With less than 24 hours till the start of the 2008 holiday shopping season, Apple has announced the iPhone 3G Gift Card. The Gift Card allows gift givers to help someone else buy an iPhone.

The card is available only in the United States. It is sold in any denomination between $25 and $2,500. The card can, in fact, be used to buy anything from the Apple Online Store or Retail Store, it’s just branded as an iPhone Gift Card.

Along with the card, Apple lists some benefits that receivers might enjoy…

To look at the Racer-X laptop bag from WaterField, you wouldn’t think it would run upwards of $190. In fact, when I showed it to a colleague of mine, he said just that; “It’s not worth it.” But he doesn’t speak for all of us. First, he’s a PC user, and that’s a different mindset than those of us protecting the more expensive Apple laptops. Second, he made the comment based solely on the outward appearance of the Racer-X. And whereas it is sharp looking, it’s mostly canvas, not leather. It’s not a hard case. It doesn’t offer a locking mechanism. So, what does the Racer-X feature to justify the premium cost? Quite a bit, actually. Quite a bit.

There is no doubt in my mind that the iPhone is going to be one of the more popular gadgets this holiday season, especially since Apple lowered its price by so much compared to the first model. Also, new reports have shown the iPhone is extremely reliable and even a good business solution. However, when you buy an iPhone, you are instantly greeted with a plethora of addition third-party products that can make the iPhone experience even better, not to mention the thousands of apps in the App Store. Even better yet, if Apple manages to release the iPhone 2.2 software update in time for the holidays, the iPhone will become even more functional than it is now. With these great things in mind, we invite you to peruse through our Holiday Season Gift Guide to find the right products for the iPhone lover in your family.

There’s a theory in the scientific community that if the world is ever wiped out by nuclear holocaust, the cockroaches alone will survive to repopulate the planet. I’m all for this, because a planet of walking, sentient cockroaches sounds crazy cool, and because if humans ever do destroy our ability to survive, then the cockroaches deserve their chance in the driver’s seat.

What the scientists are missing, though, is that there’s another creature with an even stronger ability to adapt and survive. Change its habitat, change its food supply, smash it with a hammer…doesn’t matter. It’ll survive. It’ll continue to grow and populate, and it’ll always do its best to match your purse. I’m talking, of course, about the iPhone case. Here are some for the new iPhone 3G. No need to be creeped out by them, but best to keep a can of Raid handy.

• Speck PixelSkin
• PDO TopSkin
• JAVOedge JAVOskin
• Griffin Wave
• Griffin Nu Form

Reviewing speaker systems is a bit tricky for me for two reasons. First, I know little about the science of sound. Numbers and fancy symbols and awkward abbreviations mean as much to me now as they did when I wasn’t paying attention in junior high science class. I’ll display all those numbers and abbreviations later in this review, but it’s up to you to decipher them.

Second, although I can tell you whether something sounds good and why, I can’t tell you how good it sounds compared to the competition. At the electronics stores, I can sample four or five systems next to each other, determine what I like best, and make my purchase. Here, I’ve just got one unit standing alone, doing its thing, and I have to judge it on that alone.

Find out how the Mint 220 Digital Wireless Digital Music System does its thing after the break.

I recently had the opportunity to check out a couple sets of iPhone headphones from Maximo, and yes they fit (without an adapter) in the recessed jack on the original iPhone without any problems. I was sent two sets of headphones to review, the iMetal IP-HS2 Isolation headphones and the iMetal IP-HS1 Stereo headphones.

Keep reading to check out the full review.