Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
Nvidia posted a preview video of the GTX 480, their eyeball-popping, face-melting Fermi graphics card that is set for release “very, very soon.” It bests ATI’s HD 5870 in a benchmark, though maybe not by as much as you’d hope. https://gizmodo.com/nvidia-fermi-next-gen-graphics-architecture-has-512-cor-5371436 As Tom Petersen, Nvidia’s director of technical management, explains in the video, the GTX…
We’ve come across plenty of robots that were controlled by phones before, but usually those phones were being controlled by human hands. Some California hackers, however, are building bots that harness Android for their robo-brainpower. Their first creation, the TruckBot, uses a HTC G1 as a brain and has a chassis that they made for…
This week’s New York Times Magazine looks at China’s human-flesh searches, a widespread practice in which “netizens” systematically track and harass individuals ranging from adulterers to corrupt local officials. But the searches tread a fine line between justice and revenge. To anyone familiar with 4chan, its hard to imagine internet vigilantes residing anywhere besides the…
If you’re anxious about switching from a PC to a Mac, consider this: There are a multitude of ways you can virtualize Windows within OS X, and they all work uniquely well. Here’s how to choose the right one. There are three major virtualization products for Mac, and at their core, they’re all quite similar.…
Whoa. During the keynote presentation at TechEd Middle East in Dubai, Microsoft’s Eric Rudder played the same Indiana Jones-ish game on a Windows computer, a Windows Phone 7 phone, and an Xbox 360. Gaming is about to get real ubiquitous. Not only is the game itself playable on all three platforms, but the session is…
Now that you know you’ll have your sweaty hands on an iPad on April 3, you can start fussing over the other stuff you’ll need for your shiny new gadget. This Vers case is pretty and has one of those..um… https://gizmodo.com/official-ipad-launching-here-april-3-pre-orders-march-5486444 One of those things that keeps a bicycle upright. What do you call those?…
If you’re sick—literally or figuratively—of 3D now, just wait until the end of the month. HD Guru has Best Buy’s schedule for rolling out 3D capable HDTVs and Blu-ray players from Samsung and Panasonic, and they’re coming soon. The Guru claims that sales and demonstrations of 3D gear will commence at 200 Best Buy locations…
Though it seems like the weather’s warming up now, think back to February when Mother Nature was piling on the snow with callous indifference. Feel that bitter cold on your face, that strain in your lower back. Now meet RoboPlow. This is the idea that every geek has had, but the guys at IdeaLaboratories were…
In his hundred-word inquiry to Steve Jobs as to whether or not the iPad will tether to the iPhone, Jezper Söderlund started by saying, “I’ll keep it short.” Steve’s response kept it really short: “No.” Updated: Is Jobs wrong? OK, Steve’s answer hardly comes as a surprise, but I’m always tickled when there’s a report…
Learning to play the piano has lingered on my to-do list for a long time. But watching this video of the Clavilux 2000 keyboard generating a spectacular light show in real time, I might have to make it a priority. The Clavilux is a digital keyboard rigged up to a projector, letting the audience see…
This man is tightening a mold in a Samsung factory in Kaluga, Russia. Inside that mold is a portion of what will soon be a television. Let’s take a tour of the rest of the factory. Samsung opened this particular factory in 2008 and its been putting out products ever since. Aside from quality inspections,…
Mindflex, the brandwave-detecting game, will probably give you a headache no matter what. But Harcos Labs decided to take it further, with a hacked Mindflex that shocks you when you concentrate too hard. The result: science, and hilarious shock videos. https://gizmodo.com/the-mindflex-brainwave-game-gives-me-a-headache-5396971 The original Mindflex headset indicates how hard you’re concentrating with a series LEDs. But…
First, man made the analog clock. Then he made the digital clock. Then, just because he could, he made the funky cross between the two that looks like a digital clock but has moving mechanical parts like an analog one. Art Lebedev, the patron saint of cool concepts that will never be manufactured as real…
While he was talking about cloud computing yesterday, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer made a casual remark about the future of the Xbox. Apparently there might be new form factors, options, and price points coming: https://gizmodo.com/ballmer-explains-the-cloud-in-5-easy-steps-5485804 In the case of the TV we’ve got both strategies. We actually have a TV implementation in some senses built…
The Maldives, a small nation consisting of 1,200 islands is gradually disappearing as sea levels rise. In an attempt to save the place, their government has signed off on the development of several “floating facilities” like this one. Dutch Docklands/Dutch Watervalley, makers of many floating homes, are the starry-eyed folks working with the Maldives government…
The funeral for Internet Explorer 6, one of the older members of the Microsoft family, was a pleasant affair with only a few protestors. Unfortunately representatives of the family were unable to attend and sent flowers and a note instead: Thanks for the good times, IE6. See you all @ MIX, where we’ll show a…
Google’s shopping spree continues. This time they’ve picked up a company called DocVerse, whose software will eventually allow seamless interoperability between Google Docs and Microsoft Office. That’s right, Microsoft… the call is coming from inside the house. https://gizmodo.com/google-buys-iphone-email-search-app-remail-and-pulls-it-5474301 You can already store and share Office files through Google Docs, but DocVerse adds the functionality of…
There are lamps that excite me and there are lamps that I couldn’t care less about. Then there’s this chandelier designed by Robert Kaindl, glass artisan extraordinary, which looks like it would stab me if given the opportunity. https://gizmodo.com/the-loch-ness-monster-isnt-in-scotland-shes-lighting-u-5485981 For once, I’m scared to turn on the lights. [Design Milk]
Every year, Hanover, Germany hosts hordes of tech journalists, analysts, and PR people for CeBIT. It’s like CES, sort of, except further away, and more boring. We decided not to go this year; it ends tomorrow. Here’s what we missed! To be clear, these were some of the bigger stories of the conference, at least…
German researchers are working on mobile phone technology that would convert silent mouth movements into speech. It’s an ingenious way to have a noiseless conversation, but if they don’t get it right there could be some unfortunate mix-ups. The tech—developed at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology—involved uses electromyography, and measures the electrical potentials generated by…
