Crave

Just when we thought Plantronics couldn't improve their Discovery 600 headset series any more, here it comes with a brand new update, the Plantronics Discovery 665, which debuted at CES 2007.

Though it isn't a significant upgrade from the Plantronics Discovery 655, there are a few notable improvements. First, the headset itself is much slimmer and smaller than its predecessor. Second, it is packaged with a new sound-enhancement technology, AudioIQ, which optimizes sound quality on both sides of every call. And third, it comes with a sparkly headset-charging pocket that lights up whenever there's an incoming call. … Read more

Ambient light is the enemy of video fidelity for any display, because external light that hits the screen dilutes the light produced by the display. Plasma HDTVs are more susceptible to the wiles of bright room light because their screens are essentially big, reflective panes of glass, unlike the less-reflective plastic screens of flat-panel LCD TVs and rear-projection HDTVs. Last year, Samsung tried to address that issue with FilterBright, a technology it says helps reduce glare and otherwise improves the image quality in bright light. In my tests last year of models like the HP-S5053, I couldn't detect much … Read more

If there were no buttons on your cell phone, imagine how big the screen could be.

Synaptics is doing just that with its Onyx phone, a new concept in cell phone technology. Shaped like a remote, it's a bar-style phone that would integrate GPS, music, teleconferencing and calendar events.

But the coolest part is the screen, which takes up nearly the whole handset. Synaptics calls it ClearPad, a thin, high-resolution touch screen based on the company's proprietary sensing technology. With it, there would be no need for buttons to input information. Information can be entered into the Onyx … Read more

Motorola's Follow Me TV feature for its DVR set-top boxes lets users choose which TV to watch a recorded TV show on.

Instead of keeping content stored on only that TV, Follow Me TV lets users bring TV with them from room to room. Any recorded show is aggregated and made available on any TV on the network. In addition to TV programs, music and photos can also follow to any TV, and the content can also be sent to portable devices.

Or, as Motorola CEO Ed Zander demonstrated for the audience here at CES 2007, you can pause … Read more

As if heading up a ramp to Noah's ark, the Flash and DVD models move in pairs. Panasonic at least manages to differentiate the models a bit. The DVD-based HDC-DX1, announced this week, and the SD card-based HDC-SD1 (announced in late 2006), are the latest pair of AVCHD cancorders to get on the boat. Both incorporate a trio of 1/4-inch, 580K-pixel CCDs, a 12x zoom, and an optical image stabilizer. The DX1 has dual-layer support, as well as DVD-RAM capability.

The difference? Aside from some design tweaks made necessary by the different media support, the DX1 seems … Read more

The fact that Dual can call its new XMC100 in-car stereo a "multimedia receiver" without including a CD slot is a sign of the digital-audio times. The XMC100 features three options for playing digital media, without a disc in sight: a 3.5-inch jack, an SD Card slot, and a USB port.

The XMC100 also can be used as a satellite radio receiver for Sirius Satellite Radio. Drivers can see what's playing on the unit's black-and-white dot-matrix display. The XMC100 features an internal 240-watt (60x4) MOSFET amplifier, as well as source audio memory and five selectable … Read more

Imagine being able to recharge your laptop by placing it on a pad. The people at WildCharge hope you can. In fact, they're betting that you're also sick of buying different power cords for every gadget you own--cell phone, smart phone, MP3 player, etc.

The WildCharger from Arizona-based WildCharge is the latest attempt to bring wireless power mainstream. The device works using a small flexible pad, approximately 6 inches by 15 inches on which gadgets or laptops are placed. The pad does have a wire and plugs into the wall. A receiver either integrated into a phone or … Read more

Thousands of people pay thousands of dollars to have flat-panel HDTVs mounted on the wall with no visible wires. Samsung's FP-T5894W, the first mainstream large-screen "wireless" TV that I've seen, aims to make those wireless-looking installations a lot cheaper and easier. Like most "wireless" A/V gear, it does require one cord--to supply AC power--but that's it. The rack full of A/V equipment that accompanies any self-respecting plasma installation connects to the FP-T5894W's "wireless A/V center," which the company claims can sit up to 300 feet away from … Read more

It's now T minus one day until the big Apple keynote, where everyone's expecting a new iPod phone to be announced (I'm still skeptical). But now that I've been at CES for a couple of days, I'm starting to wonder: is Apple too late?

At the very least, I've already gotten good looks at two cool form factors for music-playing phones. The first one is the Samsung Ultra Music, which is a phone on one side and an MP3 player on the other, and it's thinner than a Razr. Granted, it's sporting … Read more