In my humble opinion, the biggest issue concerning the Peek e-mail device isn’t whether or not it does what it’s intended to do, but who is it intended to serve? There’s a big market out there, to be sure. Who doesn’t have e-mail nowadays? Doesn’t matter, there aren’t many of them and they’re not reading CrunchGear. I’ll make that first question – Who is Peek intended to serve? – two pieces of bread in a delicious gadget sandwich. The meat inside will be the review of the device itself. And so we dance. → Read More
Here’s one man’s opinion: Nintendo Wii, as a gaming system, was meant for golf. I would have bought the thing if it was called the Nintendo Golf Simulator back when it was released. Nintendo keeps releasing non-golf games for it, yet I just wait for one game every August. Tiger Woods 07, released in mid-March 2007, was a pretty good first crack at motion-based golf on the Wii. Then Tiger Woods 08 came out in late August 2007, less than half a year after the first Wii version. I purchased it and found it to be an okay, albeit marginal, upgrade from the previous one but it didn’t feel much different, the putting took a step backward (if you ask me), and there still was no online multiplayer. I knew that going in and I made my peace with it because I knew that this year – this year – would be the year that Tiger Woods on the Wii really started hauling ass. So with plenty of time to really get in there and mix it up, Tiger Woods 09 has finally shipped. I’ve been waiting for this version for a long, long time. Let’s take a look. → Read More
These Wi-Fi radios have come a long, long way. Case in point, I have an old Linksys WMLS-11B from almost five years ago that requires me to spin around in a circle two times, add a single drop of blood to exactly 6.3 ounces of room-temperature tap water, and paint the Toyota Camry logo on my chest backwards before I can get the thing to reliably stream music wirelessly. Fast forward to the present day, and I just hooked up the Aluratek AIRMM01F and had it streaming music in under a minute. → Read More
The ATH-ANC3 noise-canceling headphones from Audio Technica feature make for great travel companions thanks to active noise cancellation, which basically entails using built-in microphones to take an audio sample of surrounding ambient noise and then creating the exact opposite noise to cancel the ambient noise out. Sound amazing? It is! So how well does it work on such a tiny pair of headphones? Let’s find out. → Read More
Here’s a five-minute look at the DSM-330 from D-Link. It’s a DivX Connected player, which basically uses your home PC for most of the menu rendering and downloading horsepower. We’ll have a full review up in the not-too-distant future. So far, I see promise in the plug-ins feature, which allows developers to create their own stuff – I installed a Digg.com thing, an HD movie preview function, and a Google Maps application. Streaming HD content over my 802.11G wireless connection has been so-so. If the files are already on my PC, everything works great. Files that need to be downloaded and streamed on the fly tend to stutter from time to time. All in all the device looks pretty good, though. I’ll run it through some more tests over the next week or so and report back. → Read More
When it comes to buying a webcam, there seems to be two distinct product groupings. On the one end, you have inexpensive cameras that sell for between $20 and $50. These cameras often feature relatively low resolutions like 320×240 or 640×480 and are relatively simple to operate — you stick the camera on top of your monitor, fire up AIM, Windows Live Messenger, or Skype and then start your video chat. Then there are the $80+ cameras that feature higher resolutions and carry features like automatic face tracking, low-light adjustment, and stuff like that. Most regular consumers will opt for the less expensive models but those that opt for the higher-end cameras often have a very specific reason for doing so and, as such, put a little more time and effort into researching their various options. So that brings us to my story. I’ve been looking for a good webcam for a while now and I needed one that could handle the specific task of grabbing decent videos of gadgets at very close range. I didn’t want to spend a bundle because I didn’t need things like HD or even very high resolution due to the face that the width of the CrunchGear page is only 560 pixels wide. So I needed something that did 640×480 at the most and I didn’t need head tracking or anything like that found in the more expensive cameras. → Read More
Panasonic’s “Eco Technology Center” sits in a little town outside of Osaka, Japan and is unique in that it’s one of the only recycling centers that has an on-site research and development lab and allows public tours. Check out the above video to see more. In Japan, the Home Appliance Recycling Law (HARL) was passed in 1998 and then fully enforced by 2001. The law calls for end-of-life home appliances to be recycled through the cooperation of consumers, retailers, and manufacturers with the target goal of over 50% of the materials in various home appliances to be used to make new appliances. There are four main categories: CRT televisions and monitors, electric refrigerators and freezers, electric washing machines, and household air conditioners. We got a chance to sit down with the president of the Eco Technology Center, Kazuyuki Tomita, and peppered him with questions about what they do with the stuff that can’t be recycled, a refrigerator-eating machine named “Jaws”, and all of the weird and wonderful things that they find in old, forgotten appliances. → Read More
Looking to share USB devices across your home network? Got $80? Then pick up the IOGEAR USB Net ShareStation. The product’s website says, “Users may not achieve optimum audio/video streaming performance when connecting to the USB Net ShareStation through a wireless Ethernet router,” but I loaded up a 1080p WMV file and streamed it via wireless just fine. You can hook up external drives, a 4-port USB hub, a webcam, a printer, or just about any other USB device. IOGEAR USB Net ShareStation [IOGEAR.com] → Read More
I’ve been using the MSI Wind and for a little while now and have checked out a handful of things that our readers have asked about. I’ll have a full review of the notebook itself coming up soon but in the meantime, I’ve tested the following: Skype video recording and playback, HD video playback (WMVHD and AVCHD), Photoshop, Google Earth, StarCraft, Ubuntu 8.04, DVD playback with a mounted .iso image using DAEMON Tools, and more. Thanks for all the great questions, everyone… → Read More
I review the new Flip Mino…or do I? Here’s five minutes you’ll never get back. Flip Mino [TheFlip.com] Like this video? View more here… → Read More
The above video may or may not be an accurate depiction of the early days of Linux. → Read More
Behold the Chinavasion.com Breathalyzer Keychain Car Gadget with built-in flashlight and stopwatch. It costs a meager $4.43 — far less than other breathalyzer gadgets — and it seems to work although it tops out at a 0.05 blood alcohol content (BAC) reading, so you’ll never really be quite sure if you’re over the 0.08 limit in most states. → Read More
Just noticed this new blend today in my local convenience store. According to the company, it’s an “amazing mix of the finest espresso coffee, fresh milk and cream packed with the powerful blend of Original Rockstar.” To me, it tasted like cold coffee with milk and now my vision’s kind of blurry and everything’s moving in slow motion. Wheee! Rockstar Roasted [Rockstar69.com] Like this video? View more here… → Read More
The Samsung Juke is a tiny, tiny phone. It’s a good phone, too. Hell, it’s a great phone. The call quality for such a small phone is impressive. If you’re looking for a great, pocketable phone that’s capable of making and receiving calls reliably, this is a great option at $99 with 2-year contract. → Read More
