Gizmodo: 2007

I'm A PC, and Apparently I Need Lots of Antivirus Software

Dan Nosowitz — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 16:45:00 EDT

Our sister site Kotaku posted the NPD's PC software sales charts for the month of September, and it's pretty interesting to see how mega-games like Spore measure up to less-exciting products like Microsoft Office. Spore may have nabbed the top spot, but MS Office 2007 grabs two spots, and despite its early troubles, MobileMe sneaks onto the list at number 19. What's most interesting is that antivirus and anti-spyware software take a whopping 9 out of the top 20 spaces. Looks like digital security is the hot buy of the season. [Kotaku]

Quizmodo: The Answers

AddyDugdale — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 06:23:03 EST

Here are the answers to our Quizmodo feature that we put up on New Year's Day. Most of you knew your onions, but there were a couple of glaring errors. There is, as far as I know, no such thing as a USB Log Cabin, although, if any one would like to build one for us, we'll be very impressed indeed. Blam does love his snowboarding, but we can't all fit into his Tahoe cabin at the same time. Answers are below.

1Who said?
1. "It's a husband-wife thing."
Ballmer talking about his relationship with Bill Gates.

2. "We've kept our marriage secret for over a decade"
Steve Jobs on his relationship with Bill Gates.

3. "My brain is filled with software."
Bill Gates (Do you think I have a teeny obsession here?)

4. "I have Nerd credentials."
Jeff Bezos.

5. What made us want to: "Haul burlap sacks full of potatoes, in a plaid shirt made of really itchy wool, in the forest, as I cultivate a beard"
USB Log cabin my arse. It was the new nano.

6. What is "like walking in an attic crawlspace - cramped and uncomfortable."?
Helio Ocean keyboard.

7. What was "like being tossed into a menage a trois with Angelina and a She-Yeti."
The AT&T-iPhone bunk-up (although most of you thought it was Mossberg on his Gates-Jobs showdown.

8. "Two words: Fisher. Price."
The Nokia N95, top answer of the Zune was, however, cheered by the rabid Apple fanboys on the site.

9. What product won Mark Wilson's epic Battlemodo of the Docks back in August?
Altec Lansing IMV712.

10. "My wife thinks it looks like a medical device." What does?
Amazon Kindle.

11. "Really ties the room together." What the hell was Wilson talking about?
Gateway XHD3000 monitor.

12. What happened at Plaster City, CA, on Oct 7?
X-Wing crashed and burned.

13. What was so awesome for Giz about the Apple event on Sept 5 this year?
First Liveblog that didn't crash the system.

14. Which two Giz regulars are married to each other?
Addy and Jesus.

15. Who came and put the C into Gizmodo back in February?
Joel Johnson.

16. What's this then?

Robosapiens dildo.

17. And this?

Blowjob machine.

18. What about this?

Tilt Smartphone.

19. This?

El Jobso looking fly.

20. Bueller... Bueller....

All of the above. Oh, okay then, the Optimus Keyboard.

21. Anyone? Bueller?

Honey Doll.

22. Uh, any ideas?

TiVo.

23. Next!

Robotech Thruster masturbatronic device.

24. Nearly there.

Angel Kitty tailcam.

25. OK, last one. WHAT IS THIS?

Hot Doll, sex doll for dogs.

[Quizmodo 2007: the Giz's Tech Knowledge Mega-Quiz]

Coolness Roundup: Goats and Gods of 2007, a Retrospective

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 13:00:00 EST

It's the annual Goats and Gods episode, where the Gurus of Cool present the best and the worst of the past year. Also, Charlie reviews a new HP workstation, Stephen offers 12 must-have plug-ins for WordPress, and the duo offer another Rapid Fire Roundup of Cool Products they've seen during the week. [Free Podcast at Coolness Roundup or at the iTunes Store]

Quizmodo 2007: the Giz's Tech Knowledge Mega-Quiz

AddyDugdale — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 10:00:00 EST

Fancy yourself as the King or Queen of All-Things-Tech? Were you a Gadget Addict in 2007? Think you know everything that happened on our gorgeous little site over the past year? Well, now's your chance to prove to all of us just how switched-on you were in 2007. Click on, and play on, play on, play on. Answers will be up later on in the week, but feel free to speculate as much as you like in the comments.

