Crave

There's more than one way to make a wireless MP3 player, and building it directly into a set of headphones may seem like the easy way out, but it gets the job done. Plus, there are none of those audio-fidelity issues you might run into with technologies such as RF and Bluetooth, which is probably why Sony elected to take this route with its new W-Series Walkman.

This 2GB MP3 player is built into a set of impressively small earbud-style headphones and sports a palatable price tag of just $69.

Read the Sony W-Series Walkman review.

Sony W-Series Walkman--photos

(Credit: Parvus)

With the Zypad WR1100, we're getting closer to "beam me up," at least in looks, if not in actual transporter compatibility.

This bit of bling is a ruggerized wrist-worn personal computer designed for the bush. It contains a high performance CPU with 128MB of flash memory and 256MB of RAM.

With the Zypad device, which runs a Linux operating system, one can access a remote host system through integrated wired or wireless interfaces. The unit boasts a special fiberglass-reinforced nylon-magnesium alloy case for maximum durability and minimum weight.

Features include "802.11 and Bluetooth/Zigbee interfaces, a GPS receiver, electronic compass, biometric fingerprint sensor, and a tilt- and dead-reckoning system that detects the position of the user's arm and sets the system to standby mode when the arm is hanging down beside the body."

Battery packs and functions can be switched out or expanded with a modular hot- swap.

The color VGA 640x480-pixel touch screen, which is resistant to water, dust, is clearly readable in direct sunlight, according to Parvus, the Salt Lake City-based engineering company that makes this marvel. The night vision-compliant feature is optional.

The onboard microphone and speaker are dialed for high noise environments. Diddy, you may need one of these.

(Credit: Swany)

If you're snowboarding and your wrist starts to vibrate, let's hope it's an incoming call on your g.cell glove and not a muscle spasm caused by that run-in with a tree you just had.

Swany's g.cell incorporates a fully integrated Bluetooth-adaptable cell phone in an insulated water-repellent glove for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports.

As mentioned above, incoming calls announce themselves via vibrating wrist action, and you push a button on the back of your hand to answer. A voice-command dial system lets you call out, with a speaker and listening device integrated into the palm and thumb areas of the glove.

Swany says the phone will last for 12 hours on standby, with 4 hours of talk time, making it a potentially useful gadget for those who find themselves stranded in the snow or in need of emergency assistance.

The g.cell is set to show up around the holidays for a suggested retail price of $495. Also suggested (by us at least): not calling your friends while barreling down the mountain.

(Via Newlaunches.com)

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Click for more pictures.

(Credit: Samsung)

MP3 player manufacturers can count on one thing: there will always be a demand for cheap, basic portable music players. These minimally-featured devices are often perfect for the gym or brief, day-to-day use. To that end, Samsung is throwing its chip into the game in the form of the S2 Pebble, a screenless MP3 player that looks like a shiny stone. The Pebble is typically light on extras, but its sleek design, straightforward operation, and super affordable $40 price tag is sure to appeal to those looking for a basic-yet-stylish device. Read the S2 Pebble review.

Now you too can sport an antenna.

(Credit: DreamWorks)

NEC has announced a wideband wearable antenna that you can attach to your clothes to supplement the signal when reception is poor. Or when you want to look like an insect.

The mobile antenna uses a conductive fabric that can be attached to garments or other items, and folded up for easy carrying. NEC says the wearable antenna works equally well in open spaces and when situated close to the signal-impeding human frame.

NEC will first test the antenna to receive digital TV broadcasts between the 470 and 770MHz frequency bands, but the principle lends itself to other applications, which NEC plans to try, as well.

The VholdR looks like something out of a James Bond movie. Details are a little sketchy on this wearable camcorder but it looks high tech, and here's what we do know.

At 4.8 oz and just under 4 inches long and 2 inches wide, this little guy packs some serious tech. It films at 640 x 480 at 30 fps in mpeg 4 format. It has a microSD slot for additional memory and a USB 2.0 output to get your movies onto your PC. It comes with a rechargeable lithium battery that claims to have two hours of life, and has a variety of mounting options for those X-game fanatics.

The company is taking preorders and plans to sell it at $349.

The Web site for VholdR is as cool as the product, but it is a work in progress and it seems like the company producing the camera, identified as Twenty20 on the VholdR site, doesn't quite know what it's selling as of yet. I can't find any company contact info on the VholdR site, although a Web search yields a separate site for Twenty20, a maker of helmet cams. But I am not about to plonk down $349 for a preorder when so many questions remain about the product.

I think the concept is great and can think of a bunch of sports applications for this little gadget, but if I were you I would wait until it launches so we can do full review.

It's really hard to keep a straight face with these things on.

(Credit: CNET Networks/Corinne Schulze)

The future hath arrived. Tech enthusiasts have long theorized that video players in the form of glasses were imminent, and it was only a year ago that some of the first models started to hit the market. Now, the category is in full swing, with plenty of versions of the device made specifically for the video iPod. One of them is the MyVu Personal Media Viewer (PMV), a rather ridiculous-looking $299 accessory. Naturally, due to these glasses' ability to make the wearer look uncannily like Geordi La Forge, I had to get them and put them on for all to see. As we well know, when it comes to absurd wearable gadgets, I am the queen. Click on the photo at right for more detailed pics of the MyVu PMV, or head straight to the review.

(Credit: iRiver)

Well, I'll be...remember back when the iRiver S10 originally snuck onto the Web? I came across the player on our sister site, CNET Asia, and it was recently brought back to my attention by a press release that announced the availability of the player in the U.K. In the first instance, I believed it was probably inevitable that the S10 would be relegated to the other side of the Pacific (because, you know, Asia gets all the cool stuff), but I thought the recent British release of the pendant-style player was worth some deeper digging. Dare I say that it was too little, too late? As it turns out, iRiver America (which, go figure, sells iRiver devices in the U.S.) received a shipment with a "few hundred" S10s, but they "did not want to do an announcement and drive traffic to the site only to have them be sold out." Why, those sneaky little devils! The package was received just before Christmas time, and nearly all the devices were gone by CES in early January. In any case, the American division is "hoping" to get another (larger) shipment of the S10s when they get the Clix2 and W10 shipments (scheduled for Q2). So, if you've been lusting after an iPod Shuffle-like player, but eschew the lack of a screen (in color, no less!), be sure to keep your eye on iRiver America--there's no telling how many might be available this next time around.

It comes in black too

(Credit: Koyono)

Leave it to the Aussies to create wearable technology for all seasons. Most of the wired clothing we've seen has been more appropriate for cooler climes (and looking pretty dorky at times). But summer will be here before we know it, and we don't have a thing to wear.

Koyono, a company from the land Down Under, is catering to the beach set with its "BlackCoat" short-sleeved shirt-jacket. Koyono's Web site doesn't detail the technical specs for its latest offering, but we assume it'll use the same technology as its heavier coats, which include controls sewn into a removable strip near the button holes. There's also a special pocket with a 30-pin connector that's perfectly sized for an iPod.

This may call for a special Crave outing to Sydney, where we hear the tiki bars never close.