gear

Editor's note: This live blog has concluded. Click on the module below to replay the blog or read our summary posts: "Madden NFL 13 gets 'better with Kinect,' launches Aug. 28"; "Microsoft plans to bring over 35 more content providers to Xbox"; "Microsoft unveils Xbox Music"; "Microsoft unveils Smart Glass, a multiscreen entertainment platform"; "Kinect-enhanced IT coming to Xbox," and "Xbox throws down gauntlet to Apple TV (and Wii U) at E3."

You've read the speculation. There's nothing left to do now but wait to … Read more

Congrats to George C. of Burlington, Conn., for winning a puzzle package from Marbles: The Brain Store in last week's giveaway. This week's winner gets a whole panoply of geeky gifts, $500 worth, courtesy of gadget manufacturer and retailer KlearGear.com.

KlearGear.com sells more than 1,000 gadgets, desk toys, and geek decor items, the kind of stuff you'll definitely be familiar with if you read Crave regularly (and you do, right?!).

Some of the site's top sellers include a Transforming Solar Robot, LED Shoelaces, a USB Retro Lamp, an Arcade Alarm Clock, and a Swearing Punching Bag. But it's totally up to you how you want to cash in your $500 gift certificate.

So how do you go about trying to win a KlearGear.com shopping spree? There are a few rules, so please read carefully; there will be a test. … Read more

I'm addicted to the original British "Top Gear" car show. As much as I love to watch them run a Bugatti Veyron down an airplane runway, though, I know I'll never get within spitting distance of a blazing fast car like that.

With a Max Speed Speedometer Car Watch from Gadgets and Gear, I could at least pretend I'm sitting behind the wheel of a vehicle with nifty light-up gauges.

The LED display glows with blue lights while red needles track the time.… Read more

They say the shoes make the geek... or something like that. You don't have to wear a GameBoy dress or glowing Tron T-shirt to radiate your geekiness, however. Just throw on the right pair of shoes.

Geek Sneaks from geek outfitter KlearGear.com are designed for code monkeys, scientists, astronomers, and engineers. The shoe design is a simple slip-on, but it's the patterns that really stand out.… Read more

Why now? Because I finally got approval from CBS corporate to buy a MakerBot Replicator. Then it took a few weeks for MakerBot to build the unit.

MakerBot isn't loaning out Replicators for review. The company says it can't produce them in enough volume yet, citing an eight-week lead time because of current demand. (MakerBot did expedite my order.)

I picked up our unit yesterday from the company's office in Brooklyn, sparing us shipping costs and the risk of damage in-transit (you can check here for Daniel Terdiman's report on his own visit to MakerBot HQ). Total cost with the dual-extruder head was $1,999.

How do I justify spending $2,000 of CBS money on a niche product like a 3D printer? If you believe the hype, these devices have the same consumer/professional cross-over potential as Adobe's Photoshop. And through its enthusiastic, infectious marketing of both itself and 3D printing in general, MakerBot has become the industry's flagship company.… Read more

I spent the better part of my twenties pursuing electronic-music rock stardom. Obviously, I failed.

I had some fun along the way, though, which is a rare achievement in a music genre that traditionally splits the duties of creating the music (studio-dwelling producers) and performing the music (fun-loving DJs).

Through trial and error, and many horrible shows, I had a profound realization. The secret to a great show as a DJ or electronic musician is to stop worrying about the audience having fun and focus on entertaining yourself. If an audience can see that you're happy and engaged in something you love, they're more inclined to have fun too.

This same philosophy can be found in the products made by San Francisco-based DJ TechTools. The company made its name by customizing existing DJ products with oversize arcade buttons, letting DJs wail on their gear in a far more expressive way than traditional controls allowed. Since then, the company has evolved its own line of DJ products, which continue to put fun at the forefront of the design. … Read more

Robotspeak does not sell actual robots -- though I never tired of getting that question from people who wandered through the door. There are many delightful things you buy on San Francisco's historic Haight Street, but to the best of my knowledge, robots are not one of them.

In spite of the occasional befuddlement of robot shoppers, Robotspeak is a fitting name for a shop that specializes in the type of unique audio gear and music recording software perfect for composing symphonies of synthetic bleeps and squelches.

Robotspeak's walls are lined with synthesizers, drum machines, mixers, effect pedals, and MIDI controllers. But more importantly, the shop is filled with the kind of geektastic sound toys that bigger stores wouldn't risk carrying.

So why am I writing about Robotspeak here on Crave? Well, I might be biased, but I think a shop like this is even more precious and worthy of geek attention than the sum of the gear contained inside it. Like Crave itself, Robotspeak is a place for a curious cross section of obsessives and coveters of technology. … Read more

Is wearable technology going to be the next big thing?

For Microsoft, it may be the next step in gaming. Patent Bolt discovered a new Microsoft patent application detailing how a compact display system will work on goggles, helmets, and other eyewear.

According to the application, the company has been working on a gaming helmet accessory for its Xbox console, as well as a pair of glasses to be used with smartphones and other portable devices, since the third quarter of 2010. … Read more

I haven't left my office once today without bringing our octopus to show someone.

This thing is fascinating, both in terms of how it came to be, and also for how good it looks. It still has a few wisps of plastic hanging off it. Each eye socket also has a small loop of plastic drooping down from where it meets the head. For those few lines, gravity apparently overcame the adhesion properties of the melted filament.

But I still can't stop marveling at the contours of the design. From the shape of its bulbous head, to the … Read more