Crave

Wii Sports: Geeks are the new jocks

The champagne hangover's worn off, and CES and Macworld are quickly becoming memories; it's time to get serious about that list of New Year's resolutions. And though No. 1 (get more exercise) and No. 12 (master a new video game) seem to be mutually exclusive, one blogger has shown that you can game your way to better health, or at the very least, a smaller pants size. After six weeks of playing Wii Sports for 30 minutes a day--and making no other change to his diet or everyday activities--the Philadelphia-based blogger reported that he'd lost nine … Read more

This week in flying robotic animals

It's been a banner week for flying robotic animals. Plummeting prices amid high demand signal a true buyer's market. New, exciting, and odor-free robot versions of the world's most popular and delicious animals are now available.

RC Flying Cat Toy: HobbyTron.com's remote-controlled flying cat is still the market leader in the emerging flying-cat sector. Its robust feature set places it among the top 15 to 20 flying cats in world history. It boasts a 60-foot flight range, quick charging time, bleeding-edge safety features, and out-of-the-box compatibility with air. Early adopters beware: Crave analysts are still … Read more

Creative to release 'blood-red' Zen V Plus

Last September, much to my chagrin, Creative launched an 8GB version of the Zen V Plus in Asia but not in the U.S. At this year's CES, I received confirmation that the company will be releasing an 8GB model here in the states. The device is slated to hit shelves in February with a palatable $219 price tag. Oh, and it's decked out in a shiny black finish with really fantastic blood-red accents.

Toshiba laptops will soon write to HD

In the maddening crush of gadgets and humanity that is CES, we walked right past the Qosmio sitting in Toshiba's booth--after all, we'd seen that laptop before, and R2-D2 was in the house. But there was something different about that Qosmio; Toshiba was using it to show off its laptop-size HD-DVD-R optical drive, which reportedly will let users burn as much as 30GB of data on a single HD-DVD disc. The company's been mum on other key deets, such as release date and price, though they have promised more info by the end of this quarter. If … Read more

LG: No HD DVD logo on combo player

The LG BH100, the combination Blu-ray and HD DVD player selected by CNET as the best product of CES 2007, is definitely coming out on time, according to LG spokesman John Taylor, but it won't have the official HD DVD logo. The logo pictured on the CES demo unit will not be printed on the shipping player because the BH100 did not gain approval by the DVD Forum, the body responsible for HD DVD licensing. The reason is that the BH100 cannot support HDi (formerly known as iHD), the interactive layer of HD DVD discs.

I've read reports … Read more

Nyko's new Wiimote charging station

The Nintendo Wii is fun, but its controller eats up batteries like nobody's business. Once you get hooked on Wii Sports or Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, you'll probably spend as much on AAs as you spent on the system itself before you even notice. Finally, peripheral manufacturer Nyko (not to be confused with R2-D2 manufacturer Nikko) has unveiled a solution.

Kotaku and GameTrailers recently posted a video highlighting some of Nyko's upcoming products. Most of these gadgets were lackluster, like stylii for the Nintendo DS or fans for the PlayStation 3, but one device shown above … Read more

Formula One phone is off to the races

Lamborghini and Ferrari aren't the only sports cars lending their names to electronics and computing gear. Vodafone, which is sponsoring the McLaren Formula One racing team, has debuted three mobile phones inspired by the McLaren Mercedes, according to Pocket-lint.

Sharp and Samsung are manufacturing different models for Vodafone but all three bear designs that reflect the McLaren theme, with chrome cases and "rocket red" accents of the team's colors. The menu and ring tones are also consistent with the sport, as well as as a racing game. The handsets, which include 1.3- and 3.1-megapixel … Read more

An LCD that matches the fridge

OK, so not all you Cravers were sold on the idea of the "Icebox" for your kitchen computing needs. Then how about a stainless steel TV?

As part of its new "Regza" line, Toshiba is offering a 26-inch model with a high-gloss steel panel to offset its black cabinetry, according to BornRich. It's designed specifically for the kitchen to match the fridge, dishwasher and other appliances, complete with a built-in DVD player so your kids can watch Ice Age 2 while you're heating up the dinosaur chicken for dinner.

In Vegas, a touch of nostalgia

Technology conventions like the Consumer Electronics Show are great places to see what's coming next, but some companies also like to remind you of what's happened in the past. It's always great to be reminded that the crowd went bonkers back in the mid-'70s when Asteroids came out in color or Chuck E. Cheese was upgraded to include food edible for humans.

At this year's CES, Japan's LCD giant Sharp trotted out some tidbits from its history. The calculator pictured here was the first-ever LCD calculator produced. The EL-805 could run 100 hours on … Read more