Shower radio voted Worst Household Gadget of All Time

September 25th, 2009 LONDON - Television has been voted the greatest household gadget ever made in a new UK poll. Eight out of 10 women surveyed in The Sheilas' Wheels Home Insurance study said they couldn't live without TV.

October 3rd, 2009 LONDON - HTC Hero, the phone that uses technology developed by Google, has been voted Gadget of the Year at a ceremony organised by Stuff magazine. The device has a five-megapixel camera and a 3.2in screen.

April 28th, 2009 LONDON - Cookie, Digital TV, Ethernet and PC Suite are some of the terms that baffle Britain's public, a new survey has revealed. According to the Gadget Helpline, dongle, widely used to refer to a broadband wireless adaptor, was voted the most confusing word.

June 3rd, 2009 Toyota to start plug-in hybrid leasingTOKYO — Toyota said Wednesday it will start leasing plug-in hybrid cars, that are even greener than its hit Prius, by the end of this year in the U.S., Japan and Europe. Toyota Motor Corp., the world's top automaker, will start leasing 200 plug-ins in Japan, 150 in the U.S.

September 28th, 2009 LONDON - Apple iPhone has been declared as the coolest gadget in Britain. The iPhone, which ranked second in the last year's list, has been a phenomenon, with more than five million pieces sold in just the three months to the end of last June.

June 4th, 2009 Toyota: hybrids best 'green' car for some timeTOYOTA, Japan — A Toyota executive overseeing research said Thursday a battery breakthrough is needed for electric vehicles to become mainstream, and hybrids will remain the best "green" car choice for some time. His comments came just hours after the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Toyota's Prius hybrid was the No.

August 13th, 2009 Microsoft taking pre-orders for next-gen Zune HDREDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft Corp.

June 4th, 2009 Toyota Prius tops monthly auto sales in JapanTOKYO — Toyota's Prius was the No. 1 selling vehicle in Japan for May, clinching the top spot in the domestic market for the first time and overtaking Honda's new hybrid, the Insight, which fell to third.

August 27th, 2009 Toyota plans to end production at joint ventureWASHINGTON — Toyota Motor Corp. plans to end production in March 2010 at a California joint venture where it has built vehicles with General Motors Co.

June 1st, 2009 Japan green incentives lift electronics salesTOKYO — Japanese incentives for ecological gadgets are helping lift electronics sales, according to ministry and industry data, in what may be an early sign of some recovery in a recession-battered economy. Under a government stimulus package, that kicked in May 15, people who buy energy-efficient flat-panel TVs, refrigerators and air conditioners accumulate "eco-points," which the government promises will convert to discounts or trade-ins for products that have yet to be announced.

March 28th, 2009 LONDON - You can now stop worrying about the way you look while sitting, for iPosture a small gadget, which can be stuck on the skin and buzzes to remind the wearer to sit up straight, helping improve posture, has come to your rescue. The revolutionary device vibrates discretely when the wearer slouches by more than three degrees for one minute.

July 31st, 2009 LONDON - British people's love for gadgets is set to break the 50-billion-pound barrier for the first time next year, according to a new survey. Retail analysts Mintel have revealed that between 2004 and 2008, sales of gadgets increased almost 13 per cent, and reached about 49bn pounds in 2008.

September 16th, 2009 Review: New iPod Nano impresses, Zune improvesSAN FRANCISCO — Back in 2004, when I got my first MP3 player, I never cared that it lacked a camera, Web browser and crystal-clear video playback — features that are now common on digital media devices. Apple's latest iPod Nano and Microsoft's freshest Zune, both released within the past week, offer these kinds of perks and plenty more.

May 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have said that laser technology can contribute to optimizing the manufacturing costs and efficiency of solar cells. If the latest forecast from the World Energy Council WEC can be believed, global electricity requirements will double in the next 40 years.

June 22nd, 2009 Study: Detroit lifts quality but Toyota still kingNEW YORK — Ford, General Motors and Chrysler have made strides in new vehicle quality over the last year, but they still lag behind their foreign competitors, according to a closely watched study released Monday by J.D. Power and Associates.