Crave

On the anniversary of Russia's triumphant manned space flight, Donald and Eric scheme to put America back on top by building a life-size, fully functioning Imperial AT-AT. Less ambitious projects are also covered, including a Lego Ghostbusters car, a 360 video capture lens for the iPhone, and a digital film roll to give analog cameras new life.

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News and media typically find their way to your eyeballs through three types of screens: your TV, your computer, and your mobile phone. The Chumby 8 hopes to add a fourth screen to that equation.

Part tablet, part digital photo frame, and part jukebox, the Chumby 8 packs a ton of content behind an 8-inch touch screen. Unlike its forefathers (the Sony Dash, Insignia Infocast, or the original Chumby), the Chumby 8 offers a simplified new interface and a built-in Web browser.

Throwing a browser onto the Chumby 8 makes it possible to add and delete apps from the device … Read more

In this week's episode of Crave, Eric and Donald break out of the podcast studio and follow the trail of vodka and servos to BarBot 2011, an expo of cocktail robotics. Based on Vienna's annual Roboexotica festival (a government-funded exercise in motor-controlled hedonism that runs four days), San Francisco's BarBot is equal parts science fair and nerd cocktail party. Highlights included the White Russian Hippie Maker, the Drink Making Unit 2.0, iLush 2, and the gravity-defying Cosmobot 2.0.

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Ah, remember when people cared about the audio quality of their portable devices? Before our gadgets all became platforms for Angry Birds and Facebook status updates, the killer app was music playback.

The fine people over at Cowon are either blissfully unaware that the iPod era has ended, or are taking a long shot by pretending this whole smartphone and tablet thing is just a phase.

As evidence, we have photos of the Cowon C2 portable media player. As a successor to the Cowon D2, this latest version promises excellent audio quality, a generous assortment of format support (though no … Read more

Young and broke. That pretty much sums up the DJ chapter in my life. Aside from the handful of celebrity DJs out there, most of us start out with only a few bucks, a love of music, and the goal of someday playing an unforgettable party.

It is with these humble roots in mind that Gemini created the FirstMix. A combination of USB hardware and cross-platform software, the $99 FirstMix system gives newbies an inexpensive entry point into DJ stardom.

As DJ rigs go, there isn't much to it. The hardware is a plastic slab with a toy-like feel, a crossfader, some knobs, and two jog wheel controls dressed up like little virtual turntables. The overall feel is about what you'd expect for the price. The sensitivity and responsiveness of the controls is impressive, though. … Read more

We know this will only end in nasty, partisan comments, but we wouldn't be doing our jobs if we didn't put the Motorola Xoom and Apple iPad 2 in the ring for an official CNET Prizefight.

Out of the gate, you guys can probably guess my feelings on these two tablets. I wrote CNET's rated reviews for both devices, and although I was optimistic enough about the Xoom to nominate it for CNET's Best of CES, the iPad 2 ultimately received my Editors' Choice.

The wild cards in this Prizefight are the other two judges. Eric … Read more

Donald and Eric take a trip back through time, or maybe to an alternate Jules Verne-inspired future. Wherever they are, the gadgets are distinctly retro and lovingly hacked together. Even old Jedi master Yoda seems a little different. Plus, a burglar alarm that will blast you in the face.

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This week, Donald and Eric explore the idea of hearing with your mouth, seeing in 12 dimensions, and shooting lightening with a wave of your arm. Yes, it's wizard tech week, apparently. To that end, we show off an illuminated staff that can divine the strength of your Wi-Fi signal and a DIY project for all you pinball wizards out there.

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On the day the Apple iPad 2 goes on sale, CNET Senior Editor Donald Bell will be live-blogging his full review. Follow along for his complete analysis of the design, features, and performance. Updates will be added throughout the day.

The competition must really hate Apple. The Apple iPad wasn't just a successful tablet computer in 2010--it was the tablet computer. In one fell swoop, Apple created the new tablet market and sold tens of millions of iPads in spite of a global economic downturn and considerable skepticism.

The same, only better With the iPad's second go-around, Apple … Read more