Crave

Goodbye, FlyWire: The now-cancelled product will never see store shelves.

(Credit: Belkin)

Belkin will not be releasing its FlyWire wireless HDMI accessory.

CNET has learned that the company has decided not to offer the FlyWire for sale. A Belkin spokesperson confirmed the product's cancellation, saying that "its retail price of $1,499 would be out of line given the current state of the economy."

The FlyWire was introduced at CES 2008. The unit was a transmitter/receiver combo: the transmitter toggled between multiple audio and video sources (HDMI and analog), which were then wirelessly beamed to a receiver. Since the tiny receiver required only AC power and utilized a single HDMI output, it could be stealthily mounted behind wall-mounted flat screens or ceiling mounted projectors, eliminating the need for long unsightly cable runs. At one point, Belkin was mulling two versions: an initial high-end, multiroom-capable $1,499 version for multiple AV sources, followed by a less pricey single-source transmitter.

Early demos of the FlyWire impressed us--enough that we nominated it as a finalist in the Home Video category for Best of CES 2008. (It was edged out by the Dish Network DTVPal DVR.) But the FlyWire's premature death is just another indication that wireless HDMI technology is all but stillborn at the consumer level. Other notable no-shows, at least so far: the Philips wireless HDMI kit (introduced January 2007) and the Monster Express HD System (announced summer 2008).

My wife has been trying to convince me to get a protector for my iPhone ever since she bought hers, a silicone sleeve made by Belkin, at the Apple Store a few months ago. But I didn't like any of the designs they had at the Apple Store. I was looking for something more original, edgier.

Pretty is as pretty does.

I can't remember exactly what terms I entered into Google, but the Gelaskins Web site came up prominently in the search results. The designs were cool. The price seemed right at less than $15. The copy on the site emphasized both protection and customizability. So, I picked my design, paid my $18 ($15 plus $3 for standard shipping), and waited.

What I didn't do was read CNET's 2006 review. If I had seen the very apt phrase "artistic stickers that do double-duty as scratch protectors," I wouldn't have been so surprised that this thing is basically a decal. It's got a rubberized texture and special glue that makes it easy to peel off and on--it took me a couple tries to ensure that I didn't have any bubbles--but otherwise it's not much different from the free stickers you get at shows. I'm sure my three-year-old daughter would have been happy to decorate my phone with some of those.

I also made a mistake by ordering the iPhone version instead of the iPhone 3G version. As a result, I've got a quarter-inch of exposed space--the 3G versions wrap around the side on part of the phone, although they still leave the top bare. Even so, 18 bucks for a decal seems awfully steep. Lesson learned--even for impulse buys, read the review.

Tell Matt he's dumb on Twitter.

The ClearScan Live app lets you choose an FM frequency with the iPhone.

(Credit: Belkin)

FM transmitters, which let you play just about any MP3 device through a car stereo, tend to offer dubious performance, especially in areas with a lot of radio stations. But Belkin is leveraging the capabilities of the iPhone to improve its TuneCast Auto Live FM transmitter. Belkin's ClearScan Live app for the iPhone and iPod Touch offers a better interface to choose an FM frequency than what's available on the small FM transmitter.

Beyond the improved interface, the ClearScan Live app also uses the iPhone or iPod Touch's GPS capabilities to determine your location, then communicate with a central server to find clear frequencies in your area. Although this feature will make it easier to find the clearest frequencies, it still won't help in dense urban areas where every couple of hundred kilohertz is allotted to a high-power radio transmitter.

Belkin's FM transmitter takes music from your iPhone and sends it via FM signal to your car's stereo.

(Credit: Belkin)

Belkin's TuneCast Auto Live will be available this fall, for $79.99. The ClearScan Live app will be free and is designed to work with the iPhone OS 3.0, due out this summer.

That's why they call it a laptop.

(Credit: Belkin)

Belkin's looking out for your lap's well-being. While laptop heat hasn't been proven to cause permanent damage in the nether regions, it can't hurt to be safe, we suppose.

Still, does anyone really need a product like the CushDesk? At $30 (available now), it's like a lap pillow with a hard surface for laptopping on. We've often worked with laptops on our laps, and while we haven't had any brushfires, the temperature can often become uncomfortable. So if nothing else, consider it a heat sink, with an added bonus of an upward-angled hard surface (which could also aid in what might be called "laptop droop.")

Boasting an "easy to clean" exterior, according to Belkin's press release, the overall concept is slim and innocuous enough to be useful if you're a frequent couch worker.

Available in colors both muted (black/gray) and flashy (espresso/fuchsia), the CushDesk claims compatibility with any laptop, PC or Mac, up to 17 inches. We're still skeptical of the needless peripheralization of our mobile electronics, especially since a flat board could conceivably do the trick just as well. There also doesn't seem to be any room to rest a mouse or any other USB plug-ins.

