Crave

Just what the world needs--another amateur guitar helper

The world has another gadget to help amateur guitar players--which isn't necessarily a good thing. A few months back, it seemed that products aimed at Slash wannabes were coming out every day, from Volkswagens to air guitar T-shirts. It was enough to make us wonder if digital technology wasn't such a great idea after all.

Now we hear of a new MP3 player for musicians from Tascam, which basically slows down tunes so you can play along at your own pace. You can also edit out the guitar parts of songs, allowing you to fill the gaps with … Read more

Mixing oil and water--for cell phone lenses

A French company called Varioptic has announced two camera modules designed for mobile phones and built around an unusual liquid-lens design.

Varioptic's Arctic 416 lens combines electrically conducing water with nonconducting oil in a sealed package. Depending on how electrical voltage is applied to the package, the boundary between the oil and water changes geometry, which has the effect of focusing light passing through the liquids.

Using this "electrowetting" technology, Varioptic promises compact lenses that focus quickly, consume little power, don't need moving parts and have good transparency to visible light.

The first module, the AFCM … Read more

Another candle alternative

Coolest Gadgets has posted another gadget for making things easier when the lights go out.

The Blackout Buddy for $30 from Ambient Weather is an AM/FM radio and LED light with clock that comes on when everything else goes out.

Like the lava lamp night-light, you keep it plugged into an electrical socket to stay charged. It then automatically comes on when the electricity turns off.

The Blackout Buddy can also be used as an alarm clock, and even has a headphone jack.

Personally, I like getting stuck using candles for an evening. But if you prefer flashlights over … Read more

Keypad lights up your digits

Never being sold on fabric or fold-away keyboards, we've been forced for years to make due with our fat fingers on portable devices. But this "ultra-slim" model looks promising enough to consider. (OK, so we like the blue lights.)

The "Freedom Slim" is a lightweight Bluetooth keypad that Mobility Site says is easily stowed in a jacket pocket and can be used either in hand or on any flat surface. At barely a quarter-inch thick and 3.2 ounces, the rechargeable pad seems to live up to its name. And if you're not fond … Read more

iPod case takes trip down memory lane

It's a classic case of high tech meeting low tech. For the security-conscious listener, Japan's Elecom has a new line of locking cases for the iPod.

We're not talking about DRM kind of locks here, but the kind that we used to lock up our 10-speed bikes in junior high, complete with a four-digit combination. It even has a steel cable just like the old bike locks did too--which means it could be snipped just as easily with a pair of medium-sized wire cutters. (Not that we know any of this from first-hand experience or anything.)

Despite … Read more

Playboy at your fingertips

Now all those people claiming to read Playboy for the articles will have easy access to finding them.

Playboy Enterprises and Bondi Digital Publishing are releasing the entire catalogue of Playboy magazines on six DVDs. Each $100 box set will consist of one DVD including a decade of Playboy magazines and a 200-page companion book of images and highlights.

As with the digital archive Bondi did for The New Yorker magazine, the searchable archive will include articles, fiction, cartoons, photos and covers.

The Playboy digital archive will feature 636 issues and more than 93,000 photos, starting with the famous … Read more

Hello? Can you call back later? I'm playing Zelda Twilight Princess

This is a fake gadget. Of course it is; after all, these days it seems like the top trend in gadget rumormonging is to tack a cell phone feature onto some other device and say it's "in the works." There was the iPhone, which turned out to be real, and the Zune Phone, which looks like it will turn out to be real. Now here's a Photoshopped "Wii Phone," as seen on Gizmodo, which is certainly not real. Yes, Gizmodo has reported that Nintendo does have a patent for a gaming phone, but I'… Read more

Scary iPod subwoofer dock will eat you alive

Is good, compact sound important enough to you that you'd opt to buy an iPod sound system that looks like a totally freaky space monster? I mean, I don't really mind it all that much, but there are a few other bloggers at Crave who get pretty paranoid about any kind of gadgets that might be remotely frightening. Consequently, I'm very well aware that some people might not really want this $120-ish iPod dock from iWoofer, even if it has a built-in subwoofer. Because it's scary. Really scary.

(Via ProductDose.)

Eggs set sights on outer space

This is it--the call to arms. For some time now we've been warning of impending doom brought by the evil egg empire, and the final hour is upon us. And the source of their unholy power is now clear: outer space.

They are descending first in Japan, as we found out from our brethren in CNET Asia, through egg-shaped planetariums distributed by Segatoys. The "Homestar Pure" (even the name smacks of alien brainwashing) can project an estimated 10,000 stars onto any ceiling at the mass-market price of $83. It's only a matter of time before … Read more