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When Google’s Andy Rubin stepped down as head of Android earlier this year, Sundar Pichai took over his duties. Now, ahead of Google’s I/O conference, he’s spoken to WIRED—and spilled the beans on what the future holds for Android. You can, of course, head the full interview over at WIRED. But here are some choice…
A plague of locusts sounds like the kind of biblical torment that we’ll never really need to worry about. But they’re real, they happen—and boy do they cause trouble. This picture shows a plague of billions of locusts swarming the island of Madagascar, destroying crops and grazing lands as they go. Worse, the country is…
Following rumors that Samsung is readying a klutz-proof version of the Galaxy S4, just such a phone has appeared on the Bluetooth Special Interest Group’s (SIG) Bluetooth-certification pages. Looks like it’s on its way, then.
The M16A1 is an iconic gun, so it’s no surprise that our favorite weapons designer Joerg Sprave fancied the idea of using one as the base of a crossbow. The result is rather terrifying. Using a kit supplied by PSE, a crossbow maker, it’s possible to repurpose an M16A1 in such a way that it…
Korea’s Yonhap News Agency is reporting that Samsung is busy testing the future of mobile internet connections—and it’s set to be lightning fast. The news agency describes recent tests by Samsung of a 5G platform that should be available by 2020. The prototype 5G devices use radios with 64 antenna elements, which have so far…
“Here at Gingrich Productions, we’ve spent weeks figuring out,” ponders Newt Gingrich. “What do you call this?” It’s a phone, Newt. “But think about it. If it’s taking pictures, it’s not a cellphone. If you can get Wikipedia or go to Google, that’s not a cellphone.” Sigh. Newt is clearly puzzled by the shiny black…
From this week, ABC will become the first TV network to offer up live streams of its local programming to users of its Watch ABC app.
Snorkelers rejoice: Sony’s decided to push its current trend for water-resistant phones to new heights, with the launch of the Xperia ZR which is waterproof to 5 feet. The 4.6-inch Android phone even has a big ol’ camera button on its side to make sure its easy to take pictures and film HD video while…
When news first broke nearly a year and a half ago that Netflix was resurrecting Arrested Development for a fourth season, the reception was joy followed by immediate apprehension. Could the expectations be met? Could it be as funny as it is in our memory? The answer, based on this just-released first trailer, is a…
ISS Commander and mustachioed Canadian Chris Hadfield has given us no end of joys during his current five-month stint floating above our blue orb. But perhaps none of them is as touching—and just downright incredible—as his sendoff cover of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.” Here Hadfield, who’s coming back to Earth tomorrow, takes on David Bowie’s…
LED lightbulbs are already energy efficient, but they would be even better if they could emit light without connecting to the grid at all. Brooklyn-based designer Danielle Trofe is trying to make that happen. Trofe created two designs for this month’s Wanted Design 2013. Both are hourglasses that use the kinetic energy of falling sand…
Shocking no one, or very very few people, Google turned off its SMS search service on Friday. Reports of the outage have begun to sloooowly trickle in on Google forums and Reddit, but for the most part the spacetime continuum seems to be holding up. Google created SMS Search as a way for users with…
Back in 2011 when Gerald Donovan filmed Dubai for 28 hours he made an incredible timelapse of it. But he couldn’t leave well enough alone. After the limitless potential of the footage nagged at him for a few years he came back to it and made another beautiful version. https://gizmodo.com/24-hour-dubai-timelapse-is-so-beautiful-it-seems-unreal-5859089 This time it spans all…
In a statement to TechCrunch that was conspicuously devoid of live-tweeting, helicopter chases or any underwater components, Kim Dotcom announced that he has instructed the Mega staff to delete any public copies of the blueprints for this week’s fully 3D-printable gun. https://gizmodo.com/hands-on-with-kim-dotcoms-new-mega-this-service-could-5977163 Given his general desire to facilitate somewhat questionable free and open sharing, Dotcom’s…
Real-time chat has been everywhere for, you know, forever now and has swallowed everything in its path. Integrating chat platforms and finding a way to coherently deal with texting vs. chatting has become a major issue. Other than venting here in hallowed Gizmodo chatroom posts, how do you manage all the Google chat options, Facebook…
You know when someone gets up and you take their seat and it’s still warm? And it’s kind of gross? Or uncomfortably intimate or something? Yeah I’m worried about that times a million with these sleeping pods. The Abu Dhabi Airport has installed 10 Go Sleep pods in terminals 1 and 3, with 35 more…
Let’s be real here, what could come from a URL like www.thedispensingsolution.com BUT a vending machine for pot? Medbox, the company that produces the $50,000 units, is ramping up and attempting to place them in dispensaries around the country. Consumers can’t walk up to a Medbox and feed it their cash, but they can tell…
Isotopes v.2 looks alluring. All those pretty, pulsating lines of light draw people in. Relaxing. But once they get in there, things start to change. The lights become more constant and intense. Basically they put people in a somewhat oppressive light prison. Soooo, probably not relaxing. As part of the Geneva Mapping Festival, Nonotak Studio…
Trading on Wall Street is basically a huge game of poker and it would be kind of hard to bluff or cover your strategy if Bloomberg News reporters were watching your Bloomberg terminal to track your every move. So you’d assume that said reporters wouldn’t abuse their corporate affiliation like that, because it would be…
By now we’re mostly used to Facebook moving the furniture around every once in a while. We complain for a while, then just deal with it. But in a way, it’s still maddening. Your stuff was HERE and now it’s HERE. (Right, right, glass houses.) But at least Facebook can’t barge in and rearrange your…