Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
They have 1 billion users, but that’s not Facebook’s only amazing statistic. There are a lot more, starting with a staggering 1.13 trillion likes. One point thirteen trillion likes, people. It’s crazy. Here are the rest of their stats, compiled since the first day of Facebook: Over 1.13 trillion likes since launch in February 2009.…
Oh, boy. Here we go again. Microsoft Office had reportedly been confirmed for iOS and Android, and should be available on both platforms in March 2013. Why should we believe this now more than the previous rodeos? Because this time, it comes from Microsoft itself. https://gizmodo.com/office-for-ipad-is-reportedly-imminent-updated-5886842 As the Verge reports, Microsoft product manager Petr Bobek…
It’s all explainable via science, but if you replace your typical cornucopia centerpiece with this floating steel plate supporting a glowing wireless candelabra, your dinner guests will be too blown away to notice your dry turkey and lumpy gravy. This awesome demonstration of magnetic levitation and inductive power was recorded at Paris’ Palais de la…
If you’ve been wanting an extra iPhone 5 cable, but haven’t wanted to pay the full $40 for one, help might be on the way: a Chinese company called iPhone5mod says it has cracked the authentication chip found in the lightning connector and is now selling the cables for $20 apiece. According to TG Daily,…
Dubai-based photographer Gerald Donovan has sent us this spectacular video of the city completely engulfed by fog. It’s extremely beautiful and eerie, with the Burj Khalifa and the rest of the buildings completely detached from the ground, apparently built on clouds.
Every so often, a scientific breakthrough comes along that completely reshapes our world, giving us untold insight and inestimable hope for a more perfect future. What a world, it makes us think, and what privilege to be a part of it. This is not one of those breakthroughs. This is bullshit. Nature reports that researchers…
Logitech has given its Wireless Touchpad a much needed facelift that makes it look almost identical to Apple’s Magic Trackpad—save for a sleek dark gray finish, and the lack of any wires. https://gizmodo.com/logitechs-wireless-touchpad-is-a-magic-trackpad-for-win-5839821 You will have to top off its built-in rechargeable battery sometimes with a USB cable, but for the most part it won’t…
The first private rocket company in the world—SpaceX of Hawthorne, California—has just achieved a big success for space exploration and the American space industry: their Dragon spaceship has successfully docked with the International Space Station at 9:05AM. This is the first official resupply mission for the ISS, under contract with NASA. It has been flawless:…
Your average e-bike is just a regular bicycle fitted with an electric motor. When the battery dies, you can just revert to pedalling so you’re not stranded. The new Footloose from Mando, however, takes a different approach. There’s still a set of pedals, but they’re used to power an alternator which generates electricity keeping the…
When Samsung confirmed that its 4-inch Galaxy S III mini was real, it promised that it wouldn’t just be another horrible tiny budget phone. But if MobileGeeks’ information about the handset is correct, we may be in for a letdown tomorrow. https://gizmodo.com/samsung-launching-new-four-inch-galaxy-s-iii-mini-tomor-5950454 It’s not that the device looks actively bad, like some other 4-inch clunkers…
Light is tricky. You probably know that we experience “light” by seeing it bounce off something before being absorbed into our eyes. But what about light itself? That’s much tougher, since in order to see the light, it has to be absorbed. Solving for this little Catch 22 won Serge Haroche the 2012 Nobel Prize…
Google’s Cultural Institute has had a shot in the arm, and is now host to a massive set of 42 online collections, which cover all manner of 20th and 21st century history. Rich with video, images and text, the collections span everything from Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, through D-Day and Auschwitz, to civil rights’ in…
On the run up to the official launch on October 26th, these four leaked clips are part of Microsoft’s attempts to promote Windows 8. Whatever you think of the OS, there’s no denying that these ads, which show off the new UI and emphasize its touchscreen abilities, make it look damn slick. [Techit via Neowin…
Spotify Premium users will be able to stream music through Samsung’s new smart TVs. [Pocket-lint]
This is the Txtr Beagle. It’s a new low-end ereader, that does away with fancy technological trappings: you’ll find no touchscreen, backlight, 3G or even Wi-Fi here. As a result, it’s set to cost less than $15—but will it be any good? Lacking all the specs we’re used to by know, you may very well…
Samsung has confirmed that it will unveil a new, smaller Galaxy SIII on October 11th. The new phone won’t be a budget version, but rather a (slightly) scaled-down device, with a four-inch screen for those who prefer a more pocketable handset. JK Shin, head of Samsung Mobile Communications, announced that the new device was conceived…
Bloomberg is reporting that Apple’s iPhone 5 production is slowing, as it attempts to cut the number of devices shipped with nicks and scratches by improving aluminum quality control at Foxconn. https://gizmodo.com/does-your-new-iphone-5-scratch-easily-5945777 Sources have told Bloomberg that Senior Apple managers insisted at the end of September that Foxconn picked up its game to tighten production…
A bicycle is already pretty damn simple. Two wheels, a frame, a seat, pedals and a chain. What happens if you remove the chains though? That would give you the Bicymple—a bicycle that’s even more simple than you could ever imagine. Why would you make a bicycle without a chain? Well, aside from the answer…
Smokable Glass Headphones Glass artist Joe Blow brings a whole new level of meaning to “in one ear and out the other.” [Tumblr] Bill Bailey on the Large Hadron Collider Boy, it sure is a good thing we did find the Higgs-Boson in that case, though the walnut whip/cockroach mash-up does sound intriguing. Sunlight: It’s…
Steve Ballmer just wrote a letter to Microsoft shareholders about the future of Microsoft and to update them on how much money they’re printing with Office and the Enterprise market. The letter is mostly a bore fest but Ballmer points Microsoft’s future towards devices. Meaning, Microsoft believes in making actual stuff. We’ve translated the entire…
