What a hectic week it’s been. If you, like some, were busy lobbying for a federal bailout this week, that likely left you even less time than usual to keep up with the happenings on Crave. No worries, here’s a roundup of some of our favorite stories from …
(Credit: LaptopMag.com)Intel has a convertible Netbook on tap for the CES 2009 crowd assembling once again in Las Vegas next month.
Laptop magazine got a sneak peek at the newest version of the low-cost Classmate PC. It has an 8.9-inch swivel screen with touch and stylus input, …
Continue reading about Intel’s twist on the Classmate PC debuting at CES
Editor’s note: From now through the end of December, various Crave experts will be sharing their top five (mostly) tech-related wishes for the holiday season. See what we crave, and maybe you’ll get some ideas!
1. Get Mom off of AOL. My mother is the best woman I know. She’s hilarious, an amazing cook, and would go to the ends of the earth for her children. She’s even fairly comfortable with technology, as evidenced by the complicated emoticons she tags onto her e-mails and text messages. But she has one major flaw: she can’t seem to give up her AOL account. She’s been a loyal customer since we first paid for usage by the minute.
The Motoman SDA10 has two arms with seven joints each, which allows it to expertly wield a spatula.
(Credit: Pink Tentacle)
Mom doesn’t actually like AOL at all, but she looks past the annoying “You’ve got mail” greeting and circa-1999 design all because she doesn’t want to lose her bookmarks. Mom, you deserve threaded e-mail conversations and easy filters. This Christmas, sign up for Gmail. Or Yahoo Mail, Live Mail, whatever: they’re all free. There’s no reason not to switch. Seriously, do it for me, Mom.
2. Kill voice mail. Can we please just get rid of voice mail? It’s time consuming, eats up service plan minutes, and isn’t the best solution for the problem of a missed call.
I’m a reporter, so a LOT of people call me. But if I’m not at my desk, and you leave a message, chances are I won’t dial in to the phone system to listen to it. No offense, but I’m probably on deadline. Instead, I’ll see a missed call and go directly to my e-mail. The really pro PR folks send e-mails to say they called, and consequently, this is how I now operate in life. If I miss a call on my mobile, I don’t check messages. I look at the number and, if it’s someone I know, return the call.
Voice mail is overrated and unnecessary. It’s called e-mail, people. Or visual voice mail. I can compromise.
3. More content on Netflix Watch Instantly. Netflix Watch Instantly is awesome. So much so that I nominated it as my Gadget I’m Thankful For. But after catching up on 30 Rock, old episodes of childhood favorite MacGyver, and random ’80s flicks, I’m left wanting more. And if I can be picky here, more current TV series, please.
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Continue reading about ‘Tis the season to Crave: Erica Ogg’s picks
Canon's black dots are perplexing some photogs.
(Credit: Stephen Hoerold)
You’ve probably been shopping your little consumer hearts out in preparation for the holidays. So if you didn’t keep track of all the goings-on here at Crave this week, we understand. Here’s a roundup of …
If clicking multiple buttons is too strenuous an activity, check this mouse out.
(Credit: Qubetrix)The Z Nano Optical Mouse, which bills itself as the “world’s tiniest” optical mouse, is, at 1.65 inches by 0.83 inches by 0.69 inches, barely larger than a human finger tip. …
If you get a new PC for a holiday gift this year, it’s almost guaranteed it’ll come filled to the brim with trialware. Knowing this, Support.com says it’s got another present for you: free removal of the unwanted pre-loaded software.
The desktop of a brand-new PC
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Continue reading about Free crapware removal from Support.com
Black Friday retail results were a pleasant surprise for retailers this year, with sales inching up slightly from the same day last year. A big part of that was the heavy discounting designed to attract consumers.
This LG 32LG30 LCD TV was discounted 33 percent in the lead-up to the
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Continue reading about Premium LCD TV brands slash prices to compete for holiday shoppers
The delightfully cheesy Gun O'Clock alarm clock.
(Credit: Gizmine.com)
Thousands of delightfully inexplicable gadgets made only for the Japanese market are hard to come by outside the country. A new site from Japanese importer Dynamism is making it easier for us gaijin to get our hands on …
Continue reading about Gizmine.com enables your Japanese gadget addiction
As if your company shutting right before the holidays weren’t bad enough.
Regional electronics dealer Tweeter, scheduled to close its doors December 7, on Tuesday suddenly closed down all its stores. Six hundred employees at 70 stores were fired immediately. Many employees are still owed back pay, and some customers are still owed merchandise that has already been paid for, according to The Boston Globe, which cites five unnamed store managers and executives.
According to the Globe:
The employees, including roughly 150 in Massachusetts, are still owed at least one week’s pay, vacation time, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in bonuses that were promised as part of the liquidation sale, said the managers and executives who declined to be named because they are still owed money. Customers are unable to pick up merchandise they had already purchased and the liquidators handling the closing also have not been paid. Meanwhile, there is roughly $14 million worth of goods left in the locked stores.
The Globe’s sources say that while Tweeter’s owner, Schultze Asset Management, paid off the company’s largest creditor, Wells Fargo, it didn’t want to continue covering the costs of shutting down the business. So Schultze locked the doors five days early and told managers not to come to work anymore.
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Continue reading about Tweeter demonstrates how not to handle liquidation
Best Buy will sell the Nikon D40 with a two-lens kit for $549 on Black Friday, or with the single lens for $449. Click on the above image for details on more post-Thanksgiving deals.
(Credit: BFADs.net)
For many, nothing says the day after Thanksgiving like queuing before dawn outside …
Continue reading about Photos: Black Friday deals you should know about