Gadget news

Murphy's Law for mobile phones: the minute you turn off your cell phone to spare your co-workers that Weird Al ring tone, your crush will finally dial or text message you.

MoPods can spare you this cruel fate. They're cutesy little plastic-encased creatures that rotate and flash to let you know you're being contacted when your phone can't. You can choose to get crazy cell phone dances from characters including a gangster, one-eyed monster, bulldog, monkey, pitchfork-wielding devil or pink kitten (hey, this gadget did originate in Japan!).

To work, the battery-run MoPods--which sell for about $… Read more

We're just as tired of LED products as you are, but this one is worth mentioning.

This mirror can show up to 4,000 characters that can scroll personalized messages displayed in different fonts and effects of your choosing, such as "Put down that cigarette" or "No doughnuts today." And you pay just $585 for the privilege of reading them all day.

On second thought, maybe this wasn't worth mentioning after all.

Do you enjoy watching Microsoft squirm as it tries to grapple with the open-source software movement? Well, there's a similar opportunity to rattle the cages of entrenched corporate powers, but this time it's the cages of hardware companies.

Bringing the open-source movement's collaborative approach to hardware is the ambition of the Fab@Home project at Cornell University. Project members hope to popularize all-purpose manufacturing devices--variously known as fabbers, 3D printers or rapid prototyping machines--and share the blueprints of the physical objects those machines can produce.

The project offers a free design for a fabber--itself a modifiable … Read more

Who says marketing and science don't mix.

Zelens is selling skin creams whose active ingredient is C60, the soccer ball shaped molecules constructed out of 60 carbon atoms. Fullerene C60 led to Nobel prizes in chemistry for the individuals that first crafted the molecule.

Finding a practical, commercial application for C60, however, has been tough. Many companies have concentrated instead on its more elongated cousin, the carbon nanotube. Still, some in the medical field continue to work with C60. (Fullerene refers to the shape of the molecule.)

Zelens says that their face creams can neutralize free radicals 100 times … Read more

RoboCop, here we come. Granted, we can't quite see Peter Weller looking very menacing while rolling around in this robotic security guard, but it may be only a matter of time.

The "Reborg-Q," from Sohgo Security Services, is the latest evidence that Japan is moving toward a human-free society. We've already observed recent developments in that country's service industry, notably in hotels and hospitals, but security is a significant leap toward full-fledged borgdom. (That's Sci-Fi 101.)

Thankfully, the Reborg-Q is fully operational only with human assistance. "When the robot encounters something suspicious, it … Read more

This little dining table, which I read about at Treehugger, might either be the grossest or the coolest eco-tech idea I've heard in a while. Or maybe both. The cone-shaped thing under the table is a fabric bag that's home to a functioning ecosystem full of creepy crawlies like worms and sowbugs, which break down your leftover food and turn it into compost that your house plants or garden will find very yummy. The compost then sprinkles out the bottom of the bag when it's ready. Plus, there's an LCD screen that's hooked up to … Read more

Just think. You can hide this slim, inconspicuous device from ThinkGeek somewhere in one of your co-workers' cubes, and unbeknownst to them, it starts making annoying noises. Sure, they're hardly noticeable at first, but after a few hours of regular beeps--every 2 to 8 minutes, depending on how you configure it--this thing will drive your colleagues absolutely nuts. And the Annoy-a-Tron's teensy size will make it really difficult for them to figure out where it is. What a great idea!

ThinkGeek provides a list of guidelines for Annoy-a-Tron use, including the fact that you probably shouldn't hide … Read more

Those of us who talk to our plants are used to one-way conversations. Now, thanks to the Communication Flower from Japan's E-Revolution, the human-horticulture rapport is about to get more reciprocal.

The gizmo is a small box with a speaker and 200 words and phrases in its memory. Touch the flora and a little guy sitting atop the cube spouts the preprogrammed sentiments randomly. We're having a little trouble extracting the nature of the phrases from translated Japanese promotional materials, but one blurb explains that you can expect to hear "the word which gives vigor to you, … Read more

NOTE: From now through December, every few days a different Crave expert will be posting his or her top 10 gadget picks for the holidays. See what we crave, and maybe you'll get some ideas! Here's our seventh installment.

Erica Ogg is an unapologetic Dodgers fan living in San Francisco, has found herself hopelessly addicted to Starbucks chai lattes (with 2 percent milk), and readily admits to being a history geek. And no, she has nothing to do with Ogg Vorbis.

1. LG Chocolate. So the first version was panned by a lot of critics, but the second … Read more