Cobra XRS 9950 Tells You When Big Brother Is Watching: Tech Test

The XRS 9950 promises "total protection and peace of mind," but this clever gadget may have you stop looking for speed traps and start looking for hidden cameras instead.

• CES 2008: New Cobra GPS Turns Tables on Red-Lights
• PLUS: Camera Avoidance & New GPS Tech Features

GTA IV Baseball Bat Moves Gaming Violence From Couch to the Streets

Parents and lawmakers have been alarmed for years about the violent, lawless nature of the Grand Theft Auto series. Is game developer Rockstar giving them even more to fret about?

• EARLIER: 5 Non-Violent Things To Do in GTA IV
• PLUS: 10 Classic Games We Want on Wii Virtual Console
• BOOKMARK: Live Video & Analysis @ E3 2008, Coming July 15

Why Pixar Is the Apple of Hollywood

Steve Jobs let the animators at his other little startup do what they do best with WALL*E: use breakthrough technology to bring a great idea to life, but don’t let it out of the lab until it’s perfect. Sound familiar?

• PLUS: WALL*E and 5 Underappreciated Movie Bots
• PODCAST: Will WALL*E Be Best of Summer Sci-Fi?

10 Gonzo Machines From Rogue Inventor Buckminster Fuller

From super-efficient cars to encapsulated cities, Buckminster Fuller's works made Frank Lloyd Wright look positively normal, and his prescient engineering foreshadowed the current movement toward green design and prefabricated housing.

• NEW VIDEO: NYC's Mega-Engineered Waterfalls

Taser Builds AXON Cop Headcams to Fend Off Abuse Allegations

Taser, a company better known for its (mostly) nonlethal weapons than for surveillance, has developed a product that takes the camera out of the squad car to where the action is, while worn by an officer.

• EARLIER: Taser Fires Back at U.N. Committee
• VIDEO: Taser C2 Device Shocks PM Editor

How to Get the Best HDTV When Satellite Carriers Degrade Quality

Your cable or satellite company might be reducing the quality of your HD signal in order to cram more channels through their network bandwidth. Some tips from our tech guru for getting the clearest picture.

• NEW TECH CLINIC: Make Your Car's GPS Play DVDs

Novint Falcon Pistol Grip High on First-Person Shooter Haptics, Low on Titles: Hands-on First Look (With Video!)

This follow-up to the unique Novint Falcon promises enhanced realism in first-person shooters by producing haptic feedback every time you pull the trigger. Does it live up to the hype?

• VIDEO: Hands-on With Novint Falcon

Shift on Future Combat Systems Will Rush High-Tech Gear to Iraq

Pentagon officials today announced big changes for its closely watched Future Combat Systems (FCS) program, aiming to bring combat sensors and robots to the battlefield more quickly.

• FIELD REPORT: Stryker Crews in Iraq Defend Rides
• SPECIAL REPORT: Are Robots Ready for Combat?

The 10 Funniest Spy Gadgets in Movies ... Ever

Get Smart, with the return of the classic shoe phone, plus the addition of a tooth radio and what might be the most insane Swiss Army knife ever, represents the evolving combo of contraptions both ludicrous and hilarious.

• Q&A: Real-Life Spy Gadget Guru on CIA’s Arsenal
• PLUS: WALL*E and 5 Underappreciated Movie Bots

10 Classic Games We Want on the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console

After a workout with the Wii Fit, you might want to kick back with Nintendo's Virtual Console. Cheap, instant downloads of the best retro video games from yesteryear. Here’s a handful that we’re still waiting for.

• COMING JULY 15: PM's Live Coverage of E3 2008!
• GLENN DERENE: Military Could Use the Wii Remote

10 Awesome Gadgets You Should Grab for 2008: Midyear Roundup

A lot of gee-whiz products come through our doors here at PM. And a lot of them make us yawn. But during the six months since CES, some toys had us sitting up, smiling and paying attention. Here are the top gizmos we¹re excited about so far this year.

• PLUS: More Hands-on Gadget Reviews From PM.com!

World’s Smallest Projector, TI Optoma Pico, Coming to U.S. Next Year

Texas Instruments is bringing the next generation of handheld displays to market with the Optoma Pico, a gadget it claims will be the tiniest projector commercially available. Traveling salesmen everywhere, rejoice!

• VIDEO: Mini Projectors From TI, Microvision Start Trend
• DIY: Build Your Own Drive-in Movie Theater!

Inside the High-Tech Art of Gaming's Realistic Car Crashes

While many racing games let you plow into walls scot-free, most purists would argue that crashes are an essential part of the sport. Here's what goes into making the most realistic race-game wrecks.

• PLUS: Top 5 Non-Violent Tasks in GTA IV
• SPORTS WATCH: Anatomy of a NASCAR Crash

How to Stop Your Boss From Spying on Your Company E-mail

Is there any way for an employee to browse the Web anonymously on a company computer? Tips for secret surfing on the job from our tech guru.

• BUZZWORD: Tracking New Workplace Surveillance Tech
• PODCAST: Inside America’s New Surveillance Society

Blueline Innovations' Real-Time PowerCost Monitor Guilts You Into Energy Bill Savings

The makers of this device claim you will "save up to 20 cents on every dollar you're spending right now on your electricity bill—without changing your lifestyle." Will this $150 investment actually pay off?

