Crave

Dresser Wayne is working on a gas pump with Microsoft's Automotive Business Unit that would allow you to download music while waiting for your gas to finish pumping. The Ovation iX fuel pump would connect to the Internet and transfer the songs to your media device or a car stereo system via Wi-Fi. The media/fuel pump complete with touch screen was featured at CES 2007, according to Gizmag.

The device could be a good service for truckers with long hours to kill, but how would you get the full-service gas station drivers in New Jersey to use it?… Read more

We've covered some interesting customized-art endeavors on Crave before, like that company called DNA 11 that specializes in turning your genetic code or fingerprint into an aesthetic masterpiece. Here's another one: Apartment Therapy recently gave a nod to a studio that will take your photographs that you submit online, and turn them into works of art worthy of the classiest 21st-century aesthete. RRSK Studio, located in NYC's chic Meatpacking District, will take your Flickr faves and turn them into "pop portraits" or "fluid portraits." The studio can also paint a custom logo or … Read more

With the home becoming ever-more digital, we've seen a steady increase of instances where technologies converge with traditional furnishings. The early stages of this domestic evolution have often involved chairs and cabinets, but we may be on the cusp of a new phase with lamps. Yes, lamps.

At CES this week Soundolier showed off its "Duo," a combination speaker-lamp that can be purchased as a single fixture or as a pair for full stereo (and better lighting) for $280 each. Another $80 will get you the "Maestro," a wireless transmitter that pipes in music from … Read more

There must be something in the air today--or, more accurate, in the ground. Only minutes after we posted an item about a robotic snake, another item of serpentine nature slithered across our screen.

Memory Infinite has developed interlocking USB storage devices that can be combined to add capacity as needed, as seen on Yanko Design. This is particularly useful if you have only one port available for a USB plug, and you can coil them around to suit your desktop space needs. And if you collect enough of them, maybe you can make them into a makeshift "Slinky."… Read more

No offense intended to the wordsmiths in our midst, but photos are the only thing we really worry about losing when our hard drives crash. (We always keep hard copies of our resumes--you never know.) So this hyperdrive from SavitMicro, which Akihabara News says is designed specifically to back up photos, caught our attention. It supports 18 card formats and has a transfer rate of 1GB per minute, in case you're in a hurry.

Some of us at Crave have managed to resist our adolescent urges to collect toy robots, in a rare example of self-restraint. Our willpower met its match, however, when we saw photos of WowWee's "Roboboa."

It had been mentioned earlier along with the FlyTech Dragonfly and other bots at CES, but actually seeing a robotic snake in action is something to behold. In a video clip, it's reminiscent of Pixar's seminal "Luxo Jr." lamp.

The bionic serpent's 40 movements can be controlled by its remote, according to Slashgear, or it can just … Read more

Pink bubbles and rubber ducks can get a little bit boring sometimes, even if they're unconventional rubber ducks. And not all of us can afford to install a Hydro-Massage Bathtub with a built-in TV. So how can you liven up the in-tub entertainment? Of course, the answer comes out of Japan. TokyoMango has written up these flashing bath balls that might just be able to elevate the common bath to an ethereal level. You fill these little guys with bath salts, put them in the tub, and they'll float and release the nice-smelling salts while flashing their lights. … Read more

--PARODIES: ZunePhone ad: Microsoft's answer to Apple's iPhone (YouTube)

--APPLE: Mac found in temple ruins of the East (CrunchGear)

--SCARY STUFF: Hello Kitty gallery (Gizmodo)

--CYBERLAW: Bloggers get first federal court press credentials (BoingBoing)

--COOL STUFF: The Internet black holes (Information Aesthetics)

--GADGETRY: The ultimate toilet for the gadget freak (UberReview)

--ONLY IN VEGAS: Qualcomm at CES (Notcot)

--WEB 2.0: What if Google and Yahoo switched designers? (TechCrunch)

--TELECOM: No Skype on mobiles anytime soon (GigaOM)

--APPLE: Ask an attorney: Apple and Cisco will share 'iPhone' (Cult of Mac)

As monitors and keyboards have slimmed down to anorexic proportions, it was only a matter of time before the mouse began to get an inferiority complex. (Society can be so cruel, even on the desktop.) So InferPoint put its product on a crash diet and came up with the "Slimouse"--shouldn't there be two M's?--which redesigned its basic form just so it could squeeze into a Size 2.

With Picasso-like inspiration, InferPoint took the standard left-right buttons and moved them to the front and rear of the mouse. And just for good measure, the scroll … Read more