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DSiWare, WiiWare, and Virtual Console releases for this week

This week the Virtual Console celebrates its 300th downloadable game as a classic Zelda game finally makes its debut.

DSiWare Art Style: PiCTOBiTS (Gameloft, 500 DSi Points): This color matching block game is ready for download on the DSi Shop. Enjoy various levels of puzzle-solving fun and the occasional visit from a classic NES character. WiiWare Crystal Defenders R2 (Square Enix, 800 Points): Ward off the encroaching enemy fleet by deploying Fencers and Black Mages. Battle through various maps of combat and strategy. Silver Star Chess (Agetec, Inc., 500 Points): Finally you can ditch that cumbersome chess board and rely … Read more

DSiWare, WiiWare, and Virtual Console releases for this week

This week brings Dr. Mario to the DSi and Wonderboy to the Virtual Console. DSiWare Dr. Mario Express (Nintendo, 500 DSi Points): The classic color-matching puzzle game makes its way to the Nintendo portable in Dr. Mario Express. Play alone or against the computer in the race to fight off viruses. Master of Illusion Express: Deep Psyche (Nintendo, 200 DSi Points): Continuing the series of magic tricks for your DSi, Deep Psyche will ask you a number of questions in order to reveal a startling truth. WiiWare Crystal Defenders R1 (SQUARE ENIX, 800 Wii points): See how many encroaching monsters … Read more

Functional screensaver

This free desktop clock takes shapes as a screensaver. We didn't particularly care for the numerous desktop and taskbar icons that came with it, but 7art Crystal Clock performed its job well.

Once installed, 7art Crystal Clock appears in your screensaver menu. Like your other screensavers, you can set the time intervals for it to appear. While that was straightforward, we weren't happy that it also managed to install five other icons to our desktop that pushed other products. Also installed was a taskbar icon that really served no real purpose other than to provide contact information for … Read more

Light switches brace themselves for Swarovski

It seems like everything under the sun is getting the Swarovski crystal treatment. Back in February, we introduced you to the top five Swarovski disasters, which included phones, radios, and even a whole piano covered in the stuff. Now you can add light switches to the list of useless abominations sprinkled with Swarovskis.

This time around, Berker Switches and Systems has teamed with Swarovski to present the "Crystal Collection." Why would you settle for a boring old plastic switch when you can get a large, multi-faceted Swarovski-cut crystal instead?

OK, the technology behind the light switch is actually … Read more

Timeless ice crusher looks nice at any time

The other day, I wrote about another manually operated hand-cranked appliance, the Whirley-Pop Stovetop Popcorn Popper. Considering popcorn and pop go together so well, I think there is room enough to explore another old-timey gadget.

The Crystal Clear Ice Crusher (in Gift Box, no less) is simple to use, but might be the best way to get the job done. Imagine a hot summer day filled with the sounds of icemen of yore hawking their quickly deteriorating product. Suddenly, the prospect of having to grind your own seems downright modern. Simply open up the icebox freezer, take out a few … Read more

Photos: Top five items ruined by Swarovski crystals

Only one thing looks worse than Winnie the Pooh having his face sandpapered off, and that's any gadget covered in Swarovski crystals.

For some reason unbeknownst to us, Swarovski crystals seem to share certain properties with acne--they appear to crop up on everything at some point in its life, and no one suffering from them ever appears to be happy.

Click on the gallery below to see the five crystal-clad abominations that have stood out most over the last few years, starting with one that's only just hit our screens: Elton John's "Starburst" iPod nano. … Read more

Report: Samsung Electronics restructures

Samsung Electronics is reconfiguring four divisions into two, in a move to bring its consumer products under one roof and its components business under another, according to a report Friday in The Wall Street Journal

The electronics giant will house such areas as its TVs, cell phones, and other consumer electronics into one group, while the components division will now include its liquid crystal displays and semiconductors, according to the report.

Samsung's restructuring comes at a time when a number of companies are retooling their operations in an effort to minimize the effect of a slowdown in corporate IT spending … Read more

Testing CrystalTalk

While visiting the Motorola booth at CES, I had very my own Miss America experience. The company invited me to test its CrystalTalk Plus feature, which is a top feature of its new Tundra VA76r rugged phone. Since I've had good experiences with CrystalTalk before, I accepted the opportunity to see how it could be improved upon. CrystalTalk Plus promises, and as I found also delivers, an even better audio experience by adding a second microphone on the phone's rear side. Along with the primary microphone, it cancels out background noise to enable you to hear your caller, … Read more