Crave

Tokyoflash's latest series of slick designer wristwatches features lightweight aluminum construction, LED lights, and maddeningly confusing time displays.

(Credit: Tokyoflash)

The Kisai series inherits the qualities of previous incomprehensible Tokyoflash timepieces such as the Fire and the Pleasure Seeker, namely that users must spend hours deciphering their alien time-reckoning systems.

They certainly put one's brain to work. The Sensai model (right), which weighs 2.5 ounces and sells for about $233, tells the time after a button on its right side is pushed. The button first initiates a circular animation of colored LEDs.

When the animation stops, the hour is shown according to the number of red LEDs. So far, so good. When it comes to minutes, things get tricky.

Eleven green LEDs represent five-minute groups and four yellow LEDs represent single minutes. So, three red, two green, and two yellow equals 3:12 (editor's note: this post was updated to indicate the correct breakdown of colors; thanks to the reader who pointed the error out). Clear as mud? There's a demo here.

To watch an explanation of how another Kisai model works, click the vid below (the speaker calls the watch a "friend maker").

Now if only Tokyoflash could come up with an impenetrable Mayan Apocalypse Watch, they'd corner the market for the 2012 doomsday set.

Enlighten: Case-mate's solution for nighttime reading on the Kindle.

We've seen a few Kindle cases that offer built-in lights so you can read in dimly lit environments, but Case-mate's Enlighten is unusual in that it features a lighted acrylic panel that sits on top of your Kindle instead of an LED light with a flexible neck.

Due out in December, Case-mate's billing the $79.99 Enlighten as "the first case on the market equipped with a LED-powered light for nighttime reading as well as an interior side pocket for storage."

Here are its key features:

• Clear acrylic panel with integrated LED light with two levels of brightness
• Old English book style with genuine leather exterior and locking hinges to secure the device
• Interior side pocket for storage
• View prior pages using the previous page button
• Two AAA batteries (included) provide a maximum of 24 hours reading time
• Available in December ($79.99)

We've been playing around with an early unit, and it works pretty well although the light doesn't splay across the screen as uniformly as it does in the included press-release images (on the left side, the light leaks onto the Kindle screen and creates an interesting ripple effect). Hopefully, Case-mate can tweak the lighting a bit before launch because overall the design of the unit--aside from making your Kindle substantially heavier--is attractive and the acrylic panel does offer another layer of screen protection.

What do you guys think? Hot or not?

Additional reading: Top Kindle cases and accessories

LG's 15-inch OLED TV, which is set to go on sale in Korea by December.

(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET)

On the heels of announcing a 15-inch OLED display going on sale in Korea this December, LG predicts that prices for panels using the coveted technology will fall below those of LCD panels in seven years.

"Forty-inch and larger OLED panels will be fairly expensive in 2012, but they will be available in the market," said Won Kim, VP of OLED sales and marketing, at a trade show in Japan yesterday. "OLED panels will cost less than LCD panels in 2016."

Allow me to dissect that prediction for a moment. Calling the affordability of any technology so far in advance is pretty bold, but 7 years is a long time and a lot can happen between now and then. But I think the main message to be gleaned from Kim's words for customers watching the market and still waiting for OLED is: don't.

Three LED flashlights for five bucks? How can you go wrong?

(Credit: Froobi)

I really dig the new breed of LED flashlights. (Of course, I'm easily impressed by bright, shiny things.) LED flashlights are supercompact, but give off way more light than the big, bulky, skull-cracking glow sticks of my youth.

Today only, daily-deal site Froobi is offering a three-pack of 9-LED flashlights for $0 (plus $4.95 shipping).

Each light measures about 3.5-inches long and promises a whopping 100,000 hours of bulb life. (Take that, tungsten!)

You'll have to supply the batteries (three AAA's per flashlight). Speaking of, I'm a big fan of Duracell precharged rechargeable batteries that are only a little pricier than disposables, but can be recharged hundreds of times (ergo, they're way cheaper in the long run--and better for the environment, too).

These little flashlights are crazy-handy. Toss one in your car's glove box, another in your tool kit, a third in the junk drawer--you get the idea.

It's difficult to tell from the product page just what colors you're going to get, but the ones shown are all metallic and cool looking.

Alas, it's too late to get these in time for Halloween (they'd be perfect for trick-or-treaters), but, hey, there's always next year.

