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Now that Microcells are coming, it’s a good time to imagine how wonderful our reception will be. And how AT&T should be giving these away for free or less than $150, despite the zero monthly rate. [Repost on Giz] https://gizmodo.com/at-t-microcell-3g-salvation-for-your-crappy-reception-5501008
Wired has an incredible article on Gerald Blanchard, a young criminal mastermind with a “savantlike ability to assess security flaws.” The story opens with him parachuting onto a Viennese castle to steal a $2 million diamond jewel. Yeah. In addition to his unique ability to find security holes, Blanchard used every type of surveillance gadget…
Remember Apple’s peculiar ban on screen protecting film products in its stores? A recently discovered patent for retardation films which would reduce distortion when you’re viewing displays in sunlight or through polarized sunglasses might be the reason. https://gizmodo.com/apple-banning-protective-screen-film-from-stores-5495701 In theory such a film’s effectiveness might be hindered by screen protecting products and might explain Apple’s…
They’re pretty cool, I guess, but they could use a bit more flair. [The Daily What]
That little lock on your browser window indicating you are communicating securely with your bank or e-mail account may not always mean what you think its means. Normally when a user visits a secure website, such as Bank of America, Gmail, PayPal or eBay, the browser examines the website’s certificate to verify its authenticity. At…
Shadows can be a boon or a hindrance to a photographer. Too much, and you lose your subject to darkness. But use them right, and you can beautifully play with the light/dark dichotomy. The Challenge Shoot whatever you want, provided it heavily uses shadows with/as its main subject. The Method There’s a lot of fun…
Back in 2007, Sony CEO Jack Tretton was dismissive of what he thought was a childish new product: the Nintendo Wii. Thankfully, a wise, old owl is here to make Tretton eat—er, lick—his words. [Penny Arcade]
Verizon’s not taking the 4G wars lying down. Today at CTIA, they announced that they’d be launching 25-30 LTE 4G networks this year, covering a third of Americans by the end of 2010, and twice that within fifteen months. Most aggressively, Verizon’s also claiming that their 4G coverage will be greater than their current 3G…
AT&T’s U-Verse Mobile app is coming, and we’ve gotten our first demo of how AT&T’s bringing TV to phones. It’s a sleek-looking, intuitive interface that’ll let U-Verse customers watch recorded video on their phones. U-Verse customers were already able to program their DVRs from their phones, in a similar manner to Comcast’s DVR app, and…
Well, just compare its market cap to the other top five publicly traded US companies—it’s sitting pretty at $207.99 Billion, right below Walmart, as of yesterday’s market close. BIG. [Data via Mac Daily News via Digital Daily]
You have spoken, and your favorite green monster(s) outside of Boston can only be described as, well, ugly. Might even be called Ugly American(s). Verdant photo of the winner(s) of a $300 AMEX gift card after the jump! https://gizmodo.com/vote-for-the-ugliest-american-from-st-patricks-day-5499340
The Washington Post is reporting that GoDaddy, the biggest domain name registrar on the planet, will soon stop registering domain names in China. Their announcement comes in the midst of Google closing their Chinese search engine, though GoDaddy says their decision is specifically a response to “new government rules that require applicants to provide extensive…
Why I take the subway: This is what NYC traffic congestion looks like, charted by the GPS units built into cabs. The real surprise is that average travel speeds remain a crushingly slow 7MPH, even when everybody’s at work. [NYT]
NewEgg has a great deal on the Toshiba BDX2000 Blu-ray player: $99. The player was $250 when it came out last September. But, and there’s always a but, the deal ends at 4pm EST / 1pm PST, so move fast! https://gizmodo.com/toshiba-shacks-up-with-bdx2000-blu-ray-following-hd-dvd-5351835 Update: Sale’s over. Boo.
Sure, we kinda think AT&T’s cell-reception boosting MicroCell 3G should be like, free, since it’s using your pipes to route calls, but I suppose this is about as swell as we could’ve hoped for—$150 with no monthly fee. https://gizmodo.com/at-t-3g-microcell-site-live-home-base-station-boosts-s-5363880 A femtocell, briefly, is sorta like a mini cell tower—it hooks into your broadband connection, and…
You’ve seen Steve dance before. Today, if you are using Windows, sending emails from your Hotmail account, or even editing Excel spreadsheets, I insist you do a little monkeyboy dance in your seat. For Ballmer—the ever-entertaining CEO. Turning 54 today—exactly 11 months to the day of the other Steve—Ballmer also shares his birthday with the…
Some sweet deals for today. Nab a Asus i5 lappie on the cheap, jump planets in Mario Galaxy 2 now going for a lower price, and get into some robot on robot fisticuffs and other free hobomodo stuff. Top Deals: • 15.6″ ASUS K52JR-X5 Core i5 Laptop for $680 with free shipping (normally $849). •…
A group of online music industry giants, including Apple, Amazon and MySpace, have teamed up to form “Why Music Matters,” a group aimed at turning pirates into purchasers. While I’m certainly not going to argue with the value of paying for music, it’s tough to take an earnest plea for buying music seriously when it…
Days after Google moved from China, Sergey Brin is pushing the US to fight censorship there. But the West has a history of forcing moral and economic standards onto foreigners. This sort of thinking isn’t good—it’s how wars start. Censorship—a dirty word to netizens of the free world! But we have censorship and propaganda of…
A rumored peek at bestsellers on Apple’s iBooks reveals that the $9.99 ebook is very much alive, suggesting Apple does some pricing flexibility with bestsellers, and books that publishers sell for less than the average $26 hardcover price. https://gizmodo.com/apple-might-have-more-control-over-ebook-prices-after-a-5474391 Matching what the NYT originally reported, that “Apple wants the flexibility to offer lower prices for…
