portable

Did one or two of your childhood crushes ever make you a treacly mix tape? Chances are good you listened to it -- over and over and over again -- on your Sony portable cassette player.

If so, it's time to get sentimental. Last week, a nondescript announcement out of Sony's Japanese division sounded a death knell for the portable cassette recorder/player -- a product category that helped the company rise to prominence decades ago.

The consumer electronics giant detailed how its current line of portable cassette recorders -- including the TCM-400, TCM-410, and TCM-450 -- stand as the company's last and will be discontinued by January. In a side announcement, a Sony representative noted that the company plans to continue selling blank cassette tapes, tape decks, and boomboxes with cassette support -- for now. … Read more

Despite the move to tiny portable music systems, some of us still long for the good old days of extremely noticeable boomboxes. You can indulge your nostalgia by dressing your iPhone up to look like one, or you could strap some wearable speakers to your feet.

The Sneaker Speaker from New York design group Ray Kingston Inc. wraps a set of speakers over the top of the shoe. Information about both the product and the designer is pretty sketchy so far.… Read more

Take one of the fastest, most modifiable browsers on a portable drive and use it on any computer. With Opera Portable Edition you'll never have to settle for using onboard options like Internet Explorer on any public computer again.

Opera Portable Edition behaves like most modern browsers and its sleek interface is a delight to look at. It works with practically no setup and pages load incredibly quickly. This portable browser can be personalized through various add-ons and apps. One thing you don't need to download is a pop-up blocker, as Opera has one already installed for you. … Read more

Congrats to Tami M. of North Mankato, Minn., for winning a Zooka speaker bar in last week's Crave giveaway.

Ever found yourself with several gadgets that need recharging when you aren't in a position to juice them all up? This week's giveaway's got the power to help.

The MyCharge Portable Power Bank 6000 is a high-capacity 6000mAh rechargeable battery pack that can simultaneously fuel products including smartphones, iPads, e-readers, and Bluetooth headsets. It comes with Micro- and Mini-USB plugs, plus an Apple dock connector and a full-size USB port, meaning it can power a whole lot of different devices. Handy when the gang's on a camping trip and all the working tree outlets are taken. … Read more

Seagate announced today a new version of the Backup Plus portable drive designed especially for Macs.

The new Backup Plus family was first introduced back in June, initially available for Windows. The drive offers USB 3.0 and comes with the HFS+ file system out of the box.

The Backup Plus family replaces Seagate's GoFlex family but still offers a flexible design thanks to the Universal Storage Module (USM) standard, which basically allows you to use any type of connection standard (USB, FireWire, eSATA, or even Thunderbolt) just by swapping out the adapter part of the drive. The drive … Read more

Football season is upon us. That means months of football food lie ahead. As fall is ushered in by the kicking of an oblong ball, millions of cheering fans will be applauding the spread. No, not that kind of spread, the food spread. But no matter if the gathering is in the parking lot of the stadium or at a football party down the street, there needs to be a way to get the goods to the game.

A winning recipe for five-alarm chili just isn't worth it if it can't be shared among friends (or unleashed upon … Read more

The upcoming Wikipad tablet, first spotted back in January at CES, now has an official release date and price. The 10.1-inch Android handheld gaming system will be available for $499 on October 31. Starting September 7, the system will be available to preorder through game retailer GameStop, although the Wikipad is expected to be available through other retailers as well.

Wikipad is part of a growing trend of independently developed game consoles outside of the major Sony/Nintendo/Microsoft axis.… Read more

Before the iPod and iTunes supposedly changed everything, we listened to records, CDs, tapes, and radio in our cars, on the street and in mass transit. Music was nearly as portable as it is now, but iPods and other MP3 players radically increased the quantity of music you could take with you. Looking back to the dawn of the iPod/MP3 era, sound-quality improvements weren't part of the agenda, just the quantity of music that was transportable. Apple's early ads touted the advantages of having "1,000 songs in your pocket," which struck me as an … Read more

StrokesPlus is a powerful and flexible program that lets users perform a variety of common tasks, such as cutting and pasting text, launching programs, and adjusting the computer's volume, all by making simple mouse gestures. StrokesPlus Portable is, as the name suggests, a portable version of this useful program. Whether you're experienced with using mouse gestures or looking to try them for the first time, StrokesPlus Portable is a great choice that lets you use your mouse gestures wherever you go.

StrokesPlus Portable appears as an icon in the system tray, and right-clicking it reveals a comprehensive set … Read more