Jason Chen, Author at Gizmodo

USB Amber Alert Child ID Kit

By providing you with an easy way to keep your child’s information all in one place, this USB Amber Alert Child ID kit can be a lifesaver in the hopefully unlikely event that your child goes missing. The device gives you a nice software app where you can enter in photos, emails, personal blog URLs,…

Gadgets Jason Chen

Translation Device Makes International GDC Talks Possible

We’ve never been to the UN, or any other venue where speech needs to be translated on the fly, so we were impressed with these little translation headphones at GDC. They have two interpreters in the back translating the talks on the fly (see my Loco Roco coverage), feeding directly into these wireless headsets. This…

Gadgets Jason Chen

DirectX 9 vs DirectX 10: Worth Upgrading to Vista For?

One of the main (only?) improvements in Vista for gamers would be the inclusion of DirectX 10. And to make gamers upgrade, they made DirectX 10 a Vista exclusive. Is it worth it? See for yourself. Above are two screenshots of the same game rendered in DX9 and DX10. Can you tell which is which?…

Tech News Jason Chen

Electronic USB Instrument Lets You Relive Your Glory Days in the Marching Band

As if USB guitars and USB keyboards weren’t enough, Ion Audio’s just produced a USB electronic Wind instrument. Shaped like a plastic clarinet, this gadget lets you simulate woodwinds, brass, strings, and synth instruments from the comfort of your computer desk. Of course, playing a clarinet—and in turn, this USB wind instrument—is harder than playing…

Gadgets Jason Chen

Gundam Razor Defends Earth While Making You Presentable

Although there’s no real benefit to having a Gundam razor as opposed to, say, a non-Gundam razor, you’ll still feel safe using a razor sanctioned by a 50-foot Japanese defense robot. Then again, actual Gundam pilots are only 13 years old, which means these haven’t actually been tested on real human beings. Wait, did we…

Gadgets Jason Chen

Why You Probably Can’t Use 4GB of RAM on Your PC

There’s a reason why you probably can’t use 4GB of RAM on your current machine. No, we don’t mean “can’t” as in you won’t be able to hit this much unless you open up 20 applications at the same time, but more like your machine physically cannot take advantage of 4GB of RAM. Long story…

Tech News Jason Chen

Apple to Add H.264 Hardware Decoding to All Machines?

Bob Cringely of PBS fame has it on good “rumor” authority that Apple‘s planning to add H.264 hardware support to all of its machines. As in the iMac, the MacBook, the MacBook Pro, the Mac Pro, and even the Mac Mini. Why is this important? Because a $50 hardware chip (that’s how much it costs…

Tech News Jason Chen

Xbox 360 Backward Compatibility Development Ramping Down After ’07

At the end of the GDC blogger’s breakfast yesterday morning, Chris Satchell dropped this bomb that not many people seem to have picked up on. He said, regarding Xbox 360 Backward Compatibility: At some point we’re going to focus less on it. When you get to the end of this year there will be a…

Tech News Jason Chen

Upcoming Mii Channel Silently Announced

During the Nintendo Keynote, Nintendo’s Miyamoto quietly slipped in a tidbit about an upcoming Wii channel. He said this new channel—as yet unnamed—is going to be a popularity channel where you can compare your Miis to other users and hold popularity contests and vote on the best Mii. https://gizmodo.com/nintendo-kiinote-the-liveblog-242668 No release date, but this does…

Tech News Jason Chen

PlayStation Home Beta Signup Site Up

If you were at all intrigued by Sony’s PlayStation Home feature announced yesterday, head on over to homebetatrial.com. This is the official Sony site for the Beta of Home for the PS3, which means you need to keep refreshing this every day until signups are available. Either that, or read Gizmodo and we’ll tell you…

Tech News Jason Chen

Nintendo Kiinote: The Liveblog

Hey folks, we’re here in chilly Moscone South to bring you up-to-the-minute updates from Miyamoto’s Keynote. It should be starting here soon, so get your refresh buttons handy (everything will just be in this one post) and stay tuned! 10:37: Crecente chats up a guy in a robot helmet. 10:46: Still no Miyamoto, but what…

Tech News Jason Chen

Wonderful Shot Makes Your Pup a Pap

Wanting to see what your dog sees isn’t just weird, now it’s also a reality. By tying this Wonderful Shot Dog Camera to your dog, you can snap 3.5-megapixel shots by remote, or on a timed basis. By taking one shot every minute, you’ll be able to see exactly where your dog went in the…

Gadgets Jason Chen

HTC Shipping Yahoo Go on All Smartphones. Chairs Last Seen Fleeing at Microsoft

HTC, the undisputed leader of Windows Mobile smartphones, has just announced a partnership with Yahoo. The deal? To load Yahoo Go—a weather, news, stocks, sports, widgets, flickr, and internet app suite—onto HTC’s phones. With Microsoft already embedding Live! onto Windows Mobile 6 phones, this partnership seems interesting. Will users with HTC phones be using both…

