Brian Barrett

Samsung’s Giving Away a Million Copies of Jay-Z’s New Album

Jay-Z’s modestly entitled Magna Carta Holy Grail drops on the similarly nondescript Fourth of July. But despite his clear lowering of expectations for the album, he’s somehow found it within his heart to muster up some publicity by letting Samsung give away a million copies for free three days early. Galaxy owners only need apply.…

Apple Details What the NSA Took–And How Much of It

The impact of the NSA’s secret surveillance through PRISM and other means has sent reverberations through out the tech industry and the world at large. The latest ripple: Apple’s full accounting of its interactions with government spies in the past year or so. Here’s what went down. https://gizmodo.com/what-is-prism-511875267 In an open letter entitled Apple’s Commitment…

Xbox Live Gold Is Still One of the Biggest Ripoffs in Tech

A lot of mud has been slung Microsoft’s way this week, much of it deserved. Used game restrictions, mandatory internet check-ins; these new impositions don’t sit well. But they also distract from the single worst thing about the Xbox One, which was also the single worst thing about Xbox 360: The tyranny of Xbox Live…

Sony PS4: Everything You Need to Know

After two long hours of tease this past February, followed by a few fleeting glimpses in May, Sony’s finally ready to show us what its next-generation PlayStation console actually, you know, looks like. And it’s… well, it’s a rhombus. A familiar-looking one. https://gizmodo.com/the-playstation-4-is-here-update-sort-of-5985701 “It is a design that is sleek and visually impactful wherever it…

Watch Sony’s PS4 Reveal LIVE Right Here

The last time Sony told us it was going to reveal the PS4, all we got was two hours of hype and a look at a very familiar-looking controller. Tonight, though? Tonight we’re going to see the full monty. And you can watch it here live starting at 9PM EDT/6PM PDT. Check out the stream…

Oh Hey the NSA Is Hiring Lawyers Now

National Security Agency: Attorney ( #FortMeade , MD) http://t.co/iV394rwWTB #Legal #Job #Jobs #TweetMyJobs — NSA (@NSACareers) June 7, 2013 Oh look! Everyone’s favorite secretive spy agency employment twitter feed, @NSACareers, has posted a new listing. Anyone know a good lawyer? It sounds like a fun gig! From the NSA’s job description: NSA OGC has several…

President Obama’s PRISM Response: Deal With It

In response to shouted questions about the revelations this week that the NSA has been collecting phone call metadata and internet everything from American citizens, President Obama said some things that are probably going to make you feel sad inside. https://gizmodo.com/what-is-prism-511875267 Rather than dwell on preamble, here are some choice quotes from the session, wherein…

What Is PRISM?

Last night, the Washington Post and Guardian dropped concurrent bombshell reports. Their subject was PRISM, a covert collaboration between the NSA, FBI, and nearly every tech company you rely on daily. PRISM has allowed the government unprecedented access to your personal information for at least the last six years. But what is it, exactly? PRISM…

Our WWDC 2013 Liveblog Kicks Off Right Now

Welcome friends! In less than an hour, Apple’s going to take the wrapping off of the all-new, Jony Ive-powered iOS 7, and we’ll be covering it all live, right here. What else are we expecting out of WWDC 2013? New MacBooks, OS X improvements, better iCloud, and maybe even a surprise or two. The keynote…

Report: The Government Monitors Literally Every Phone Call in the US

First we found out that the NSA had been keeping track of all of every single US Verizon customer’s phone activity ever since the Boston bombing. Just an hour ago we learned that tech companies were in on the act. And now? The punchline: According to NBC News, every single phone call made in the…

Oh Man, Verizon Might Want to Rethink This

Is it too late to change the name of that plan? No? Oh, okay. In fairness, I guess they never specified whom you’d be sharing with.

AirDrop File Sharing: The Most Persistant iOS Rumor Has Returned

In 2011, Apple introduced AirDrop for OS X Lion, a feature that makes sharing a file between two Macs as easy as dragging and dropping it. Two and a half years later, we’re still waiting to see it on iOS. Could we finally get peer-to-peer iPhone and iPad sharing in iOS 7? https://gizmodo.com/os-x-lion-will-have-a-swift-new-file-sharing-feature-a-5769287 A report…

These First Photos of Atoms Bonding Were Taken Totally by Accident

What you’re looking at above is the exact moment that atoms for a covalent bond. It’s the first time this intricate single-molecule transformation has been captured in the act. It’s a breakthrough, it’s informative, in many ways it’s beautiful. And it was taken by sheer dumb luck. As reported in this week’s Science Felix Fischer…

How Google Is Finally Fixing Android’s Deepest Flaw

You might not have noticed, but in the last two weeks Google has fixed the thing you hate most about Android. The biggest news out of this year’s I/O Googlepalooza didn’t have anything to do with Jelly Bean or Google Glass. It wasn’t a killer app or a self-driving car. It was, in fact, the…

Windows 8.1: Little Fixes, Same Big Ideas (Oh, and a Start Button)

The good news: If you liked Windows 8, its first major update is going fix a ton of the little things that bothered you. The bad news: You might not like Windows 8. And there’s nothing here that will change that. At least there’s a Start button! Microsoft today is giving a sneak peak at…

Forget 3D-Printed Guns; Here Are Some 3D-Printed Shotgun Slugs

The fact that we can 3D-print guns, each scarier than the last, is unsettling enough. But why would we stop at weapon itself? Why not 3D-printed ammo? Like, say, these devastating shotgun slugs, fresh from a Solidoodle 3 printer. https://gizmodo.com/100-000-people-have-already-downloaded-3d-printed-gun-p-498755006 Wired had a nice long chat with Jeff Heeszel, the man seen in the video…

How to Sound Just the Right Kind of Concerned About Google Glass

Kicking and screaming will the late adopters be dragged into the future. But if you want to stoke their deepest fears just the right amount, let xkcd be your troll-guide: Maybe before we rush to adopt we should stop to consider the consequences of blithely giving this technology such a central position in our lives.…

How to Get First in Line for Xbox One Preorders

The Xbox One! It looks terrific, assuming you’re into turning your home entertainment system into a motion-and-voice-controlled dictatorship. And while the devices won’t be shipping until the “end of the year” (read: in time for the holidays), you can go ahead and preorder yours right now. You’ve got two preorder options, according to Xbox guru…

Pandora’s new Premieres station will let you listen to new albums up to a week before they launch. Starting with new work from John Fogerty and Laura Marling, the station will highlight pre-release music right up until it drops, and won’t be subject to the same limitations as the normal Pandora player. [FastCompany]

A Look at How Microsoft Designed the Xbox of the Future

How do you build the next generation of an iconic gaming console—and controller? How do you create something that fans both recognize and are inspired by? Wired got some exclusive alone time with the people who brought Xbox One to life. If you like prototypes, you’ll love this. For more on the Xbox One announcement,…