I think I might have already mentioned how perfect nude heels are for the warmer weather when you’re showing a bit of leg, but just to recap:

* They look great with a tan
* They elongate your legs
* They go with just about everything.

Tony Bianco is an invaluable source of good quality, affordable shoes, and they’ve come through again with the nude heels this summer.

The Jan style is perfect for anyone looking for basic nude heels, and for $139.95 they are very reasonably priced.

By Caroline Warnes

The lastest iteration of the BlackBerry Curve finally includes 3G capabilities - great news for anyone looking for a budget smartphone.

The BlackBerry Curve series of phones sits towards the lower end of the manufacturer’s product range - at least when it comes to price - although these models do tend to offer excellent value for money. And that is even more true with the latest model (imaginatively called the BlackBerry Curve 3G).

Specs wise, this phone isn’t too dissimilar from one of BlackBerry’s most popular handsets, the Bold 9700. It not only looks and feels similar, but features the same connectivity (GPS and Wi-Fi, although the Curve 3G has the slight advantage of support for wireless-N), the same QWERTY keyboard and trackpad (no touchscreens here) and the same QVGA screen dimensions (although the resolution here is slightly inferior at 240×320 pixels). It runs on the current BlackBerry OS 5 platform, though you’ll be able to upgrade to the new OS 6 when it launches in Australia.

The BlackBerry Curve 3G can be bought outright for $779.

Buy a cheap BlackBerry on sale in Australia

By Caroline Warnes

Sportsgirl has been doing a good job lately of making clothing by some of Australia’s best up-and-coming designers available at a more affordable price point.

The latest Aussie designer to team up with Sportsgirl is Konstantina Mittas. The range consists of five gorgeous short dresses, plus one top and skirt that you can mix and match with the rest of your wardrobe for something different.

The Victory dress pictured here is by far my favourite from the range. It sells for $250 - pick it up in-store or online (shipping at the Sportsgirl site is free Australia-wide for orders over $120).

By Caroline Warnes

We are giving away five double in-season passes to the new Ryan Reynolds movie “Buried” in this week’s free Lasoo competition.

Reynolds stars as Paul Conroy, a truck driver and family man who wakes up buried alive in an old wooden coffin. Not knowing who might have put him there or why, his only chance to escape from this nightmare is a cell phone.

Poor reception, battery and lack of oxygen are his worst enemies in a race against time: Paul has only 90 minutes to be rescued.

To enter this week’s competition, tell us in 25 words or less using the form below about your worst fear. The best answers will win and the competition closes next Thursday.

Competition terms and conditions

If you haven’t checked out the Witchery and Witchery Man mid-season sale yet, then there’s still lots of good stuff available online and in-store.

I usually get so distracted by the clothes that I forget to check out the accessories, but this morning I took a look at the sunglasses and jewellery and was suitably impressed.

This NYC metal cuff watch is very chic in a minimalist sort of way, and for $169.95 is a great buy (reduced from $229.95).

By Caroline Warnes

Orange is far from my favourite colour, but I’m really liking the look of the Seduce What a Rush scoop neck frill dress.

The orange is colourful without being garish and overbearing, and actually it reminds me of gelato, which I could really go for right now.

The belt doesn’t come with the dress but I think it makes the outfit, so if you’re buying it for yourself make sure you have some sort of belt to cinch in the waist.

The dress is available in orange and lilac for $139.95.

By Caroline Warnes

With all the hype surrounding the recent launch of the iPhone 4, it was easy to forget that a new version of the iPod Touch was also on the way.

In actual fact, the Apple iPod Touch 4G has a lot in common with its famous stablemate. Just like the iPhone 4, the new iPod Touch has both a front and rear camera and runs the FaceTime video conferencing app, so you can use the built-in microphone to chat with your contacts face-to-face (as long as they have the new iOS4.1 operating system installed on their Apple device). The camera can also be used to make Skype calls.

The rear camera lacks an LED flash and only takes photos at 0.7-megapixels, which is unfortunately inferior to the iPhone 4’s resolution. However it is capable of recording high-definition video at 720p resolution.

Another new feature is Game Center, which is bundled with the new operating system. This allows social multiplayer gaming between iPhone 4 and iPod Touch 4G users. A number of features from the previous Touch are also carried over to the 4G, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, the ambient light sensor and an accelerometer.

The new Touch also has some of the iPhone 4’s behind-the-scenes wizardry, including a Retina display (so everything on the 920×640 pixel screen looks amazing) and A4 processor, which means vastly improved performance.

The Apple iPod Touch 4G is available for $289 (8GB), $378 (32GB) and $499 (64GB).

Buy a cheap iPod on sale in Australia

By Caroline Warnes

With the Aussie dollar performing so strongly, it’s the perfect time for a spot of online shopping, and what better place to do that than ASOS.

Even better, the Just Cavalli maxi dress I wrote about last month has been reduced even further - it’s now down to US$185.35, which is over 70% off the original US$648.73 RRP.

It’s only available in sizes 10, 12 and 14, so get in quick to secure a designer bargain.

By Caroline Warnes

My love of ALDI is well documented, but I thought I would devote today’s blog entry to one ALDI product in particular.

And that product is Goldenvale Instant Oats, which I discovered a few months back and now use to make porridge every morning with a little milk and brown sugar on top.

For the princely sum of 99 cents, you get 750g of oaty goodness, which is far cheaper than the big brands you’ll find at other supermarkets. And these oats are just as good as their brand name counterparts, if not better.

ALDI has scored yet another home run with Goldenvale Instant Oats.

By Caroline Warnes

Acer may not be a name you’d traditionally associate with mobile phones, but the manufacturer is hoping to change that with the new Liquid E Google Android phone.

Unfortunately, this lack of experience shows in several areas with the Acer Liquid E, especially in terms of design.

In fact, when compared to some of today’s sleeker smartphones, the Liquid E almost looks old-fashioned. Its black plastic chassis is rather staid, and not something that is likely to appeal to fashion-conscious users looking for the latest and flashiest device. Externally, it features a 3.5-inch WVGA capacitive touchscreen, a mini USB port and 3.5mm headphone input.

What’s inside the Acer Liquid E is decent enough, but nothing we haven’t seen before. It runs on the Android 2.1 operating system, which Acer has dressed up with a handful of widgets and other extras. It comes with Wi-Fi (802.11b and g, but no n), A-GPS and Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP. Acer has also thrown in some nice multimedia functionality, including a media player called Neoplayer and a 5-megapixel camera with no flash.

The Acer Liquid E Google Android phone can be bought outright in Australia for $699.

Buy a cheap mobile phone on sale in Australia

By Caroline Warnes