Jamie Condliffe

This Crazy Shape-Shifting PC Is the Gaming Rig Optimus Prime Would Use

If you’ve always been disappointed by the simple way the Asus Transformer changes shape, prepare to finally be impressed. This Asus gaming PC tower flexes and folds more like Opitmus Prime than any two-in-one tablet ever could. A collaboration by the Asus Republic of Gamers and case manufacturer In Win, this transformer-esque case was spotted…

Why a Weird Text Message Can Crash Your iPhone

Last week, it came to light that a simple text message can crash Messages on any iPhone it’s sent to. Apple has explained how you can fix it if you’re affected—but why can it happen in the first place? In this video, Tom Scott investigates the theories that have been suggested thus far, casts aside…

China Has the World’s First Facial Recognition ATM

China has proudly announced the world’s first facial recognition cash machines, which will only allow people to withdraw cash if their face matches the details stored on their card. The ATMs use a camera above the screen to capture images of the person stood before it, then compares facial feature to those stored in a…

US Vows to Protect Japan From Cyberattacks

US authorities have vowed to extend their cyber defense capabilities to Japan, in order to help the country fend off digital attacks against its military bases and hard infrastructure. The US-Japan Cyber Defense Policy Working Group announced over the weekend that there is a “growing level of sophistication among malicious cyber actors, including non-state and…

Solar Impulse Is Abandoning Its Current Flight Leg Due to Bad Weather

In its bid to fly round the world using just solar power, the Solar Impulse team yesterday took off on 5,000 mile journey across the Pacific, from Nanjing, China, to Hawaii. Now, it’s abandoning the current flight due to bad weather. The team behind the mission has tweeted that the “weather window toward Hawaii has…

New Asus Tablet Has Swappable Backs That Add Extra Features

Asus has announced a new ZenPad tablet that allows you to swap its back panel. But unlike phones of yesteryear, these changes add new features—like extended battery life or a more powerful set of speakers. The new ZenPad 8 Z380C, Verge reports, can use a back panel with added battery capacity to give you an…

New Asus ZenWatch2 Comes in Two Sizes and Features Digital Crown

Asus has announced a new version of its smartwatch, the ZenWatch 2. Unlike the old version it comes in two sizes, like the Apple Watch, and features a digital crown… rather like the Apple Watch. The new watch comes in a larger 49-millimeter size, which pairs with 22-millimeter straps, and a smaller 45-millimeter version, which…

Scientists Have Worked Out Why Swiss Cheese Has Holes

The holes in Swiss cheese lend it a very distinctive appearance. But new analysis reveals that they’re not a result of gas produced bacteria in the cheese, or cheeky nibbling by mice—but something else entirely. Researchers at Agroscope, a Swiss agricultural research center, have discovered that the holes are in fact a result of tiny…

This Online Font Lets You Write in Instagram Pictures

Like our new logo? Just kidding: this is one of the many results you can achieve if you type a string of letters into Type to Design’s new site, which renders your text in carefully selected Instagram photos. The online app, made by the creative agency SuperHeroes, randomly chooses images to represent your typed characters…

New Memory Alloy Springs Back Into Shape Even After 10 Million Bends

Memory alloys that spring back into a pre-defined shape are nothing new, but regular bending means they fatigue and fail within a relatively short time-scale. Now, a team of engineers has developed an alloy that rebounds into shape even after 10 million bends. Existing memory alloys have found plenty of uses, in everything from flexible…

This Is How NASA Tests Its Spacecraft-Saving Parachutes

How do you test the parachutes that will save spacecraft as they tumble towards the surface of a planet from the reaches of space? In the world’s largest wind tunnel, of course. This is a view inside the giant wind tunnel at NASA Ames Research Center (which might be the biggest, but not necessarily the…

Here’s Apple’s Temporary Fix For Its iPhone-Crashing Messages Bug

Earlier this week, it came to light that a simple text message can crash Messages on any iPhone it’s sent to. Apple hasn’t fixed the problem at a software level yet—but it does have a temporary solution that you can use if you’re affected. In a new support post, Apple says that is “aware of…

The ISS Is Being Torn Apart (and Neatly Put Back Together)

Yesterday, the International Space S1tation’s Permanent Multipurpose Module known as Leonardo was detached from the spacecraft. But don’t worry: it was part of a planned move, in order to make it easier for more visiting spacecraft to dock with the orbiting laboratory. The 10-tonne module was first unbolted by NASA astronauts Terry Virts and Scott…

Apple now offers same-day deliveryto get (some) Apple Store products to you in super-quick time. If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area. And are willing to pay.

Lenovo’s New Phone Turns Any Surface Into a Touchscreen

This, according to Lenovo, is the world’s first laser projection smartphone—and the fact that it recognizes gestures also means that it can turn any surface upon which its images appear into a touchscreen. PocketLint reports from the Lenovo Tech World conference that the phone, called Smart Cast, features a built-in laser pico projector and a…

GoPro’s Making Spherical Camera Mounts For VR Video (and Drones Too)

GoPro’s CEO Nick Woodman has announced that his company is making a new spherical camera mount which swallows six action cameras in order to record video footage for virtual reality experiences. GoPro is also making a drone, which it plans to sell in the first half of 2016. Taking to the stage at Code Conference,…

This Puck Is Lenovo’s $50 Chromecast Competitor

Lenovo has just announced that it’s producing its own media streamer, in the same vein as Google’s Chromecast—but with a few extra features. The neat, black puck will let you beam video straight to your TV from most devices, for the princely sum of $50. Unlike Google’s offering, which plugs straight into the HDMI port…

A Simple Text Can Crash Messages on Any iPhone It’s Sent To

A newly discovered bug seems to cause Messages on iOS to crash when a specific string of text is received—and if it happens while the phone is locked, it also seems to reboot the iPhone too. It’s easy enough to find the offending string of text on Reddit, and plenty of Twitter users are already…

This Chip Could Analyze Your Blood and Send the Data to Your Phone

This centimeter-long lump of silicon could soon be inserted under your skin to measure the chemical make-up of your blood—then send the results straight to your phone. The new device has been created by a team of researchers from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland. As well as measuring the pH and temperature of…

Herpes-Based Drug Shown to Successfully Treat Aggressive Skin Cancer

A new drug based on a genetically modified herpes virus has been used to successfully treat patients with aggressive cases of skin cancer—and it’s hoped it could be used to treat other forms of cancer, too. The new treatment uses a form of the herpes virus which is modified so that it doesn’t produce the…