Packard Bell's new DOT S and DOT M netbooks for Europe

Acer-owned Packard Bell is taking Acer's latest and greatest netbooks and rebadging them for the European market. The 10.1-inch DOT S swipes most of its specs from the Acer Aspire One D250, while the DOT M (pictured) goes for the 11.6-inch Aspire One's guts. There do seem to be a few aesthetic differences, however, with a fancy textured palm rest, silver touches to the trackpads and a tweaked lid. The DOT S will be available this week for 299 Euros, while the DOT M hits at the end of this month for 399 Euros.

Apple releases iPod Shuffle VoiceOver Kit 1.0.1 upgrade

You know what really gets on our nerves? When we're listening to Van der Graaf Generator (look it up!) on our newfangled iPod Shuffle and it pronounces the band's name wrong. Seriously, this is an important function. Without it working flawlessly, how are we going to know the names of the tracks we purchased on the iTunes store and placed on the device ourselves? Thankfully, someone at Apple has heard our prayers, and as of today the VoiceOver Kit 1.0.1 is available via Mac OS X software update (we're assuming that it'll pop up on the company's website at some point). The 17MB download corrects pronunciations for several artist names, as well as correcting a few "minor bugs." What bugs? Apple hasn't said. They also haven't said which names will now be pronounced correctly in that cold, robotic voice, but we're keeping our fingers crossed that Klaatu is among them. Remember Klaatu? They were pretty sweet.

Intel applies "stars" ratings to processors, processors lose self-esteem

It looks like those confused by the multitude of Intel processors out there needn't linger in indecision any longer, as Intel itself has now come up with a new scheme that it hopes will help simplify the buying process significantly. As you can see above, that consists of a new rating system that gives processors between one and five stars, which Intel says indicates "relative performance, not a price-performance type of thing." As you might expect, the five-star rating is reserved for the like of the Core i7 and Core i7 Extreme, with the one-star ranks apparently occupied solely by various Celeron processors -- the Atom, it seems, is in a class all its own. Somewhat less notably, Intel has also taken the opportunity to roll out some spruced processor logos, which should already be showing themselves in stores along with displays featuring the new star rating system.

Wearable blood pressure monitor: portable and fashionable

We've seen some wild ideas when it comes to blood pressure -- including, yes, underpants -- but this newest device, a small monitor attached to the hand, which can be worn 24 hours a day for continuous monitoring, strikes us as having the potential for extreme usefulness. The monitor works differently than regular old blood pressure cuff, using a method called pulse wave velocity, which measures the pulse at two points along an artery. Built by a team of engineers at MIT, this prototype could boast a lot of advantages over monitors, including its portability, its ability to see long-term patterns of rises and falls in pressure, and of course -- you wouldn't have to be at the doctor's office to use it -- which is bound to take a little stress out of the equation. The device is moving toward commercial production and Harry Asada, leader of the MIT team, sees the possibility for monitoring conditions such as sleep apnea in the future as well.

Apple anxiously awaits the selling of their billionth App download celebration

Apple's going all out in anticipation of a landmark for the company -- the downloading of one billion apps in the App store. Not bad for nine months of work, if you think about it: over 110 million a month, in fact. About 27 million a week... well, you get the idea. Oh yeah, they're giving away a bunch of stuff too, so be sure to check that out if the mood strikes you.

iFrogz EarPollution DJ Style headphones urban-hipster review

Look at that will you, just look at it. That's a pair of $50 iFrogz EarPollution DJ Style (heavy on style, light on the DJ) headphones we've been testing for the last week. As you can tell by the colors, graphics, faux-chrome accents, and over-the-top bulk, these headphones are meant to communicate a statement just as tersely as they'll strum your cochlear nerve. If you don't care about posturing cool, if you're the type who walks the sidewalk wearing a Bluetooth headset in staunch oblivion to ridicule, well mister these aren't the headphones for you. For the rest, click through for our expert urban-hipster review honed by years of knee-jerked responses to trends, ironic facial hair, and a taste for thrift-store clothing. With cred like that, how could we be wrong?

Gallery: iFrogz EarPollution DJ Style headphones hipster review

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Build quality and comfort

The materials here are, how should we say, good enough. The 1.2-meter cable with 3.5-mm plug is just the right length to reach the audio player tucked inside your skinny front pocket or shoulder bag. Too short if you're a DJ, which you're not, so get over it. The chrome is fake, the fit is a bit rigid, and the padding on the headband is almost non-existent and could be a bit more supple around the otherwise plush earphones. The DJ-inspired hinges offer variable (and therefore suspect) resistance -- the left speaker is harder to rotate than the right on our review unit. Not that we'd expect much better from this class of "lifestyle" headphones. Besides, who cares about long term build quality with these? You'll likely replace them to match your new Vespa jacket come autumn or they'll be stolen or lost long before you manage to cause them any real harm.

While these iFrogz aren't the most comfy headphones we've tried (they're close), we've made it through marathon stretches of 3+ hours (twice) without suffering any serious injury to our fragile egos or form. They'll certainly get you back and forth to the cubicle farm each day in stylish comfort and fold up, nice and compact when you arrive.

Hint: You can deftly slide a single can behind the ear -- the ultimate in DJ poser moves -- to engage in what people with social skills call "verbal communication."

Sound

The sound is decent, about exactly what we'd expect for this market segment and price. To these ears, the iFrogz 50-mm driver brings a fuller sound with deeper (but not by much surprisingly) bass than the standard buds shipping with Apple's gear. They're not even close to the head rattling thump of Skullcandy's bass amplified Skullcrushers ($70) but definitely superior to the relative limp sound produced by Skullcandy's popular $50 Hesh-series of comparable urban headphones. A decent showing for iFrogz since Skullcandy is king of this market based on our casual observances of the beautifully unaware. Just don't kid yourself into thinking that you're buying these EarPollution cans based on the quality of the listening experience alone.

Wrap up

Besides looking the part, the iFrogz EarPollution DJ Style headphones also serve the purpose of adding a soundtrack to your life, dampening the city hum, and thwarting requests for change from vagrants with dirty outstretched palms. Oh, and chicks dig 'em. Lets wrap it up with this; we've had more ladies and dudes stop to ask us about these headphones in one week than seven years of wearing white earbuds. They're like a puppy without all the high-pitched yowling and mess.

Sprint employees now training with the Palm Pre?

We're not totally sure here, but it sounds like Sprint employees are now being trained on the anxiously awaited Palm Pre. Over at PreThinking, they seem to have gotten their paws on an internal Sprint email that says that "employees can expect training to start in April as well as multiple communications to get them excited and ready to help our customers" for the Pre. Being of a curious nature, they apparently followed up to ask if the training had indeed begun, receving this mysteriously veiled reply: "I would like to inform that Sprint is in the process of providing the training for the new Palm Pre. Once it's launched, Sprint will be ready to serve their valued customers regarding the Palm Pre." We've seen the new ads all over the place, and it was really only a matter of time, so we're not exactly shocked and awed at this one, but you tell us: what does it all mean?