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Microsoft Sued, Zune Owner Claims Ear Damage

A man who allegedly received an electric shock from his Zune headphones has filed a lawsuit against Microsoft. Joel Geddis received the shock in November of 2006, and since then he has suffered “blood and fluid leakage from (his) ear canal” and “incessant ringing and discomfort.” [Sorry West Coast lunchers!] This news comes days after…

Iran Goes to Space with First Successful Satellite Launcher Test

Early this morning Iran launched its first rocket into space. It was part of a test of a satellite launcher that will soon send Iran’s first satellite into space sometime next year. You can hear a countdown and see the rocket zooming up into the sky in this clip from local TV. In an odd…

Intel Doubles Capacity of Phase-Change Memory, the Next Step After Flash

Sure, its exciting to see flash memory drop in price and increase in capacity, but flash isn’t the end-all-be-all. In fact, we already know what it’ll be replaced by before it’s even become the de facto standard: phase-change memory. And Intel just figured out how to double the capacity of phase-change memory, shortening flash’s lifespan…

Animal-Cyborg Soccer Slaves Of 2178

This new ad for Puma’s v1.08 soccer boot freaks me out. In the year 2178, soccer players will have their legs ripped off and replaced with weird cyber-horse legs, so they can trot around and do kangaroo jumps for the amusement of their beer-swilling orthohuman masters. Until then, the ad says, the closest you can…

Grow Your Own Genetically-Engineered Bacteria

Want to make the goo in a petri dish spell out the words “Hello World”? Now you can. Biopunk provocateur Quinn Norton is writing a five-part series for O’Reilly Radar about how you can start hacking yourself and your friends for fun (and, occasionally, profit). If her excellent introduction to biohacking isn’t enough for you,…

Cablevision’s Crazy New VOD Scheme: Send You the DVD Too

Same-day movies on demand isn’t a new offering from cable providers. But Cablevision’s new setup is entirely different, and just a little weird. You pay 10 or 16 or 20 bucks (depending on freshness) to watch the flick the same day it hits DVD, and then Cablevision sends the DVD to you in the mail.…

Vudu Test Confirms HD Download Worries (Plus: What Needs to Be Done)

Click to viewOver the weekend, I checked out three versions of the Transformers movie: standard-def and high-def instantaneous downloads to the Vudu box with 4-Mbps net connection, as well as the HD DVD of the movie, playing through the Xbox 360. As you can see in the image above, the so-called HD experience from Vudu…

New and Improved Android SDK On The Way

The official Android developer blog says that a new and improved version of the Android SDK is on the way. According to Quang Nguyen, the new SDK will feature “UI and API enhancements” among other things. It’s good to know Google has its ear to the tech world after reports that the initial SDK was…

Straight from the Department of the Highly Unlikely, the Scotsman (what’s that?) reports that Apple may make a bid for Yahoo, the hottest company on the block. Hey, the Giants won the Super Bowl, I guess anything can happen. [Scotsman via MacRumors] https://gizmodo.com/yahoo-considering-google-alliance-hitlers-pills-352177

The Truth Behind the V Franchise

We mentioned earlier that V might be heading back to television. The big news is that the book that could inspire this V resurgence will hit store shelves tomorrow. But how well to you remember this show and its creator? Creator Kenneth Johnson gave us the original Bionic Woman, and we all know how that…

Lumenlab Q42 HDTV and PC Chimera Now Shipping

Honestly, I still don’t get the appeal of this thing: It’s a computer crammed inside of an HDTV. Woohoo. But Lumenlab’s Q42 is now priced and shipping for those interested in the hot hybrid action: $3850, which isn’t stroke-inducing, but definitely more than buying each separately. But hey, it’s handmade. [Lumenlab via Crave] https://gizmodo.com/lumenlab-q42-the-hybrid-hdtv-and-pc-311392

20 Million Digital Photo Frames to be Sold to 20 Million Tacky Idiots in 2008

It’s official: you people have no taste. How else to explain that 20 million digital photo frames are expected to be sold in 2008? Yes, 20,000,000 digital photo frames, the red-headed stepchildren of the consumer electronics world, will soon adorn the walls of McMansions in every backwater suburb in the country. https://gizmodo.com/ten-reasons-were-doomed-ces-edition-342495 There’s no amount…

More Jive-Dancing Action With Spider-Man’s Funky Parasite

Venom, the alien creature that latched on to Peter Parker in Spider-Man 3, will get his own solo movie. No word yet whether Topher Grace will be back as Eddie Brock, the guy who replaced Peter as the monster’s host. Not to mention whether there’ll be more alien-induced dancing and piano playing. But Marvel, which…

Alien Lizards Are Making A Comeback

Is it time to bring back V? In 1983 we had the two-part miniseries called V, then the following year they gave us V: The Final Battle, which spawned a TV series called, appropriately enough V: The Series. But it’s been 20 years since we’ve heard from those reptilian alien invaders who pretend to be…

Historic Western Art — With Aliens

Nothing like a few aliens to spice up the history of Western art. Breda O’Donoghue takes classic art by famous Western artists like Michelangelo (above), Matisse and Frida Kahlo, replaces some of the key characters in the piece with aliens, and redraws them. Because it’s so much more interesting when man is reaching into the…

New Battlestar Season Four Promos

Chief Tyrol says this is not his beautiful life, while Admiral Adama is struggling to hold on to the things he believes in. And Baltar is tired of being afraid and ready to stand and fight. Those are just a few of the awesome insights you’ll glean from these new promo clips for Battlestar Galactica…

TV This Week: A Virus Turns Men Into Psycho Killers

Finding worthwhile science fiction on television is definitely more challenging than it should be in sweeps month, thanks to a certain writers’ strike. Luckily, our AI has scoured the TV listings in search of all the coolest new SF programming, including a new science fictional episode of anthology series Masters of Horror, some cool movies…

Super Tuesday Tech Special: Republican Edition

Click to viewTomorrow is Super Tuesday, meaning that from among the three Republican candidates (four if you count good ol’ Ron Paul), a Republican presidential candidate should emerge. Since we’re most interested in how the candidates stand on technology matters, we’ve presented them below. Now, we’re not going to pretend that this batch is super…

Super Tuesday Tech Special: Democratic Edition

Click to viewThe Super Tuesday primaries are tomorrow. If you’re voting in a Democratic contest, the choice is down to Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. If you still haven’t decided who will get your vote, fear not, because we’ve broken down the candidates on the issues that matter most to us: their tech policies. If…

What You Missed Last Weekend

Too busy to drop in on Giz over the weekend? It’s OK, we understand. We get your hectic lifestyle, and we’re prepared to work things out with you. We forgive you. Here’s what you missed: • We learned the Maxblaster kills vampires. • Steve shoved a kid inside a Macbook. • Jedi Ginsu knife. Enough…