Tech News

What Is Miracast?

Everyone really likes AirPlay, Apple’s Wi-Fi streaming standard that lets you send movies and music from, say, your iPhone to your speakers or Apple TV. Now there’s a new standard out to do pretty much the same thing for everyone else. But how is it different from previous attempts? Miracast is a lot like AirPlay……

Go Download iOS 6 RIGHT NOW (Updated With Direct Links)

iOS 6 is finally available for public consumption and you can get it one of two ways: You can plug your iOS device in to your computer and check iTunes for an update, or you can go into the settings menu on your iPhone (3GS, 4 or 4S), iPod touch (4G, 5G) or iPad (iPad…

Time Warner Paves the Way for Lamest Version of Apple TV’s Future

If Apple TV is anything like the a la carte channels as apps dream we’ve hoped for, it could be amazing. But according to comments from Time Warner Cable president and COO Rob Marcus we might never be liberated from our cable providers. https://gizmodo.com/why-apple-tv-just-became-apples-most-important-product-5931185 Marcus said he’s willing to give up control on the TWC…

Thumbs Up Paperclips Let You Like in Real Life

If it’s nearly impossible for you to tear yourself away from Facebook and deal with the real world, perhaps these amusing thumbs up paperclips will help ease the transition away from your phone. They’re even multi-purpose, letting you express your like of a given document, or dislike by simply flipping it over. For example, the…

iOS 6: All the Best New Features

Today is the day iOS 6 arrives, and it’s going to make your iPhone better than it’s ever been before. Why should you upgrade? There are so, so many reasons. https://gizmodo.com/go-download-ios-6-right-now-updated-with-direct-links-5944585 Facebook Maybe the best and most overdue addition. (Almost) everyone uses Facebook, so the deeper it’s stuffed into the soul of iOS, the better.…

You Have Less Than a Month to Conceive a Brilliant Idea, Win $50,000

Remember last week when we told all you would-be inventors about the Nissan Innovation Garage, a.k.a., your chance to fund that brilliant idea you’ve been kicking around? Well, procrastinators rejoice, because you still have time to submit! The Nissan Innovation Garage is inviting Edisons-in-training to share their best “everyday ideas” (that means it could be…

Survival Pod Lets You Ride Out a Tsunami in Relative Comfort

Inspired by the tragic tsunamis that hit Japan last year, Australian houseboat builder Matt Duncan decided to design and construct the ultimate life jacket. What he came up with was the Tsunami Survival Pod, designed to protect up to four passengers from rushing waters and tons of debris. Made from the same materials he uses…

HTC 8X: This Flagship Windows Phone Packs a Big, Beautiful Screen in a Slim, Blade-like Package

HTC’s new flagship Windows Phone—the 8X—is not just impressive because it packs a 1.5 GHz, dual-core Snapdragon S4 chipset and 4.3-inch 1280×720 display good for a PPI of 342. But it also manages to make a phone that, already checking in at a svelte 0.39-inches, feel even thinner than it is. Nokia Lumia 920, you…

What Is This Secret Weapon the US Has Been Hiding for 30 Years?

In 1981, the White House released a secret memo regarding the stockpiling of a certain weapon. What kind of weapon? Now that it’s been declassified, we still have no idea: the title remains censored. The document, National Security Decision Directive (NSDD) 7, obtained by the Federation of American Scientists, doesn’t leave much room for interpretation:…

Travel Surge Protector Saves Your Gear From Sketchy Outlets

When you’re traveling and completely reliant on your gadgets you don’t care how sketchy a power outlet looks—if it’s free, you’ll use it. So for those times when you have to plug in and charge no matter how dangerous things look, Satechi’s compact USB surge protector has got you covered. It plugs into a grounded…

Skitch: Mark Up Your Pics On Your Phone

We’re huge fans of Skitch here at Gizmodo—it’s the easiest way to quickly illustrate something on an image. And now you can add all the colorful arrows, circles, notes and drawings you want on photos right from your iPhone. What does it do? Gives you shapes, arrows, text, and other illustration tools to let you…

With this Chrome Rotary Desk Calendar, You Won’t Care if Monday’s Black

The magic boxes in our pockets have many wondrous uses, but a digital readout of the date and time is a fairly new phenomenon. People used to have specialized tools to access this mundane, essential information. They wore watches. They had style. They knew the date thanks to elaborate, fantastic calendars, like this refurbished rotary…

Fandango could be one of the first services you’ll use with iOS 6 Passbook. The movie tickets of the future. [9to5Mac]

Touchscreen Light Meter Makes You Wonder Why They Didn’t Make This an iPhone Accessory

Following in the footsteps of other pocketable devices, Sekonic has launched the world’s first touchscreen light meters featuring full color 2.7-inch LCD displays. As a result the units have had their typically complicated buttons streamlined into a much more functional UI. In addition to providing accurate readouts on the lighting conditions on set or surrounding…

Monsanto Weedkiller and GM Maize Linked to Tumor Risk (UPDATED)

A new study suggests that the world’s best-selling weedkiller and the GM maize resistant to it are linked to increased risk of tumor growth, multiple organ damage and premature death. The study, undertaken by a team of researchers at the University of Caen, France, and published in Food and Chemical Toxicology, is the first to…

One Key Way the iPhone 5 Totally Destroys the Competition

We got hints from an early Geekbench result that the iPhone 5 was going to be flying. It seems that Apple’s really has worked some magic, both with iOS 6 and its custom silicon, to make the iPhone 5 absolutely blazing at crunching Javascript. Browsing on the iPhone 5 is going to be lightning quick.…

ZTE Hoping to Launch Mozilla Phone Early 2013

Rumors have been circulating about the imminent arrival of a Mozilla phone for some time. Now the Wall Street Journal and Reuters are reporting that ZTE is planning to launch a Mozilla-powered phone in the first quarter of 2013. https://gizmodo.com/mozilla-joins-forces-with-telefonica-to-launch-its-new-5888520 The Journal suggests that ZTE is working with Mozilla in order to diversify its product…

This Jacket’s Faraday Cage Conveniently Silences Your Phone

Switching your phone off for important meetings or trips to the cinema can be a pain in the ass. Victor Johansson has a solution, though: he’s designed the Escape Jacket, which features a Faraday cage in the inside pocket to immediately take your phone off the grid. UK-based designer Johansson says that the concept is…

Apple’s Design Team Turns Up to Collect Award for First Time Ever

It’s no surprise to hear that Apple continually wins design awards around the world. Until now they’ve usually gone uncollected, but last night Jony Ive shipped out his entire senior design team to London to pick up two gongs—and perhaps signal that his influence is more important than ever. Apple was named the best brand…

Curiosity Took an Earth Rock to Mars

In the 60s and 70s, America spent $109 billion on getting rocks from the Moon back to Earth*. In 2012, America spent a couple billions on moving an Earth’s rock to Mars**. Moving rocks is a lot of fun! Yes, there’s a piece of America on Mars now, people. America, f*ck yeah! Of course, you…