Crave

(Credit: Magellan)

Following the launch of its turn-by-turn navigation app for iPhone, Magellan has released its Premium Car Kit for iPhone and iPod Touch. The Premium Car Kit features an amplified speaker for spoken directions, a Bluetooth speakerphone for hands-free calling, a built-in GPS receiver that should improve positioning compared with the iPhone 3G's built-in GPS as well as adds GPS positioning to first-generation iPhones and the iPod Touches.

The mount lets you rotate the iPhone to portrait and landscape views, and has a built-in charger. Essentially, it will behave exactly like TomTom's Car Kit; however, the Magellan kit has an adjusting arm that will let it accommodate an iPhone or iPod Touch with a protective case.

The Magellan Premium Car Kit will cost $129.99. When TomTom's kit debuted for slightly less than that price, it was universally regarded as too expensive, so we can already guess what sort of reception Magellan's kit will get.

Magellan's Premium Car Kit for iPhone is available now for preorder.

Powerline network adapters, which let you create an ultrafast entertainment network through your home's existing electrical wiring, may not seem sexy to everyone, but we sure like them here at CNET because that's just the sort of people we are. Up for grabs today: Belkin's Gigabit Powerline HD Starter Kit, which is about as good as it gets when it comes to powerline adapters.

Here's what Belkin has to say about today's prize: "Because of its high Gigabit speeds and consistent connection, Gigabit Powerline reduces online gaming latency and provides large bandwidth, making it ideal for online PC gaming and ultrafast high-quality transmission of multiple video streams." While most powerline technology runs at 200Mbps, Gigabit Powerline delivers content at 1000Mbps of speed.

Thanks to Belkin for providing today's prize and we'd also like to give a shout out to Shopper.com, which helped put together several of Crave's holiday giveaways. Shopper.com powers CNET's price-comparison engine, and it's a great site for finding the best prices on products. (See all of Shopper's deals, coupon codes, and rebates).

Normally, the Belkin's Gigabit Powerline HD Starter Kit would cost you about $150, but you have the chance to get it gratis.

So, how do you try to win this Belkin powerline kit? Let me enumerate the basic rules. Please read them carefully; there will be a test.

• Register as a CNET user. Go to the top of this page and hit the "Join CNET" link to start the registration process. If you're already registered, there's no need to register again.
• Leave a comment below. You can leave whatever comment you want. If it's funny or insightful it won't help you win, but we're trying to have fun here, so anything entertaining is appreciated.
• Leave only one comment. You may enter this specific giveaway only once. If you enter more than one comment, you will be automatically disqualified.
• The winner will be chosen randomly. The winner will receive (1) Belkin's ultrafast Gigabit Powerline HD Starter Kit. Approximate retail value is $150.
• If you are chosen, you will be notified via e-mail. Winners must respond within three days of the end of the contest. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen.
• Entries can be submitted until Friday, December 18 at 6:59:59 a.m. ET.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. MUST BE LEGAL RESIDENT OF ONE OF THE 50 UNITED STATES OR D.C., 18 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER AT DATE OF ENTRY INTO SWEEPSTAKES. VOID IN PUERTO RICO, ALL U.S. TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS AND WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. Sweepstakes ends at 7 AM ET on December 18, 2009. See official rules for details.

Good luck.

Come back tomorrow for our next holiday giveaway, which will be a Vizio 32-inch LCD TV.

So you've got a new BlackBerry smartphone. You power it up, download BlackBerry App World, and find a gallery of apps waiting to fill up your phone. There's only one problem--figuring out which programs to download first.

Let us introduce you to our BlackBerry Starter Kit. We've assembled our top recommendations for productivity, communication, music, and business--if you intend use your BlackBerry for work as well as for play.

Keep in mind that our list of essential BlackBerry apps is far from exhaustive. We steered clear of games, and of applications for hobbyists and specialized communities in an effort to make our app suggestions applicable to as many new BlackBerry owners as possible. If you've got must-have suggestion of your own, you know the drill--leave 'em in the comments.

