Tech News

iPhone 5C: Apple’s Colorful Budget Phone Is Real and $100 on Contract

We’ve been hearing rumors of a new iPhone breed for years, and now it’s finally here. Apple’s new plastic-backed, color-coated iPhone 5C is a $100 option for a whole new generation of iPhone users. Here’s everything you need to know. https://gizmodo.com/iphone-5c-rumor-roundup-everything-we-think-we-know-1108397130 Design The leakers were spot on this time around; the iPhone 5C looks just…

Going forward, all five iWork programs including iPhoto, iMovie, Pages, Keynote, and Numbers will be free on new iOS devices.

iOS 7 Will Be Out September 18 with Even More New Features

After developers spent months calling out the bugs and bemoaning the bad battery life, iOS 7 is finally ready for the public. If you haven’t seen iOS 7, be excited. It’s beautiful, feature-rich and just like Apple promised us at WWDC last June, it will make your device feel like a new phone (or tablet).…

Check out Apple’s new iPhone models

Apple is announcing new iThings today, including a gold iPhone that’s going to be all the rage among Chinese people and ABBA fans. Check out the live coverage at Gizmodo. Image by Martin Hajek https://gizmodo.com/our-iphone-event-liveblog-starts-right-here-on-9-10-at-1277167537

Rapper Flo Rida Is Selling a Laser DJ Toy Called Beamz® By Flo

Rapper Flo Rida—who you may know from such places as Samsung TV events, clubs that can’t even handle him right now, and NBA Finals games he is kind of not invited to—is selling some weird DJ toy called Beamz® By Flo. From what we can tell from watching this video advertisement three times, it plays…

Automated Free Sample Kiosks Thwart Your Complimentary Gorging

There’s bad news if you use your weekly trip to the grocery store to mostly stock up on free samples. A company called Freeosk has developed an automated free sample vending machine that requires store patrons to scan their membership cards before they can partake. So there’s no stopping by again and again, and you…

The Evolution of the Modern Day Calendar

Perfecting a method of foretelling and predicting the passage of time preoccupied our ancestors from the earliest recorded history. The unending journey of the Sun, Moon and stars across the great expanse of the sky provides clues for numerous methods of marking time, the most obvious to primitive man being the passage of a day…

During an Earthquake This Fridge’s Doors Automatically Lock Shut

They say necessity is the mother of invention, and sadly for Japan that means designing products—or improving products—to better withstand the earthquakes plaguing that country. So while elsewhere in the world fridge’s with vacuum-sealed drawers catch consumers’ attentions, in Japan it’s a fridge with doors that automatically lock during an earthquake that will appeal to…

A Carwash For Bikes Means It’s Ok To Ride Through That Mud Puddle

Riding your bike through a full-size carwash is one of the easier ways to seriously injure yourself. But who has the time to take a hose and sponge to their bike after a dirty off-road ride? The rich and famous, maybe, but for the rest of us an Italian company has developed a carwash for…

Isn’t this the most beautiful hybrid car ever created? (But of course)

The new Porsche 918 Spyder has just been unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Not only it can do up to 94 miles per gallon, but this 887-horsepower überhybrid pulverized every production car speed record at the Nürburgring circuit. An incredibly beautiful beast. It’s one of the many new cars being introduced at the German…

Sonos Play:1 FCC Filing Hints At Bookshelf Speaker

Sonos is primed to expand the lineup of speakers for its wireless audio system. As usual, the company’s FCC filing has surfaced in advance of the actual product launch. The forthcoming Play:1 looks like it’ll be a simpler speaker than its counterparts, and that Sonos intends it to be used in a stereo pairing. Is…

Purported iPhone 5S Guide Shows Home Button With “Touch ID Sensor”

According to Cult of Mac, Nowhereelse.fr has purportedly managed to get possession of “the official illustrated guide to the iPhone 5S,” and lo and behold, it seems like we might be seeing that fancy new home button later today in the form of a “Touch ID” sensor. Now, while there’s no real way to tell…

Here’s a very simple trick to stop gaining weight

You don’t need to kill yourself in the gym to stop gaining weight. Here’s the easiest and most obvious way to burn more calories through the day. https://lifehacker.com/how-to-burn-more-calories-through-the-day-without-even-1283047777

This Incredible Tablet Keyboard Transforms to Fit Your Sloppy Fingers

Not too long ago, Swype‘s one-finger swiping totally changed phone typing (on Android at least). We don’t all swipe all the time, but that functionality is built right in to the default Android keyboard. Now, the same minds behind Sywpe are trying to change tablet typing with Dryft, a virtual keyboard for touch typists. https://gizmodo.com/swypes-keyboard-is-now-out-of-beta-and-in-the-play-stor-5995311…

11 Architectural Masterworks You Can Rent on Airbnb

As Airbnb has expanded, it’s come under fire from ornery landlords and wary neighbors—being blamed, in at least one case, for driving up citywide rent prices. But at the same time, Airbnb gives us access to an unprecedented number of otherwise inaccessible buildings. For example: Right now on Airbnb, you can stay overnight in a…

A Shock-Absorbing Airless Tire That Will Never Go Flat

Inspired by Bridgestone’s puncture-proof tires, and Michelin’s Tweel, Hankook has decided that it wants to get into the next-generation tire market with its own i-Flex. Like the previous creations from its competitors, Hankook’s tire trades an air-filled bladder that’s prone to leaks and punctures for an engineered rubber framework that provides support and shock absorption.…

Wacom Bamboo Pad: A Touchpad Enhanced for Sketching and Writing

Wacom is covering all grounds lately with new products. Their latest is the Bamboo Pad, a touch surface with the gesture control the likes of an Apple Magic Trackpad, with some added functionality for drawing and jotting down notes. https://gizmodo.com/redesigned-wacom-intuos-tablets-a-new-look-for-budding-1253691921 The Bamboo Pad touts the ability to recognize when you are using the included stylus…

When Is It OK to Use Tech in Class?

The Wall Street Journal has raised an interesting question: when, exactly, is it OK to use technology in class? Of course, there’s a spectrum here. Is it OK to Google for answers? What about sending text messages during a lecture? Where does tech use stop being OK and start being unacceptable? Let’s talk this out.…

Where NFL Quarterbacks Throw, Visualized

We’ve seen plenty of analysis of NBA games from Kirk Goldsberry, but now he’s turned his attention to football. In particular, he’s taken a look at passes relative to the line of scrimmage in the NFL—and the results are really interesting. https://gizmodo.com/five-years-of-every-nba-shot-attempt-visualized-5892424 In the visualization, rung out of the 2012 NFL stats, size represents frequency…

PayPal Beacon Is Going to Make Hands-Free Payment Way More Common

PayPal’s stuck another clever little location-aware payment option into its smartphone app, with the Beacon tool letting users pay for items without even having to sigh and pull a mobile out of a pocket. PayPal Beacon requires retailers to install a low-energy USB-powered Bluetooth LE receiver in their stores and attach it to their Point-of-Sale…