Molly's out of the office with the swine flu. In her honor, we cover the tech that allows you to keep yourself germ free. Don't worry. Even if you end up with the flu, we also cover the tech that will keep you entertained while you recover.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Want to steer clear of N1H1? Stay off the couch

Self Sanitizing Keyboard (thanks David!)

Keep your arms dry while you wash dishes (or while you wash everything in your house.)

Designer hand sanitizer

Ericsson’s Spider PC projects the keyboard, screen

Driverless car takes you to the doctor

Time-lapse photography on your iphone

Make your iphone photos look like miniatures with tiltshift

If you’re tooly, pass the time with sports:
Football

or baseball

or even basketball

Vizio VM230XVT

(Credit: Vizio)

Vizio is best-known for offering big screens at a low price, but the company's latest offerings straddle that thin line between small TVs and computer monitors. Vizio announced the 23-inch VM230XVT ($400) and 19-inch VM190XVT ($350) Wednesday, with both sets utilizing LED-backlighting technology usually seen on larger screen sizes.

The TVs have a slim profile, tapering down to less than an inch thick, although they fatten out to 1.65 inches at their thickest point. Sporting two HDMI inputs and a standard PC input, both models can technically be used as a PC display, although the VM230XVT's 1080p native resolution makes it a better fit. (The VM190XVT has a 1,366x768 native resolution.)

Vizio also touts the models' "proximity sensitive" touch controls, which light up as you approach the unit. Those controls allow for the sleek, buttonless design, but there's a lot of to be said for the reliability of physical buttons. There's also a USB input on both models, as well as a "photo frame" mode that allows it to display a slideshow of images on a connected drive.

It's worth pointing out that both TVs utilize edge-lit LED backlighting, as opposed to local-dimming technology. Most of the image quality advantages often associated with LED backlighting--like deep blacks--are only available on local-dimming displays, so we don't expect radically better performance than standard (CCFL-backlit) LCD displays. (For more information, read our LED TV primer.)

Vizio VM230XVT photos

Vizio's 55-inch, LED-backlit VF551XVT gives great black levels for less.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

We're willing to bet that when Vizio announced the VF551XVT back in January, plenty of savvy HDTV bargain hunters marked down "June" as the time they'd buy this 55-inch LED-based LCD. Then the company pushed its release back to September. Then it announced that the"Via" VF552XVT--basically the same as this model with one of the most compelling feature packages we've ever seen, including a Bluetooth remote and Wi-Fi connectivity to complement a robust suite of interactive services--would be shipping in November for the same price. Suddenly the much-anticipated VF551XVT seemed a bit less impressive.

For the price, however, this Vizio still delivers impressive picture quality to big-screen shoppers who can't wait for its successor or don't care about interactive doodads (and no, there's no way to upgrade a 551 to get Via functionality). Its black levels are among the deepest we've tested this year, and while the fluctuating backlight may give videophiles pause, it's not a deal-breaker. The VF551XVT also succeeds on most other performance fronts, although we can't say the same about its styling. Like all big-screen LCDs the Vizio's main competition comes from similar-size plasmas that cost even less and also offer impressive picture quality, but if you have your heart set on LCD, the Vizio VF551XVT is currently the over-50-inch bargain of the year.

Read the full review of the Vizio VF551XVT.

Vizio VF551XVT--photos

The Sharp LC-LE700UN series uses less power than any TV we've tested.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

LCD TV makers have always charged a premium for LED backlighting. In fact, the first LED-based LCD TV Sharp released, the inch-thick XS series, debuted last year at a cool $11,000 MSRP for the 52-inch model. LED has become a lot more mainstream since then, and so have Sharp's ambitions for the well-marketed backlight technology. The Sharp LC-LE700UN series encapsulates that progress toward the mass market: it's the least-expensive LED-backlit LCD available today, it measures the standard 3-odd inches thick, and as a result, its owners will have a tough time convincing visitors that it's anything more than a normal, CCFL-based LCD.

This Sharp uses different LED backlight technology from any of the other "LED TVs" available today, and perhaps as a result its picture quality has no major advantage over non-LED-based LCDs. On the other hand, it sips power more sparingly than any other TV we've reviewed, and its solid feature set is highlighted by a unique selection of widgets and superb built-in support options. The Sharp LC-LE700UN series will appeal to people on a moderate budget who still want the energy efficiency of an LED-backlit LCD.

Read the full review of the Sharp LC-LE700UN series.

Sharp LC-LE700UN series--photos

Sharp Aquos Net--photos