Matt Buchanan, Author at Gizmodo

Paid Video Downloads to Start Dying in 2008

A new report by Forrester Research declares that the paid video download market is going to come to a grinding halt in 2008, despite growing rapidly into 2007. Why? Forrester analyst James McQuivey thinks we’re going to withhold our credit card numbers and migrate to free content—besides, according to McQuivey, despite Apple’s best efforts to…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Ambient TV Brings Web 2.0, Derision of Your Friends’ Viewing Habits to TV

Oh, these NYU kids and their big ideas. (Disclosure: I was an NYU kid until Thursday.) Myra Einstein’s project, Ambient TV, aims to bring Web 2.0 tech to TV and would make a great add-on to TiVo or the upcoming Xbox 360 IPTV setup. While some of the ideas aren’t so new—swarm recommendations, so that…

Television Matt Buchanan

Tomorrow FBI Will Be Jacked Into Everyone’s Internets

Tomorrow is the deadline for ISPs to have their networks wired up with G-Man-mandated surveillance equipment that will make it easier for the FBI to snoop, spy and wiretap the Intertubes, per the FCC’s expanded 2002 interpretation of the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act. (Clearly an older law, since it does not make…

Privacy & Security Matt Buchanan

News Brews: Turn Depressing World Affairs Into Coffee

I like coffee. I like RSS. So naturally, I dig Benjamin Brown’s News Brews project, which crawls through RSS feeds and takes “the relative frequency at which different coffee-growing regions are mentioned” to determine their respective bean proportion in the blend. In English, that means if Ethiopia is mentioned 30 times, Kenya 20 and Colombia…

Gadgets Matt Buchanan

Motorola Revealing “Media Monster” on Tuesday

Motorola’s not taking falling sales and iMpending competition lying down, as CEO Ed Zander let it be known that next week Motorola’s unveiling a phone that’s a “media monster” which is able to churn out video at 30 fps. (They have a news conference Tuesday, do the math.) The as-of-yet-unnamed phone is all about video,…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Latest Piracy Havens Sweating the Crackdown: Used CD Shops

In Florida and Utah (with Wisconsin and Rhode Island following suit) you’d think shops dealing in used CDs were cogs in a vast piracy machine given the way state legislators are starting to regulate them. Florida so far is the worst, according to Billboard: In Florida, the new legislation requires all stores buying second-hand merchandise…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Seagate FreeAgent Go Portable Hard Drive Review and Gallery

Slickly designed external hard drives are all the rage lately, but we originally scoped out Seagate’s FreeAgent line back at CES. The FreeAgent Go holds up to 160GB and with the included Ceedo virtualization software, you can run apps directly from the drive, which is useful if you’re stuck using a public computer. https://gizmodo.com/simpletech-revs-up-new-ferrari-designed-external-hard-d-250610 What’d…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Metronaps: Sweet Sleep Comes at a Price

The EnergyPod by Metronaps promises to “improve employee morale while boosting the bottom line” by encouraging powernapping at work. It’s basically a jazzed-up recliner with a blast shield that provides a “semi-private acoustical and visual environment.” When it’s time to wake up after 20 minutes the chair starts buzzing and beating your face with lights.…

Gadgets Matt Buchanan

Plantronics CS70N Headset Picks the Phone Up for You (Literally)

Plantronics’ new CS70N hands-free headset boasts the usual suite of Plantronics perks and a noise-cancelling mic for rowdy office environments. It also works with both standard and IP phones. But what (almost) makes it worth the $330 price tag is that with the touch of a button it lifts the phone off of the cradle…

Gadgets Matt Buchanan

Video: RCA Small Wonder EZ201 vs. Flip Video YouTube Camcorder

We heard about this marketed-to-moms, easy-to-use camcorder wayyy back at CES, but today’s the day we finally got our sweaty hands on it at some strange press event at the Zoo. And we realize that it’s a variant of the Flip Video camera launched this same week. Both have a 640×480 resolution and no advanced…

Tech News Matt Buchanan, Brian Lam, Noah Robischon, and Video by Richard Blakely

Halo Ultraviolet Vacuum Is Like Nuclear Man for Germs: Destroys Their Will to Live

The Halo UV Vacuum aims to make paranoid germophobes not flee your home at the site of your carpet, which typically contains 100,000 dust mites per square yard. It claims to terminate the mold, dust mites, germs, viruses, bacteria and other microscopic creepy-crawlers lurking in your carpet and mattress with extreme prejudice—granted, I don’t know…

Gadgets Matt Buchanan

Rohto V Arctic Eye Drops for “Techno Lifestyles” Review: Sweet Christ, I’m Blind

These Rohto V Arctic eye drops are supposed to “keep eyes cool under the strain of today’s techno lifestyles,” in particular the kind that results from staring at a monitor 20 hours a day, like we do at Giz. The “cool” part is supposed to be the menthol in the drops, which their rep said…

