Electronic Gadgets

According to Dr. Dre, "people aren't hearing all the music" when they listen to it on the average earbuds and speakers. What kind of sound do Dre's Beats Audio products deliver?

By Patrick J. Kiger

Apple’s small, wireless router is meant to let you create a wireless Internet access point almost anywhere. What are the capabilities of the Airport Express, and what else will you need to surf sans wires?

By Nathan Chandler

An odd little egg-shaped fellow, Sony's dancing music player was designed to captivate music lovers' eyes and ears simultaneously. Whatever happened to this robotic dancing queen?

By Nathan Chandler

Whether you're frantically windmilling your arms at the Wii or getting blasted by a spotlight while sneaking across your neighbor's lawn, motion control is hard at work. We'll tell you how.

By Robert Lamb

A wristwatch is an essential part of your wardrobe, but have you ever stopped to wonder why? As it turns out, the timepiece you've strapped to your wrist has a very long and storied history.

By Linda C. Brinson

Finding a gift for the dad who has everything can seem challenging. But with new technology constantly on the march, there are always possibilities for gadget-loving papas. Here are our very best tech gift ideas for Dad.

By Jonathan Strickland

Astrolabes are exquisitely crafted instruments that have hundreds of uses. Isn't it time you learned how to use this handy decoder of the sky?

By William Harris

Do you check your horoscope compulsively, or snort derisively at the very thought? Before you dismiss astrology as nonsense, consider this: It has a long history with timekeeping. We're happy to tell you all about it.

By William Harris

Temperature-sensitive inks once rocked the '70s in the form of mood rings. These days, they're turning products like beer cans, wallpaper and footballs into color-changing chameleons.

By Nathan Chandler

Since the 2000s, technology has been doing its part in getting us up off the couch, out of the office and into the park for some exercise. Nike was one of the first companies to offer fitness tracking with the Nike+ SportBand.

By Wesley Fenlon

Dive watches don't just tell time; they can save your life. When you're counting on a limited air supply in the depths of the ocean, you'll want to know when it's time to head for the surface.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Imagine a smart, persistent little friend gently nudging you to exercise, eat well and enough sleep every day. The FitBit tracker is that buddy, and its job is help you stay healthy.

By Nathan Chandler

Did you know that your bones can hear stuff? Yes, it's true. And using bone-conducting headphones instead of ear buds may be a lot better for your ears. How do these headphones do their job?

By Patrick J. Kiger

Normally we love soap, the ultimate germ fighter, but after an oil spill, a whole lot of soap may be squirted into the environment and linger in the affected ecoystems. How does magnetic soap hightail it out of there?

By Nicholas Gerbis

Stories about electronic readers and tablets are all over the tech media these days. But what if you want a simple electronic device that lets you write down your thoughts? Perhaps you need an e-writer.

By Jonathan Strickland

Record players have been around since the late 19th century, and even though the basic mechanisms of playing vinyl records are unchanged, modern technology has put a whole new spin on things.

By Wesley Fenlon

No, this clock won't blow up the planet. But it does use cesium and lasers to keep time so accurately that we had to change the definition of “second.” What else?

By Patrick J. Kiger

Some materials are better conductors of sound than others. Most speakers work best when you don't put anything on them. But some others are louder when you put them on another surface.

By Jonathan Strickland

Jukeboxes are a colorful slice of Americana that brought on-demand music to the masses. Find out how they work -- and how they've fared in the digital age.

By Nathan Chandler

Running indoors on a treadmill is a great way to maintain your training when you can't make it outdoors. But how does an app on your smartphone measure the distance you've covered when you're not actually going anywhere?

By Holly Frey

The Jawbone UP comes from a well-known electronics manufacturer and has a unique form factor that sets it apart from its competition. Will those qualities save it in a crowded fitness gadget marketplace?

By Jonathan Strickland

Cell phones may be the modern pocket watch, but oscillating mechanism wristwatches are still evolving. So exactly how precise is the Precisionist?

By Matt Cunningham

The most expensive wrist watch in the world is embellished with 1,282 diamonds and costs $5 million. But can it really tell time better than a Timex?

By Patrick J. Kiger

What if there were no time zones, and every clock everywhere in the world read the same time? Swatch tried to float this idea in 1999. Why didn't it catch on?

By Patrick J. Kiger

Watching video still has its problems -- buffering, stuttering and proprietary software all conspire to make the experience less than ideal. Can DASH save the day and bring smooth playback to us all?

By Stephanie Crawford