Gizmodo

cartel

CarTel Device Attacks Traffic Jams with Fleet of Networked Smart Cars

Researchers at MIT are using computer networks and cabbies to tackle a routine problem that I, personally, can attest to: Boston area traffic jams. Called CarTel (get it?), the system creates a network by way of cell phone-sized black boxes. The boxes currently sit on board 50 cars and taxis in the Boston area. Drivers access the CarTel web portal for real-time info on their own vehicle as well as those around them. "Everybody's data is contributing to collective views of what congestion looks like," said MIT associate professor Samuel Madden. More »

Robots

Robot Prototype Finds, Attacks and Kills Breast Cancer Cells

Here's one in the plus column for the looming robot uprising: a prototype developed by University of Maryland professor Jaydev Desai could one day diagnose, hunt, and destroy breast cancer cells all in one sitting, and in a much more efficient manner than we ham-handed human beings. More »

MacBook

New MacBook 2008 Alleged Aluminum Case Photos Hit the Web

Chinese blog MacX is showing some very legit looking pics of what they allege is the MacBook Pro casing today. We will have to wait for the MacBook 2008 event this week to see if it is real or not, but they are crystal clear and in line with both series of previous leaked images. More »

Firefox Mobile

First Screens of Firefox Mobile Surface with Few Surprises, No Release Date

Early October saw Mozilla CEO John Lilly claiming Firefox Mobile would be available in a few weeks. That's still the case today, but one additional bit of info we can deliver to you are some of the first screen shots of the browser to hit the net. According to the Unwired, these screens are of Firefox Mobile running on a Windows Mobile Professional touchscreen smartphone. In a separate screen, developers were able to run an Acid3 test with a score of 88/100. Not too shabby for a mobile browser. [The Unwired]

iPhone Fusion

OLO Wants to Fuse the iPhone with Netbooks

For those of you out there who are too impatient for the day when iPhone-like mobiles and netbooks converge into one carry-all uber device, there's OLO. On Monday, the company will announce plans for an iPhone-powered netbook. As you can see in the image, there's all sorts of FAIL going on right now. Wrong OS for starters, so we can probably chalk this pic up to poor Photoshopping and/or planning on OLO's part. However, the company is adamant that the device is real, and coming soon. Of course, if Apple unleashes a MacBook netbook on the world this week during its MacBook event, calling the OLO device a moot point will be the understatement of the year. From the looks of the OLO web site, that may happen even if Apple decides to cancel the event and show nothing. [OLO Computer via ITWire]

EMP Boogeyman

Green, Renewable Microgrids Protect Our Tech From EMPs, Boogeymen

Their press release reads like a speech from the 2004 GOP presidential convention, but Instant Access Networks still has some pretty cool tech up their sleeves when it comes to protecting our technology from electromagnetic pulses (EMPs). Citing one megaton nuclear bombs over Kansas and rogue terrorist states, IAN says its renewable energy-powered, EMP-protected "microgrids" are just what today's society needs to protect itself from tomorrow's unseen threats. More »

Storage

LaCie 5Big is Slightly Less Infamous Than HAL 9000

We doubt that the LaCie 5big Network storage array will one day spontaneously become self-aware and take over your office, but the visual nod to HAL is unmistakable nevertheless. And on purpose. Designer Neil Poulton said he created the array thanks to inspiration from the supercomputer at the heart of 2001: A Space Odyssey. However, aside from that all seeing eye thing on the front, this beast is all about affordable storage, not ending your life. More »

Rotating Plasma Screen

Drop-Down, Rotating 103-Inch Plasma Screen Video is Pure, Glorious Gadget Porn

I can't decide if it's the subtle piano playing in the background or the slow, seductive movement of this 500-lb., 103-inch plasma that's got me all hot and bothered today. I guess I could care less either way, because this dancing television is all sorts of wonderfulness. And it's practical too, as the 180-degree rotation makes any room in the crib the best seat in the house. [Ballerhouse]

Geeks In Space

Richard Garriott Reaches Orbit, Can Finally Act Out Plot of Tabula Rasa

Computer game millionaire Richard Garriott is now in orbit. At about 3 a.m., the current luckiest geek in the world blasted off in a Soyuz TMA-13 capsule alongside U.S. astronaut Michael Fincke and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Lonchakov. The three will circle the Earth a few times before docking with the International Space Station on Tuesday. At that time, Garriott will conduct a series of experiments that will probably not include level grinding in his sci-fi MMORPG, Tabula Rasa. One thing Garriott and company may not be able to do when they reach the ISS? Go to the bathroom. Update: Now with video: More »

