Sam Biddle, Author at Gizmodo

An iPhone Can Tell What You’re Typing

In the near future, you might have more to worry about than someone looking over your shoulder—the smartphone beside you could be snooping on what you type. Scientists have programmed phones to spy by feeling. Incredible. New Scientist reports that the method, although requiring a lot of tweaking before it’s a viable spy toy, can…

Tech News Sam Biddle

An Amazing Robot Sailboat that Kills Oil Spills

Recovering from an oil disaster isn’t just horrific to endure—it’s massively difficult and massively expensive to soak it all up. But what if we didn’t need an army of oil-wiping humans? What about cleaning boats that sail themselves? Motherboard follows Cesar Harada, formerly of MIT, who left the university after the petroleum nightmare of BP.…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Dropbox Was Almost in iCloud

iCloud’s here—useful, without a revolution. But Forbes tells us it could have been something more, had Steve Jobs gotten his way with an $800 million buyout of Dropbox. Hell froze over and he didn’t. But what if? https://gizmodo.com/icloud-review-not-quite-magical-yet-5848884 According to Forbes’ Victoria Barret, Jobs was rebuffed by the scrappy startup’s founder, even with that boatload…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Dubai Is Star Wars

Dubai shrouded in fog. The Atlantic’s Alexis Madrigal puts it perfectly: “I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a city look more like ‘the future’ than this one at this moment.” All that’s missing is Lando Calrissian. Urban consultant Noah Raford tweeted this pic while on a trip to Dubai, high above the haze. All…

Tech News Sam Biddle

There’s No Such Thing as the Color Pink

Want to have your brain blown for a few minutes today? Dip your head in some physics, and realize that there’s no such thing as pink. Scientifically speaking, that is: it’s just something our brain makes up. MinutePhysics puts it in predictably concise terms: all colors correspond to wavelengths of light. But there’s no wavelength…

Physics & Chemistry Sam Biddle

Turn Your Micro Four Thirds Camera Into a Lo-Fi Monster

We totally dig Micro Four Thirds gear—it’s compact, shoots killer pics, and more often than not sports some neat progressive design. But what if you don’t want DSLRish quality? What about the opposite? Let’s take some warped masterpieces. It may look like a toy, but Photojojo’s Micro Four Thirds lo-fi transformer sports a nice glass…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Why Is Apple Spending Only 2 Percent of Its Money on Research and Development?

Apple is filthy rich. It sold four million phones in three days. It’s worth more than Exxon. It’s got a staggering stockpile of cash, just sitting around. So why does it spend merely 2.2 percent of revenue on cooking concepts? https://gizmodo.com/iphone-4s-sells-4-million-in-one-weekend-5850408 ZDNet reports Apple’s R&D funding is miles behind competitors like Google and Microsoft, who…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Find My Friends Destroys Its First Marriage

Foursquare might be the kind of locational social networking, but is it breaking up couples? Probably not! Find My Friends, on the other hand, allegedly pinpointed one man’s unfaithful spouse, caught in her sordid Google Maps lie. Here’s the future! MAJOR INTERNET CAVEAT: MacRumor forums member Thomas Metz might be making all of this up.…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Watch the iPhone 4S Shoot Video Almost as Well as a $3000 DSLR (Updated: More Amazingness)

We know the iPhone 4S is a killer still camera—perhaps its greatest selling point—but how about video? Do the new guts and 1080p bump make a big difference? Yes. A giant yes. See just how amazing for yourself. This perfectly-synced test, which used a special bit of rigging to align both the 4S and a…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Researchers Say FCC’s Flawed Radiation Testing Ignores Child Phone Danger

Almost half a year since the WHO deemed cellphones possibly carcinogenic, a group of scientists say the US government’s in-house testing obscured serious radiation dangers, ABC News reports. Why? The FCC uses a 6-foot-2, 220-pound model as the average American. https://gizmodo.com/cellphones-deemed-possibly-carcinogenic-by-worlds-lea-5807049 Background radiation exposure increases cancer risks in anyone, but still-developing children are acutely more…

Health Sam Biddle

iPhone 4S Sells 4 Million in One Weekend

Remember how bummed everyone was about The New iPhone being a 4S and not a 5? Well they must not have been that upset: Apple just sold an impossible four million in three days—double the iPhone 4’s record. These are extraordinary numbers, especially given that the phone’s not even fully rolled-out: you can only buy…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Tireless Samsung Wants iPhone 4S Ban in Japan and Australia

Quixotic patent commando Samsung continues its doomed crusade against Apple, pushing for more national bans against the sale of the iPhone 4S. This time? Japan and Australia, where Sammy’s lawyers say Apple’s stealing mobile tech. This is getting sad. https://gizmodo.com/samsung-already-trying-to-ban-the-iphone-5-5841630 According to the WSJ and FOSS Patents, Samsung’s crying foul over Apple’s elements of 3G…

Tech News Sam Biddle

iPhone 4S Test Notes: Asking Siri for Sex and Drugs

After a little while it gets boring asking Siri to text people and convert gallons to quarts. It’s been a long day. I’m a little delirious. Help me, Siri. God, just help me. It can’t get me drugs. It can’t understand my need. But at least it’ll tell me what it’s wearing without any questions.…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Ugh. God. Why Is Apple Making Everything Look Like an Ugly Wild West?

