Yes, it's that time of the year again (we can't believe it!). Soon, you will run around wondering what to get for your loved ones -probably at the last minute. We can help by suggesting the 10 greatest gifts (under $500) for this holiday season. They are called the “Uber10&rdquo. Please help us select an 11th gift by voting on an extended list (coming any day now).

The Uber10 will be unveiled in a private event in San Francisco on November 12, thanks to our Platinum Sponsor Dolby and Gold Sponsor Intel. Dolby will build a surround sound setup at the event venue to show us what the Dolby Surround Sound Experience is all about. You may be able to experience it for yourself, if the Dolby Truck stops by your town. Check out the cool Dolby videos on Youtube.

Intel will talk about the new Intel Sponsors of Tomorrow campaign and their hilarious "rock star" videos: "Intel Star" TV ad and Intel's "Big Ideas" TV ad

At the private event in San Francisco, both sponsors will demonstrate the coolest gadgets with their latest embedded technology.

Check out the 2007 and 2008 Uber10 lists, This 2009 edition will be published at ubergizmo.com/uber10

We have a few extra tickets for the private event, go to this discussion page on our Facebook Fan page to know how you can get one.

Editor's note: this seems obvious, but we would like to make it clear that companies with products nominated to the Uber10 cannot be accepted as sponsors of the Uber10 event.

I had to scratch my eyes a couple of times, but NVIDIA has built a parody website called intelsinsides.com (yes it's been confirmed that Nvidia owns the site). I don't think that Intel will laugh, but I wonder how they will react to that. Who’s next? Qualcomm? Marvell? Broadcom? AMD?

Who would've thought that furniture would actually no longer play dumb? That would be the case in the future if Lucas Maassen and Dries Verbruggen had their way. After all, they are the designers behind the Brainwave Sofa, where sitting on this will cause the furniture to analyze your brain activity for 3 seconds, using the extracted EEG data to create a 3D landscape on the sofa's surface which is made of of foam. Definitely not the most comfortable sofa there is, that's for sure.

Microsoft executives are smiling from one end to the other as Windows 7 has broken the company's sales records where an initial operating system launch is concerned. Early sales have been branded as "fantastic", where it generated more revenue in its first 10 days compared to all other Windows versions in the past within the same timeframe. There was no specific revenue or unit numbers to report on though.

The Motorola Droid is the first Android 2.0 to be commercially available. Droid is a high-end Android phone with a superb high-resolution screen, a slim shape, a physical QWERTY keyboard and Google's latest build of Android (the operating system). The inside of the phone is interesting as well: it has a decent CPU and uses a relatively fast 3D graphics chip. Among the improvements that I like most, I want to mention the native support for Exchange, the unified contact list and the awesome new mapping and navigation application from Google. Is the Motorola Droid the Android phone that you were waiting for? It's time to find out.

Dell just announced that its Dell Adamo XPS, a laptop that is only 9.99mm (4/10") thin, will ship this month. The laptop that used to be shown behind closed doors as a "prototype" will now make its debut as a product for this holiday season. You've seen the leaks, the photos, the teasers, and now you're finally getting the real price: Adamo XPS starts at $1799.

Dell has gone through a lot of trouble to design an ultralight that is thinner than the Macbook Air, its direct competitor and the incumbent in this category. The Adamo XPS is indeed thinner, but it has a similar weight (3lbs or so) to the Air. On the other hand, the Air has a faster CPU and graphics processor, plus a longer battery life (Apple claims 5hrs, while Dell claims 2h30 with the standard battery). The Adamo XPS can receive a bigger battery, but I haven't seen what it looks like and I can't imagine that it would be a good thing for the slim line of this laptop. The Adamo XPS has 4GB of memory, versus only 2GB for the Air, and memory can make a big difference, depending on what you do.

Finally, digital photo frames have made the jump to the world of 802.11n wireless connectivity with the eStarling 802.11n Touchscreen Connected Frame that says it all. You will get a special Gmail address with the purchase of each frame, allowing you to transfer images via e-mail directly, making it convenient to update the photo frame regardless of wherever you are. This eStarling offering also comes with a touchscreen display that makes it all the more accessible, allowing you to display digital memories from Facebook, Flickr, Photobucket and other compatible sites while accessing your Twitter stream if you so desire. The eStarling 802.11n Touchscreen Connected Frame will come with a 10.2" screen and retail for a relatively affordable $249.99, considering the list of features within.

Business meetings are crucial to keep your organization moving, but sometimes those meetings can turn out to be long-drawn affairs that bore the mind. Bring TIM ought to change all that, being the first portable meeting cost calculator and clock in the world that keeps time management simple, letting all and sundry in the meeting room see the meeting’s true cost as time ticks by. TIM stands for Time Is Money, so you might want to set this in the middle of the board room before the next meeting and see productivity soar while aimless banter cut out miraculously.

Novation's Launchpad could very well revolutionize the way music is created in the 21st century, where this easy-to-use audio controller will hook up to yout computer, working great with the Ableton Live performance software. You get an 8-by-8 panel of simple buttons that can be utilized to launch an audio event individually, including a sound sample, a rhythm and melody loop among others. Create a rhythm from the library of provided samples, followed by layers of additional sounds on top and edit to taste to be a maestro of your own song. If you're one for live vocals, just use your computer's microphone input and you're good to go. Never has making music been this fun. [Product Page]

Microsoft's upcoming Courier booklet is still a mystery device despite having seen its model, but Gizmodo has the lowdown on various user interface screens so head over there to check out just how Courier's interface, gestures and features work in a more in-depth manner.

NLU Products, maker of TatSkinz protective body art for electronic devices, will hold its first-ever iPod cover design contest through November, providing artists and technology aficionados the opportunity to turn their personal artwork into the next TatSkinz. I (Eliane) am one of the judges for this competition. One winning creative genius will see his or her “tat” incorporated into the TatSkinz line-up and win either a $1000 scholarship or 13” MacBook. In addition to popular vote from online visitors to the site, several prominent technology and design reviewers will serve as guest judges for the contest, ultimately deciding on the winning design. Contest participants should submit designs at TatSkinz.com/contest beginning October 1; submissions will be accepted through the entire month of November.

You can vote for your favorite design on this page: http://www.tatskinz.com/content/customercare/page-vote.htm

and NLU Products will use the popular vote to determine the front-runners for the judges’ consideration. Please read the complete article to get the judges list and the contact rules and regulation. For more information or to enter the contest visit www.TatSkinz.com.

Continue Reading"Win Apple Computer or a $1.00 Scholarship Through Tatskinz Design Contest"

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), mutation in our genes do not result in the next Professor X or Wolverine, but will most probably end up as a medical anomaly who will require extra attention and care for a very long time. Still, that doesn't mean you can't use your perfectly functioning brain to come up with a DIY wrist mounted flamethrower in order to live out your mutant fantasies. Be careful with where you point that thing, amigo!

T-Mobile USA user would most probably be frustrated that the company's voice and data services are currently down from coast to coast. Apparently, they are scrambling all the available tech ninjas that they have in order to have the services up and running like normal. Time to change, perhaps?

Can't get enough of Twitter wherever you are? How about a device that will handle nothing but tweets in the form of TwitterPeek? This device allows you to use Twitter similar to how you would handle the micro-blogging service on a smartphone. Compatible virtually anywhere within US borders, TwitterPeek will come with a full QWERTY keyboard, a color display and a click scroll wheel to give you fast access through a long list of tweets. $99 will net you the TwitterPeek alongside half a year's worth of coverage, while $199 is the asking price for a lifetime subscription. Any takers?