Crave

Panasonic AG-HSC1U: A pro's by any other name

A show of hands, please: When Panasonic's consumer division announced its $1,500 HDC-SD1 SD-based HD camcorder at CES, how many of you thought "That's too cheap--I want to pay more!" Well, here's your chance. Panasonic's Broadcast division has just announced the nearly identical 3CCD camcorder for the bargain price of $2,099.

There are some differences, of course. The pro model is a nonreflective gray with an anodized filter ring. The pro model carries a one-year parts-and-labor warranty, while the consumer model has a mere three months on labor. They have different default … Read more

The key to credit-card-thin cameras?

The biggest origami news of 2007 has nothing to do with Microsoft or ultramobile PCs.

Instead, thanks to centuries-old telescope technology reapplied to camera lenses by engineers at UC San Diego, the origami lens takes the cake.

At just one-seventh the thickness as a traditional lens, the origami system could significantly raise the resolution bar for camera phones. It might also make today's slimmest ultracompact cams seem like anvils.

The system borrows the folded optical system found in Cassegrain telescopes, but uses a single, diamond-cut optical crystal instead of a series of mirrors. The origami system bounces light through … Read more

Vista bargain hunting

Looking for a new Windows Vista laptop but don't want to break the bank? For about the same price as, say, a PlayStation 3, you can actually take your pick of a couple of new models.

The catch, of course, is that these systems use Vista Basic, the extremely stripped-down version of Microsoft's new operating system. No Aero interface, no Media Center, and so on.

For $498, you can get the new Everex Stepnote VA4101M (available at Wal-Mart, of all places). This 15.4-inch laptop includes Vista Basic, an Intel Celeron M processor, and only 512MB of RAM, … Read more

A toilet for Inspector Gadget

Did you know the average person spends 11,862 hours out of his or her lifetime in the bathroom? That's equal to 1 year, 4 months and 5 days in what's usually a boring room, absent comforts like TiVo, video games and a stocked fridge.

Roto-Rooter is coming to the rescue! (Thanks to BoingBoing for pointing it out.) North America's largest provider of plumbing and drain-cleaning services is offering an online sweepstakes for its "Pimped Out John," a bathroom throne for the gadget junkie.

The fully loaded Kohler commode comes with a Philips 20-inch LCD … Read more

Next-gen pranks with the Soundbomb

No, the Soundbomb isn't a lo-fi, post-modern iPod speaker. And no, you definitely don't want to leave one under a bridge in Boston. But if you're an artist or a prankster, you may want to get on the waiting list for one.

The idea is simple: record the sound of your choice to the Soundbomb, hide it somewhere, and enjoy as the motion detector-based Soundbomb greets/annoys/scares the crap out of passersby by blaring your audio recording.

Imagine recording ghost noises to it and hiding it in a dark basement, using it as a stolen-beer alarm … Read more

Nokia confirms N-Gage sequel

Nokia has confirmed that a successor to the N-Gage is due by early 2008. The company's FutureWatch blog indicates that developers EA and Gameloft are on board to develop for the updated N-Gage, and that other "leading publishers" will be making games as well.

Perhaps the bigger news is that the next N-Gage won't be a single device, but rather a gaming platform available on certain of its advanced Series 60 models. (Whether a future Series 60 phone will look like the Nokia concept pictured here, however, is anybody's guess.) Instead of buying games on … Read more

Samsung SCH-u340 added to Verizon

In addition to the red Motorola Krzr K1m Fire and the LG Strawberry Chocolate, Verizon released a non-Valentine cell phone to their lineup, the Samsung SCH-u340. Verizon has been a popular choice for those who want basic cell phones, and the new Samsung SCH-u340 is no exception. Featuring pared-down basics like a VGA camera and a speakerphone, the SCH-u340 still has text and multimedia messaging, instant messaging, and more. But the best feature of all is its price: Free with a two-year contract.

LG Chocolate now in Strawberry

Yeah, we mentioned the LG Strawberry Chocolate last week in our list of Valentine-themed cell phones, but we had no photo to clue us in to the look of the Strawberry Chocolate. Well, it turns out that the Strawberry Chocolate is not red like we thought it would be--it is in fact a very pastel pink (which isn't really the color that pops to mind when I think of chocolate strawberries, but I'll go with the flow). Specs are the same as the regular LG Chocolate, and it's available for $99.99 after a two-year commitment and … Read more

A camera for the kids

Kids these days don't know how good they've got it. When I was a kid, you were lucky to get one megapixel in your camera, and that megapixel would be written to a single 3.5-inch floppy disk. We didn't have MP3 players or pocket camcorders or any of those fancy things. The only moving pictures we had were on our CRT monitors. And don't get me started on the regular ritual of taking the mouse ball out of your beige mouse and picking lint out of the rollers.

Today, kids have their Facebooks and Myspaces … Read more