crown

T-Mobile USA is close to inking a deal to sell 7,000 cell towers, according to a new report.

Tower operator Crown Castle International is the lead bidder for T-Mobile's towers, the Wall Street Journal is reporting today, citing sources. The deal could net T-Mobile $2 billion and cut down on costs related to tower upkeep and service.

Talk of T-Mobile putting its towers up for sale emerged back in March. At that time, J.P. Morgan analyst Philip Cusick said that in addition to the sales price, T-Mobile could save as much as $3 billion a year just … Read more

At the risk of sounding as old as I am, do you remember that "Seinfeld" episode where Elaine decided to create a bakery that sold only the top part of the muffin? They baked muffins, cut the tops off to sell, then debated what to do with the leftovers. Eventually, she donated them to a homeless shelter and was told in no uncertain terms that the homeless had no interest in her rejected muffin bottoms.

If she had just used this muffin crown pan from Norpro, she could have avoided the whole messy confrontation.

This nonstick pan lets … Read more

There are surprisingly few multinational audio companies.

I'm talking about big companies that just make speakers and audio electronics, so that leaves Sony and Panasonic out of the picture. Bose and D & M Holdings (Denon, Marantz, Boston Acoustics, etc) come to mind, but Harman International has a longer reach. Harman owns AKG (headphones, microphones), Harman/Becker Automotive Systems, Crown (professional audio), Harman Kardon (receivers), Infinity (speakers), JBL (speakers), Lexicon (high-end electronics), Mark Levinson (car and high-end audio electronics), Revel (speakers), Soundcraft (professional audio), and Studer (professional audio).

Some brands, like JBL and Lexicon, make consumer and pro gear, and in the case of JBL, speakers for every budget, from entry-level hi-fi and home theater all the way up to recording studios, movie theaters and stadium sound systems.

I was thinking about all that because the Harman Mobile Showroom was in NYC last week for the Architectural Digest Home Design Show. It may soon be in a town near you, or you can take a virtual tour and see and learn more about Harman's Mobile Showroom.

I liked the sound at the Mobile Showroom and chatted with Todd Packer, a technical product and project manager for Harman, about the gear. The company's intention, "To make a strong design statement," came through loud and very clear. … Read more

As we have seen throughout this week, the United States Auto Club incorporates and sanctions a variety of racing styles, series, and events. Today's blog looks at yet another exciting division of USAC racing--the K & N National Silver Crown Championship.

The Silver Crown Championship has been the launching ground for many famous drivers including A.J. Foyt and Tony Stewart. This is a video from a race practice at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix--a mainstay venue of the Silver Crown Series. The audience gets a center stage view of the cars as the copper meets dirt and the cars … Read more

We've all seen how Apple's designs and user interface have been copied in numerous knock-off products. However, this time it's the company logo that's being ripped off.

Top Crown's latest 3G notebook actually looks quite decent on paper. Running on the low-power and inexpensive Via Nano 1.3GHz processor, it comes with a decent feature set and even includes 3G/HSDPA connectivity under the hood. The 10.1-inch display makes us suspect it's really a Netbook at heart, and the unit can be outfitted with a hard disk or solid-state drive.

But what really … Read more

Dan the Mantern is responsible for a majority of the stories in the rundown today, so don't hesitate to burn him at the stake if you don't like what you hear. Personally, I think today's show is hilarious: Craigslist crime, driving exams and racial stereotypes, video game pirates, and the evolution of the Chinese "impossible" space drive. Once again, it's East meets West on The 404!

Big thanks to our buddy Jeff Sparkman for today's show title. We are literally the taint on the massive organ that is CNET.com. Anyway, even though Dan helps us by suggesting the stories for the show, I managed to sneak one by him, and apparently Caroline McCarthy also caught wind. It seems like Craigslist just can't stay out of trouble. This time around, a man used the job listings to post an anonymous ad for construction workers and requested that they show up wearing a blue shirt, yellow vest, safety hat and a blue shirt. The man then proceeded to rob an armored car before stripping his clothing to reveal the exact same uniform, effectively allowing him to disappear into the sea of construction workers. He later reappeared to make his getaway by riding an innertube down the local lake. I love the fact that robbers are getting more creative with their schemes--Jason Bourne over here, did this guy just watch "Ocean's 11" or something? For all that Craigslist has given the internet community (apartments, bikes, jobs, casual "encounters"), I think we can let this one slide.

It's becoming harder for smokers to coexist with nonsmokers, what with all the nonsmoking in restaurants and bars. But if Crown7's smoke-free smoking devices catch on, a utopian society where smokers can "smoke" without pissing off everyone around them may yet exist.

The battery-powered devices use cartridges filled with nicotine, tobacco flavoring, water, and delicious propylene glycol to recreate the sensation of smoking. Instead of smoke, the "smoker" exhales a purportedly odorless vapor.

The device is available in three designs: cigar ($65), cigarette ($100), and pipe ($150).

According to the Crown7 site, each cartridge … Read more