Sam Biddle, Author at Gizmodo

Swiping Is So Boring—Unlock Your iPhone with Your Beautiful Face Instead

Swiping your phone or entering an unlock pin to crack it open is fine—we do it all the time, every day. But it’s sort of lacking in sci-fi chic, no? Wouldn’t facial recognition be a lot cooler? Yes. RecognizeMe, a new jailbreak app, uses your iPhone 4’s front-facing camera to scan your mug whenever you…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Microsoft Giving Free Xbox 360s to PC-Buying Students—Time for a Keg Stand!

Every student needs a laptop in college. For how else will they peruse Facebook during class? With a typewriter? No thank you. Now, the deal’s even sweeter—if you go the Windows route, Microsoft will throw in a 360. As long as the PC costs $700 or more, and you’ve got a .edu email address or…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Apple’s iTunes Cloud Patent Isn’t What We Expected

Apple’s patented the obvious and the expected: a way to store and stream your iTunes library from the cloud. But there’s one weird twist—the option to only partially push your media up to the sky. Huh The “partial sync” option takes a sliver of each song and keeps it on your iPhone or iPod (or…

Tech News Sam Biddle

A Massive 1930s Stove with an iPhone Brain

When the AGA cast-iron stove was first released in 1935, it took six hours so heat up. That’s stayed the same up until today. But the new metal monster takes only eight minutes—and fires up with a touchscreen. The massive Total Control range, has three (!) ovens (and burners up top), each controllable and independently…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Scooba 230: My Beloved, Adorable, Floor Cleaning Robo-Slave

The 230 is the nook, cranny, and floor-scrubbing baby brother of the Scooba family by iRobot. Taking up little more space than a CD, it’s only a few inches tall. It won’t replace your mop, but it’ll tirelessly try. Like The cleaning itself is a cinch. Fill ‘er up, plop ‘er down, hit the CLEAN…

Reviews Sam Biddle

Accused IMF Rapist’s Electronic Hotel Key May Damn or Save Him

Everyone’s used to the ubiquitous swiping hotel key card—but what you might not know is that your key holds a history of every time that door closes. And when you’re accused of raping the maid, this record’s important. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, French (former) head of the IMF, is charged with forcing himself on his maid when…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Secret Stealth Drones Spied on Bin Laden Months Before Kill Mission

How do you monitor the whereabouts of the world’s most wanted criminal, deep inside a radar-infested region of a country that doesn’t want you there? With this stealth drone, which gave the US eyes on Osama’s compound from above. The Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel doesn’t look much like the Predator drone fleet—and for good reason.…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Netflix Now the Internet Traffic Emperor of North America

Netflix continues to consume the entirety of the internet, climbing to the number one spot of an entire continent, with a whopping 30% slice of peak downstream traffic. That’s almost a third! What’s in second place? Oh, you know, “websites.” https://gizmodo.com/netflix-streaming-video-is-20-percent-of-peak-us-intern-5670190 Yes, pathetic little HTTP downloads account for a trifling 18% of peak North American…

Tech News Sam Biddle

The Samsung Cube Camera, Too Bizarre to Exist

A recent interview with Samsung’s camera division yielded some interesting bits about their lenses—but the real star was this photo of lost prototypes. The model with the three vintage-y dials is gorgeous. But the cube? Uhh. Uhhh. We’re all for experimenting with form factors, but I can’t imagine anyone wanting to whip out a cube-shaped…

Gadgets Sam Biddle

Intel Says No Legacy Software for ARM Windows 8, Suckers

Intel was quick to point out that the ARM version of Windows 8 won’t have any backwards compatibility—”Our competitors will not be running legacy applications. Not now. Not ever.” But the ol’ friendly x86 version? You betcha! Windows 8 on x86 chips will “Run all of [your] old applications, all of [your] old files—there’ll be…

Tech News Sam Biddle

A Laser-Aimed, Remote Controlled Chain Gun, in Case War Isn’t Already Enough Like a Videogame

The BAE Systems Mk 38 is a giant gun made for obliterating things at sea. It not only packs massive firepower, but sophisticated optics—IR vision and laser aiming. All this, controlled indoors by a guy on a joystick. Is this the way war’s heading? The enormous use of drone strikes has already distanced soldiers from…

Tech News Sam Biddle

When Apple Battles Indie Devs, Who Wins?