Whether you're doing a clean install of Windows 7, getting a new computer from a deep discount on Black Friday, or getting a full-priced present, you owe it to yourself to check out this revamped collection of the most essential freeware tools for Windows. The programs in the Windows Starter Kit 2010 will work on Windows XP, Vista, or Windows 7. These basics will get you up and running without even glancing askance at your wallet. If you're specifically looking for security tools, we've rounded up the best freeware security options in the Security Starter Kit.

There was much less movement in the Windows Starter Kit this year than in the Security Starter Kit, but there were still some changes that are worth calling out. Among the three recommended browsers, we moved Chrome ahead of Opera, although Firefox still retains top-dog status. Likewise, Mozilla's Thunderbird remains the best free desktop e-mail client. Had the Thunderbird-based Postbox remained free as it was in beta, we would've added it to the list.

In productivity apps, image editors, music jukeboxes, and video jukeboxes there was no movement at all. The GIMP is still the best Photoshop alternative that doesn't skimp on features, while Paint.NET is excellent for quick-and-dirty edits. We still recommend MediaMonkey as the best non-iTunes alternative, and we still recommend iTunes--despite its bloat--because it's still the industry standard. We expect these categories to be contentious because there are so many options available, so please let us know in the comments if you disagree with our choices.

TweetDeck and Seesmic Desktop (not pictured) debuted in the new Social Networking category this year.

(Credit: Screenshot by Rafe Needleman/CNET)

File compression and torrent management didn't change either, although we added the impressive Trillian redo and Skype to the chat category. Social networking debuted as a new category, with two options: Seesmic and TweetDeck. In Utilities, we added Revo Uninstaller, threw in a second Notepad replacement, and replaced Launchy with Find and Run Robot.

The hard part of coming up with a collection like this is keeping it concise, especially when it comes to Windows utilities. The fun part, though, is hearing your thoughts. So check out the kit, and let us know what you think in the comments below.

Black Friday is almost upon us, and the steep hardware discounts mean new computers for many. To help you during these tough economic times, we've refreshed the Download.com Security Starter Kit for 2010. Although nothing can replace common-sense browsing, this collection of freeware security tools will help you protect new machines and old from pernicious threats, large and small. Longtime readers will notice that in addition to changing up our recommended antivirus program, we've fleshed out the Web browsing safety category, and made other changes as well. If you're looking for more than freeware security programs, check out the CNET Download.com Windows Starter Kit for 2010.

In this year's version, you can expect to see Avast chosen ahead of AntiVir as our most favored antivirus app. Despite its odd interface, Avast scored higher than any other freeware antivirus in a third-party test, and it doesn't skimp on protection, either, with e-mail, network, rootkit, and behavioral guards along with its top-rated virus protections.

We're still recommending Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for spyware removal, but we've also added PC Tools' standalone ThreatFire as an excellent way to strengthen behavioral detections and prevent spyware from infecting you in the first place. Recent improvements to the program have made it incredibly light on resources, and in our days of empirical testing we didn't notice it slowing down our computers at all.

New this year is the expanded in-browser security category. We've recommended five browsing tools that are available as add-ons, and we took care to make sure that they applied to as many of the major browsers as possible. However, Firefox's deep add-on toolbox makes it naturally the browser with the most diverse collection of security tools, so expect to see it heavily, although not exclusively, represented.

PC Tools' ThreatFire.

(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

Firewalls used to be the forefront of security, but now they're just another tool you should have. Microsoft has made the native Windows 7 firewall impressively useful, but we realize that not everybody has Windows 7, and even those who do might want an alternative. This year, Online Armor joins Comodo on the list.

