550

Bad luck with Belkin

I like the Belkin company. I remember when Belkin was basically nothing but a cable company, and by that, I mean a company that makes electrical and optical cables. They made good cables, and still do.

But in recent years they have expanded into a wide variety of consumer products. I've always assumed Belkin's expansion was driven, at least in part, by the success of Monster Cable, which has made a lot of money selling expensive cables that (in my opinion, at least) are not always worth the price.

I imagine Belkin's engineering-oriented management deciding that selling … Read more

Photos: 2009 Mercedes-Benz SL

Mercedes is on a model-refresh rampage. Following the very successful update to the C-Class for 2008, and last week's CLS-class makeover announcement, comes news and images of the 2009 SL roadster. On the outside, the convertible gets a new schnoz with a grille face-lift and new headlights, as well as a couple of power domes on the hood. Inside, the COMAND system that so underwhelmed us in our review of the 2007 SL550 is augmented with a hard-drive based navigation system and music server. Interestingly (and somewhat disappointingly), the new SL does not receive S-Class-level cabin tech upgrade that … Read more

Video: Pimp your honk with Horntones

If you're one of those people who can't stand the constant "beep-beep" of horn-happy motorists, you might not want to read any further. A start-up called Horntones is giving drivers the opportunity to customize their own car horn's output by using any MP3 file as their honk of choice.

Using a combination of Horntones' Web site and the company's flagship FX550 device, drivers can download any audio file they like (copyright issues notwithstanding) to use as their car's horn sound. The FX550 comes with 256MB of memory and nine preset buttons, giving horn-pimpers … Read more

The Cingular N75 is back

After a bit and back and forth last week the Nokia N75 is officially back on sale with AT&T/Cingular. Last Friday, the N75 popped onto the carrier's Web site, only to be removed moments later. Cingular never came clean on the cell-phone hokey pokey but the same thing happened to the LG CU500v. Now a week, later both the N75 and CU500v are back on sale. The N75 is $199 with service.

The dangerously fast Mercedes-Benz CL550

I could tell you just how quick the 2007 Mercedes-Benz CL550 is by quoting a bunch of dry statistics (0 to 60mph in 5.4 seconds, top speed governed at 155mph, net power 382 hp, net torque 391 lb-ft, blah, blah, blah), but I thought it might be more instructive to provide some real-world evidence courtesy of California Highway Patrol. Yes, I was just out on one of our highly scientific test drives for a CNET Car Tech review when I saw the five-o in the auto-dimming rearview mirror; they wasted no time in presenting me with a speeding ticket, … Read more

Sony Ericsson Z550 and K810

At CTIA we caught a few other phones at the Sony Ericsson booth that aren't in our Sony Ericsson line show. The Sony Ericsson Z550 is a flip phone with a vertically oriented external display (quite the trend right now). It sports a flip phone design, a form factor the company is becoming more comfortable with, and is available in sterling black or pearl copper. Features are mostly midrange and include a 1.3-megapixel camera, a memory card slot, a music player, a speakerphone, and an FM radio. As an tri-band (GSM 850/1800/1900), the Z550 is available … Read more

Mediocre Mercedes-Benz SL550 mobile GPS device

Mercedes-Benz is getting into the crowded portable navigation market, and we have just taken receipt of its latest device, the SL550. On first impressions, we have to admit that we're not overly impressed. The SL550 portable GPS receiver has a very plain, black-plastic design with hard buttons down either side of its 6.5-inch color LCD display. Unlike the Garmin StreetPilot c580 or the Delphi Nav200, the SL550 is not a touch screen, so destinations have to be input using a four-way cluster of buttons on the bottom right of the unit. Programming the system is intuitive, but it … Read more

Sony Ericsson's new thin crop

Sony Ericsson opened the floodgates this week with a torrent of new phone releases, some of which could even make it to the U.S. market. We'll provide some details here, but be sure to check out our slide show and a full report of specs from our friends in Singapore at CNET Asia. All the new handsets are set for release by the second quarter of this year.

First off is the W880i. We first showed you the W880i last week. Though it's styled in Sony Ericsson's usual candy-bar design, its 0.37-inch profile marks the … Read more