Crave

On Crossfade TV this week, the Download Music crew checks out a cool new set of previously unreleased recordings and interviews from the late jazz/blues/gospel/soul artist Nina Simone called Protest Anthology; a few new songs from electronic artist UFO! (not to be confused with the Brits who brought you the classic-rock staple "Too Hot Too Handle"); and the brand-new album from Sun Kil Moon, the name Mark Kozelek seems to be sticking with (after long-ago retiring his previous band name, Red House Painters).

Crossfade TV is a collaboration between Download Music and CNET TV.

(Credit: Miidio)

As they continue to morph into music devices, phone makers have made significant strides in portable speakers over the last year. But all too often they're still too big to carry around easily, with even the most compact models often larger than the phone itself. At the other end of the scale, some of the smallest versions look like some kind of makeshift project from a 7th grade electronics class.

Miidio tries to address both issues on the U.K. market with its line of ultra-compact speakers, which have a standard 3.5-millimeter plug so they can be used for media players and laptops as well as phones, according to Pocket-lint. While claiming to provide 360-degree audio despite their dimunitive form, they also come in some interesting designs such as the "Keg," "Piggy," and our personal favorite, the "UFO" pictured here at just 3.3 inches in diameter and 1.4 inches tall. All that's needed are some tiny crop circles left behind.

Maybe you'll fly inside a saucer someday.

(Credit: CleanEra, Delft University)

The grand Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus a380 may usher in an era of more fuel-efficient air travel, but their bird-shaped designs could look downright primitive later in the century.

Dutch aerospace engineers are imagining aircraft that look less like today's big-nosed winged planes, which haven't changed much in shape since the 1950s, and more like flying saucers. So maybe you can rest assured that those UFOs you spotted aren't signs of spying aliens, but instead are just your great-great-great-grandchildren traveling home for the holidays from a future when both saucer planes and time travel exist. The design comes from the CleanEra project at the Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands. CleanEra stands for Cost-effective Low Emissions And Noise Efficient Regional Aircraft.

The project is geared to meet European goals to design quiet, lightweight, post-2025 passenger fleets that halve the globe-warming, air-polluting carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide spewed by today's planes. While radically re-imagining the architecture of aircraft with saucer shapes or even bringing back propellers, CleanEra's plans are also putting biofuels and hydrogen on the table.

By contrast, the new Boeing 787 already looks retro.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)

Airplanes emit up to 3 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, an amount that could double by the middle of the century as more jet-setters take to the skies, according to the International Governmental Panel on Climate Change. But the airline industry has a long journey ahead to make air travel cleaner and greener.

(Credit: Moller)

Here's one that's been making the rounds recently--well, actually, anything remotely pertaining to a "flying car" seems to get a nod on every tech blog within a week. (Hmm, I wonder why?) This one, the Moller M200G, actually seems more along the lines of a personal flying saucer. Allegedly, it's actually in development and will sell for a paltry $125K. You'll be able to zip around about 10 feet off the ground at a speed of 50 miles per hour. (No, eco-geeks, I don't know what the mileage or emissions stats are.) And here's the best part, which I'll leave in the brilliant words of Gizmodo's Adrian Covert: "Because the M200G is classified as a recreation device and not an aircraft, it is not subject to FAA regulations and anybody can operate one."

You hear that? Anybody can operate one! Yes, the example of the Segway has taught us that local governments will probably just ban them anyway (those spoil-sports!) but that stuff's all bureaucratic and such, so if you snap one up quickly, you'll probably have a few months to do the following:

5. Give yourself an aerial tour of the Googleplex. Actually, you probably won't be the only one in a flying saucer around there.
4. Fulfill your corny sci-fi movie fantasy by flying one through a meadow of cows to see what happens.
3. Forget Halloween costumes. This can be, like, a Halloween vehicle. Plus, it might freak out the neighbors enough so that they'd give you extra candy.
2. Let's just say you'll never lose another water balloon fight now.
1. Paint Hello Kitty on the underside. Just do it. Crave mogul Mike Yamamoto will thank you later.

