Well, here's the shiny little Centro, in all its slightly-less-than-breathtaking beauty. Truth be told, the phone doesn't look or feel too bad -- we still don't get the gray stripe through the middle, but what can you do? The keyboard is unbelievably tiny, but we'll take it where we can get it. The surface of the cherry red or metallic black phone is quite slick, and we suspect will go tumbling out of sweaty hands like gang busters. Of course, the EV-DO connection was snappy, but the thing we're most stoked about is the fact that Palm has finally eliminated that 2-pixel border around the screen. Hey, no new OS... but that border is gone. The Centro is due mid-October for the shockingly low price of $99.99, which should help push more than a couple of these out the door. Hit the gallery and check out all the hot photos.

Just in case Linksys and D-Link's introductions weren't enough to satisfy, Microsoft is now announcing yet another partner in its refreshed Extenders for Windows Media Center effort. Beginning in "early 2008," owners of HP's current 42- and 47-inch MediaSmart LCD HDTVs will be able to utilize all of the features of the Media Center Extender platform sans any additional hardware. According to Microsoft, users will simply download a software update for their set, after which they'll be able to kick back and enjoy a little Windows Media Center Internet TV while basking in the glory that is added functionality.

Gateway and Linksys aren't the only firms using Digital Life to showcase new wares, as Hasbro is making the most of its opportunity by inviting fun-lovin' tweens over to its booth to play with a number of new holiday must-haves. Aside from the familiar Power Tour guitar and NET JET game, the company is also showing off its Littlest Pet Shop VIPs (virtual interactive pets), which will launch next month for $14.99 apiece, and a few new critters in the Furreal Friends family, one of which is pictured above. Additionally, Tiger Electronics is introducing its October-bound I-Dog Amp'd ($34.99), which will "tap its paw to the tune, bob its head to the beat, swish its ears and wag its tail to the rhythm of your favorite songs." Lastly, the I-List Music Party game sounds like the perfect way to entertain guests at your next sleepover, and should be available soon to test your knowledge of music for $19.99. Click on through for a few more pics.

Right on cue, D-Link has made its own Media Center Extender official on the same day as Linksys. The DSM-750, which strangely boasts the exact same model number as a different product we heard about at CES, becomes the latest in the firm's MediaLounge lineup and enables "high-speed, uninterrupted wireless (or wired) streaming and sharing of HD / SD video, movies, digital photos and music," regardless of where your PC is located. The device features dual-band draft Wireless N technology, silent operation, a wireless remote, USB 2.0 port for accessing external storage, and a 10 / 100 Ethernet jack. Catch it this November for $349.99, and check out a bevy of photos (including a few hands-on) in the gallery below.

Gateway is passing around an invite to New York's Digital Life attendees, promising the grand unveiling of... something. The invite is tagged with a cute little "Gateway One" logo, or maybe it's "One Gateway," and all signs are pointing towards a new all-in-one PC with decent aesthetics. Also, breakfast will be served, so you know we're all over it. The press conference will be at 9AM EDT on September 27th.

We really did our best to hold back our disappointment at the Looj. Sure, there must be people out there with gutters full of leaves and plastic parachute men, and we want to be respectful of that, but we can't say it really stoked our gadget lust. Luckily for us, iRobot seems to have another bot in the works dubbed "Connectr" -- at least if a recent trademark filing for "robots for video and audio monitoring, surveillance, and communication" is anything to go on. This one might be just for iRobot's military and public service customers, but we'll hope for a consumer-friendly score here to rival other web-friendly video bots out there. iRobot has promised to announce two new bots at Digital Life in NY later this month, so let's hope this is one of them.

[Thanks, Daanish]

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment:

Microsoft designed Windows Vista to be the center of consumers' digital lives. The operating system supports myriad ways to store, organize and retrieve personal and premium content and opens the door to a nearly endless array of capabilities via add-on software. Powerful ultra mobile PCs such as the OQO Model 02 tantalize us with rich centralized access to nearly any digital resource.

Unfortunately, not everyone can abide by the role of the PCs as open platforms for creativity and customization. Among them are IT professionals responsible for ensuring the reliability and security of a corporate tool. Sometimes, strict controls aren't simply a matter of corporate fiat. PC support staff in government, healthcare and financial services may need to impose PC restrictions to comply with the law. For such scenarios, Microsoft builds administrative controls into Vista Enterprise to keep appropriate resources from leaving a PC and inappropriate software and content from getting on it.

In a subtle nod to life-work crossover, Microsoft offers Windows Vista Ultimate, which blends the premium version of its consumer operating system with some business-oriented features such as faxing. However, Vista Ultimate is really more about one-stop shopping for features in a premium-priced configuration and less about resolving the struggle for control between individual and enterprise.