In addition to letting loose a string of expletives, those who have lost a phone or been a victim of phone thievery have probably reacted with the following: "Nooooo! My contacts!"
(Credit:
Tenbu Technologies)
Mobile innovator Tenbu Technologies has come up with Nio, a Bluetooth security tag that links to any of your belongings. If your laptop, phone, keys, or even child move out of range, an alarm sounds.
The gadget has the potential to save your items and the valuable information they carry, like contacts.
How exactly does it work? Attach Nio to your keys, laptop bag, or other belonging you need to secure. The tag is linked to your Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone running the Nio software. Once you step out of the predefined security zone, an alarm is triggered.
The lowest security zone setting will let you wander about 65 feet before the alarm goes off. High security restricts movement to only a few feet away. This could be useful if you're traveling by plane and are worried that you might doze ... Read more
This week, your Intrepid Editor returns from vacation, just in time to catch a Hewlett-Packard laptop-news trifecta. First, the company announced that it had achieved a mobile-computing milestone by getting the HP EliteBook 6930p to operate continuously for 24 hours on a single battery charge. Then came word that the Voodoo Envy 133 laptop, introduced in June, started shipping to customers. And finally, the company brought a bit of geekiness to New York's Fashion Week when a Vivienne Tam-designed HP mininote hit the runways.
Sony also initiated a multipronged attack on the headlines this week, first with its 18.4-inch media laptop, the Vaio AW, followed by two more Vaios on Friday.
Meanwhile, Lenovo dealt Linux fans a blow when it quietly stopped offering the OS as a preinstall option for its ThinkPads, IdeaPads, ThinkCenters, and IdeaCenters. But Linux had a win as well: the gang at CNET Asia found a $98 laptop from Chinese manufacturer HiVision with components that aren't likely to run any OS but Linux.
This week's rumor mill ... Read more
I recently wrote a column about using American Airlines' new in-flight Wi-Fi service to blog at 37,000 feet. I did a couple of speed tests and ran some Hulu video, but the one thing I never thought of doing is pulling up a porn site.
Now, Bloomberg is reporting that American's flight attendants are concerned about just that--that too many passengers will try to get their mile-high Web porn fixes.
It's unclear whether those worries stem from a specific incident or incidents, but it appears both passengers and flight attendants raised some red flags and the leaders of the American Association of Flight Attendants brought it up with American Airlines' management. They urged the company "to filter its in-flight Internet service to block access to pornography and other Web sites the workers said were inappropriate."
No mile-high Web porn fix for me.
(Credit: John Falcone/CNET Networks)Personally, I get a little embarrassed when even a semi-nude scene flashes on the screen of my iPod or portable DVD player while I'm ... Read more
(Credit:
Drinkstuff)
Some of us at Crave are old enough to remember when the Harrier "Jump Jet" gained fame (or notoriety) in the Falklands War of 1982, an aircraft that seemed to arrive from the future because it could take off vertically like a helicopter. That, anyway, is what came to mind upon seeing this "RC Jump Jet Stealth Plane."
Unlike most remote-controlled aircraft, this one claims to have a Harrier-like vertical lift powered by four "gyro-stabilized" propellers. Unfortunately, OhGizmo says it looks more like "a four-bladed helicopter that's been adorned with small wings" than any kind of real jump jet. But judging by the video below, it will probably be more than adequate in making the cats jump out of their skins.
(Credit:
BMI Gaming)
We've never quite understood why so many high-end game simulators for the home basically look the same as the ones at the mall or the theater lobby. After all, if you're going to shell out several grand, the least they can do is design some that don't look like they came directly from an arcade fire sale.
That's why we appreciate Global VR's efforts on its "Blazing Angels" simulator, which is designed to look like the cockpit of a World War II fighter plane, complete with faux bullet holes in the fuselage. It doesn't hurt, of course, to have a 42-inch HD LCD, rumble seating, and 5.1 Digital Dolby Surround Sound either, as Uber-Review notes.
But what good would all that be if you had to hide it in the garage because it looked like it belonged to the kids? Then it would be just like any other $9,475 toy.
For those of you who want an electric car and a trip to the Kennedy Space Center, head on down to Sam's Club.
The club store branch of Wal-Mart Stores is selling a 2007 lithium-powered smart car from Hybrid Technologies this year as part of its once-in-a-lifetime packages. For $35,000 you get the car along with a trip to the NASA Kennedy Space Center to watch a shuttle launch. Some of the technology inside the car comes from NASA. That's the connection.
George Clooney owns one of these. Sam's Club will put the car on sale on November 8.
Let's go drive over to see Paula Deen.
(Credit: Hybrid Technologies)If you're down there picking up a case of Swiffer wets and some Hungry Jack buttermilk pancake mix, why not get a car? That's my thinking.
Last year, Sam's Club offered a $2.7 million Cessna Citation aircraft. It sold in 60 seconds.
Here are some other packages for 2007:
For $75,000, you can get a ... Read more
(Credit:
Dave Higdon/AirVenture)
Flying enthusiasts around the country are descending on Oshkosh, Wisconsin for AirVenture, the biggest annual air show in the United States. It's being held July 23-29 this year and is sponsored by the Experimental Aircraft Association. Hundreds of thousands of aviation fans are expected to view about 10,000 aircraft parked at Oshkosh's Wittman Regional Airport.
At the show, Sonex Aircraft and AeroConversions Products unveiled their "E-Flight Initiative" for driving alternative energy research and development for sport aircraft. They showed off a proof-of-concept prototype electric powerplant that was installed in a Waiex airframe.
For a gallery of photos from the show, click here.
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 ... Read more
(Credit:
Engadget)
Note to U.S. airlines: Watch what Qantas is doing. The Australian airliner will offer Wi-Fi and electrical outlets on its new A380 and renovated 747-400s next year, according to Engadget. The cost of these perks hasn't been made public, but the carrier will reportedly install power sockets even in some economy cabins.
To which we can't help but respond: Where's the rest of the airline industry on this? For all the hassles and wasted time passenger must endure in the fiasco that passes for air travel these days, the least carriers can do is provide basic Internet access--for a fee, of course, because nothing comes free at 30,000 feet. And to show how passionately we feel about this subject, we're booking a trip to Sydney right now. Take that, United.
(Credit:
LoPresti)
There are dozen of companies, cars, boats, gadgets and science projects that now use iPods as data acquisitions systems in place of bulky laptops when all that's needed is basically to write info to a hard drive.
Here's a more interesting one, noticed by Luxist.
(Credit:
LoPresti)
The LoPresti Fury is known for a design that combines an old military plane silhouette with a modern sleekness. It is the last plane that renowned aviator and engineer Roy LoPresti designed himself. (He worked on the NASA Lunar Module, among other things.)
Now the Fury will be the first production aircraft, according to LoPresti, that has integrated an iPod for use as both a communications recorder and a digital data recorder.
General Aviation News says that the Fury is not just using the iPod as a communications recorder to record and playback cockpit and radio conversations. It's also a portable flight recorder that can hold up to 500 hours of flight data.
(Credit:
LoPresti)
But don't be confused.
This is not ... Read more
