Kit Eaton, Author at Gizmodo

Energy Saver One-For-All Remote Waves Bye-Bye to Standby

There’re a few gadgets out there that try to reduce your energy consumption by switching off all your gizmos properly, but none perhaps as convenient as this new Energy Saver Universal Remote from One-for-All. It’s a four-in-one device to reduce your collection of remote controls to just one, and has a “green” power-off button. This…

Gadgets Kit Eaton May 15 '08

WowWee Chatterbot Looks Like Robot Hell-Hound, Does Friendly Banter

Move over iBuddy and Availbot, the masters of robo-companionship toys have arrived on scene. This is a WowWee Chatterbot, a USB-powered desktop companion that reacts with some motion and a bit of chattering to “trigger” words typed into emails, IM, calendar entries and the like. It’s not as smart as Robosapien, of course: basically it…

Gadgets Kit Eaton May 9 '08

UK Band Make Themselves Stars of Surveillance Cam TV

Though it’s not such a familiar phenomenon in the US, the UK is now awash with closed-circuit TV cameras, one for every 14 or so people— hell, even the Lollipop Lady crossing guards are getting them. You could choose to see this as good for public safety, or as an Orwellian invasion of privacy…or even…

Gadgets Kit Eaton May 9 '08

Pump-Action Relief… From Stiff Necks

Bless Skymall and its world of wonderful and strangely fascinating gizmos for bringing us this: the portable neck traction device, supposed to help relieve tight muscles and “joint and nerve pressure.” Simply place around your neck (that’s a worrying start, if you ask me) and “pump the inflation bulb until you feel a comfortable stretch.”…

Health Kit Eaton May 9 '08

NES Controller Mod, May Just be Most Fun Coffee Table Ever

Forget touchscreen, solar powered or even self-destructing coffee tables… Kyle Downes has modded the coffee table into its best version ever: a retro-tastic NES controller. Just look at the sleek lines, the high quality finish and classy glass top. And then giggle at the fact that it actually works. Don’t believe it? Check out the…

Gadgets Kit Eaton May 9 '08

BUILT Laptop Bag: Water-Resistant, But Not Bulletproof

When it comes to laptop bags and cases, there are traditional-style ones, modern ones and downright unusual ones… we can’t decide which to put the new BUILT Laptop Backpack into. It’s almost a traditional rucksack, made out of fancy water- and stain-resistant neoprene, but it’s shaped to hug your back like a half a bulletproof…

Gadgets Kit Eaton May 9 '08

CDs Get Into the Groove, Do Music the 45RPM Way

This is a story of a not so environmentally friendly, but rather groovy repurposing idea: reusing CDs as records (remember them?) At the UK’s Futuresonic festival last week, a guy named Aleks Kolkowski had his vintage record-cutting machine ready to carve sound tracks into old CDs and DVDs. People simply had to turn up with…

Gadgets Kit Eaton May 9 '08

iPhone Stocks Being Replenished, Not Sold Out, Say UK Retailers

Despite the rumors of iPhones being out of stock in the UK, it’s not really true—according to the retailers themselves. Reghardware has spoken to both O2 and Carphone Warehouse, and both say they’re just tackling getting more 16GB iPhones for their online departments. Apple themselves have stock and O2 and Carphone Warehouse have iPhones available…

Tech News Kit Eaton May 8 '08

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

If you can guess what this is at first glance then you’re a better man than I … At second glance you might wonder about those pipes. And then you might realize it’s actually a radiator, built entirely from 90-degree pipe pieces. It’s designed to be a sculptural heater that fits in with any interior,…

Gadgets Kit Eaton May 8 '08

Wave Goodbye To Pocket Billiards with Magnetic Knob MP3 Player

We all know the hassle of digging into a pocket to twiddle the controls on our MP3 players, but until smart clothing becomes mainstream we’re stuck with it. Unless someone takes this magnetic control concept and manufactures it for real, that is. The Pocket Pal is simple: the control stays outside, but is magnetically fixed…

Gadgets Kit Eaton May 8 '08

Scientist Studies Cars That Speak and Listen Like KITT

I used to want a car just like KITT when I was a kid, though perhaps without that slightly annoying nasal voice. And now a Stanford scientist is looking at whether nattering to your vehicle may be good for you, the car, other road users and even (darnit) your insurers or advertising execs. “Your car…

Gadgets Kit Eaton May 8 '08

Sony’s XEL-1 OLED Lasts Half as Long as You Expect, Says Study

Now, we’ve been raving about Sony’s diminutive XEL-1 OLED TV for a while, but an independent investigation by Displaysearch is casting doubt on the screen’s lifespan. They ran two XEL-1 units for 1000 hours, then measured the change in brightness emitted by the screen. They concluded that it would take 17,000 hours for the screen…

Gadgets Kit Eaton May 8 '08

Nokia’s People First, a Concept Cellphone that Encourages Hacking

Nokia’s fired out some interesting concept phones this year, but this newest “People First” design centers more on the functionality of the device than its physical shape. The idea is based around what Nokia calls “three human universals of the way people think about communication” which are time, lists and people. So instead of being…

Gadgets Kit Eaton May 7 '08

Italy’s iPhone to Have Two Carriers: The End of Exclusivity?

