By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

Want to knock a few bucks off an Alienware system? On Monday Alienware announced the AlienExchange program. You can trade in all manner of electronics, including desktops, laptops, PDAs, monitors, camcorders, cell phones, and more. Here’s how it works:

Follow four simple steps to trade in equipment:

1. Select an item category and receive an instant trade-in estimate.
2. Register and log in to the AlienExchange Trade-In Center.
3. Print a prepaid shipping label and ship your items to our trade-in center.
4. Receive an Alienware gift card OR check** about 7 days after the item arrives at our trade-in center.

**Provided a valid proof of purchase of an Alienware computer, dated 30 days from the quote date, is included with your trade-in. Under these conditions you are also eligible for an additional $200 award if your trade-in system is an Alienware system.

We Say: Some stuff has no trade-in value. For example, I have some spare CRT monitors I keep around for emergency purposes; they had no trade-in value, according to the estimator. Not only that, I’d have to pay to ship it for recycling. On the other hand, I could get $541 for my old 4-year old Alienware laptop.

Head over to the site and see if you think it’s worth it.

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

We already knew Apple had sold a ton of iPhones, based on the fact that the iPhone had become AT&T’s top-selling phone in that company’s Q3 results. Today Apple released its Q4 fiscal earnings (yeah, it’s one of those companies that likes to run its fiscal year separate from real time just to confuse us ), handily beating Wall Street’s revenue and profit estimates.

Wall Street had expected revenue of $6.1 billion and earnings per share of 86 cents, according to estimates compiled by Thomson Financial. Apple returned revenue of $6.22 billion and earnings per share of $1.01.

Perhaps more significantly than the 1.1 million iPhones Apple shipped during the quarter, the company reported Mac shipments up 34% compared to last year, and iPod shipments up 17%. Last week IDC reported PC shipments up 15.5% in the quarter, so Apple more than doubled that rate of increase.

In a press release, Steve Jobs said, “We are very pleased to have generated over $24 billion in revenue and $3.5 billion in net income in fiscal 2007. We’re looking forward to a strong December quarter as we enter the holiday season with Apple’s best products ever.”

Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer said, “Apple ended the fiscal year with $15.4 billion in cash and no debt. Looking ahead to the first quarter of fiscal 2008, we expect revenue of about $9.2 billion and earnings per diluted share of about $1.42.”

We Say: The stock is up $12 a share at the time of this writing, in after-hours trading.

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

In May, Dell and Wal-Mart penned a deal for Dell to sell computers through Wal-Mart stores. In June that deal was expanded to Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club subsidiary. Now Dell has firmly attached itself (pun intended) to Staples as well.

Starting on November 11, customers will be able to purchase a wide assortment of Dell notebook and desktop computers, monitors, printers, ink and toner at Staples. Initial offerings will include the Inspiron 1721 and 1521 notebooks, Inspiron 530 desktops, Dell 948 and 926 all-in-one inkjet printers, Dell 1320c laser printer, Dell SE198WFP 19-inch widescreen flat panel LCD monitor, and the Dell E228WFP 22-inch widescreen flat panel LCD monitor, as well as toner and ink. Not every Staples outlet will sell Dells, but approximately 1,400 of the 1,900+ locations will.

We Say: Additionally, the two companies announced that Staples was joining Dell’s “Plant a Forest for Me” initiative, which, according to Dell, “enables organizations worldwide to share best practices and, as partners, facilitate the planting of trees in sustainably managed reforestation projects.”

With this deal, Dell’s retail presence expands to more than 10,000 stores around the globe.

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

Transformers fans with some extra disposable income (all right, a lot of disposable income), here’s your chance to own Optimus Prime. Or at least, the unTransformed Optimus Prime in his Peterbilt form.

An eBay Canada auction is up to $55,400 U.S. at the time of this writing. The auction ends Oct. 22 at 6:17PM EDT.

The Peterbilt is a 1994 model, and one of the nice add-ons is a voice activated alarm, with the voice of Optimus Prime on lock and unlock mode.

We Say: No trades, guys (someone already asked). Too bad it won’t transform. Hey, how about a Bumblebee Camaro, any enterprising modders out there? Yeah, yellow is a bit much, but …

By Yan Fortin
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

Do you want to connect your Xbox 360 to your wireless network but don’t feel like spending $100 for Microsoft’s official 360 wireless dongle? If so, The Geeks are Sexy blog has a great alternative for you that involves a cheap wireless router and DD-WRT, an open source firmware that will turn your $30 device into a $400 one (feature-wise). When you’re done, you’ll be using your new tweaked router as a wireless receiver and will be able to connect your 360 to your wireless network.

This project will help you change a cheap wireless router into a wireless receiver for your Xbox 360. The total cost of this project can be as low as twenty or thirty dollars, compared to the one hundred dollars Microsoft wants for their little wireless dongle.

HOW TO: Cheap Wireless For Your Xbox 360

We say: Hey, this will not only earn you geek points for when you go to nerd heaven at the end of your life, but will also make you save around $60. A pretty darn good deal eh? 

By Martin Regtien
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

In the spirit of environmental friendliness (read Plan B 2.0 here if you missed the book review), it’s good to see companies exploring green options to power our insatiable thirst for digital devices.
The Hymini, by Miniwiz, is a handheld, universal charger/adapter device that harnesses renewable wind and solar power, and conventional wall plug power to recharge almost all 5V digital gadgets.
Miniwiz claims to specialise in renewable green power technology and sustainable rechargeable systems for handheld digital devices.

Here’s the full story on DigitalReviews.net

By Alice Hill
RealTechNews

It certainly sounds like magic to me. When my small Sony notebook started over-heating I bought a pad-shaped cooling device that I placed under the unit - not only was pad bigger than my small notebook, it was noisy and certainly killed the point of having a 3.5lb computer. The Magic Idea Laptop USB Cooling Fan does something a little more magical - instead of blowing cool air in, it extracts the hot air and blows it out - claiming to be more more efficient as well as far smaller than current cooling solutions. Best of all, the fan runs at two speed and you can rotate the unit 180 degrees to shoot warm air in multiple directions.

1. World’s first Patened NB Air Extracting Fan. It allows faster extraction of the hot air out of a running system, which stabilizes the operation of the NB and prolongs its lifetime. 2. Universal Clip for fastening USB power interfaces, Compatible for all major NB brands 3. Weighs only 60g. Compared with other bulky NB cooling pads, it is very suitable for storage, and carry.

Product Page
Winwinindustry.com via Red Ferret

We Say: My office is freezing cold year-round. This could be a great way to heat up a cold space and keep your laptop cool. Strange-looking device, but I’m up for anything that frees me from the monstrous cooling solution I have now.

By Martin Regtien
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

OLYMPUS SHOOTING IN THREES

Olympus Australia has released three new digital cameras for us to drool over.

The Tough 790SW, the SP-560 Ultra Zoom and the E-3.

The three cameras all seem to have a specific type of user in mind - read on for details on DigitalReviews.net