TOP TECHNOLOGY NEWS

“You’re going to build a what?”

That’s what Tony Fadell’s wife, Dani, said to him in 2009 when he told her his idea for a new company. Fadell is one of the most sought-after talents in the world of gadgetry—he designed the hardware for the iPod, and headed Apple’s iPod and iPhone division before leaving his VP post to spend time with his wife and two young children, living an idyllic year in Paris.

There are a few things I know about kids. One is that they never stop screaming or wanting something. The other is that they press really, really hard on my iPad screen, which is why I no longer let them near it.

If you are a breeder, however, and can no longer endure little Johnny’s wheedling pleas to let him play with your iPad, then you might consider the Trace & Draw from Crayola and Griffin.

The toy consists of two parts.

One of the funnest things you can do with your Micro Four Thirds camera (whilst sober and wearing clothes, at least) is to stick weird lenses on the front. Thanks to the mirrorless design, lenses from other cameras usually need to be held rather far forward, leaving plenty of space for adapters.

This opens up a whole world of retro lens experiments, but these adapters can drop (and in my case have dropped) the lens.

There’s been gnashing of teeth between Apple and Samsung in courts across the globe for a while now, but Australia’s temporary injunction against the sale of a Samsung tablet is a huge win for Apple, and could be very bad for the Android platform.

A court in Australia ruled today that the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 cannot be sold in the country because it infringes on two patents held by Apple relating to multitouch.

So you bought a Kindle with “Special Offers.” Maybe you were a little light on cash. Maybe you thought the ads wouldn’t bother you. Maybe you figured the prospect of saving $30-$40 and never having to see that awful Emily Dickinson screensaver ever again was too good to be true. Whatever. I won’t judge.

Apple finally delivered on its promise of a new iPhone during an event Tuesday at the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, California.

It’s no totally new “iPhone 5,” mind you; Apple’s revamped iPhone 4S brings an incremental hardware upgrade to the popular iPhone 4. But the 4S’ stat boost is no slouch, adding a host of beefier under-the-hood specs to an already impressive device.

In usual Apple style, the company dropped a wealth of information on the public all at once.

A tool roll has got to be just about the simplest and most practical way to carry tools. And if its this roll from Mopha, it’s also the most stylish.

The roll is made from waxed canvas with leather trim, and unfurls to reveal ten variously-sized pockets. Slide in your biking essentials — even your spare tube — and roll. The pockets keep everything in place, and a supplied leather toe-strap performs double duty in cinching shut the roll and strapping it to the saddle rails.

You could also drop it into a bottle cage, or even just use it to keep things tidy inside panniers or a messenger bag.

Finally, the Windows Phone 7 operating system is starting to catch up.

Microsoft’s web-based Windows Phone Marketplace goes live today, years after competitors Apple and Google launched their own. The app store launch is in conjunction with the rollout of Microsoft’s latest iteration of the Windows Phone 7 operating system (Mango).

The version 7.5 update will roll out to existing Windows Phone owners slowly to ensure there are no issues for users, according to the company. Mango adds over 500 tweaks and features to the Windows Phone 7 platform.

Problem: You own an Android phone, but you live in an iPhone world. Every device, from cars through speakers to refrigerators comes with a 30-pin dock connector.

Solution: The DockBoss. This adapter lets you take anything with a 3.5mm jack and hook it up to an iPhone dock, including your Android phone or even your Zune.

Inside the business end — which plugs into the dock itself — is a mess of electronics which are powered by the dock (both USB and ancient FireWire docks are supported).

Ford is the latest car maker to turn its talents to bicycles, and this concept E-Bike is the result. Unlike most other car-branded bikes, though, this one actually brings automotive tech to the party.

The bicycle part is pretty standard, if outlandishly styled. The frame is fashioned from aluminum and carbon fiber, the wheels look like 1980s mags, the gears are internal Shimano Alfine (11-speed), the “chain” is a carbon belt and the brakes are disks.