John Herrman, Author at Gizmodo

Iraqi Militants Hack $4.5m Predator Drones With $26 Windows Shareware

Today, in terrifying things about the world: Iraqi militants have been able to intercept video feeds from Predator surveillance drones with a simple Windows app. To rephrase, an iconic symbol of American military superiority can be foiled by, oh, anyone. The software, as far as I can tell, is a simple data-leeching utility. With a…

Tech News John Herrman

Gifts For People Who’ve Never Heard of the Internet

Working, playing and socializing on the internet can give you tunnel vision. What about the technophobes? The luddites? The olds? What can you give someone like that? Here are the best gifts for people who just don’t “get” the internet. If you hate galleries more than Aunt Georgeanne hates the radical left wing internet blogs,…

Tech News John Herrman

This Week’s Best iPhone Apps

Younicorn: Excusing the terrible portmanteau of a name, this app is wonderful: for adults, as a silly joke; for children who may actually believe in unicorns, as earnest dream fulfillment. Everyone is happy. Also: unihorned. $1. https://gizmodo.com/younicorn-iphone-app-requires-no-explanation-5426827 Ratio: Cue Dan, resident culinaire/food terrorist: Michael Ruhlman, cookbook author demigod and Gizmodo Food Week contributor, is bringing…

Tech News John Herrman

Google: Hold Up, There Aren’t That Many Android Apps

Yesterday’s report from Android tracking site AndroLib that the Android Market had probably surpassed 20,000 apps was heartening for Android users and industry watchers alike. Minor issue! According to Google, they overshot the figure by about 20%. Still, the current count of 16,000 apps sit on a pretty healthy growth curve, if not a particularly…

Tech News John Herrman

This Is What a Drive-By Bombing Looks Like

Or rather, what it would look like: Lockheed Martin’s Scorpion glide bombs, seen here floating toward their targets mesmerizing slow-mo from the bay of a high-speed ground sled, will drop from the skies, not the carpool lane. The Scorpion is designed as a possible replacement for the current, heavier munitions on Predator drones, or, in…

Tech News John Herrman

Tegra 2 Coming in January: Nvidia Promises Netbooks, Smartphones and Smartbooks Galore

The Tegra system-on-a-chip, the zippy hardware that powers the Zune HD, had so much potential. Then, the delays. Slow pickup. Disappointment. Whatever happened to the Tegra, Nvidia doesn’t want it to happen again. This time, they say, will be different. https://gizmodo.com/mobile-chipsets-wtf-are-atom-tegra-and-snapdragon-5277326 As for what the Tegra 2 is, nobody really knows, because the closest Nvdia…

Tech News John Herrman

How Carriers and Phone Makers Are Strangling Android (And How Google Could Save It)

The Google Phone could be a ploy to upset the wireless industry, or it could be an expensive niche device. Either way, it’d be a bid to take Android back from the companies that seem hell-bent on destroying it. https://gizmodo.com/why-we-all-need-to-calm-down-about-the-google-phone-5426003 Android’s most serious problem right now is fragmentation: with each new phone, it seems, comes…

Tech News John Herrman

Ravaging the Nook, Part II: We Have Apps!

For the B&N Nook to be rooted—that is, broken open and readied for software modification—is one thing, but the real reason people are excited about hacking this ereader is obvious: they want apps. And apps they will have. https://gizmodo.com/ravaging-the-nook-a-teardown-a-spec-list-and-android-5425878 Users at nookDevs are reporting that, after a little clever input tricker, they’ve managed to get…

Tech News John Herrman

Know Your Place, Meat Creatures

Katherine Hayles, author of “How We Became Posthuman” goes bio, reminding us that machines aren’t the ones in charge. The catch? Neither are we. [WaPo]

Tech News John Herrman

The Google Phone’s Alter Ego: A Lame Christmas Bonus

The quasi-mythical Google Phone is many things. To optimists, it’s Google’s bid to shake up the wireless industry. To cynics, it’s just an overhyped Android phone. And to some Googlers, it’s apparently this year’s Christmas bonus. They’re less than thrilled. https://gizmodo.com/the-real-google-phone-everything-is-different-now-5425146 Earlier today we got a tip from reader whose buddy was one of the…

Tech News John Herrman

50 Million Window Blinds Recalled After a Decade of Strangling Children

Your TV is trying to kill your children. Your DVD player is trying to kill your children. Your robot lawnmower is trying to kill your children. And now, your blinds—your soft roman blinds!—are trying to kill your children. https://gizmodo.com/how-a-tv-opened-my-scalp-like-a-banana-peel-5427119 The recall, which covers virtually every roman shade and roller blind in the country, was prompted…

Tech News John Herrman

The Great Google Phone Conspiracy

I don’t know if it’s the same-y hardware, the absurd expectations, or general inconsistencies, but something about the Google Phone just feels…off. And depending on how credulous you’re feeling today, I can explain: We’ve been tricked! By Apple! Or something. These doubtful little seeds come from Eldar Murtazin of Mobile-Review, a guy you may not…

