Crave

Netgear Storage Central, round two

At a CES 2007 press conference this morning, Netgear announced the second iteration of its Storage Central device, the Storage Central Turbo (SC101T). As its name implies, it's faster than its predecessor, because of a Gigabit Ethernet connection. It still comes with two empty drive bays, into which you can install Serial ATA hard drives from any vendor and of any capacity. Conceivably, with Seagate's expected 1TB, 3.5-inch drives, you could easily have a 2TB SAN box on your network at a fraction of what you'd pay for a 2TB external drive. The two-drive setup allows … Read more

JVC tweaks midclass Everio camcorders

The highlight of JVC's Everio models for 2007 is the Gigabrid image-processing engine--an update that's sorely needed, given the poor quality we've seen from past single-chip units. And it must be better than its predecessor, Megabrid, because it's Giga, right? They all have 30GB hard drives, and JVC has added support for high-capacity SD cards, as well as compatibility with the company's DVD dock. The MG555 gets a bump up to a 5-megapixel sensor, too.

GZ-MG130, $499.95, January

GZ-MG155, $599.95, February

GZ-MG255, $699.95, February

GZ-MG555, $899.95, March

Cingular to bring video calling, with the LG CU500v

You'll probably see more about this as CES 2007 progresses, but Cingular (or is it AT&T?) announced a new video calling service, which makes it the first carrier in the U.S. to offer live mobile video calls. The video calls are one-way for now, however, meaning only one party can stream the video while the other party watches. The first phone to feature it is the LG CU500v, which is a slightly upgraded version of the HSDPA-capable LG CU500. I received confirmation from an LG representative that existing LG CU500 users can simply upgrade the … Read more

A social TV network

MediaZone will debut Social TV here at CES 2007, a mix of Internet television, MySpace, and instant messaging.

It's professionally produced online content that can be streamed or downloaded from the ad-supported site. The idea is to let users give feedback on, chat about, and rate programming, as well as forward the good stuff to friends. It's like YouTube, but from pros. Social TV aims to create global online TV channels that can be launched without the restraints of traditional television.

MediaZone has a shared-streaming technology allows users to securely share video packets, which lower the distribution cost … Read more

Dual's new line of in-car multimedia players

Dual Electronics is bringing a haul of new in-car navigation- and multimedia systems to this year's CES in Las Vegas. Leading the product lineup is the XDVDN8290, a SD card-based navigation system and multimedia player, which features a 6.5-inch motorized touch screen display similar to the one we reviewed last year on the XDVD8182. In addition to its turn-by-turn voice guidance for navigation, the XDVDN8290 plays DVDs, CDs, and MP3- and WMA-encoded discs.

Dual's IPlug interface also enables drivers to have direct touch-screen control over digital music files on their connected iPods (we'll have to wait … Read more

Verizon Wireless to bring TV to phones

CES 2007 has barely begun but Verizon Wireless should strike an early blow today by announcing it will soon bring full-length TV shows to its phones. Though the company is waiting for a 12:30 p.m. press conference to break the official news, the New York Times reported the plan yesterday. And indeed, Verizon employees wearing "Verizon TV" badges have been scurrying around the Palms Hotel, where the announcement will take place.

According to the Times, the service will be available by the end of March and will feature shows from NBC, CBS, Fox, MTV, and possibly … Read more

JVC's HD-resolution camcorder. First? Doesn't matter.

Leave it to JVC to do something just a little bit different with its high-end consumer products. The company's Everio GZ-HD7, announced today at CES, has all the right creds: three progressive-scan 1/5-inch chips; a Fujinon HD broadcast lens; a hard disk capable of recording five hours of maximum-quality video; and a reasonable $1,799.95 price tag. JVC bills the GZ-HD7 as the first consumer model that records full HD video, which might be true; I could swear that Sony's AVCHD models record at the same 1920x1080 resolution, but I don't have time to check (… Read more

Landline or Skype? Netgear lets you have both.

Netgear announced today a dual-mode cordless Wi-Fi phone that supports both traditional landlines and Skype VoIP calling. The Netgear SPH200D Dual-Mode DECT Cordless Phone With Skype has a base unit that plugs into both your network router and a phone jack, allowing you to switch between Skype calls and traditional calls. It uses the 1.9GHz band, which should keep it clear of interference from your (or your neighbor's) wireless network. You can view your regular contacts and your Skype contacts, on the handset's screen, and when making a call to a non-Skype user, you can choose whether … Read more

LG debuts a combination Blu-ray and HD DVD player

At a press conference today at CES 2007, LG introduced the first player capable of playing both Blu-ray and HD DVD discs. The words on the drawer of the player read "Super Multi Blue Player," but the model number is simply BH100. The player will be available as early as the first week of February at Best Buy and Circuit City among other outlets, according to the company, and will cost $1,199. At least for now, this announcement appears to be the most significant news at the show.

In case there was any doubt of the unit'… Read more