special

Hewlett-Packard is throwing its hat into the expanding ring of companies with a thing for green. If you're serious about doing your part to protect the environment or you just want a stylish-looking monitor and desktop, the company has some new options for you.

On Monday, HP announced two new desktops and one new display. According to the company, all three have been designed to have a reduced impact on the environment.

The HP Pavilion Verde Special Edition a6645f and HP Pavilion Phoenix Special Edition a6655f are the two new eco PCs, and the 25.5-inch HP w2558hc is the new eco-friendly display.

According to HP, both PCs are Energy Star qualified and meet the standards for "silver" registration in the Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT). Each PC features a power management tool that purportedly provides up to 45 percent energy savings compared with PCs without power management enabled. … Read more

Hewlett-Packard and world-renowned Asian fashion designer Vivienne Tam have been working together to create the HP Vivienne Tam Special Edition notebook. However, anyone attending Tam's fashion show during New York's Fashion Week at Bryant Park Tuesday has probably already seen it.

The special-edition notebook--which looks to be an HP mini-note, except it's sporting a 10-inch screen--debuted with the usual fanfare a fashion show receives at Fashion Week, but with a high-tech twist.

Models sashayed onto the catwalk workin' the designer notebook as a clutch purse, while looking fierce in Tam's clothing.

The notebook is gleaming red and bursting with peony flowers--a signature staple of Tam's collection--on the lid. The peony design is then meticulously carried inside the notebook, under the keypad. The laptop also features a extra special enter key that bears the Chinese symbol for double happiness. The design was inspired by Tam's "China Chic" style, which is recognized from the runways in Milan to the Olympics in Beijing and represents her personal mantra to live well and be beautiful. The notebook also features a complimentary embroidered storage sleeve that helps keep the exterior protected while being carried as a clutch.

The "digital clutch" represents the first time a computer company has partnered with a fashion designer to create a notebook PC as well as have it debut at a fashion show. In addition to the design of the notebook, Tam worked with HP to design its accessories and packaging. … Read more

Remember the shameless phone that tried to pull a Ferrari stunt? Forget that. Here's the almost real deal--the Moto Razr2 V9 Ferrari Special Edition. Granted, that differences between this and the original Razr2 V9 are purely cosmetic, but at least you won't be on the receiving end of stifled giggles. In case you're worried people can't tell it's a special-edition phone, the top LCD will show a big Ferrari logo when the handset is open. And if they still don't get it, show them you mean business by playing the racing car ringtones on … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--There's just something about that familiar Indiana Jones music. You know it--dun ta dun ta, dun ta da...

Even having spent months slaving over some 540 computer-generated images for the just-released Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the admittedly jaded Hayden Landis still gets excited when he hears that theme song.

"The little kid in you comes out," said Landis, computer graphics supervisor on the film, recalling the music in the opening of the movie trailer. "I grew up with Indiana Jones."

It's that very nostalgic feeling that Landis and … Read more

We're not sure whether it's a good or bad thing, but Dell has decided to join the trend of designer laptops. The reason for the uncertainty? It has something to do with the last artistically inspired laptop we saw, from HP, which drew decidedly mixed reactions among Crave readers.

Dell's entry is an admittedly unorthodox "Special Art Edition" of its Inspiron 1525, which is adorned with exclusive designs by artist Mike Ming. There are two choices--"Bunch O Surfers" and "Sea Sky," according to CrunchGear, both of which have Intel … Read more

Sometimes the most popular gadgets on Crave are the simplest of all. (Who could forget those drive-in speakers or the singing theremin doll?)

Perhaps the best example we've seen lately is the "Phonofone II," a ceramic device that requires no external power source and relies on "passive amplification" instead of any digital wizardry to work with the earphones of an iPod or other MP3 player. And now it's being offered in black, a special edition of 200 available for a limited time.

Simple doesn't necessarily mean cheap, however, and this version of the … Read more

Want to cause trouble at RSA? Register with any of a number of special characters in your name or business name and watch the badge printer issue blanks. That's what happened to me.

Monday morning when I registered for RSA 2008 (where I'll be speaking with Chris Boyd of FaceTime), I thought maybe I'd get a little VIP service. (Our talk on "How to Adapt to the Echo Generation's Social Media Hacking Game" is at 9:10 a.m. PDT on Thursday.) Instead, I was stuck in various registration lines for more than half … Read more

There are times when I encounter an issue as I'm producing a podcast that can either make or break the feed. Being that I've received some requests to share these tidbits of knowledge with some of the loyal Buzz Out Loud fans, I'll go ahead and throw a few pointers into the blog as they arise. I don't plan on assaulting this blog with millions of posts, but if I encounter something that might be valuable to budding podcasters out there, I'd love to help out. Having said that, welcome to my first "no-duh" tip.… Read more

MySpaceTV, the video platform run by the popular social network, announced Tuesday the launch of Special Delivery, a new hidden-camera reality show.

The premise of Special Delivery's short videos is to catch delivery employees (pizza, packages, and the like) in awkward situations, roping them into stunts like "Would you do a birthday dance for my dog?" and "Will you help me propose to the love of my life?" Naturally, there's a camera hidden somewhere so it's all caught on film.

Special Delivery is the second project that MySpace.com has co-developed for its … Read more