Crave

I met with HP this morning to hear how its new MediaSmart TVs work with your Media Center PC ecosystem. (Takeaway: the TVs will play your PC-stored digital media, but you have to use Windows Media Player 11, and FairPlay-protected media from the iTunes Store won't work. Also, the built-in 802.11n wireless networking is a much-needed high-bandwidth touch.) The highlight of the meeting, though, was when a member of HP's PR team stepped in to hand the PR manager giving the presentation a write-up of the just-announced Apple TV device.

In a heretofore-unseen display of marketing agility, … Read more

In-dash navigation and entertainment systems are great if you're the driver, but not so much fun for the front passenger. Not only do those riding shotgun have their navigational responsibilities usurped by an electronic processor, they're also forced to wait until the car is stopped to watch movies or even program in a destination.

There is a good reason behind this, of course--drivers can't have the distraction of a movie playing while racing along in the fast lane of the freeway, and punching in a destination on the touch screen is a dangerous diversion from the road. … Read more

During his Macworld keynote speech, Steve Jobs played a congratulatory voice message from friend Al Gore on the droolworthy new iPhone, then used that device to locate the DVD of An Inconvenient Truth at the top of Amazon's bestseller list.

Outside the convention center's doors, however, Greenpeace activists handed out flyers painting Apple as less than hip to ecological problems, urging the company to remove toxicants from its products and set up free hardware recycling. Several blocks away, members of the environmental group also projected pictures of Asian electronics waste scrap yards onto a wall of the downtown … Read more

DISCLAIMER: This beverage is in no way sanctioned by Steve Jobs or Apple Computer. But we're sure he'd drink one if we made him one.

Well, it's over. The Jobs keynote, that is--Macworld itself is still going on strong. But many of those who were photographing, blogging, or just rabidly following the event are probably now thinking, "Man, I could use a drink." So we at Crave put our heads together to come up with the recipe for the perfect drink to follow a Steve Jobs' keynote. So here, ladies and gentlemen, is how to … Read more

Well, this is a first...the first one I've seen, anyway. Yesterday at CES, Viewsonic announced the ViewDock projector, which features a built-in iPod dock. According to Viewsonic's press release, iPod users are "three times as likely to download video clips, movies and Web casts to their computers"--the company is obviously interested in capitalizing on this fact. Viewsonic asserts that the ViewDock is great for on-the-go sharing, but at 3-plus pounds and roughly 12 x 10 x 5 inches (my estimate), it's not really all that portable. In a car, certainly, but I wouldn'… Read more

In 2006, we saw a few DVD players that could upscale to 1080p, but you had to pay a little extra for the cutting-edge technology. At CES 2007, several manufacturers have announced 1080p-upscaling DVD players, with most of the prices hovering right around $100. And while the LG Super Multi Blue Player is certainly the biggest video disc player of the show, we're betting plenty of people will be jumping on these 1080p players as a relatively cheap way to make their DVD collection look a little better.

Pioneer so far has the cheapest 1080p-upscaling DVD player we've … Read more

LG has announced a whole slew of new LCDs for 2007 at CES, 20 models in all. The press release is light on details--we didn't learn any pricing or availability--but we did get a basic outline of what each new series will have.

The LC7 series has screen sizes ranging from 26 to 47 inches. The 47-inch model is a 1080p set, but LG didn't reveal the native resolutions of the others. LG says there will be at least two HDMI inputs on every LCD larger than 26 inches, so that means every set in the LC7 series … Read more

The headline on Dish Network's press release says "free high-definition DVR," but the fine print is a bit less exciting. The company introduced two new programming packages, called DishDVR Advantage and Dish DVR Advantage HD, that are said to reduce the cost of items purchased separately--as much as seven percent for the first package (woo hoo!). The "free high-definition DVR," a ViP-622 normally available for $199, is part of the HD version. For the reasonable cost of $69.99 per month, customers will receive the DVR, the satcaster's 30 national HD channels (more info), … Read more

They lack the sizzle of Philips' new portable DVD players, which include iPod docks and displays that swivel 180 degrees. But Toshiba's new line of "premium" portable DVD players offer larger screen sizes, an updated design and, the company claims, longer battery life.

The top-of-the-line SD-P2900 has a 10.2-inch wide-screen LCD screen, four-in-one (SD, MMC, MS, and xD) memory card slot and component-video output. Battery life is rated at six hours. The SD-P2900 will be available in March for $300.

The midrange SD-P1900 has a 9-inch wide-screen LCD screen with a new black acrylic top, dual … Read more