Alex Cranz, Author at Gizmodo

Microsoft Is Playing Nice, and the Xbox Series X Is the Stellar Result

In the late ‘90s, a group of Microsoft engineers started tinkering with old Dell laptops in the hopes of creating a console based on Microsoft’s DirectX technology. The idea was to create a gaming box that showcased what the software company was best at but without the need for a big honking PC running Windows.…

Gaming Alex Cranz

The Xbox Series S Is for Gamers Who Hate Upgrades

When my mom moved back in 2007, she decided that living in a new house after 30 years in the old one warranted a new TV. Made sense—ours were all from the ‘80s. She bought a fancy (for the time) Sony with 1080p resolution, and 13 years later, I’m still trying to convince her to…

Gaming Alex Cranz

The Onyx Boox Max Lumi Is a Giant E Ink Tablet I Almost Love

I desperately want a Remarkable 2. It looks so slim and so lovely, and my colleague Andrew will not shut up about the writing experience on it. But the Remarkable 2 is a $450 device that’s just good for writing by hand and marking up documents. The 13.3-inch Onyx Boox Max Lumi can do all…

Tablets Alex Cranz

The Xbox Series X and S Are Stackable

We discovered this week just how big the PlayStation 5 is, and, well, it looks sort of like a basketball arena with its swoopy design and towers over even the heftiest consoles, like the Xbox One and the original Xbox. But what’s most clear about the PlayStation 5 is that it is not meant to…

Reviews Alex Cranz

Logitech Improved on the Nearly Flawless Trackball

The Logitech Ergo M575 just feels like a natural evolution of 20 years of near-perfect design.

Accessories & Wearables Alex Cranz

5G Could Be Great, But It’s Woefully Misunderstood

Last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg spent what felt like the bulk of Apple’s big iPhone announcement evangelizing 5G, the fifth generation of wireless cellular technology. According to the two men, 5G is going to revolutionize how you use your phone with incredible 4 Gbps download speeds and the whole…

Tech Policy Alex Cranz & Brian Kahn

This Is the Perfect Keyboard

The Happy Hacking Keyboard Type-S is the Platonic ideal of keyboards.

Accessories & Wearables Alex Cranz

Apple Finally Gave Us Baby-Handed Bastards What We Want

My great lament since I ripped the open the box to my iPhone 6 and found a giant and unpocketable beast resting in my tiny hands was that the era of the small phone was no more. It felt like we baby-handed people had been forced to pay some kind of small-hand tax: either we…

Tech News Alex Cranz

A Whole Bunch of Apple Products Apparently Just Leaked Ahead of Today’s Event

Whelp, a whole lot of Apple products just leaked. We are, as of this writing, hours away from Apple’s much anticipated iPhone (we assume) event. I just wrote a whole blog on how to watch the dang thing! Yet a whole lot of the line up leaked early. Evan Blass, the noted Android phone leaker,…

Tech News Alex Cranz

How to Watch the October 13 Apple Event

I know it feels like we JUST had a big Apple day last month—and that’s because we did! First, there was the Watch and iPad event in September; there are rumors of a MacBook event in November; and for October? It’s iPhones, baby. Well, iPhones, and possibly headphones, earbuds, a new Tile competitor, and even…

Tech News Alex Cranz

The Microsoft Surface Laptop Go Is Trying

Solidly built and great looking, with a fast enough processor

Laptops Alex Cranz

This Book About a High School Coven Understands Just How Ridiculous Teens Can Be

The opening chapter of Hannah Abigail Clarke’s The Scapegracers is a little rough. It starts with a group of girls gathering in the middle of a party to do some magic and freak everyone out. Then the narrator breaks off to do more magic with a girl she’s only just met, and the feeling that…

Books & Comics Alex Cranz

The 100 Series Finale Pulled a Game of Thrones and I’m Still Laughing

To be clear, The 100 tripped over its own feet, jumped 12 sharks, and shattered its reputation with viewers long before Game of Thrones boffed it. But the Game of Thronesfinale has quickly become synonymous with missing the landing harder than a drunk gymnast on the vault so here we are, comparing the two after…

io9 Alex Cranz

Microsoft Finally Has a Budget Laptop

After producing a fine laptop and a great budget tablet, Microsoft is finally voltroning these concepts together to make the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go, a $550 laptop with a real Intel 10th-gen i5 processor. This is what we’ve been asking for. The problem with Microsoft’s budget lineup (until today) is that it felt pricey if…

