Crave

Polaroid popped up on our radar again, this time introducing a handy photo backup device.

Plugging the portable storage device into a computer's USB port automatically prompts it to find and copy any images stored on the computer. The Media Backup Photo Edition, which comes in black or white, does not require installing software or clicking a sync button to activate but works automatically through its "ClickFree" technology.

The 2.5-inch 40GB hard drive can hold up to about 40,000 photos and can be used with Internet services for sharing and printing.

Polaroid launched the new media backup device … Read more

Wet foam-based ear-pads are the natural result of heavy exercise while listening to music. Jensen addresses this soggy problem with its SportFone MP3 neck-phones (JHM3005). Rather than foam, the ear pieces are made of sweat-repelling and hypoallergenic silicon.

Sportfone comes in two flavors, a 512MB (due in February and priced at $69.99) and a 1GB version (due in summer 2007 but no price has been announced). An included USB cable facilitates music to neck-phone transfers of MP3 and WMA files, and the gray-and-orange wrap-around phones come in a soft-sided, foam-filled orange carrying case.

In a practice jaunt around the … Read more

Ever since Sonos opened the door for whole-house iPod wireless network solutions, numerous firms have tried to produce less expensive alternatives that also avoid the DRM issue, such as the conceptually similar but not as pricey Creative XDock systems. But both the Sonos and the Creative XDock require the addition of separate speakers.

Griffin's Evolve is a less ambitious $349 whole-house solution operating in the 900MHz spectrum. But for the money, you get a base that charges and broadcasts your music and video through two included speakers. Essentially, the twin 4-inch-square speakers charge on the transmitter base, then can … Read more

Add Eton to the growing list of manufacturers such as iHome and DLO adding iPod to a clock radio so that you can wake up to your own music. But the company has gone one step further and added Sirius satellite radio connectivity to its new Sound 101 AM/FM clock radio. Unfortunately, the iPod doesn't dock on the Sound 101 (April, $150), but jacks in via a separate charging dock, which could be an ungainly arrangement on a small night table. You also have to add your own Sirius receiver.

A second Eton expandable alarm clock, the Sound … Read more

Controlling your tunes from across the room can be difficult. Now, iSkin's new Cerulean RX+TX Bluetooth solution forgoes the need for a separate remote by using your very own iPod to control your music on an iPod dock connector-enabled device. I got a chance to play around with this tonight, and the big deal here is the range, which is around 100 meters. What's nice is that when you get out of range, the music cuts out completely; there's no distortion or signal loss like you get with some FM transmitters.

The kit uses two pieces, … Read more

When people think of the high end speaker maker Thiel, affordable isn't the first word that comes to mind (though quality certainly is). But, they're working to change that (the affordable part). For the first time in the company's history, they've introduced a box speaker (i.e. not an in-wall) for under $1,000, the new Coherent Source SCS4 LCR two-way bookshelf speaker. Thiel mounts the two drivers in a coaxial design, which means that its 1-inch metal dome tweeter is mounted in the middle the 6.5-inch woofer. If you didn't know better, you … Read more

Putting Ohio State's poor showing last night in the BCS Championship game behind them, Ohio-based Micro Center had a few Vista desktop and laptop prototypes on display at CES. The big news on its PowerSpec desktop line is the addition of a Lian Li chassis for its high-end gaming PCs. The Lian Li chassis is an all-aluminum, tool-free unit that will be used on two highest-end models, the G450 and the G430. Lian Li makes some of the best PC enclosures around, and it should help the PowerSpec name garner some respect among gamers.

Likewise, Micro Center's WinBook … Read more

At CES Samsung showed off a quirky cell phone that takes "thin" to a whole level. It's not thin from the side like the Motorola Razr, but rather it's exceptionally slim when measured across its front face. The GSM Samsung SGH-X830 measures about an inch wide and sports a swivel form factor in a gallery of colors, including black, green, red and blue. Features are impressive for such a small phone. Inside is a 2-megapixel camera, a digital music player, multiformat video support, 1GB of flash memory, stereo Bluetooth, a 65,536-color display and USB 2.… Read more

With the iPhone, Apple just may have an everything-killer on its hands. Is it the ultimate gadget? If so, is it worth $600 for eight gigs of its magicks? Or $500 for four gigs? Them's PS3 prices!

Granted, we haven't even laid a finger on the thing yet, let alone reviewed it. That said, Apple seems to have killed several birds with one stone by addressing some of the iPod's shortcomings while creating a buzz-inducing all-in-one supergadget that everyone will want. And here is why.