John Herrman, Author at Gizmodo

Build Your Own Life HUD With a Smartphone and Some Cardboard

A cardboard box, sliced to pieces, taped together, fastened to a pair of work goggles, and capped off with an HTC Magic: this is what DIY augmented reality looks like, right now. Which isn’t to say I won’t totally do this when I have a few spare minutes, because when you get to thinking about…

Tech News John Herrman

Spawn HD-720 Hands On: Hey, Streaming Gaming Might Just Work

You’ve heard the pitch: the Spawn-720 is like a Slingbox for console games, letting you play your Xbox 360, Playstation 3 or (almost) any other console, through a streaming client on your PC. But does it work? Yes, so far. https://gizmodo.com/spawn-hd-720-is-like-a-slingbox-for-your-console-games-5359261 The promise of the Spawn HD-720 is twofold: You can “log in” to your…

Tech News John Herrman

Every Windows 7 Keyboard Shortcut You’ll Ever Need

Whether by force of tradition or out of respect for the keyboard-clinging power users out there, Windows 7 has more—and more useful—keyboard shortcuts than ever before. Like, enough that a definitive guide would be very, very useful. Oh! https://lifehacker.com/the-master-list-of-new-windows-7-shortcuts-5390086 Lifehacker, doing what they do best, has put together an incredibly helpful list of Windows 7…

Tech News John Herrman

Behold, the BlackBerry* Watch: $150, Coming in February

Turns out those leaks about a BlackBerry Bluetooth companion watch were dead on: The Allerta InPulse Bluetooth companion watch—not a watchphone—isn’t actually a RIM product, and should ship in February for $150. So what does it do? https://gizmodo.com/this-folks-is-the-blackberry-smartwatch-5385044 Think of it as an extender for your BlackBerry, or a wrist-mounted dashboard. It won’t place calls…

Tech News John Herrman

Palm Pixi Lands on Sprint November 15th, For $100

Sprint’s just gone public with its plans for the Pixi: a single c-note, payable November 15th. It’s not the aggressive, bottom-scraping pricing I was hoping to see for Palm’s second, daintier webOS device, and just $50 less than the Pre. https://gizmodo.com/palm-pixi-hands-on-the-smaller-pre-with-a-better-keybo-5355112 The Pixi is generally thought of as a hardware downgrade from it’s older brother,…

Tech News John Herrman

Your Next Plane Seat May Well Have an Airbag

This week, a long-brewing FAA regulation requiring planes to protect passengers from 16 G crash forces will come into full effect. What does this mean for you? Well, your next seat—or more accurately, seat belt—could have an airbag. Instead of building airbags into plane seats or the bulkhead—that big flat wall at the front of…

Tech News John Herrman

How To: Hackintosh a Dell Mini 10v Into the Ultimate Snow Leopard Netbook

Here’s the pitch: a 10-inch, almost-pocketable computer running Snow Leopard, the latest, greatest version of OS X. It costs just $300. Sound good? Here’s how to make your own. Why You Should Do This Last time we threw together a guide like this, things were different. Snow Leopard was but a glint in Steve Jobs’…

Tech News John Herrman

This Week’s 10 Best iPhone Apps

In this week’s incidentally infringing app roundup: NASA enters the iPhone’s orbit, Earthworm Jim is ALIVE, your handset learns two tricks it should’ve known already, rhythm gaming goes pro, and Loopt users crudely proposition one another. https://gizmodo.com/nokia-suing-apple-for-10-patent-iphone-infringement-5387642 The Best NASA: NASA’s really stepped up their online presence in the last few years, giving armchair astronauts…

Tech News John Herrman

How a Paid Hulu Would Work

AllThingsD’s Peter Kafka is busy dousing concerns that recent statements by News Corp’s Chase Carey—that “It’s time to start getting paid for broadcast content online”—mean that Hulu is going to die, dead. He makes a good point: https://gizmodo.com/hulus-free-glory-days-are-officially-numbered-5387909 Hulu, the joint venture between News Corp.’s Fox, GE’s NBC Universal and Disney’s ABC, doesn’t plan on…

Television John Herrman

Pleo Lives!

The manufacturing company that heroically snatched the Pleo from the edge of oblivion has finally gotten around to re-releasing the curiously expensive plush robot. To preempt any reticent Pleo fans, don’t worry: it’s exactly the same as it was before. https://gizmodo.com/pleo-snatched-from-the-brink-of-extinction-by-its-forme-5284161 Which is to say it’s creepy in a not-even-uncanny way, averse to even the…

Tech News John Herrman

Else Intuition: The Surprisingly Not-Sad Fate of Palm OS

In 2006, Access bought the rights to Palm OS, and licensed the code to Palm. Access spent plenty of time and money developing a next-gen OS, which Palm totally ignored for their own. Things looked grim! Until this thing. https://gizmodo.com/palm-licenses-palm-os-garnet-os-5-source-220210 The Else Intuition, aside from being one of the first phones to use Access’ Linux…

Tech News John Herrman

Microsoft Will Sell You Windows 7 As a Download (But Only For Upgrades)

Months ago, word was that Microsoft planned to dabble in non-optical media for a change, shipping Windows 7 on, or at least for, USB drives. For the netbooks! Well, they’ve made good on the promise rumor, but only halfway. https://gizmodo.com/microsoft-might-sell-windows-7-on-flash-drives-spare-n-5302826 The anecdotal version: I ordered the student priced Windows 7 home premium for $30, and…

