Crave

(Credit: ThinkGeek)

Once USB gadget makers started competing over aromatherapy, we should have known this was coming. As useless devices continue to pile up in warehouses overseas, at least one manufacturer has just decided to combine several of them into one "Mini USB Desktop Multi-Tasking Device" and be done with them.

OhGizmo says this over-achieving setup includes a USB cup warmer, USB flexible mini-lamp, and USB mini-vacuum cleaner, among other things, as if we need any of them. But given all the competition in this space, we can afford to be picky: We won't even consider one of these gadgets unless it can give a decent massage.

(Credit: Marcel Wanders)

A few months ago, when I came across that gadget that prepares eggs, toast, and coffee for you, I rashly and wrongfully asserted that such "breakfast multitasking" was endemic to Japan. That was an erroneous assertion on my part: the Dutch are doing it too, except that this gadget really isn't specific to breakfast. Holland Electric has a fun little product designed by Marcel Wanders. Called the Wave TV, it combines a microwave with a 15" TV and DVD player. We've seen kitchen TVs before, but until this point they've been largely confined to fridges. And if you're wondering why there is a chicken in that picture of the Wave TV, Treehugger says that it's because designer Wanders puts animals into all of his product photos.

Here's an idea for the Wave TV: If you want to be artsy, you could pop in a DVD of nuclear weapon test videos and play it on a loop while nuking food. It's like, making a statement!

And for the record, last I checked, Japan no longer can claim to be the only country churning out oddball kitchen-multitasking devices, but they still appear to be the sole manufacturer of Pikachu-style snowplows and Hello Kitty USB lap warmers.

Soon you'll never have to leave your car while on business out of town. Starting in March, Avis will make any one of its rentals a potential Wi-Fi hot spot using a service from a San Francisco-based start-up called Autonet Mobile.

(Credit: The Raw Feed)

For $10.95 a day, according to The Raw Feed, customers can rent a portable "In-Car-Router" that provides wireless high-speed Net access. The main challenge will be dropped signals, which have bedeviled other mobile access products, but Autonet told the International Herald Tribune that it has overcome that problem with a new "wireless router" technology. The laptop-sized device also plugs into the car's power supply, reducing the need for batteries.

But if you try this service, we advise against surfing or IMing while driving. That could seriously cut into your ability to talk on the phone or watch TV while behind the wheel.

NOTE: From now through December, every few days a different Crave expert will be posting his or her top 10 gadget picks for the holidays. See what we crave, and maybe you'll get some ideas! Here's our seventh installment.

Erica Ogg is an unapologetic Dodgers fan living in San Francisco, has found herself hopelessly addicted to Starbucks chai lattes (with 2 percent milk), and readily admits to being a history geek. And no, she has nothing to do with Ogg Vorbis.

1. LG Chocolate. So the first version was panned by a lot of critics, but the second go-round seems to have garnered somewhat more favorable reviews. But, you know what? I don't care. It's a slim slider phone and it comes in RED. That's all I need to know.

2. SoundArt Speakers. I have a one-bedroom apartment that's in desperate need of wall art and decent external speakers, so I'm stoked I ran across the British company SoundArt last week. It produces speakers that look like a canvas and hang on the wall. Even better, you can choose what type of art you want. I'll take one with View of Delft by Jan Vermeer, and the other with a San Francisco cityscape, please.

3. Apple iPod Nano. Definitely time to upgrade from my iPod Mini. I used to loathe listening to music via headphones, but living in the city has completely converted me. There's no way I could do the Muni ride without my Le Show or ESPN Radio podcasts. Oh yeah, and I definitely want the 8GB red version.

4. Mio Digiwalker H610. I admit I've been slightly obsessed with this thing since I went to its launch party a few months back. This will allow me to stop printing Google Maps every time I drive somewhere I've never been (which is often), and it easily switches from a dashboard to a purse since it's about the size of a deck of cards. Also, it's white, but there are interchangeable face plates available. And no, it doesn't have to be red, but that would be nice.

5. Apple MacBook. My trusty little iBook has been good to me--I have no complaints except the "D" and "N" have almost completely rubbed off my keyboard. And it would be nice to ditch the iSight for an embedded webcam. Otherwise, my iBook does everything I ask, and travels better than my previous iMac. However, I do spend my days ensconced in Consumer Electronics Land, so I've converted to its religion of Bigger-Better-Newer. Do I need a new 13-inch white MacBook? No. Do I want it? Um, hello.

6. Red Maloo laptop sleeve. While I have a nominally stylish black shoulder bag for my laptop, it can be limiting. Everything goes with black, of course, but it's the purse I'm forced to carry should I need to take the iBook on the road. As a colorful alternative, I'm loving this felt laptop sleeve from Red Maloo because of its design--it folds like a box and will fit inside any other large bag--and because I can get one in orange. Now that's how you make a statement at Starbucks.

7. TiVo Series2. I know, I'm so behind the times. I don't have TiVo. Though I've wanted one for a long time, I've resisted for fear of becoming an even less discerning TV viewer, recording shows I'd never dream of watching just because I could. But watching commercials has pretty much become unbearable, so getting a TiVo is really the only solution.

8. Multipot Personal Electric Charger. Exposed cords are a problem for me, and in keeping with the theme of electronics posing as decorative objects, this designer Italian vase has outlets on the inside so I can hide my web of tangled cables all while making an artistic statement.

9. The Reveo. I'm a huge fan of hyper-specific kitchen utensils/gadgets, and this super speedy meat marinater definitely falls into that category. You stick your meat of choice into the plastic barrel and the air is vacuumed out, stretching the meat and allowing the marinade to get way down in there. Marinating takes between 2 and 20 minutes using the Reveo, which is fantastic, because I'm already hungry.

10. Beverly Hills 90210 The Complete First Season. At long last, it has arrived. The chronicle of privileged Southern California high shoolers donning far too much acid wash denim has made its belated debut on DVD. I haven't seen an episode in five years, so I'm mildly concerned that the show isn't as good as I remember it...NOT. I don't care that a bunch of 30-year-olds were playing spoiled/brooding teens, my couch and I are going to become reacquainted very quickly come day after Christmas if I find this under the tree.

PREVIOUS CRAVE HOLIDAY LISTS: Candace Lombardi, Will Greenwald, Caroline McCarthy, Leslie Katz, Dan Ackerman, Lindsey Turrentine

(Credit: Hammacher Schlemmer)

Fans of the multitasking gadget, get a load of this baby. It's a radio/police scanner/weather checker/atomic clock that will also clean your house and raise your children!

Actually, scratch those last two capabilities, but the product does combine AM/FM radio functions with police, traffic, weather and TV bands, in addition to atomic clock technology that automatically synchs with a signal from the National Institute of Standards and Technology's timekeeping system. (This latter feature, in short, apparently means an accuracy that'll make it much harder for you to blame your tardiness on the watch.)

And while you're busy being on time, you'll simultaneously be able to tune in to your favorite morning news show, see if you need to bring along an umbrella and find out how much crime is going down in your neighborhood.

The $200 desktop station, which we first spotted on Uber-Review, has 300 scanning channels and 20 presets. It also, thank goodness, has a snooze button. 'Cuz we'd really hate to see that timeless clock feature get phased out by technology.