Following Vodafone’s announcement that it would be bringing the iPhone to ten more countries, including Italy, Telecom Italia issued its own short and sweet press release: “Telecom Italia announced today it has signed a deal with Apple to bring the iPhone to Italy later this year.” So that’s two separate companies laying claim to the…

Tech News Kit Eaton May 7 '08

Brando Bluetooth Headset Stylus: Napoleon Solo Would be Jealous

Brando’s designers, holed up in their top-secret gizmo design bunker, must’ve been watching The Man From U.N.C.L.E as they dreamed up this Bluetooth device. It’s a pendant-style headset, with built-in speaker and microphone, crammed into a pen-shaped stylus. So you can hang it round your neck and use an earpiece, prod at your PDA with…

Gadgets Kit Eaton May 7 '08

Philips Working on a Full Touchscreen Phone?

Philips Xenium phones are generally known for their long-life battery performances but if these photos are in fact real, then the designers are venturing into new iPhone, Diamond touchscreen territory. PC World China is saying that the upcoming Xenium x800 will have an “e2e” screen— that’s an edge-to-edge touchscreen, apparently. From the photos it looks…

Gadgets Kit Eaton May 7 '08

Canon’s Printer-in-a-Bucket Selphy CP770 is One For The Kids

Canon’s new dye-sublimation photo printer is a departure from the boring old box designs: it’s basically a bucket, and is aimed at kids. The bucket part unclips, and is supposed to store wires and accessories rather than sand and a collection of worms. The printer itself is designed for easy operation, with big buttons, a…

Gadgets Kit Eaton May 7 '08

Verb for Shoe Auto-Adjusts Comfort With Built-in Computer

The adapting Verb shoes from VectraSense Technologies, an MIT spin-off company, have been in development for a while, but now they’re finally ready to buy. They’re not quite Marty’s amazing Nike’s from Back to the Future 2 but they are clever: the built-in twin air bladders are controlled by an on-board computer that detects what…

Gadgets Kit Eaton May 6 '08

EP2502 Cellphone Watch: Surprisingly Stylish, and Waterproof

There’s something about the idea of cramming a cellphone into a wristwatch that keeps the designs rolling out, but is this the first one with a touch of style? Possibly, with that metal case and strap, and looking not too horrifically fat to wear. The EP2502 even has a 1.3-inch OLED touchscreen, a 2-megapixel camera,…

Gadgets Kit Eaton May 6 '08

Modded Violin adds Steampunk-esque Styling, One Extra String

Steampunk modding, love it or hate it, has caught on and led to everything from LCD monitors to Nerf rifles getting the treatment. And now we have this steampunk-ish modded violin, that’s seriously cut-down and gutted, and packs in tubes and wires and faux valves. Plus one extra string. https://gizmodo.com/datamancers-steampunk-lcd-monitor-is-another-stunner-383428 Made by modder Molly “Porkshanks”…

Gadgets Kit Eaton May 6 '08

Kit Eaton

Energy Saver One-For-All Remote Waves Bye-Bye to Standby

WowWee Chatterbot Looks Like Robot Hell-Hound, Does Friendly Banter

UK Band Make Themselves Stars of Surveillance Cam TV

Pump-Action Relief… From Stiff Necks

NES Controller Mod, May Just be Most Fun Coffee Table Ever

BUILT Laptop Bag: Water-Resistant, But Not Bulletproof

CDs Get Into the Groove, Do Music the 45RPM Way

iPhone Stocks Being Replenished, Not Sold Out, Say UK Retailers

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Wave Goodbye To Pocket Billiards with Magnetic Knob MP3 Player

Scientist Studies Cars That Speak and Listen Like KITT

Sony’s XEL-1 OLED Lasts Half as Long as You Expect, Says Study

Nokia’s People First, a Concept Cellphone that Encourages Hacking

Italy’s iPhone to Have Two Carriers: The End of Exclusivity?

Brando Bluetooth Headset Stylus: Napoleon Solo Would be Jealous

Philips Working on a Full Touchscreen Phone?

Canon’s Printer-in-a-Bucket Selphy CP770 is One For The Kids

Verb for Shoe Auto-Adjusts Comfort With Built-in Computer

EP2502 Cellphone Watch: Surprisingly Stylish, and Waterproof

Modded Violin adds Steampunk-esque Styling, One Extra String

How to Watch the Champions League Final 2026 for Free in the UK: Arsenal vs PSG Live Stream

Xiaomi Claims Watch S5 Has 21 Days of Battery Life

‘.hack//Sign’ Still Hits as an Existential Gaming Anime About the Virtues of Logging Off

Senator Raises Alarms Over TikTok’s Handling of American Users’ Data

There’s a Deadly ‘Rotating’ Soup of Forbidden Toxins at Lake Erie

Damien Leone Has His Post-‘Terrifier’ Plans in Place

Dev Says He’s Getting Threats After Leaving a Booby Trap for Vibe Coders

TP-Link Says Screw It, We’re Doing Wi-Fi 8 Now

This One VPN Made Me Cancel Every Other VPN Subscription I Had: Here’s Exactly Why

Curry Barker’s Next Film Will Expand on the Ending of ‘Obsession’

Sony 1000X The Collexion Review: Too Expensive for Anyone but Sony Superfans

Alienware Fixed the One Problem With the Area-51, and Now I’m Afraid I Love It

Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max Review: Wireless Earbuds With Enough Features to Make Your Head Spin

Anker Solix E10 Review: No Power? No Problem

Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker Review: Sonos Can Start Sweating Now

Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar Review: A Boisterous Stab at Dominating Home Theater

Dell’s XPS 16 (2026) Is Almost Everything I Could Have Asked for… Almost

Smart Glasses With Subscriptions Are As Bad as They Sound

iBuyPower’s Trace X Gaming PC Is the Fishbowl You Want to Swim In

Govee Ceiling Light Ultra Review: AI Art Ain’t It