Giz Explains: What the Hell's Google Chrome OS?

Google. Chrome. OS. Just reading that makes my pants tingle. But, uh, what is it exactly? More »

Giz Explains: How to Choose the Right Graphics Card

There are plenty of great graphics cards out there, no matter what you're looking for. Thing is, the odds are seemingly stacked against you ever finding the right one. It doesn't have to be that hard. More »

Giz Bill Nye Explains: The iPhone 3GS's Oleophobic Screen

Exclusive: Bill Nye the Science Guy was gracious enough to elbow Matt out of the way and write a Giz Explains column, in which he tackles the science of "oleophobia," and its relation to the new iPhone screen. More »

Giz Explains: What AT&T's 7.2Mbps Network Really Means

AT&T's contribution to the improved overall speed of the iPhone 3GS—their upgraded 7.2Mbps network—is nearly as important as Apple's. But 7.2 is just a number, and AT&T's network is just one of many. Here's where it actually stands. More »

OS X Snow Leopard vs. Windows 7: The Final Countdown

It's easier than ever to pit Windows 7 and OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard head-to-head: They're launching soon, both within a month of each other—and both are basically glorified service packs of the current OS. More »

Mobile Chipsets: WTF Are Atom, Tegra and Snapdragon?

Low-power processors aren't just for netbooks: These computers-on-a-chip are going to be powering our smartphones and other diminutive gadgets in the forseeable future. So what's the difference between the Atoms, Snapdragons and Tegras of the world? More »

Giz Explains: What's So Great About LED-Backlit LCDs

LED-backlit LCDs are where TV's future and present meet—they're the best LCDs you've ever seen, but they're not as stunning as OLED displays, which will one day dominate all. They're not cheap, but they're not ludicrous either. Most importantly, they're actually here. More »

Giz Explains: How Electrocution Really Kills You

Humans are fragile. Our bodies are easily mutilated by our own creations: Crushed, mulched, zipped. But physical force is weak and inefficient compared to good old electrocution, which, according to MythBusters' Adam Savage, doesn't kill you the way you think it does. More »

Giz Explains: GPGPU Computing, and Why It'll Melt Your Face Off

No, I didn't stutter: GPGPU—general-purpose computing on graphics processor units—is what's going to bring hot screaming gaming GPUs to the mainstream, with Windows 7 and Snow Leopard. Finally, everbody's face melts! Here's how. More »

Giz Explains: Everything Bluetooth and Why Bluetooth 3.0 Is Better

Have you heard? Bluetooth 3.0 sounds like a fantasy spec: Wi-Fi speeds, faster response time and more efficient power usage. Here's a quick primer on Bluetooth and why Bluetooth 3.0 is going to rock face. More »

Giz Explains: Speakers From the Future

Last week, we explained the difference between $100 and $100,000 speakers. But in the name of clarity, we focused on traditional loudspeakers, around longer than Keith Richards. Here are the newer crazier types. More »

Giz Explains: The Difference Between $100 and $100,000 Speakers

A speaker system can cost as little as $35. Or as much as $350,000. As a normal person, you probably have just one question about speakers that cost as much a Ferrari: What. The. Hell. More »

Giz Explains: Why Analog Audio Cables Really Aren't All The Same

Giz Explains: What a RAID Hard Drive Array Is (and Why You Want One)

RAID: It's not just for Warcraft nerds anymore. If you've got a ton of music, photos and video and you don't know about RAID hard-drive arrays yet, read this—or wave your precious media files buh-bye. More »

Giz Explains: All The Smartphone Mobile App Stores

It's been less than a year since Apple launched the iPhone App Store, but now virtually every mobile OS is showcasing its own take on the mobile application storefront. How do they all stack up? More »

Giz Explains: Why Cellphone Reception Still Sucks

"Hi, I'd like a large barbecue chicken pizza with extra—*fzzt* oni *asjkhwakj* no *kssshh*" CALL FAILED. What just happened here? With all of today's modern wireless technology, why do cellphones still pull this crap? More »

Giz Explains: How a Brainy Worm Might Jack the World's PCs on April 1

It's lurking in millions of PCs around the world. It's incredibly sophisticated and resilient, with built-in p2p and digital code-signing technology. It revels in killing security software. On April 1, the Conficker worm will activate. More »

Giz Explains: What Makes The Five Smartphone Platforms Different

Smartphones have all advanced over the past few years, and mostly do the same things. But if you look at the details, you'll find that—depending on your needs—one may be way better than another.

