So now I can download music from iTunes and video from Google, but what about my late-night gaming urges? Alienware is now offering downloadable games, for those who are too impatient to wait by the mailbox or too lazy to run to the store.

The computer maker is known for its fabulous extraterrestrial PCs, and once you've purchased one, you can immediately download the games to go with it. As with iTunes, once you make a purchase, the record stays with Alienware. The games go with you wherever you can get a broadband connection. And yes, the games are DRM-protected, and each download is contingent on how many licenses you have. I didn't say it was perfect.

[Thanks to PC Magazine lead analyst for notebooks, Cisco Cheng, for the news and writeup.]

I'm reviewing the T-Mobile MDA and SDA right now, and I am reminded of what a lousy product the Pocket PC version of Skype is. Why are people so crazy about this software? I've dialed it up on both phones. It connects, but the sound quality is so much worse than bad, it requires me to get out my thesaurus to find the appropriate words to use. Here: "awful, terrible, dreadful, ghastly, horrific, dire, unpleasant."

Most of the time I sound like Darth Vader, Max Headroom or some sort of crazy art-student sound collage project. "C..ip...uck...me...ip...ip...now?" At best, it sounds like a satellite call to Zambia. At best. And this is over Wi-Fi networks. Sorry, but there's a certain boundary where something's worthless at any price, no matter how low.

If you need to make cheap international calls from your mobile phones, people, get a calling card. Send a text message. Or wait for T-Mobile's upcoming UMA VOIP solution, which will have some sort of quality of service.

Generate, a design company based in Quebec, Canada, likes to create environment-friendly furniture and lighting. One of its latest ideas is the Glow Brick: a night light with a light bulb set in a clear, solid brick. All you do is recharge it in natural light during the day and by night, it'll light up any room.

This is definitely not any ordinary night light, which is why I like it (okay, so I sometimes sleep with a night light on after watching scary movies). It may not really cure your nightmares, but it still makes you wonder, how'd they do that?!

The Glow Brick is $45 USD, with free shipping to Canada and the U.S.

[Found via Unplugged Living]

As Sascha wrote yesterday, Microsoft dropped by the PC Magazine offices bearing various mobile goodies. As our resident phone and PDA analysts he was justifiably occupied with admiring the new smart phones. And those are pretty cool, but when all the gadgets were laid on the table my eyes went straight to the Toshiba gigabeat S30.

It is about the size of the 5G iPod, but the screen looks even better. With a 2.4-inch QVGA screen and the ability to record video from any TiVo Series 2, it is a nice package. According to Microsoft, it will get as much as six hours of battery life playing video, a claim that we are definitely going to have to test in the Labs. Still, with a competitive pricing 30GB for $299 and 60GB $399 this could be a legitimate challenge to the iPod. It will ship in March.

UPDATE: Michael Leung's hardwood Flash drives are now available for purchase at GreenerGrass Design and Singulier.

I firmly believe that there is no reason for functional not to be beautiful. These USB Flash drives, encased in gorgeous hardwood and leather, make my point nicely -- they'd look great hanging from anyone's neck. They are a product of Michael Leung's creativity (take a look at his site for other cool techie designs).

The Hardwood USB is produced and distributed by LEXON. It will be launched at Maison et Objet, a trade show held in Paris from January 26th through the 30th. Leung says he's hopeful the drives will be picked up by retailers within a month or so. I can't imagine that they won't be! The price and storage capacities are yet to be confirmed.

[Thanks to PC Magazine graphic artist Aaron Able for pointing me to these.]

Although I'm no coffee drinker, I gotta give props to Starbucks for wanting to make its 10,000 stores a whole lot cooler. Currently, you can watch live bands perform, partake in coffee tastings, and buy CDs. But soon you'll be able to download MP3s while waiting for your Caramel Macchiato.

As we're all aware, the music industry is, well, not what it used to be. CD sales have declined seven percent as digital singles are going through the roof with more than 350 million songs bought online (a 150 percent jump from 2004).

Ken Lombard, president of Starbucks, says that his MP3 download idea is still in the works, so no date has been set. However, the real question stands: which company will they choose to work with? Apple? Microsoft? Yahoo!? Real Networks? I guess it won't really matter to me since I've only been in a Starbucks twice, but I do have to confess that I buy their Frappuccinos in the grocery store.

[Found on enGadget via Digital-Lifestyles]