Gizmodo: times square

The Secrets of Time Square's Ridiculous Billboards

matt buchanan — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:20:00 EDT

You're being punked whenever you walk into Times Square: The massive billboards assaulting your eyeballs are much higher res closer to ground than they are up top. Engadget discovers this, and other secrets, going "hands on" with Times Square. [Engadget]

Panasonic Pwnd On Their Own Times Square TV

Mark Wilson — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:20:00 EST

In a clever bit of green marketing, the non-profit Electronics TakeBack Coalition ran the above ad warning of "toxic waste" on Panasonic's own proud Times Square display. The coalition promotes manufacturers accepting their own products back for recycling. Unfortunately, clever ads and even manufacturer support are only half the battle. [via Treehugger]

NYC's Permanent New Year's Eve Ball Is the Largest Ever

Sean Fallon — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:20:00 EST

At first glance, the new ball set to drop over Time's Square this New Year's Eve looks a lot like designs from years past. However, the updated ball is twice as big as previous versions (12-feet tall, 11,875 pounds) and it will be the first to be a permanent year-round fixture atop One Times Square. Besides its size, the ball is decked out with 2,668 Waterford Crystals and powered by 32,256 Philips Luxeon Rebel LEDS that are capable of generating more than 16 million distinct colors and billions of patterns. Essentially, it's a giant LivingColors lamp kaleidoscope for the world. [Times Square NYC]

Netflix Looking For Contestants to Break Endurance Record For Movie Watching

Sean Fallon — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 18:10:00 EDT

In the big book of marketing gimmicks, you will find a whole chapter devoted to breaking world records. Even if unsuccessful, they attract loads of attention while helping to suppress any negative press that may be floating around. That having been said, Netflix is gearing up for the "Netflix Movie Watching World Championship" to be held in Times Square from October 2nd—7th. Eight contestants will try and break the 120 hour and 23 minute record to win a $10,000 cash prize, a lifetime subscription to Netflix, the first-ever Popcorn Bowl trophy and the pride that comes with the title of "world's laziest human being."

Many of the spots have already been set by endurance legends like current record holder Ashish Sharma of Mathura, India, former 3-time record holder Claudia Wavra of Germany, endurance champion Suresh Joachim—a Canadian of Sri Lankan descent, who holds 32 Guinness World Records and N.Y-based eating champion Crazy Legs Conti. However, Netflix is currently looking for an average Joe or two to round out the lineup. If you think you have what it takes, you must submit a training video via their Facebook page (keyword "Netflix Movie Watching World Championship") by September 22nd. If you do decide to enter I wish you the best of luck—but my money is on Suresh Joachim. He holds records for dancing (100 hours) and radio DJ-ing (120 hours). He actually had to...you know...move to earn those records. [PR Newswire via Electronic House]

Toshiba's LED TV Screen Lights up Center Stage in Times Square

Kit Eaton — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 03:50:00 EDT

Only back in May were we talking about another Times Square display—Walgreen's one—and today Toshiba's news is about its new display there. Sitting 285 feet in the air, the 51.2-foot by 52.5-foot display is a 1280 x 1248 pixel LED high-definition monster that uses some proprietary Technovirtual technology to create virtual pixels to achieve an even higher apparent resolution. It can show over a billion colors, and since it sits atop One Times Square, it's got a pretty commanding view over the streets. And environmentalists may be pleased to learn it replaces a previous screen that consumed much more power. High-def advertising and green credentials? Impressive. [Toshiba]

Walgreens Building Time Square's Largest Billboard

Mark Wilson — Tue, 27 May 2008 17:20:00 EDT

We don't normally think of glitz when we think of Walgreens, but maybe that's entirely the point. The company is building the world's "most complex, powerful and digitally advanced" sign to hover over their new flagship store. And 17,000 feet of it is covered with 12 million LEDs capable of producing a trillion colors. But that's only part of the sign.

250,000 pounds in weight, the entire sign spans 43,720 square feet when including vinyl components. That easily trumps the old Times Square champion from NASDAQ, which covered a suddenly modest 11,000 square feet.

Cumulatively, all of this sign will cover three sides of 1 Times Square with a solitary animation. Never has a sale on pantyhose been so grossly over-promoted. [NYTimes via BBGadgets]

Shiny LEDs Ring In the New Times Square New Year's Ball

Wilson Rothman — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 13:50:00 EDT

I'm nostalgic for some things, but it's about damn time they replaced that raggedy old New Year's Ball in Times Square. It had 600 bulbs and looked like it came from the prop room of The Day The Earth Stood Still. The new and improved model boasts 9,576 LEDs, renders 16 million colors and displays video, all without using more electricity than 10 toasters. It costs $1.1 million, but lest you think it all went into tech, those sparkly things are Waterford crystals—the only thing that trumps Swarovski. [Sci Fi Tech]