Crave

They're not the first to combine punk and reggae, yet with bands like Sublime long gone, it's refreshing to hear this hybrid sound again. Their latest single, "Dead to Me," takes its listener on a roller coaster of moods from chill to aggressive.

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Update at 7:35 p.m. PST: Photos from the flight and a few extra observations have been added.

Virgin America kicks off in-flight Wi-Fi on Saturday.
Click on image for more photos.

(Credit: Kent German/CNET Networks)

So when sassy airline Virgin America offered CNET the chance to test its new Gogo in-flight Wi-Fi service, I jumped at the chance. And yes, I'm writing this 25,000 feet or so (we're still climbing) above the Northern California coast. We're cruising on an hour-long demonstration flight out of the San Francisco International Airport. Check out the slideshow for more shots.

After passing 10,000 feet, I was able to find the sky-high Wi-Fi signal and create an account within minutes. The service works faster than I expected--not as quick as my cable Internet service at home but zippy nonetheless. Yahoo and CNET loaded relatively quickly, and CNET's Kara Tsuboi was able to stream videos. I went straight to blogging, so I didn't take much of an online tour, but it looks promising.

So far the service is available on one of Virgin America's uber-hip Airbus A320 aircraft. That plane (registration N638VA, "My other ride is a spaceship") will begin flying scheduled service on Thanksgiving Day. The service will be rolled out to the airline's entire fleet by the second quarter of 2009.

Of course, the Wi-Fi service will cost you. You'll pay $9.95 for flights of three hours or less and $12.95 for flights more than three hours. I think that's a pretty fair price (particularly if you're on a company expense account) for the privilege of browsing, chatting, and e-mailing while aloft.

The service is available through Aircell, which powers the in-flight Wi-Fi technology. Radio towers through the continental United States transmit EV-DO Rev A signals to the planes. Three antennas on the outside of the aircraft pick up the signal, which is then transmitted throughout the cabin.

Thankfully, cell phone service in the air is still an no-no due to FAA regulations. VoIP services also will be banned, but you will be able to text if you have a Wi-Fi-enabled cell phone. What's more, Virgin America says it will not filter Web sites.

In this photo--transmitted Saturday from a Virgin America Airbus A320 about 35,000 feet above San Francisco, passengers hold up their wireless devices at the launch of in-flight Wi-Fi.

(Credit: Virgin America)

The 2010 Lexus RX450h has a revised power train and a slick new iDrive killer called "remote touch." We check it out at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show.

See all coverage of the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show.

Didn't follow Crave this week? No worries. Here's a quick primer to what you need to know to be the belle of the gadget ball this weekend.

• Why's Hewlett-Packard getting so touchy? Oh, that.

An MP3 player that goes, "Moooo."

(Credit: Nothing But Creative)

• Kent German met iPhone software 2.2.

• Things got pretty Storm-y Friday.

• New way to control MP3 player: by way of its snout.

• Microsoft's Zune sang a new price tune.

• From here to the Samsung Eternity.

• What would Jesus do with Guitar Praise?

• Eric Franklin dreamed of life in a geeky motorcycle gang.

• We told you which gadgets we're thankful for. Now you tell us yours.

See anything awesome we missed? Drop us a line at crave at cnet dot com. And have a great weekend!

If L'Trimm dated Crystal Castles and moved their hot lil' relationship to the dancefloor, they'd have a kid called Hearts Revolution, who are a disco-tastic melange of candy-coated 8-bit sounds, fuzzy child-like vocals, and lovable electro-pop.

Download free MP3 now!

AT&T Quickfire in silver

(Credit: James Martin/CNET News.com)

AT&T introduced a slew of messaging phones recently, like the Pantech Matrix, the Samsung Propel, and the Pantech Slate. But its most popular announcement by far has been the AT&T Quickfire, a touch-screen and QWERTY keyboard hybrid that promises more than just the normal messaging phone. And we had the chance to get our hands on it this week.

Despite a few design quirks, we have to say we're pretty impressed. The Quickfire is definitely the bulkiest messaging phone we've seen; it's even thicker than the T-Mobile Sidekick. We're not exactly fans of its blocky design either. But we have to give props for its nice 2.8-inch touch-screen display, and the easy-to-use QWERTY keyboard as well.

As for the touch screen, we're very impressed that it's a capacitive touch screen similar to the one used on the Apple iPhone and the T-Mobile G1, allowing us to use just a light tap of the finger for a press to register.

