Crave

Don't worry, you won't smell anything unsavory when watching this video, I promise. Somehow, we're still not sick of talking about gadgets after being at CES 2007 in Las Vegas--in fact, we've returned with a whole new appreciation for the weird and random! I'm joined this week by Ariel Nuñez of Gadgettes fame. Here are the links:

Oh, and yes, I'… Read more

The age of the digital kitchen has arrived. Not only are "smart" appliances finally making their way into homes (and not just Tomorrowland exhibits at Disneyland), but they're multitasking as well.

Take, for example, the "Intelligent Oven" by TMIO: It can refrigerate and cook in the same space, which can be controlled over the Internet or cell phone. And lest you think all this is some cheap parlor trick, Gizmodo says the uber-oven employs "NASA-based command and control engineering," as well as "green" technologies developed by the space agency. If you'… Read more

If the YOUniverse Funk Fone phone had been around in the late '70s, all of us Saturday Night Fever groupies would have been pleased to the max! Well, better late than never, we suppose.

This clunky, disco-shoe-shaped phone operates as a normal telephone, with flashing lights and three disco ring tones for a little Donna Summer flair. It measures 6.4 inches by 4 inches by 9.4 inches, goes for $19.99 and might just make the little disco diva in your life bust into the Hustle. Disco ball and polyester jumpsuit not included.

(Source: Chip Chicklets)

How many times have you been in a foreign country--or even your local Chinatown--and wished you had an expert translator on hand? Travel dictionaries take too long to flip through; by the time you've figured out how to order those sweet-and-crispy fried plantains (what Cubans call platanos maduros and Puerto Ricans call amarillos), the waiter has drifted off to the next table.

Enter the next best thing to a brilliantly multilingual best friend: Franklin Electronic Publishers' Speaking Global Translator, a handheld gadget that packs in more than 450,000 words and 12,000 phrases in 12 languages: Mandarin, Dutch, … Read more

This behemoth by truck maker Oshkosh uses electric motors to drive all eight wheels, a diesel engine and generator to make electricity, and ultracapacitors for quick energy storage and release. AutoblogGreen reports that several of these trucks, dubbed HEMTT A3, will be tested at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds by the Army. While the truck is technically a hybrid, Oshkosh calls the drive system ProPulse. But the use of electric motors to drive the wheels means the electricity could come from any adequate source. The system uses less fuel than a straight diesel drivetrain because the diesel engine can run at … Read more

Sitting on the floor of LAX last summer, my cell phone plugged into an outlet that looked as if it might catch fire at any moment, I thought to myself, "There must be a more civilized way of doing this."

Turns out, there is. This month 50 mobile charging stations with four outlets each will be installed at JFK airport in New York for this express purpose, and--bonus--it's free. Travelers will have access to the outlets to recharge their laptops, phones, PDAs, etc. in every single terminal at the airport.

The original idea was to use the … Read more

Every once in a while, you come across a company that's just really cool. Online CD trading outfit LaLa.com is one such company. Not only does LaLa pay registered artists a percentage of the income generated from CD trades on the site (despite the fact that this is not legally required) and donate unregistered artists' shares to a fund that helps pay for independent musicians' medical insurance, it also revived online radio pioneer WOXY.com and allows users to create and stream massive online playlists--for free. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy when a company that'… Read more

Mood-ring offshoots have become a staple of the retro-tech trend, but this is one of the sillier--and most expensive--examples of the genre we've seen. The "Therapie" is a canvas wall lamp that was "inspired by color and light therapy theories which give it a soothing aura to reverse bad tempers," according to BornRich. To us, it just looks like a plasma TV displaying different colors.

We woudn't mind the idea so much--many of us at Crave have a fondness for the '60s--but the price is downright offensive: $1,100. At that level, you'd … Read more

Yesterday, the Nintendo Wii hit the shelves once again...and left just as quickly. Nintendo's latest "relaunch" (store restocking) of the system was once again met with fairly crazy enthusiasm. The Wii might be a bit more available now in more rural areas, but if you're in a city, you should be ready for a prolonged hunt.

I finally got my Wii yesterday morning, and I was lucky. I woke up early and got to the Circuit City in Bergen, New Jersey, around 8:30 a.m., an hour and a half before the store opened. … Read more