Fashion

It's become standard practice in the consumer electronics industry: When it doubt, paint it pink. But strategies like that usually work best when a color is still hot, or at least lukewarm.

Perhaps that explains why Microsoft--rarely accused of setting trends these days--is coming out with a pink Zune now. Cliczune says EBgames.com has confirmed that the pastel version of the media player will be available May 1 for $250 with the standard 30GB storage capacity.

We doubt that the new hue will propel the Zune over the iPod anytime soon, but there was a fair amount of … Read more

Some manufacturers are clearly hell-bent on making USB keys look like fine jewelry. And unlike most of these attempts (Swarovski), some of them actually seem to be done in relative good taste.

But we have to ask: When one of these products clearly looks like it belongs in a jewelry case, like the "i-Disk Vogue" from Pretec, why bother to include a USB drive at all? BornRich says this "pendant drive" is available in storage sizes up to 8GB and can work with the latest Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems, but we seriously doubt that … Read more

While U.S. high schools students dominate in the kegger-fueled, jackass video art form, their counterparts in Singapore are pulling ahead with what could be the most significant innovation in individual camouflage since the gilly suit--a military uniform that changes color.

The students accomplished this, shockingly, "by using a material that can change colours," the Singapore News helpfully explained. Actually they relied on electrochromism, a process that causes electroactive material to change color when an "electric field is applied."

The students belong to the Young Defense Scientists Program, which the country's leaders hope will create … Read more

For the nonartistic, color theory is hard to grasp. Each color, hue, shade, and tone has its own complementing and clashing colors. Put complementary colors with each other, and you have a pleasantly fashionable apartment/ensemble/desktop scheme. Put clashing colors together, and people will think you're colorblind.

Now you can keep all those different colors together on your iPod. Gizmodo reported on the Koloroo KolorWheel, an iPod widget that turns your iPod into a color wheel. Spinning the iPod Click Wheel cycles through the color wheel, so you can see exactly how any shade of any color looks … Read more

The solar-powered hat fan taught us how to survive the summer heat, but what about the winter doldrums? Enter the "Feel Bright Light" from Hollywood Gadgets. A set of LED bulbs affixed underneath the brim of a visor bathe your face in happy light to help ward off seasonal affective disorder, for a mere $200. Our take: We'd rather stay in a permanent funk.

Anti-aging products are everywhere. Most of them merit nary the blink of an eye on Crave, as we choose to focus on personal technology, not personal vanity. Sometimes, however, the two intersect. We recently read on Textually that the French cosmetic company Clarins has launched a new product specifically geared toward protecting one's skin from the effects of cell phone radiation. Really? I knew cell phones gave you brain tumors and killed sperm, but apparently now they can give you wrinkles, too. In other words, your Prada phone might be killing that youthful glow! Quel horreur!

But never fear. … Read more

When I hear the phrase 'light-up jewelry,' the image that typically comes to mind is one of flashing plastic rings that were given away as favors at 10th-birthday parties back in the day. (Or of ravers.) However, there seems to be a luxe version of just about everything these days (case in point: Dance Dance Revolution) and as I learned from Yanko Design, luminescent jewelry is no exception.

The "Aurora" accessories designed by Kyeok Kim are intended, according to the designer, to "reinterpret the meaning of ornamentation on the body by projecting various patterns of light on … Read more

What's a sure sign that a gadget has finally arrived? When you start to see versions of it in chrome.

The Wii has graduated from standard colors to the hard stuff: the chrome "I-Case." XCM Live is taking pre-orders for the shiny console case mod for $38, according to Technabob.

Considering how much color PlayStation 3s have gone for on eBay, that's a relative bargain.

While so many other computer companies are trying to hide their CPUs, a handful of brave mavericks are actually trying to draw more attention to them. But that doesn't mean they're building the standard and deadly boring old gray boxes.

Directron, for example, is selling one that looks more like a rubber ball than a PC--hence its name, the "Ball PC System." Not much is offered in the way of specs, pricing or availability, but SCI FI Tech says the shiny sphere splits open, spaceship-style, to reveal a 40GB hard drive between its hemispheres.

That means … Read more