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Next-Gen Ultrabooks Will Feature Nuance Voice Recognition

It’s well-known that Intel is keen for the next swathe of ultrabooks to feature touchscreens. But it also has another wish for the future of svelte computing: it’s teaming up with Nuance to outfit upcoming ultrabooks with voice recognition technology. https://gizmodo.com/what-would-you-do-with-a-touchscreen-ultrabook-5939281 Pocket-lint reports that Intel has announced that a new voice assistant, called Nuance Dragon…

You can now stream 458 archived John Peel radio shows, recorded between 1967 and 2004, online. Rock on. [SevenStreets]

WSJ’s Exclusive Project Glass Trial: Promising, But Disorienting and Uncomfortable

While there’s been no end of speculation about Google’s Project Glass, nobody’s actually had chance to try the technology out independently—until now. The Wall Street Journal’s Spencer Ante was lucky enough to try a pair of the glasses out for 10 minutes, and his verdict is mixed. He explains that the glasses weigh just a…

Jupiter Has Taken a Massive Meteor Hit (So Earth Didn’t Have To)

On Monday, Jupiter took a massive hit from a meteor, which was spotted by amateur astronomers based in the US—and if previous evidence is anything to go by, it could have saved Earth from a massive collision in the process. Dan Peterson of Racine, Wisconsin, was gazing at Jupiter on Monday when he saw a…

Last-Minute Apple Leaks: Lightning Connectors, Earpod Headphones and 2 GB iPod Shuffles

9to5mac is reporting some last-minute leaks ahead of the Apple event later today. Chief amongst them are that the iPod’s new connection will be named “Lightning”—presumably to complement Thunderbolt—and a reaffirmation that the company will launch a new set of headphones to be known as “Earpods”. https://gizmodo.com/the-next-iphones-rumored-foolproof-dock-connector-5935305 There are no new speculative details about the…

Galaxy S3 owners rejoice: Samsung has announced you’ll be getting a Jelly Bean update in October. Sweet. [CNET]

The Rich Cats of Instagram: They’re Real, and They’re Spectacular

First there were the Rich Kids of Instagram, who were perfectly annoying in their own louche, lazy way. Poppin’ bottles on the beach. Private jets. Prepubescence. The Worst People Ever to Use Instagram. https://gizmodo.com/these-are-the-worst-people-to-ever-use-instagram-updat-5926974 The Rich Cats of Instagram are here now, and they’re a purrrrfect domesticated internet antidote to their trustafarian predecessors. These cats…

Why It Is About to Get a Lot More Difficult to Produce Counterfeit Cash

A team of scientists led by Jon Kellar at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology have come up with a special QR code—using nanoparticles combined with blue and green fluorescent ink—that can be used to prevent counterfeiters from getting away with passing along forged cash. The code is designed with standard computer-aided design…

Sony A99: This Badass Pro DSLR Is Designed Like a Sports Car Instead of a Monster Truck

Most haggard old pros gave their souls up to Nikon and Canon long ago. Too bad for them because the Sony a99 is the kind of DSLR the pros of the future might be looking for: Small, fast, and furious. Like the a99’s natural competitors the Canon 5D Mark III and the Nikon D800, it’s…

Sony RX1: The First Full-Frame Point-and-Shoot Camera (Which Is as Crazy/Genius as It Sounds)

Today we met Sony’s new flagship DSLR, the a99: A professional-grade, full-frame sensor camera that gives all the rest a run for their money. With that in mind, we’ll just call the Sony Cyber-Shot RX1 “Honey I Shrank the Full-Frame”. Yes, it’s freaking crazy. It’s potentially brilliant too. https://gizmodo.com/sony-a99-this-badass-pro-dslr-is-designed-like-a-sport-5942479 Here’s the thing about the Sony…

Sony NEX-6: Inexpensive, Compact, Slick Handling—The Perfect DSLR Compromise?

Sony’s been grinding on compact, interchangeable-lens cameras: It’s got three different lines (NEX 3, 5, 7) going at different price points, and they’re all spectacular. The Sony NEX 6 is the latest for everyone who loves using the high-end NEX-7 but hates the price. What you’re looking at here is the same image quality and…

The Stoner Channel: South America’s Swanky Smugglin Subs, Mexico’s Blame Game, and Muddy Waters’ Blues Summit

Smoking Pot Could Cause Ball Rot According to a recent study from the University of Southern California, South Park may have had it backwards. They found that men who habitually toked were roughly twice as likely to develop testicular cancer than those that didn’t. Granted, this was a small scale study, interviewing 165 men who…

Is a Combo iPhone Case/Wallet a Great Idea or a Terrible Mistake?

Either you lose everything—phone, keys, wallet—all at once. Or, you never lose any of them because, at any given point, you are using one such feature… and so the other two will always be accounted for as well. Image via Apple Store

In this week’s comics, Walt Simonson draws Batman and xenomorphs

What comic book debuts are on the stands tomorrow? First off, DC Comics releases their new anti-superhero espionage book Team 7, which stars a motley selection of characters from across the DC and Wildstorm universes: As Superman emerges, so too does the world’s counter measures against him and his kind! Dinah Lance, Amanda Waller, Steve…

The Undercover Story of How Someone Infiltrated Foxconn to See How They Make the iPhone 5

A reporter from the Shanghai Evening Post pretended to be a new worker at the Foxconn Tai Yuan factory to get an insider’s look at how the factory is going to make the next iPhone 5. He spent a total of 10 days inside and spilled the undercover story of what goes on in the…

So-Called “Evernote for Women” Is Happening, Because Ladies Need Their Internet Pink and Simple

Evernote offers a pretty excellent family of products. Even as a woman*, I can affirm this. Skitch, in particular, is a personal favorite. You’ll see us use Skitch on photos in posts here on Gizmodo pretty regularly. https://gizmodo.com/your-nasty-nerdy-sexism-isnt-cute-5935440 Which is why the idea of an “Evernote for Women” seems, to me, completely ridiculous and unnecessary…

Watch an Awesome Man in a Wheelchair Build a Helicopter from Trash

This short documentary by Tyler Bastian, Trevor Hill, Tim Skousen and Cameron Trejo is called Everything is Incredible and well, it’s pretty freaking incredible. It’s about a man named Agustín from Honduras who can’t walk, lives in poverty yet still wants to fulfill a dream: to fly. He spends his days making a helicopter from…

Kindle Fire HD Review: Everything a Tablet Should Be—And Not Much More

In some ways, the idea of the first Kindle Fire was more impressive than the product itself. It was a $200 tablet that actually worked. That alone was mind-blowing. But after Google’s Nexus 7 bombshell—and the iPad Mini looming—Amazon has to do more than cut costs this time. The Fire HD has to shine. What…

Here’s the One Thing I Want to See at Apple’s iPhone 5 Event (Spoiler: A Steve Jobs Hologram)

Too bad Digital Domain, the company who made the Tupac hologram, is going bankrupt because seeing a Steve Jobs hologram at tomorrow’s iPhone 5 event would be the best One More Thing… ever. Seriously, just watch this humorous video to see what a rapping Steve Jobs hologram would look like. http://gawker.com/5942365/company-behind-tupac-reagan-holograms-now-bankrupt As an aside, I…

And now, a cat sitting like a human. Y’know. Just thinkin’ about stuff.

Why? Because anthropomorphizing non-human animals is fun and useful. Yes, useful. There’s a reason humans love videos like this; after all, our tendency to project human qualities on animals stretches back well beyond the world’s first ridiculous cat photos. Some researchers even think that, without anthropomorphism, neither pet-keeping nor animal domestication would ever have been…