luxury

A pricey solution for wannabe vintners

I guess sometimes just drinking the stuff isn't enough. A company called Provina has released the 2007 edition of its WinePod, recently featured on Uncrate, that promises oenophiles the opportunity to make their own "artisan wine." It looks like more than just a party trick, too: the WinePod can make four to five cases of wine at a time, which means it might not fit too easily in your kitchen. (Better build a wine cellar!) The $3,500 price tag, too, might deter those of us who were hoping to offset the cost of a lifetime's … Read more

Rub a dub dub, TV in the tub

Apparently, these days you just aren't keeping up with the Joneses if you have a TV in your bedroom and one embedded in your refrigerator. And it's not enough to have one in the bathroom--it's got to be in the bathtub. I should also mention that the tub can't be an ordinary tub. It's got to be along the lines of the Luxor Hydro Massage Bathtub, as featured on Born Rich. The Luxor tub is selling for 3,995 British pounds, which is about $7,600. A small price for the absolute must-have of being … Read more

Is it a yacht or a spaceship?

Oceanliner cruises are OK and all, but who needs all those strangers around? Craig Loomes Design apparently shares that sentiment, which is why it developed this concept for the "most extreme superyacht," as described by Yachting Magazine. This 485-foot monster includes a helicopter pad, swimming pool, piano bar, grand hall and an internal harbor. Split-level staterooms can accommodate up to 28 guests, and the three-deck master suite has its own private elevator. Most impressive of all is the design of this ultra-luxury trimaran, which looks like it would be as comfortable in outer space as in the Caribbean.… Read more

B&O $1,275 phone hits U.S. stores

Would you shell out more than a grand for a cell phone? Bang & Olufsen, makers of high-end electronics fit for Hollywood celebrities and corporate bigwigs, is betting someone will. The company has partnered with Samsung to come up with the Serene, a design-first handset that launched a few days ago at the jaw-dropping price of $1,275. Yes, that's $1,275 for a cell phone.

It is certainly a beautiful piece of gadgetry; a black flip phone with a rotary-style keypad, complete with a power-assist self-opening clamshell that lets you open the phone with style and panache. But … 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

A $1.53 million bed and other wretched excess

Excess knows no bounds in the gadget world, as TechEBlog proves with a post titled "Top 5 Gadgets You Can't Afford." It's not kidding, either. One of the items, the first "floating magnetically levitating bed," carries a price tag of $1.53 million.

Others include the now-cliched million-dollar mobile phone and, on the low end, a high-tech shower for a paltry $22,587. The list even includes something for Halloween: a "wearable robot suit." But for $313,985, you might want to wear it more than just once.

(Photos: TechEBlog)

True sticker shock for Saks Mercedes

Call us rubes, but we didn't know that you could buy a car through Saks Fifth Avenue. And not just any car, but a 2007 Mercedes CL600 Saks Special Edition.

There it was, about halfway through the catalog, nestled between ads for Narciso Rodriguez perfume and a Vera Wang silk chiffon gown. The Mercedes features exclusive "Mystic White" metallic paint, Porcelain Nappa leather, and Piano Lacquer Black wood trim--oh, and a 510-horsepower BiTurbo V12 engine that can go from zero to 60 in 4.5 seconds.

So start checking your PayPal balances now--only 20 of the cars … Read more

The automated apartment of the (near) future

The room depicted in the photo at left might look like your average well-furnished living room in your average pricey loft apartment in downtown Manhattan. But it isn't: it's one of the rooms that was featured in a model apartment for the Z-Wave Alliance's demonstration of home wireless control earlier this week. The apartment was packed with hardware, software, and futuristic controllers that can make everything from the thermostat to the window blinds accessible at the push of a button. Check out CNET News.com's photo-adorned coverage. Z-Wave home control might be a few years away … Read more

Swarovski crystal meets the fridge

Here in the States, LG's latest buzzworthy item is the Shine phone, but the Korean electronics company is making waves overseas with...designer fridges. Luxury-gadget blog Born Rich has alerted us to LG's "Art Cool" line. The latest addition to this swanky collection is this fancy refrigerator, decorated with a floral design by Korean painter Seung-rim Ha and spiced up with embedded Swarovski crystals.

Not exactly the sort of place where you'd stash your leftover take-out food and six-packs of Bud Light.

The Art Cool fridge may never be sold stateside, but something tells me … Read more

Snakes on a Treo case

I could make all kinds of jokes about this real snakeskin Treo case from Monaco, linked via geekBlue. I could draw some kind of analogy between venomous snakes and PDA-toting, suit-clad Wall Streeters. Or, of course, I could make a jab about Samuel L. Jackson killing snakes on planes and turning them into Treo cases.

But I won't. I'll keep it short and to the point: wouldn't it be a little disconcerting sometimes to think about the fact that you keep your Treo wrapped up in dead snake?

(Photo: geekBlue)