(Via BornRich)

(Credit: Yanko Design)

Crave generally tries to stay away from concept products and designs, as we have enough trouble as it is staying grounded in reality without them. But every once in awhile an idea comes along that we just can't pass up--and the "Radia Cell Phone" is one of them.

This handset, if it can be called that, has an outer rim of brushed aluminum encircling a large touch display but is still small enough to fit in your pocket, according to Yanko Design. Granted, it may not be the most practical design (we can't imagine using it comfortably for a prolonged conversation). But if it's a fashion statement you're after--and isn't that the dictating factor in many of our phone purchases?--then this one is tough to beat.

Strangely enough, the last concept phone we recall citing was one that looked somewhat similar, the "YoYo" from ModeLabs; it seems we have a weakness for disc-shaped gadgets. Maybe it has something to do with that recent alien abduction.

(Credit: CNET Asia)

Japan's SolidAlliance is a company often known for its USB storage devices of dubious value. So it's of little surprise that it was the manufacturer behind something called the "Yu-tan Radar Strap"--which, according to CNET Asia, is being marketed as a "UFO detector and alien sniffer." If the radar senses the presence of a UFO, it will beep loudly and its red LED will begin to spin; if it detects an alien, it will blink and beep at full volume. You should memorize this so you can respond appropriately when the time comes.

(Credit: TokyoMango)

Pink bubbles and rubber ducks can get a little bit boring sometimes, even if they're unconventional rubber ducks. And not all of us can afford to install a Hydro-Massage Bathtub with a built-in TV. So how can you liven up the in-tub entertainment? Of course, the answer comes out of Japan. TokyoMango has written up these flashing bath balls that might just be able to elevate the common bath to an ethereal level. You fill these little guys with bath salts, put them in the tub, and they'll float and release the nice-smelling salts while flashing their lights. Consequently, you can turn the lights down and enjoy the colorful display. Because everyone likes light shows.

And as a side note, TokyoMango blogger Lisa Katayama compared the appearance of the light-up bath balls to UFOs, which as we've seen are pretty much everywhere in the tech-design world these days.

Tip: To make the atmosphere even more super awesome, supplement the light show with a soundtrack courtesy of your iPod shower adapter. The obvious choice is Dark Side of the Moon, but I'd go for some vintage Bowie.

(Credit: Neues Licht)

You know, we track some wacky trends here on Crave. There are the Color-Changey Things, and the Stupid USB Devices, and of course Anthropomorphic Audio. And recently I've been spotting another one: things shaped like UFOs. There's that bug-killing gadget that flies, and a cute little saucer to manage hands-free electronic activity in cars. The latest in this emerging trend is the Neues Licht UFO Light, a German lighting concept that is shaped like something that might have appeared in an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

The Neues Licht UFO is made mostly out of glass fibers, and uses a small energy source that remains out of view, embedded in the ceiling. Within the hanging light itself, there's no electricity at all--and even in the source, it's kept to a minimum. The UFO's efficiency is apparently comparable to that of LEDs, another tech trend we've followed here. It's a piece of design, indeed, but Treehugger seems to indicate that these pretty and energy-efficient lighting solutions are actually available for sale. Where and for how much, however, I couldn't tell you.

(Credit: Hammacher Schlemmer )

We still don't understand the overwhelming popularity of remote-controlled mini-choppers, mosquitos and other annoying flying objects. But if you absolutely must have one, we say go all the way.

The "Four-Motor Remote Control UFO" by Hammacher Schlemmer has a lightweight carbon fiber frame and a "gyro-stabilization system" that allows "precise control through hairpin turns, rolls, pitches, and hovering, in addition to yaw and throttle." And with a 300-foot range and nearly 2 feet in diameter, this UFO will squash those flying insects like, well, bugs.

That is, until the "Flytech Dragonfly" comes on the market. When that happens, you're on your own.