Using Gmail on a Mac? Then you may already know about Mailplane — if not, and you’re looking for an email client to use with Gmail, Mailplane is worth a look. The standalone software integrates seamlessly with multiple Gmail accounts and can make email wrangling far less of a chore. Version 2.1 is fresh out of beta and adds useful features like support of offline Gmail using Gears and image insertion within the text of your mail. Don’t forget that Google recently added a feature allowing you to tame your offline email — you can specify which folders appear offline and how much of that mail you really want to tote around. Also included in this release is support for multiple rich text email signatures.

Mailplane is $24.95, although this upgrade is free to all Mailplane 2.0 users and there is a free 30-day trial available. Still not sure what this setup adds over Gmail in a browser? Have a look at the two-minute walk-through for a better idea. Although I prefer a browser over most third-party apps, Mailplane is one of the few exceptions in my personal toolbox.

Travel phrasebooks seem to be all over the store, a smart application for the Smartpen. I see phrasebooks in Japanese, French, German and Spanish, to name a few. Note that apps can be purchased only by customers in the U.S., UK, Australia and Canada only, according to Livescribe. Livescribe is actively looking for developers to build apps for the store. The Smartpen and supplies can only be shipped to the U.S.

Toshiba is the No. 5 seller in the world, so ASUS would be looking to move up the ladder with an acquisition. Toshiba sells netbooks as does ASUS, but the lion’s share of Toshiba’s sales involve larger notebooks. A deal would definitely give ASUS some credibility in the notebook business. ASUS has stated it wants to be in the top three notebook vendors by 2011, and a deal with Toshiba would go a long way to reaching that goal.

The new betas are available for Windows, Mac and Linux, so the much-anticipated mobile Flash is not part of this beta release. Adobe says WebOS will get Flash 10.1 later this year, and Android “next year.”

Adobe Air 2 is said to be more memory friendly and allows Air programs to use flash memory for the first time. Flash 10.1 should provide better video playing, even on systems with low-end graphics systems. Early reports say the beta does not support hardware support using Intel-integrated graphics yet, meaning most netbooks may not see improvements.

Both programs can be downloaded from the Adobe Labs web site. These are beta versions, so install at your own risk and expect that problems could crop up.

This is usually the season for door-busting sales, but I think this one has to do with reducing inventory more than anything. MSI is touting a new online promotion in India, the UK, Australia and Italy, and although I’m not near any of those parts, I checked it out. The promotional link took me to a deal for a free MSI Wind netbook with the purchase of an X600 notebook. The free netbook is the same U100 model I purchased in 2008 and is worth roughly $350. To get the deal, you actually have to print out the online coupon and take it to specific vendors.

Purchasing the X600 gets you a skinny 15.6″ notebook with 1366 x 768 resolution running on an Intel ULV chip and ATI Radeon HD 4330 graphics processor. The 2.1-kilogram notebook with 6-cell battery should run for nearly a full workday, and of course, you can always migrate over to your free netbook if you run out of juice.

Early adopters of the PRS-500 might be on the fence here, but if it were me and I had the money, I’d probably take advantage of the upgrade for a little cost savings. The newer devices have a faster refresh rate, 8-level grey scale and, in the case of the Touch Edition, offers a touchscreen display. Nice to see Sony give a little something to the first Reader customers.

“The desktop component, previously available exclusively for Windows, is created to enable Wallet users to easily manage and arrange their sensitive data in a more convenient way, on a bigger screen and with a bigger keyboard. The Mac version of this software provides users with capabilities of editing data, syncing it with an iPhone or an iPod touch over Wi-Fi, as well as syncing every wallet with Google mailbox. It can also be synchronized with Windows Mobile and Symbian versions of SPB Wallet if the devices are connected via USB in Mass Storage mode.”

The OS X version of SPB Wallet is $14.95, but like most all SPB products can be used for a 15-day free trial. This is a bit of software that I used to install on every one of my devices, much like eReader and a few other utilities. If you’re looking for a place to securely store and carry personal info, I recommend taking a look at SPB Wallet.