Tech News John Herrman

Pastebot Is a Brilliant, Syncable Clipboard for the iPhone

You know how Microsoft Office’s clipboard lets you keep track of everything you’ve copied and pasted on your PC? This is like that, for the iPhone. Except flashier, and with wireless syncing. Pastebot’s core functionality is to act as a basic clipboard, collecting your various copied snippets and photos into a browsable archive. It can…

Tech News John Herrman

The Android Market Is Getting Ready to Explode

With total apps surpassing 20,000 this month, the gap in size—and consequently, quality—between the Android Market and the iPhone App Store is finally starting to close. AndroLib’s been tracking new submissions stats since the Market opened—stats which don’t just show us when Android apps pass arbitrary milestones, but how quickly it’s happening. And to answer…

Tech News John Herrman

Younicorn iPhone App Requires No Explanation

From schlubby blogger to majestic unicorn, in three easy steps. It can work for you too! [iTunes]

Tech News John Herrman

An Extremely Brief History of Octopus Gadgetry

Today, there is only the coconut. But by my calculations, octopods will invent smartphones in 2.6 million years, give or take. We will be dead, and they will be debating about desktop OSes and mobile app store economies. [New Scientist via io9] https://gizmodo.com/octopus-uses-coconut-shells-as-portable-armor-5426109

Biology John Herrman

At Long Last, Battleship Comes to the iPhone

Whether for crippled controls, downgraded graphics or general lack of effort, games almost always get worse when they’re ported to the iPhone. But what if you’re adapting a concept from a plastic toy? Yeah, that works. It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to guess that the Battleship concept would work great on the iPhone,…

Tech News John Herrman

The TomTom Price Slashes Continue: Full iPhone Navigation App Hits $70

TomTom decided last week to offer a US-only version of their iPhone turn-by-turn app for half the price of the full North American version, which made a lot of Americans happy. And Canadians, too! See, by leaving the price of the combined Canada+America navigation app at $100, TomTom wasn’t penalizing Canadians by stranding them with…

Tech News John Herrman

Why We All Need to Calm Down About the Google Phone

If you’ve seen the internet (or Giz) this weekend, you’ve heard about it: the “real Google phone” that “changes everything.” But before we get carried away, a counterpoint: Google isn’t magic. And the Nexus One isn’t a game-changer. Not yet. https://gizmodo.com/the-real-google-phone-everything-is-different-now-5425146 And I don’t mean to say that I don’t understand what the Nexus One…

Tech News John Herrman

Ravaging the Nook: a Teardown, a Spec List and Android Hacks

Let’s face it, nobody was too upset by the opaqueness of the Nook’s spec sheet—screens and software, not board-level componentry, are what make ereaders great. But with this teardown comes something glorious: the Nook’s Android software has been hacked. And not hacked like “oh, cool, now we can change the system font” hacked, or “sweet…

Tech News John Herrman

John Herrman

Iraqi Militants Hack $4.5m Predator Drones With $26 Windows Shareware

Gifts For People Who’ve Never Heard of the Internet

This Week’s Best iPhone Apps

Google: Hold Up, There Aren’t That Many Android Apps

This Is What a Drive-By Bombing Looks Like

Tegra 2 Coming in January: Nvidia Promises Netbooks, Smartphones and Smartbooks Galore

How Carriers and Phone Makers Are Strangling Android (And How Google Could Save It)

Ravaging the Nook, Part II: We Have Apps!

Know Your Place, Meat Creatures

The Google Phone’s Alter Ego: A Lame Christmas Bonus

50 Million Window Blinds Recalled After a Decade of Strangling Children

The Great Google Phone Conspiracy

Pastebot Is a Brilliant, Syncable Clipboard for the iPhone

The Android Market Is Getting Ready to Explode

Younicorn iPhone App Requires No Explanation

An Extremely Brief History of Octopus Gadgetry

At Long Last, Battleship Comes to the iPhone

The TomTom Price Slashes Continue: Full iPhone Navigation App Hits $70

Why We All Need to Calm Down About the Google Phone

Ravaging the Nook: a Teardown, a Spec List and Android Hacks

Getting Stuck Inside a Glitching Robotaxi Is a Whole New Thing to Be Scared of

Artemis 2 Live Updates: Humanity’s Epic Return to the Moon 🔴

NASA’s Artemis 2 Mission Blasts Off

Disney’s Robot Olaf Dying Is the Funniest Thing to Happen in 2026

Kia’s EV3 Is Headed to the US This Year With Up to 320 Miles of Range

This Is the Way to Lego’s April Releases

Group Pushing Age Verification Requirements for AI Turns Out to Be Sneakily Backed by OpenAI

Amazon Facilities in Bahrain Hit Again as Iran Follows Through on Threat, Report Says

Why the PS6 Handheld Will Matter More Than the PS6

DNA Study Casts Even More Doubt on Shroud of Turin’s True Origin

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?