Giz Explains: Why WiMax and LTE Wireless 4G Data Will Blow Your Mind

3G sucks. Yeah I said it. Try watching YouTube video or hell, loading Giz. Real wireless, ubiquitous broadband for slurping up crazy data anywhere, anytime is coming. Soon. In the form of WiMax and LTE. More »

Giz Explains: Why Lenses Are the Real Key to Stunning Photos

When most of us talk digital cameras, we talk megapixels, ISO, image noise, shot-per-second speed and image processing. We're tech geeks. But really, none of that stuff matters as much as your camera's lens. More »

Giz Explains: Why More Megapixels Isn't Always More Better

Between all the new digital cameras pooped out before the upcoming PMA show and the crazy cameras buried inside cellphones at MWC, it's a good time to go over why more megapixels isn't necessarily better.

Giz Explains: Why There Isn't a Perfect Ebook Reader

Amazon's Kindle 2, announced on Monday, is the probably the best ebook reader you can buy. But neither it, nor any other reader out there, will be converting the masses anytime soon. Here's why: More »

Why Kindle 2 Isn't a Big Step Forward For Voracious Readers

Now that we've seen Amazon's Kindle 2, unveiled by Jeff Bezos today in New York, I can't help but conclude that the more powerful machine provides only a slim additional reader benefit. Here's why: More »

Giz Explains: Why the Windows 7 Taskbar Beats Mac OS X's Dock

Yeah, I said it. The Windows 7 taskbar is the most important Windows UI change since Windows 95, and it will dramatically change the way you use Windows. And it's better than the Mac's Dock. More »

Giz Explains: The Windows 7 Beta Fine Print

Windows 7 is the largest OS beta test ever. If you followed our guide you're already snapping, peeking and poking around in it. But did you read the fine print before you clicked install? More »

Best of Giz Explains 2008: Stuff You Absolutely Need to Know

I hope you guys learned as much reading Giz Explains this year as I did writing them. Here are the best, the ones explaining stuff you absolutely must know.

Giz Explains: Everything You Wanted to Know About DRM

Condensed explanation: Digital rights management is a corporate pain in the ass that stops you from doing whatever you want with music and movies in the name of fighting piracy. But there's more to it.

Giz Explains: Everything You Need to Know About Hard Drives

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Giz Explains: Why OS X Shrugs Off Viruses Better Than Windows

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Giz Explains: Why Intel's Core i7 Processor Is a Beautiful Monster

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Giz Explains: Every Video Format You Need to Know

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Giz Explains 3D Technologies

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Giz Explains: What's So Awesome About 64-Bit?

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Giz Explains: Why Windows 7 Will Smash Vista

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Giz Explains: How to Choose an HDTV Like a Pro

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Giz Explains: Why Does the New MacBook Pro Have Two Graphics Cards?

The biggest update to the new MacBooks—on the inside anyway—is their graphical muscle, which has been hooked up with some Barry Bonds-level steroids. Apple ditched Intel's crummy integrated graphics and chipset (basically the traffic controller between the processor and everything else) entirely, opting for a new one from Nvidia that combines the chipset and a GPU on a single chip—the GeForce 9400M. The MacBook Pro, being more Pro-erer than the MacBook, now rocks two graphics cards—the integrated 9400M and a separate, beefier GeForce 9600M GT. If that swirl of numbers, letters and BS is confusing, here's what's up. More »

Giz Explains: Illustrated Guide to Smartphone OSes

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Giz Explains: Ups And Downs Of Developing for Android and iPhone

Whether or not such a two-sided conflict will actually play out in the larger mobile-phone industry, today Android vs. iPhone is the battle raging in the mind of every fanboy, gadget geek—and software developer. Since it has all the right themes for a Tolkien-esque epic whose outcome largely rests with small, furry-footed but pure-hearted creatures—developers—we asked the developers of popular mobile apps such as Pandora, TuneWiki and Instinctiv Shuffle, mostly people working on both platforms, to tell us whether it's better to write for the no-strings-attached open Android or the more popular but catch-prone iPhone. Android may not be an overnight success, but iPhone had better watch its back. More »