Gadget news

Vista heralded in NYC with spandex and bungee cords

This morning, despite subzero temperatures and a wicked wind chill, a crowd of press, special guests, and Windows Vista beta testers from around the world showed up in Manhattan's post-industrial West Chelsea neighborhood to watch a rather unusual spectacle: a troupe of aerial dancers on the side of the Terminal Building, clad in spandex bodysuits, bouncing around on bungee cords, and forming the Vista and Office 2007 logos. It's all part of the massive Vista launch festivities that are going on all day in NYC leading up to the operating system's consumer debut tomorrow.

Not exactly what … Read more

Apple gives Brits their own PC vs. Mac ads

The Brits now have their own version of those funny Apple commercials pitting Mac against PC.

The commercials, which can be viewed on Apple's U.K. Web site, follow the same scenario as the American versions. The only strange thing is that instead of Bill Gates, "PC" bears a striking resemblance to Al Gore.

Come on now. Everyone who has seen An Inconvenient Truth knows that Gore is an Apple man.

More stuff to Crave

--COOL STUFF: iBlinds (YouTube)

--NINTENDO: First Nintendo Wii News Channel tour and screenshots (Gizmodo)

--WEB 2.0: Where's Digg for music? Right here (Webware)

--HISTORY LESSONS:Airstream meets Pac-Man in folding trailer design (Treehugger)

--THE INDUSTRY: Inside the Lucasfilm data center (CNET News.com)

--WEB 2.0: Streaming version of BitTorrent on the way (Monkey Bites)

--SOCIAL NETWORKING: Bebo Minicards launched (Mashable)

Microsoft gets pushy with Palm

No, no, it's not what you think. This isn't an OS war, but rather a nice collaboration between Palm and Microsoft that will benefit Treo 700p and Treo 680 owners. Today Palm announced the availability of a Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync Update that brings Microsoft's Direct Push technology to the Palm-based Treos and allows for wireless synchronization of your e-mail, calendar, and contacts. Woo-hoo. The update will be available starting Monday, at which point you can download it from www.palm.com/easdownload.

HTC Athena launches in Europe; will it fly in the States?

Good 'ol HTC recently launched another innovative device (in Europe, of course--guh), but it's not a smart phone. The HTC Athena is a UMPC of sorts, and it's jam-packed with features. It is powered by a 624MHz Intel processor, runs Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PC Phone Edition, has an 8GB hard drive and 128MB of RAM and 256MB of flash ROM. You want wireless options? Oh, it's got your wireless options--Bluetooth 2.0, Wi-Fi, GSM/GPRS/EDGE, UMTS/HSDPA, and GPS. On top of all that, the gadget boasts a 5-inch, 640x480 resolution touch screen; a detachable … Read more

Which of these wacky Apple rumors are real and which are fake?

While browsing my RSS feeds this morning, I noticed that some particularly unusual Apple-related rumors were circulating about the series of tubes. So I decided to turn it into a game. Now, if you're a rabid Jobsian who follows all those Apple gossip blogs as though they were Us Weekly, you'll find this little quiz a cinch. But for those of you who aren't, answer this for me--Which of the following "Apple rumors" are legitimate rumors, and which ones did I just make up on the spot?

Three are real. The others are figments of … Read more

Palm OS now called Garnet OS

Palm OS will now be known as Garnet OS, Access announced Thursday. Garnet was originally the code name used by PalmSource for Palm OS 5.4, the most current version of the software.

The renaming is part of a process begun in October 2006, when Access announced that its subsidiary, PalmSource, the developer of Palm OS, would also take the name Access.

Access is removing all vestiges of Palm from its products as part of a previous agreement to sell PalmSource's rights in the Palm Trademark Holding Company to Palm, according to a statement.

Is the Wiimote getting tweaked?

There was much fanfare over here as fellow Craver Will Greenwald finally got his hands on a Wii earlier this week, but new rumors about the blogosphere* are indicating that the much-coveted Nintendo console may already be due for a bit of a facelift. Well, not really. But the Wiimote, of screen-smashing fame, might be getting some adjustments to deal with some of the most common user complaints. According to a German gaming news site, the grip will be improved to make it a little easier to hold onto, and the Wiimote will somehow have a rechargeable battery. As Kotaku blogger Luke Plunkett says, &… Read more

Bienvenido, Motorola Q2?

As some of you phone fanatics may know, the 3GSM World Congress is coming up soon in Barcelona, Spain (unfortunately, Crave won't be there in person sipping on Spanish wine along Las Ramblas, err, I mean, to cover the event). The annual conference brings together the cell phone industry to discuss and showcase the latest 3G technologies and developments, and in recent years, it has also served as backdrop to some pretty cool product announcements. Now, based on some blogosphere rumblings, it looks like this year won't be any different. According to Engadget Mobile, Motorola is prepping to … Read more