Retro

A special Valentine's Day episode of Crave featuring robots, champagne, littleBits circuit boards, and zombie chocolates. Plus, X-ray leggings, spider battle bots, hoverboards, Star Wars crafts, and a peek at the perfect date movie, "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter."

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SANTA MONICA, Calif.--There was a time, not all that long ago, when the only way to play a decent (or indeed most any) "computer game" was to seek one out at a local pizza parlor or bowling alley--or, if you were lucky and your neighborhood had been blessed with such an establishment, the local arcade.

In fact, computer games weren't computer games yet. They were video games, or arcade games.

I can remember the excitement my friends and I felt when our neighborhood suddenly witnessed the arrival of a "real" video arcade. Space Invaders had been around for a while by then (how cool was it that the Pretenders had recorded an instrumental in its honor, complete with a sampling of the game's throbbing, threatening sound effects?). But the newly opened Louie's brought us a startling array of bright, beeping, and then-revolutionary games with strange and thrilling names like Pac-Man and Centipede.… Read more

YOKOHAMA, Japan--We've previously reported on the Gizmon iCA, an iPhone case that makes your smartphone look like a vintage rangefinder. The company was at the CP+ Camera and Photo Imaging Show, and we learned it has plans to launch a whole system of special-effect lenses and accessories for its flagship case soon.

In addition to the fisheye and macro lenses already available, future attachments will include tele, wide, tunnel effector, mirage, and circular polarizing special-effects filters. Sure, some of these effects could be easily reproduced using apps, but doing it the old-fashioned way and getting it right the first time without post-processing has a certain appeal. Other accessories include a car stand, mounted flash unit, mini tripod, remote shutter release, and silencer. … Read more

Simpsons fans in Los Angeles are meeting up today to kick off the Ultimate Fan Marathon Challenge in an effort to beat the world record for consecutive TV watching currently set at 86 hours, 6 minutes, and 41 seconds. On today's show, we'll discuss the challenge and propose one of our own that may be a little more difficult to achieve.… Read more

Eric and Donald run though the latest in desktop haptic devices, including a weather forecaster you can feel, and a USB kissing robot cow.

"Tron"-inspired electroluminescence makes a comeback with some neat shades and an eco-friendly charging cable. And in Geek News, we take a longer look at "The Avengers" and a preview of the upcoming "Amazing Spider-Man."

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Times have been good for aficionados of Jim Henson.

Not only did we see a new Muppets feature film over the holidays, last week we also saw the posting of a "lost" Henson short: "Robot," made for an AT&T data-communications seminar in 1963. And now a kind of "sequel" to "Robot" has made its way online.… Read more

Sacramento, Calif.-based "Mr. Simo" makes one-of-a-kind speaker facades out of old suitcases. They look amazing, so I got in touch with the company's owner, Dominic Odbert, to learn more about his designs.

Each BoomCase is a unique creation, so if you see one on Odbert's Web site that catches your fancy, don't think about it too long, because once it's sold, there's never going to be another one exactly like it.

Odbert's has a background in fine art, and he's been building audio gear since he was a kid. Odbert … Read more

This week, our Crave team talks about treats for tweets, geeky furniture, intelligent bullets, and a way to strap your phone to your face. In Geek News, we have a new "Avengers" trailer, a discussion on good and evil, and the gamification of our lives.

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There are retro gadgets and then there are retro gadgets.

A contemporary take on a 1950s-style vacuum tube radio is one thing, and we suspect its monophonic sound is a warm and cozy delight. But an entirely acoustic iPhone dock--kitted out with an antique gramophone amplification horn--takes things back to another century. And the sound seems to be tinnily tantalizing.

The docks, made by Ryan Boase's ReAcoustic, rely on nothing more than a wooden base and a reclaimed metal horn to amplify music from the iPhone's (or iPad's) speaker.… Read more