The big question in my mind isn’t where Windows Mobile 7 will be when it arrives, but rather, where will all of its competitors be at that time. Apple appears to be on a major release schedule each June or July with updated handsets and new operating system features. Google is proving that it can press the gas pedal with Android updates, too — not long after version 1.6 hit the air, we saw a flashier version 2.0 arrive. Nokia’s first Maemo phone is now shipping, but updates for that platform have no history to form a basis. BlackBerry also continues to move forward and, of course, some of us are still waiting for more great things from Palm.

Three quarters of a year can be a lifetime for mobile devices, so my hope is that Microsoft debuts something that’s ahead of its time with Windows Mobile 7.

The enterprising individual has detailed the process and explained the whys and wherefores of the components chosen for the project. The Pre sits on the Touchstone charger by magnetic connection, and according to the hobbyist, the phone sits firmly on the mount. If you decide to tackle such a project yourself, bear in mind that tinkering with the car’s electrical system can be dangerous, and you could have horrific consequences if proper care is not exercised. Pretty cool, though.

Matt found the browser to be a little “slow and buggy,” but that’s to be expected from a beta version. The Mozilla Fennec team has added lots of tweaks as development progresses, including:

• Enabled official branding, with Firefox name and logo
• Support for localizations, currently including Spanish, German, French, Italian, Dutch and Russian
• Enabled plugins
• Viewport meta tag support
• Fixed a number of sites that resize their content after the page is loaded
• Added a form assistant to make filling forms easier
• Improved panning performance and behavior
• Zooming doesn’t jump around anymore
• Numerous other bugs and polish issues addressed

The news didn’t end there, as Dropbox also announced the new iPhone app. The app lets you access files in the Dropbox cloud, download files for viewing later, sync iPhone photos and videos to your Dropbox, and share files with friends via links to the Dropbox location. There are free and paid versions of Dropbox, depending on the amount of storage needed.

Did you pre-order a Nokia N900? You’ll want to check your mail for a tracking number today because Nokia confirmed that the first shipments of its Maemo phone are on the way. SlashGear got the official word at a Nokia event earlier today and also got a sneak peek at the latest new features and functions. Check out the video presentation they captured, which is actually most impressive — the on-screen presentation is done with a Nokia N900 using the included video-out cable.

In the demo, you’ll see how the N900 pulls down contact pics from Twitter and Facebook so that your Address Book has a nice photo of your fave friends. There’s also a quick look at the podcatching application, although all of the examples were YouTube video feeds. I suspect that the app will grab audio-only podcasts as well. All in all, the N900 hardware is looking pretty polished and offers a unique user interface. But is that enough for widespread success? In some cases, it’s close, but not guaranteed.

More interesting is the netbook’s configuration because it’s the same as what I bought in August of this year. This is the Windows XP Home version of the NB-205 with the 1.66GHz Intel Atom and 160 GB hard drive. Now that Windows 7 is available, I would have expected this deal to come with Microsoft’s latest operating system. Of course, that would likely be the Starter Edition, which does have a few limitations.  Does anyone else find it odd that this deal features Windows XP and not Windows 7?

The RTM folks were ready for the launch of the Droid last week, and updated the Android app to support the handset’s high-resolution screen. I am using it and it works fine, so those of you with RTM Pro accounts should get the update if you are using an Android phone. This new Android version also supports the lower resolution of the HTC Tattoo.

Nokia has announced an exchange program for a limited number of Nokia-branded chargers manufactured by a third-party supplier. We have determined that the plastic covers of the affected chargers could come loose and separate, exposing the charger’s internal components and potentially posing an electric shock hazard if certain internal components are touched while the charger is plugged into a live socket.

If you purchased your 3U or 3E before June 2009, or your 4U before April 2009, then your charger is not subject to the recall.