Electronics | featured news

Word is that iOS 7 will bring a significant design overhaul to Apple's mobile operating system. That's potentially good news, but there's also some bad: The new software might be behind schedule. According to Daring Fireball's John Gruber— who has a decent track record when it comes to Apple rumors — "iOS 7 is running behind, and engineers have been pulled from OS X 10.9 to work on it."

Justin Bieber’s phone may never ring and texting and messaging may have started to take the place of voice calls, but back on April 4, 1973 a man named Marty Cooper wasn’t taking the voice call feature on the Motorola DynaTAC 8000x for granted. On that day, 40 years ago, Cooper, who was a Motorola engineer, placed the first public call from a cellphone.

It's no secret that Apple wants to get into the living room by making its own TV set, and there have been plenty of rumors and reports about how and when it's going to happen. Now, an analyst says he's learned that the set will go on sale late this year, for $1,500 to $2,500.

Raspberry Pi, the tiny, ultra-cheap, Linux-based PC, went on sale Monday in the U.S. through retailer Allied Electronics, but it's already out of stock. The A version of the computer, which only costs $25, has 256MB of RAM, a single USB 2.0 socket, an HDMI, SD card, and 3.5 audio sockets, but no Ethernet port. Available only through Allied, the A is now completely out of stock for U.S. customers. The $35 Raspberry Pi B is also out of stock at Allied, but it can be bought through Newark, another retailer, which only carries that particular model.

Yes, this again. Facebook on Thursday sent out invitations for a press event that promised to show off the company’s “new home on Android,” which naturally led to fresh speculation about the company’s intention to produce its own Facebook-centric smartphone.

"Texting while driving is not just a teen problem," says John Ulczycki of the National Safety Council. "Teens text. But you're looking at around 10 million teen drivers, but about 180 million other adult drivers."

T-Mobile will start offering the iPhone 5 on April 12. The company is currently the only major U.S. carrier not to offer Apple's popular smartphone.

The VT60 is a powerhouse performer with the functionality and features to appeal to more than just picture purists. If you’re a picture quality enthusiast, chances are you're a fan of plasma tech. Though less popular than LCDs, plasma TVs often produce more accurate colors and deeper black levels—two massively important aspects of HDTV picture quality. In case you hadn't noticed, our current Top 5 TVs (out of hundreds) are all plasmas.

The power switch on your favorite e-reader sure gets a workout on flights, thanks to government rules that require electronics to be turned off during takeoffs and landings, but that could change soon. The FAA may announce within months that it will ease those regulations, allowing reading devices to stay on in “airplane mode,” The New York Times reported Sunday, citing unnamed sources who work with a panel formed to study the issue.

The American Academy of Pediatrics discourages use of electronic media by kids under age 2 and recommends older kids be limited to one to two hours of educational programming daily. That may make intuitive sense to any parent who has watched a kid grow slack-jawed in front of the tube or beg for just five more minutes on the iPad.“That look on their faces – it’s panic-inducing. They look transfix...