Crave

Taiwan-based MSI did a nice job, or so we thought, with its "Crystal Collection" of luxury laptops released around Thanksgiving. Its designers, however, apparently thought that something was missing, but what? Why, more crystals, of course. Never be satisfied with anything if you can overdo it, we always say.

As BornRich notes, the company's latest line "takes the bling inside too" with stones around the touchpad in addition to the studded ring around its logo on the lid. The rest of the story remains the same, with the innards including an AMD Turion chip, up … Read more

Some people apparently think the "Scuba-Doo" is for sissies. So for these macho readers, we point to the "Aquascooter" selling for $900 on ExtremeToysForBoys.com. (Our masculinity isn't threatened. Really.)

It's touted as the "world's only totally portable, submersible, gasoline-powered personal water craft." We don't suspect there was a whole lot of competition for the title, but that's beside the point. The Aquascooter can travel 5 mph for more than 10 miles without refueling, according to Red Ferret, "which kind of blows away all the electric alternatives"… Read more

A certain other Craver, who may or may not espouse symptoms of sanriophobia, is slightly disturbed by the fact that I write a lot about booze gadgetry. (See Exhibit A, Exhibit B, Exhibit C, Exhibit D.) Consequently, when I pointed that Craver in the direction of Uncrate's coverage of a little product known as the "Nuvo Vino," he was a little bit concerned.

But here's my take on it. The presence of alcoholic beverages in human history stretches back for thousands of years, and it's legitimately interesting to see how new technology is shaping one … Read more

Taiwan-based Genius is a company that seems obsessed with making all-in-one devices. But how they decide what goes into the "all" part of the equation remains a mystery.

We were mildly interested last month by its cross between a mouse and a VoIP phone, which we could see coming in handy on some occasions (maybe). But its latest Franken-product, the "Look 313," is a combo camera and speaker set--a device whose use eludes us. Electronista indicates that the USB system can be used as a hub, but we think it's real market is American Idol … Read more

If it looks too good to be true, as they say, it probably is. That would explain our fear of getting on one of these Segway knockoffs.

The "Chariot Scooter" goes for $500, according to Uber-Review, while the real Segway costs around $4,000 to $5,000 (and way more if you bid on the "GOB version" on eBay). And even while charging 10 times more money, the authentic Segway hasn't been able to make it foolproof. The $500 model? We wouldn't even want to guess.

It may max out at 10 mph, but … Read more

The good news: I have found photos of what is undoubtedly the most awesome iPod case ever, thanks to Make Magazine's blog.

The bad news: Like most stuff featured on Make, you can't buy it anywhere.

Flickr user sirljohns has put up a sort of tutorial of how to make a fully functional iPod case out of an old Game Boy console, but you'll still need a good amount of technical know-how in order to build one yourself. Nevertheless, this is about as cool as it gets.

Crave is tempted to issue a challenge to tech manufacturers: Take 5 minutes and actually name your product, rather than spit out a serial number like some convict from A Clockwork Orange. It's Marketing 101 (which we never even took).

Sharp is at least one company that has figured this out, as evidenced by its "Papyrus" line of electronic dictionaries. And its latest model seems as creative as its name, at least on paper (sorry), though it's apparently available only in China. It has two screens--the main display and a smaller touch screen in the touchpad … Read more

First our prayers were answered--now our cup runneth over. Awhile back we began a campaign in favor of wireless home audio systems, thinking that it was kind of ridiculous that the industry was still tethered to cords at this stage of technology history. And even after manufacturers began meeting the demand, some purists remained skeptical about quality from relatively no-name brands.

Now, however, one of the most recognized brands in speaker-dom has joined the wireless fray. JBL has released the "On Air Control 2.4G," which it describes as "a pair of wall-mountable loudspeakers that incorporates a … Read more

It's a Porsche painted in a floral paisley pattern. Unfortunately, we can't tell you where to buy it or how much it might cost to have this done to your own car.

Jalopnik found this interesting paint job on Russian blog Parkoffka.ru.

Parkoffka means "parking" in Russian. And the pattern is not actually paisley, but is rather based on the famous Russian folk craft Hohloma (or Khokhloma), which first appeared in 17th century Russia. The name derives from one of the original trade villages, where the pattern was created.

According to our translator, the photos … Read more