optics

Sony, recognizing that not everyone is ready for Blu-ray or HD-DVD, announced three new CD/DVD burners today. The 840 series of multiformat drives includes two external models--one a slim drive designed for portability--and an internal model.

The DRU-840A (internal) and DRX-840U (external) offer the same burn speeds:

The DRU-840A is an ATAPI (EIDE) drive, while the DRX-840U is connected via USB 2.0 (or USB 1.1, with slower write speeds). Both drives come with Nero 7 Express for disc authoring and mastering. … Read more

What's a tablecloth without a table? This thing, apparently.

Through creative use of transparent acrylic, the Essey Illusion Table and Grand Illusion Table fool your eyes into believing that a tablecloth is all you need to keep your meatloaf off the ground.

The table uses solid acrylic "tablecloth" corners to provide the support needed to keep the table on terra firma.

At $225 to about $470 for the tables, depending on the size and style, you may not be in the market to buy one. But if you're an aspiring magician, you should at least bear … Read more

Researchers at Intel this week are showing off an silicon modulator that can pass 40 gigabits of data in a second, a new record that indicates that fiber-inside-computers is really coming.

A modulator is an component from the fiber optic industry. It essentially chops up light from a laser into blips that ultimately will be understood as 1s and 0s by a computer. Right now, computers (and chips) pass signals via electrons traveling along metal wires. Metal wires give off heat, which has created an energy crisis inside computer.

By contrast, fiber optics transmit data with photons, which are faster … Read more

We editors and reporters here at Crave hear a lot of product pitches. Some are right up our respective alleys, but we have to refuse a lot of them for various reasons. One of my favorite refusals was when I had to explain to the nice PR man that I wasn't going to review his CD filing solution because it didn't require power and, you know, have chips in it. But I have to eat my words right now, because I finally opened the Disc Eraser device that's been sitting on my desk for months.

The Disc … Read more

It occurs to us that the previous item may have left an erroneous impression. For the record, we wish to let it be known that not all LED products are actually useful. In fact, if Crave's posts are any indication, the superfluous may well outnumber the practical. (On second thought, Crave should never be used to judge reality in any form.)

In any event, this next example ranks right up there with the "Illuminated Handbag." The "LumiHeart" cushion is made of fiber-optic fabric lighted by batteries stuffed inside, according to Gizmodiva. There's apparently a … Read more

Way back in the day, when I was a college student and dinosaurs roamed the earth, I "borrowed" one of those yellow, flashing construction lights from in front of my apartment.

It was all good times and high-fives 'til I realized those lights are darkness-activated. In other words, it was hard to sleep with a construction light blinking nonstop in my room. It wasn't long before I returned it to the site from which I "borrowed" it.

The only reason I bring this up is because I just stumbled upon the battery-powered LumiGram luminous pillowcase. … Read more

As you may recall, Mike didn't really like the LED handbag that he blogged a few weeks ago, comparing it to The Blob. I think it bears more of a resemblance to a jellyfish, but that's beside the point.

Yes, the LED handbag was pretty ugly, but illuminated cloth objects don't have to be. I just found out about LumiGram, a French site that sells fabric commodities like bags, tank tops, and yes, tablecloths that are equipped with plastic optical fibers woven alongside the regular threads. They're powered by (allegedly) discreet batteries and are hand-washable.

The … Read more

Now this is something with potential for some fun. The "Mirage 3D Hologram Generator" is a precision optical instrument that claims to generate a perfect image and, as Newlaunches says, you don't need a Ph.D to work it. All you need to do is place an object in the small bowl, and what appears to be a detailed replica will hover over it.

We're a bit wary of passing along anything sold through a site with a name like "Eyetricks.com," but it insists that the $36 device has been used in schools … Read more

Even though we rail against tiny products that defy common sense, we still like small laptops (we're an enigma). So we naturally clicked on Pocket-lint's headline trumpeting a "smallest and lightest" notebook from U.K.-based Evesham.

The dimensions are certainly small enough for a laptop with 12.1-inch screen: It measures about 11 by 9.4 inches and 1.4 inches thick. But the "Light Book" tips the scales at more than 2.6 pounds--not tubby, but certainly nowhere near as light as Sony's recently announced laptop under 2 pounds.

The reason … Read more