Crave

Will a bigger hard drive and a slightly lower price tag move more UMPCs for Oqo?

Oqo has updated its Vista-powered handheld computer, and knocked 33 percent of the cost, bringing it down to $1,299.

The San Francisco-based company has increased the hard drive capacities of both versions of the model 02. The entry-level went from 30GB to 40GB and the higher-end from 60GB to 80GB. Plus, now there's a 32GB flash-based option. They've also slightly upped the CPU speed to 1.6 Gigahertz.

But it has yet to solved the in-between nature of its concept. It'… Read more

LONDON--Last week, we mentioned that HMV Oxford Street was the place to go this morning if you were a Matrix fan and wanted to pick up a free HD DVD player (the Toshiba HD-E1) with your purchase of the box set.

We were expecting this to be a popular promotion, but we were blown away by exactly how many people were prepared to queue all night in a filthy alley just off Oxford Street in order to snag a free player.

The queue was full at 5 a.m., and then it was just a matter of the fans standing … Read more

Voting is now closed for this round. See the results of these battles here and vote on the Elite Eight matchups here.

Get it now! Your full-size, printer-friendly tournament bracket.

And then there were 16.

These robots don't want to fight. That's why you have to pick the winners. After two weeks of "battling" it out, our field of nonviolent robots is down to 16 competitors.

Voting is open from now until Sept. 17. Check back then for the results of this round and vote on the Elite Eight matchups.

You may recognize the name Sansa View, but that's about all SanDisk's new video MP3 player has in common with the original View announced at CES. SanDisk essentially went back to the drawing board, which is why it's taken so long for the official View to surface. Rather than a screen-dominated PVP, you get an e200 with a sleeker design, a beefed-up (2.4-inch) screen, and a larger--but still thin--body (4.3 inches by 1.9 inches by 0.4 inch). It's a smart move, since more users are inclined toward compact players than dedicated PVPs. … Read more

If you're the warranty-voiding type of person who's unafraid of taking a screwdriver to your delicate electronic equipment, have we got a series for you! Our sister site TechRepublic specializes in carefully dismantling (and sometimes re-mantling) all manner of computers, peripherals and devices. They publish the results in a series called "Cracking Open," sort of a visual love letter to electronics design and circuitry.

Ever wanted to know what's on the inside of your Wii unit? A 1970s home computer from a kit? A portable DVD player? Click away and enjoy these micro-detailed intimate portraits … Read more

There's a silver lining in the war on terror. The need for beefy, bulletproof buggies to patrol the Afghan and Iraqi outback has translated into factory jobs on the home front for at least one NATO ally.

Described as "a Land Rover on steroids," the new MWMIK (Mobility Weapon Mounted Installation Kit) 4x4 looks more like an armored forklift chassis. But with a top speed of 80 mph and wide range of armaments, it won't be pulling pallet duty anytime soon.

The U.K. Ministry of Defence has ordered 130 of the new vehicles from Plymouth-based … Read more

Crave presents the week's laptop news, in digest form.

Apple did its best to distract us, but we kept our focus on laptops this week--aided by the tunes pumping out of our new iPod Classic. Ahem. It was a big week for business laptops: ThinkPad officially announced the leather-bound ThinkPad Reserve, whose $5,000 price tag and limited number will appeal to jet-set execs looking to impress. For lower-level workers, HP announced three new business laptops with an updated look and feel; the company also said that it would begin offering 64GB solid-state drives on its professional laptops and … Read more

The Times Online reports that U.K. music retailer HMV is opening the first of a new type of store in Dudley, west of Birmingham. The highlight: in-store kiosks with USB ports that will allow users to download free music and video files to a memory stick, for later transfer to their computer or other device. There are lots of other ambient-futurist touches, like big plasma displays, a mini Apple store, iMacs to play with, and a juice bar. As well as old-fashioned CDs and DVDs for sale.

Combine this idea with the Apple-Starbucks partnership announced on Wednesday, and I … Read more

The Lightning GTS, an all-electric sports car coming from England next year, will go 0 to 60 in four seconds, the company says.

But what I like is the '60s styling and the Union Jack license plate.

The car is one of several relatively new entrants into the electric auto market. They can be roughly divided into three categories: sports car specialists (Tesla Motors, Lightning, Lightspeed) and the sedan makers (Zap, Miles Automotive, etc.) and economy cars (Riva, Think). Some will make cars for different categories. Established companies like Nissan, of course, are tinkering at this too.

Right now, Tesla … Read more