Tech News Jason Chen

The Simpsons Jukebox: Because Matt Groening Needs More Money To Work On Futurama

Did you know Futurama was coming back for 13 episodes and some straight-to-DVD movies in 2008? It’s true. That’s why we should all buy this $39.99 Simpsons Jukebox, which is an AM/FM clock radio with snooze, backlight, and knobs on the front. You may not like the radio, but any cash given to Groening should…

Gadgets Jason Chen

Archos 204 Debuted, But Europe Only

Following on the heels of the pudgy Archos 704 Wi-Fi, this Archos 204 is a PMP for people who actually want the word “Portable” in that acronym to mean something. https://gizmodo.com/quick-hands-on-archos-704-wi-fi-ensures-youll-never-be-241792 Like the 704, the 204 has a hard drive (20GB) storage, and can play back MP3, WAV, WMA, and JPG photos. Unfortunately, this one…

Tech News Jason Chen

HTC Titan FCC Approved and Possibly Heading to Verizon and Sprint

After pulling a gigantic four-way with the last generation of devices (T-Mobile MDA, Cingular 8125, XV6700 and PPC6700) on all four major carriers, HTC’s somewhat disappointed users this generation by only giving the TyTN to Cingular in the form of the 8525. Well good news for Verizon and Sprint users, as the next generation CDMA-enabled…

Tech News Jason Chen

Microsoft WED 8000 Keyboard Pushed Back to September

If you were looking forward to getting your hands on a Microsoft Wireless Entertainment Desktop 8000 this summer, we have some bad news. Microsoft’s just told us they’re pushing back the release date to September, which means your only choice now is to go with the $100 cheaper 7000, which is just about as good…

Tech News Jason Chen

PlayStation Home: The Video

You already saw read and saw what the PlayStation Home feature was like. Now see it in action. The sexy British accent really makes the video. GDC07 PS3 Home [Kotaku] http://kotaku.com/gaming/clips/gdc07-clip-the-ps3s-home-242341.php

Tech News Jason Chen

PlayStation Home Combines the Best of Nintendo’s Miis, a few Xbox 360 Achievements, Second Life, and the Sims

Click to viewTurns out the rumor was spot on. Sony’s officially announcing the Home—or PlayStation Home as it’s less confusingly known—feature for the PS3. We got a demo of it last night from Sony, and we can definitely say we were impressed. Very impressed. https://gizmodo.com/rumor-sonys-playstation-home-to-be-achievements-miis-240824 Sony’s taken the best of various community aspects and blended…

Tech News Jason Chen

Sizemodo: Vulcan FlipStart vs. a BlackBerry

It’s hard to judge how big the FlipStart is even with a gallery with shots of it next to Brian’s hand (he has dwarf-like appendages, in case you were wondering). So here’s the UMPC-like device next to the businessman’s favorite love/hate gadget, the BlackBerry. In fact, business people are so familiar with RIM’s little emailing…

Gadgets Jason Chen

Jason Chen

USB Amber Alert Child ID Kit

Translation Device Makes International GDC Talks Possible

DirectX 9 vs DirectX 10: Worth Upgrading to Vista For?

Electronic USB Instrument Lets You Relive Your Glory Days in the Marching Band

Gundam Razor Defends Earth While Making You Presentable

Why You Probably Can’t Use 4GB of RAM on Your PC

Apple to Add H.264 Hardware Decoding to All Machines?

Xbox 360 Backward Compatibility Development Ramping Down After ’07

Upcoming Mii Channel Silently Announced

PlayStation Home Beta Signup Site Up

Nintendo Kiinote: The Liveblog

Wonderful Shot Makes Your Pup a Pap

HTC Shipping Yahoo Go on All Smartphones. Chairs Last Seen Fleeing at Microsoft

The Simpsons Jukebox: Because Matt Groening Needs More Money To Work On Futurama

Archos 204 Debuted, But Europe Only

HTC Titan FCC Approved and Possibly Heading to Verizon and Sprint

Microsoft WED 8000 Keyboard Pushed Back to September

PlayStation Home: The Video

PlayStation Home Combines the Best of Nintendo’s Miis, a few Xbox 360 Achievements, Second Life, and the Sims

Sizemodo: Vulcan FlipStart vs. a BlackBerry

Artemis 2 Crew Become First Humans to Travel Beyond Earth Orbit Since the 1970s

Artemis 2 Day 2: Follow the Mission With Our Live Updates 🔴

Labubus Might Be Labu-Bust After Pop Mart Posts Record Share Loss

Cursor’s New Tool Lets Users Delegate to a Team of Coding Agents

Nvidia Needs to Remind Itself What PC Gamers Actually Want

Iran Says It Hit Oracle Facilities in UAE

‘Invincible’ Season 4 Is Doing Right By Debbie

New Theory Says We’ve Been Overcomplicating the Big Bang

Marvel Might Have Finally Dealt With One of the Most Hated ‘Spider-Man’ Characters Around

China Is Trying to Grow New Forests in This Notorious Mega-Desert. It’s Working

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

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?