Good morning! I've drawn the names for the Byte-Sized Spring Cleaning Giveaway -- but I'm not going to reveal them just yet! I'll email you in the next few days if you are the winner, and I'll announce the names on Friday.

Moving forward -- let's get to some very interesting headlines!

- Dunkin' Donuts is launching a new ad campaign reminding everyone that, in addition to waffle sandwiches, egg-white omlettes on flatbread and lattes, they also sell ... doughnuts! My favorite will always be the Boston Kreme I remember from my youth, and my children can't drive by the sign without beggin me for 'Muchkin Donuts.' But, in case you don't have a favorite yet, DD has also posted an online contest to design your own donut! Winner will get $12,000 and the winning donut will be sold in stores starting June 5, so enter now!

I just designed three great ones (pictures) -- first is a sour cream chai-filled stick with roasted almonds, second is a pomegranate-filled donut with sweet frosting and matching sprinkles, third is a chocolate coffee-filled stick with cinnamon and chocolate shavings. Mmmmm....

In other news...

- We Tell Stories, a relatively unknown British web site specializing in online gaming and live storytelling, has won the SXSW award for Best of Show!

- New research says mobile commerce will hit $1.6 B this year as consumers increasingly use their smartphones' web browsers to make online purchases.

- Anecdotal evidence suggests that Best Buy is refusing to match prices even though their policy states that they do. Maybe you should think about this before buying there...

- The Discovery Channel (it's parent, really) is suing Amazon.com over an alleged patent infringement with security features in the Kindle and Kindle 2.

- Looking to check out the iPhone 3.0's new features? Our friends at CNet have a roundup and reaction.

- The Woz survives! For those of you not interested in Dancing With The Stars this season, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, an adorable gnome of a man who's best when he doesn't try witting comments to the judges, has danced *twice* with a pink feather boa around his neck and has survived the first round of cuts! Seriously, it's only becuase Belinda Carlisle can't dance. I mean not at all. Neither can the football guy, either. Of course, I'm not saying Woz should win it -- that should clearly be Shawn Johnson or Gilles Marini (yum), but he is fun to watch :)

OK, that's all for me today -- see you back here on Friday when I announce our Byte-Sized Spring Cleaning Giveaway winners!

Labels: Amazon.com lawsuit, Best Buy, Dunkin' Donuts, Steve Wozniak, SXSW Best In Show, We Tell Stories

Happy 'new Kindle' week! Rumors have it that Amazon.com will debut the next-gen e-reader some time this week -- early estimates point to today in NYC! I couldn't be more excited to see what Amazon.com has in store for us if they'd sent me a free one to try... (hint, hint, Amazon. Srsly. Those wonderful little toys are expensive.)

*****UPDATE: Yay! It was announced that the Kindle will be available on Feb. 24 for $359 -- cool new features include it reading booking aloud (though I'm confused as to whether that means the download will include the audio recording at a higher cost or whether it will be a weird computer voice). Stephen King also announced that he will be writing a book for exclusive release on the new Kindle! ... And now back to your regularly scheduled programming... *****

Before anything on that drops, I've got a special treat for you all -- my Byte-Sized Valentine's Day Gift Guide has ballooned out of control, so I'm going to offer it up in unequal thirds today, Wednesday and Friday in addition to a smattering of daily headlines.

So, without further ado... Let's start with what will tickle the fancy of your geeky lady friends:

Valentine's Day is all about the pink. Red is a closer second, and violet is third. So, here are a rundown of some sweetly colored gifts for your favorite girly geek:
-Creative has knocked off the Flip in this version of its pink pocket camcorder Vado. Cute -- but can I customize the face?
-Meanwhile, our besties over at The Flip have some great faceplate designs to perk up your videos of Valentine's Day (and night).
-Want to show your mp3-loving chica some love? How about red earbuds shaped like hearts or lips (pictured above)? Gotta check these out, though I'm not sure comfort was taken into account in the super-cute design...
-Taking pictures gets a little more fun with this affordable, metallic pink Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS. It also comes in other girl-friendly colors like blue, gold and a gorgeous purpley brown -- my personal fave.

And, in the day's headlines:

58-year-old Apple-co-founder Steve Wozniak is joining the cast on the 8th season of Dancing with the Stars. He joins Lil'Kim, Jewel and her cowboy husband, Olympic gold gymnast Shawn Johnson and Belinda Carslisle, who is 50. Wow. Anyways, shaping up to be a good season. I may tune in -- as long as Samantha Harris can keep the enthusiasm and poor interviewing skills to a minimum (though, in her defense, look at the material).

Our friends at the San Francisco Chronicle have a wrap-up of the TED conference, where elusive gazillionaire Bill Gates sat down for an interview. What's weird is that I've never heard of this show -- what's weirder is that I have no idea why -- it looks totally awesome!

Wow... light day aside from the breakthrough Kindle news. Check back here for any updates, and have a great day!

Labels: Dancing with the Stars, Kindle 2.-, Steve Wozniak, valentine's day gift guide