Tech News

Intel Upgrades Its Cell Phone—Buys Infineon’s Wireless Solutions Business for $1.4bn

Intel has agreed to buy Infineon Technologies’ Wireless Solutions business for around $1.4bn, as it positions itself to grab a chunk of the rapidly exploding smartphone market. Intel’s CEO Paul Otellini said of the deal “The acquisition of Infineon’s WLS (Wireless Solutions) business strengthens the second pillar of our computing strategy—internet connectivity—and enables us to…

New Chatroulette: Up, Half-Broken, Still Mostly Sausage-Based

The new version of Chatroulette has gone live today, and if you were expecting a brave new world free of men suspiciously pointing their webcams further down than the manufacturer recommends, you’re out of luck. https://gizmodo.com/experiment-1-is-over-now-for-chatroulette-5619325 As before, the interface is seriously lacking. The ‘Next’ button is a huge, unnamed bar, plenty of sex-themed adverts…

There Is Such Thing As Dry Water

Don’t ask me what voodoo they used but scientists have created dry water. Well, they originally invented it back in 1968 but they’ve recently re-discovered it and this time, found an actual use for it. First, dry water, how does that even make sense? Ben Carter, Ph.D, the researcher, explains: [It’s] known as “dry water”…

How Did An iPhone Take This Picture?

Unless the blades of this airplane propellor can defy gravity and float, the iPhone’s camera totally distorted reality with this picture. How did this happen? No, it’s not Photoshop. It’s because of the camera’s “rolling shutter”. So as it turns out, most digital cameras don’t actually take a picture the instant you hit the button.…

Butterfly Eggs Don’t Look Like They’re From This World

Butterflies sorta creep me out. First, they start out as another bug and then they cocoon themselves. Who does that? And just take a look at this butterfly egg, it’s borderline alien looking. National Geographic has a whole slew of pictures of insect eggs. The pictures were taken with a scanning electron microscope, which uses…

Google Planning Pay-Per-View Movies For YouTube

The Financial Times is reporting that Google is in talks with Hollywood studios to launch a global pay-per-view video service by the end of 2010. If it happens, YouTube will transform into a major player in streaming rental movies. People familiar with the talks are saying that Google is pitching to the movie studios that…

Apparently Two Huge Meteors, Not One, Killed All The Dinosaurs

Scientists are suggesting that two different meteors, not a single strike, may have wiped out dinosaurs some 65 million years ago. Interestingly, they struck Earth thousands of years apart. The discovery of the second impact crater (located in Ukraine) actually was reported in 2002 but scientists were unsure of how the timing related to the…

Store Your Physical Media On The Cloud (Shelf)

Don’t let your digital media have all the fun playing on clouds, let’s store our physical books, CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, and magazines on a cloud too. I did hear this cloudshelf has nearly a 100% uptime. [DesignTorget via NOTCOT]

Nike Shoes Get Outfitted With Wii Balance Board Controls

Nike recently challenged 78 artists to remix and adapt the function of Nike shoes. Nick Marsh, one of the contestants, took a pair of Air Maxes and imported the internals of a Wii Balance Board to turn his shoes into controllers. He placed the Balance Board sensors in the soles of the shoes and re-jiggered…

What Mysterious Device Is The CTO Of HP Playing With ?

One’s big, one’s small and the other’s a wristwatch? That’s what Phil McKinney, CTO of HP’s Personal Systems Group, seems to be holding in his hand. Could it be a legit webOS tablet? Pre 2? Or a *gasp* webOSwatch? Your guess is as good as mine. The picture was taken to drum up interest in…

This Coffee Shop Has A Back To The Future DeLorean Parked Inside

The Wormhole, a coffee shop in Chicago, celebrates geek culture with a DeLorean parked right inside the shop. How could you not walk in if you see this on the street? You are a human with a heart, right? And it’s not just the DeLorean, The Wormhole has movie posters and memorabilia from films that…

I Guess You Can Throw Yourself Into The Airport X-Ray Instead Of Walking Through The Metal Detector

Why jumping onto the conveyor belt for an x-ray would cross anyone’s mind is beyond me. If you’re trying to prove that you’re not carrying metal, you’ve succeeded. But you’ve also proved that you’re crazy enough to be a terrorist. And of course the cynic in me is sad that this could be fake. But…

Could The Samsung Galaxy Tab Be Headed To Verizon or Sprint ?

A CDMA version of the oft-spotted Samsung Galaxy Tab has been found, which could point toward an eventual Verizon (or Sprint) 3G version of the tablet. Or not. Whatever, all I need to know is that the Tab runs Android 2.2. According to the developer who has this CDMA test unit on hand, the Galaxy…

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iPad Finally Shipping In 24 Hours

I’m not sure how long it’s been the case but Apple’s online store now lists the iPad as now shipping in 24 hours. That goes for all versions of the pad, from the 16GB Wi-Fi only to the 64GB Wi-Fi + 3G Model and everything else in between. [Apple via TiPb]

How Astronauts’ Experience Could Help Trapped Chilean Miners

The trapped Chilean miners may face their most severe psychological challenges in a couple of months’ time, if experience from space missions is anything to go by. A recent NASA study suggests rescuers need to be especially vigilant at the halfway stage of the project. It found that the morale of astronauts on the International…

The Embrace Infant Warmer Acts As A Cheap Incubator For Developing Countries

In developing countries, low birth weight babies don’t always have the luxury of an incubator to help them. Hopefully this $25 Embrace Infant Warmer can become a viable alternative, it was successfully tested on its first baby a week ago. The idea behind the Embrace is rather simple. A heating pouch is slipped into the…

The Sonar Image Of The Titanic’s Debris Field Is Bigger Than Expected

The first sonar images of the Titanic have been mapped and the ship’s debris field is much larger than scientists anticipated. Here’s what the dots in the sonar image is actually showing. We’re looking at the Titanic’s bow and if you squint your eyes (or can translate sonar) you can see the mast, superstructure, funnel…

Toshiba SmartPad’s Specs Leak, Runs Android 2.2 And Is Supposedly Called The Folio 100

What we once knew as the Toshiba SmartPad will now be known as the Toshiba Folio 100. Along with the name change, specs for the Folio 100 have leaked and it’s supposed to run Android 2.2. https://gizmodo.com/toshiba-smartpad-gets-a-leaky-close-up-the-ports-5619412 According to Notebook Italia, the Folio 100 will have: OS: Android 2.2 Processor: Nvidia Tegra 2 Display: multitouch…

A Dress Made From Computer Wires Is A Tangled Geeky Mess

I love girls. I love computers. Then why don’t I love this girl wearing a dress made from computer wires? I think it’s because I want to see the wireless version. I mean, it’s 2010 already! [Tina Sparkles via Make]