Brian Barrett, Author at Gizmodo

Lenovo Commits to LePad Android Tablet By End of LeYear

Lenovo’s finally made a definitive statement on what they’re doing in the mobile computing space, and they’re going to finish the year differently than they started it: the Android-powered LePad is coming in the next few months. In January Lenovo showed impressive ambition in mobile, promising both the Skylight smartbook and the U1 hybrid tablet/computer…

Tech News Brian Barrett Jul 20

A Detailed State of the Apps Report

There’s a lot written about the Apple App Store and Android Market, but they’re hardly the only games in town. Here’s your comprehensive look at the entire app ecosystem. Spoiler: it’s huge. It’s so oddly reassuring that a fart simulator is in the top 20 all time paid App Store apps, isn’t it? Maybe that’s…

Tech News Brian Barrett Jul 19

What Is This?

What’s this here? A leaked prop from Tron: Legacy? A high-tech bug zapper? It’s something much more basic than those, but still fit for a king. What you’re looking at is a high resolution photograph of the noble gas Argon, taken by Wikipedia user alchemist-hp. It’s one in a series of 36 pictures taken so…

Tech News Brian Barrett Jul 19

Elements Gallery

Gold Yttrium Rhodium Aluminum Copper Titanium Chromium Bismuth

Tech News Brian Barrett Jul 19

Intel Ships 3.2GHz Hexacore i7-970 Desktop CPU

Intel’s 32nm Gulftown architecture has produced its latest gem: the 3.2GHz hexacore i7-970 processor that’ll set you back $900. In addition to being super speedy—especially with TurboBoost, which lets you rev up to 3.46GHz—you get 12MB of on-chip cache and a triple-channel DDR3 memory controller. Fun times, and something I wouldn’t be at all surprised…

Tech News Brian Barrett Jul 19

Slot Machine iPhone Dock: Proportionally Less Depressing Than Real Thing

I’ve learned two important things today: I can turn my iPhone into a tiny slot machine, and “appcessory” is a word now. Jackpot Slots—which is both an iPhone app and a dock—just made someone’s tech-savvy grandma very happy. The Jackpot Slots dock costs $40, but that includes the eponymous app that gives you access to…

Tech News Brian Barrett Jul 19

HP Files For “Palmpad” Trademark, Likely webOS Tablet Name

In the wake of reports that HP is bagging its Android tablet comes word that the company has filed to trademark the name “Palmpad.” Which to me sounds like a great that rumored webOS tablet, no? https://gizmodo.com/hp-ditches-android-tablet-5587727 The previous name that had been floating around had been Hurricane, but the USPTO trademark filed earlier this…

Tech News Brian Barrett Jul 19

PCs Get iPad-As-Second-Display Powers With MaxiVista App

Hey, you with the PC! Instead of sitting there sulking because iPad-as-second-monitor app Air Display is Mac-only, you might want to give MaxiVista a shot. It’s the PC equivalent, it works wirelessly, and for now it’s your best/only option. https://gizmodo.com/air-display-use-your-ipad-as-a-second-monitor-without-5547546 MaxiVista’s only been out for about a week now, and at $10 costs the same…

Tech News Brian Barrett Jul 19

Dell Precision M6500 Shoves 32GB of RAM Into a 17-Inch Notebook

Whatever you do with 32GB of system memory in a workstation notebook is strictly your business—but man, am I curious. Still, impressive of Dell to make the M6500 the undisputed champ of laptop memory. https://gizmodo.com/dell-precision-m6500-hops-on-usb-3-0-and-core-i5-i7-tra-5465254 That much of an upgrade won’t come cheap; the 32GB configuration will set you back $9,300 when it hits later…

Tech News Brian Barrett Jul 19

Livescribe Echo: The Smartpen Gets Some Brilliant Upgrades

The Livescribe Pulse smartpen showed that there was demand out there for a ballpoint pen with a computer inside. Now the Echo has arrived, bringing with it additional capabilities like password protection, increased storage, even more apps. https://gizmodo.com/livescribe-crams-more-storage-new-color-into-pulse-sma-5384527 Echo lets you put pen to pad to draw on your computer (Mac or PC) via USB…

Commerce Brian Barrett Jul 19

BlackBerry WebKit Browser Trounces iPhone 4 and Android 2.1 In Early Test

The looks we’ve gotten so far at BlackBerry OS 6 have been impressive enough, but it looks like the real crown jewel might be that WebKit browser. Here’s how it stacked up recently against iOS4 and Android 2.1. https://gizmodo.com/blackberry-os-6-teaser-shows-the-social-side-of-bb-5584926 Above, a video by Salomondrin that demonstrates the new browser in action on a BlackBerry 9800.…

Tech News Brian Barrett Jul 19

Consistency Counts For Something

In 1996, you could get a Palm Pilot 1000 with a 16MHz processor, 128KB storage, and a 100-name address book for $300. Times sure have changed! Like, what about a TI graphing calculator? Oh, right. Those cost the exact same. [xkcd]

Books & Comics Brian Barrett Jul 19

iPad Hitting Nine More Countries This Friday

Continuing its staggered international expansion, the iPad will come to nine more countries this Friday. Moving into international markets has so far (logically) been a key to bolstering sales numbers, and Apple’s entering some pretty big markets this week. https://gizmodo.com/apple-3-million-magical-ipads-sold-5569779 Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore are the lucky…

