For the record, the answer is no. We return all gadgets sent in to us for review, and do not accept long-term loans (read: I'll-look-the-other-way items). Most media companies, ours included, have policies against accepting commercially valuable gifts and freebies.

In the blogging world, the work of regulating credibility has been left largely to the free market. There is nothing to stop bloggers from waxing lyrical about mobile phones, face creams or even hotel stays, without declaring that they got these products or services for free.

Not anymore, if the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the US and the Media Development Authority (MDA) in Singapore have their way.

Last week, the FTC updated it's advertising guidelines to include blogs. Under the new rules, bloggers who get paid for endorsing products or services are required to declare it.

The Media Development Authority in Singapore is also mulling stricter disclosure rules, although no date has been set for roll-out.

The aim is to protect consumers who could fall prey to false advertisements or advertorials masquerading as reviews.

Yet, enforcement will be almost impossible.

With so many bloggers opining about anything from restaurants to running shoes to handbags, the agencies in charge of policing the blogs have their work cut out for them.

There will also be many things to pin down, such as who a blogger is, what qualifies as a blog and which legal jurisdiction a person would fall under if he or she were, say, a Singaporean blogger living in London.

Even in the media industry, where there are rules and the threat of dismissal for breaking them, mandating credibility is not an easy task. What more in the nebulous world of the Internet?

These days, blogs, review sites and even Twitter have become the first stops for consumers who want to canvas other people's opinions about products and services before springing good money. So more protection for people is definitely welcome.

But rather, the focus should be about regulating the practice (of deceptive advertising) and not the medium (of blogs and new media).

For example, while it will be hard to track all blog posts and bloggers, it should be easier to police companies that use new media channels to make self-serving claims under a cloak of partiality, and the advertising companies that broker these deals.

More than 400 million sets of the iPhone 3G, or enough electricity to power all the consumer electronics in the world.

That is what the world spent last year on charging and powering gadgets and gizmos.

And this year, that number is expected to rise. In fact, the International Energy Agency estimates that by 2030, the global electric bill for powering consumer electronics is expected to rise to US$200 billion.

By then, the mobile phones, music players, HDTVs and computers of the world will need 1700 terawatt hours of electricity to run. That is the energy equivalent that all the homes in the United States and Japan are drawing upon today.

The Paris-based agency's point, is that if left unchecked, total greenhouse gas emissions from these electronics could double to around 1 billion tons of carbon dioxide a year by 2030, leading to more global warming.

If, like me, you tend to plug in your laptop charger for hours, leave the TV turned on just for some ambient noise, or not read energy labels when buying gadgets, this might be something you want to think about.

But this year's most coveted free gift is NTUC Fairprice vouchers - a sure sign of bad times.

This is practical Singaporeans at work. People want the vouchers to buy groceries.

Another sign of bad times at the IT Show, is the slashing of prices.

By 12.30pm on Thursday - the first day of the expo - some companies had already slashed their product prices. A Casio camera advertised at $399 was going for $349.

Japanese companies were also eager to rack up as many sales as possible since they are closing their financial accounts for the fiscal year-end this month meaning  consumers can expect  a lot of price slashing to clear stocks.

Bad times have also hit consumer electronic outlets whose sales have slowed down since mid-January and vendors tell me that their retail business is down 20 to 25 per cent.

So at this IT Show companies are looking to sell more to cover the dip in retail sales.

Usually vendors treat opening day as one for intelligence gathering, that is, scoping out the competition. They spy on their competitors to see what they're offering and at what prices.

Then they will adjust their own prices to make their products more competitive.

By Sunday when the fair ends, consumers can expect at least another five to 10 per cent price cut on items, and even more freebies.

This IT Show is a price driven one. For consumers, it means better shopping and great deals!

At a Blackberry product launch today, I met a product manager who told me about how Blackberry devices have become very popular among the "money-is-no-object" Indonesian tai-tais.

They may be more often associated with spas, manicures and sky-high Louboutins rather than gadgets. And, frankly, they don't care about whether their Blackberry comes with 3G or a high-resolution screen, because all they want is use it to instant message their friends. Apparently, sharing gossip this way is more discreet and more efficient with group chats.

Later at the launch of the HP Mini 1000 designed by fashion designer Vivienne Tam, I discovered that quite a few sets of the $1,099 machine ($300 more than the normal mini-note) have already been snapped out by Singapore's tai-tais. Hard to imagine why the tais-tais would want to with a laptop but I guess with Vivienne Tam on the laptop skin, it would go well with their Louis Vuitton bags and Ferragamo shoes.

But the most interesting thing is that it's probably easier to sell to the tais-tais since they really couldn't care less about the hard specs, focussing on the "lifestyle" elements instead... Which is probably why Nokia and Tag Heuer will never send their high-class phones to Digital Life to test - we'll just rip the specs to pieces!