Gadgets Matt Buchanan

Breaking: Digg Riot in Full Effect Over Pulled HD-DVD Key Story

The power of Web 2.0 is in full effect over at Digg, where users are revolting over Digg’s decision to pull a story (that netted over 15,000 diggs) and reportedly boot a user for posting the HD-DVD AACS Processing Key number, which would allow someone to crack the copy protection on an HD-DVD. The front…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

“Design Object” Single Serve Coffee Maker; Translation: It’s Small and White

The WMF 1 is a coffee pad/pod/whatever-based single-serve coffee machine, which integrates your cup into its minimalist cubic design that’s not much bigger than a couple of books. The cliche Mac-whiteness can be livened up with your choice of four colors for the lining. Exciting, I know. After dumping in the water and pressing a…

Gadgets Matt Buchanan

Microsoft: User Account Control Is Awesome, Everyone Should Use It

The first thing I did after I installed Windows Vista was disable User Account Control—it’s pretty much the most annoying OS feature I’ve ever dealt with. Microsoft’s Chief Security Advisor in Australia, Peter Watson, however thinks that it’s “a great idea and strategically a direction that all operating systems and all technologies should be heading…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Official Neon Genesis Evangelion Headset: Surprise, It’s a Collector’s Item

Evangelion fans rejoice, you now have the perfect complement to the NERV iPod, the NERV mouse and (uh, I guess) the Eva bike: the official Evangelion Headset, built by the Japanese company Chara-Ani in a partnership with Audio-Technica. https://gizmodo.com/nerv-mouse-for-anime-nerds-236783 Absolutely no specs or price, other than that it comes in a tricked-out box. Granted, it’s…

Gadgets Matt Buchanan

Pop Art Toaster: What, No Jesus Face?

This “pop art” toaster (so clever, these marketers) comes with six preset designs, and none of them feature any religious iconography that’ll net you 10 grand on eBay. Which begs the question: Why would you want to burn lame, cutesy designs like flowers into your toast? They just make your toast taste burnt. If I…

Gadgets Matt Buchanan

SoundExchange Collects Internet Radio Royalties for Every Artist, Even Non-Members

Amidst the uproar over the egregious royalty rate hike for internet radio stations, engineered by RIAA-spinoff SoundExchange and handed down by the Copyright Royalty Board, we missed a detail we should have noticed. Some commenters suggested simply listening to music under non-restrictive licenses. But apparently that won’t work. https://gizmodo.com/yet-another-reason-to-boycott-the-riaa-241376 “The recent U.S. Copyright Office ruling…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Illupillow Combines Big Pillow With Tiny Light

Personally, I think the Illupillow looks mildly uncomfortable, but this depends on how squishy it is—if it’s overly firm I could envision some back pain after reading on this thing for a couple of hours if I’m sprawled all over it. Google Translate (tenuously) confirms that the light is both adjustable and battery powered. Since…

Gadgets Matt Buchanan

New E-Passport Is Patriotic, High-Tech and Ugly

The NY Times reviews the new U.S. e-passport today (if you didn’t want one, apparently you’re too late). It mostly focuses on how ugly the pastiche of American iconography is, but it mentions the new embedded RFID chip holding all of your biographical info and “a digital image of the passport photograph, which will facilitate…

Gadgets Matt Buchanan

Matt Buchanan

Paid Video Downloads to Start Dying in 2008

Ambient TV Brings Web 2.0, Derision of Your Friends’ Viewing Habits to TV

Tomorrow FBI Will Be Jacked Into Everyone’s Internets

News Brews: Turn Depressing World Affairs Into Coffee

Motorola Revealing “Media Monster” on Tuesday

Latest Piracy Havens Sweating the Crackdown: Used CD Shops

Seagate FreeAgent Go Portable Hard Drive Review and Gallery

Metronaps: Sweet Sleep Comes at a Price

Plantronics CS70N Headset Picks the Phone Up for You (Literally)

Video: RCA Small Wonder EZ201 vs. Flip Video YouTube Camcorder

Halo Ultraviolet Vacuum Is Like Nuclear Man for Germs: Destroys Their Will to Live

Rohto V Arctic Eye Drops for “Techno Lifestyles” Review: Sweet Christ, I’m Blind

Breaking: Digg Riot in Full Effect Over Pulled HD-DVD Key Story

“Design Object” Single Serve Coffee Maker; Translation: It’s Small and White

Microsoft: User Account Control Is Awesome, Everyone Should Use It

Official Neon Genesis Evangelion Headset: Surprise, It’s a Collector’s Item

Pop Art Toaster: What, No Jesus Face?

SoundExchange Collects Internet Radio Royalties for Every Artist, Even Non-Members

Illupillow Combines Big Pillow With Tiny Light

New E-Passport Is Patriotic, High-Tech and Ugly

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

With Fire TV Stick 4K Max at 42% Off, Amazon’s Streaming Device Deals Build Momentum in the Spring Sale

The ‘Project Hail Mary’ Party Continues With a Manga Adaptation

No More Cheese Grater: The Mac Pro Is Discontinued

Even the ‘Avatar’ Fighting Game Is Disrespecting ‘Legend of Korra’

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