Yeee-haw, Apple buckaroos! Whooz ready for some good timin’, multitaskin’? Who wants their iPhone served up with a hot bucket’a grits? HOOOOOOOOOOO BOY. Jonny Ive’s deep in the hooch pan again? Saddle up, grab yer partner, and let’s make some truck-ugly apps! Apple’s UI design has, for a long time, subtly mimicked reality—the brushed metal…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Watch Two Siris Confuse the Hell Out of Each Other

We’re finding Siri—smart as she/he/it is—has some trouble understanding us mere mortals. But what about two formidable AIs matched against one another? They converse like two mental patients. It’s not a fair test of Siri’s abilities—she was designed to help Flesh Creatures, not other digital brains! I felt bad for the two of them, sent…

Tech News Sam Biddle and Woody Jang

iPhone 4S Test Notes: Browser Benchmarks (Versus the Fastest Android Phones)

The iPhone 4S is faster than the iPhone 4. How much faster? And how much faster than its non-Apple kin? We did some benchmark bench pressing to find out. Feel the burn! First, some synthetic benchmarks, courtesy of Sunspider. How fast could these phones crush JavaScript? We tested each phone on the same Wi-Fi network,…

Tech News Sam Biddle

iCloud Review: Not Quite Magical (Yet)

Cloud is a magic tech word today. “i” has been a golden prefix in tech for over a decade. iCloud, the holiest union of the two, could be the future of computing. For now? It’s super convenient! But that’s it. https://gizmodo.com/icloud-is-a-bigger-deal-than-you-think-its-the-future-5848834 Why It Matters All cloud everything is computing’s future. All of your stuff stored…

Reviews Sam Biddle

Even Samsung’s Lawyers Can’t Tell the Difference Between Its Tablet and an iPad

Apple says Samsung’s blatantly ripped off its device designs. Not true, Samsung replies! Too bad its lawyer blew that argument harder than a hydrogen bomb blowjob: they couldn’t tell the difference between a Galaxy Tab and iPad. In court. Reuters reports the horrific embarrassment: when a Samsung attorney was asked by U.S. District Judge Lucy…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Windows 8’s Task Manager Is Surprisingly Awesome (Updated)

Task Manager! Not exactly a nerve-stimulating tech term. In fact, it’s a pretty dreaded area—the window you poke around in when your PC’s in crisis. Part of the headache is poor design. Not anymore. Windows 8’s looks stellar. Microsoft has stripped away all the insane, obscure bullshit. No more dizzying cascade of ASusUSAUDNHOST.exe. No more…

Tech News Sam Biddle

These New Night Vision Helmets for F-35 Pilots Are Insane Looking

What happens when the extremely expensive helmet you cooked up for the extremely expensive F-35 doesn’t, uh, work? You strap together a new one in a hurry. This wicked looking replacement was gutted and filled with crazy killer optics. https://gizmodo.com/f-35-helmet-display-system-to-scare-the-bejeezus-out-of-260482 The original helmet was supposed to do some pretty insane things, DefenseTech reports, like give…

Tech News Sam Biddle

Sam Biddle

An iPhone Can Tell What You’re Typing

An Amazing Robot Sailboat that Kills Oil Spills

Dropbox Was Almost in iCloud

Dubai Is Star Wars

There’s No Such Thing as the Color Pink

Turn Your Micro Four Thirds Camera Into a Lo-Fi Monster

Why Is Apple Spending Only 2 Percent of Its Money on Research and Development?

Find My Friends Destroys Its First Marriage

Watch the iPhone 4S Shoot Video Almost as Well as a $3000 DSLR (Updated: More Amazingness)

Researchers Say FCC’s Flawed Radiation Testing Ignores Child Phone Danger

iPhone 4S Sells 4 Million in One Weekend

Tireless Samsung Wants iPhone 4S Ban in Japan and Australia

iPhone 4S Test Notes: Asking Siri for Sex and Drugs

Ugh. God. Why Is Apple Making Everything Look Like an Ugly Wild West?

Watch Two Siris Confuse the Hell Out of Each Other

iPhone 4S Test Notes: Browser Benchmarks (Versus the Fastest Android Phones)

iCloud Review: Not Quite Magical (Yet)

Even Samsung’s Lawyers Can’t Tell the Difference Between Its Tablet and an iPad

Windows 8’s Task Manager Is Surprisingly Awesome (Updated)

These New Night Vision Helmets for F-35 Pilots Are Insane Looking

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 the 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?