Reviews

Lumia 900 Gallery

Nikon D800 Review: A Major HD Upgrade, But Is It the Best DSLR For the Money?

The Nikon D700 was the last great pre-video DSLR. It was an excellent and very boring camera. Nikon’s newest, a $3,000 body called the D800, introduces two major features: HD video and a 36-megapixel sensor. That sensor is what’s on everybody’s mind. Studio photographers will love its rich details, and for the hack on the…

Apple TV 2012 Review: Can You Hear Blu-ray’s Death Rattle?

You can now buy a $100 box that streams a large catalog of available-to-anyone video that’s nearly as high-fidelity as Blu-ray. The Apple TV is not the first blow to video on discs, but it definitely hit a vein. Why It Matters In terms of an overall, pants-on-couch experience, the Apple TV is still the…

Easy-fied iPad Reviews For Very Stupid People

Do you hate reading as much as we do? It’s so frustrating to have to use language made from signifiers placed together in a grammatically correct fashion! Most of the new iPad reviews drone on and on for hundreds or thousands of words, poring over specs and details and stuff. Too much reading! And, like,…

Battleground Lightning Review: Political Science/Fiction

First Netflix debuted its so-so Norwegian comedy-drama Lilyhammer. Today brings us Hulu’s original series response: Battleground, a well-timed political ‘dramedy’ (ugh) that takes us behind the scenes of a fictional Wisconsin Senate campaign. It’s very almost good! https://gizmodo.com/lilyhammer-lightning-review-netflix-series-on-thin-ice-5882840 What Is It? An original, scripted series from Hulu that follows the plucky campaign staff of an…

PlayStation Vita Review: You Don’t Need Another Beautiful Smart Gadget

The PSP never exploded. The Nintendo 3DS is a letdown. Now it’s 2012, and Sony has the chance for a clean start that’ll put console-caliber games in your bag. It does—but does a pocketable console really make sense anymore? Why It Matters The point of the Game Gear, Game Boy, DS, and everything else that’s…

Lilyhammer Lightning Review: Netflix Series on Thin Ice

Netflix made its first foray into original content today with the streaming of Lilyhammer, an eight-episode series that follows a mobster’s undercover adventures in Norway. Its trailer was promising! The actual show? Less so. https://gizmodo.com/the-trailer-for-the-first-netflix-original-series-is-re-5872631 What Is It? It’s the first original, scripted Netflix series, and part of the company’s move to win subscribers despite…

Artful Winemaker Lightning Review: How I Learned to Love Cheap Wine in 28 Days

I’ve been interested in home brewing for a while, but the price, space, and involvement needed has always been off-putting. The Artful Winemaker, however, puts the brewing process on auto-pilot. What Is It? The Artful Winemaker is an all-in-one home wine-fermenting kit. Who’s it For? Wine lovers who want to try their hand at making…

Panasonic Lumix GX1 Review: This Is Why Micro Four Thirds Cameras Exist

The Panasonic GF1 helped convince a lot of photographers that a compact shooter could feel delightfully professional. The Lumix DMC-GX1 is Panasonic’s most evolved Micro Four Thirds camera yet, and it delivers huge on that promise—but is it enough? Why It Matters The Panasonic GX1 represents three years of iteration on Micro Four Thirds cameras,…

Monster Gratitude Headphones Lightning Review: Shining Stars You Can’t Take Anywhere

Beats by Dre are great for listening to hip hop and looking cool around the city. But if you’re not into their bottom-heavy sound, you’re left out of the party. What Is It? These are in-ear headphones tuned to the specifications of Earth, Wind, & Fire, so they’re designed for a big brassy band with…

The Best Reviews of the Year

A lot of gadgets come across our desks, but we try to review only the ones that matter the absolute most—good, bad, or buggy. Here’s a rundown of some of the best reviews we wrote this year. 1. iPhone 4S Review The iPhone 4S is the best phone you can buy right now. That’s been…

Zeo Mobile Is a Delight to Sleep With

I’m tired. I’m old and I’m groggy and mentally slow. I don’t get enough exercise, or family time, and I’m sick too often. I don’t perform my best at work, or anywhere else, and I’m grumpy when I don’t mean to be and it’s all largely because I’m so damn tired. Next year, I want…

HTC Titan Review: I Want To Hate You, Giant Phone, But I Love You

A four-point-se-ven-inch smartphone. It sounds grotesque. It sounds like a distended, bloated mess of plastic and pixels, the Tsar Bomba of the bigger-is-better smartphone era. But the HTC Titan is wonderful. Why It Matters Windows Phone has been an outstanding mobile OS, obscured by a glossy black parade of lame, uninspiring hardware. So. Many. Generic.…

Jawbone UP Review: A Potentially Wonderful Thing That You Should Not Buy (Updated)

The Jawbone Up is everything I ever wanted in a fitness tracker. Because it’s a bracelet, it’s always with me. It goes everywhere, it’s positively ambient, and ridiculously fun. That’s great. Don’t buy it. Without a big fix, it’s garbage. Some bands have a tendency to fail. They just stop working. The one I tested…

Pioneer S-DJ05 Monitors—This Is What Awesome Sounds Like

Making music, mixing beats, tweaking demo tapes—if you do any of these on your computer you’ll want to give the S-DJ05’s a listen. What Is It? A pair of pro-quality speakers for serious studio work. Who’s it For? DJ’s, music producers hoping to be the next Kanye West and need some solid monitors to compensate…

Cirago BTA 7300 Lightning Review—Boom! Instant Connectivity

Getting my geriatric laptop to play with whichever Wi-Fi network I’m using is always an adventure. Almost as fun as trying to pair my wireless headphones with the machine’s non-existent Bluetooth connection. If only there were a single dongle to do both—easily. O Hai! What Is It? A wireless networking dongle that brings both Bluetooth…

Victorinox Presentation Master Multitool: Because Even James Bond Uses PowerPoint Sometimes

They’re called “trade secrets” for a reason. And if the competition gets their hands on your company’s IP because you drunkenly left it in a bar, you’ll need stringent security to keep them from peeping—like the Victorinox Presentation Master’s 256-bit AES encryption. It’s a Swiss Army Knife on loan from MI6. What Is It? The…

Victorinox Presentation Master Gallery

The Victorinox Presentation Master The USB 2.0 drive is fully removable from the chassis The Class II laser is activated by pressing the Swiss Shield logo The Presentation Master vs. A Quarter The Bluetooth controls—one Up button and one Down button. What more do you want?

Kindle Fire Review: The iPad Finally Has Serious Competition

The Kindle Fire is stuck between e-ink minimalism and gleaming iPad decadence. That could either make it the goofy middle child in the tablet family, or a singular wunderkind. But the Fire will not be overlooked. Apple: Be afraid. Why it matters Amazon isn’t just a bookstore. Nor is it a music store, shoe store,…

In Immortals, you’ll upskirt the gods — and you’ll like it

Filmmaker Tarsem Singh can make slaughtering animals look pretty, so imagine what he can do with genuinely pretty things. You’ll have your answer when you see Immortals this weekend. This flick truly embodies the gorgeous excess of the Greek myths it retells, filling the screen with beautiful people in sumptuous robes, swirling arcs of magic…