Gadget news

OK, so it goes a maximum speed of just 6 knots. But if you're looking to relax and fish close to the coast, why not? With high fuel prices, the solar-powered Loon may be just the thing you need to replace the speed boat you were forced to sell.

Glide along quietly in this 20-foot pontoon-style boat with a solar-paneled roof from Ontario-based Tamarack Lake Electric Boat Company. The 3-horse-power electric motor on the Loon is roughly equivalent to a 10hp gas motor. The boat has a total of 48 volts of battery power (eight 6-volt lead acid batteries) … Read more

This is my first year cooking Thanksgiving dinner, and I had heard so many turkey horror stories that I issued an ultimatum to my dinner guests: we're having chicken. (I know, isn't it awful of me? I must hate America! I hope I don't get my Colbert Nation membership revoked!) Luckily, I was met with a rather agreeable response. As it turns out, there are plenty of people out there who don't think turkey tastes all that good anyway. So it all worked out on my end.

Unfortunately, I realize that there may be other Thanksgiving … Read more

Good morning, Cravers. (Or good afternoon, or good evening. The Internet is a global phenomenon, after all.) I'm here to ask you all if anyone else has come to the same conclusion I have: that there has been a disturbing influx of color-changing devices that give off "a soft glow," or maybe "ambient light," or even a "Zen atmosphere." Anyone else notice that? These things are all over ThinkGeek, and now I'm seeing another variety (pictured) showcased on the Sci Fi Tech blog. Not to mention those penguins.

I trace this all … Read more

We've never been fond of keys. Like so many other things, their primary mission in life is to be misplaced.

We thought ThinkGeek had come up with an invention that would banish these little pests from our lives for good, with its "RFID Digital Door Lock," as posted by SlashGear. But then we read the product literature, which says the $300 device comes with four cards, two fobs and two tags that it describes as "smart keys"--which means, of course, that all we'd be doing is replacing metal keys with other items that … Read more

Why should ESPN have all the fun? With the Draganflyer remote-control helicopter (trademark spelling), you can run your own wireless air-cam.

This is no dime-store knockoff either (do dime stores exist anymore)? According to Gizmowatch, "It has a self-leveling feature based on thermal intelligence that uses four infrared sensors to keep a check on temperature difference between sky and ground. The onboard CPU collects the input from these sensors and guides the helicopter to maintain proper level." And don't forget the anti-vibration camera mount.

All that means one thing: It doesn't come cheap. The Draganflyer retails … Read more

It's fall in Redmond. That means Vista is ready for harvest and the Zunes are turning brown. Autumn also made for some beautiful foliage at Microsoft's corporate campus during a visit last week.

The Pacific Northwest has been deluged by rain over the past week, but here are a few pre-rain shots of the Microplex.

This is just sick. If you're this much into computers, you shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a Christmas tree.

Newlaunches has posted photos of a 17-foot-tall tree decorated with 2,000 processors in the Akihabara District of Tokyo, the electronics capital of Japan. The gawdy display is sponsored by Intel, so it naturally features some of the latest Core 2 Duo chips. We just hope no one tries to overclock this beast.

The Blu-ray people face a big problem: those blue lasers are a pain to make.

Shimei Semiconductor has developed a blue LED grown on a silicon substrate, according to EE Times. Now, blue LEDs are grown on a sapphire substrate.

The prototype LED emits 450-nanometer wavelength blue light.

Shimei says it plans to start popping samples out for manufacturers in April. It is preparing production lines capable of churning out three million of these a month. Shimei will also examine the possibility of producing red and green LEDs with their technology.

Actress Denise Richards has apparently come up with a new use for computers--paparazzi protection.

Richards, 35, accidentally injured two elderly women yesterday after hurling two photographers' laptops off a hotel balcony in Canada, according to the Associated Press (and every celebrity gossip site on the Web). Richards was up north shooting the film Blonde and Blonder at the River Rock Casino Resort.

Richards, reportedly peeved that a couple of unauthorized photographers tried to snap her picture, pushed their laptops over a ledge onto two unlucky passersby below. Oops. Paramedics were called to the scene and said the injuries did not … Read more