Crave

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

Check your processor: the much better dual-core T135-S1310.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

I had a hard time coming up with a title to this post: Intel processors are confusing? Dual-core ultra-low-voltage processors make a difference? How about, what a difference a config makes? All could apply to the Toshiba Satellite T135, a Windows 7 thin-and-light that we've reviewed two configurations of here at CNET. Although similar in design and shape, the small shift from an SU2700 to an SU4100 Intel Pentium processor in the slightly more expensive Satellite T135-S1310 makes a world of difference. Here's why it's worth a look.

First of all, the Intel Pentium SU4100 in the T135-S1310 is a dual-core processor. The SU2700 in the previously reviewed laptop, the T135-S1300, isn't. You wouldn't know the difference from the "Pentium Inside" sticker below the keyboard, but the dual-core T135-S1310 is far better at multitasking, and also gave a significant boost in dedicated media tests like our iTunes benchmark. For all intents and purposes, it behaves much like an ultra-low-voltage Core 2 Duo processor.

What do you get in the T135-S1310? For just $100 more than the S1300, the S1310 includes an extra 80GB of hard drive space, an extra gig of RAM at a faster speed, Bluetooth, and the far better SU4100 processor. Throw in $10 for a red or white paint job, or stay at $699 for the black config. Either way, with the mere change of a number, the Toshiba T135-S1310 has suddenly become a highly recommended budget thin-and-light with Windows 7 Home Premium preinstalled and excellent battery life. Just make sure you get this model, and not the very similar-looking (and similar-named) Toshiba T135-S1300.

We still don't like the keyboard very much, though.

Read the rest of our review.

Toshiba Satellite T135-S1310: Windows 7 thin-and-light

(Credit: Design Boom)

A rocking chair with an integrated OLED lamp would in and of itself be cool enough to feature here on Crave, but the Murakami Chair is different. The power to run the light, you see, comes from your own rocking motion.

As you rock, nano-dynamos built into the chair's skids (I love a job where I get paid to type things like "nano-dynamos") convert the kinetic energy of the motion into power, which is stored in internal batteries during the day or sent straight to the light when dark.

The concept chair was developed by American designer Rochus Jacob, which means it even looks cool. It nabbed first place in designboom's green life competition.

The lighting is all made possible by advances in OLED technology, which make it a very efficient way to convert energy into light. If I had a more high-tech grandpa, I'd get him one of these if it hit the market. That way he could read a book as he sits on his front porch with his shotgun to make sure the kids keep off his lawn.

Really, though, we could see even more practical applications of this technology. Imagine adding nano-dynamos (again!) to the bottoms of your shoes. As you walk around they charge your cell phone or MP3 player or Virtual Boy. OK, maybe not your Virtual Boy. That would be dangerous. And stupid. On many levels.

Toshiba Satellite T135-S1300: single-core CPU inside.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

We have a bit of a beef with a trend that's currently happening in full-size (by that we mean 13-inch and above) thin-and-light laptops, the machines that as of late have shaved thickness at the expense of optical drives and often processor power. While the battery life on thin-and-lights generally exceeds expectations, the compromise that's often been used is incorporating a single-core ultra-low-voltage processor, which provides marginally better performance than the Atom processor on any Netbook.

Unfortunately, thin-and-lights are more expensive than Netbooks--often by several hundred dollars at the least--and other than increased screen size, they run the risk of not showing much extra value when going single-core. Even worse, it's hard for consumers to tell when their thin-and-light has a single-core or dual-core CPU inside. Thin-and-light laptops may look similar, but they're not all made the same. It's a deceptive world out there, especially since many thin-and-lights trade performance for a stylishly thin chassis, all while marketing a mainstream look that suggests performance equal to other notebooks.

The $599 Toshiba T135-S1300 is part of Toshiba's new T100 line of optical-drive-free thin-and-lights, losing thickness in exchange for a portable design competitive with products such as the Asus UL30A-A1 and the Acer Timeline 3810T. It's set to debut on October 22, when Windows 7 launches its way onto retail shelves and into PCs everywhere.

Unfortunately, while the design tries hard, it simply doesn't provide the power that its Windows 7-running, HDMI-port-toting countenance suggests. This is not a multimedia machine on a budget: rather, it's a slim but underpowered single-core 13.3-inch laptop.

That's not to say we aren't excited about Toshiba's long-term decision to slim down its laptops and enter the world of thin-and-lights, and in other configurations, the T100 series could provide better value. But right now, we were left a little in the cold.

Read the rest of our review of the Toshiba Satellite T135-S1300.

In September, Intel showed off Light Peak as if it were the latest hot idea out of the labs. But the fiber-optic communication technology could well be coming to a computer near you next year, rather than in some distant sci-fi future.

A Taiwanese optical networking company, Foci Fiber Optic Communication, is well along the path of selling Light Peak cables and other fiber-optic components.

"We plan to have our pilot run ready by the end of November 2009, and ready to be in mass production in the beginning of year 2010," said Janpu Hou, the company's vice president of business development.

Foci is not some no-name manufacturer of commodity gear, either. The company supplied the optical networking components used in the Light Peak demonstrations at the Intel Developer Forum in September.

Is it time to make the leap to LED lights for the home? Perhaps, but only if you're willing to make a return-on-investment calculation.

Lemnis Lighting on Friday said that its Pharox60 LED light is now available in the U.S. online and soon will be for sale on Amazon. The dimmable bulb, shaped like a traditional incandescent bulb, consumes 6 watts of power and can replace a 60-watt bulb.

An LED replacement for an incandescent bulb.

(Credit: Pharox)

That dramatic drop in electricity use comes at the cost of $39.95. The premium can be recouped in three years, or as little as one year for consumers with time-of-day pricing tariffs, according to the company. The current price is a special offer; the bulb will cost $49.95 after the beginning of next year.

"Compared to the entry price for solar panels, we feel this is a more accessible energy saving investment," said Warner Philips, founder of the Netherlands-based company whose great-grandfather founded the Dutch lighting giant Philips.

The LED bulbs are estimated to last 25 years, significantly longer than compact fluorescent bulbs, which use more electricity for similar level of lighting output, or lumens. The Pharox60 bulb can be recycled with metal and glass materials, according to the company.

LED backers have long advocated solid-state lighting because it consumes one-tenth the power of incandescent bulbs and lasts longer. But the high price tag has meant that LEDs are mainly used for commercial applications.

Because there is concern that manufacturers will overstate the efficiency benefits or light output, the Department of Energy has set up a "Lighting Facts" Web site and label to guide consumers. Lighting Facts lists the Pharox bulb bulb among those that perform as claimed.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

Whether CULV thin-and-light laptops will ever fully find a spot between the Netbook world and the full-featured laptop world, they are most definitely a category that's growing every day. Dropping an optical drive and throwing a low-voltage processor alongside a long-lasting battery is the trend of 2009, although the low-voltage laptops we've seen so far have often sacrificed either build quality, performance, or value-for-dollar.

It's relieving to say, therefore, that the 13-inch Asus UL30A-A1 is a thin-and-light that we'd gladly carry around in our bag for a long time to come. With a sturdy frame, a decently-performing new Core 2 Duo CULV processor as opposed to the disappointing single-core Core 2 Solo CULVs we've seen, and really good battery life, it's close to a complete package for a sub-$1,000 laptop that doesn't resort to an Atom processor.

While we've seen similar-looking products here before, including the Lenovo IdeaPad U350 and the MSI X340, we liked the overall performance on the UL30A-A1 better.

And as far as its closest competitor goes, the Acer Aspire Timeline 3810T, the Asus UL30A-A1 had equal or better performance, better battery life, and costs $100 less than the 3810T did at launch. This is a thin-and-light that does everything we had hoped thin-and-lights would do, and it costs nowhere near what a MacBook Air or a Dell Adamo does.

Read the full review of the Asus UL30A-A1.

Energized by their widespread use in cell phones, worldwide sales of OLED displays hit a record high of $192 million for the second quarter of the year, according to a report released this week by DisplaySearch.

Second-quarter sales of OLED displays rose 22 percent over the same period last year, and 32 percent over the first quarter of 2009, noted DisplaySearch's latest "Quarterly OLED Shipment and Forecast Report," which came out Monday.

The report said that shipments of AMOLED displays were especially strong thanks to their use in mobile phones, with more than 15 different AMOLED cell phone models released in 2009.

AMOLED (active-matrix organic light-emitting diode) screens use less energy than PMOLED (passive-matrix) displays, making them better-suited for portable devices such as phones and MP3 players.

"AMOLED displays have become an important differentiating feature for high-end electronic products," said Jennifer Colegrove, DisplaySearch director of display technologies, in a statement. "This technology is not only used for mobile phone main displays, but has also penetrated the market for portable media players, digital still cameras, and other applications."

(Credit: DisplaySearch)

Making OLED TVs has been a costly, time-consuming challenge for most manufacturers. Despite demonstrations of flashy new products from several companies, Sony remains the only firm with an OLED TV on the shelves.

SAN FRANCISCO--You've probably heard about fiber optics for years--some kind of exotic technology used to carry gargantuan quantities of data across continents. But in the not-too-distant future, you might be plugging these tiny glass strands straight into your computer.

That's if Intel gets its way. At its Intel Developer Forum last week, the chipmaker demonstrated fiber-optic technology called Light Peak for connecting many devices to PCs with fiber optic lines. Intel secured major Light Peak endorsement from Sony and now it's has begun trying to make it into an industry standard.

Intel's Light Peak technology uses lasers and fiber optics to transfer data to and from PCs and other devices.

(Credit: Intel)

But bringing optical technology to the masses will require more than Intel Chief Technology Officer Justin Rattner taking the stage to connect a thin white Light Peak cable into the back of a prototype PC. According to sources familiar with the situation, the most likely mechanism to carry Light Peak out of the R&D lab to the edge of your laptop will be the venerable Universal Serial Bus, and Intel has begun pounding the pavement to try to make that happen.

"Now all the pieces are in place," Rattner said. "We need to get a standard established to turn on the entire ecosystem to Light Peak."