Tech News

Reminder: Your Locked Bicycle Is Never Safe

To crafty thieves, a bike locked up on the street looks like free money. Even if you’re using one of the finest locks in the world, your bike is still pretty easy to jack. We proved it with an angle grinder, and our friends at PopSci proved it with science. https://gizmodo.com/the-best-bike-lock-5922074 In the video below…

This Tiny Telescope Implant Gives Eyesight to the Blind

Getting old isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Sure, you get a hefty discount at the Country Kitchen Buffet. But you also suffer from stuff like age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a retinal disease that afflicts more than 10 million people a year in the US alone. There’s hope for the eyes of America’s elderly,…

Inflatable Backseat Bed Adds A Touch of Luxury to Living Out of Your Car

Who says the first thing you have to do when moving to a new city is find an apartment? As long as you’ve got a vehicle at your disposal—upgraded with this inflatable back seat air mattress—you’ve got a portable pad that lets you roam the city from job to job, and party to party. Getting…

Iran Shuts Down Google, Will Completely Cut Citizens Off the Internet

While Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is in New York, his cronies at home are shutting every single one of their citizens out of the internet. Their reasoning: ‘we may get attacked by zionist viruses.’ Riiiight. On Sunday, the Iranian state television network announced that Google and Gmail would be blocked “within a few hours.” The…

10 Stupid, Crazy, Wonderful Gadget Fails

More than most other fields, technology prides itself on being a hotbed of innovation. It’s easy to forget, though, that innovation is messy, and for every iPod, there are a few dozen portable, wrist-mounted 8-track players. Here are ten failed gadgets that were unabashedly crazy. This was a a full-size virtual keyboard that could be…

Go Ahead, Stare at This Body

The Ponte table by Strala is all about the legs. With its glass top, your eyes are immediately drawn to the angular solid oak undercarriage. Held together by just six screws, the geometric piece is kind of like a reverse upskirt shot but for furniture. And it can be yours for a cool $2,750. Don’t…

Wedding Party: Get the Smartphone Pics Your Photographer Missed

At my cousin’s wedding a few days ago, the hosts asked us all to use an app called Wedding Party to collect the guests’ smartphone pics taken during the event. Now, a few days later, I have a stream of photos shot by dozens of family members at the event. The couple hired a photographer,…

New iPhone 5 owners are reporting light leak issues. Whether or not its a widespread thing remains to be seen. [BGR]

Watch an NBA Player Dunk an iPhone 5

The iPhone 5 looks to be sturdier than its delicate baby glass predecessor, but all of these drop tests are dodging one crucial question: can the Knicks’ 6-foot-5 point guard use it as a basketball? https://gizmodo.com/first-iphone-5-drop-tests-very-sturdy-but-still-shat-5945264 Iman Shumpert finally answers what’s surely stopping a lot of people from upgrading. And the answers is ugly. In…

Sugar Could Charge up Gadgets Just Like it Gives a Jolt to Kids

Lithium-ion batteries are the most common technology powering modern devices. But lithium itself is a rare metal that’s hard to come by, and countries that have to import it are developing alternatives. In Japan, researchers at the Tokyo University of Science have discovered a way to make a sodium-ion battery that can be made with…

What Is the Weird Rattle in These Brand New iPhone 5s?

Since the iPhone 5 finally landed in the hands of excited customers on Friday there have been numerous reports of a “rattle” or ‘thud” coming from inside new phones. What is the weird sound in these online videos? According to Apple forum discussions and reports from tipsters, it appears that the sound is being caused…

Apple is reported to be desperately recruiting ex-Google Maps staff. There’s a surprise! [TechCrunch]

The Definitive Comparison of Google Maps vs Apple Maps In One Single Image

Apple Maps on iOS 6 is really bad when compared to Google Maps on iOS 5. It has misled people aplenty, the magic flyby is a horror show, and even Apple had to acknowledge it sucks. But nothing comes close to this, the definitive graphic comparison between Google Maps and Apple Maps. Enjoy! [Thanks Eduardo…

Watch the iPhone 5 Get Shot with a .50 Caliber Sniper Rifle

Hey, you know what would be a nice, cathartic response to the tsunami of iPhone 5 coverage? Shooting it with a giant ass Barrett .50 caliber sniper rifle. Our old friend Rated RR pumped a few humongous rounds into the phone, and it held up surprisingly well, considering it had been shot with .50 caliber…

Supercomputer Genius Watson Is Headed for the Cloud

Watson, the Jeopardy-winning supercomputer developed by IBM, could become a cloud-based service that people can consult on a wide range of issues, the company announced last week. “Watson is going to be an advisor and an assistant to all kinds of professional decision-makers, starting in healthcare and then moving beyond. We’re already looking at a…

Facebook is turning off its facial recognition and auto-tagging in the EU following privacy investigations. [Telegraph]

Nuance Planning Voice Recognition Which Works While Your Phone Sleeps

Nuance, the company behind Apple’s Siri, isn’t content with the current state of mobile voice recognition. Instead, it wants smartphones to be able to react to voice commands even when they’re asleep. Technology Review explains that Vlad Sejnoha, Nuance’s chief technical officer, believes that “within a year or two you’ll be able to talk to…

Does Your New iPhone 5 Scratch Easily?

So, you’ve got the new iPhone. You’ve been downloading apps all weekend. It’s a joy to use. But… we’re hearing some reports that suggest the latest iPhone picks up scratches faster than data flows through its new Lightning connector. Some folks are saying that their phones have picked up plenty of scratches on the back…

Megaupload is ready to make a comeback: its code is 90 percent done and servers have been ordered. [TorrentFreak]

Foxconn Shuts Factory After 2,000-Employee Brawl Breaks Out

Foxconn has had to close down a factory in Taiyuan, China, which employs 79,000 people after a massive brawl broke out amongst 2,000 of its workers. Bloomberg is reporting that the fight left 40 people hospitalized and some employees arrested. According to Bloomberg the fight broke out between rival worker groups at a dormitory operated…