We all know how David and Goliath ended (BOOM, HEADSHOT). But what happens when Apple takes on the little guy, mimicking (or worse) their software? History is mixed—sometimes David flourishes, sometimes David get stomped the hell out. The question is fresh on our minds with the news that the Apple trademark mill has ground out…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Dear Nokia: Please Stop Showing Us Phones Until They’re Windows Phones

Nokia’s got a new teaser trailer out for their shiny N9. And, like most Nokia hardware, it’s great looking! Except for what’s on the screen, which, as commenters are pointing out, appears to be Symbian. Ugh. Nokia: give us Windows. Symbian is a train wreck. MeeGo, nobody ever really cared about. Nokia: your future (and…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Former NSA Genius Apologizes for His Super Spying Software

Long before 9/11, brilliant NSA crypto-mathematician Bill Binney had developed an algorithm to make sense of the unbelievably massive amounts of data American spies were pulling in—he called it ThinThread. And then it went very, very wrong. ThinThread, the New Yorker reports, proved to be too good: designed to track foreign enemies via their electronic…

Privacy & Security Sam Biddle

T-Mobile Now Buying Your Old and Busted Phones Back (Updated)

So you want to suckle at the electric teet of Four Geez, but you’re broke. This is a problem! But if you’re a T-Mo subscriber, you can now trade in that gross old flip thing for something a little newer. The value of your craptacular phone will be determined by someone at the T-Mobile store…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Apple Store Makeover Means NFC iPhone 5? (Updated)

Some secret work is being done on Apple Stores across the country, shrouded in typical occult Apple mystery. Nobody’s sure what’s about to be revealed, but BGR claims NFC gear is being hooked up—suggesting an NFC iPhone 5. https://gizmodo.com/what-is-near-field-communication-5707321 The details of the rumor are hardly details at all—BGR cites “new tables installed in stores…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Fukushima Was Ruined by Quake Even before the Tsunami

We’ve long assumed that the double decker disaster scenario of a massive earthquake and tsunami caused the Fukushima meltdown. Turns out, all it took was the former, which knocked out Fukushima’s cooling in less than 10 minutes. Records released by TEPCO from the day of the quake show that the plant began to plunge into…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Sleepy Students Will Get Godawful Automated 6:30 AM Wakeup Calls from School

Among the things that could have possibly made high school more annoying, getting a robo-call telling me to wake up at 6:30 am would probably be high on the list! That or having the principal pour water on my face. Habitually late students at Iowa’s Marshalltown High School will be getting this luxury courtesy call…

Tech News Sam Biddle

New Bill Would Make Illegal Streaming a Whopping Felony

You know those semi-shady websites that seem to stream every movie and TV show imaginable? Or, you know, YouTube? If a new bill by Senators Amy Klobuchar and John Cornyn passes, spreading copyrighted works on them will be a felony. And a felony means prison time. The bill would target operators and sharers, not watchers,…

Movies Sam Biddle

Elementary Schools Tracking How Many Pudding Cups the Kids Are Gulping with Calorie-Hunting Cameras

American public schools are known for having some generally pretty terrible food. High in fat and sugar, low in most other things. This leads to childhood obesity. Not good. So some Texas cafeterias are taking a high-tech approach to health. The $2 million trial system, implemented in San Antonio elementary schools, uses cameras to scan…

Health Sam Biddle

Sam Biddle

Swiping Is So Boring—Unlock Your iPhone with Your Beautiful Face Instead

Microsoft Giving Free Xbox 360s to PC-Buying Students—Time for a Keg Stand!

Apple’s iTunes Cloud Patent Isn’t What We Expected

A Massive 1930s Stove with an iPhone Brain

Scooba 230: My Beloved, Adorable, Floor Cleaning Robo-Slave

Accused IMF Rapist’s Electronic Hotel Key May Damn or Save Him

Secret Stealth Drones Spied on Bin Laden Months Before Kill Mission

Netflix Now the Internet Traffic Emperor of North America

The Samsung Cube Camera, Too Bizarre to Exist

Intel Says No Legacy Software for ARM Windows 8, Suckers

A Laser-Aimed, Remote Controlled Chain Gun, in Case War Isn’t Already Enough Like a Videogame

When Apple Battles Indie Devs, Who Wins?

Dear Nokia: Please Stop Showing Us Phones Until They’re Windows Phones

Former NSA Genius Apologizes for His Super Spying Software

T-Mobile Now Buying Your Old and Busted Phones Back (Updated)

Apple Store Makeover Means NFC iPhone 5? (Updated)

Fukushima Was Ruined by Quake Even before the Tsunami

Sleepy Students Will Get Godawful Automated 6:30 AM Wakeup Calls from School

New Bill Would Make Illegal Streaming a Whopping Felony

Elementary Schools Tracking How Many Pudding Cups the Kids Are Gulping with Calorie-Hunting Cameras

Artemis 2 Crew Become First Humans to Travel Beyond Earth Orbit Since the 1970s

Artemis 2 Day 2: Follow the Mission With Our Live Updates 🔴

Labubus Might Be Labu-Bust After Pop Mart Posts Record Share Loss

Cursor’s New Tool Lets Users Delegate to a Team of Coding Agents

Nvidia Needs to Remind Itself What PC Gamers Actually Want

Iran Says It Hit Oracle Facilities in UAE

‘Invincible’ Season 4 Is Doing Right By Debbie

New Theory Says We’ve Been Overcomplicating the Big Bang

Marvel Might Have Finally Dealt With One of the Most Hated ‘Spider-Man’ Characters Around

China Is Trying to Grow New Forests in This Notorious Mega-Desert. It’s Working

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

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?