Gadgets

Rose Gold Is the Best Thing That’s Ever Happened to Tech and I Will Hear No Arguments

Call me a basic bitch all you want—and it’s true, I totally am—but I absolutely adore rose gold. In fact, if I’m being brutally honest, I think rose gold is the best thing that has ever happened to tech. It’s pretty simple, really. As you might have guessed, I love the color pink. Any pink…

Gadgets Christina Warren

How to Buy Second-Hand Tech Without Getting Ripped Off

There are some fantastic bargains to be had if you can live without the shiniest, newest gadgets—but diving into the second-hand market comes with its own set of potential pitfalls and problems. Saving some cash on tech that’s used or dated isn’t a new idea, but the landscape is changing all the time, as new…

Gadgets David Nield

How to Turn Your Smartphone Into an (Almost) Nintendo Switch

Nintendo’s questionable supply chain strategies mean there are still gamers trying to get their hands on a Switch, two months after its release. But why bother trying to hunt down another console when the smartphone in your pocket can already do almost everything the Switch can—with a few upgrades. https://gizmodo.com/nintendo-switch-review-plays-zelda-great-doesnt-do-mu-1792852009 You probably occasionally use your…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski

Genius Vacuum-Hating Dog Figured Out How to Turn Off Its Owner’s Roomba

Dogs are some of the most loving and affectionate pets you can own, but they do have one sworn enemy: vacuum cleaners. They’ll incessantly bark, or run and hide while you’re cleaning your floors. But one dog adapted to its owner’s Roomba wandering all over the house like it owns the place—it’s apparently learned how…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski

This Sick Video Drone Is the Future of Inescapable Advertising

Advertisers have found ways to bombard us with promotions no matter what we’re doing: watching TV, checking social media, and even when streaming music. But the future of advertising could be even more invasive when the next public event you attend is full of flying video drones projecting inescapable video everywhere you look. NTT Docomo,…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski

This Machine Makes It Easy for Libraries to Clean Thousands of Books

How often have you pulled a rarely needed book off your shelf and needed to blow a layer of dust off of it? Now imagine what libraries have to deal with, given the tens of thousands of tomes in their collections. But it turns out someone’s already invented a machine that cleans books like a…

Sploid Andrew Liszewski

One Great Groot, and One Creepy One, in the Best Toys We’ve Seen This Week

Welcome back to Toy Aisle, io9’s roundup of the most interesting toys we’ve seen this week. It’s a Guardians of the Galaxy blowout as we’ve got life-sized Groots, creepy plush Groots, and a fancy cassette player. But wait—there’s more, including a very swanky David Bowie figure and a very large Iron Man. Check it out!…

io9 James Whitbrook and Andrew Liszewski

Samsung Galaxy S8 Review: The Prettiest Phone Wins

With the exploding Note 7 battery fiasco, Samsung inadvertently did something that’s increasingly difficult these days: It made smartphones interesting for a flickering moment. Super interesting in fact. Besides the intriguing mournful saga of the Note 7, whose embarrassing recall cost the company billions, Samsung also set up a dramatic release narrative for the Galaxy…

Smartphones Mario Aguilar

Turn Your Expensive Smartphone Into a Tiny Antiquated Macintosh

After releasing a stand that turned the Apple Watch into a miniature Macintosh computer to sit on your bedside table while it charges, Elago has now essentially done the same thing for your iPhone with its M4 stand, which lets your phone cosplay as a vintage Apple computer that’s woefully underpowered in comparison. https://gizmodo.com/turn-your-apple-watch-into-a-tiny-macintosh-computer-wh-1790904556 Dressing…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski

This Ball-Balancing Segway Clone Uses Physics to Safely Scoot You Around

Was the Segway ahead of its time, or just an overhyped product that could have never lived up to the anticipation? Being pricier than a used car didn’t help the original Segway’s chances, but at least now, electrical engineer Olaf Winkler has solved that problem with a ball-based self-balancing scooter that features a thousand dollar…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski

This Fitness Tracker Wants to Tell You How Stressed You Are About Not Being Fit

Staying active is a big part of staying healthy, and that’s often the reason given for why you should wear a fitness tracker; they’re a constant reminder to get up off the couch. But stress can be just as detrimental to your health as sloth, so Garmin hopes its new vívosmart 3 will finally quantify…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski

Drones Built Like Squishy Bugs Won’t Break When They Crash

Like death and taxes, drone crashes are basically inevitable. Even experienced pilots aren’t immune to hardware failures or software problems. But instead of building drones stronger, or wrapping them in awkward safety cages, Swiss researchers have designed a flexible quadcopter that squishes when it crashes, minimizing the damage it takes. It’s another design innovation that…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski

