We think a lot about getting new gadgets, but not so much about getting rid of old ones. The result: old cell phones, defunct laser printers and Pentium III computers gathering dust. A couple companies want to help us clear out those old gadgets, while feeding our upgrade habit, helping the environment and making a buck for themselves.

Instead of being hit up for an extended warranty next time you buy a gadget, you may find yourself hearing a pitch from TechForward Inc., a Los Angeles-based company selling a”guaranteed” buyback plan for electronics.

IT managers who have been worrying about how to support the iPhone for their executives may want to start some serious fretting. A report from Engadget and the Associated Press said that IBM’s Lotus Notes email is coming soon to the Apple’s iPhone and the iPod Touch. An announcement may occur Sunday at the start of Lotusphere. Apple and IBM officials could not be reached for comment on the report.

Help 2 Speak is now available as a free download for Windows Mobile Standard devices. With an easy to use intuitive interface, support for 5 of the worlds most common languages as well as a slew of phrases to choose from up to 9 different categories makes this application a must have.

Resco has released an update to Resco Defender for Windows Mobile PocketPC and Smartphone. This update includes a new interactive tutorial, a new registration model, and screenshot saving.

One of the latest PDAs to hit the market is the HP iPAQ 112, and consequently Proporta has released accessories to protect it. Proporta’s Alu-Leather Case is custom made to fit the exact specifications of your HP iPAQ 112. For extra protection, Proporta have produced an Advanced Screen Protector to protect your HP iPAQ 112 from scratches, scrapes and dust evasion. With an improved thickness, made from a new ultra high-clarity plastic that doesn’t impair screen brightness and clarity, this protector is also fully washable and replaceable.

Resco Keyboard Pro is a handy multi-skin keyboard in a literal sense. While improving old popular aspects of this useful piece of software, developers at Resco added significant features that make this keyboard ideal for one hand use.

Its new thumb mode allows users to write quickly by using only one finger. It’s easy to write capital letters, use the spacebar or backspace “on the run” while writing a single letter. Thumb mode works with preview and correction mode, which ensures the user writes only the letters he or she really wants. The application also has a nostalgic add-on; the sound of a typewriter or any other sound can be used.

Search, Gmail, Calendar, Reader, Docs and Picasa, easier to use via a touch screen, the hallmark of iPhone’s success. Just over a month after launching Google Apps tailored for the iPhone, Google celebrated the first day of Macworld in San Francisco by adding more speed and an improved user interface to its applications stack Jan 14.

Google said in a statement the applications, including Search, Gmail, Calendar, Reader, Docs and Picasa, are easier to use via a touch screen, the hallmark of iPhone’s success.

Stanford University researchers have made a discovery that could signal the arrival of laptop batteries that last more than a day on a single charge.

The researchers have found a way to use silicon nanowires to give rechargeable lithium ion batteries–used in laptops, iPods, video cameras, and mobile phones–as much as 10 times more charge. This potentially could give a conventional battery-powered laptop 40 hours of battery life, rather than 4 hours.

PC vendor Lenovo has promised ThinkPads with pre-installed Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 for some time now. Lenovo will deliver the goods the week of Jan. 14.

Lenovo will release pre-installed SLED 10 on its Intel Centrino processor-powered ThinkPad T61 and R61 14-inch-wide notebooks. In February, Lenovo’s pre-integrated Novell Linux offering will expand to include some Penryn-based ThinkPads.

Iambic’s BillRate allows users harness the power of their Windows Mobile Pocket PC based companion to record time, expenses and mileage while on the go. BillRate makes it easy to link time, expense and mileage entries to a particular project and then allows organizing, filtering and sorting the data in a number of ways.

Additionally, when the Pocket PC and the Windows Desktop edition are used together, data is synchronized between the two, allowing further analysis and easy exporting to Excel, XML, and other data formats. This update includes various improvements centered around usability and customization on both editions.