Televisions

A lot of portable DVD players look like they were made for kids--probably because they were. With DVD drives standard in so many laptops these days, adults have fewer reasons than ever to lug around a separate player.

But for those special occasions when you actually want to leave your computer at home (gasp) and don't plan on watching Spongebob or Dora, this player from Amadana may be just the ticket. It reminds us of a gutted and renovated San Francisco Victorian: Inside its beautiful bamboo exterior all the modern amenities you need. It has a 10-inch LCD, flat-touch … Read more

TiVo may be falling under the superficial spell of techno-fashion with its Glo Remote, but competing gadgets know that beauty is only clamshell deep. Take, for example, the InVoca voice-activated universal remote, which supposedly recognizes up to four voices and 25 commands for your TV, VCR, DVD player and other devices. It also has a charging base--shouldn't all products have those by now?--and a hands-free surfing function (we're not sure exactly how that works). The InVoca's name reminds us of an Italian scooter, but we've already gotten over that. If it works as billed, we … Read more

I was psyched when a reader said this little box can show in dollars and kilowatt-hours just how much every last lightbulb, TV, and forgotten camera charger in your house costs you. The Energy Detective, or TED, will flash an alarm when your hourly or monthly power consumption reaches painfully expensive levels, and when spells of high or low voltage might damage connected gear.

At $150, TED costs the same as the Kill-a-Watt and its ilk, which can measure only one gadget's power hunger at a time. You could recoup that cost in a tax refund and then some, … Read more

Even TiVo, that most utilitarian of devices, is not immune to the vagaries of fashion. Granted, it's starting small--with just its remote--and, thankfully, it's not taking any cues from designer Andre Kim.

Engadget says the Glo Remote (is the letter W becoming extinct?) already comes standard with TiVo's Series 3 HD box and has only one obvious difference: Its piano-black glossy finish is accented with a new chrome trim. That's a lot to justify a standalone $50 purchase if you've already got the Series 3 version. But considering how attached some people are to their … Read more

This may sound heretical, but we don't think smaller is always better for gadgets. Especially if it means needing a magnifying glass to use them.

Take, for example, the Digital Cube Mini just released on the Korean market. It does what you want it to do: play videos, live TV, and music, as well as display photos and support e-books, according to Ubergizmo. And it's portable, that's for sure, measuring about 3 by 2 inches and a little more than a half-inch thick.

But is that a good thing? The cube's diminutive stature means that its … Read more

As cool as it looks in commercials, the idea of mounting a small fortune's worth of television on a wall pretty much scares us to death. Especially in earthquake country.

A saner alternative might be the Wenge TV Hi-Fi stand from high-end furniture dealer Anora Home, which is both practical and a tasteful addition to your decor. It takes its name from wenge wood, a distinct variety from Africa known for its use in such exotic creations as custom-made guitars and collector knife handles.

The TV itself is wedged between two boards of wenge, fixed on a base of … Read more

We're hesitant even to post this so-called world's largest seamless display, only because that claim seems to be made every other day. But, hey, we all like looking at huge screens, don't we? And this one adds "highest resolution" to the category, for the record. Apparently the work of two computer engineers, this monstrosity measures a full 27 feet across and 15 feet high (not typos). "This mammoth display is capable of displaying photographs and video in 60 million pixel, courtesy of 20 networked PCs that are equipped with a couple of graphic cards … Read more

The Slingbox is no longer a Windows-only device. Today, Sling Media posted the beta version of the SlingPlayer software for Mac OS X. As to be expected with beta software, there are a few caveats: for now, the software is intended only for U.S. and Canadian Slingbox owners, and it will run only on Macs running OS X version 10.4. That said, we were able to download, install, and run it on an iMac in well under five minutes, and it performed smoothly during our first full day of testing. Download links and an FAQ are available at … Read more

Speaking of expensive TVs, how does $130,000 sound? Same here.

Still, you know you wanted to see what it looked like, as did scads of other Digg readers who tagged this Gizmag post over the weekend even though the item came out awhile back on Engadget and elsewhere. And who could blame them? With 160 diamonds and white gold trim, the Yalos Diamond LCD set by Keymat Technologies is worth a second look--and third or fourth. But at 40 inches, it's a bit small for our taste. We're holding out for 52-incher.

(Photo: Keymat Technologies)