editorial

Here’s Why Roku Has A Chance To Win The Streaming Wars

The single best reason to buy a Roku? You’re looking at it. Roku is the only streaming media box that does all the comparison shopping for you. Why pay $3 to rent a movie when you can stream it with your existing Netflix plan, or on Crackle for free? And soon, Roku’s comparison shopping will…

Your New Galaxy S6 Will Have a Built-In Expiration Date

Your smartphone’s battery life won’t last forever. Today, your digital companion might work all day long, then party late into the evening—but a year from now, you’ll almost certainly have depleted a substantial portion of its capacity. What happens when your phone no longer lasts the day? Time to replace the battery! But with Samsung’s…

Mirrors Are Going Extinct

I’m willing to bet that in the near future, we will live in a world without mirrors. Yes, it sounds absurd. But hear me out. When I change lanes, I no longer use my right-hand mirror to check if I’m about to smash into a passing vehicle. Most of the time, I don’t look out…

Dell Is Back

Dell is the company building the most interesting computers right now. Dell is making computers interesting again, period. Who would have thought? Feast your eyes on the gorgeous tablet in the picture above. Then take a peek at the sleek laptop below. Those barely-there bezels. That premium ultrathin construction. They came from Dell. They’re not…

What To Do When It All Goes Wrong

Visiting dangerous places, leaving cell signal behind, traveling by yourself and just generally taking risks? Well, guess what? At some point, it’s going to go badly for you. Likely when you least expect it. Here’s what I’ve learned about self rescue. Right now, I’m planning a backpacking trip over the Christmas break. Me, Ty, Wiley…

The Golden Age of Motorola

I don’t trust brands. You shouldn’t either. But right now, you can’t go wrong with a Motorola smartphone. Do you know how rare it is I can say that about a company? My job is to make sure you know which specific gadgets are worth your time and money, not to make blanket statements like…

The Best Device For Reading Is Still the Phone In Your Pocket

For long-time book lovers, reading on an electronic device can be disorienting experience. The most obvious choice for those going down the e-book path is a device like the Kindle, completely and utterly dedicated to emulating the traditional experience of reading. I’ve been seduced by the promise of an e-reader many-a-time, but I always find…

My First Kindle: I Finally Stopped Multitasking and Got Lost in a Novel

Still don’t have an e-reader? I can respect that. Physical books just feel better. Print is sacred. I’m with you—or at least I was, until our reviews editor thrust a Kindle in my hand and made me use it. Amazon has just updated its bare-bones, entry-level Kindle to finally include touchscreen navigation like phones and…

The Sony Z3 Compact Is Android’s Best Kept Secret

Small and powerful smartphones are an endangered species, like the California Condor of the mobile world. If you want a top-tier phone that fits in a normal hand, the iPhone 6 is practically your only stateside option. But you know what? An exotic handset designed for Japan and Europe could have everything you’ve ever craved.…

The $800 Camera I Didn’t Use To Share My Hawaiian Vacation Photos

My wife loves technology. Hell, she spotted the job posting that landed me my first tech writing gig. She also loves sharing snapshots with friends. So when I told her that the Sony RX100 IIIcould sling amazing selfies to Instagram with a tap of her phone, she was understandably stoked. When we packed our bags…

​What’s Wrong With Survival Television

What’s wrong with learning to start a fire with sticks or drinking your urine in an emergency? Stuff like that makes great TV, but piss poor survival advice that’s misleading and potentially downright dangerous. They aren’t realistic survival scenarios: On Discovery’s popular show “Naked and Afraid,” moderately attractive people take their clothes off, then spend…

​Boy Scouts Made Me The Man I Am Today, Here’s How

It’s been 15 years since I was a Boy Scout and, by all accounts, I’m now a grown ass man. But, the impact the organization had on my life is still evident in my daily life. Here’s how. That’s me, turned sideways in the front row above. Boy Scouts Taught Me To Shoot: Late last…

​Why Google’s Self-Driving Car Will Fail

Gee whiz, a self-driving car! Who wouldn’t want one of those? Well, if you look at what it’s trying to achieve, it’s not actually a great idea. Here’s why. Google says it’s made the Self-Driving Car for one major reason: safety. By removing the most incompetent link in the car chain — the human operator…

Esquire editor Ryan D’Agostino will be taking over as Editor-in-Chief at Popular Mechanics in a few weeks. Godspeed Ryan, we can’t wait to see what you do with it!

Editorial for iOS: A Better, Automated Way to Edit Text on Your iPad

Editing text on your iPad is never exactly an ideal situation, but if for whatever reason, you absolutely must, you might as well make the process as automated and painless as possible. That’s what Editorial hopes to do. https://gizmodo.com/find-the-best-ios-text-editor-for-you-with-this-insanel-5898681 What does it do? All the basic things you’d want from a text editor (like, you…

Don’t send bugs to Mars

A plan to send live microbes to the Red Planet’s largest moon risks wrecking our search for extraterrestrial life, argues Barry E. DiGregorio. We humans have a unique talent for contaminating pristine environments. We put millions of tonnes of pollutants into the atmosphere every year. We poison our soils, lakes, rivers and streams with chemical…

How Harmonix Is Tricking Lazy Gamers Into Learning Real Instruments

For years, musicians have mocked those of us holding plastic guitars. Fair enough—but we had fun! But with Rock Band 3, we learn what Harmonix was up to all along: Actually teaching us how to play real instruments. With complex game design coupled with increasingly detailed peripherals, Harmonix has reimagined not only the nature of…

It’s Not About the iPhone

A month ago, the world saw Apple as equal parts North Pole and KGB—unpredictably innovative and notoriously secretive, they were a force wielded by nothing less than magic. Then, an elf got loose. A month ago, Cupertino was a sacred land of living hyperbole. Journey long enough across its infinite loop, and you may run…

Did Apple Sucker Us With iPad Rush Shipping?

If you ordered your iPad by March 27th with expedited shipping, you should receive your iPad by April 3rd. If you ordered your iPad by March 27th with normal shipping, you should receive your iPad by April 3rd. Wait, what?? I know I’m not the only one. A few weeks back while placing my iPad…

Does WiMax Matter in a Phone?

We already know 4G data is going to be good in getting massloads of data to your laptops on the go, but how good is it for phones? For example, is Sprint’s upcoming HTC WiMax phone going to be useful? https://gizmodo.com/giz-explains-why-wimax-and-lte-wireless-4g-data-will-b-5168035 Yes and no. Mostly yes. Here are some reason why (and why not) WiMax…