i Phone BUY

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Wouldn’t it be nice if you could manage all your home appliances, electronics, entertainment, and security, plus your climate control system, from your mobile phone? That is exactly what Nokia is promising with its Home Control Center solution.

The beauty of this Linux-based platform is its comprehensive …

Tuan Anh Do shows off an unlocked iPhone 3G at one of his cell phone repair shops in Hanoi.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CBS Interactive)

Editor’s note: CNET editor and Crave contributor Dong Ngo is spending the next month in his homeland of Vietnam, and plans to file occasional dispatches chronicling his impressions of how technology has permeated the culture there. Click here for more of Dong’s stories from abroad.

HANOI, Vietnam–Every obstacle presents an opportunity. I saw this firsthand in Hanoi.

Tuan Anh's shop on Nguyen Du street.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CBS Interactive)

The obstacle in question: the iPhone 3G. Since its launch, it has proven a much tougher nut to crack than the original iPhone. Without a viable software-based unlock solution, the only way to make the phone work with any GSM carrier has been the use of a proxy SIM. Put this piece of very thin circuitboard in the iPhone 3G atop the carrier’s SIM, and you can make calls and text on a new network.

(I did experience some problems using the proxy SIM, including short battery life, instability, and, most seriously, incompatibility with iTunes.)

Unfortunately, the recently released 2.2 software update, for now, has made the iPhone 3G impossible to unlock–unless you happen to be in Hanoi. Here, I met a man who takes the job quite seriously and gets it done the hard way, literally.

His name is Tuan Anh Do, and he’s a 29-year-old businessman who owns five cell phone repair shops. A big part of his business is servicing the iPhone and iPhone 3G, and that often involves getting those devices unlocked at the hardware level.

One of his shops is on Nguyen Du street, a relatively small, quiet block in Hanoi. It’s located in a typically narrow four-story house, with one floor serving as a reception area, and another holding the accounting department. The top floor is the workshop, where the magic happens.

Here I witnessed a brand new iPhone 3G getting its hardware unlocked and was really impressed. This is how it happened.

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Ever since the State of California passed its hands-free driving law, I’ve actually started making more phone calls–in and out of my car–using my iPhone’s earbuds and mic.

I guess the law made me more aware that I actually have a mic on my earbuds and …

Best Buy will sell the Nikon D40 with a two-lens kit for $549 on Black Friday, or with the single lens for $449. Click on the above image for details on more post-Thanksgiving deals.

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For many, nothing says the day after Thanksgiving like queuing before dawn outside …

According to I4U, Alienware will soon be offering a $200 instant discount on the Area 51 m17x Notebook (which starts from $1,999) and the Area 51 790i Desktop (which starts from $1,349). This deal will be available from November 26 until December 2, and free shipping is available …

Enter our MP3 Insider contest to win a new 120GB Zune (Gears of War 2 Edition), courtesy of Microsoft.

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Donald and Jasmine discuss Zune price drops and a Zune Pass deal that may put some pressure on other subscription services.

Also on the agenda is the latest iPod Touch firmware, some products that failed to impress, iTunes alternatives, and a reader question about stripping audio from DVDs.

Plus, we’re giving away a 120GB Zune MP3 player from Microsoft (see contest details below). Not just any Zune, in fact, but the thoroughly badass Gears of War 2 Edition, which features an etched logo and comes loaded with Gears of War videos, photos and music.

Listen now:

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Originally posted at MP3 Insider

The Scosche TuneStream adds A2DP stereo Bluetooth to most recent iPods, but it has some quirks.

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When Apple was set to unveil its second-generation iPod Touch back in September, stereo Bluetooth was among the features rumored to be included. Hopefully, no one was holding their …

A fully functional pink keyboard? Perfect!

(Credit: Keyboard for Blondes)

Blondes have suffered decades of ridicule, but it’s time they embrace the jokes. When it comes to a hot-pink boost of self-confidence (or at least a few good laughs), the Keyboard for Blondes may do the trick.

The all-pink …

Able Planet, known for developing headphones for those with mild to severe hearing loss, recently unveiled a new high-fidelity multimedia headset for PC gamers–the PS500MM.

Able Planet’s chairman and CEO, Kevin Semcken, said:

The NC500TF is pictured here; there are no available images for the PS500MM.

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“We

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Update: The promotion is now live on the U.S. Apple Store site.

Apple will be holding a one-day shopping event on Black Friday, according to a teaser up on Apple’s Web site. Every sale on the Apple Store is an event, as it happens very rarely, …

The Kindle 2 is now rumored to arrive early next year.

(Credit: Boy Genius Report)

Last month Boy Genius Report got its hands on some photos of what appeared to be the Kindle 2, so speculation was rampant that Amazon would release a new Kindle for the holidays. However, Amazon …

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Well, Verizon Wireless is certainly kicking off the holiday season with a bang. In just the past couple of weeks, we’ve seen the release of the RIM BlackBerry Storm, the Samsung Saga, the HTC Touch Pro, and now, the Samsung Omnia.

The Samsung Omnia …

(Credit: Blockbuster/2Wire)

When 2Wire introduced its MediaPoint set-top box just two weeks ago, we told you that “it’ll be a matter of weeks–if not days–before you see a yet-to-be-named service provider offering its own version of the MediaPoint, possibly at a sub-$100 price point.” The curtain has been pulled back, and that initial provider turns out to be Blockbuster Video. For a limited time, the once-dominant movie rental chain is offering its version of the MediaPoint box for just $99, which includes a credit for 25 movies–effectively making it free.

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