Crave

While browsing my RSS feeds this morning, I noticed that some particularly unusual Apple-related rumors were circulating about the series of tubes. So I decided to turn it into a game. Now, if you're a rabid Jobsian who follows all those Apple gossip blogs as though they were Us Weekly, you'll find this little quiz a cinch. But for those of you who aren't, answer this for me--Which of the following "Apple rumors" are legitimate rumors, and which ones did I just make up on the spot?

Three are real. The others are figments of … Read more

To all of you who've been craving an ultraportable MacBook: Steve Jobs hears you.

Gizmodo and a few other sources are pointing to two Apple patent applications, published today, as evidence that a smaller MacBook (or MacBook Pro) will be forthcoming. The applications describe an optical disc drive that's accessible via the bottom of a laptop and a novel "access system" for removing discs from the upside-down drive. Why put the drive on the bottom of the laptop? To clear up room for more ports along the edges of an ever-thinner-and-smaller laptop, of course.

We're … Read more

We've never been big fans of the "Robosapien," figuring that it would probably get stomped by more powerful bots if it ever got into trouble at a robo-bar. But the "Homersapien"? Now we're talking. Everyone's favorite animated dolt has been morphed into a version of Wowwee's best-selling robot, along with Spider-Man, at the London Toy Fair.

The "Spidersapien" speaks Spidey-talk and "pretends to shoot webs with 'Web-shooter' noises," according to Pocket-lint. The Homersapien, on the other hand, doesn't do much other than utter monosyllabic phrases, true to … Read more

Palm OS will now be known as Garnet OS, Access announced Thursday. Garnet was originally the code name used by PalmSource for Palm OS 5.4, the most current version of the software.

The renaming is part of a process begun in October 2006, when Access announced that its subsidiary, PalmSource, the developer of Palm OS, would also take the name Access.

Access is removing all vestiges of Palm from its products as part of a previous agreement to sell PalmSource's rights in the Palm Trademark Holding Company to Palm, according to a statement.

Weren't we just talking about companies overdoing the whole Valentine pitch thing? Creative Technology is the latest to aim Cupid's arrow with a "special Valentine's Day edition" of its Zen Neeon 2 player. Available only in Japan (thankfully), it comes in your choice of six designs that can be engraved with your personal love notes, according to Newlaunches. At least an MP3 player is something your significant other might actually want, as opposed to a flash drive or an alarm clock.

In case you haven't noticed, one of Crave's more distinguishing features is paranoia over a vast number of issues. But one of them we've yet to explore in depth is our fear of having a laptop stolen at a Wi-Fi coffee shop while we are, er, preoccupied.

That's why we like the idea of the "Bodyguard," a tracking system that triggers an alarm whenever your designated possessions are separated from you by a predetermined distance. It's similar in concept to other wireless transmitters, but at $40 the Bodyguard is a lot cheaper than … Read more

When we began out campaign for wireless home audio systems, little did we know how many others shared our opinion. Even big-name companies are joining the fray, the latest being Sony.

Its VAIO WA1 "Wireless Digital Streamer" lets you "stream music from your PC and listen to it where you want--be it the bedroom, kitchen or anywhere else in the house," according to TechShout. The $350 device is a bit steep for our taste, but that's Sony for you. Our only question is: What took them so long?

As a lover of literature, I am the first to applaud the creative brilliance of the epistolary novel: Nabokov's Ada, Walker's The Color Purple. Hell, even the Griffin and Sabine series provided a unique tactile approach to "eavesdropping" on people's correspondence.

But I'm not sure I could get excited over reading pages and pages of fictitious text messages. The Finnish publisher, Tammi, thinks I, and you, will.

The Last Messages by Hannu Luntiala is a novel of 1,000 SMS messages. The novel is the story of an IT guy who drops out of … Read more

It's not unusual for companies to recycle their marketing pitches for Valentine's Day, desperate to clear inventory that didn't sell over the holiday season. But some are stretching the concept of romantic gifts to ridiculous extremes.

We thought an e-book reader was an odd choice, not to mention the ill-advised "Sonic Bomb" Valentine. But then we heard of Lexar's idea to engrave its $73 "JumpDrive Lightning" with some romantic message.

"Pre-load it with a few of your significant other's favorite love songs. Throw on some photos of the two of … Read more