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As it struggles to expand its 4G LTE, AT&T is spending $1.9 billion in cash for unused spectrum from its biggest rival, Verizon. This upgrade will improve service for some 42 million people in 18 states thanks to an additional 39 700MHz licenses. This bodes well for AT&T’s ambition to offer 4G LTE to 270…
By its own account, the RIAA will submit 30 million link takedown requests to Google this week. Google will ultimately comply with most of them, but the RIAA wants more. Now Google’s fighting back against censorship with data. Google has been at odds with the recording industry’s mouthpiece for some time over links to illegal…
There’s an endless list of annoyances that make air travel unenjoyable, the least of which being the nonstop blaring airport announcements you have to endure while waiting for your flight. So hats off to a team of researchers from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland who’ve developed a filter that can make speech blasted over…
Chromebooks aren’t known for being the beefiest machines out there, but they’re getting some hot new guts. Google just dropped the news that there are Chromebooks on the way rocking Intel’s new 4th generation CPUs, bringing serious computing power and better battery life to the table. https://gizmodo.com/the-kickass-processors-that-will-power-your-next-comput-510668761 The upcoming 4th gen-powered Chromebooks will be coming…
A team at Disney Research recently developed some pretty amazing technology that lets you transmit sound through your fingertips. Some clever inventors way back in the 1920s had a similar (if decidedly more primitive) parlor trick. They called it the Talking Glove. https://gizmodo.com/incredible-disney-microphone-transmit-sounds-through-yo-1277291096 All you needed to make this magic glove contraption was a few…
Like every year, some shameless companies exploit the 9/11 anniversary with their alleged heartfelt tributes. It’s embarrassingly disgusting, from corporations to small business like this equine spa that shaved the towers on a horse’s butt. http://gawker.com/commemorating-9-11-on-a-horses-butt-1293717154 Or this terrible Tumbledown Trails golf course coupon: Have more? Post them in the comments. http://gawker.com/never-forget-pic-twitter-com-74br2rbl3a-at-t-att-s-1293984529
The anonymous, secure Tor network has always had a reputation as a place for botnets, porn kings, and drug dealers. “But it’s such an amazing tool for political dissidents, a way to escape the spying government!” you might think in the wake of this NSA debacle. Then again, first impressions are often correct. https://gizmodo.com/tor-the-anonymous-internet-and-if-its-right-for-you-1222400823 Such…
https://gizmodo.com/why-inflight-wi-fi-sucks-and-is-getting-more-expensive-5949085 Inflight Wi-Fi sucks, but it’s about to get a little better. Gogo just announced it’s going to start using satellites to make its in-air Wi-Fi speeds six times faster. Which is to say: usable. Up until now, Gogo Wi-Fi has been powered by Air-to-Ground spectrum Gogo bought up back in 2006, which gave it…
Yesterday, we saw Apple introduce a new plastic iPhone. Why plastic? Because it’s cheaper, sure. But Apple’s shrewd decision to use plastic is about more than just money. Manufacturing the 5C: Harder, Better, Stronger I can’t put a dollar figure on what Apple’s bill of materials for the 5C is, but it’s safe to say…
Just a couple of months ago, Intel’s new 4th generation processors helped laptops get a whole lot better. Now Intel’s trying to work the same magic on mobile. Meet Bay Trail, a new flavor of chips designed specifically to make Windows 8 and Android tablets more awesome. https://gizmodo.com/the-kickass-processors-that-will-power-your-next-comput-510668761 Bay Trail is Intel’s newest Atom chip……
This is the horror story of a girl who one day decided to paste innocuous Adolf Hitler quotes over Taylor Swift photos, attributing them to her. Her work went viral, which resulted in an army of people attacking her in the vilest ways. Sometimes, going viral sucks. https://kotaku.com/going-viral-sucks-1282348530
At bustling traffic hubs like O’Hare International, planes can spend an interminably long time waiting for their turn to land. And at airports like Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International, pilots must contend with tight flight paths to avoid crowded population centers and hills on their final approach. But thanks to a new hyper-accurate GPS-based tracking system,…
Apiphobes, look away now. Everyone else, you’re about to see an incredible close-up of a queen bee getting busy in mid-air. Spoiler alert: the drone dies in the end. All hail the queen. The clip comes courtesy of More Than Honey, a new film that examines the increasingly persistent buzz surrounding the worsening plight of…
According to human-resources firm Adecco, 8-percent of college-educated americans brought a parent to a job interview in 2012. Worse: 3-percent actually had the parent sit on the interview. Perhaps it’s time to come up with a population control and parenting licensing program—before it’s too late. Forced exile in a fenced Millennial camp in some Mongolian…
Run your hands over a painting or a sculpture at an art gallery and security will ensure your day spent soaking up culture is immediately over. But artist Robert Cohen has no complaints about people touching his verticalCINEMA sculptures. In fact, that’s the only way the flipbook creations can really be enjoyed. https://gizmodo.com/these-mechanical-flipbooks-are-like-gifs-you-can-put-on-1226816911 Far more…
The view from the base of New York City’s annual 9/11 memorial, Tribute in Light, captured by AP photographer Mark Lennihan last night. Now in its 12th year, the installation lights up the sky over Manhattan with 88 high-powered searchlights. [AP]
You’ve seen it in ever war movie ever: soldiers trying desperately to get in touch with command. Well soon they’ll hardly have to phone home at all, at least if DARPA has any say in it. They’ll get all their data the same way pirates do. Torrents, basically. DARPA—makers of mind-controlled prosthetics and creepy robots—just…
BGR claims it has images of what it says is the forthcoming update to the Kindle Fire HD. If this is the real deal, the new models will feature a design overhaul addressing some of the last model’s shortcomings. The images BGR obtained are supposedly the 7-inch model of the HD, but the design changes…
It’s one of the oldest tricks in the book, but Jimmy Kimmel gave people on the street the iPad Mini and told them it was the new iPhone. Naturally, these poor, unsuspecting folks bought it hook, line, and sinker. https://gizmodo.com/we-gave-people-an-ipad-2-told-them-it-was-the-new-ipad-5894094 On the one hand, ha! On the other, can you really blame them given how…
If this video doesn’t bring you a tear of emotion or at least make you smile and feel good for the rest of the day, you aren’t human. Watch Jason Mortensen react to the news of being married to his beautiful wife after waking up after surgery with no memory of it at all. My…
