Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
Earlier today I lamented the relative lack of sleep-enhancing gadgets. The Internet answered with these sheets that transform your bed into a giant iPod Touch. I don’t think it functions, but it is certainly compatible with puns. [Ellos via Techeblog] https://gizmodo.com/wakemate-helps-you-sleep-smarter-with-your-iphone-5438776
Twenty years ago, Capsule Hotel Shinjuku 510 was a place where Tokyo’s businessmen could get a quick night’s sleep after a long day at the office. Today it’s an apartment building for those left unemployed by the devastating recession. As Japan’s jobless rate creeps higher—it is currently 5.2%, the highest it has ever been—some Tokyo…
The Kirlian Photography Device uses high voltage discharges to capture beautiful, luminescent images directly from ordinary film. It is not a machine I’d recommend using in the darkroom. Kirlian photography, also known as electrography, isn’t anything new—we’ve looked at the technique before—but the Kirlian Photography Device wraps up all the necessary components into one machine.…
A lot went down this past week, the last of the year and the decade. People always start looking back this time of year, and we were no exception. But there was plenty of crazy in the here and now. Yes, there were recaps. Brian recounted his love of gadgets in the aughts and explained…
Radio Active, a project by industrial design student Erez Bar Am, is a wall-mounted analog radio. That’s all good and well. The frustration begins when you realize you have to rearrange it every time you want to change the station. Radio Active consists of a main module—the blue one—and several satellite modules, three of which…
Everyone is clamoring about tablets these days—ourselves included—so it’s not too surprising that Google and HTC are set to join the fray. They are reportedly working together on a Chrome OS Google Tablet. Smarthouse, an Australian publication, reports that HTC and Google have been collaborating “for the past 18 months” and have produced “several working…
The 2000s are gone. They didn’t bring the future, those Aughts. Doesn’t matter. 2010 is rolling. Watch out for those flying cars when you go to pick the laundry in your jetpack. [Nedroid Comics via The Daily What via m0ddie]
Motorola making a device in more that one color? You don’t say… One of our connects sent us the above photo of the Motorola Calgary / DROID Devour / Whatever, and confirmed the specifications we posted a few months back. We’re told the keyboard was “nice” and the phone itself was “easier to use” compared…
With an unexpected snowfall blanketing much of the East Coast for New Years, someone—either a traffic worker with a sense of humor or an average Joe with a sense of civic duty—reprogrammed this New England traffic sign. This time last year we posted a quick bit on how weirdly easy it was to hack road…
With CES only a week away, photos and incomplete specs for 8 new machines from HP have leaked, including an upgraded Mini 210 HD netbook now touting a N450 Pine Trail processor. The HP Mini 210 HD, to be officially announced next week, boasts a 1.66GHz N450 Atom CPU and GMA 3150 graphics. The N450…
While it was initially suggested that Google Latitude was rejected from the app store to keep iPhone users from confusing it with Maps, this new patent shows that Apple might be working on their own friend- and ex-girlfriend-tracking app. https://gizmodo.com/google-latitude-for-iphone-is-a-lame-web-app-because-ap-5321583 9to5 Mac points out that the iPhone diagram seems to show a front-facing camera, a…
Late last night, Time Warner Cable and Fox Networks Group reached an agreement on subscription fees, ending their very public stand off and guaranteeing Time Warner subscribers their American Idol, Glee, and House fixes in 2010. https://gizmodo.com/time-warner-cable-takes-subscription-fee-fight-to-the-p-5436599 The spat over carrier fees that had Time Warner threatening to drop Fox’s stations altogether has been resolved.…
Remember the extremely popular and heart-touching Stand By Me video? That was recorded in a virtual studio around the world during different days. Here’s the not-less-heart-touching All You Need Is Love, recorded in 156 countries at exactly the same time: https://gizmodo.com/top-10-most-popular-articles-of-2009-5437856 The video was made on December 7, 2009 at 1:30pm Greenwich Meridian Time. All…
Yes, me neither. But these guys almost did, filming this crystal clear video—much better and vertigo-inducing than the previous one, thanks to a better camera and wider lens angle—on December 31, from the tip of the Burj Dubai. https://gizmodo.com/this-video-from-the-tip-top-of-the-burj-dubai-makes-me-5404350
Before the internet, there were movies. And before movies, there were typewriters. And before typewriters, there was chewing gum. And before chewing gum, there were only cavemen. Is this dude a caveman chewing gum in a typewriter movie? Maaaybe. [Obsolete]
Dear 2010, you’ll bring the iSlate, Android 3, Natal, iPhone 4, and whatever other cool things we can’t foresee now. But now you’re too short, young, and cute. Don’t worry, you’ll get there. Happy New Year, everyone. [Thanks David Keyes]
This is a solution to a problem I definitely have—I often find myself wrestling with coffee and a few gadgets, without enough hands to hold it all. This DIY sleeve takes at least the coffee off your hands. It’s basically one of those coffee sleeves you get to keep from burning your hands, but with…
I have seen really amazing ship designs, like the impressive kind-of-Nautlish Ghost ramming yacht, the weird transforming Ikkar, the luxurious perfect dream-aparment-that-is-really-a-boat, and the classic schooner America. The Enso, however, is the first that looks from another planet: https://gizmodo.com/ghost-supership-can-probably-break-other-ships-in-two-5430355 I someone told me that the Enso Catamaran is really a secret version of Burt Rutan’s…
This Speaker Bot is a handmade, Etsy-fied robot seemingly designed around one of those little pocket guitar amps. It’s maybe not the most technologically advanced iPod dock around, but it’s about as cute as robots ever get. It’s a fair-sized sculpture, the only one of its kind, about a foot and a half tall. It…
This Canon PowerShot G1, released in 2000 and listed at Best Buy for $800 in 2001, has held up well. Sure, 3.34 megapixels isn’t much, but spec for spec, this codger can almost hang with the kids. Seriously, you could just post this spec sheet next to a Canon in a retail store now, and…