City of Ember

City of Ember: Bill Murray, Two Kids, Saving a Post-Apocalyptic City From Aging Tech

With City of Ember, a post-apocalyptic adventure tale starring Bill Murray, two kids, and some aging gadgetry, the mecca of Bill Murray gadget movies, Ghostbusters, has some good company. In Ember, Murray plays the hapless mayor of Ember, an underground city that humanity created to escape calamity in the not so distant future. Trouble is, the big honkin' generator we built to power the city was only meant to last 200 years, and now it's on the fritz, which leads to some harrowing periods of darkness as it sputters and struggles to power the city. Cue the adventure. More »

Dealzmodo

Dealzmodo: Free iPhone Games from Hudson

Hudson, makers of Bomberman and Mario Party, among others, is giving away three of their games for the iPhone platform for free. Aqua Forest, Neo Same Game, and Catch the Egg are all available at no cost for the length of the Tokyo Game Show, which means you've got until October 12th to snatch up some worthwhile freebies. [Thanks, Kevin K.!]

Addiction

World of Warcraft Seems Like Kind of a Silly Hobby

World of Warcraft player/dorkmaster supreme Prepared has caved to his smack addiction-like dependence on WoW and created 36 separate accounts that he plays simultaneously on an epically ridiculous rig. He claims to spend over $5700 per year just on the game, and plans to pick up 36 copies of the new expansion pack Wrath of the Lich King when it's released. More »

Dealzmodo

Dealzmodo: Circuit City is Shipwrecked, but the Flotsam and Jetsam Have a Great Price-Match Guarantee

Circuit City's price guarantee was always a little wonky: the only prices they'd match were from local brick-and-mortar vendors, which excludes even their own online site. But sneaky tipster Kevin has caught wind that Circuit City, in the midst of crashing and/or burning, is due to accept any verifiable price, from any retailer, starting tomorrow. Even better, the prices in-store are going to match those of CC's online site, which means some serious price cuts in-store. There's always a silver lining, am I right? [- Thanks, Kevin!]

Songs of love

Twinned MP3 Player for the Couple that Shares Everything

Are you in a relationship? Can you hardly bear to be apart from your partner for more than half an hour? Do you make out in the library while sitting next to a Gizmodo writer, totally unaware that someday he'll grumpily complain about you in a post? Well, I have the perfect mp3 player for you and your equally annoying significant other. The Twinned MP3 Player concept is actually two mp3 players, capable of holding only one playlist each: the same one. More »

Apple

Apple Will Indoctrinate Your Children with Field Trips

Evil monolith Apple has begun a nefarious program to snatch children from the warm arms of their home PCs with ominous-sounding "field trips." These trips do lead to a field, but not one with grass and trees and sunshine. This is a field of glass, of white plastic, of aluminum, and of shameful minimalism. More »

Concepts

USB Floppy Drive Concept: Oregon Trail Not Included

Designer Thomas O'Connor has come up with a concept to join the legions of goofy USB flash drives with this charming USB Floppy Drive. Take one of those floppy disks granpappy's always going on about, hollow it out, stuff it with some flash storage and a USB dongle and you've got a "sustainable" and nostalgic USB drive. It looks to be a mere concept right now, but I bet an enterprising modder could whip one of these up in no time. [Core77]

Apple

iPhone 3G Coming to Walmart Just in Time for the New Great Depression

Boy Genius Report has it "on good authority" that Our Lord and Savior Jesusphone 3G will be sold in God's own retail store: Walmart. They name November 15th as the date of arrival, which is just in time for shoppers to overlook it as they clear their local Walmart of cans of beans to prepare for the econocopalypse that's sure to destroy Western civilization as we know it. You heard it here first, folks: the hot gift this Christmas will be a can of Heinz baked beans. [BGR]

Microsoft

Microsoft Sues DHL Over Xbox-Busting Train Crash

Microsoft is suing delivery service DHL for their refusal to compensate the boys in Redmond for the destruction of over 21,000 Xboxes in a Texas train derailment. The consoles were due for Hong Kong when the train, carrying two large containers of Xboxes, went off the tracks, sustaining a substantial amount of water and impact damage and, interestingly, "pilfering." Microsoft is seeking $2 million in compensation for DHL's negligence. That the phrase "fiery train wreck" is missing from the report makes me think it wasn't as exciting as it could've been. Imagine the headlines! [PC World]