Crave

This isn't a gadget, but I felt obliged to post it here on Crave for two reasons: 1) we all love corny blog humor, as much as we hate to admit it; and 2) I suffered through four years of high school Latin, right through that excruciating Aeneid-based AP exam. But in retrospect (i.e. once you're no longer getting graded on it), Latin really is kind of cool, especially since it gives you fun insider details as to what the stuff in that HBO series Rome is really about. Plus, the mashup of an ancient language with … Read more

Just after we were admiring the ergonomic friendliness of the "Vertical Mouse," another one comes along that beats it hands down (sorry). Not only is it totally ergonomic, but it also combines two of our obsessions: technology and coffee. The USB-connected "MugMouse" can actually control your cursor with its movements and clicks with a mouse button underneath, according to Newlaunches. But we don't recommend using it--especially with a full cup--unless you have a waterproof keyboard.

Radio stations are about to feel the same pain as the television stations scrambling to keep advertisers in the wake of commercial-skipping DVRs.

PopCatcher, a Stockholm-based company, has patented a technology that can automatically detect and record music from FM radio, AM radio, Internet radio or DAB radio (for our Scandinavian readers who were wondering).

The PopCatcher MusicDock MD-601 distinguishes between speech or commercials, and music. It records music played by its radio and stores each song as an MP3 file.

The MP3 player dock is a regular radio with built-in speakers. When you place the PopCatcher MP3 player in … Read more

This isn't exactly at gadget you'd want to purchase for your home (we hope), but trust us--you'll want to know when it's available. The University of Buffalo is leading research into dental work that can be done without drilling or anesthesia, based on a device that uses ozone to repair cavities.

The bacteria-killing ozone machine, which is being used in Europe, "fits over a tooth and forms an airtight seal in arresting tooth decay," according to Medgadget. Researchers say the technology is being tested now in the United States and, if approved, could be … Read more

As part of the CES announcement of its promising EVA8000 Digital Entertainer HD, Netgear announced a partnership with file-sharing upstart Bittorrent. Ashwin Navin, cofounder and CEO of Bittorrent, sat down with MarketWatch editor Bambi Francisco to discuss how the Netgear/Bittorrent combine hopes to battle Apple's forthcoming Apple TV. While the interview is short on technical details, Navin offers some interesting previews of where Bittorrent is headed. The company's new Online Marketplace will offer more than 10,000 titles from content partners including "3 major studios and about 25 indepedent and foreign studios," which Navin hopes … Read more

If you've ever ridden regularly on San Francisco's Muni system, you'd probably be willing to take your chances on a driverless bus. Safety is a relative thing.

A prototype of one such vehicle will soon be on display at the Science Museum in London, where it could be tested in the next few years. The bus, designed jointly by Capoco Design and the Royal College of Art, is an electric drive and bio-fuel hybrid that would be guided by satellite navigation, intelligent cruise control and magnets embedded in city streets, according to BornRich.

Best of all, passengers … Read more

I woke up this morning and clicked on the System Update icon on my PS3 and lo and behold, the rumored 1.5 firmware update was available for download. Unfortunately, Sony doesn't offer a change log saying exactly what the firmware update does, but there are plenty of tidbits out there on blogs from PS3 enthusiasts.

The biggest issue that the update fixes involves backward-compatibility with PSOne and PS2 titles, some of which looked like garbage on HDTVs when played on the PS3. Titles that didn't support 480p output exhibited loads of artifacts and jaggies. Allegedly, all that'… Read more

This blog is called Crave. On it, we write about gadgets and other related goodies that we crave. It's kind of logical, you know?

But this week, my video blog explores some things that we don't crave: namely, the old-school gadgetry that gets dropped off at the Lower East Side Ecology Center's post-holiday electronics recycling drop-off. There's some pretty nutty stuff in there. (Infrared trash cans, anyone?)

Stop by next Wednesday for an all-new urban tech adventure. I'll let you in on a secret: I don't actually know what it's going to be … Read more

Loath as we are to admit it, we've developed something of a weird fascination with USB keys. Partly because we're amazed at how many companies spend so much time and effort on this commodity technology.

Our reponse? To write about yet another one, of course. But this one's different, really. The Gibson Signature Series "Les Paul Standard Flash Drive" offers only 1GB of storage but is a miniature replica of the famed guitar whose name is almost synonymous with early rock and roll, according to Uber-Review. Another USB key offered the Les Paul name but … Read more