Gadget news

How far the technology of physical fitness has come. We remember commercials touting the scientific principles of Gatorade and its revolutionary effects on the human hydration process. What Neanderthals.

Today, what's being touted as "the world first interactive water bottle" promises to calculate a person's specific hydration needs with its patented monitoring technology and dispense advice accordingly. According to a post on Trend Hunter, the "HydraCoach" supposedly "tracks every sip taken, monitors daily progress and motivates individuals to achieve and maintain proper hydration."

Now if it only had some kind of way … Read more

Remember Yuri Geller? Back in the '70s, he would go on late-night talk shows and claim he could bend silverware with mind power. Ed McMahon fell for it, but not many others.

Now Hitachi has come up with a machine-brain interface that lets people do things with brainpower. The machine is essentially a big optical sensor which detects changes in blood flow in the brain. By studying the flow of blood to different sections of the brain, Hitachi believes it can divine intention. (The blog Pink Tenacle translated the report from Japanese newspapers.).

In experiments, subjects were able to flip … Read more

Pardon us--make that a washing system.

The KaionWAVE, from the design labs of Electrolux, is an appliance concept for the true germaphobe. Shunning mere soap and water, it uses ultraviolet light to penetrate fabrics and kill bacteria and viruses while presumably taking care of that ring around the collar. And it will do it all wirelessly, of course. (It would also be a perfect match for the WinePod.)

One problem: It's designed to work on "nano-coated" material, which Appliancist describes as "a durable and stain-resistant fabric that many hypothesize will be used to make the clothing … Read more

MSN Direct and Melitta released a whole-bean coffeemaker that displays the weather in real time Thursday. It is also an FM receiver that links to the MSN Direct data service.

The Melitta Smart Mill & Brew Coffee Maker with MSN Direct Region-Specific Weather displays the temperature, chance of rain, time of sunrise and sunset, and the daily forecast. Gadget freaks and caffeine addicts alike can buy the coffeemaker on Amazon.com and in Sharper Image stores for about $200.

The coffeemaker joins a series of smart objects on the market that act as widgets. MSN Direct also offers WeatherNow, a … Read more

Enough already with the combo clock-weather stations. They've become as commonplace as the $6.99 digital alarm clocks behind the counter at Walgreens, next to the batteries and razor blades.

This uber-clock, by contrast, gives you the stuff you really want to know when you wake up: stock news, traffic bulletins, the Monday Night Football score and the latest on Britney's divorce and sex tape scandal. And you can set your MP3 tunes or Internet radio for the alarm. As its name implies, the award-winning "WidgetStation" displays your custom widget feeds on one of its two … Read more

In posting an item on what may be the most annoying toy of this holiday season, it seemed only natural to compare the remote-controlled helicopter with a mosquito. Now we learn that a competing mini-chopper is actually named after the pest and is designed to look like one to boot.

The "Micro Mosquito," which also comes with its own launchpad/charger, claims to be more maneuverable than its rivals because it has two sets of "counter-rotating" blades. It is sold on Firebox.com but at last sighting was listed as "not available"--which either … Read more

Beginning Dec. 1, our friends across the Atlantic will be able to snag a cell phone pre-loaded with Sling Player Mobile.

The 3G mobile broadband company known as the 3 Group will be offering its new X-series of handsets with the software preinstalled needed to play content from a home television via a Slingbox, the two companies are expected to announce Thursday.

It's Sling Media's first partnership with a major mobile operator.

Hutchison Whampoa, the parent company of the 3 Group, also announced that it would be selling the Nokia N73 and Sony Ericsson w950i pre-loaded with SlingPlayer … Read more

You know how punching in a cook time on a microwave is just too much work? Not only do you have to unwrap your pre-packaged meal, but you have to put it on a plate, and on top of that, you have shut the door. By then, anyone would be exhausted.

Samsung's response: "Dude. We know." Or something like that. But the company is selling the Smart Oven, a combination conventional oven and microwave that reads the bar code on a package of food and knows how long to nuke it.

While this may be a boon … Read more

NOTE: From now through December, different Crave experts will be posting their top 10 gadget picks for the holidays. Here's our fourth installment.

Senior Editor Dan Ackerman is a former radio DJ turned journalist. Starting with a short-lived stint at an equally short-lived beer magazine 10 years ago, he's covered video games, gadgets, nightlife, and music for publications such as USA Today, PC Magazine, Sync, and Blender. Dan is currently on CNET's laptops beat.

1. Sony PlayStation 3 -- People are already standing in line outside stores around the country for this $600 gaming machine. While I'… Read more