Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
Although it’s not currently available in the iOS 5 developer beta, a new leak at 9to5Mac has indicated a curious voice control feature called Assistant could be making its way into the mysterious iPhone 5 when it launches. Sorry, “if” it launches, since there’s been nothing but rumor and rampant speculation about the next version…
Zeki Ozek wants to complement your current camera with an iPhone and eliminate SD cards, clunky factory-installed interfaces and whatever else attaching Apple’s smartphone to the back of your rig might accomplish. He proposes we do it with iCam, a camera with a dock in the back that syncs up with an iPhone courtesy the…
Houston, we have a destination! After much design, testing and budget-wrangling, the NASA Curiosity Rover now “knows” where it will land and explore come August 2012. The crater is called Gale, and it’s a promising site for water and life. Mostly water though, as the features found in and around the 96-mile-wide crater were believed…
Heads up: Apple has officially acknowledged a 1TB Seagate hard drive failure issue affecting iMacs sold between May and June 2011. Hard drive replacement is free, so just click the source link for all the info. [Apple]
With an official investigation now underway, the party may soon be over for those expertly crafted fake Apple Stores over in China. https://gizmodo.com/fake-chinese-apple-store-looks-amazingly-real-5822918 Reuters is reporting today that “industrial and commercial” authorities are giving the stores a thorough once-over, and that their investigations will examine brand usage, the supply chain and licensing. “There is no…
I’ve read Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal, so forgive me a moment, but I couldn’t help but wonder if the poor would make the best fuel for this floating in-your-face exuberance from the folks at Yacht Island Design. Helipad? Check. Volcano with waterfall? Of course. Pool on a ship floating in the world’s largest pool?…
Scott Daigle, a graduate engineering student at the University of Illinois, looked at the wheelchair, then at the bicycle, and then back at the wheelchair and asked “Why not a gear system on a wheelchair?” Then he built one. Called IntelliWheels AGS, this wheelchair shifting system brings the convenience that cyclists have enjoyed for many,…
One day, in the not so distant future because it’s actually being used in a testing environment today, people will use invisible nano-tattoos to give doctors an instant snapshot of their body’s inner workings. The prototype, developed by Heather Clark of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Northeastern University, consists of a special nanoparticle solution…
Is there nowhere Apple will not expand its line of silvery wood-accented retail stores? Glass cubes in Manhattan. Multi-story facades on Boylston in Boston. And now, piling on New York again, Apple is set to descend on Grand Central. The $800,000/year rent is a smidge higher than what the previous tenant, restaurant Mtrazur, was paying…
I can’t be entirely sure, but I think bike design just took a turn for the Gundam. For the Ridley Scott? For…? I mean, look at those lines! Either Gundam and the Alien took hold of Edward Kim and Benny Cemoli when they came up with the INgSOC concept or there’s some serious Akira fandom…
If there’s one problem plaguing the environment these days it’s discarded, non-recyclable bikinis. They’re awful! Plugging up landfills and taking eons to biodegrade. Utterly unacceptable. But not this bikini. This one is special. Special because it’s completely compostable. So is the other one. The one that looks like a fig leaf. Moving on…the bikinis are…
While using the Space Invaders multi-tool you may think you are the master, bending it to your will, but think again. The Space Invader is crafty and patient. Methodical. It is gathering intel. It is only a matter of time. In the meantime, though, this is a pretty geektastic way to screw things in (or…
When you call the police they usually send a cruiser. In Germany, the day could soon come that sees the Polizei sending the whole damn station to your door instead. This one guards the Turkish Consulate in Hanover. Cute! And deadly. This officer, tied to their desk, is only days away from retirement! Hopefully nothing…
A recent LG leak has delivered not one but five upcoming Android smartphones and one Mango-equipped one. Life is good, if you’re in love with LG. The “flagship” phone in this group of five is the LG Prada K2, which features “Prada-inspired texture.” I can only assume that means it’s encased in money or perhaps…
Two bullet trains have collided over a bridge in Wenzhou, China. As a result, four carriages of the first train derailed. Two were catapulted by the force of the impact into the ground, killing at least 16 passengers. Authorities fear that more victims could be found, since each carriage carries at least one hundred people.…
Om Nom has gone Hollywood, folks. The lovable main character in Zepto Lab’s critically-acclaimed and oft-downloaded Cut the Rope iOS game is making the jump to comics. Maybe now he can get that candy all by his damn self. Ape Entertainment is set to take on publishing duties for the comic, which was revealed at…
Turns out a massive marketing push works wonders for your bottom line…if you happen to be Spotify, that is, and can also deliver a much-hyped, well-designed music streaming service (I’m using mine right now!). Case in point, Billboard Editor Bill Werde crunched some numbers this week (or read some emails from his “sources”) and claims…
Not in the hilarious sense, of course, but in market cap. Turns out the iPad-pumping, MacBook Air-refreshing Cupertino company is on track to surpass profit-happy Exxon Mobil as “most valuable company” if the iPhone 5 is a hit. “If.” [Electronista]
Gizmodo’s Sam Biddle joined Alex Witt on MSNBC Saturday July 23, 2011. Watch the clip above. For media requests, please contact Kevin Prince.
Charts are fun! They basically make the Internet go ’round these days, what with the sharing, the memes and the Reddit and whatnot. But not this one! This one is depressing. Ladies and gents, the U.S. debt, in visual form. On the left there is the Empire State Building. In the middle, the doomed World…