Matt Buchanan, Author at Gizmodo

Fake Steve Perfectly Summarizes Microsoft Chief Software Architect’s Departing Memo

Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie may have been a man standing alone at Microsoft, daring them to be ready for a post-PC world. But his goodbye memo is an epic screed. Fake Steve handily summarizes it: “We suck. I quit. Goodbye.” More seriously, if you manage to make it through Ozzie’s long entry and read…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Logitech Revue Google TV Box Looks Just as Complex Inside

The early word on Google TV is that it’s kinda messy! So’s the inside of the Logitech Revue, which is basically a netbook on a motherboard, complete with a 1.2GHz Atom processor. Though like Jason says, if everyone’s just trying to sneak a computer into your living room, Google’s simply the most honest about it.…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Selling Apps on Android Still Sucks

Two years after the launch of Android, the Marketplace is still pretty hostile to developers trying to make money—at least ones trying to make money by selling their apps. Google’s making out just fine, though. [NYT] https://gizmodo.com/in-case-you-forgot-how-google-makes-money-5655462

Tech News Matt Buchanan

The Galaxy Tab Is $400 on Sprint, But the Data Plans Will Eat You Alive

Unlike Verizon, Sprint is subsidizing Samsung’s Galaxy Tab—signing your soul over for two years knocks the price down $200, to $400. The data plans are painful, which seems to be a running theme for the Tab. https://gizmodo.com/verizon-offering-galaxy-tab-nov-11th-for-600-and-no-s-5668604 For $30 a month, you get 2GB and unlimited messaging, or for $60 you get 5GB when it…

Gadgets Matt Buchanan

Watch Any Damn Video Format You Want on the iPhone With VLC

Want to watch videos encoded with crazy codecs on your iPhone without converting them? VLC’s now a universal app. It got a speed boost in the process, and you can delete videos directly off your iPad or iPhone. [iTunes]

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Big Brother Apple and the Death of the Program

More than 25 years ago, a commercial warned us about the future of computers. Closed. Censored. Dark. A “garden of pure ideology.” How strange that that’s exactly what the future of Apple’s computers looks like today: the Mac App Store. OSX 10.7—the Lion!—features an App Store for the Mac. It’s the philosophy of the iPhone…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

The Next Nook Is a Full Color Android Tablet, Oh Boy

Fact: Barnes & Noble is announcing something on Tuesday. Probable rumor: It’s a full-color, Android-powered touchscreen e-reader. Question: How’s it going to be better than a nook app on the Galaxy Tab? [Cnet]

Tech News Matt Buchanan

The Big Networks’ Big Google TV Fear

Google TV, at least theoretically, conceptually erases the distinction between the web and television as a medium for video. It’s all video, wherever it comes from. For broadcasters, that’s scary! So ABC, CBS and NBC’s websites are blocking Google TV. If you go to one of their websites to try to watch a full-length show,…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

How Much Longer Is Sony Ericsson Going to Be Around?

Once upon time, Sony Ericson made the most awesome little cellphones. Lately, it’s been trying to sell high-end phones exclusively. But the phones suck, and Sony Ericsson’s moving less phones than ever, falling out of the top 5 brands. Given where it’s at in market share and profitability compared to everybody else, long running corporate…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Hulu Plus for $5 a Month Sounds a Lot More Reasonable

Peter Kafka hears Hulu might cutting the price of Hulu Plus in half to just $5 a month. Smart, given that Hulu Plus isn’t yet offering that much more than regular old free Hulu and for $9 a month, Netflix is still a better value (you even get one of those funky silver shiny disc…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Windows Phone 7 Review: Ladies and Gentlemen, We Have Ourselves a Race

Let’s just get it out of the way: Windows Phone 7 is the most exciting thing to happen to phones in a long time. There are a million reasons why Windows Phone 7 matters. It’s the most important PC company in the world, battered, bruised and badly lagging, coming back to the next generation of…

Reviews Matt Buchanan

Samsung Focus Review: The First Windows Phone That Matters

Put bluntly, the Samsung Focus is the first Windows Phone that matters. But how good is it? https://gizmodo.com/windows-phone-7-review-ladies-and-gentlemen-we-have-o-5668738 Specs Samsung Focus i917 specs Price: $199 w/ a 2-year contract on AT&T Screen: 4-inch Super AMOLED, 800×480 resolution Processor and RAM: 1GHZ Snapdragon QSD8250 Storage: 8GB internal (expandable, sort of) Camera: 5 megapixel stills, 720p video…

Reviews Matt Buchanan

Why Does the MacBook Air Still Exist?

