Hello troops!

It's that time of the week again and we're pitching up in your inbox to give you the scoop on the latest gadget reviews and tech how-tos from those in the know over at GirlGuides.co.za.

REVIEWS

We've had our hands on (and had loads of time for) some very exciting gadgets over the holiday season. The biggest gadget thrill was undoubtedly experienced by Mel Attree, as she got to fiddle with the new Samsung Galaxy S, and declared herself starry-eyed over this handset. Incidentally this smartphone is running the Android 2.1 Eclair operating system, and we look forward to reading Mel's In Depth Review to see if this phone is as delicious as it sounds. Jess Kuppan shares her first experiences with the Nokia N8 with us and her snapshot review of the N8 is guaranteed to have video/photo-bloggers drooling at the camera specs on this dynamite little handset.

Jessica McD declares the Logitech s125i portable speaker system "blonde-proof" and compatible with just about any iPhone/iPod (with a docking connector) and marvels at its portability, convenience and sound quality. Sheena also gets a taste of Logitech convenience with the Logitech 300i Harmony Universal Remote. She claims that this remote iwill outlive all others and that it's what your basic Telefunken remote wishes it could be. To find out more about this device, and what Sheena had to say about it, read her in depth review.

Ruby Letters took up a new challenge learning German and her tutor is none other than the sexy software package available from Phoenix Software: Transparent German Premium Edition. Read her reasons for choosing this software, and what she thought of the experience. She also managed to wangle some time with the tiny-shiny new iPod Nano Touch, which has since been added to her gadget wishlist. Fiona Snyckers discovers a netbook with a happy exterior and a split-personality - the Acer Aspire One Happy, a netbook available in four cheery colours, is capable of running an Android operating system or Windows, depending on your needs.

APP REVIEWS & HOW-TOS

Louisa takes the Garmap Mobile for BlackBerry app for a spin, and declared it feature-packed whilst raving about the ability to share your maps, routes and destinations with family and friends via Twitter, Facebook and SMS. Tamaryn takes a look at how to use Wunderlist to get things done and quickly develops a little fixation with to-do lists and using it to list and manage just about every single aspect/person/task in her life.

Lauren shows us how to get started using Photoshop. Basics for Beginners. If you've ever tried Photoshop and been intimidated, you'll want to keep an eye out for the How To: Photoshop Everything Guides that will be coming weekly from this smart cookie. Speaking of learning new things, Felicity learned how to Gwabbit and in so doing discovered a simplified way to extract contact information from email signatures and add them to the address book on her BlackBerry handset.

Tania takes a look at what implications the new Consumer Protection Act will have on contracts signed with cellular service providers after its scheduled promulgation in April and Debbie takes a look at the benefits of using MailChimp for your business email marketing and list management needs.

NEWS

Thank you to everyone who applied to be a contributor or a reviewer on the site. Those of you who have been contacted have made it through to the next round of the applications process, and pretty soon your content will be published on the GirlGuides.co.za site. You might have already noticed a few new names and faces on the site, and in the newsletter. Next week, we'll release a full list of all the finalists, along with a bio, picture and links to content they've created for GirlGuides.co.za. We'd like for our readers to rate submissions and vote for their favourites, and help them along their quest to permanently joining the Girl Guides team.

COMING SOON

In the next newsletter, we'll be taking a look at How To Be A BlackBerry Power User and showing you shortcuts, tips and tricks to getting the most out of your beloved 'berry. We'll witness the Foursquare vs Gowalla showdown and decide which check-in service provides the best girly user-experience. We'll take a closer look at a handful of other apps that might just prove indispensable in your mobile life, so don't miss it!
We've got some exciting giveaways starting next week, so make sure you're following us on Twitter and you like us on Facebook.

Girl Guides,
They're good for everyone.