to assemble it. You can order the “Sharpie Script” customization at the back of your case when you order. In case you are wondering, shipping is free.

Via Geekologie

After six years, the wait is over for Dan Brown’s latest work “The Lost Symbol”. Follows in the trail of “The Da Vinci Code” and its prequel “Angels and Demons” that have made the author the best-selling novelist, Brown’s new novel continues the tales of Harvard symbologist Robert Landgon. “The Da Vinci Code” has sold more than 80 million copies since it was published in 2003, and both it and “Angels and Demons” were made into hit films starring Tom Hanks.

In “The Lost Symbol”, Langdon provides a crash course on the number 33, Pythagoras, Genesis, Joseph, Jesus and Islam. The novel in essence is about the freemasons, a group that has faced centuries of persecution for their secrets.

“There’s a point in the book where Langdon makes the point that misinterpreting people’s symbols is often the root of prejudice, and part of what I hoped to do with this book is shed some light, from my perspective, on Masonic symbolism and Masonic ritual,” Brown says.

Order “The Lost Symbol” from Amazon.com.

Via NPR

Olympus has released firmware 1.1 for its popular Micro Four Thirds EP-1 camera. This update purportedly aims to calm Olympus’s loyal following by solving one of the greatest grievance of EP-1, which is the slow operation for auto focus.

Together with the release, Olympus posts firmware upgrade for E-P1′s two kit lenses: the M. Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 lens and the M. Zuiko Digital 17mm 1:2.8 pancake lens.

EP-1 owner can download the firmware update via the bundled Olympus Master/Studio software.

HP is refreshing its MediaSmart home server lineup with the MediaSmart EX490 and EX495 models. These new file servers for home come with larger hard drives, faster processors and lower price from its predecessor EX485 and EX487 models. And the new servers are much easier to setup with a new user interface, and has better Mac support.

The new MediaSmart servers can now be completely administered on a Mac, though you need a Windows PC for its initial setup. Time Machine is fully supported, allowing you to do bare metal full system restore from the server, using its bundled recovery utility.

HP MediaSmart server can now automatically collect and share photos, videos and photos that are loaded onto a Mac with its HP Media Collector software. And its bundled HP Video Converter can now convert or transcode media to more devices and formats. iPhone and iPod touch users can stream media from the server using the free HP iStream app.

HP MediaSmart runs Microsoft Windows Home Server operating system. The EX490 comes with a 2.2GHz Intel Celeron Processor and an initial 1.0 TB drive. The higher-end EX495 is equipped with a faster 2.5GHz Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor and comes with a single 1.5TB hard drive. Both servers have 2GB of DDR2 RAM, three empty hard drive bays, Gigabit ethernet port, 4 USB ports (1 front, 3 back) and an eSATA port at the back to add even more drives. Preorder has started with $549 for EX490 and $699 for EX495. Expected shipping is this October.

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Bowers & Wilkins (B&W), the high-end audio speaker system manufacturer, is launching a smaller version of its popular awards-winning Zeppelin iPod based audio systems. Called Zeppelin Mini, the new audio system has a new docking arm which can rotate your iPod/iPhone for landslide display. USB connectivity adds the ability to sync your iPod/iPhone and stream music from PC or Mac. Price is $399.

Visit B&W Zeppelin Mini Website.

Via TechDigest

Here’s the footage to an act befitting a fallen star. Is he doing a Sacha Baron Cohen to promote his album and career? Looks more like an insecure loser to us.

SanDisk has released a new range of Extreme Pro CompactFlash cards with super-fast read and write speed of up to 90MB/s, doubling the performance of SanDisk’s previous high-end cards. Extreme Pro range will replace the existing SanDisk Extreme IV cards. SanDisk will start shipping this week in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB at a MSRP ranging from $300 to $800.

“The new SanDisk Extreme Pro CompactFlash line is the direct result of SanDisk’s passion, commitment, and break-through engineering innovation to provide best-in-class flash memory cards for professional photography,” said Eric Bone, vice president, retail product marketing, SanDisk. “The SanDisk Power Core Controller delivers unmatched write speed and reliability, providing photographers with a spectacular combination of performance, capacity and peace of mind that images are safely stored.”

Accompany the super-fast CF cards is the SanDisk Extreme Pro ExpressCard™ Adapter, optimised to take advantage of the SanDisk Extreme Pro CompactFlash card’s up to 90MB/s read speed. The reader will be available in late October at an MSRP of $49.99.

SanDisk has also released another line of CF and SDHC cards called Extreme, replacing the Extreme III series. The new Extreme series offers transfer speed of up to 60MB/s and will be available from 8GB to 32GB with a price range from $130 to $375.

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Apple has quietly dropped its 40GB model Apple TV, and reduced the price of its 160GB model from $329 to $229. Previously the 40GB model was priced at $229. The 160GB model is now the only Apple TV available.

Apple TV hardware has remained unchanged since its introduction in March 2007. Many has expected Apple to upgrade Apple TV software to support the recently launched iTunes LP. With its lackluster sales, it is interesting to see how Apple plans to turn this product around.

Via MacRumors

ColorWare now offers choices of color for PS3 Slim. It will cost you $149 to send yours in, or you can purchase PS3 Slim direct from ColorWare for $449.

You can customize the PS3 logo, the top of the console, the bottom of your console or even the controller. Once colorized, everything is high-gloss and scratch resistant.

Via ChipChick

Facebook has been busy with three launches this week:

Facebook Lite

Facebook launched Facebook Lite, a stripped-down version of Facebook and you can access it via url lite.facebook.com. Intended for bandwidth limited developing countries, it strips the Facebook to its cores and sans applications. We find the lite version refreshing with its leaner and cleaner layout, and it probably will become our Facebook version of choice looking forward.

@Mentions

Not sure if it is inspired or threatened by Twitter, Facebook has introduced @mentions in status updates. When you type @ with your friend’s name in your status updates, it means a reply to your friend. This allows conversation and is one of Twitter’s strongest feature. Followed closely by recently launched real-time search and FriendFeed acquisition, we sure hope Facebook can have more originality.

Facebook Desktop Notifications for Mac

Facebook has released a Mac native app that when launched will sit on the OS X menu bar. It will alert you when there are new activities on your Facebook. Clicking on the app icon on the menu will drop down a menu where you can access easily update your status, compose message, view list of message in inbox etc. Download the app from Facebook.