Crave

The VL600 4G USB modem consistently offers download speed at around 12Mbps.

(Credit: Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET)

We often complain about how our connection to the Internet is not fast enough. And for the most part, it's never really fast enough, especially in this era of YouTube and hi-def online movie streaming.

After using Verizon's 4G VL600 USB modem, however, I've learned that fast speeds can, in fact, be too fast. Here's why:

You, too, can have a wrist that looks this awesome.

(Credit: Matt Hickey/CNET)

I've spent the last two weeks sporting one of the new e-ink world time digital watches from Phosphor. Watch displays are being rethought in the digital era, and as a watch nerd, I love that that's happening. Your next watch might use e-ink to display the time, or even other information.

The Phosphor watches uses the same e-ink technology used on devices like Amazon's Kindle. It's not LCD, which many of us grew up with, but an entirely different, and low-power, tech. And on a watch face, it works.

It even looks good off a wrist.

(Credit: Matt Hickey/CNET)

I prefer analog watches, but I also like the digital face on the Phosphor. There's no backlight, but you don't really need one. Like an analog watch, you simply glance and know what time it is. Sure, I found myself hunting for flickers of light so I could see the time, but as an analog watch wearer I'm used to that.

But it's not just about function; the watches look good too. I got as many comments from nerds about the e-ink as I did from people mentioning the stylishness. The watch I wore had a leather band, though metal and plastic bands are available. Go for the leather, it works with anything (just call me Tim Gunn).

(Credit: Wayne Cunningham/CNET)

Some cars lose their unique styling when turned into convertibles. Witness the Audi A5 Cabriolet and the Mini Cooper Convertible. But the Jaguar XK, fantastically sleek as a coupe, still retains its style with a soft top. Looks aside, the growl of its 5-liter V-8 is certainly an attention-getter. With its fast-shifting transmission and dynamic settings, we were very happy in the driver's seat of this sports car.

We also loved the sound of the Bowers and Wilkins stereo, which brought out fine, warm detail in the music we fed it. But the navigation system is very weak for a car in this class. The cabin tech interface also suffers from needless spectacle and generally poor information design.

Check out our 2011 Jaguar XK Convertible review.

If you're looking for a storage device that offers the ultimate performance, a solid-state drive would be it. Case in point: the all-new 470 series SSD from Samsung.

With this kind of jewelry-like packaging, the Samsung 470 SSD can also make a great romantic gift for your nerdy significant other.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)

The drive was superfast in our testing. It's also light and really good looking, which is somewhat of a waste because you won't have many chances to show it off once it's installed inside a computer. Like all SSDs, the Samsung has no moving parts and therefore uses less energy and is potentially much more durable than traditional platter-based hard drives.

The Samsung 470 SSD is an internal storage device designed to work anywhere current 2.5-inch SATA 3Gbps hard drives are used. Basically, it would make a perfect replacement for your laptop's storage.

The question is if you should get it. ... Read full post & comments

The all-new SSD, USB 3.0 external portable drive from LaCie.

If the definition of a thumbdrive is a storage device that's about the size of, well, your thumb, then LaCie has just redefined it in terms of performance.

The company announced today what it calls "the smallest solid-state USB 3.0 drive" on the market, the LaCie FastKey.

About the size of an adult's thumb but much thinner, the FastKey can also be considered one of the first USB 3.0-based thumbdrives. Most, if not all, thumbdrives on the market support the much slower USB 2.0.

LaCie claims that its new FastKey can deliver speeds of up to 260MBps, meaning it can transfer the entire contents of a CD (about 700MB) in less than 3 seconds. To achieve this performance, according to LaCie, the drive combines the performance of SSD, USB 3.0, and DRAM cache ... Read full post & comments

It costs a lot of money.

(Credit: Panasonic via Crenk)

Panasonic has started accepting preorders in Japan for a herculean 103-inch 3D-capable plasma HDTV.

The droolworthy TH-P103MT2 costs 8.5 million yen (about $101,767) and features full 1080p, 5,000,000:1 native contrast ratio, and shorter decay time in the plasma display for less 3D cross talk. It weighs in at 706 pounds (and even tried out for "The Biggest Loser" once). With its weight, plus measurements of about 7.9 feet by 4.6 feet, you have to wonder how much shipping will cost. Just don't drop it.

Panasonic isn't really trying to pitch this TV to consumers, but instead is aiming it for commercial use. The company has been selling 103-inch plasma TVs for years. This 103-incher is merely a sibling to the 152-inch, 4K-capable plasma TV the company announced earlier this year that ... Read full post & comments

(Credit: James Sleeth)

Thanks so much to Props Guy Jim for Photoshopping The 404 Podcast into the "disappearing" photo from "Back to the Future"! The movie recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, and check out this picture Jim snapped of the photo in action at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance. Thanks again Jim!

Mark Licea joins us for a chat about television programming as it's affected by streaming content providers like Hulu and Netflix.

As those two companies compete to offer the cheapest monthly subscription price, consumers face a decision to either stick with HD cable/FIOS and a DVR box or cut the cord and stick with Internet video.

Regardless of your decision, there's plenty of content available online for your entertainment, and our conversation naturally steers toward late-night programming and Conan's second week of shows on TBS. There's also the AMC zombie series "The Walking Dead" and "Boardwalk Empire" on HBO. On the other hand, sometimes we just want to sit on the couch and channel surf!

After the break, we run through a few voice mails that humiliate and educate our audience, and there's also a question for Jeff about his experience traveling through the TSA's new airport security scanners. We try not to get too serious about it, but everyone seems to have an opinion, so tune in to find out why Wilson will be taking a boat ride to CES next year.

The Olive O6HD, which retails for a cent shy of $5,000.

(Credit: Olive)

HD music server maker Olive has launched a new product with a price tag that will undoubtedly shock some potential buyers.

Dubbed the O6HD, Olive calls device an "audiophile's dream" and has placed on it a $4,999 price tag--twice as much as Olive's previous top-level server, the O4HD.

The O6HD server includes 24-bit sound and a sample rate of up to 192KHz, giving users "more than 250 times the resolution of CDs," Olive said today in a statement. The server also comes with a sample rate converter that up-samples audio to 384KHz.

The device itself features an aluminum enclosure that boasts a 10.1-inch touch screen allowing people to sift through the device's music library. In addition, the server includes wireless-N networking and a Gigabit Ethernet port to pull music to the ... Read full post & comments

The Audioengine N22

(Credit: Audioengine)

Audioengine's spectacularly good A2 has been my powered speaker reference for years. I recently enthused about Audioengine's slightly larger passive P4 speaker ($249/pair) that need to be powered by a separate amp. I was surprised that Audioengine didn't introduce an amp when they brought out the P4, but now with the N22 ($199), the time has come.

It's an unobtrusive, vertically oriented design--7 inches high, 2.75 inches wide, and 5.5 inches deep--and it weighs 3.5 pounds. The clean front panel has just a volume control and a 3.5mm headphone jack; the rear end has stereo RCA inputs and subwoofer outputs; metal speaker wire binding posts; and a USB port for charging portable devices. The N22 accepts analog signals only. The medium-density fiberboard wood cabinet is finished in satin black, and the amp has a separate power ... Read full post & comments