Matt Buchanan, Author at Gizmodo

This Robot Hand-Pours Coffee Better Than Most Humans

The nerd-standard in your average nerdy coffee shop is regular coffee, brewed by hand. A pourover: A barista slowly whirls a kettle over a Hario V60 cone or a Chemex, in neatly orchestrated concentric circles. I’ve had some amazing pourovers, but I’d had even more shitty ones. The coffee’s often underextracted, even in typically great…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

A Look at Tcho, the iPhone-Controlled Chocolate Factory

Tcho, created by the founders of Wired magazine, is probably the nerdiest chocolate operation in the country. And, it so happens, the only bean-to-bar manufacturer in San Francisco. The Feast gave us a peak at their factory a couple months ago, teasing that it could be controlled via iPhone. Click to view Well, this is…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Does the iPad 2 Really Only Have 256MB of RAM?

One of guys demoing the iPad 2 in London stoked our worst fears about why Apple’s not being too open with the amount of RAM in the iPad 2: He said it’s only got 256MB. The same as in the first iPad. Ouch. It almost doesn’t make sense. Like, we’re hope he’s wrong, that Apple…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Inside Momofuku’s Secret Test Lab, a Very Magical Kitchen

I’ve been wanting to break into (or be invited to, whichever) Momofuku’s secret Test Lab since cookbook co-author and all-around ace food writer Peter Meehan revealed its existence six months ago. Alas, I’ve been beaten by Jimmy Fallon. Click to view A test lab for a restaurant might sound crazy, but a lot of restaurants,…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Unlimited Wireless Data: The End Is Nigh (Again)

We’ve known for a long time that the end of unlimited wireless data is all but certain. AT&T killed unlimited data plans for new customers last June, and Sprint’s had to raise the price for unlimited data by $10/month for every smartphone. Verizon has been dutifully warning everybody that it’s moving away from unlimited data…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

This Is Why Xbox Live Avatars Are Cartoon-y, Not Creepy

Xbox’s Avatar Kinect is pretty wild: It tracks and replicates your facial expressions with surprising precision. Which probably made you think about having a more realistic Avatar reppin’ yourself owning up 12-year-olds in Halo, or something. But Microsoft Research‘s Photo-Real Talking Head project, which uses 2D photos to make a photo-realistic 3D model of a…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

The Future of 2D Photographs Is 3D

You’ve probably seen Microsoft’s Photosynth tech, which creates mega-panoramas in 3D by compiling a ton of crowd-sourced photos and applying a little software voodoo. This new 3D-environment-from-2D photos project from Microsoft does kinda the same thing, but from your phone. https://gizmodo.com/cnns-inauguration-day-photosynth-compiles-crowdsourced-5135625 Basically, you shoot a bunch of photos—anywhere from a dozen to 40, with more…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

It’s a Dangerous Time to Buy Apple Products

It’s a weird time to buy an Apple product. By that I mean it’s a terrible time to buy an Apple product. At least, if you want to own the latest and most amazingest with the least amount of heartbreak. That’s the story for three of Apple’s biggest products: iPhone 4, iPad and now, the…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

The Full Power of Microsoft Kinect Is About to Be Unleashed With an SDK for All

All of the amazing hacks people have unleashed on Kinect to do crazy, weird, awesome stuff? It’s about to get more insane, because it won’t just be hackers doing the noodling. Microsoft’s going to release a full SDK for Kinect on Windows 7 that lets developers access more than just the messy raw data people…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Building an iPhone Photo Filter Is a Lot Harder Than Using One

I think some law was passed in the last year that requires all photo apps to come with filters that function as aesthetic time machines, passing your perfectly fine photograph through a wormhole of analog nostalgia. It turns out that creating such a rift in photographic spacetime is not as easy as sending your photo…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

There Won’t Be a Tiny iPhone This Summer

Tiny iPhones! That’s the biggest rumor about the next generation of iPhone. The Wall Street Journal’s source even saw a prototype that’s “about half the size of the iPhone 4” and “intended for sale alongside Apple’s existing line.” Cue the New York Times: https://gizmodo.com/could-the-next-iphone-really-be-a-third-smaller-than-ip-5757328 Apple’s engineers are currently focused on finishing the next version of…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Windows Phone 7’s Camera App Isn’t Buggy, It’s Feature-y

A strange quirk in the Windows Phone 7‘s otherwise good camera app that’s been bugging users since day one: It resets all of the camera settings to default every time you close the app. An obvious bug, right? No, it’s a feature, according to Microsoft. https://gizmodo.com/samsung-focus-review-the-first-windows-phone-that-matt-5668400 Says Windows Phone PR dude Brian Seitz in a…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Google OnePass Newspaper & Mag Subscriptions Are Publisher-Friendly, But Are They User-Friendly?

