Rhett Jones, Author at Gizmodo

Supreme Court Appears to Lean Heavily Against Apple’s Defense of Its Walled Garden

On Monday, Apple finally had its highly anticipated hearing before the United States Supreme Court. Since 2011, the tech giant has been fighting antitrust litigation that claims its App Store policies amount to an unfair monopoly. Those who were present at today’s hearing say the case’s outcome isn’t looking great for Apple. The case of…

Tech News Rhett Jones Nov 26

Six Flags Biometric Case Could Turn One of the Toughest Privacy Laws in the U.S. Upside Down

For the last decade, Illinois has had the nation’s most rigorous law protecting citizens’ biometric privacy information. It’s also a heavily litigated piece of legislation that’s pulled high-profile companies like Google and Facebook into class action lawsuits. Now, Six Flags is contesting a suit that threatens to totally defang the statute. The Biometric Information Privacy…

Tech News Rhett Jones Nov 26

Should the Supreme Court Knock the First Brick Out of Apple’s Walled Garden?

On Monday, Apple will get its chance to stand before the highest court in the land and argue a case that’s been grinding forward for seven years. The case involves Apple’s right to insist that all apps on its iOS mobile operating system be sold through its own App Store. While many people see the…

Tech News Rhett Jones Nov 23

By Pure Coincidence, a Ton of People Are Downloading Their Facebook Data Right Now

Last spring, Facebook was confronted with a flood of scandals and new privacy regulations in Europe that reminded users that they could use a feature on the social network to download their data. Now, it seems a lot of people are using that tool. More people than Facebook can handle. According to Recode, a lot…

Tech News Rhett Jones Nov 21

Why Some People Are Freaking Out About Tech Stocks Right Now

While we’ve watched tech companies provide a means for us to tear apart the fabric of society, they’ve been credited with keeping the financial markets booming over the last year—but that could be coming to an end. This year has seen record gains and earnings on the stock market, but much of the growth has…

Tech News Rhett Jones Nov 20

‘Secret’ Audio Recording Drags $400,000 GoFundMe Debacle Into a New Circle of Hell

The bizarre, winding tale of the $400,000 GoFundMe campaign for a homeless man just got even messier. Speaking through her attorney, Kate McClure is now claiming that she was involved in an abusive relationship, and that falsified, feel-good story was concocted by her boyfriend and a homeless man for a viral GoFundMe campaign. On Monday,…

Tech News Rhett Jones Nov 19

Tim Cook Defends Apple Being Paid Billions by Google

Over the last year, Apple CEO Tim Cook has made it a point to call out tech companies for indiscriminately collecting data on users and disregarding concerns about privacy. But one issue with his criticism is that Apple gets paid a boatload of money from Google for making its search engine the default on its…

Tech News Rhett Jones Nov 19

Criterion Announces New Streaming Service Is Getting the Filmstruck Gang Back Together

Filmstruck and its Criterion Channel are set to be shuttered at the end of this month, but it appears a viral online petition along with some high-profile celebrity endorsements from the likes of Christopher Nolan and Guillermo Del Toro may have changed some executives’ minds. In an announcement today, Criterion said its own standalone service…

Tech News Rhett Jones Nov 16

Pew Survey Shows Why Social Media Should Ban Political Campaign Ads

A new survey from Pew Research has given us some insight into how Americans are feeling about our algorithm-driven society, and the verdict is, we aren’t loving it. One question in particular shows that social media companies could help the public feel more comfortable if they would just lose the political campaign ads altogether. Pew…

Tech News Rhett Jones Nov 16

Couple and Homeless Man Charged With Conspiracy Over $400,000 GoFundMe

On Thursday, the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office in New Jersey announced formal charges against the three people involved in a viral GoFundMe campaign that raised $400,000 last year to help a homeless man get on his feet. Authorities said that “the entire campaign was predicated on a lie.” At a press conference this afternoon, prosecutor…

Tech News Rhett Jones Nov 15

Couple and Homeless Man Said to Have Made Up Story Behind $400,000 GoFundMe Campaign (UPDATE)

The strange case of a couple in New Jersey who raised $400,000 on GoFundMe for a homeless good Samaritan appears to be skidding into a surprise ending. Following earlier legal turmoil, the couple reportedly turned themselves in to authorities on Wednesday and will face charges for allegedly conspiring with the man to make up a…

Tech News Rhett Jones Nov 15

Infowars Infected With Credit Card-Stealing Malware, Alex Jones Claims It’s a Conspiracy

Customers of the Infowars store are getting scammed every day but this time it’s different. A security researcher discovered a form of malware embedded in the conspiracy site’s checkout process that records credit card details and transmits them to a remote server. ZDNet interviewed Dutch security researcher Willem de Groot about his discovery of a…

Tech News Rhett Jones Nov 14

Nasty Adobe Bug Deleted $250,000-Worth of Man’s Files, Lawsuit Claims

A freelance videographer has filed a class action lawsuit against Adobe on behalf of mortified users that watched their files vanish due to a bug in video-editing software Premiere Pro. Even if this nightmare scenario hasn’t come up yet, all Premiere users should take note. The lawsuit was filed in a California district court last…

Tech News Rhett Jones Nov 13

Cable Companies Call For DOJ Investigation Into Comcast Allegedly Abusing Its Power With Hulu

