For those who prefer not to mess with tiny earpieces, but want hand’s free phone conversations in the car, Schosche presents a great option: a solar powered, bluetooth speaker phone that suctions to your windshield or can be clipped on to the car’s visor. Receiving positive reviews from CNET and others, the wireless solCHAT speaker produces solid volume levels, clear conversation and features voice-announce caller ID so you never have to take your eyes off the road.

While the phone’s battery power offers 12 hours of talk time, the solar panel augments its lifespan each time you park your car in the sun. However, should you hit a cloudy week, a USB charger and car adapter are included. $62

Image courtesy of Apple

Recently, the technology sector saw two impressive product roll-outs – Bing, Microsoft’s new and thoughtfully improved search engine, and iPhone’s much-anticipated 3G S handset and OS 3.0 software update.

Bing, whose sole purpose is to surpass Google as the world’s best-loved searchlight, is more intuitive and in-depth than its arch rival, offering users pinpointed results rather than random, excessive Web copy. Bing, for example, has paid special attention to these tight economic times; when searching for flights, hotels and other products, the engine searches for deals and highlights items for which consumers can get money back with its Bing Cashback icon. If users want to see if a flight is on time, or what to expect from the morning commute, Bing can help with that, too.

The search engine also capitalizes on saving users time. Rather than taking Bingers away from the search page, a simple roll-over the text or video link will tell them whether they need to click. The site has received complimentary reviews from The Wall Street Journal, CNET, Paste magazine and TechCrunch by writers who are just as surprised by Microsoft’s newest offering as they are pleased. Check out the company’s user-friendly Bing tour to see the engine’s other features.

Although Apple’s iPhone is hardly a relic, the company’s new 3G S model secures its place as a leader in the world of cool, user-friendly handsets. The newest iteration maintains the popular look and feel of its recent predecessor, but is faster, has greater memory capacity, longer battery life and features several new bells and whistles – a built-in video recorder (with on-phone cropping and ability to post to YouTube), voice control, a digital compass and an improved 3 megapixel camera for still photography. The 3G S retails for $199 or $299, depending on its memory level (16 or 32 gigabytes).

Apple has also gone a step farther in securing its market share by including an updated software platform – OS 3.0 – for its iPhone 3G S and making it available to 3G users as well. The software upgrade enables a landscape keyboard option for typing, cut/copy/paste, phone-wide search functions, MMS, lost iPhone pinpointing, remote data clearing, and the ability to support turn-by-turn navigation with voice commands (utilizing 3rd party apps), erasing your need for a separate GPS device. Other new features can be found here.

The internet is full of travel sites, some more helpful than others. Here are a few of our editors’ favorites – great for traditional Web surfing or to use as Blackberry and iPhone apps:

* Unlike most fare-finding sites, Kayak doesn’t sell tickets through this portal. It is simply a search engine fine-tuned to find flights, hotels, cruises and rental cars. Kayak has been lauded by Forbes, Business Week, Travel + Leisure and Time.

* National Geographic, the quintessential guide to travel and global perspective, offers readers time-tested travel advice here. The 49 tips include what essentials to pack, how to make the most of frequent flier miles, and even playlist suggestions for various international destinations.

* At VirtualTourist, social networking meets travel. The site, which offers unbiased tips on 25,000 destinations, from locals as well as recent tourists, helps users plan trips with print-and-go travel guides, share travel deals and search photos.

* Another gem from National Geographic – the magazine’s list of favorite travel Web sites, from GasBuddy to Points.com, where users can trade hotel points for airline miles.

* LuxuryLink is the elite travelers’ eBay. The auction site allows users to get great deals on lush accommodations and travel packages, and filters its destinations by location, tourists’ interests and property type. Consumers can also sometimes find great deals with the site’s Buy-it-Now option.

Data protection has been getting a lot of press lately, and for good reason. What could be worse than having all your personal information lifted by a hacker, or by someone who happens to pick up the flimsy flash drive you forgot to grab on your way out of the coffee shop?

Cue IronKey, a super-secure flash drive that uses military-grade encryption to protect files, online activity and personal identity, packaged in a waterproof, tamperproof casing.

Once in the drive, data can only be accessed through password entry and worms, viruses and malware cannot disable it. Plus, users can opt for an upgraded service which allows for anonymous web browsing via a portable version of Firexfox maintained on the drive.

IronKey is surprisingly simple to use; like other, less secure flash drives, it utilizes drag-and-drop and plug and play technologies – and starts at $79.

Once downloaded, Xobni (Inbox backwards) scans your Outlook email history and inserts itself as a vertical bar on the right side of your Outlook program. From there, the hyper-efficiency begins. However, instead of trying to list all of its great features in this blurb, check out a quick synopsis and short demo video here.

If you are an Outlook user, we believe you will love this tool.