They've combined 1784 high-res photos to come up with the ultimate unboxing and disassembly of the iPhone 4. What's not totally clear is whether it worked again after they put it back together, but presumably

• Toyota Prius i-Tech (2009 ZVW30)
• Honda Jazz VTi-S (2008)
• Metal Gear Solid Touch
• Gadgets worth saving your pennies for

We had a range of products that caught our fancy this month, including a pen that records audio as well as what you write.

For the record, we also tested a product that was awarded our lowest score ever - the iPed, an iPad knockoff that one of the CNETters brought back from a trip to Shanghai. It managed a 1.0 rating only because the packaging was kinda alright.

But look through the good stuff below, to see what you might want to add to your shopping list.

• Top rated products of July 2010
• Alienware M15x
• Fake iPod Nano (4th generation)
• Logitech Cordless Desktop Wave Pro

We've rounded up the hottest phones, digital radios, cameras, laptops and GPS devices that will have the most appeal to dad. There's something for everyone in each round-up, whether your father is a geek personified or can't find the On switch.

If you're budget doesn't stretch to any of the above, have a look at our list of the Top 20 Blu-ray movies for Father's Day.

• Laptops for Father's Day
• Cameras and camcorders for Father's Day
• GPS units for Father's Day
• Best mobile phones for Father's Day

You'd think having an engine that made very little noise would be a good thing, and maybe it is for those inside the car, but for pedestrians, it's actually quite dangerous. So much so that in Japan, Toyota is soon to start selling an optional speaker system for its hybrid Prius, which will generate an electronic humming sound that is the "same noise level as a regular car engine".

Prius runs in silent electric mode during most of its drive time, and the car's popularity in Japan, combined with the country's narrow, crowded streets has lead the government there to issue guidelines to address the rise in pedestrian fatalities.

So far, the 12,600 (AU$170) speaker system is a voluntary purchase, which is only available in Japan, but Toyota is considering offering versions of the device for other vehicles and in other markets.

Other car manufacturers are working on countermeasures to make quiet ecological cars safer too, with Nissan planning to include a safety sound system in its upcoming electric Leaf.

• Toyota Prius i-Tech (2009 ZVW30)
• Hybrids coming in 2009 and 2010
• Toyota Camry Hybrid Luxury (2010)
• Toyota Prius (2009)

Danny Kaye, executive vice president, Global Research and Technology Strategy
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (International)(Credit: CBSi)

Blu-ray only started to gain traction in 2008, after it won the high-definition format war over its lower capacity rival HD DVD. While DVD sales have now started a gradual decline, Kaye says Blu-ray disc sales grew 125 per cent in 2009 and another 51 per cent in the first half of 2010, accounting for close to 10 per cent of all disc sales in Australia. He also noted that Australians spend the most per capita on movie entertainment, buying 13 titles per year over the second-placed Americans who buy just over 11.

Three-dimensional movies account for 22 per cent of all ticket sales worldwide and this strong consumer appetite for 3D is expected to flow from the megaplexes to home media with the launch of 3D televisions and home theatre systems this year. Despite the required investment in both 3D-enabled TVs and players, Kaye quoted figures that predict 3D will penetrate 45 per cent of Australian homes by 2015.

He contends that Blu-ray will have a fairly long life span; however, the rise of digital media will most likely see disc sales peak in 10 years. Current technologies and networks do not have the bandwidth to deliver 3D digital copies, but the executive expects those obstacles to be overcome in the next few years.

To stop piracy, studios are investing heavily in the development of content with embedded levels of digital rights management (DRM). 20th Century Fox, along with most major studios and consumer electronics vendors (Apple and Disney the notable exceptions), is part of the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem consortium, which is soon to bring to market something they've dubbed UltraViolet. The idea is that you'll buy movies - either physical discs or downloadable content - embedded with UltraViolet DRM, but this flavour of digital security will give you access to the content online to transfer it to any compatible device without interoperability issues. Kaye says to expect major launch announcements about UltraViolet nearer to CES 2011 next January.

Access to UltraViolet movies could come from digital kiosks, but Kaye also suggested that Blu-ray disc players will become de facto home servers, with digital rights on content discs allowing movies to be played not only on big screen TVs, but also streamed to portable devices such as mobile phones and tablets or transferred to high-speed memory cards and USB drives.

20th Century Fox is the distributor of the blockbuster movie Avatar, which almost single-handedly kick started the latest craze for 3D. While he indicated that sales of the Blu-ray 2D version of Avatar had broken records, Kaye would not be drawn on when we can expect the 3D version to be released.

• Digital downloads and Blu-ray 'will co-exist'
• Cambridge Audio Azur 650BD
• Tech gifts for the geek who's got everything
• 3D Blu-ray standard outlined, includes PS3

Motive Industries is using an impact-resistant biocomposite made from Canadian grown and manufactured hemp mats in the body of its Kestrel four-seat electric car.

The hemp fibres in the composite keep the body weight low, which reduces the energy needed to propel the vehicle while offering a renewable alternative to composites derived from petrochemicals.

Composite materials have strength and safety benefits above that of steel, and they are currently used in Formula One as well as many road vehicles. The company developing the cannabis-based composite material claims it is impossible to dent with a sledgehammer.

More information about the zero-emission Kestrel will be released in September at the 2010 VE Conference and Trade Show in Vancouver.

A teaser image of the Kestrel above right. (Credit: Motive Industries)

• Electric cars invade Detroit
• Rinspeed iChange: A transforming car, of sorts
• Lexus RX400h (2006)
• Electric car round-up

Sydney cabbies are a pretty tech-savvy lot and CNET editors frequently return from taxi rides with real-world insights from these heavy users of mobile devices. So I wasn't surprised to jump in a cab last week to find the driver browsing his iPad, but what was interesting was his claim that he loved his iPad so much, it's driven him to swap his iPhone for a BlackBerry for making calls!

Then our colleague Scott Stein penned "Five ways the iPad's still better than the iPhone 4", which elaborates on the iPad's advantages in battery life, bigger screen size, pane-splitting tricks, and ease for reading and writing.

It got us thinking, will many iPad owners change their minds about the kind of phone they need to own? If more people start carrying iPads and other soon-to-hit-the-market tablets, will not-quite-so-smart phones with good call quality come back into vogue?

Share your thoughts, people. Do you own both devices? If so, how have you found living with them? Which one do you use the most?

• Apple iPad
• Best games for iPad
• Debating the merits of Apple's iPad
• Apple iPad hands on

With most of the infrastructure policy focus of this Australian election centred on the National Broadband Network, very little has been announced in the way of public transport strategies (the recycled on-again, off-again Epping to Parramatta Rail Link in Sydney one of the few exceptions).

Maybe the pollies should think laterally and check out the straddling bus system proposed for the Mentougou District of Beijing. As the video shows, it taps some new technologies to run above existing roadways. The idea has merit on both economic and environmental fronts; plus it incorporates inflatable slides for its escape system, which should please disgruntled flight attendants everywhere.

What are your thoughts Australian commuters? Would a straddling bus network work in this country?

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