The American Cable Association, a group of about 700 small cable providers, has requested the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division open an immediate investigation into Comcast’s competitive practices after restrictions on its 2011 merger deal with NBC recently expired. The group claims the telecom giant poses a greater threat than the newly merged AT&T/Time-Warner juggernaut. In…

Tech News Rhett Jones Nov 12

We’re Free! [Updated]

On Monday afternoon, Facebook made it clear that it’s listening more intently to users’ desires than ever before. At the time of writing, the social media network is down for at least some users. And there’s a calm over the internet that hasn’t been felt in more than a decade. Update 3:45pm ET: Nevermind, it’s…

Social Media Rhett Jones Nov 12

Sony Patent Hints at Possible Touchscreen Playstation Controller

If you miss the Sega Dreamcast’s visual memory unit, a recently published patent from Sony brings potentially good news. The next iteration of the Playstation’s DualShock controller may come with a built-in touchscreen. The patent was published in October and noticed over the weekend by the folks at DualShockers. Initially filed in 2017, the paperwork…

Gadgets Rhett Jones Nov 12

Aftermath Video Shows Wildfire Turned Paradise Into an Eerie, Apocalyptic Hellscape

California is battling chaotic wildfires all over the state today and the true toll it will take on residents has yet to be seen. In the northern town of Paradise, an eerie calm has settled over some areas as the burned out remains of civilization are surveyed. Paradise has been hit by the Camp Fire,…

Earther Rhett Jones Nov 9

You Should Start Using Chrome’s Built-In ‘Read Later’ Feature

Pocket and Instapaper ain’t cutting it anymore. Being in news means I probably save more articles than the average user. I’m always throwing something into my Pocket app for future reference or a follow-up. But I’d be willing to bet I don’t save much more than a typical web hoarder. Apps that allow you to…

Tech News Rhett Jones Nov 9

Netflix’s Planet Earth Clone Lands David Attenborough: Watch the Teaser

No one will ever say there’s too much Planet Earth. Sir David Attenborough, the voice of some of the greatest nature documentaries ever, has almost exclusively spent his career at the BBC. But on Thursday, Netflix announced that it has successfully delivered a big enough dump truck filled with money to sign the 92-year-old broadcaster…

Tech News Rhett Jones Nov 9

White House Spreads Doctored Video to Justify Temper Tantrum Against CNN Reporter

The White House doesn’t want us to believe what we’re seeing, so they’re showing us things that are unbelievable. On Wednesday, President Trump was in a foul mood and decided to hold an impromptu news conference that lasted nearly 90 minutes. A lot of weird things happened, and Trump was clearly feeling defensive about losing…

Politics Rhett Jones Nov 8

Rhett Jones

Supreme Court Appears to Lean Heavily Against Apple’s Defense of Its Walled Garden

Six Flags Biometric Case Could Turn One of the Toughest Privacy Laws in the U.S. Upside Down

Should the Supreme Court Knock the First Brick Out of Apple’s Walled Garden?

By Pure Coincidence, a Ton of People Are Downloading Their Facebook Data Right Now

Why Some People Are Freaking Out About Tech Stocks Right Now

‘Secret’ Audio Recording Drags $400,000 GoFundMe Debacle Into a New Circle of Hell

Tim Cook Defends Apple Being Paid Billions by Google

Criterion Announces New Streaming Service Is Getting the Filmstruck Gang Back Together

Pew Survey Shows Why Social Media Should Ban Political Campaign Ads

Couple and Homeless Man Charged With Conspiracy Over $400,000 GoFundMe

Couple and Homeless Man Said to Have Made Up Story Behind $400,000 GoFundMe Campaign (UPDATE)

Infowars Infected With Credit Card-Stealing Malware, Alex Jones Claims It’s a Conspiracy

Nasty Adobe Bug Deleted $250,000-Worth of Man’s Files, Lawsuit Claims

Cable Companies Call For DOJ Investigation Into Comcast Allegedly Abusing Its Power With Hulu

We’re Free! [Updated]

Sony Patent Hints at Possible Touchscreen Playstation Controller

Aftermath Video Shows Wildfire Turned Paradise Into an Eerie, Apocalyptic Hellscape

You Should Start Using Chrome’s Built-In ‘Read Later’ Feature

Netflix’s Planet Earth Clone Lands David Attenborough: Watch the Teaser

White House Spreads Doctored Video to Justify Temper Tantrum Against CNN Reporter

Ozempic Shreds Bones? How a Small Study Turned Into a Big Health Myth

Anker’s Soundcore Translation Earbuds Are Now Nearly 7x Cheaper Than AirPods Pro 3 After a Sudden Price Drop on Amazon

Volkswagen Shuts Down Tennessee Plant’s EV Production at the Worst Possible Time

Using Emojis at Work? You’re Not Going to Like This Study 😮

A Terrifying Invasion Feels Eerily Familiar in This Short Horror Story

Shark AI Ultra Robot Vacuum at 51% Off Quietly Undercuts Dyson’s Stick Cleaner Prices

Tubi Manages to Turn People Against Recommendations With Bad AI Branding

Gizmodo’s Favorite Photos From NASA’s Artemis 2 Mission

Lucasfilm Keeps Telling Authors Not to Bring Back Mara Jade

As Mass Drownings Add Up, Emperor Penguins Officially Join the Endangered List

Asus Zenbook A16 Review: Start Considering Snapdragon on PC, for Real

Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 Review: Almost Better than My Ecobee

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

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