CES 2007

Dispatches from the format war: HD DVD vs. Blu-ray

Developments in the . In the new year, both camps came out swinging at CES 2007. With so much news to process, we've taken the opportunity to collect all the major developments into one easily digestible chunk.

Enter the combo player: LG officially unveiled the .

...and the combo discs: LG offered hardware détente, while Warner took the software angle. Warner's new (THD) puts an HD DVD and a Blu-ray version of the same movie on a single disc, which Warner pledges will sell for the same price as its single-format counterpart. Like the LG, it's a more

Toshiba laptops will soon write to HD

In the maddening crush of gadgets and humanity that is CES, we walked right past the Qosmio sitting in Toshiba's booth--after all, we'd seen that laptop before, and

Philips flubs pricing on new 63-inch 1080p plasma TV

Sometimes when things seem too good to be true, they're indeed too good to be true. Alas, such is the case for Philips' new 63PFP7422D 63-inch 1080p plasma TV, which was at CES with a price tag of $3,500. Turns out $3,500 is the price for the company's current 63-inch plasma model, which features 768p or 1,366x768 resolution. (Really, that makes it your basic 720p HDTV). The new price for the new set is actually $5,500. Oops.

For the record, I did have sneaking suspicion that the price was perhaps overly aggressive, but Philips more

Want music? Turn on the lamp

With the home becoming ever-more digital, we've seen a steady increase of instances where technologies converge with traditional furnishings. The early stages of this domestic evolution have often involved

At CES this week Soundolier showed off its "

And then there's this bonus feature: "A foot-controlled power and dimmer offer convenient control of the lamp for room lighting, theater-style dimming or anywhere in between." Bring on the

Robo-snakes not on a plane

Some of us at Crave have managed to resist our adolescent urges to collect toy robots, in a rare example of self-restraint. Our willpower met its match, however, when we saw photos of WowWee's "

It had been mentioned earlier along with

The bionic serpent's 40 movements can be controlled by its remote, according to Slashgear, or it can just be left to boogie to the beat of your music. Not just a plaything, the Roboboa reportedly serves as an alarm clock, an iPod speaker and even a "room sentry that can track motion." If the rumored $119 price

Buy a Coby MP3 player, get 50 songs free

If you buy one of Coby's new MP3 video players when they become available this spring, you'll also get a coupon good for 50 songs from eMusic.

The flagships of Coby's new models are the 20GB MP-C951 ($249) and the 30GB MP-C961 ($279 to $289), both stylish players with red-backlit, touch-sensitive buttons arrayed on a handsome black plastic case below a bright, 2-inch LCD. Both units can handle a variety of A/V formats--MP3, WMA, OGG, WAV, and Xvid--and include an FM radio with recording capabilities and a voice recorder.

Also eligible for an eMusic coupon are more

Play your iPod on Philips' DVD portables

Instead of having to choose between a portable DVD player and an iPod, now you can tote both using one of two Philips portable DVD players. Both the DCP750 ($149), equipped with a 7-inch screen, and the 8.5-inch DCP850 ($199) have a well that accommodates a remote control that, when ejected, can now handle an iPod.

In addition to playing from an iPod, you can bring media in via the players' SD card slots. Both decks can translate a variety of MPEG-4 video formats including DivX, and most CD and DVD rewritable formats including SVCD. The players' most distinctive more

Fold-out keyboard in pricey portable

In what seems to be the Swiss Army knife of portables, the S-XGen ultramobile personal computer (UMPC) from Seamless Internet includes an Intel PXA270 Xscale 520MHz processor running Windows CE 5.0 operating system, Microsoft Office Mobile, 256MB of RAM, a 20GB hard drive, Wi-Fi (802.11b), Bluetooth and tri-band GSM/EDGE/CDMA EV-DO network access, Ethernet and USB ports, a 4-inch TFT LCD touch screen, a 280 pixel Web video camera, and a fold-out QWERTY keyboard, all of which collapse into a package measuring 6.5x3.8x1.25 inches and weighing 14 ounces.

Eight hours of battery life accommodates more

Harman's auto audio gem

Harman Kardon unleashed its nifty Drive+Play 2 for gadget-loving drivers everywhere. With an impressively simple setup (you can hook it up in a couple minutes sans tools), you can have a single interface for everything from your iPod or Zune to your phone or satellite radio. The 3.5-inch color display is easily mountable on your dash with screws or adhesive, and a 2.4GHz wireless control knob lets you navigate the very iPod-like skinnable menu system for "distraction-free browsing."

The system is powered by a cigarette-lighter module that doubles as an FM transmitter, line output, and charging hub. more