Tech News

Samsung Galaxy S4 Active Emerges from the Rumour Swamp

The constantly leaked Samsung Galaxy S4 Active has just been officially announced by Samsung, which has confirmed its insane level of desirability by telling us it features a 5-inch 1080p display and 1.9GHz quad-core processor inside a fully waterproof case. What’s that, like 15 Galaxy devices now? Samsung’s gained IP67 certification for the S4 Active,…

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Intel is throwing a cool $100 million towards “perceptual” computing technologies like voice and gesture control. The future might be here sooner than we thought.

Samsung Legal Win Could Halt US iPhone 4 Sales

Samsung has, to some surprise, won a patent battle against Apple that could see the iPhone 4 and 3G iPad 2 banned from sale in the US. The legal fight was centered on a patent relating to 3G standards, which Samsung has pledged to license freely, reports the Guardian. But according to the International Trade…

Microsoft just announced that Outlook is coming to Windows 8 RT as part of the free Windows 8.1 update coming later this year. If your office is stuffy about using Outlook only for mail, you can finally use a Surface for work. [Microsoft]

The Surface Type and Touch Covers Are Getting More Functional

If you looked at the Microsoft Surface Type and Touch Cover keyboards and wanted more keys, you’ll be getting them. Well, sort of. Microsoft is updating the keyboard to add the ability to toggle between what the keys on the top row do. It’s a little bit confusing but if you love your function keys,…

The Weirdest Thing on the Internet Tonight: The Strongest Square

Sometimes you’ve just got to know when to leave bad enough alone.

Sony Vaio Pro: Sony Is Finally Making Good Laptops Again

Sony will tell you a lot of things about the new Vaio Pro, which replaces the Vaio Z at the top of its laptop heap. It might say that it’s exceedingly light, and made from carbon fiber. Or it might say that it’s got new Intel Haswell guts. But what it should really say is…

What Would You Do Inside a Slow Motion Video Booth?

Here’s a fun party idea: get a bunch of people together with 11 kegs and 1 slow motion video booth and see what happens. That’s pretty much what these guys did, they hooked up a Phantom Miro camera and let people go nuts with whatever they wanted to do at 1500FPS. Bruton Stroube Studios, the…

Where the Heck Does Wind Even Come From?

There are few things as refreshing as feeling the wind blow against your hair. There are few things as scary as violent winds smashing and crumbling a town. So what is wind? And where does it even come from? PBS It’s Okay to be Smart series answers that saying its air molecules bumping and bashing…

The Camera in Google Glass Just Got A Lot Better

Google is rolling out a software update to Google Glass and it’s dramatically improving what might be the main feature of Glass: the camera. It’s smarter software that takes a rapid sequence of shots and combines them into one uber picture. Google says: So, what does this new software mean for your pictures? Two things:…

This Surreal Mall Is More Ghost Town Than Shopping Center

It’s easy to find the the New South China Mall in the bustling metropolis of Dongguan in Guangdong province, China. With 892,000 square metres of leasable space, it’s the largest shopping center in the world.* But you’ll have to look much more closely to see if its even open. The NSCM is the victim of…

Paralyzed People Walk Again With Mind-Reading Cyborg Skeleton

A robotic exoskeleton that reads the wearer’s mind will make walking possible again for people who have lost the use of their legs. The Mindwalker Project, now being tested by European Commission researchers, combines a mind-reading EEG signal processor that controls a powerful musculo-skeletal system you wear over your legs.

Editor Gets Rape Threats After Arguing That Rape Jokes Aren’t Good

Last week, Lindy West—one of the editors of Gawker Media’s blog Jezebel—participated in FX’s Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell, arguing that rape jokes contribute to “a culture of young men who don’t understand what it means to take this stuff seriously.” The resulting barrage of rape threats has been disgusting.

DC Just Announced Plans For Choose Your Own Adventure Style Digital Comics

When the big two introduced motion comics a few years back, everyone had a good laugh at how terrible they were. They were difficult to read, watch and, generally, sucked all-around. Tonight in New York, DC is fixing all that and taking it a step further with DC2 (aka Dynamic Content) and DC2 Multiverse technology…

The Congo’s Unending War Captured in Vivid Infrared Color

Irish war photographer Richard Mosse has traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo three times in the past three years—he’s made it his mission, he says, to document a war so deep-seeded and tragic that it challenges “the limits of description.” To describe the indescribable, Mosse has developed a unique methodology: he shoots using Kodak…

Moment Camera: A Better iOS Camera App Without the Crap

At this point, the quality of your iPhone’s camera has far surpassed Apple’s dinky little stock app. And if you’re ready to size up, the App Store runneth over with alternative camera apps—and don’t even get me started on the filters. Moment Camera, however, gives you the experience your camera deserves. What does it do?…

This Nondescript NYC Mechanic’s Shop Has an Unbelievable Past Life

In New York City, buildings are changing hands all the time—and nothing really lasts forever. The legendary music venue CBGB? Well, it’s now a John Varvatos store. And this grimy mechanic’s shop at the northern end of Manhattan? It was once the entryway to a beautiful 19th century estate. Now you might almost miss the…

A 19th Century Geometry Lesson Makes For Beautiful Wall Art

Geometry is one of the few sorts of math that relies on visual logic—after all, even if you didn’t understand whatever problem was on hand, you could usually puzzle it out by simply looking at it. Back in 1896, students were expected to learn using the same basic principle. These elegant gridded prints—snapped from a…

A See-Through Convection Oven Reveals the Mysteries Of Cooking

If you dropped out of school after the second grade and have subsequently wondered what happens between the time you put raw ingredients into an oven, and when they come out as golden delicacies, here’s your chance to rule out elves and magic. This countertop halogen convection oven promises to heat food as fast as…

Apple’s Latest OS X Update Fixes More Messages Bugs

Apple today released OS X 10.8.4, an update to Mountain Lion that (again) addresses some issues with Messages, as well as some miscellaneous bugs. Apparently, there was an iMessage quirk that was causing some messages to show up out of order on the desktop app. Also included in the update is a new version of…