Joel, Author at Gizmodo | Page 252 of 253

Federal Guide to Concealable Weapons

With all the foreign terrorists around these days, it’s getting harder and harder for the old fashioned American terrorist to conceal a weapon. Things like the Utili-Key [right], which I once considered a critical weapon in my personal insurgency against a hostile in-flight pretzel packaging regime, is now part of a long list of verboten…

Tech News Joel

Chameleon Card and Pocket Vault

Instead of carrying around a dozen credit cards, Chameleon Networks would like for you to carry around their new device, the ‘Pocket Vault’, roughly the size of a dozen credit cards. Besides its amazing space saving ability, the Pocket Vault rewrites a single ‘Chameleon Card’, allowing you to encode it with your personal credit information…

Tech News Joel

PSP Can Play PS2 Equivalent Games

Sony confirms that the PSP (Sony’s big foray into portable gaming) is graphically a rough equivalent to the Playstation 2, opening up the possibility of transferring saved games from home console for play on the portable system. While console and handheld interactivity isn’t new (the Nintendo Game Boy Advance and Gamecube have been doing it…

Tech News Joel

Nokia Communicator 9500

It has always seemed odd to me that there are two tiers of ‘business class’ gadgets: the disposable and the workhorse. Wouldn’t a smart buyer want only the latter? When I see suit weights like the Nokia Communicator 9500, the new $1000 phone replacing the old 9200 model, I wonder why everyone wouldn’t want a…

Tech News Joel

Hitachi Holographic Display

I’ve tried five times to write something about this that doesn’t involve Obi-Wan Kenobi, but how does one avoid it when the sample image looks like it could be shining out of Artoo’s eye? Although now that I look at it again, it could be a little breakdancing Jesus. Either way, these guys are sharp.…

Tech News Joel

Fishfinding Wristwatch

There’s nothing more embarrassing than dropping a weighted body into a deceptively shallow river. Fishermen don’t have this problem, because they only murder fish, and because depth finders are old hat to them. Still, this wrist-mounted one caught my attention. The Humminbird Smartcast RF30 separates the sensors from the display, letting you attach a sonar…

Tech News Joel

Nintendo DS To Play More Than Games?

There is some speculation about the focus of the upcoming Nintendo DS game system after reports described the playback of a two-hour movie via a 128MB flashcart. Coupled with the wireless DS-to-DS connections, it is sounding more and more likely that Nintendo is positioning the new machine as a competitor to the Sony PSP, even…

Tech News Joel

It’s Inside Bill Murray’s Oscar

Motorola handed out the V600 phone to the stars at the Oscars, but now the handset has gone missing. Now according to this story from GigaOm’s Om Malik, we shouldn’t expect to see it until late March or early April. Read

Tech News Joel

Replacing the Apple Powerbook Harddrive

Ken Mingus replaced his Powerbook 17″ 4200RPM harddrive with a faster 7200RPM harddrive and got some impressive results without seriously affecting battery life. So, was it worth cracking open my PowerBook for the sake of a little more horsepower? For me, it was indeed. After spending several days using a new Power Mac G5 (the…

Tech News Joel

Audiobug Review

I4U has a review of the Aerielle Audiobug, a small FM transmitter for use with any device with an 1/8 audio-out jack. It only has four selectable stations, which can be a problem in crowded urban airwaves. Read

Tech News Joel

Pepper Pager

Yesterday afternoon, my girlfriend was followed into our building by a scummy little guy who thought it might be productive to try and grab her in the hall outside our apartment. Fortunately, my girlfriend is totally a superheroine, so all the creep got from her was a right hook and swift kick in the ass…

Tech News Joel

Robot Tech Teaches PDAs To Speak

Using technology tested in their Papero Partner-Type Personal Robot, NEC has developed an auto-translator called ‘e-Navi’ that can translate spoken English into audible Japanese in around a second. They talk about moving this technology into mobile phones next. This is the future of prank calling. Read [Thanks, Jon!]

Tech News Joel

Recreated Edison Lightbulb

A Japanese company has recreated Thomas Edison’s first incandescent light bulb, for use as a sleep aid. The bulb comes with a 8 second warranty.

Tech News Joel

N-Gage 2 Rumors

John Romero, who seems to have a propensity for leashing himself to sinking ships, has thrown a few bits overboard about the N-Gage 2. Read on for more details, but let me sum up: “Next time, we’re going to try not to make it awful.” Planned improvements include de-sidetalkin’ the handset (“A man looks awkward…

Tech News Joel

Flip-Start Hardheld PC Analysis

Keeping in mind this analysis comes solely from pictures and available product information, this is a pretty good overview of this upcoming mini-laptop that runs Windows XP and other full-sized programs instead of PocketPC. 1Ghz Transmeta proc, 1024×800 screen, clamshell design; all in a 6″ by 4″ case. I’ve been a big fan of clamshell…

Tech News Joel

Cross Pen for Tablet PCs

Metal makes everything better. That is why medieval knights easily defeated the leprechauns. You know this when you hold cool, brooding metal in your hot, brooding hand. This is why you must have the Penabled Cross Executive Pen for Tablet PC. Because you are a warrior. And on the field of battle that is this…

Tech News Joel

Same Seattle, Different Halo

Paul Allen is funding a Diamond Age-esque ‘Digital Aristotle’, a program designed to reason out answers from a huge database of facts and figures to create a tutor that’s intelligent enough to pass advanced placement tests in chemistry, biology, and physics. They’ve given themselves 30 months to come up with ‘incremental progress.’ The trick is…

Tech News Joel

Add Your Own Background Noise

One of the greatest things about new technology is its ability to let us lie to our friends and loved ones with an efficiency never imagined possible by our forefathers. SounderCover lets owners of Nokia Series 60 phones continue this tradition by adding background noise to a phone call, hopefully masking out the sound of…

Tech News Joel

Game Girl Advance

For Spanish girls, only the pinkest of Game Boys will do. At least according to Nintendo, who has decided to market a special edition of the portable game machine as the ‘Game Boy Advance SP Girl’s Edition’. Made unique by its pink color, it features a box that on one side shows an illustration of…

Tech News Joel

Gaming Laptop Roundup

Used to be, ‘gaming laptop’ meant playing solitaire on the plane. These days, with desktop graphics tech in a lull and multiple vendors (okay, two) producing serious mobile 3D hardware, gaming on-the-go can actually stand up to the tortures of the latest games. TechTV grabbed four new models off the shelf and threw some games…

Tech News Joel

Joel

Federal Guide to Concealable Weapons

Chameleon Card and Pocket Vault

PSP Can Play PS2 Equivalent Games

Nokia Communicator 9500

Hitachi Holographic Display

Fishfinding Wristwatch

Nintendo DS To Play More Than Games?

It’s Inside Bill Murray’s Oscar

Replacing the Apple Powerbook Harddrive

Audiobug Review

Pepper Pager

Robot Tech Teaches PDAs To Speak

Recreated Edison Lightbulb

N-Gage 2 Rumors

Flip-Start Hardheld PC Analysis

Cross Pen for Tablet PCs

Same Seattle, Different Halo

Add Your Own Background Noise

Game Girl Advance

Gaming Laptop Roundup

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