spying

Spy clock feeds paranoia

Here at Crave, we stay paranoid so you don't have to. Where else, for example, can you find cautionary notes about an eavesdropping table lamp and a spy-cam clock in one place?

The latter was brought to our attention by Chip Chick, who says the "WiLife Spy Camera" is the "only networked camera concealed in a digital alarm clock." (Talk about esoteric claims.)

So far as we can tell, it's pretty much like other Wi-Fi spy cams we've seen that send video feeds back to a remote PC or other screen. The option … Read more

Spy lamp can bug any room tastefully

The espionage community has apparently taken up some hobbies since the end of the Cold War--including interior design.

The "GSM Table Lamp" may look like an innocent accent piece from Crate and Barrel, but it doubles as an eavesdropping device that can pick up audio up to 20 meters away. But what really stands out is its global monitoring ability.

As long as it's in a region with GSM coverage, Red Ferret notes that you can call the lamp from anywhere in the world. And no one will be the wiser, as it's activated automatically and … Read more

'Spyke' spy bot is ready to roll

Go ahead, take the kids to McDonald's to get their Happy Meal Robosapiens. You know you were going to have to make a trip there anyway, sooner or later. Besides, that'll give you another excuse to get a robot of your own soon--the "Spyke."

As noted when it was introduced last month, this spy bot made by France's Meccano is outfitted with a Webcam, Wi-Fi connection and Skype's latest VoIP software. And now, thanks to Uber-Review, we know its price and availability: 200 pounds in the U.K., or about $391, with an April … Read more

'Spy pen' isn't worthy of 24

Speaking of Jack Bauer, this product is not one you'd find in the pocket of his Kevlar vest. The "Digital Spy Camera Pen" reminds us of something Ian Fleming's "Q" would have provided as standard equipment for Her Majesty's Secret Service. And with images of only 160x120 resolution, the quality is about as good as a gadget from the 1960s as well, though MobileWhack says the small file sizes mean the pen can store up to 36 photos. At $60, you'd think this would have for more than 2MB of storage these … Read more

AT&T turns parents into big brother

AT&T rolled out a new security portal today called Smart Limits. Designed for parents who want to monitor all aspects of their children's activities, the site provides instructions for parental controls of the Internet, cellular phones, television watching, and regular landline telephone calls. There is one catch, though: all the information is for AT&T's services, so it's not going to work on your Comcast cable box or Verizon cell phone.

There's obviously a big push for parental controls, as Windows Vista and Web services like MySpace recently have pushed out new child protection initiatives. … Read more

Digg Labs quietly launches BigSpy

Digg's Labs section launched last year with new ways to visualize Digg activity. Last week BigSpy, a new visualization tool that's eye candy in the purest sense of the word, quietly popped up. New stories appear at the top of the page, which offsets the rest of the stories in a wavelike motion. The more popular a story, the larger it is and the bigger the "wave" it causes on other stories. It's a mesmerizing effect.

One of the other Digg Labs' tools, Stack, was also updated. Stack essentially shows the popularity of a story … Read more

Spy sub means nowhere is safe

It might not be a spy bot per se, but it's still too close for comfort--in fact, it might even be worse because it could sneak up on us under water. Neatorama says this "spy sub," a father-son project featured on Popular Science, was done for $300--but, considering how sophisticated it is, that's a relative bargain.

The remote-controlled sub can reportedly send images from an on-board home-surveillance camera from as deep as 250 feet for more than a quarter-mile. We still don't like the idea of all this spying, but we suspect that another Craver … Read more

Enough with the spy bots already

Not that we're paranoid or anything (OK, so we are), but why are there so many surveillance robots on the market? We're not talking about the kind used by the military or law enforcement, but ordinary ones that roam around the house with wireless Webcams that can beam video anywhere within range. Even kids' toys are spying on us.

The latest is "Spyke" from France-based Meccano. Not only does this one have a Wi-Fi connection and Webcam, but it can also be used with Skype's latest VoIP software in performing its spy-botic duties, according to … Read more

It's your kid's turn to spy on you

How quickly the tables can turn. Just the other day, we were relishing the thought of sneaking up on friends and loved ones with a Webcam-toting robot spy. Now we find out that another kind of surveillance tool is on the market, and it's for kids.

It looks like an innocent remote-controlled car, but the $100 toy vehicle is mounted with a video camera that sends live feeds back to its operator--which, by Target's definition, is anyone aged 8 and up. To top it off, this thing can even work in the dark with a night-vision feature, and … Read more

Sony's $4,300 James Bond playset

Remember when you were a kid and the coolest birthday present you could get was a Fisher-Price or Little Tikes "playset" packed full of kiddie versions of grown-up tools? Depending on the contents of the colorful plastic briefcase, you could pretend to be a doctor, a construction worker, a detective, a cop, or what-have-you. Yes, I suppose they make those for grown-ups, too, but here at Crave we like to keep things clean.

Anyway, Sony is definitely capitalizing on kiddie nostalgia with its new "Limited Edition Spy Gear Set," a promotion for the latest Bond flick, &… Read more