BlackBerry service to shut down?

According to recent news reports, the U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a petition by Research In Motion to review a patent infringement ruling against the company. Many industry observers believe that this rejection could lead to a wide-scale shutdown of the BlackBerry mobile email service.

However, it seems that the BlackBerry users outside of the U.S. have nothing to worry about as the injunction against RIM will only affect its U.S. customers. A statement issued by StarHub confirms that "the case has no relevance outside the USA, including any effect on StarHub's BlackBerry service or customer in Singapore". RIM has also annnounced that in the event of an injunction, it "has prepared software workarounds designs which it intends to implement if necessary to maintain the operation of BlackBerry services in the United States without customer service interuption". More details are expected soon.

Ridata USB DVB-T Tuner

Digital TV on your notebook or desktop PC? With Ridata's USB Stick DVB-T Tuner TA T100, showcased at CES 2006, users possibly have the first sweet solution to catching DTV on their portable. Unfortunately, the tuner supports the DVC protocol ETS 300 744, which just happens to be available only in Europe, Australia and Taiwan. Great. Still, that doesn't mean the rest of Asia can't look and drool.

Price: About US$60
Availability: US, soon
Device: USB DTV tuner
Basic specs: N.A.

Warning: Do not try this at home

Ok, we admit we're not as innovative as some people out there, but Michael Golembewski swept us off our feet with his homemade digital camera. Mind you, his version is nothing compared to those analogous digicams sold on store shelves. Instead, it's one made from an ordinary flatbed scanner and a large format camera. This home project, however, is not recommended, unless you've too much time and money to spare.

His gear: An old Horseman 450L monorail 4 x 5 camera and an extensively modified Canon LIDE 20. You can click on this link to read how his setup was put together. However, if you're not interested in technical details, here's what this 115-megapixel camera is capable of.

Vienna: Vista's successor

Even before Windows Vista has gone gold, the next generation of Microsoft's flagship OS has already been given a name change. From the cool-sounding "Blackcomb", Vista's successor will henceforth be associated with the city of Vienna.

Named after the capital of Austria, the "Vienna" codename follows Microsoft's trend of using locations to tag the different generations of its OS. Rather than using undecipherable serial or model numbers, the software giant says that "we have used city code names (for new operating systems) in the past, which are derived from cities/locations in the world known for great 'vistas'--the kinds of places we all want to see, experience and that capture the imagination".

What is significant about the name change? Apparently nothing at all. It's neither a developmental milestone nor a change in feature set. According to Michael Cherry, analyst at Directions on Microsoft: "It's just a morale thing. The other names have been kicking around so long, it's much more about trying to keep focused and keep some excitement around where they are going."

Just exactly how changing the codename name boosts morale, maintains focus and excitement is rather abstract, to say the least. Perhaps beta-testers and programmers truly are a different breed.

Iqua Snake

Now this is what we call thinking out of the box. The Iqua Snake Bluetooth Headrest HHF-801 wraps, snake-like, around the car's headrest, which puts the speakers and mike closer to the driver's ears and mouth compared with other more conventional in-car handsfree sets. While your mouth and ears are thus preoccupied, just be prepared to pay through your nose for such cool convenience.

See bigger image | in use

Price: About US$299
Availability: See Web site
Device: Bluetooth handsfree
Basic specs: Easy to install, brush metal and real leather, Bluetooth, flexible mechanism to fit your height, LED light for call status, low battery indication, talktime of up to 10 hours, standby at 300 hours, recharges within 6 hours, 450 x 250 x 26mm, 350g

Crave is...

The name says it all. Crave is our new blog about cool gadgets and other crushworthy stuff.

Drop us an email if you have tips or suggestions.

Crave for...

» Mobile Phones (575)

» Digital Cameras (356)

» Notebooks (367)

» PC & Peripherals (372)

» Handhelds (213)

» Printers (37)

» Home AV (394)

» Music & Play (358)

» Gadgets (844)

» Future Tech (124)

Previously...

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

Subscribe to
Crave

Today on CNET |  Reviews |  Crave |  Blogs |  CNET TV |  Digital Living |  Downloads