ware

LAS VEGAS--Boston Acoustics' SoundWare XS 5.1 system is about as small as you can make a 5.1 speaker system. Unless of course you ditched three of the speakers and the need for a separate AV receiver.

That's the thinking behind the new SoundWare XS Digital Cinema Surround Sound Speaker system, which features just two tiny SoundWare XS speakers, a compact subwoofer, and built-in amplification. It comes with a credit card-style remote and brackets for wall-mounting the front speakers.

The 100-watt system features both optical and analog inputs, as well as Bluetooth connectivity, allowing you to stream … Read more

The Sears app for iPad works well for browsing through items and making purchases from Sears online, but you also can locate nearby stores if you need to see before you buy. The app layout upon launch gives you tons of big button icons and shopping categories to browse through by swiping your screen, but you also can hit the Products button in the upper left to search or drill down through categories. The app also has an Occasions button that lets you flip through event-appropriate gifts for categories such as Baby, College, Fitness, Moving, and Weddings.

Once you choose … Read more

The Wal-Mart app for iOS does a great job laying out shopping categories for its huge inventory, letting you browse to items quickly. The interface includes categories on the left navigation bar that let you drill down to specifics, and a bigger window on the right to view results.

The Wal-Mart app takes advantage of the iPad's screen real estate well, by keeping navigation and viewing windows all on the same screen. Once you've drilled down to a category, you can get more product viewing area by swiping the navigation bar to the side. Then you can swipe … Read more

The Zappos app for iOS is a joy to use, featuring an easy-to-navigate interface and lightning-fast search results for your shopping needs. The app features categories running down the left side, a featured section in the upper right (with a rotating carousel of deals), and a few featured items on the bottom.

Zappos originally started out on the Web selling shoes, but since then it has added a few more categories, such as clothing, bags, beauty supplies, and housewares. Touching a category on your iPad brings up icons so you can drill down farther (touching shoes, for example, brings up … Read more

Now you can share your childhood gaming memories with your children, thanks to the vintage Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) lunch boxes refurbished by VoodooWares and sold on Etsy. Each lunch box costs $45 and is salvaged from irreparable NES consoles with their parts emptied and fresh coats of paint. There's even an option to customize the exterior and velvet interior with your own name and messages for an additional $30.

It's heartening to see these old consoles getting a second lease on life. While they're at it, maybe VoodooWares could introduce Sega, PlayStation and Xbox versions in the near future.

(Source: Crave Asia via Dvice) … Read more

The highly anticipated Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG still lacks a release date, but Bioware isn't shying away from showing off some end-game content.

As a bit of background for the uninitiated, gamers can group together in SW:TOR and tackle challenges called "operations," which are similar to raids or instances found in World of Warcraft. These types of areas are critical to those who have reached the maximum level possible by offering intensive teamwork experiences and the chance to acquire high-powered items. Dallas Dickinson, Bioware's director of production, previews one of those operations, Eternity Vault, in a 10-minute video released a few days ago. … Read more

The bottom line: One of the first applications built to find and remove malware and spyware, Ad-Aware's reputation has been well-justified. The latest version adroitly addresses some user concerns, yet performance-based annoyances remain.

Review:

Editors' note: Portions of this review are based on CNET's review for Ad-Aware 9.5 Free.

Ad-Aware 9.5 Pro Internet Security continues the development progress that publisher Lavasoft began in the previous version. No longer content with offering only malware protection, Ad-Aware now includes antivirus protections licensed from Sunbelt, the makers of Vipre, as well as interesting in-house improvements.

Lavasoft first started changing … Read more

The bottom line: One of the first applications built to find and remove malware and spyware, Ad-Aware's reputation has been well-justified. The latest version adroitly addresses some user concerns, yet performance-based annoyances remain.

Review:

Ad-Aware 9.5 continues the development progress that publisher Lavasoft began in version 8. No longer content with offering only malware protection, Ad-Aware now includes antivirus protections licensed from Sunbelt, the makers of Vipre, as well as interesting in-house improvements.

Lavasoft first started changing Ad-Aware's protection engine more than a year ago in version 8.1, when it introduced Genotype. This heuristics-based technology identified … Read more

If you've always wanted a multicolored Lomo-style camera but want the convenience of high-quality digital images, the wait might just be over. Color customization company ColorWare lets you customize a Leica D-Lux 5 compact camera according to your preference, including the snapper's front, back, sides, top panel, port door, hot shoe insert, and lens cap. … Read more