Apple launched its subscription service for reals yesterday. So Google’s launching theirs today. It’s called OnePass. It sounds pretty good: The idea is one login for subscribing to all of your favorite publications that are viewable anywhere (web, phone, tablet). Just like Apple’s, but in more places. For publishers, it’s a better system. They can…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Some Publishers Are Happy With Apple’s Subscriptions ‘Cause They Thought It’d Be Worse

Apple’s new subscription plans are kinda crappy for publishers, but apparently some of them are happy the terms of the deal aren’t worse. Some were afraid that Apple wouldn’t allow any subscriptions that didn’t go through Apple, and many delayed updates to their apps, waiting for the Apple news to drop. And there’s still no…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

The Motorola Xoom Really Is $800 (But There’s a $600 Wi-Fi Version Too)

Okay, so the standard Motorola Xoom with 3G really does cost $800 unsubsidized, as a leaked Best Buy ad showed last week. That sucks, because there’s only one 3G model. There’s no word on the crippled Wi-Fi—the fine print in the Best Buy ad mentioned Wi-Fi was locked down unless you activated one month of…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Apple’s New Subscription Model Is Evil

Digital subscriptions for the iPad are here. Huzzah! Sounds pretty good! You can subscribe to the New Yorker or PopSci with one click, and it’s automagically delivered. No in-app purchases; no muss, no fuss. I’ve been holding out on renewing my paper mag subscriptions, waiting for this very moment. But it’s not all puppies and…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

The Best Chrome Extension Ever Blocks Sites You Hate From Google Search Results

I just blasted the Huffington Post out of my Google search results forever. One click. It felt fantastic. That’s what you can do to any site you hate using Chrome’s new personal blocklist extension. When you block a site, results from that domain name disappear from your search results, whether it’s a site you just…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

This Is Your Brain on Love

Egyptians thought that the heart was your brain. They were, uh, wrong. Even today though, it’s a prettier sentiment. Consider: “You have my braiiiiin.” Not romantic, unless you’re boning a zombie. But this is the ugly, wrinkly, squishy, neuro-chemical-flooded, color-coded truth. Hopefully this is what your brain looks like today! If not, I’m sorry you’re…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Why a War Photographer Shot an Award-Winning Photo With a $2 iPhone App

It’s incredible how, years after computers have landed every desk and so much of the media we consume has been converted to digital bits, people remain so deeply uneasy about the inauthenticity of things produced with digital tools. Like NYT photographer Damon Winter’s award-winning photograph, shot with iPhone app Hipstamatic. That’s the point I was…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

This Is What You Bring to Shoot a Violent Revolution (and Not Get Mugged, or Worse)

Any photographer will tell you it’s not about the gear, it’s about the photographer. Nonetheless, it’s illuminating what NYT photographer correspondent Stephen Farrell chose to bring (and not bring) to document the Egyptian revolution in Tahrir Square, given how specifically hostile the environment was to journalists. (Cue Anderson Cooper.) Click photo to embiggen His main…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Matt Buchanan

This Robot Hand-Pours Coffee Better Than Most Humans

A Look at Tcho, the iPhone-Controlled Chocolate Factory

Does the iPad 2 Really Only Have 256MB of RAM?

Inside Momofuku’s Secret Test Lab, a Very Magical Kitchen

Unlimited Wireless Data: The End Is Nigh (Again)

This Is Why Xbox Live Avatars Are Cartoon-y, Not Creepy

The Future of 2D Photographs Is 3D

It’s a Dangerous Time to Buy Apple Products

The Full Power of Microsoft Kinect Is About to Be Unleashed With an SDK for All

Building an iPhone Photo Filter Is a Lot Harder Than Using One

There Won’t Be a Tiny iPhone This Summer

Windows Phone 7’s Camera App Isn’t Buggy, It’s Feature-y

Google OnePass Newspaper & Mag Subscriptions Are Publisher-Friendly, But Are They User-Friendly?

Some Publishers Are Happy With Apple’s Subscriptions ‘Cause They Thought It’d Be Worse

The Motorola Xoom Really Is $800 (But There’s a $600 Wi-Fi Version Too)

Apple’s New Subscription Model Is Evil

The Best Chrome Extension Ever Blocks Sites You Hate From Google Search Results

This Is Your Brain on Love

Why a War Photographer Shot an Award-Winning Photo With a $2 iPhone App

This Is What You Bring to Shoot a Violent Revolution (and Not Get Mugged, or Worse)

Pompeii Study Confirms Roman ‘Wine’ Ritual Previously Known Only From Texts

JBL Clears Out a 5.0-Channel Compact All-in-One Soundbar at a Record Low Beyond Its Portable Speaker Deals

Andy Weir Says Paramount Rejected His ‘Star Trek’ Pitch, Proceeds to Blast Modern ‘Trek’

Anker Solix C2000 Gen 2 Portable Power Station Is 50% Off as Amazon’s Spring Sale Pushes Into Its Final Clear-Out

Anker’s USB-C Docking Station With Detachable Hub Hits an All-Time Low in Amazon’s Spring Sale, Likely the Last Chance Before Prime Day

The Sadie Sink ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Rumors Just Keep Swirling

This Kindle Paperwhite E-Reader Now Costs About as Much as a Few Paper Books, While Amazon’s Spring Sale Price Still Holds

Lenovo Tab One Becomes an Even Better Budget Tablet Pick Below $100, Now Bundled With a Case in Amazon’s Spring Sale

Jason David Frank’s Final Movie Honors His ‘Power Rangers’ Legacy

AirPods Pro 3 Still at Their Lowest Price While Apple Gradually Pulls Back Amazon’s Spring Sale Offers

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?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets