Brian Lam

Y550 Laptop Lenovo’s First With a Core i7 Inside

The Y550P, a 15-inch laptop, is Lenovo’s first portable to offer a Core i7 option. Besides that, it’s got a lot of juice available in options—up to 8GB of memory, 500GB hard drive, Nvidia GeForce GT 240M (1GB) graphics, an integrated subwoofer, and some kind of crazy “touch-sensitive slide bar for easy desktop navigation.” It’ll…

Gizmodo NYC Writing Job Update

It’s full time. Forgot to mention that in the previous post. Still getting some great applications, especially from those who took the time to do great test blogs, but we could always use more. Check out the original post here. And follow the directions, please. [Gizmodo] https://gizmodo.com/gizmodo-looking-for-star-tech-writer-in-nyc-5383737

First New Apple iMac Benchmarks*

*Disclaimer: Our—and others—review units are not high end machines with Core i5/i7 with high end ATI graphics, so we can’t speak for the top end of iMacs. Also, the charts above are not indicative of anything, whatsoever. The 27-inch iMac we’re testing is a nice machine, but the specs—3.06GHz Core2Duo CPU with 4GB of 1066MHz…

Apple iMac Hands On

The new iMac, built with the unibody technique, comes in two sizes, with 21.5- and 27-inch screens. It’s got the same edge-to-edge glass of the MacBook Pro and will have Core 2 Duo and new Core i5/i7 quad-core options. UPDATED The first thing I noticed when playing with the new iMac was that the screens…

Apple Magic Mouse Hands On

The Apple’s Magic Mouse doesn’t have anything on its surface. It’s an aluminum base topped off with a smooth multitouch panel. It felt weird to use, but leagues ahead of the Mighty Mouse. I may go back to mice. UPDATED The strange thing about the Magic Mouse is not how it works. It is that…

“A Drop of Water” Watering Can Collects Rain

Bas Van Der Veer won a prize this weekend for this combination rain collector and watering can. The setup presumably connects to a house’s gutter system, storing rainfall it for the next uh, not-rainy day. It’s gorgeous but I think it should be made out of metal, not fiberglass, if he is going for maximum…

Blue Screen of Death (On a Belt)

I don’t know why my belt crashed. I went to the restroom and then zipped up and then shook my hips like Elvis in the mirror…wait, Belt 7 isn’t Elvis compatible. That explains everything. [GeekGoneChic via Crunchgear]

Sprint to Buy iPCS and Settle Lawsuits For $831m

Did Sprint have a choice in buying iPCS for $831 million? Not if it wanted to continue operating iDEN in parts of Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Nebraska, where iPCS had an exclusive, according to Fierce Wireless. [fierce wireless]

Times: Borg on “long and winding course toward irrelevance”

The NYT gets access to Ballmer and delivers a death blow. Seriously, this is a devastating piece. I’m still reeling. Gist of the article is, the Borg isn’t scary or mean or evil anymore; just bumbling.

BlackBerry Thinks You’re All MotherF*ckers

Hey there. It’s me, with another apology. I’m sorry we didn’t review the BlackBerry Storm 2. It’s because RIM doesn’t care about you guys. It’s been total radio silence from them regarding a review unit, so we’re late with a review. I’m sorry we can’t provide our usual level of speed and depth on the…

The Inevitable Sidekick Data Loss Lawsuit

BTW, a sidekick user has started a class action lawsuit against T-mobile over Microsoft/Danger’s loss of all Hiptop personal data. I wonder what will happen now that Microsoft is promising most if not all data will be restored. [Inquirer] https://gizmodo.com/t-mobile-sidekick-out-r-age-your-datas-probably-gone-f-5378805

A once grand cellphone company now having problems navigating a world where great software has to go along with great hardware.

Heads Up: Some Samsung Home Video Gear Getting Amazon VOD and Blockbuster Streaming by Firmware Update

Owners of some recent Samsung HDTVs like the 650 or 7000 series and above, will be getting Amazon video on demand via firmware update. Those TVs, and some blu-ray and HTIB setups detailed below will be getting Blockbuster’s video service. Yay for the endless upgrade, boo for the infinite format war. https://gizmodo.com/state-of-the-infinite-format-war-get-ready-for-five-lo-5013346 Samsung Announces Amazon…

Rumor: T-Mobile Project Black Isn’t a Phone — It’s a Rescue Plan

This unconfirmed memo from Nexus404 says what Project Black isn’t: A phone. It also claims Black is a turnaround plan with “blazing speeds” “3x” the competition and phones from hot makers (“Nokia #1 and Samsung #2”). WTF. All the employees who received the information were required to sign confidentiality agreements. Each sector has received it…

Why Android Phones Are Slow (Today)

In a new column on Engadget, Anand from Anandtech explains why Android phones feel slow. (Answer: They use cheaper arm chips, which also, using the same nanometer process, allows them to be smaller.) [Engadget]

Toshiba U505 and M505 Touchscreened in Time For Win 7

Toshiba’s upgraded their U505 and M505 notebooks with touchscreens in time for Windows 7. They’ll go for about $1000, to start with. The rest of their “new laptops” seem old. The U505 has a 13.3-inch screen, while the M505 has a 14-inch screen. Both have Toshiba’s touch UI, “Lifespace Bulletin Board” a dashboard for calendaring…

bn reader gal

The first screen is an 6-inch e-ink display with an 800×600 pixel resolution. That’s standard for e-books, with this screen having similar refresh and contrast as the second generation Kindle’s. The second display, however, is as wide as the e-ink display but is a multitouch LCD that is meant to be used as the sole…

Gizmodo Gallery: The Final Video

Hey, here’s a final final video from Gizmodo Gallery, which is still on my mind. I wish it was a year round thing! But there’s always Giz Gallery 2010. [Gizmodo Gallery]

Why Desktop Touch Screens Don’t Really Work Well For Humans

Why don’t touchscreen desktops work very well? You’ll get tired gesturing on a monitor for more than a few seconds. (Try it on a desktop monitor now — see?) [Techcrunch]

Your Choice: A Universal Media Tablet or an E-Ink Reader?

E-ink readers are great for book replication, but can’t play back video. A tablet like Microsoft’s Courier or the Apple Tablet may not handle books as well, but can do it all. Which is for you? https://gizmodo.com/courier-first-details-of-microsofts-secret-tablet-5365299 All-in-One Media Tablet or E-Ink Book Reader(poll)