Crave

TV weight: Fact and fiction

Recently we took a poll where we asked "What's stopping you from getting a plasma?" A majority of voters rebuked my premise, picking "I love my plasma." The other responses were fairly evenly split among the choices.

However, there was a surprisingly common reason given in the comments that baffled me, and it's so bizarre it's clearly worth debunking, or at least shining the light on the facts.

So how much do TVs weigh?… Read more

Nook tablet discounts extend beyond Father's Day

Father's Day is lasting a little bit longer than usual, at least in the land of Barnes & Noble.

The retailer revealed on Monday that it's stretching its special Father's Day sales prices on the Nook HD and Nook HD+ tablets. Kicked off on June 10, B&N's self-dubbed "best prices ever" promotion will now last for an extended but limited amount of time.

The Nook HD is selling for $129 for the 8GB version and $149 for the 16GB model, while the Nook HD+ can be had for $149 for the 16GB … Read more

Jay-Z's 'Magna Carta Holy Grail' hits Samsung first

Samsung just got its hands on the holy grail of hip-hop. Actually, it's "Magna Carta Holy Grail," the new album from rap icon Jay-Z that will be made available for free to the first 1 million Samsung Galaxy S3, Galaxy S4, and Galaxy Note 2 owners who download a special app.

The app, which can be downloaded starting on June 24, is said to provide an "unprecedented inside look into the album personal stories and inspiration," and will also unlock the new album on July 4, three days before it officially goes on sale for the non-Galaxy owning world.… Read more

One reason Apple is hard to beat

Apple products aren't perfect, but they get a lot closer than most.

One reason for Apple's success can be summed up nicely in the 13-inch MacBook Pro Retina.

At first blush, it seems uncharacteristically pedestrian and unrefined for an Apple product. It doesn't have the usual Apple panache or design boldness. And it's thicker -- despite being smaller -- than the 15.4-inch Pro Retina. … Read more

Meet Google's 'Project Loon': Balloon-powered Net access

Google has officially announced "Project Loon," its plan to connect the entire world to the Internet that uses a decidedly 19th century technology: Balloons.

According to a post on the official company blog:

We believe that it might actually be possible to build a ring of balloons, flying around the globe on the stratospheric winds, that provides Internet access to the earth below. It's very early days, but we've built a system that uses balloons, carried by the wind at altitudes twice as high as commercial planes, to beam Internet access to the ground at speeds similar to today's 3G networks or faster.… Read more

Take a 3D tour of Paris -- as a rat

Let's say you're a cat touring Paris, and you swing by the Place Vendome. What does it look like? Well, a lot like what humans see, it turns out, only much greener. That's because cats are dichromats and don't see the color red.

I viewed the Place Vendome from a feline perspective while scrolling around All Eyes on Paris, an interactive 3D digital simulation that shows the City of Light through the eyes of common critters.

Now on display at the Futur en Seine international digital festival in Paris, the project aims to teach about animal vision by letting you see a bit of the world as a cat, dog, bee, hawk, or rat would. And let me just say that rats don't have Paris anywhere near as gorgeous as they do when Pixar takes them there. … Read more

Explore 360-degree 3D models of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4

Even if you've seen a plethora of images and videos showing the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 from every possible angle, the following high-quality 3D renders, with 360-degree pan and zoom, give you a fuller impression of each console.

Using modeling programs like Blender and Maya, designers JC Volumic and Sylvain Bernard created very accurate 3D renders of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. The interactive experience, hosted on Sketchfab, lets you check out just about every conceivable angle of the two highly anticipated gaming devices. Most modern smartphones should be able to view these renders, too.… Read more

Bad day? Hide from the world in this privacy-pod recliner

When everything is going pear-shaped and you want to escape to Mars, just imagine you had this quirky piece of furniture.

The Massaud Canopy is like a personal refuge in your office or living room. Just jump into the recliner, yank the hood down, and poof! The world is gone.

Recently shown off at NeoCon 2013 in Chicago, the chair seems like a mix between an old-school hooded hair dryer and this disaster escape pod from Japan. … Read more

Google Glass search shown off in new video

This week Google's Project Glass team released a video demonstrating just how good the augmented reality specs are at what Google does best, search.

Much of the hype around Glass has centered on its ability to capture a true first-person perspective (we've already seen the first marriage proposal through Glass), but the 20 sample searches in the embedded vid below showcase the power of what's essentially Google Now at its best, integrated into the new hardware.

We've heard plenty of rhetoric from Sergey Brin and others at Google about using Glass as a means of getting the device out of the way; providing a more seamless experience that allows a user to search without having to translate a query into a series of swipes and taps. The video shows off some of the most realistic uses for a Glass search, such as accessing flight information while driving, checking last night's sports scores, and even the requisite pictures of cats in pajamas.… Read more