Tech News John Herrman

Unusually Bashful Motorola Zeppelin Android World Phone Spied in China

A terrible blemish? A crack? Sexually explicit default wallpaper? Whatever the reason, we’re not allowed to see the front of Moto’s GSM/CDMA world phone, the Android-powered Zeppelin. But we can see the back, and so we will. Snapped by Chinese site DIGI.QQ, the Zeppelin is an odd duck: It looks rugged, with an etched rubber…

Tech News John Herrman

HTC Spills the Hero’s Guts (And By Guts, I Mean Kernel Source Code)

HTC’s posted a nice fat package of code on their developer portal, labeled “HTC Hero Kernel Source Code.” This isn’t nearly as tantalizing as it sounds, but it’s pu-ret-ay exciting nonetheless. Here’s why: The Hero’s kernel is the bottommost part of its software; it’s the part that manages basic functions like memory allocation, device drivers…

Tech News John Herrman

Hulu’s Free Glory Days Are Officially Numbered

Hulu, at the behest of its co-parent News Corp, is going to start charging for content in 2010. This is not so good, this here news. Here’s the money quote from NewsCorpian Chase Carey, so there’s no confusion: It’s time to start getting paid for broadcast content online. I think a free model is a…

Television John Herrman

The Totally Predictable Cable Industry Response to the FCC’s Net Neutrality Plan

Within minutes of the FCC’s proposed rules to codify net neutrality, we got an email blast from the National Cable and Telecommunications Association—basically the RIAA of the cable world. It’s easy to guess how they feel about this, but it’s not actually that easy to see it in the text: We fully appreciate that Chairman…

Tech News John Herrman

Stray Google Street View Driver Doomed to Map Hell For All of Eternity

After careening into a wall outside of Rankin, PA, one Street View photographer has been trapped, and condemned to send dispatches from a horrifying hellscape, forever. This is the highly empirical theory that the internet, and I, am sticking with. As per the instructions by the gentleman on Reddit who found this anomaly, “click forward.”…

Tech News John Herrman

FCC: We’re Going to Make Net Neutrality the Law

Well, that’s pretty decisive. Following weeks of hints, clues and noisy corporate whining, the FCC has laid out their plan: Following a public vetting process, they’re cracking down on all things not neutral. https://gizmodo.com/more-net-neutrality-bashing-from-verizon-ceo-5387326 The event is still happening, but they got right to the meat. Here are the proposed guidelines—the first four are old,…

Tech News John Herrman

Microsoft Starts Peddling Other Companies’ PCs, Software Online

Sorry Scottsdale, the prize for the first Microsoft store location to open its doors goes to… the internet? Moving beyond their own branded products, Microsoft has started hawking other companies’ Windows-friendly wares online, from laptops to Photoshop to PC accessories. https://gizmodo.com/microsoft-store-grand-opening-features-giveaways-swag-5384427/ This is effectively an extension of their brick-and-mortar retail push (or is it the…

Tech News John Herrman

38 Surefire Ways (Not) to Make Windows 7 Cooler

Last week we put out a call for help. Windows 7 is great, but it just needs some sex appeal, you know? As usual, our lovely readers came through. Common themes in these Photoshops include: Apple, genitalia, sports, and ugh. https://gizmodo.com/make-windows-7-actually-cool-for-microsoft-5382555 First Place: A man who simply goes by “Richard” sent us this, which I…

Tech News John Herrman

John Herrman

Build Your Own Life HUD With a Smartphone and Some Cardboard

Spawn HD-720 Hands On: Hey, Streaming Gaming Might Just Work

Every Windows 7 Keyboard Shortcut You’ll Ever Need

Behold, the BlackBerry* Watch: $150, Coming in February

Palm Pixi Lands on Sprint November 15th, For $100

Your Next Plane Seat May Well Have an Airbag

How To: Hackintosh a Dell Mini 10v Into the Ultimate Snow Leopard Netbook

This Week’s 10 Best iPhone Apps

How a Paid Hulu Would Work

Pleo Lives!

Else Intuition: The Surprisingly Not-Sad Fate of Palm OS

Microsoft Will Sell You Windows 7 As a Download (But Only For Upgrades)

Unusually Bashful Motorola Zeppelin Android World Phone Spied in China

HTC Spills the Hero’s Guts (And By Guts, I Mean Kernel Source Code)

Hulu’s Free Glory Days Are Officially Numbered

The Totally Predictable Cable Industry Response to the FCC’s Net Neutrality Plan

Stray Google Street View Driver Doomed to Map Hell For All of Eternity

FCC: We’re Going to Make Net Neutrality the Law

Microsoft Starts Peddling Other Companies’ PCs, Software Online

38 Surefire Ways (Not) to Make Windows 7 Cooler

What’s Actually the Best Way to Get a Good Night’s Sleep? We Asked Scientists

Game to Lose Online Mode After Its Server Partner Pivots to You’ll Never Guess What

This $400 (Not) AI Keychain Is Pointless, Extravagant, and Weirdly Lovable

New Getaway Means Subaru Has an Electric SUV in Every Size

pCloud Easter Special: One Payment, Lifetime Storage for Entire Family (68% Off)

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

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?