tv

When TV should be heard as well as seen

The good news is that there are lots of alternatives to the remote TV speaker that we found a bit baffling the other day. The bad news is that more of us from the Boomer generation will be needing such amplification gadgets as our hearing begins to go the way of receding hairlines.

Case in point: the "Clarity Professional C120 Wireless TV Amplifier," another device designed to help you hear the TV without creating domestic turmoil. (And here we thought the C120 was a cargo plane.)

This headset supposedly increases sound by as much as 50 decibels (ouch) … Read more

Video boombox for the iPod

We knew that one of these had to be out there. About a week ago we found a video boombox that seemed to have everything except an iPod dock--which, to many people, made it virtually useless. But Boston Innovative Products has come to the rescue with one that provides just that.

Its "iMep" line of iPod boomboxes are also equipped for DVDs, CDs, TV and radio, according to iLounge. They're a bit of a stretch for the manufacturer, which is better known for making air purifiers and other household appliances. But hey, Samsung and LG are making … Read more

'TV Timer' makes kids go cold turkey

There's no substitute for direct parental involvement, as we've said many times, but this gadget is worth noting for those moms and dads who simply can't control their kids' TV-viewing habits.

Plug the telly directly into the "TV Timer," and this digital disciplinarian will turn off the tube unwaveringly at the appointed hour. It cannot be bribed and won't succumb to tears or tantrums.

Going where the "Weemote" left off, the timer allows parents to program three viewing slots each day. But be forewarned: It will work just as effectively on spouses.… Read more

Three music video search tools

With this morning's news of Last.fm launching a video service, we thought it would be worth mentioning a few resources that are out there for finding free music videos.

MusicTonic is a very slick search tool that mashes up various pieces of artist information like photos, album art, news stories, and a video playlist. It ties into a few online services like Flickr, YouTube, Last.fm, and MyStrands, among others. It's a lot like Foxytunes Planet, which we looked at in January, although there's no integration with any jukebox players.

Middio is a simplified music-video search … Read more

The latest convergence trend: fridge TVs

As we steam ahead toward the era of the fully digitized home, we didn't think that the term "convergence appliance" would mean a combo TV-fridge. In fact, we almost overlooked this latest example from LG, thinking that it was the Samsung model that appeared on Crave a few months ago. Little did we know that TV refrigerators were becoming a trend.

Cooling performance aside, the LG model boasts a 15-inch LCD vs. Samsung's 10.4-inch display, and it's even an HDTV. But we think it could have a fatal design flaw: Unlike Samsung's version, … Read more

CNET Live: Kyte CEO Daniel Graf [VIDEO UPDATE]

Daniel Graf, the CEO of Kyte ( review) gave the best pitch at last week's New Tech Meetup in San Francisco. And he came in to CNET's studio to tell us more. Tune in to his live appearance on CNET TV's new weekly online broadcast, today at 1:00 PM Pacific / 4:00 PM Eastern.

Update: In case you missed last week's show we've got the video embedded below. To skip straight to the Kyte segment, drag the player progress arrow to 23:15. For more on Kyte, check out our hands-on.

Space Bubble: Robots and beat 'em-ups

Greetings and felicitations, Bubblenauts! This is Episode 3 of our new gadget show, set aboard a tiny bubbleship floating in geostationary orbit far above the planet. This week you can feast your tentacles on an exploration of whether robots deserve human rights, and witness everything there is to know about the socio-cultural evolution of the beat 'em-up videogame.

We'll also give you a bunch of good reasons to hate the Motorola Motofone F3--a mobile for the third world that's distinctly third-rate. Thrill as we blast it into a gabillion plastic shards. Subscibe to the podcast through iTunes, … Read more

Photos: LG rules the roost for V Cast Mobile TV

Crave got up close and personal with Verizon's latest cell phone for its new V Cast Mobile TV service. The LG VX9400 sports a unique form factor with a brilliant display that swivels up for comfortable viewing. Inside you'll find a host of features that are backed up by decent performance. Video sound quality could be a bit iffy at times, and the rotating display isn't conducive for making calls, but we like it better than the previous Samsung SCH-U620. For more, check out our VX9400 review and our slide show.

An LCD TV that should be invited to parties

If you want a new television and have some money left over after the government has finished taxing you, may we suggest a shiny new model from Samsung? The LE46M87 is from a range it ambiguously calls "Bordeaux." We've licked it, and it doesn't taste anything like wine. If anything, it was a little salty.

The M87 TVs are really rather lovely. Finished in the usual Samsung piano-black finish and some fancy rounded edges, it will call you to touch it--something you should resist, because you'll leave nasty fingerprints all over it.

We're also … Read more