Today the Lifestyles Channel is inviting readers into their homes by sharing a glimpse of where they blog from.

The blogging locations are just as unique and varied as our bloggers - but one things for sure, in every single post, you find a sense of comfort that whispers softly - Welcome Friends.

Sandy Mitchell - All Holidays Cafe 

Gayla McCord - MomGadget also blogging at Dating Dames - Supernanny Rules and CelebAmour

Marye Audet - Baking Delights - also blogging at Kettle and Cup

Christina Zola - Solomother

Chloe Findlay-Harder - Tangled Thread

Tracy Thompson - Foodie Obsessed

Peggy Rowland - Tree Hugging Family - also blogging at Junk Creation

Noreen Crone-Findlay - Hankering for Yarn

Linette Gerlach - Mother Earth’s Garden

Kadi Prescott - Guerrilla Parenting

Mary Emma Allen - Quilting and Patchwork

Karen Weideman - Thrifty Mommy

Susan Gunelius - Play Library and One Book Two Book

Marcie Pickelsimer - A Child Chosen

Deborah Ng - Simply Thrifty

Eliza Ferree - Babylune

Heather Goldsmith - A Creative Journal

Julie Fletcher - Robust Cooking

Kelly Saunders - Thrifty Mommy

Farley Walker - Behind the Vines

Maricar - Keeping the Castle

Jennifer Chait - Offbeat Homes also at Tree Hugging Family and Declutter It

I hope our little tour has inspired other readers to share their blogging spaces too.  It’s great to get a peek inside the daily lives of those who touch our hearts with their passion and words.

Please be sure to subscribe to our channel feed so you can stay abreast of all the fun things coming up on the b5media Lifestyles Channel.

Image source: stock.xchng

Datz.com, the new digital music platform, download store and recommendation service which exploded onto the digital landscape last year, announces the launch of their new user-generated, community-orientated portal this week.

Central to the newly rejuvenated user-friendly website is the introduction of an interactive environment, which encourages users to actively get involved in generating content, reviews and ratings, allowing artists and fans to interact directly with one another.

Providing an essential platform to showcase new talent, Datz encourages independent and unsigned artists to upload their own music, enabling them to create their own community and fanbase within Datz. With the click of a mouse, artists can now find their music available alongside the finest in cutting-edge bands, as well as an extensive back catalogue from all the majors where you can re-live the classics.

Fans, on the other hand, can create their own blogging pages whereby they can recommend and discuss the latest Datz music. In addition Datz.com provides e-ticketing, a gig calendar, event reminders and recommended downloads of the week - creating an all-encompassing, interactive musical community which is set to become a vital resource for artists, fans and industry professionals alike.

Evolving into a credible voice in the field of new and exciting music, Datz works closely with music industry trade publication, Music Week, by sponsoring their renowned Music Week Playlist. Having originally launched in 2007, Datz entered the music market place via a voucher redemption system, which provided free downloads for users with the purchase of mobile phones. They ran highly successful and ground-breaking promotions with LG & Orange with Sainsbury’s, and Woolworth’s, one of the largest music and mobile retailers in the UK. In fact, Datz became one of the first digital stores to utilise a traditional marketing tool for a non-traditional product.

Experience Datz, visit www.datz.com

Tesco digital music download service vs Apple iTunes
X By Kylie Minogue Available To Download From Tomorrow For Just £8 From Nokia Music Store
Nokia Music Store: hunting tracks and downloading a doddle
New Music Service Allows Users To Download What They Hear On The Radio
Qtrax download delayed: I am waiting for my free music
Legal Free Music Downloads from Qtrax: revenue from advertising, backed by labels

With the month of April about to end, our focus on healthy living is just getting into full swing.  The Lifestyles Channel welcomes new blogger Julie Fletcher to Robust Cooking.  Julie will be focusing on healthy cooking, eating, menu planning with a particular focus on diabetes and other health conditions that require special dieting.  Please stop over and say hello to Julie.  If you have a particular health condition you’d like introduced, be sure to mention that to her.  I’m sure she’d love to hear from you.

I am thrilled to be making this announcement!  I, Gayla McCord, have been MomGadget for nearly two years and with b5media for slightly longer.  Recently I received the green light on bringing MomGadget over to b5media where I’ll be serving a much wider audience with introductions to gadgets that make mom’s life a little simpler, conducting more giveaways and dishing up more entertaining and informative reviews.  Thanks to Tyson, I was able to kick off the move with an awesome giveaway and that’s only the beginning!

