Electronics, features and articles | Educational Science

Nov 30, 2004

New Highway Signs Easier to See

Anyone who has ever had trouble reading a highway will appreciate the decade-long effort to change the lettering that has signaled exits and avenues along U.S. highways for half a century. More than six formal studies and dozens of field reviews led to the new Clearview road signs that researchers...

Sep 30, 2005

Video iPod: An Improvement H.G. Wells' 1899 Device

Apple's new video iPod holds up to 150 hours of video, showing it on a nifty 2.5 inch display. The iPod has a far greater capacity than H.G. Wells' moving picture player, from his 1899 novel When the Sleeper Wakes. Apple's new device comes in 30 and 60 gigabyte models;...

Apr 30, 2006

Some Air Purifiers Create Smog-Like Conditions

UPDATED MAY 12, 2006 AT 2:42 PM ET Correction: This article in its original form was inaccurate. The study involved two types of air purifiers, those commonly called ionic and those that employ a process called ozonolysis. Only those using ozonolysis were found to contribute to ozone levels that can...

Sep 30, 2007

Phone Uses Jaw Bone to Transmit Sound

The Pantech A1407PT cell phone has a unique ability to let you listen. It allows you to listen to your calls with your bones. The Pantech phone uses bone conduction; when the phone is placed against your jaw, the mechanical vibration from the phone is conducted to your inner ear,...

Oct 31, 2009

Do-It-Yourself Home Theater Control

Cords and controllers can make the best home theater system more frustrating than entertaining. A beautiful flat panel should stand on its own and display content from many sources: a Blu-ray player, DVD player, cable box, and an Xbox or PS3 gaming console. All of these peripherals must be connected...

Oct 31, 2009

The Future of TVs: What to Expect in 2010

With TV sets, the past is easy to remember — boxed tubes with black and white images. But now that we're deep into the age of flat panels, the choices are many. And with the TV buying season in full swing, it's worth looking ahead before you buy now, so...

Jul 31, 2009

Good Vibrations Generate Electricity

A new device that can harvest useful energy from extremely tiny vibrations may allow new ways to power remote electronic devices with batteries that need replacing less often, or are actually self-charging. The vibration-to-electricity device could capture up to 10 times more energy than is possible with the conventional device....

Apr 30, 2009

My Wife is a Zillow Addict

We used to choose cell phones for their basic functionality, carrier quality and maybe relatively unimportant things like color or ring tones. But more and more, it's about apps. Take, for example, Zillow, an app that rhymes with pillow probably because the company knew my wife would choose one over...

Mar 31, 2010

13 Glaring iPad Shortcomings

The iPad shows great promise. It's thin and sleek and not like any other gadget out there. It was also more hyped than any new device in recent memory. But is it worth buying? Given the cost, and a slew of drawbacks, the answer boils down to how much you're...

Mar 31, 2010

Another Tablet Falls: HP Slate Canceled

The Apple iPad has had very little competition in the tablet computer market so far, and it may stay that way for quite some time if rival tablet makers can't bring a device to market. The latest tablet candidate to fall was one of the most promising: The HP Slate....

Feb 28, 2010

How to Shop for a New 3-D HDTV

If you've watched 3-D movies such as Avatar or the new Alice in Wonderland in theaters and are hankering to recreate that immersive experience at home, you may want to take a closer look at the new 3-D TVs that are beginning to hit store shelves. Just this week, Samsung's...

Feb 28, 2010

Wi-Fi by the Hour Now Available for iPad

Good news for people who are springing for the cheaper Wi-Fi edition of the iPad due out this Saturday. Wi-Fi service provider Boingo today announced Boingo Wi-Fi Credits available through the iTunes store. iPad users can buy one hour credits for $1.99 in advance or at the time of connection,...

Jan 31, 2010

How to Pick the Perfect Super Bowl TV

Hey, Couch Coach, here's your Fantasy Football draft challenge: Pick the perfect HDTV to bring home to watch Super Bowl XLIV this Sunday. Here’s what you should look for and what can you expect to pay. HDTV, or high-definition TV, is becoming the only game in town. “Everything is pretty...

Jan 31, 2010

Mobile Phone Use Soars

Separate reports out this week show that mobile phone use is soaring in the United States and globally, and data moving across mobile networks is expected to grow dramatically over the next four years. One report by comScoreMobiLens shows that Americans want to do more than talk on their phones,...

Dec 31, 2009

How Google's Nexus One Phone Compares

Google launched its first branded phone today available in both an unlocked version that can be used with multiple carriers and as a subsidized phone tied to a two-year contract with T-Mobile. In a well crafted publicity strategy, the Nexus One captured the attention of the media and the blogosphere...