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An adapter for all kinds of media

At CES 2007, Zyxel announced the DMA-1000, a digital media adapter for serving up multimedia files from the PCs in your home to your home entertainment system. The small adapter resembles a wireless router and, in fact, supports both wired and wireless connections via Ethernet and 802.11g Wi-Fi. In addition, it offers a USB port so that you can play files from any USB-based storage device, such as a flash thumbdrive or an MP3 player.

The DMA-1000 supports high-def streaming (1080i) and includes an HDMI connector, as well as S-Video. Unfortunately, 802.11g throughput is insufficient for HD streams, … Read more

Eton bows Apple Hi-Fi-like iPod speaker with more features

You may not have heard much about Eton, the sole licensee of Grundig for all of North America, but you may have seen some of its portable radio products in a Sharper Image catalog. The company had a well-priced and decent-performing iPod speaker last year, the Eton Sound 50, and at CES it was showing a couple of new products, including the Apple Hi-Fi-like Sound 200, which will come out in March for $250. Along with an iPod dock on top of the speaker, there's also a USB port for playing back tunes from a USB thumbdrive and … Read more

AMD has big plans for small computers

At CES 2007, AMD announced a plan to standardize the motherboard, chassis and basic components for those popular "small-form-factor" PCs. The goal of its new DTX standard is to help component and system makers focus on common layouts for motherboard inputs, mounting holes and other design elements to encourage more companies to carry Shuttle-style and even smaller PCs. Motherboard manufacturers Asus and MSI have already committed to producing DTX hardware, and AMD expects to send a reference design to system builders some time this quarter.

If you recall Intel's BTX initiative, you'll remember that it was … Read more

I-mate Pdal makes debut at CES

In addition to the I-mate Jaq3 announcement today, I-mate also introduced the I-mate PDAL. Sans QWERTY keyboard and sporting a trimmer package (4.4x2.2x0.6 inches; 4.1 ounces) than the Jaq3, it's a quad-band smart phone running Windows Mobile 5, and it doesn't include anything revolutionary, but it has all the necessities for a mobile professional. It features a 2.4-inch, 65,000-color touch screen; integrated Wi-Fi (802.11b/g); Bluetooth; and a 2-megapixel camera. Like the Jaq3, it'll be available unlocked at the end of January, but no pricing information has been set.

What? You still want more Macworld goodies?

If you're still eager for more photo and video content from yesterday's bonanza at Macworld, look no further.

Video: First Look at the iPhone. Declan McCullagh braves the hordes of Apple fanatics to actually get a look at the hallowed iPhone, despite the fact that Jobs & co. won't actually let anyone touch it. Video: First Look at Apple TV. Unlike the iPhone, the Apple TV box was actually on hand for visitors to get their grubby fingers on it. Here's Declan's take. Video: Apple TV at Steve Jobs' keynote. It wasn't webcast, but … Read more

Eco-design follows emerging 'UFO trend'

You know, we track some wacky trends here on Crave. There are the Color-Changey Things, and the Stupid USB Devices, and of course Anthropomorphic Audio. And recently I've been spotting another one: things shaped like UFOs. There's that bug-killing gadget that flies, and a cute little saucer to manage hands-free electronic activity in cars. The latest in this emerging trend is the Neues Licht UFO Light, a German lighting concept that is shaped like something that might have appeared in an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

The Neues Licht UFO is made mostly out of glass fibers, … Read more

Catch ya on the flip-side

Warner Bros. will be making some of its films available on "Total Hi Def" DVDs, which are, ingeniously, HD DVD on one side and Blu-ray on the other.

The combo discs are the same size as always but contain both single and dual layers for both formats. A Total Hi Def DVD can have 15GB or 30GB on the HD DVD side and 25GB or 50GB on the Blu-ray side.

The Total Hi Def DVDs (THD DVDs? THDs?) will begin appearing some time after July, in conjunction with normal movie-to-DVD release schedules, Warner Bros. said at CES.

The … Read more

Apple. Google. Yahoo. Strange bedfellows?

It's pretty obvious: Everyone's talking about Apple's iPhone, from its touch-screen interface to the "close to the ear" sensor to the fact that it's actually called the iPhone (since Linksys did get there first.) But from our perspective, one of the most fascinating and least-talked-about aspects of the just-announced iPhone is Apple's collaboration with Web giants Google and Yahoo on some of the new device's features.

More specifically, Apple has teamed up with Google to bring two of its most popular Web applications to the iPhone: Google Search and Maps. Google's … Read more

Weblog Awards Nominations: Deadline TONIGHT!

As we posted last week, nominations are out for the 2007 Weblog Awards, or Bloggies. If you like what you're reading on Crave, particularly our coverage of CES, Macworld, and the Detroit Auto Show; we'd be more than honored if you'd consider us for the nominations round. The deadline is 10 PM Eastern time tonight.

Crave is eligible for the following categories:

Best American Weblog Best Computers or Technology Weblog Most Humorous Weblog Best Writing of a Weblog Best Group Weblog Best New Weblog Weblog of the Year (if you really love us!)