(NOTICE: Sometimes the voting system gets stuck and won't show the results for some time. Don't worry. Just keep voting on the next questions, and the previous results—counting your vote—will appear shortly thereafter)

Who said:

PICTURE CLUES
Guess the gadget

W00t Wins Webster's Word of the Year, Just Edges Out the Verb Facebook

AddyDugdale — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 04:53:24 EST

W00t, that expression of joy invented by gamers way back when Sonic and Tails were special friends, has been given the accolade of word of the year by Webster's dictionary. The word, which beat the verb "to facebook" has an uncertain providence: while some people think it is an acronym for "We own the other team", others believe it is a mere exhortation of joy, like "Yippee" or, as we say in my crib, "Huzzarahrah." My reaction is after the jump.

In a move of supreme populism, Websters invited people to vote online for a shortlist of 20 words, and it woz w00t wot won it. This was their official statement.

It's like saying "yay." It could be after a triumph or for no reason at all,"

Well come on, people, you could try a little harder than that sniffy little statement—after all, you are in charge of the book which defines every single word in the american language. [Yahoo! News]

Electrolux Design Lab Finalists Biting Their Nails as the Winner is Announced

AddyDugdale — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 06:51:42 EST

The winner of Electrolux's Design Lab 2007 competition will be announced tomorrow in Paris, and these are the final eight products hoping to win their creator 5,000 ($7,435). The brief was to design something eco-friendly and sustainable for 2020, and sexiest is the Fog Shower by Joo Diego Schlmansky from Brazil, which consumes just two liters of water during a five-minute shower. It's all to do with the mist of microscopic water droplets, rather than a traditional shower, which uses around 20 liters for the same amount of scrub-up time.

The Fridge is pretty spanky too, no? [Electrolux Design Lab via MoCo Loco]

McCaslin vs Menlow: 45 Nanometers Prove That Size Matters

Addy Dugdale — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 06:08:05 EDT

There's been a lot of UMPC talk and action in the latter part of this week. And it's not stopping today. Size queens among you will be interested to see a spiffy 2008 Menlow-based UMPC parked up close and personal on the left of the oh-already-so-tired-O-seven McCaslin.

There are a couple more pics of 45 nanometer loveliness after the jump—including one of a Menlow board Silverthorne processor compared to a playing card.

And check the title of the link below. I can't decide who I love more, PC Watch's headline writers or Google Translate. – Ad Dugdale

Original Azabu spring the weekly PC hot line of the man [PC Watch]

Samsung L73 Digicam Can Spot Faces

www.gizmodo.com — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 19:00:48 EST

Unlike most of those coy camera vendors who are saving their new goods for February's PMA show, Samsung is putting out right here in Vegas with five new models. Coolest is the 7-megapixel L73 ($300). With it, Samsung joins the anti-aphasia campaigns of Canon, Fujifilm, and Nikon by adding face detection. Its Intelligent Face Recognition Technology adjusts the focus and exposure so that up to nine mugs in the shot come out sharp and bright. Another cool feature: It shots video at up to 800x592 pixels (at 30 fps). Other specs are pretty standard: 3X optical zoom, ISO 1600, and 2.5-inch LCD screen. – Sean Captain

Philips Gets All Fancy With Ambi Sound Speakers

Charlie White — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 16:43:31 EST

Philips follows its Ambi light LCD TVs with speakers matching that pleasing asthetic, naming them Ambi sound. They consist of one bar that spreads the surround sound all over the place, without the need for cluttering up your crib with speakers everywhere. Behold their chicatude in this video. – Charlie White with video by Richard Blakeley

Sharp Rolls Out Gigantic 108-Inch LCD

www.gizmodo.com — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 15:12:25 EST

CENTERPIECE: 108-inch Aquos LCD TV
PRICETAG: They wouldn't tell us, but it will ship "this summer"
SPECTACLE: A huge black curtain dominated the left side of the stage, heightening expectations. All of a sudden, there's a 108-inch LCD with contrast ratio that Sharp said was equal to plasma displays.
WHAT THEY DIDN'T SAY: The thing must weigh a ton
BEST SPEC: It's 108 inches, and is the sharpest TV picture we've ever seen
RANDOM STAT: Sharp's D92 series of LCD displays have a 15,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio
OVERHEARD: Wonder how much that sucker costs?
TARGET CONSUMER: "I'm sure we'll find somebody," said a Sharp official.
REMINDS US OF: A movie theater screen, but sharper and brighter by far
SNAP JUDGMENT: From what we could see, that 103-inch screen's contrast ratio is certainly up to the same quality of any plasma display
GRADE: A+
– Sean Captain, Matt Buchanan and Charlie White