The iPad is clearly Apple’s vision for the future of ultra-portable computing. You don’t have to look any further than Apple’s new OS to see that. So why is Apple releasing new MacBook Airs? https://gizmodo.com/ipad-is-the-future-5506692 The iPad, it’s been said, is Apple’s netbook. It easily handles most of what people want out of a netbook:…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

iLife ’11: The Best New Tricks in iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand

At last, there’s a new version of iLife. It’s got all new, enhanced versions of the major apps. They’re pretty fancy looking, and they’ve got a whole bag of new tricks, like automagic movie trailers. iMovie The goal is for “mere mortals” to be able to do advanced video editing. And it comes pretty close…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

The Mac’s Best Info Organizer, Yojimbo, Now on the iPad

I loved Yojimbo—a collect-everything app for Mac—a lot. It stores anything from bookmarks to software serial #s to images. But it’s totally local database stuck on your Mac. I wanted portability. Now, there’s Yojimbo for iPad. It’s a companion app for the desktop Yojimbo that syncs over Wi-Fi, so you can go through all of…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Why We’re Not Reviewing the Nokia N8

As much as we’d love to see a great new phone from Nokia, we’re not reviewing the N8. The phone was, unfortunately, irrelevant before it launched. Like a top-of-the-line horse-drawn carriage released shortly after Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon. Nokia itself has declared that it’s abandoning Symbian for all of its N-Series phones. Nokia…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

The Instant Coffee Straw

The Open It! instant-coffee-in-a-straw kind of makes me hurt inside. But it is very clever! [Yanko Design via Shot Zombies] https://gizmodo.com/chasing-the-perfect-cup-of-coffee-with-science-5642561

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Creepy Teachers Using Facebook to Do Creepy Things

“This is sexy” is not a comment a teacher should post on a student’s Facebook photo. But that’s what Chadwin Reynolds allegedly wrote on a photo posted by one of a half dozen female students he friended on Facebook. The New York Post reports that the Department of Education in New York City has fired…

Social Media Matt Buchanan

The Not-Shitty Star Wars Prequel That Never Happened

Irvin Kershner directed the greatest Star Wars movie of all, The Empire Strikes Back. It may be time to forgive George Lucas, but it’s hard not dreaming about the saga of Anakin’s rise and fall depicted by more capable hands. https://gizmodo.com/its-time-to-forgive-george-lucas-5664218 In an interview coinciding with Empire’s 30th anniversary, Kershner reveals that, had the prequels…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Gingerbread Leak: Android’s Excellent New Skin Job Will Add Video Chat and Wi-Fi Calling Too

Some of the first concrete details about Android 3.0 Gingerbread are pretty goddamn exciting. It’s a smoother, faster, better Android—potentially with built-in video chat and Google Voice Wi-Fi calling. Here’s what Phandroid details, alongside the worst leaked picture in history. Imagine a lot of the aesthetic and UI improvements in Android 2.2, taken to the…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Matt Buchanan

Fake Steve Perfectly Summarizes Microsoft Chief Software Architect’s Departing Memo

Logitech Revue Google TV Box Looks Just as Complex Inside

Selling Apps on Android Still Sucks

The Galaxy Tab Is $400 on Sprint, But the Data Plans Will Eat You Alive

Watch Any Damn Video Format You Want on the iPhone With VLC

Big Brother Apple and the Death of the Program

The Next Nook Is a Full Color Android Tablet, Oh Boy

The Big Networks’ Big Google TV Fear

How Much Longer Is Sony Ericsson Going to Be Around?

Hulu Plus for $5 a Month Sounds a Lot More Reasonable

Windows Phone 7 Review: Ladies and Gentlemen, We Have Ourselves a Race

Samsung Focus Review: The First Windows Phone That Matters

Why Does the MacBook Air Still Exist?

iLife ’11: The Best New Tricks in iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand

The Mac’s Best Info Organizer, Yojimbo, Now on the iPad

Why We’re Not Reviewing the Nokia N8

The Instant Coffee Straw

Creepy Teachers Using Facebook to Do Creepy Things

The Not-Shitty Star Wars Prequel That Never Happened

Gingerbread Leak: Android’s Excellent New Skin Job Will Add Video Chat and Wi-Fi Calling Too

Popular Sweetener Found in Protein Bars Tied to Stroke, Blood Clot Risk

HBO’s Boss Has Yet to Be Approached About Partnering on ‘Doctor Who’

AI Agent Runs the ‘I’m Being Censored’ Playbook After Getting Banned from Wikipedia

‘Scream 7’ Comes Home With Deleted Scenes We Hope Will Improve the Movie

A QR Code Too Small to See Hints at a New, Non-Annoying Use for the Format

Andy Weir Apologizes After ‘Star Trek’ Comment Backlash

Scientists Discover Hidden Behavior in Water That Helps Explain Why Ice Floats

The ‘Paradise’ Season 2 Finale Paved the Way for a Wildly Sci-Fi Season 3

A $1 Samsung Galaxy Smartphone Lands at Mint Mobile With Unlimited Data at 50% Off in a Clearance Push

Your Wimpy Workouts Aren’t Cutting It, Scientists Say

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