Crave

It's no surprise that the first necktie to come with a USB-powered fan built into the knot comes from Japan. Having lived in Tokyo for nearly three years, I can confirm that which you already know: Japan is technology heaven.

It's where old tech hopes to go when it dies so it can be resuscitated by an Atari 2600 fetishist, and it's where new tech hopes to be born. It's one of the few countries in the world where bleeding-edge cell phones shaped like pens and that, in fact, are pens can enjoy a limited if well-lit 15 seconds of fame.

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Mattel started selling a new "Barbie Girls" MP3 doll this week, in an attempt to get hip to a generation immersed in technology. About three months ago, Barbie launched a new virtual world for girls online to compete with likes of Club Penquin (recently bought by Disney) and Webkinz, maker of plush toys. Barbie's new MP3 player is designed to buoy that virtual world effort and resuscitate flagging sales of its traditional glamor doll. Barbie Girls are handheld MP3 players that can be accessorized like a doll and used to unlock special animations, make friends and shop … Read more

Following months of hints and peeks, Onkyo has finally made the details of its first HD DVD player official. Available this fall, the $900 DV-HD805 is a return to the high-end for the HD DVD format, which has seen prices dropping as low as $250 this year. In addition to the Ethernet port, Web connectivity, and built-in memory found on all HD DVD players, the DV-HD805 looks to have all of the bleeding-edge HDMI 1.3 features of the newly announced third-generation Toshiba players, including support for 24-frame 1080p video, Deep Color compatibility, and lossless Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master … Read more

Trust me--I know procrastination. But this one really takes the cake.

JibJab, as you probably know already, made a name for itself by creating corny (yet socially relevant) musical skits that superimposed the heads of politicians and celebrities onto cartoon bodies. Now that user-generated content is nothing new, it almost seems overdue that JibJab would introduce a "make your own" feature. But now, at long last, here it is: "JibJab Starring You!"

The concept, at least according to the creators, is to JibJab yourself by uploading a photo, easily crop it with the Flash-based tools … Read more

Take one part G.I. Joe and one part Fisher-Price Little People, mix in a few dashes of the U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems paraphernalia, and you might just come up with the Mighty World line of preschool-friendly military action figures.

These very little soldiers, distributed by International Playthings, are well-provisioned with some of the very latest in 21st-century battlefield gadgets. Consider Major Mac and his stealthy reconnaissance drone (an ultramodern, top-secret stealthy reconnaissance drone, that is). "Operated from his laptop, it swoops over enemy territory and relays back vital field information," says the Mighty World … Read more

It's been a while since we've seen a new, exciting cell phone for T-Mobile, so when Samsung announced its SGH-T729, we took notice. Also called the Blast (yet another crazy Samsung nickname), the SGH-T729 offers a thin slider design, Bluetooth, a megapixel camera, and a QWERTY keyboard modeled on the SureType technology found on some BlackBerry smart phones. On the whole, the Blast is a solid effort for a messaging phone. We liked the design and the simple interface, but T-Mobile's lack of a 3G network is beginning to put it behind its rival carriers. The Blast … Read more

Less than three months from its qualifying race, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency announced Thursday the 36 semifinalists that will compete in the Urban Grand Challenge, a robot race over mock city streets with a $3.5 million purse. The semifinalists have been whittled down from 89 original contestants.

DARPA also said that the qualifying and final events will be held at a military training facility in Victorville, Calif., home of the Route 66 Museum, the San Bernardino County Fair and a state penitentiary. The Urban Grand Challenge is the third in DARPA's series of robot car races … Read more

Though revenue from plasma display panels (PDPs) shipments is on an upswing right now, that's not going to last, according to iSuppli.

It's been predicted for some time now that liquid crystal display (LCD) panels would eat away at the plasma industry, and now market research indicates that plasma panels--including the kind used in TVs--will reach their revenue-generating peak in the next two years. Plasma makers made $7.7 billion last year, and are on track to make $8.6 billion this year. In 2008, they'll top out at $10.2 billion, according to iSuppli.

It's … Read more

General Motors announced Thursday that it will begin testing for its electric rechargeable car, the Chevy Volt, in spring 2008.

The lithium-ion battery packs planned for the Chevy Volt should be ready as soon as October 2006, Bob Lutz, GM's global product chief, told Reuters.

The company still maintains that the Chevy Volt it introduced at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show will be ready for sale by late 2010.

The company also announced Monday it has signed another contract with battery manufacturer A123Systems to help it develop the lithium-ion battery cells for its E-Flex electric drive train.

GM already … Read more