Tech News Alex Cranz

Amazon Luna Is Stadia and Microsoft’s Newest Cloud Gaming Competitor

Amazon has a game streaming service. It’s been rumored for years now and it’s finally here. Starting at $6 a month with early access, the new service—dubbed Luna+—will have Twitch integration, a special channel just for Ubisoft games, and an optional controller that connects directly to the cloud. Luna+ wasn’t a possibility as much an…

Internet Alex Cranz

System Reboot: Gizmodo’s New Podcast to Fix a Broken World

Gizmodo has a podcast! Again! Two years after The Gateway dug deep into the way YouTube algorithms enable larger-than-life personalities to develop followings online, we’re back with a new podcast. System Reboot is a weekly podcast exploring the big things that are broken and talking to very smart people who have ideas about how to…

Tech News Alex Cranz & Brian Kahn

How Is It September and HBO Max Still Does Not Do 4K or HDR?

Today DC Entertainment announced that its streaming service DC Universe was becoming the comics-only DC Universe Infinite, and while I had the urge to give myself a wedgie just for subscribing to such a truly stupidly named service, the thing that really sent me into a nerd rage was the realization that I would no…

Internet Alex Cranz

The Excellent DC Universe Is Dead, and a Comics-Only Service Is Taking Its Place

Today DC Entertainment announced that as of January 21, 2021 DC Universe will “evolve” into DC Universe Infinite, a comics only service. It’s a shame, because DC Universe has lowkey been one of the best streaming services you could drop cash on every month—if you’re a giant nerd like myself. The combination of old superhero…

Books & Comics Alex Cranz

The Sony PS5 Will Launch November 12 and Start at $400 [Update: Preorders Start Tomorrow]

With only a couple of months until launch, it’s been a little weird that we haven’t gotten an exact date or price for Sony’s next flagship console. In a stream today, the company finally announced both. The Sony PS5 will cost a whopping $500, and the disc-free Digital Edition will retail for $400. Both will…

Games Alex Cranz

Apple’s Thoughtful Family Setup Service Can Probably Be Replaced With a Leash and the Fear of God

As a child, I’d wander. My mom would take my siblings and I to the mall, and inevitably my little developing brain would be bored by shopping that did not involve me personally. I would disappear. My mom remembers these times with a vague hint of concern; my sister remembers them with irritation. I just…

Tech News Alex Cranz

Alex Cranz

Microsoft Is Playing Nice, and the Xbox Series X Is the Stellar Result

The Xbox Series S Is for Gamers Who Hate Upgrades

The Onyx Boox Max Lumi Is a Giant E Ink Tablet I Almost Love

The Xbox Series X and S Are Stackable

Logitech Improved on the Nearly Flawless Trackball

5G Could Be Great, But It’s Woefully Misunderstood

This Is the Perfect Keyboard

Apple Finally Gave Us Baby-Handed Bastards What We Want

A Whole Bunch of Apple Products Apparently Just Leaked Ahead of Today’s Event

How to Watch the October 13 Apple Event

The Microsoft Surface Laptop Go Is Trying

This Book About a High School Coven Understands Just How Ridiculous Teens Can Be

The 100 Series Finale Pulled a Game of Thrones and I’m Still Laughing

Microsoft Finally Has a Budget Laptop

Amazon Luna Is Stadia and Microsoft’s Newest Cloud Gaming Competitor

System Reboot: Gizmodo’s New Podcast to Fix a Broken World

How Is It September and HBO Max Still Does Not Do 4K or HDR?

The Excellent DC Universe Is Dead, and a Comics-Only Service Is Taking Its Place

The Sony PS5 Will Launch November 12 and Start at $400 [Update: Preorders Start Tomorrow]

Apple’s Thoughtful Family Setup Service Can Probably Be Replaced With a Leash and the Fear of God

Ahead of the SpaceX IPO, xAI Has Now Shed All 11 of Its Non-Elon Musk Founders

Do ‘Disclosure Day’ Prep With a Spielberg Sci-Fi Marathon

How to Watch the F1 Japanese GP 2026 on a Free Channel

Ranking 2016’s Superhero Debuts, 10 Years Later

Fourth Most Populous Country in the World Bans Most Social Media for Kids

How to watch UFC Fight Night Adesanya vs Pyfer live this Saturday

‘Steel Ball Run’ Will Return This Year…Eventually

‘The Mummy 4’ Is Getting the Family Back Together

JD Vance Says UFOs Are Actually Demons

Breville Barista Express Espresso Machine Hits Its Lowest Price of the Year for Amazon’s Big Spring Sale, Cut Your Daily Coffee Costs at Home

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets

Apple Studio Display XDR Review: It Looks So Good, I Wish It Were an iMac

RayNeo Air 4 Pro Review: My Eyes Love These Video Glasses, but My Nose Disagrees