Kyle Wagner

The Android Facebook app got an update. It’s a little faster now, and opening photos is easier. Not bad. [Facebook]

Breaking: Andy Rubin Is Out at Android

Google has announced that Android chief Andy Rubin is stepping down, and will be replaced by Sundar Pichai. Pichai is currently VP of Chrome and Apps. This is a pretty monumental shakeup. Rubin had been with Google since Android was acquired in 2005. We don’t know what Rubin’s going to be up to, but Google’s…

Hey, good news. The HTC One will be on Verizon, too. [ATD]

The NSA Is Training 13 Teams of Covert Hackers to Attack Other Countries

For the first time, the United States has officially disclosed plans to develop counterattack measures against foreign nations’ cyberattacks. General Keith Alexander, chief of the military’s Cyber Command and the NSA, told Congress yesterday the military is training 13 teams of programmers and computer experts to carry out offensive attacks. As disclosures to Congress go,…

Dell’s XPS All-in-One Turns into an 18-inch Tablet… That Actually Doesn’t Suck

So, this sounds nuts, but Dell’s new 18-inch desktop-cum-tablet actually feels… light. Like something that isn’t insane to hold and carry around and, more importantly, like something that might have a chance at being more than a gimmick. The specs on the XPS 18 are pretty standard for desktops. Its processor starts at the low…

Watch People Get Flung Hundreds of Feet by a DOUBLE Human Slingshot Slip and Slide

Two summers ago, a giant slingshot anchored to a truck and drawn by an off-road vehicle that hurled people down a humongous slip and slide, careening them wildly into a lake. So, hey, why not make another one and launch two people at once? https://gizmodo.com/watch-people-get-flung-hundreds-of-feet-by-a-human-slin-5836237 The video’s sponsored by Vooray, a clothing company, but whatever.…

NASA: Ancient Life Could Have Survived on Mars

After analyzing rock samples collected by the Curiosity Rover, NASA has made an exciting discovery: Conditions on a newly discovered gray (instead of red) part of Mars show it had conditions that were “once were favorable for life.” It’s an incredible breakthrough. The excitement stems from new samples that have been found to contain sulfur,…

Report: Verizon’s Getting a Thinner, Lighter, Aluminum Nokia Lumia 928 in April

According to The Verge, Verizon is going to be getting a variant of the Lumia 920 in April, and it will be a pretty nice upgrade. The upgrades include a switch to an aluminum body, a xenon and LED flash for the 8MP PureView camera, and the comes in thinner and lighter than the relatively…

The Nicest Apple iWatch Concept Yet

We’ve been hearing about a mythical Apple “iWatch” for a while now, to varying degrees of credibility, but this one from the April issue of MacUser magazine is probably the prettiest—and most plausibly Apple—interpretation we’ve seen. The design was cooked up by designer Martin Hajek—who’s done some spot-on renders for Gizmodo in the past—in close…

Scientists Claim Meteorite Fragments Contain Alien Biological Fossils (They Don’t)

A paper came out of Cardiff University today claiming to have found algae fossils in samples of a meteorite that landed in Sri Lanka this past December. At first glance, the claims are stunning: proof that life exists throughout the universe. But sadly, also deeply flawed. The analysis was carried out in part by Chandra…

Arizona Town Replaces an Alligator’s Tail with a Prosthesis and Orange Floaty Water Wing

An alligator with an orange water wing on its butt and a rubber tail. This marvel of science is given to us by the Phoenix Herpetological Society, because apparently everyone in Florida was taking the week off from doing insane things. Mr. Stubbs is a 7-foot-long alligator who lost his tail at an early age.…

Marvel Project Gamma: Comic Books Just Got Their Own Soundtracks

Marvel’s new Project Gamma is the answer to a pretty simple question: What if comics had their own soundtracks? Simply, Project Gamma adds music to comics. But not like a standard soundtrack (Marvel calls it “adaptive audio” and compares it to a score, actually). It adds musical elements and occasionally sound effects as you turn…

Facebook’s Most Overlooked Design Change

Facebook showed us its new News Feed yesterday. It’s as pretty as anyone could have hoped, and a wonderful update to the design. But lost in the big images and new feeds was a pretty major change that actually started weeks ago: The first thing you look at on Facebook’s page has moved. https://gizmodo.com/facebooks-new-news-feed-the-biggest-change-in-years-5989228 Move…

Adidas Crazyquick: Incredibly Flexible Basketball Shoes (That Might Actually Work)

Adidas has a new basketball shoe. It’s called the Crazyquick, and seems to improve performance, in the way that all new athletic gear improves performance in some nebulous way. These make you quick, says Adidas. But whatever: They look really freaking cool. The claim for Crazyquick, which has been in development for close to three…

Report: Apple Is Being a Massive Cheapskate with Its Music Streaming Service

Of course this would happen. According to the New York Post, Apple is lowballing record labels for the rights to use their music in a new music streaming service. The Post reports today that Apple is offering labels 6 cents per 100 listens. That’s a far cry from the 12 cents per 100 that Pandora…

Marvel Unlimited: Marvel’s Spotify for Comics Is Out Now for iOS

There’s one thing every comic fan has been yelling about for years: Why isn’t there a subscription service that lets you pay for an all-you-can-eat monthly dose of comics? Marvel just did it. Marvel Unlimited, formerly MDCU, is on iPads and iPhones now. Marvel Unlimited is a new app, separate from the Marvel app already…

Yahoo turned 18 this past weekend, and made a useful change to its Hackday. Baby (high school graduate) steps!

Whoa, Penguins Are Actually Colder Than Their Antarctic Surroundings

Emperor penguins keep warm with thick layers of feathers and body fat. Everyone was told that by Morgan Freeman ages ago. Except, new thermal images show huge parts of the penguins’ bodies are actually colder than the subzero air around them. So, what the hell. Apparently it’s due to radiative cooling, which is essentially the…

Samsung Apologizes for Fatal Acid Leak in Factory

Samsung has officially apologized for a leak of Hydrofluoric acid in a Korean plant in January. The leak killed one worker, and injured four others. Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Kwon Oh-hyun told Yonhap News Agency, “We plan to overhaul the system in a bid to better make environmentally-friendly workplaces.” Unlike many other working condition misfortunes,…

We’re This Much Closer to Replacing Our Wallets With Phones

It sounds boring, but one of the most important frontiers in technology right now is how mobile can make paying for stuff easier. And while this year’s Mobile World Congress might have been a little lacking in four-star hardware, there were some serious steps taken towards replacing your wallet with your smartphone. Here are the…