SAN FRANCISCO--If you don't think a playable Lego electric guitar, complete with the ability to play different notes and adjust pitch, is possible, you don't have enough faith.

Later this year, Lego will launch the third generation of its popular Mindstorms programmable robotics platform. Known as EV3, the third-generation kit will come with plans for 17 different models. But 12 of those models were created by members of an elite, hand-picked, team of Lego community members.

Now, with the eighth-annual Maker Faire hitting the San Francisco Bay Area this weekend, Lego is unveiling three of the 12 community-created models: an electric guitar, a triceratops, and what amounts to a whack-a-mole arcade game.

Touching, eh?

(Credit: Apple)

The Apple App Store odometer was spinning furiously en route to the 50 billionth app download.

Apple on Thursday morning formally announced the passing of the milestone and named the winner of the race to reach 50 billion. That honor went to Brandon Ashmore of Mentor, Ohio, who downloaded Say the Same Thing by Space Inch. Along with bragging rights, Ashmore receives a $10,000 App Store gift card.

The event in question.

I had always imagined that attendees at sci-fi conventions were peaceable sorts.

I know they turn up waving lightsabers and other implements of war, but I imagined that these served no greater threat to society than an elongated ball-finder at a golf course.

Apple CEO Tim Cook

Apple will reportedly be the subject of a Senate hearing next week into U.S. companies' offshore tax practices.

Apple CEO Tim Cook is expected to testify Tuesday before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation, according to Politico, which first reported on Apple's involvement at the hearing. The committee has been examining the various tax-avoidance strategies used by companies, including Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard, and how that affects U.S. interests.

(Credit: Screenshot by Carrie Mihalcik/CNET)

Apple's App Store on Wednesday passed another major benchmark, topping 50 billion app downloads.

That's according to the countdown timer on Apple's Web site and in iTunes. Apple also confirmed the benchmark on Twitter:

We just hit 50 billion app downloads. Thank you. It couldn't have happened without you. #50BillionApps tw.appstore.com/hgE

Neil deGrasse Tyson does his best Vulcan impression.

(Credit: Video screenshot by Amanda Kooser/CNET)

Whether he's talking about the weight of 300 billion elephants or battling Bill Nye the Science Guy for geek supremacy, famous astrophysicist and Star Talk Radio host Neil deGrasse Tyson is someone I pay attention to. I'm interested in his opinion and give it more weight than a lot of other people's. When he tackled one of the greatest sci-fi rivalries of all time, I perked up. "Star Trek" or "Star Wars"?

It's no secret Tyson is a major Trekkie, but his bountiful space love doesn't stretch to encompass "Star Wars" quite so much. Now we know why. "I never got into 'Star Wars,'" he admits in an interview with Business Insider (see embedded clip). "They made no attempt to portray real physics. At all."

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

Google is trying to make gaming a little better on its Android and iOS platforms with a handful of new features for developers. Chief among them is a new cloud save service, which stores game progress on Google's servers and syncs up gaming activity between devices.

Google also has a new matchmaking service, which like Apple's Game Center, can match up players for live and turn-based games. Google says this works on both Android and Apple's iOS. A demo of the feature at Google's I/O keynote crashed and burned, but the company says it works in less severe networking conditions.

Other new features include achievements and leaderboards.

(Credit: Screenshot by Lance Whitney/CNET)

Xbox users may be able to use gift cards and credit cards, instead of points, to purchase games and other content.

"Sources familiar with Microsoft's Xbox plans" told tech news site The Verge that Microsoft will replace its Xbox Points system with gift cards. The gift cards will let Xbox owners buy currency to purchase games and other content. Users also will be able to use credit and debit cards to buy Xbox items online.

The gift cards would work in the Windows Store and the Windows Phone Store, The Verge added. Microsoft may announce the new system during the E3 event, starting June 11, and launch it later this year when the next Xbox debuts, The Verge reported.

(Credit: Screenshot by Lance Whitney/CNET)

Xbox users may finally be able to fund their purchases with gift cards and credit cards instead of points.

"Sources familiar with Microsoft's Xbox plans" told tech-news site The Verge that Microsoft will replace its Xbox Points system with gift cards. The gift cards will let Xbox owners buy actual currency to purchase games and other content. Further, users will be able to use credit and debit cards to buy Xbox items online.

The gift cards would also work in the Windows Store and the Windows Phone Store, The Verge added. Microsoft may announce the new system during the E3 event starting June 11 and launch it later this year when the next Xbox debuts, The Verge reported.