Tech News

Infrared Technology Battles Back From the Dead With High Speed Wireless Transfers

The same infrared technology that allowed the world to change the channel without getting off the couch could vastly speed up wireless data transfers between devices. Somewhere deep in the halls of the Fraunhofer Institute infrared technology has been on life support all these years, and could soon fight its way back into the limelight…

How a Secret Sequence of Doorbell Buzzes Can Unlock Your Home

If you’re tired of digging out your house keys when you get home, take a look at this brilliant workaround by Piet De Vaere. He hacked his doorbell to listen for a secret sequence of button presses that automatically unlocked the gate in front of his house. As long as you’ve got a great memory,…

Windows 8 Clover Trail Tablets are Delayed Because Intel Hasn’t Delivered Power Management Software

Microsoft is already facing an uphill battle when it comes to fighting the likes of Apple, Samsung, Google and Amazon in the tablet wars. But with news that its certification of tablets based around Intel’s Clover Trail platform is being delayed because Intel can’t supply proper power management firmware for devices, Microsoft’s looming holiday war…

Apple Acknowledges iPhone 5 Camera Problem, Says You’re Holding It Wrong

After initially denying it, Apple has acknowledged the iPhone 5’s purple flare camera problem in an email to a Gizmodo reader. Their solution: “Angle the camera away from the bright light source when taking pictures.” https://gizmodo.com/is-your-iphone-5-camera-seeing-purple-5946683 Here’s their complete answer: Dear Matt, Our engineering team just gave me this information and we recommend that you…

Stupid-Cheap Webhosting Is Your Dealzmodo-Exclusive Deal of the Day

Although there are plenty of free online sites to host your blog, when you’re serious about owning your data there’s only one way to go: you’ve got to host your own website. There are several advantages to hosting your own website: you get significantly more design flexibility, the ability to run advertisements, and the ownership…

Magnetic Panels Turn Your Kitchen Walls Into Extra Storage Space

There’s no such thing as having too much storage space, and with designer Felix Muhrhofer’s Magic Wall panels you can store pots, pans, and cutlery on literally every last inch of your kitchen. It’s all made possible through the use of a heavy-duty magnetic backing that allows certain items in your cooking arsenal to just…

How To Buy Power Tools Online Without Getting Screwed

There’s a lot to like about shopping for power tools online—good deals, 24/7 convenience, copious reviews, and the ability to quickly compare prices. But there are downsides, too. You can’t handle a tool before you buy it, and any used tools you buy might have lived in a truck bed for the past few years.…

The 12 Best Gadgets You Didn’t Buy

Somewhere in an alternate universe, the Earth 2 version of me is typing this article on a brand new Commodore Amiga sipping from a can of Crystal Pepsi when his Palm Pre 4 buzzes with a new CU-SeeMe video call. Unfortunately, in this universe, the best products don’t always win. My infant son is going…

In 1965 Ford Wanted Everyone To Steer With Their Wrists: What Could Be Safer?

In 1965 Ford’s forward-thinking engineers actually proposed that drivers should steer using just their wrists. The company’s radical Wrist-Twist system promised a more comfortable ride, a better view of the road and dashboard instruments, and a guaranteed two thousand percent increase in vehicular accidents. Steering with the unique parallel set of tiny wheels does look…

This Fantastic Grimlock Hoodie Makes the 80s Totally Worth It

If you grew up in the 1980s on a steady diet of cartoons, you probably spent many mornings captivated by the Transformers. And while Optimus Prime might have been the noble leader of the Autobots, he would never be as universally loved as the show’s real star—Grimlock—who’s now immortalized forever in this fantastic hoodie. With…

Gameloft’s New iOS Wireless Controller Is a Portable iCade

ThinkGeek’s adorable iCade is genius. It turns your iPad into a little arcade! Asteroids forever! If it has a drawback, it’s that, well, it kind of destroys the iPad’s portability. Meet the Bluetooth Duo Gamer controller, which sheds the cabinet for a dock that’ll fit in your backpack. https://kotaku.com/im-a-little-in-love-with-my-new-ipad-arcade-machine-5805374 The Duo Gamer looks familiar, like…

Here’s the Annoying New Way Facebook Makes Money Off Your Life

Facebook really needs to start making more money, or its stock will soon be worth about as much as a shopping bag full of mulch. How do they do that? Ads! New ads. But these new ads involve your life. Facebook spilled the beans on its new stab at ad cash in a public blog…

This House Is Not Actually Made Out of Marshmallows

This building looks like it could be home to the Stay Puft marshmallow man. In reality, it’s the recently remodeled visitors’ center of the Synagogue de Delme Contemporary Art Centre, a gallery in France. Dubbed Gue(ho)st House as a nod to the Marcel Duchamp-invented phrase, “A Guest + a host = a ghost,” it served…

Amazon is now giving sellers loans now with interest rates as high as 13 percent. What happened to going to the bank?

A Serious Security Flaw Lets Hackers Steal Your Twitter Account

Do you have a highly coveted Twitter handle? You should probably change your password. One user, Daniel Dennis Jones,—who formerly went by @blanket—has uncovered a very serious flaw that lets hackers crack your account and put it up for sale. On Saturday, Twitter customer service notified Jones that his password had been changed. Alarming, because…

Ikea Photoshops Women Out of Saudi Arabia Catalog

Ikea prints 208 million catalogs in 43 countries every year. They are all the same, except in Saudi Arabia, where women have been Photoshopped out because their photos “show too much skin,” according to the Islamic Kingdom’s laws. And it’s not the only thing that gets altered. A woman who is having dinner with her…

19 Gadgets With Happy and Sad Faces

We like to anthropomorphize the objects in our lives, assigning our tools and tech personalities of their own. But some just go ahead and do it for you. The gadgets you are about to see wear their hearts on their sleeves. HAPPY: That wide-eyed innocence. “Everybody is going to want me,” thinks the Sony HDR-TD10e…

The Pellet Stove That Actually Looks Like It Was Made in the 21st Century

We previously extolled the virtues of the space heater for warmth when the deep chill of winter arrives. But gazing at this pellet stove—a very modern-looking pellet stove—we’re rethinking what we want in our homes come December. https://gizmodo.com/the-space-heater-that-will-keep-your-house-warm-and-sty-5945937 Vescovi’s Ambra pellet stove is less than a 12-inches deep, meaning it won’t eat up space in…

Ikea Will Only Sell LED Lights Soon

By now, energy- and cash-conscious people probably know it’s a good idea to use compact fluorescent or halogen bulbs instead of incandescents. But Ikea wants to help move the needle further and faster towards energy-efficient lighting: The company says that by 2016 it will only sell LED lights. Ikea is the first US furniture retailer…

Iran Walks Back Internet Censorship, Restores Gmail

After seriously flipping out, cutting of Iranian access to Google and basically herding all its citizens into a tiny little government-approved intra-net pen, the Iranian government has softened its Internet ban just a little bit and restored access to Gmail. https://gizmodo.com/iran-shuts-down-google-will-completely-cut-citizens-of-5945862 Though the outcry against censoring the Internet at large was loud, the backlash against…