Inventors in workshops and phones in cars: Weekend roundup from the LAT

-- A Silicon Valley company called TechShop gives do-it-yourself folks the expensive gear they need to invent.

-- Price will be key to the success of the new iPhone that Steve Jobs is unveiling today.

-- Cops start handing out tickets for DWT -- driving while talking -- on July 1 for motorists who don't use hands-free devices for their cellphones. David Colker reviews some of the options for headsets and speaker phones so you can stay out of trouble.

-- That bearded guy in the grainy YouTube video (it's not on the site anymore) who's apparently snorting drugs: Broadcom co-founder Henry Nicholas, prosecutors said.

-- Biz columnist David Lazarus sees parallels between Verizon Wireless' deal to buy Alltel and the Time Warner Cable acquisitions that led to shoddy service (not to mention a lawsuit from the city of L.A.). In both cases, he says, consumers get hosed.

-- Chris Gaither

Photo: Inventor Chris Tacklind welds at TechShop, a community workshop for inventors in Silicon Valley. Credit: Randi Lynn Beach / For The Los Angeles Times