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iAxe guitar: Shred face via USB

Crave loves tech arguably as much as we do music, so we can be excused for nearly soiling ourselves when the iAxe 393 USB Guitar showed up. It is, as the name suggests, a guitar that connects to your PC via a USB cable. How crazy is that?!

Don't let its computer-ness fool you--the manual says it's a proper 22-fret maple neck rock stick with a solid body, chrome machine heads, three single-coil pickups, 5-way switching and a vintage vibrato bridge. We don't even know what half of that means, but it sounds like it'll let … Read more

Poker-chip USB drive is a good bet

With USB storage keys ranging from the ridiculous to the obnoxious, we were beginning to think that it was impossible to find one that we'd even consider buying. But leave it to a game of chance to restore what little faith we had in product marketing.

Memorex's "Poker Chip Flash Drive" is a bit late to the poker party that's become a national craze, but it makes up for much of that with an admirable design that conceals its 1GB key in what looks like a stack of three clay chips. In keeping with the … Read more

Stanton announces battle-worthy USB turntable

Turntable manufacturer Stanton recently announced its new T.90 high-torque turntable with built-in USB and S/PDIF digital outputs. Even if you're not an aspiring DJ scratch battle champion, the ability to record your vinyl collection directly into a computer is big convenience. While USB-capable turntables such as the Numark TTUSB have been around for a while, the Stanton T.90 is the first to include features that today's DJ really want, namely digital key locking (the ability to change a song's tempo without changing pitch) and a high-torque direct drive motor that puts an unholy amount … Read more

Energizer goes PC

In an effort to appeal to the "tech-wired and wireless younger generation," Energizer has announced the Energizer Duo, a charger that plugs into the USB port on your computer--or a wall outlet (thus the "Duo" name, get it?). According to the company's press release, the Duo charges two AA or AAA NiMH batteries in as little as two hours (for two AAAs anyway), though we're skeptical about that time when using USB charging.

In an apparent nod to youth's demand for choice, the Duo will come in three colors, and better yet, includes &… Read more

Podcasting for dummies

More than a decade ago, the Web promised to make everyone a publisher. Now an Australian company wants to make everyone a podcaster.

Rode Microphones is manufacturing the "Rode USB Podcaster," which Popgadget describes as "a broadcast-quality microphone that doesn't need any special cables, drivers or other doodads." It's not the first pod-mic, of course, but Rode is trying to make the whole process a lot easier.

In addition to building volume control and headphone jack directly into the $195 microphone, Rode also hosts a site where podcasters can post their files. Just don'… Read more

It's official: USB drive replaces the keychain

As USB drives have been reduced to greeting-card status, it's been clear that they've been destined for marketing swagdom. And now, sites such as Custom USB have made it official. But while others just slap a logo on a lowest-common-denominator model, this outfit offers more than 50 styles ranging from "Capless" to "Swivel" (pictured) with scads of colors including translucent, according to Gadgetizer. Storage sizes are available from 128MB to 2GB, priced accordingly. Personally, we think it's a better use than sending a Valentine.

Mini-SD? T-flash? Oink, oink...

Most computer peripherals are already available in tons of wacky incarnations: speakers, mice, keyboards, and of course USB storage drives. But memory card readers have, at least until this point, remained pretty boring. Cue Brando's USB Piggy Card Reader, which really does look just like a piggy bank. It can handle, according to ProductDose, SD, CF, XD, MS, Mini SD, and T-flash/Micro SD cards. And it connects to your computer via a USB 2.0 "tail." Sure, it might be taking the definition of "memory hog" (oink, oink) a little too literally, but it'… Read more

USB knee warmers--yes, that's right

We realize that hands aren't the only body parts that get chilled at the computer, but ... knees? It's one thing if you're arthritic, but otherwise--well, never mind.

If you really do suffer from unusually cold patellas, take heart: Vavolo has introduced the "Warmmi USB Heating Knee Pads" to save the day. At least it's not a Hello Kitty lap warmer.

What next, a USB engagement ring?

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