• KNOW YOUR FOOTPRINT: Tips on Home Energy Use

How to Save Your Wet Cellphone: Tech Clinic

Even if a wet cellphone seems dead, there's a good chance it can be resuscitated as long as you act fast. This is a DIY moment: Your phone's warranty probably doesn't cover water damage.

• NEW TECH CLINIC: Cellphone Voicemail Comparison

High-Speed Storm Radars to Track Tornadoes, Fend Off Tragedy

As a deadly EF-4 tornado whipped through Little Sioux, Iowa, with 145-mph-plus winds last Wednesday night, federal climate scientists and a group of university researchers were in the early phases of testing high-tech replacements for an aging Doppler radar system.

• SURVIVAL GUIDE: Tips, Gear Ideas, Heroes and More!

5 Brilliant Startup Ideas From MIT’s New Crop of Graduates

MIT is Division I in academia, and like their counterparts in sports, lots of students turn pro before graduation. As the Class of 2008 tosses their high-tech hats in the air, we look at projects with the potential to shake things up in the real world.

• TECH WATCH: MIT Grad Third-World Web to the Road

ICON A5 Folding Plane Looks Like Sportscar, Costs as Much as Maserati

Loaded with features like folding wings (so you can keep it in your garage) and seat belt-like parachutes (so you can ease the whole thing down to the ground), ICON Aircraft’s new light sport airplane (LSA), dubbed the A5, might just be the ultimate joyride.

• FLIGHT TEST: Planes for $30,000 in Backyard Revolution

High-End Samsung vs. Budget Vizio: LCD TV Lab Test

In recent years the quality of cut-rate flat screens has improved immensely. Are high-end sets still worth it? To find out, we put a new Samsung 1080p LCD—the followup to our highest-rated TV of last year—against a budget Vizio set with similar specs.

• PLUS: Top 10 HDTV Myths Untangled
• TECH CLINIC: How to Clean an LCD Screen

Nike Plus SportBand Down-Mods Web-Based Workouts

Studies show that logging workouts helps runners stick to a routine. The Nike Plus SportBand improves on their original Plus iPod training system—by removing the iPod.

• TRACK TEST: 6 Next-Gen Running Systems Compared

How the PS3 Helped Build the World's Fastest Supercomputer

The military isn’t the only branch of U.S. government that relies on gaming companies for its R&D. Pentagon geeks may use Xbox 360 controllers, but government-funded scientists went straight for the hardware.

• TECH WATCH: 5 Supercomputer Science Projects for '08

What the iPhone 3G Needs to Put Garmin and TomTom Out of the GPS Business: Instant Analysis

If Steve Jobs’ demo today was any indication, stand-alone nav unit makers like Magellan and TomTom really do have every reason to be “scared [expletive-]less.”

• EARLIER: GPS Rivals Scared of New iPhone
• LAB & ROAD TEST: 5 New GPS Units Go Head-to-Head

4 Reasons Early Adopters Don't Need a 3G iPhone Upgrade

The die-hards out there are already hawking their first-generation iPhones and preparing to line up for the new model. But fear not: Steve Jobs' keynote won't just be about the new iPhone, it'll be about what's new for your iPhone.

• LIVE BLOG: iPhone 2.0 Unveil, Monday @ 1 EST

Creative's Vado Pocket Video Cam Is Cheap, Fun Alternative to Popular Flip

Rather than differentiating itself from the competition by stuffing in more features, the Vado simply gives you a slightly larger video screen (2 in.instead of the Flip's 1.5) in a smaller body, and for less money.

• VIDEO TEST: Flip Video vs. Full-Feature Camera
• FIRST LOOK: 4 New Flash-Based Camcorders

As 3G iPhone Awaits, Testing Apple’s Headphone vs. Third Parties

Until recently, most headphone plugs didn't fit iPhone's recessed jack, leaving owners with one option: the bundled set. Now, other companies have stepped up. Here's how their products compare.

• TECH CLINIC: Fix Your iPhone's Headphone Jack
• BOOKMARK: Follow New iPhone Unveil Live!

New Microsoft OS to Strip Down Surface for the Living Room, but Will Multitouch Really Be Ubiquitous?

The multitouch action demonstrated in Windows 7 earned Microsoft the lion's share of buzz at this week's All Things Digital conference. But are we really ready to give up our mice and keyboards?

• PLUS: Cheap Multitouch Table Tops Backyard Gadgets
• GLENN DERENE: What Took Microsoft Surface So Long?

Surround Sound Sans Space-Hogging Speakers: Tech Clinic

Looking to build a home theater system without filling your room with speakers? Though they do have their shortcomings, a sound bar will do a surprisingly solid job in an extremely compact package.

• TIPS: 4 Things to Know Before Buying an OLED TV
• TECH CLINIC: How to Fix Your Broken AV Receiver

Motorola's ROKR T505 Turns Your Cellphone Into a Car Stereo

To save the iPhone-less cellphone user's songs from pocket purgatory, this gadget that clips on to your car’s sun visor and wirelessly streams to its sound system. Plus, if a call comes in, it pauses the current track and turns your stereo into a giant speakerphone.

• TEST DRIVE: Bose's New In-Car Media Center Rocks