Welcome to Toy Aisle, io9’s Weekly Round-Up of the Newest Toys and Collectibles

It’s never been a worse time for your wallet if you have a predilection for buying rad toys and pop culture merchandise. There are so many cool things around, io9 is starting Toy Aisle: a brand new weekly column of the best and newest toys and collectibles. We’re kicking off with a very fancy Spider-Gwen,…

io9 James Whitbrook and Andrew Liszewski

Guy Builds a Portable SNES That’s Basically the Switch’s Great-Great-Grandfather

It sounds like the best thing the new Nintendo Switch has going for it, at least at launch, is a new Legend of Zelda game. That makes it a hard sell, especially when this custom portable Super Nintendo already has a massive library of classic 16-bit games—most of which are probably collecting dust in your…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski

Ten Deliberately Stupid Inventions That Are Still Better Than Half of Kickstarter

Thanks to crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, the internet is flooded with ridiculous gadgets, devices that over-promise and under-deliver, and straight-up scams, all vying for your cash. Maybe that’s why this Stupid Hackathon, which encourages people to invent stupid things, is so refreshing—no one is desperately begging your for money. Organized by Sam Lavigne…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski

This RC Batmobile Has a Real Working Exhaust That Blows Smoke and Our Minds

The bad news is that we’re not going to get a new Batmobile with the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice sequel, Justice League. The good news is that Mattel has created a remote control version of Ben Affleck’s batride with so many features that could probably be used as a miniature replica in the…

io9 Andrew Liszewski

Pioneer’s New Lightning Earbuds Solve an Annoying iPhone Problem

After the initial outrage of Apple removing the headphone jack from the iPhone 7 died down, users not wanting to go wireless soon realized that using the phone’s Lightning port meant they could no longer charge while listening to music. Pioneer’s new Rayz Plus earbuds include a simple solution to that problem, but they’re still…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski

USB-C Power Meter Helps You Spot Counterfeit Accessories Before They Fry Your Gadgets

The promise of USB-C is great: One cable to connect all of your devices, laptops, tablets, smartphone. Unfortunately it comes with the big caveat that you might end up damaging your gear if you cheap out on a USB-C cable. But Satechi’s new Type-C Power Meter makes it easy to tell if your USB-C gadgets…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski

Salt Water Is All You Need to Power This Lamp for 80 Hours

Hurricanes, earthquakes, elected officials—there are plenty of legitimate reasons to prepare for the end of civilization as we know it, and if the world’s supply of batteries ever runs out, you’ll be glad you had this emergency LED lamp tucked away in your doomsday shelter. Instead of trying to dig up a fresh pair of…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski

SOG’s New Multitool Pens Are Mightier Than Swords

There’s nothing wrong with being prepared for the occasional emergency, and now that doesn’t involve mean walking around with a monstrous Leatherman multitool hanging off your belt. SOG has managed to pack similar functionality into a new line of pen-like multitools you can instead keep stashed away in a pocket protector. The SOG Baton Q1,…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski

Rose Gold Is the Best Thing That’s Ever Happened to Tech and I Will Hear No Arguments

How to Buy Second-Hand Tech Without Getting Ripped Off

How to Turn Your Smartphone Into an (Almost) Nintendo Switch

Genius Vacuum-Hating Dog Figured Out How to Turn Off Its Owner’s Roomba

This Sick Video Drone Is the Future of Inescapable Advertising

This Machine Makes It Easy for Libraries to Clean Thousands of Books

One Great Groot, and One Creepy One, in the Best Toys We’ve Seen This Week

Samsung Galaxy S8 Review: The Prettiest Phone Wins

Turn Your Expensive Smartphone Into a Tiny Antiquated Macintosh

This Ball-Balancing Segway Clone Uses Physics to Safely Scoot You Around

This Fitness Tracker Wants to Tell You How Stressed You Are About Not Being Fit

Drones Built Like Squishy Bugs Won’t Break When They Crash

Welcome to Toy Aisle, io9’s Weekly Round-Up of the Newest Toys and Collectibles

Guy Builds a Portable SNES That’s Basically the Switch’s Great-Great-Grandfather

Ten Deliberately Stupid Inventions That Are Still Better Than Half of Kickstarter

This RC Batmobile Has a Real Working Exhaust That Blows Smoke and Our Minds

Pioneer’s New Lightning Earbuds Solve an Annoying iPhone Problem

USB-C Power Meter Helps You Spot Counterfeit Accessories Before They Fry Your Gadgets

Salt Water Is All You Need to Power This Lamp for 80 Hours

SOG’s New Multitool Pens Are Mightier Than Swords

‘Invincible’ Season 4 Is Doing Right By Debbie

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

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

RAM Prices Are Threatening the Viability of the Raspberry Pi and Single-Board Computing

Michael B. Jordan’s First Post-Oscars Film Looks Way Cuter Than ‘Sinners’

LLMs Will Protect Each Other if Threatened, Study Finds

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

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