stations

Console browsing: Not there yet

Is it possible to have a positive Webware experience on something besides a PC? Cell phones and small handheld Internet devices don't cut it with their tiny screens and awful browsers (at least until the iPhone arrives). So what if you could use that nice bandwidth you get at home and combine it with that large HDTV sitting in your living room? That question has recently been answered with Nintendo and Sony's more recent gaming consoles: the Wii and the PS3, respectively. Microsoft's Xbox 360 doesn't have a browser, likely because of the company's failure … Read more

Video grabber for iPod and PSP

Depending on where you get your video content, it can be a real pain to get movies and TV shows onto your iPod or PSP. Enter Streaming Networks' iRecord PRM-100 ($199.99), which lets you record video in real time directly to any USB mass storage device at a rate of around 3 hours of recording time per gigabyte in H.264/AVC format (with AAC audio tracks). Now you can record your gaming sessions and prove to your friends what a great Halo 2 player you are. You can even record music in MP3 format, though real-time music encoding … Read more

Dock without docking

Laptop docking stations have always been a bit on the awkward side, requiring you to slide your laptop into the dock, properly lining up the connectors. Usually, we end up banging the pieces together for a few seconds until they fit.

Toshiba showed us a new docking station for the company's Portege R400 Windows Vista convertible tablet that takes care of a lot of the limitations of traditional laptop docks. The wireless Ultra Wide Band Toshiba Wireless Port Replicator connects to the R400 automatically whenever it's within a few feet. It's not the first wireless dock we'… Read more

One reader, 55 cards

Brando is a company that makes some decidedly goofy gadgets (who doesn't?) but it also has figured out a decidedly practical strategy: making all-in-one technologies.

We're not talking about grotesque mutations but useful devices such as a single dock for iPods, PSPs and cell phones. That seems to have been the driving philosophy behind the "55-in-1 card reader," which I4U News says will work with all manner of storage cards, including "SDHC / SDHC 2.0 cards, MicroSD/T-Flash, miniSD, Memory Stick Micro (M2)"--all without adapters, for just $28.

This is exciting news, because … Read more

'Where's Waldo' for techies

Here's something fun for you to waste time exploring.

SpaceRef.com noticed, from this photo, that European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Reiter has an iPod and Belkin external battery pack on board with him at the International Space Station.

Upon closer look, CNET noticed a few more brands in use. (A hi-res version of the image is available on NASA's Web site.)

We've shown you a close-up of the iPod. See if you can also find the Nikon digital SLR cameras, an IBM Lenovo ThinkPad, a Bogen Superclamp holding the armature with the Fujinon camera, a … Read more

Speakers that reach for the sky

Sometimes, it seems that iPod speaker makers are just trying to outdo each other with the tallest models they can get away with. (Not that we have anything against tall models.)

The "Philips Docking Entertainment System DCM270" appears to be entering the contest, though its dimensions have not yet been revealed. In fact, not much of anything about it has been revealed, other than that it will work with Philips' GoGear MP3 player as well as the iPod (big surprise). One thing we do know: Like the Intempo Digital's Stereo Tower, the Philips system is at least … Read more

Who Needs Sleep?

I heard from a friend that the PlayStation store at the Metreon was getting shipments of PS3s last week. I decided to take a shot at getting one on Black Friday, so I drove by around 1:30 a.m. only to see a line forming already. I joined these die-hard PS3 fans in line and nine hours later scored a 60GB unit, an extra controller, and five games. I've been playing Resistance: Fall of Man and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance ever since.

This clock tracks time--and crime

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.) … Read more

10 hours of geek shopping advice, day after Thanksgiving

Call me Kreskin, because I'm pretty sure I already know the questions you're going to ask when you call us for advice on Friday, November 24 (from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT), during our annual live, Holiday Helpdesk marathon Webcast. Don't believe me? Try this on for size: "LCD or plasma?" "What's the best digital camera for my girlfriend/wife/grandfather?" "OK, break it down: PS3 or Wii?" Right? How'd I do?

But truthfully, if you have questions on these topics or any other, Brian Cooley, … Read more

L.A. finally has the Wii

LOS ANGELES--The crowd counted down the seconds to midnight, "Five, four, three, two, one," and then they went wild.

Inside the EB Games store at Universal CityWalk here, a phalanx of reporters awaited the midnight arrival of Jonathan Mann, the first person in line to buy one of Nintendo's new video game console, the Wii.

Seconds after midnight, as an explosion of streamers coated the ground outside, Mann came inside the store, walked up to the counter, and got some bad news from Nintendo senior vice president of marketing and communications George Harrison, who was standing behind … Read more