In Encryption, TrueCrypt remains the gold standard. The Thunderbird extension Enigmail joins it as a must-have tool for keeping your private e-mails as you intended them--away from prying eyes. In Parental Control, we've added OnlineFamily.Norton. It's not strictly desktop based, although to use it you must use its desktop hook, called Norton Safety Minder. Symantec has created what looks to be a unique and free approach that includes an emphasis on parental education and attempts to foster parent-child communication about how to use the Internet safely. We're of the opinion that anything that helps parents realize that browsing the Internet is far more than a TV with options is a good thing.

If you disagree with our security and safety choices for the Security Starter Kit, please let us know in the comments below.

Should you spend $220 on an app and a cradle? Check out our review to find out.

(Credit: Antuan Goodwin/CNET)

We got our hands on TomTom's Car Kit for iPhone and took it for a spin--both figuratively and literally, the cradle spins 360 degrees.

The Car Kit holds and charges your iPhone while driving, enhances GPS reception when used with TomTom's turn-by-turn navigation app, and boosts audio quality of spoken directions and hands-free calls. However, the problem with a peripheral like the TomTom Car Kit is that when it's working best, you don't notice it, which makes it difficult for many users to justify the $119 price. People may be less likely to buy it when they consider that it takes an additional $99 app to get the most out of the purchase!

Most users wouldn't bat an eye at spending $200 on a portable navigation device, but how does does an iPhone app/peripheral package stack up? Check out our full review to find out.

(Credit: TomTom)

TomTom's iPhone cradle for iPhone has quietly made its way into the Apple Store. So, if you're an iPhone user with an extra $120 bucks burning a hole in your pocket for a navigation accessory (or $220, if you don't already own TomTom's navigation app), pop over to the Apple Store for a look.

According to TomTom's representative, the Apple Store product page is for preorders and TomTom has not yet announced a specific date for the product's availability. If Apple's claim that the product ships in 2-3 weeks is true, we should be seeing it soon, rather than later.

We've already questioned the value of a $120 phone cradle. The general consensus among our readers was that the price is a bit steep for an accessory, even with the inclusion of the uprated GPS receiver, 12 volt charger, and speakerphone. We'll be able to put the issue to rest when we finally get our unit in for testing.

This USB drive from Mercedes-Benz is shaped like a car key, and holds information and photos about the new E-class.

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

Crazy media kits: USB drives from automakers

As a bit of Friday fun, we gathered up the most unique USB flash drive press kits we've seen from automakers to date. These kits range from diverse brands--Bentley, Ferrari, Kia, and Toyota, among others, and with a sidestep to Caterpillar. Typically they hold photos and documents about a particular car, or sometimes the automakers' entire lineup, and are handed out during the press days at auto shows. Your typical automotive journalist will have a drawer full of these drives.

While many of the drives we receive are fairly standard, some are instances of marketing genius. The most interesting of these drives try to say something about the car they represent, such as the bamboo drive for the Lexus HS, or the key replica for the Mercedes-Benz.

Check out these USB drive press kits from automakers.

The AS220 Drawbot kit includes a laser-cut wooden box, engraved with the same pattern the Drawbot is programmed to create.

(Credit: AS220)

I don't care how much money you spend on a piece of hoity-toity artwork--eventually you're going to get sick of looking at it. To keep things interesting, the folks at Rhode Island's AS220 Labs art space have created a drawing robot (Drawbot, for short) that can whip up a new work of art at the push of a button.

The AS220 Drawbot kit includes two wall-mountable DC motors, two string spools, a pen clip, and a controller board built around a Sanguino microcontroller. The whole kit comes inside a laser-cut wooden box engraved with the mandala pattern that comes pre-programmed on the Drawbot.

A small knob located on the controller board lets you control the scale of the drawing, ranging from 12 inches wide to more than 4 feet. The Drawbot kit comes mostly pre-assembled with no soldering required, and runs $150. Currently, AS220 only has four Drawbots on hand.

No programming skills are required to make the Drawbot work out of the box, but tinkerers are encouraged to load their own patterns and code onto the board, which can also interface with the popular, open-source Arduino platform. A video of an early version of the AS220 Drawbot can be seen below.