Nevertheless, a previous version we reviewed, called the CushTop, was found to be decent enough for those who find laptops directly on their laps to be uncomfortable.

Complete shutdown: Belkin's Conserve surge protector in action.

(Credit: Belkin)

The idea behind Belkin's Conserve surge protector is pretty simple. Instead of having your electronics sit there in standby mode and each sip a little bit of power, the Conserve lets you completely shut down components so power drain is cut to zero. At the same time, it leaves two outlets active for those products that you indeed want to keep on (or leave in standby mode)--items such as DVRs, wireless routers, fax machines, and cordless phones.

Two models are available: a shorter strip with a total of eight outlets and a longer one with a total of 10 outlets and a coaxial RF input/output for cable and satellite TV feeds. Both models have 4-foot cords, and all outlets have a sliding safety switch that closes off the socket when not in use, which is good if you have small children or pets. The Conserve protectors are covered by a lifetime $100,000 connected-equipment warranty as well.

Both Conserve models also come with a light-switch-style wireless remote control that allows you to turn off your components with the flip of a conveniently placed switch (rather than having to bend down underneath a desk and hit an on/off switch on the surge protector itself).

The remote is wall-mountable and can also control multiple Conserve protectors, so you can shut everything down in your house at once. Belkin says the range on the remote is about 60 feet (line of sight is not required), but we only managed to have it work properly within a range of about 30 feet. Additional remotes will soon be available for $13 each.

So, how long will the Conserve take to pay for itself?

Read the full review to find out.

Now, that's value!

Apple quietly released a new iPod Shuffle on Wednesday, and much to the surprise of tech pundits and Apple fans, the company moved the controls of the device from the face of the Shuffle to the cord of the earbuds it bundles with the iPod.

According to Apple, anyone who wants to use their own third-party headphones will be required to purchase a third-party Shuffle-controlling dongle that will attach to both the iPod and the headphones.

It didn't take long for the blogosphere to erupt and start saying that this is like the recessed iPhone jack of 2009, in reference to the first-generation iPhone earbud jack that required an adapter for some headphones. When that was announced, Apple caught fire until the second-generation iPhone featured a standard jack.

And now it's happening again. I spent 30 minutes last night looking around the Web, trying to find reactions to this so-called "debacle," and more often than not, I read posts on blogs or complaints on Twitter saying that an additional $15 to $20 for a dongle is ridiculous and that it eliminates all the value of the iPod Shuffle.

I considered that argument and found it flawed.

We've seen more than our share of new laptop bags that adhere to TSA guidelines for getting through airport security quickly. Almost all follow the same basic premise of a two-compartment bag that butterflies open to lie flat on the X-ray machine conveyor belt. The separate compartment that holds your laptop isn't allowed to have any pockets or any other items (wires, iPods, magazines, etc.) in it, so the TSA checkers can get a clear view of your laptop without requiring it to be pulled out of its bag and run through the machine by itself.

The latest one we've checked out is Belkin's FlyThru, and it scores highly by both working as a security checkpoint bag and also being a generally good laptop case on top of that. We liked that it could fit a standard 15-inch laptop without being too bulky, and its generally sharp looks (in fact, we've gotten a couple of e-mails from readers who have seen the Belkin bag used in laptop photos for system reviews on CNET and wanted to know what bag it was).

The shoulder strap, however, was not our favorite -- the clips that attach the strap to the bag are both on the top edge, and were too close together, which made the whole thing feel a little unbalanced.

Read the full review of the Belkin FlyThru laptop case.

Belkin's new $50 cable aims to make the PC-to-Mac move even easier.

(Credit: Belkin)

Back in 2006, Microsoft was only too happy to tout a cable from Belkin that made it easier to move from XP to Vista. It even gave away the devices as part of its CES press kits.

However, a new twist on that cable is likely to get a far chillier reception in Redmond.

While Belkin's original USB cable--the Easy Transfer Cable--was aimed at moving from XP to Vista, its latest product is aimed at those moving to a Mac.

The $50 Switch-to-Mac cable "automatically moves your music, movies, photos, files, and Internet preferences" from a Windows machine over to a shiny new Mac. It works with either XP or Vista on the PC side and either Tiger or Leopard on the Mac as far as Macs go.

There's obviously other ways to move files and make the switch, but if this cable works as smoothly as the XP-to-Vista one did, it's likely to make life easier for switchers.

As for Microsoft, it declined to comment on Belkin's announcement.

Dong's advice to Vietnamese coming to America? Keep your names people! Let us Americans deal with all that tonal stuff.

Then Dong nerds out over the range and throughput of the Belkin N+ Wireless Router. I think I hear wedding bells.

After that, we discuss the big news of the week. You can probably guess what that is. You've been warned.

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