Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
The Samsung Alias 2 may be a dumbphone, but it’s got one feature that (kinda!) sets it apart: It unfolds into landscape and portrait configurations, and uses the same keypad in both. How? Witchcraft! E-ink! We heard about this flip-flopping followup to the uninspiring Alias 1 back in March, but without video or any kind…
Molex has prototyped a new miniature HDMI connector called Type D, which boasts the whole range of regular HDMI specs—19 pins, 10.2 Gbit/s bandwidth, HDCP, etc.—in a package the size of a Micro USB cable. A compact HDMI plug, called Type C, already exists, but this version is less than half the size of even…
Salem, Oregon resident Todd Marcum, whose name we will use repeatedly because of the nature of his crime, has been arrested for maliciously abusing his four young children with an electric dog collar. According to police lieutenant Dave Okada, Marcum admitted that Marcum shocked his children, aged 3, 6, 8, and 9, “because he thought…
They have been in coma lately but, through 53 years of history, Sony has created some of the most amazing gadget in history. Some of them changed the world forever. Here you have them all. https://gizmodo.com/happy-53rd-birthday-sony-5244981 Click on the image above to access the full timeline in 2800 x 1188 pixels. I look back in…
Sony’s X1000-series Walkman PMP, which packs a gorgeous OLED screen and Wi-Fi, is likely to be priced to directly compete with Apple’s iPod touch, according to an early appearance on Sony’s site. On Sony’s “SonyRewards” site, the X1000-series unexpectedly popped up with a price, albeit in Sony’s “points” currency. But if we convert from Sony…
This DIY oil detector, essentially a modified metal detector, is the hottest new accessory for city-dwelling hipsters worldwide. Plus, it matches terrifically with a beard. The metal detector is outfitted with a relatively inexpensive “combustible gas sensor” that can detect pockets of oil, and the creator notes that the entire mod can be completed for…
Just try to tell me you don’t need that phone app at least once a day. Click to view [Slate V via 9to5Mac]
Here’s the stuff that we didn’t post today. (Until now, obviously.) • The next iPhone’s getting a Magnetometer. This means a compass. Probably a Google Streetview compass. Not all that useful for current iPhone users though, which make up the entirety of the iPhone user audience right now. [Boy Genius Report] • The iPhone developers…
Cnet has a runthrough of the first official Facebook app for Windows Mobile—developed by Microsoft with Facebook—whose defining feature might be that it makes no real attempt to mimic the look and feel of Facebook. https://gizmodo.com/windows-mobile-finally-gets-a-decent-facebook-app-5164738 But its “address book” is way more useful than the iPhone app’s, since it supplies you more instant connections…
Masaru Ibuka started Sony, humbly, in post-war Japan above a department store, 53 years ago today. Their opening charter warned, “We must avoid problems which befall large corporations.” The founder of Sony—Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Company, as it was known then—also insisted that it should “create and introduce technologies which large corporations cannot match” and that…
No clever invective needed: It’s an instructional video from the MPAA showing how to record a TV screen for classroom clips, instead of ripping a DVD. I think they really mean it, too. =( [BoingBoing]
For an iPod dock anyway. Most impressive is the woofer and tweeter pushing through a transparent pane of lucite-like plastic in the front. There’s also some kind of active EQ that iHome’s pretty proud of. Tony Bongiovi, producer of lots of great rock albums and founder of the legendary Power Station recording studio here in…
A recent Apple patent application hints at the creation of iTunes kiosks for local and remote media downloading in public areas, such as airports, malls, hotels and even public transportation. With these kiosks, consumers on the run would be able to browse selective, popular media—such as new releases—and purchase then download the content into the…
Number 1: Nuts. Number 2: Really nuts. More diabolic cables on the link. [Dark Roasted Blend]
Akiba’s Vstone Robot Center is the nerd-friendly destination’s first robot store, selling robots as well as robot kits and parts for robots. If it’s as otaku as other parts of Akiba, expect a lotta dudes. [Dvice] Update: Apparently it’s not the FIRST robot shop of its kind, unlike what Dvice claims.
Remember how badly Nvidia’s drivers screwed up the Vista launch? They’re so confident they won’t mess up Microsoft’s Windows 7 launch, they’re issuing press releases NOW touting how ready they are. [Yahoo via ZDNet]
Clickfree’s new external SSD comes in 16GB ($80), 32GB ($150), and 64GB ($250) capacities. Roughly the size of a credit card, the Traveler is a compact but pricey drive. Clickfree has also released the DVD Transformer ($40), which plugs in like a standard USB drive, but automatically scans your computer for personal files and other…
The US Terminator posters feature the major players posed all action-y, but they don’t match the gravitas of the Russian ones. A machine about to crush your head? Here’s my $10. [io9] https://gizmodo.com/christian-bale-will-be-angry-at-this-terminator-charact-5163935
What do you do with three abandoned sewage treatment silos? If you’re the city of Amsterdam, you convert them into absolutely incredible climbing towers. These incredible structures are the results of a contest to determine their best adaptive reuse, won by Amsterdam’s own NL Architects. The towers now have climbing surfaces both inside and out…
Adding to the pile of evidence that MacBooks are gonna get built-in 3G—like the search for Mac hardware 3G testers—the updated System Profiler in Snow Leopard has a dedicated spot for WWAN, which would only be the case for built-in hardware. June does seem like a good time for 3G MacBooks, don’t you think? [AppleInsider]…