This seemed a logical transition and one I hope our readers will enjoy.

According to Taiwan Economic News, sources in the supply chain are intimating that there could be a lighter weight, smaller variant on the Apple iPhone in the works. Rumour has it this new smaller iPhone handset will weigh around 110-120grams as compared to the present 158grams Apple iPhone. This smaller version iPhone is said to do away with its aluminium magnesium shell in favour of a more lighter plastic case. The plastic shaves weight from the new handset and the whisper is it will incorporate a 2.8 inch multi-touch display screen, which replaces the original 3.5 inch.

This rumor comes in the face of other rumours that the next-gen Apple 3G iPhone will be larger
in bulk to accommodate the GPS receiver, but rumours are rumours, sometimes they don’t visualise. There seems to be indication that Apple is about to quash criticism of the companies’ one-trick-pony iPhone handset by bringing out differing iPhones to suit differing needs.

The high-end Apple iPhone would then be the 3G and sport a true GOS; the present Apple iPhone handset taking the mid-range, or something very similar, white a stripped down variant iPhone would bring just the bare-bones in the lower-end market.

Keep in mind though how Apple loves to confuse those who speculate by commissioning purposely constructed hardware prototypes; so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what Apple really has planned.

Source – cens

A Java ME based app that allows mobile phone users to make low-cost calls and chat with Skype friends has just been launched by Skype. The application is still in beta, the Skype mobile “thin” client works on roughly 50 of the most popular Java enabled mobile handsets from the likes of Nokia, Samsung, Motorola and Sony Ericsson.

Apparently there was a problem with the first release which was that Skype-to-Skype and SkypeOut calls are initially only supported in select networks such as Denmark, Estonia, Brazil, Finland, Sweden, Poland and the UK. There is no real doubt that this will change over the next several months, so in the mean time should your country be on the list, it is advised you are on either unlimited or low-cost plans as to benefit from the Skye offering.

Skype release can be found here and the Skype app can be downloaded via here

Source – unwiredview

Devotec Industries are proud to announce their smallest and lightest charger yet! Weighing in at a slim 80g and measuring about the same as a 1st gen Ipod Nano, the new solar charger still packs enough energy in its 1800mAh Lith-ion battery to charge a phone/blackberry/mp3 player 2 times or more before needing to be re-charged. And when the Solar Charger does need to be toped up, you can charge the device via its solar panel, or use either the supplied AC adapter or USB cable.

Retailing at a fantastic £19.99, ($40) this fully featured pack has a higher spec and more connectivity than solar chargers costing twice as much. And for added convenience, the Devotec USB Travel Plug can be added to the pack, giving access to charge the unit in over 180 countries!

Connectivity comes courtesy of the included adapters, with tips for Nokia (old and new), Motorola/Blackberry/mini USB, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, PSP/Digital Cameras and Ipod all being part of the package.

Lasting up to 3 months on a single charge, the Devotec Solar Charger has been extensively tested and re-engineered to include all the necessary accessories straight out of the box, including a stylish pouch to keep the solar panel scratch free when not in use.

The Devotec Solar Charger is a great way to keep safe and not have to worry about your phone or Blackberry losing battery when you are away from home.

Alex Devoto, founder and MD, said: “We are really excited about this release. After working to perfect this concept for three years, we feel we have a finely tuned product ready to meet the needs of the mobile consumer, with the widest selection of compatibility at an unrivalled price-point.”

Solar Mobile Phone Charger
Solio: portable hybrid solar charger for multiple gadgets
Apple iPod Touch and Sony Ericsson phones supported by Mundu IM
Micro USB phone connector standard say Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and LG
New Duracell Mobile Charger: To Power Apple iPod and Cell Phones
Extremely Popular Samsung U600 or the Sony Ericsson W580i

Microsoft have always aimed to help computer users do tasks better with their software, while Windows XP and Vista have been loved and hated by some, I am sure investigators and law enforcement will love the new plug-in device called “Microsoft COFEE”. It does not contain caffeine, but it does contain 150 commands that will help investigators work faster when gathering digital evidence.

The quicker they can extract forensic data from computers, the faster crimes can be solved and maybe it could save more lives. We have pointed out it’s not Coffee, but what COFEE really stands for is “Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor”. This plug-in device (basically a small USB hard drive) can analyze data stored on a computer, analyze Internet activity and decrypt passwords.

