We’'re just back from the consumer electronics extravaganza in Las Vegas where we saw some amazing new gadgets and gear including new TVs, tablets, smartphones and new high tech automobiles.

Much of the technology we saw may not be available for some time (if at all) but we did see some trends that will sooner or later make many of your high tech possessions obsolete.

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This week’s high-profile hack of the US Chamber of Commerce underscores the inadequacy of today’s security policies and technologies. With the holidays quickly approaching and IT staffs stepping away from offices to spend time with family and friends, we face increased vulnerabilities and security threats. We should be more vigilant than ever, reflecting on national security policies and how we can better protect our sensitive data.

Stories like this continue to point to the fact that we need a broad, across-the-board approach. We need to collaborate and inform when breaches take place. We need diplomatic support to reduce the desire or economic benefit to steal. It is time to have a Y2K approach to cyber protection. That means investment and support from the top down.

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Since its announcement, I’ve been an avid fan of Windows Phone. So much that I even created a dedicated news website when it first emerged (Winphonia.com -- no longer active). This was all without ever having held a WP7 device in my hands or even seeing one in person. One of the aspects I genuinely like about Windows Phone is the fact that you can simply glance at the home screen, or the many hubs, and see all of life’s important events with just a peek.

I personally know people who’ve call it non-functional, or too simplistic, or even archaistic. But those people have not done their research. What I see is a phone that lets me tack on all of life’s significant events and priorities in a place where I’ll see it in the forefront.

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The year 2011 will go down in the history books as a great year for tablets mostly for Apple’s iPad, however -- not all tablet vendors fared as well as Apple. It'’s not for lack of products that prevented Android tablets from taking any market share away from Apple this year. By our calculation, over 100 tablets were introduced since the iPad.

However, we defy even the most tech-savvy of you to name more than a few of them. What was so wrong with the competition that it failed to make any inroads in the tablet market, at least until the Amazon Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble Nook came along? I'll explain why we think Apple and Amazon will continue to dominate the market well into 2012.

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The US blogosphere has become increasingly alarmed by the new Anti-Piracy Act – Stop Online Piracy Act or SOPA. Discussions of the topic are, to put it mildly, quite frank, with comments like: "These idiots are coming for your internet."

What is SOPA? It is support for and development of something that is currently very relevant – the protection of intellectual property. Ladies and gentlemen, this really is important! "Thou shalt not steal," as the Bible says! An author – or more often than not, a team – spends sleepless nights writing a book, composing music, shooting a film, creating software or testing software packages. Doesn’t that deserve a financial reward? Yes or no? Think before you answer – someone could well ask the same question about your profession… So?

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Microsoft launched the Xbox 360 in 2005. The console has been around for just about 6 years, but in that timeframe, through the distribution of numerous software updates, the company has kept the console fresh and competitive. The latest major software update is now available for the 57.7 million Xbox 360 consoles that have been sold worldwide, and with it comes a brand new Metro based user-interface along with a number of fresh capabilities that not only improve the Xbox experience, but moves it several steps closer to being the jack-of-all-trades device of your living room.

In a way, the new Xbox 360 dashboard reflects Microsoft larger ambitions -- a declaration that Xbox is much more than just a games console. It's a full-blown entertainment system that not only competes with the likes of game-industry rivals Sony and Nintendo. It also contends with Apple and Google.

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Europe may be plunging the world into another recession but American shoppers apparently don't care. In yet another validation of the surge in consumer spending we witnessed during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, consumer electronics goliath Sony also enjoyed a sales spike and -- here's the kicker -- without slashing prices.

The Sony experience, along with a similar one enjoyed by Apple, must have economic forecasters scratching their heads. Jeesh, are we heading for a third Great Depression -- the second in three years? Or are the cluckers just screeching about another hunk of heaven dropping on our heads?

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Editor: Earlier today Retrevo offered a list of Black Friday deals. But we think many BetaNews readers will be just as interested in the duds and perhaps benefit more. You want to take this holiday, not get taken, right? Please add your own Black Friday duds in comments.

Mixed in with some great bargains this year are some questionable ones like a $38 Toshiba Blu-ray player that requires a $49 adapter to make its Wi-Fi work. We offer this selection of deals we think you might be better off avoiding.

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By now, we all can see that the Internet will become the dominant media distribution platform.
We can easily imagine (and expect) that all content will be digitized and distributed online. Every song, every movie, every video game, every software program, every live television event, every business document and more will be instantly searchable and retrievable via a range of connected devices. It will all be magically available to stream or download on-demand through "the Cloud".

This was the dream when I started my first Internet business in 1995. Now, people think it is the reality. And, while we are making great progress towards such a future, unfortunately, we are not there yet. The demand for online media consumption is simply too great and is growing even faster than we can deploy cloud services to meet it.

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In this depressed economy, the corporate marketing budget is usually one of the first things that is cut back. Proving tangible return on investment (ROI) on marketing efforts can sometimes be a challenge. Marketing initiatives with no tangible ROI often end up on the chopping block during a recession.

With email marketing open rates and ROI steadily diminishing, savvy companies are now turning to a readily available, virtually free resource for email marketing exposure. Many are finding that by using their email signatures in a creative way, they can market upcoming events, product news, and build social media followers, often achieving tangible and measurable marketing results.

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What are bargain hunters going to be looking for this coming Black Friday and what’s on everyone’s holiday gift wish list? The latest Retrevo Pulse Study asked consumers about what they want for the holidays and what they’re going to be looking for in the bargain bins. For bargain hunters, tablets top the list followed by HDTV sets, laptops and smartphones.

Would you get up at four o’clock in the morning to get a deal on a tablet or laptop computer? Apparently there are plenty of bargain hunters who plan of braving the elements this Black Friday to buy electronic things. Although we don’t expect to see too many doorbuster deals on iPads or even other tablets, it’s at the top of the bargain hunter’s list this year.

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Palringo is a cross-platform chat client that supports all the major networks plus its own group chat rooms. Whether you use Windows, Mac or most popular smartphones, Palringo has a client for you.

Sadly Blackberry owners are going to be disappointed because the Palringo client for their phone has been discontinued, but there are free versions of the application for Android, iOS and Symbian. You can also use it on your desktop be it a Mac or a Windows PC and you can even run it in Linux under WINE.

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Good small business websites build brands and bring in customers. In order for this to happen, people to actually visit, and for that to happen, a website needs to be designed around the principles of SEO, or Search Engine Optimization.

SEO, put simply, is how to make it easier for web users to come across your website when searching on Google, Bing, or any popular search engine. We’re not talking about Googling "Jerry’s Taco Kingdom" and seeing if you actually find Jerry’s website (if that’s not happening, then Jerry has other problems to worry about). If Jerry has effective SEO, then a web search for simply "tacos", "Mexican food" or "restaurants with tortillas" ought to bring up his site as an early result, thus bringing hungry new visitors to his page.

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It looks like this will be a very good holiday season for tablet computers with only 31 percent of respondents to our newest Plus Study saying they are not interested in a tablet. Out of the remaining 69 percent who are interested in buying a tablet or possibly learning more about them, 44 percent of them would be willing to consider a smaller, 7-inch Amazon Kindle Fire. At the same time only 12 percent say they wouldn’t even consider anything other than an iPad.

With this much "acceptance" of a smaller tablet and the large price difference, conditions seem right for the Amazon Fire to become a hot item this year. Although the study didn’t ask specifically about the Barnes and Noble Nook, the recently announced, $249 Nook tablet could also be an attractive alternative to iPad.

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