More from our 2010 gift card package

• Gift cards 2010: More consumer-friendly
• Gift cards: Everything you need to know
• Gift card buyers’ guide: 5 key questions
• 2010 holiday gift card comparison chart
• The 11 golden rules of practical gift card giving
• Collectible gift cards: practical but fun
• How to replace a lost or stolen gift card
• 10 creative ways to wrap gift cards
• VIDEO: 3 fun ways to wrap gift cards

Outside of cash, gift cards are among the most versatile presents you can offer family and friends. You’ll never accidentally pick out the wrong size, and you can typically ship them for the cost of a single stamp.

Even better, smart shoppers can often find just as many discounts on gift cards as they would on castoffs in the bargain bin at a local store.

Read more…

After breaking even in its third quarter, Sony Ericsson has announced that it will shift its focus and make only smartphones, starting from next year.

Though it made no profit last quarter, it was an upswing from the previous quarter, which netted a 50 million euro loss.

However, last year the company gained 49 million euros in profit in the third quarter. It blames the drop in demand for less-advanced mobile phones for the lack of profits.

Demand falls

Sony Ericsson shipped 9.5 million phones in the third quarter, but it was a 9% fall compared with the same period in the previous year.

It says that its shift away from non-smartphones is a result of the high demand for mobile computing. Xperia smartphones now account for 80% of the company’s sales.

“We will continue to invest in the smartphone market, shifting the entire portfolio to smartphones during 2012,” said President and Chief Executive, Bert Nordberg.

Nordberg also said that Sony Ericsson, whose Xperia line runs on the Google Android system, would not rule out launching a Windows Mobile 7 phone in the future. For n

Read more…

It can be tough to spend long days on the road, especially when traveling on a budget. At the very least, it is nice to earn credit card reward points from hotels that can be used for travel rewards. The Best Western Rewards World MasterCard from Barclay’s allows their customers to earn elevated reward points from stays at their hotels that can be redeemed for a myriad of travel benefits.

For each dollar spent, travelers will only earn a single point in the Best Western Rewards program, but purchases at their hotels will earn a far more substantial 15 points per dollar. New cardmembers will receive 10,000 points as a sign up bonus and are eligible to earn another 5,000 points for completing a balance transfer within the first 30 days of opening an account. There is a 0% APR on balance transfers for the first six months of card member’s accounts. There is a 3% balance transfer fee during this introductory period, but it then rises to 4%. Aft

Read more…

You might think a pot trust would be a trust designed to hold your maui wowie and/or Bob Marley memorabilia. But in fact, this type of trust is designed to promote fairness in families with a big age gap between children.

In many cases, a husband and wife will divide their property equally between their children at the death of the second spouse to die. That can be fair, but what if one child is 25 years old (and has completed college) while the other child is 14 (and has yet to begin college)? Given the high cost of higher education, “equality” could be unfair in this situation. For instance, if we assume husband and wife had a combined estate of $400,000, then each child would receive $200,000. The younger child’s inheritance may be consumed (largely or even entirely) by tuition and room and board, while the older child can use the $200,000 as he or she sees fit.

Enter the pot trust.

Read more…

When one thinks of Estonia, mobile payments may not be the first thing that comes to mind. Yet, the nation is one of many pioneers in the mobile payments market in Central Europe, and its influence is now shifting overseas to the U.S.

According to a 2009 report on mobile payments released by international accounting firm KPMG, Estonias mobile payments market is the most advanced of any country in the Central and Eastern European region, with more than 80 percent of banking customers in the region having access to mobile payment platforms through the countrys three major banks: Swedbank, Hansbank and, SEB and Nordea.

For Estonia, a former satellite state of the Soviet Union, technological innovation isnt a new thing. Internet phone company Skype, which is currently in talks with Microsoft to be purchased for $8.5 billion, started as a small company back in Estonia according to the Christian Science Monitor, though the company says on its website that it was formed in Luxembourg back in 2003.

Estonia also appears to be home to a number of mobile payments start ups that have recently taken the spotlight.

Read more…

A flurry of new credit cards hitting the market this week underscores that card issuers are still seeing opportunities among affluent consumers, despite recent economic turmoil.

Among those announced this week: a new American Express co-branded card with Mercedes-Benz; upgrades to Chase’s premier upscale rewards card, Chase Sapphire Preferred; and a new Capital One cash-back card aimed at business owners.

During the economic downturn of the past few years, card offers aimed at low- and middle-income consumers had slowed. But even with recent stock market gyrations and worries about consumer spending, this week’s brisk pace of card launches suggests that card issuers are continuing to mine for well-to-do customers.

“To card companies, they’re still very attractive cardholders, especially in this cautious credit-issuing market,” says Ken Paterson, vice president of research operations for Mercator Advisory Group.

Read more…