Last June the Microsoft COFEE device was distributed to a handful of law-enforcement agencies, but today we hear that over 15 countries and 2,000 officers are using this gadget. While we do not know how much this will help stop crime, you can count on it helping a lot…well done Microsoft.

So what do you think of Microsoft making the COFEE device free to law enforcement agencies and how much do you think this will help in real world crime?

Source: Read | Via

SubRosaSoft MacLockPick: for licensed law enforcement professionals
Rate My Cop: comment on your recent experience with law enforcement
Madeleine McCann’s Parents Leave Portugal
Mission Impossible Madeleine McCann Case: inconclusive evidence
The Spamhaus Project ROKSO: list of 200 known Spammers
Madeleine McCann case: fresh tests Prove impossible

X-OOM Software, a leading publisher of digital media software for mobile devices, has launched X-OOM Movies on iPod 2. This innovative software enables users to turn their iPod™ and iPhone™ into a mini mobile cinema to watch favourite films on the go.

Ideal for passing the time on long train journeys, commuting and flights, X-OOM Movies on iPod 2 means any non copy-protected films, TV programmes and video clips can be viewed anywhere. The software allows single or multiple files to be converted to an iPod compatible format. The high speed video encoder supports formats such as; DVD, SVCD, VCO, DivX, AVI, WMV, MPEG, and FLV, all which can be quickly converted.

X-OOM Movies on iPod 2 will record and transfer any web-TV shows onto an iPod™ or iPhone™, to avoid missing favourite programmes. The software searches through over 1000 sports, music, comedy and entertainment channels, as well as sites such as YouTube and MySpace, so programmes and clips can be downloaded to an iPod™ or iPhone™ in just a few clicks. There is also the option to regularly subscribe to the 1000 frequently updated video podcasts, to ensure favourite shows aren’t lost.

A new integrated media library provides a helpful solution for collectively viewing all video files stored on a computer. The library includes customisable pre-defined settings, to allow straightforward transfer and modification of video clips. X-OOM Movies on iPod 2 also includes the option to rip just the audio from a video file, so favourite music from films and TV programs can be saved and listened to when on the move.

Features include:
· Conversion of single or multiple files, such as movies, TV programmes and video clips to an iPod™ or iPhone™ specific file format for ease of viewing
· 5 file conversion settings to customise options such as file size, quality and compression, ensuring films can be effortlessly transferred
· High speed encoder to enable quick conversion of movies
· Subtitle support
· Expert mode to quickly and automatically complete video cutting and processing

X-OOM Movies on iPod 2 is priced at £19.99 and is available from X-OOM.com and amazon.

iPod Touch and the iPhone to get new applications
Today Apple officially launches 16GB iPhone and 32GB iPod touch
GPS solution for Apple iPhone and iPod touch: Nav N Go iGO My Way 8 GPS
Apple iTunes 7.6.1 Software Update: Improved compatibility with Apple TV
PosiMotion G-FI: Wireless GPS Accessory for Apple iPhone and iPod Touch
Apple iPhone and iPod Touch 1.1.3 jailbreak: how long?

Rumour has it from the highly informed BoyGenius that there is news of a new special edition Sidekick LX on its way. Apparently, the new Sidekick T-Mobile will be rolling out is the Tony Hawk branded LX and will be out on the 16th of July, which will coincide with the Tony Hawk Boom Boom HuckJam skate fest.

The Tony Hawk Boom Boom HuckJam skate fest is also sponsored by T-Mobile which lends possible support to this rumour. Everyone loves a special edition device, so to that end we will be keeping tabs on this, and as yet there’s no rumours price range, or just how the skate-friendly new Sidekick will look.

Source – BGR

Singapore has gained the Nokia Music Store. After Nokia opened its digital music stores in Australia, France, Ireland and the Netherlands, the Finish giant mobile phone manufacturer is taking its music store to the mobile music market of Singapore situated on the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula.

Singaporean Nokia customers will be able to purchase songs from independent label, major international artists, along with local Asian artists; while the Nokia Music Store being available 24/7 and accessible via one of the select Nokia mobile handsets or via PC.

Single music tracks will cost 2.00 Singapore dollars, with most albums priced at 16.00 Singapore dollars, however in addition the Unlimited PC streaming service will set Singaporeans back 16.00 Singapore dollars per month.

For full release see PRNewwire