That doesn't mean we didn't have problems with the touch screen though. We had to be very precise and accurate when selecting something, because when we didn't, we sometimes pressed the wrong thing. Also, occasionally we had to hold a press for a much longer time than expected for the press to register. While intuitive, the touch-screen experience is certainly not as refined as it is on the iPhone.

Similarly, we were not impressed with the browser interface. Though we can drag on the screen to scroll through Web pages, there was often quite a bit of lag between when our fingers hit the screen and when the touch registered. Certainly we're impressed that the Quickfire has a full HTML browser at all (remember that the Sidekick does not), and it's on par with some of the other touch-screen phones out there, but again, it's just not as good as we wanted.

Other features of the Quickfire include a 1.3-megapixel camera, HSDPA, GPS, stereo Bluetooth, and a microSD card slot. It's available now for $99.99 with a two-year service agreement and mail-in rebate. For more details on whether we liked or disliked the Quickfire, please check out our full review!

The Samsung Renown offers 3G

(Credit: James Martin/CNET Networks)

After three touch-screen phones in a row, it's nice to see a Samsung phone that doesn't try to hard to make a statement.

The new Samsung Renown (aka the SCH-U810) for Verizon Wireless is one such device; it has a standard flip-phone design that Samsung has become...wait for it...renowned for and its midrange feature set is what you'd expect from a Verizon 3G phone.

The chocolate color scheme is unique, and the Renown features dual-mode CDMA/GSM support, but ultimately, there's not much to distinguish the Renown from other phones in its class. Performance was mixed with good call and photo quality but poor streaming videos. For a full analysis check out our Samsung Renown review and take a gander at the Samsung Renown slideshow.

Samsung Gravity

(Credit: James Martin/CNET News.com)

The Samsung Gravity dropped our way this week, and we had a chance to put it through its paces.

As we referenced in an earlier blog post, the Gravity reminds us a lot of the Samsung Rant, and even more so of the LG Rumor. Indeed, it even has a similar feature set to the Rumor. Like those other phones, the Gravity has a candy bar shape when closed, but has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard for easier texting. It doesn't have 3G or GPS, but it does have a pretty basic music player and the camera takes OK photos.

Even better, the Gravity is one of the cheapest messaging phones around at only $50 with a two-year service agreement and mail-in rebate from T-Mobile. So check out our gallery and read our review of the Samsung Gravity for the why this is a good choice for a budget-minded messaging fanatic.

After a brief respite, Netbooks came to the foreground again this week. Virtual unknown Raon Digital grabbed everyone's attention with the dual-core, touch-screen Everun Note. Asus showed off its new brushed-metal design with the Eee PC 1002HA (pictured at right). And Dell launched new colors and graphic designs for the Inspiron Mini 9.

Meanwhile, a new iteration of MSI's Netbook was spotted on display in China. The company followed up with an official announcement of the Wind U120. No word yet on pricing or availability, though the Netbook should be on display at CES 2009.

The final minilaptop of note is so costly it's hardly a Netbook at all: the ubermenacing, $890 Hello Kitty C1.

In other news, HP launched the first multitouch consumer laptop, the 12.1-inch TouchSmart tx2; Samsung began mass-producing 256GB solid-state drives; and we found another laptop sleeve styled like an interdepartmental envelope.

Also, with Thanksgiving in the U.S. next week, we Cravers took a moment to reflect on which gadgets we're most thankful for. Turns out we're a grateful bunch; the story had to be broken into two parts. Read Part 1 and Part 2, and don't forget to tell us what gadget will be counted among your Thanksgiving blessings.

And finally, if you've got a frequent flier on your gift list this holiday season, check out our roundup of checkpoint-friendly computer bags.

Have a great weekend!

After months underground, during which time she released only a pixellated propaganda video, the felicitous feline has surfaced once again, bent on pursuing her plan for world domination. As evidence, I present to you the Hello Kitty Netbook.

Compared with most previous Hello Kitty laptops, the Hello Kitty C1's design is downright subdued, with the text "Hello Kitty" repeated across the lid and a single impression of the evil mastermind's image in one corner. Otherwise, the 2.6-pound mini laptop looks like nearly every other all-white Netbook.

Its specs are fairly typical as well: a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 120GB hard drive, and a 10.1-inch display. There are also two USB ports, a 1.3-megapixel Webcam, and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi. It runs on Windows XP Home in your choice of five languages.

But, fellow citizens, do not be fooled by the cuteness! This product is all part of a pernicious plot to attack your wallet: whereas most Netbooks are priced in the $350-$500 range, the Hello Kitty C1 costs a ridiculous $890.

You have been warned.