Toshiba Press Conference Sneak-in

Charlie White — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 13:39:24 EST

After waiting in line for a half an hour, the Toshibians tell us the room is full. We will now attempt to sneak in and scrounge the info in true invisible style!

CES 2007: We're Pumped

Charlie White — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 18:38:32 EST

CES, baby. It's starting to take shape. Hear that hissing sound? That's the cool breeze of CES coverage on its way to you from Gizmodo. No hot air. Starts tomorrow.

Navicore's Bluetooth GPS is the Smallest Ever

Jason Chen — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 15:24:09 EDT

Navicore's Personal 2007 GPS works features Bluetooth compatibility and is only 64x22x15mm and weighs 30g. For a GPS device, that's pretty damn small. The receiver re-acquires satellite signals in 100ms and grabs position updates every second, sending data to your Smartphone, PDA or car to update its on-board maps of your current position.

The Personal 2007 is powered by SiRF Star III GPS, and works for all of eight hours on a single charge. It powers via USB, so you can even use a standard car-USB charger to operate this continuously. It works with all Navicore Personal products that support Symbian S60, S80, UIQ3 and Linux Internet Tablet OS 2006 Edition.

If the picture isn't indicative of its size, check out our SIZEMODO after the jump. – Jason Chen

Navicore Introduces the Smallest and Lightest Bluetooth GPS receiver in the world [Navicore]

Now when someone asks you where you're getting your directions, you can literally say "from my ass, Bob."

Corvette Z06 for 2007: 0-60 in 3.7 Seconds, But Pricier

Charlie White — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 11:41:31 EDT

We're thinking the Corvette counts as just one big gadget, and when we saw the first pictures of the 505hp Z06 model for 2007, we couldn't resist sneaking you a peek. The newest version of America's Sports Car doesn't add a whole lot of new gizmotronics, with its main addition for the 2007 model year being OnStar, a subscription-based tracking and monitoring service that will call for help if your 'Vette breaks down or is stolen.

Another minor piece of newness for the Z06 is the Atomic Orange Metallic color shown here, a similar hue the likes of which we've seen on other Corvettes preceding it. GM has also added better damping of outside noise, which, from personal experience we can tell you is pleasingly voluminous. Going 0-60 mph in 3.7 seconds has to be a bit noisy, no?

A little piece of bad news is the new price for the Corvette Z06, whose base price was formerly $65,690, but now it's risen by $4310 to a lofty $70,000. Oh, well, you get what you pay for. Of course, you can get the stock, non-Z06 Corvette for about $20K cheaper. Look for all the new Corvettes to hit the streets in October. – Charlie White

Atomic Punk: 2007 Corvette Z06 Gets New Color, Price Bump (More pics!) [Jalopnik]

Office 2007 Online Preview

Jason Chen — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 17:10:57 EDT

Microsoft has put up an online "Beta 2 Test Drive" for people who are on the fence about upgrading. In case you don't want to install the actual Beta for fears that it'll interfere with your older version of office, this preview lets you check out what's new—and what's not. All you need is IE 5.5 or later and the Citrix Browser Plugin.

Try it out then come back and tell us whether there's enough new stuff there for you to pony up a couple hundred bucks to upgrade from Office 2003. – Jason Chen

Test Drive [Microsoft]

Microsoft launches online Office 2007 preview [Ars Technica]

Microsoft Office 2007 Video

johnb — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 14:48:03 EST

"This is something we call... the ribbon."

As a fan of OS X, I'm really impressed that MS has suceeded in mimicking the Aqua interface wholesale. However, as we see from this video, you'll now be able to... write documents. Quicker. With Microsoft Office. And like, do animation. And be Results Oriented, which is actually WYSIWYG in Redmond-ese.

Vista is going to be such a letdown.

Office 2007 comes to video [arstechnica]