smart phones

Cell phones have increasingly become mobile labs and tech tools for researchers, and now NASA has gotten in on the act. A postage-stamp-sized chemical sensor allows iPhones to sniff out low airborne concentrations of chemicals such as ammonia, chlorine gas and methane.

A puff from a "sample jet" helps sense any airborne chemicals. That information gets processed by a silicon chip consisting of 16 nanosensors, and then passes on to another phone or computer through any Wi-Fi or telecom network.

Google's Android does a lot more these days than just smart phones and nifty mobile gadgets. An Internet pioneer is using the platform to launch a interplanetary Internet protocol on Earth that could harden wireless networks against delays in data transmission.

Google's Android operating system for cell phones could allow soldiers to track fellow squad members and even unmanned drones in real time on a map -- as long as the humans and robots are on their buddy list.

A universal remote control is only good if it is really, truly universal: something few companies have managed to do thus far. Unify4Life has. Its AVShadow, which launched today for $100, turns a Blackberry into a remote capable of controlling virtually every component of your home entertainment system. TiVos, Blu-Ray players, iPods and VCRs can be launched with a click. Place the minute, Bluetooth-equipped AVShadow next to your entertainment center, download the app and you're done.