Tech News Brian Barrett Jul 19

Leaked Documents and LTE SIM Show Verizon 4G Launch Is Imminent

While Verizon’s been pretty open about their 4G plans—up to 30 cities and a third of Americans covered this year—there’s now some leaked internal documentation showing systems are primed for LTE. They’ve even got the SIM cards ready: https://gizmodo.com/verizons-lte-4g-expansion-plans-one-third-of-americans-5501342 That’s right, a Verizon SIM. As I live and breathe! The documents over at Engadget show…

Tech News Brian Barrett Jul 19

Shit My Jobs Says

Above, a few of our favorite moments from the iPhone 4 presentation Steve Jobs gave this afternoon. Below, eleven much more candid Jobs quotes from the Q&A session that Apple didn’t put on their site: https://gizmodo.com/apple-iphone-4-meta-live-coverage-today-10am-pt-1pm-e-5588113 On all smartphones sharing this problem (except maybe large ones): To our knowledge, it’s not possible to make a…

Tech News Brian Barrett Jul 16

Jobs: iPhone 4 Proximity Sensor Fix In Next iOS4 Update

At today’s iPhone 4 press conference, Steve Jobs acknowledged that there were issues with the device’s proximity sensor, and indicated that they were software-related. A fix should come with the next software update. According to Jobs: “We’re tracking some problems with the proximity sensor, we’ll have that in the next update.” Not much detail, as…

Tech News Brian Barrett Jul 16

The Other Social Network Trailer: What About Tom?

Is it weird that I’d rather watch The Other Social Network than the Facebook movie? Actually, after watching this great fake trailer, no, it’s not weird at all. If you haven’t seen the original, here’s what it’s spoofing. In my head, I’ve already cast Chris Cooper as Rupert Murdoch. [VH1 via NY Mag] https://gizmodo.com/the-official-facebook-movie-trailer-5577254

Movies Brian Barrett Jul 16

The First iPad-Only Novel Is Coming, With Literal Bells and Whistles

Highly regarded Japanese novelist Ryu Murakami isn’t releasing his next novel on hardcover or paperback. He’s releasing it exclusively on iPad, and including all the multimedia goodies that the platform allows. Murakami’s novel, A Singing Whale, will feature video elements as well as orchestration by composer Ryuichi Sakamoto—an Academy Award winner for his work on…

Tech News Brian Barrett Jul 16

Motorola Droid Enters Hospice Period

A list of Verizon’s End of Life devices has surfaced over at DROIDForums.net. Some of the phones will be missed more than others, but none more than Motorola Droid. Clearly, Verizon’s making way for its two big summer launches—both of which also happen to be called Droid. But regardless of whether Droid X and Droid…

Tech News Brian Barrett Jul 16

Your Antivirus Software Hates You

Maybe it’s not so much a surprise that you hate your antivirus software’s notifications sometimes. But did you know that it hates you right back? On further reflection, that’s really the only logical explanation for all those pop-ups anyway. [The Doghouse Diaries]

Tech News Brian Barrett Jul 16

Brian Barrett

Lenovo Commits to LePad Android Tablet By End of LeYear

A Detailed State of the Apps Report

What Is This?

Elements Gallery

Intel Ships 3.2GHz Hexacore i7-970 Desktop CPU

Slot Machine iPhone Dock: Proportionally Less Depressing Than Real Thing

HP Files For “Palmpad” Trademark, Likely webOS Tablet Name

PCs Get iPad-As-Second-Display Powers With MaxiVista App

Dell Precision M6500 Shoves 32GB of RAM Into a 17-Inch Notebook

Livescribe Echo: The Smartpen Gets Some Brilliant Upgrades

BlackBerry WebKit Browser Trounces iPhone 4 and Android 2.1 In Early Test

Consistency Counts For Something

iPad Hitting Nine More Countries This Friday

Leaked Documents and LTE SIM Show Verizon 4G Launch Is Imminent

Shit My Jobs Says

Jobs: iPhone 4 Proximity Sensor Fix In Next iOS4 Update

The Other Social Network Trailer: What About Tom?

The First iPad-Only Novel Is Coming, With Literal Bells and Whistles

Motorola Droid Enters Hospice Period

Your Antivirus Software Hates You

OpenAI Says Elon Musk Is ‘Injecting Chaos’ with Recent Legal Maneuver

Google Displayed Polymarket Bets as News ‘In Error,’ Google Says

‘Marvel Rivals’ Wants to Start Being More Than Just a Hero Shooter

‘How Do We Make Sure That Claude Behaves Itself?’: Anthropic Invited 15 Christians for a Summit

See the Next ‘Hunger Games’ in This Trip Down Memory Lane

Indie Animation Is Having a Moment on YouTube

Trump’s World Liberty Financial Makes FTX-esque Move, Borrows Against Its Own Crypto Token

Steven Soderbergh Wanted to Take ‘Bond’ Back to the ’60s

If You Make Fart Music, ChatGPT Will Be the Most Supportive Girlfriend You Could Ask For

This Loud-Ass Party Speaker Almost Got Me High AF

Asus Zenbook A16 Review: Start Considering Snapdragon on PC, for Real

Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 Review: Almost Better than My Ecobee

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws