Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
Microsoft has released to manufacturing Vista Service Pack 2, meaning it should be out real soon-like, so it still looks on track for May. Does anyone still care about Vista with Windows 7 being all like, right here? [ZD Net] https://gizmodo.com/windows-vista-service-pack-2-delayed-5137965
iSuppli has issued a formal estimate for the build cost of the Palm Pre, pegging it at $138. This undercuts the iPhone, at $174, and even the G1, at a modest $144. Why so cheap? UPDATED https://gizmodo.com/isuppli-official-estimate-the-iphone-3g-build-price-is-5025546 Well, it’s not clear in Businessweek’s summary of the report, but iSuppli is assuming—rightfully—that many under-the-hood components, like…
NPR has an amazing interactive map of our power grid—the complicated mesh of power plants and transmission lines delivering juice to your house. This picture shows new proposed lines—it looks damn sad without them: The map gives state-by-state breakdowns of sources of electricity—98 percent of West Virginia’s power comes from coal, nearly a third of…
We talked about XP Mode—which runs programs that work in XP but not in Vista—in our Windows 7 RC1’s hands-on. Now Microsoft is coming up with details about what hardware and licenses this will need. https://gizmodo.com/windows-7-release-candidate-1s-best-surprise-new-featur-5226696 • A CPU that has true chip-level virtualization from Intel or AMD. • 2GB of RAM minimum. • While…
Many of you asked if you could buy the goosebumping version of Stand By Me that we featured yesterday. Good news: It’s out this month in CD and DVD, along with other amazing songs. https://gizmodo.com/best-video-ive-seen-today-will-make-you-smile-5231112 Stand By Me was only one of the songs in the album, which includes other tracks recorded using the same…
Scientists at Cornell University have super-computed the geotags of 35 million Flickr photos, creating photography heatmaps for locations around the world. Their conclusion? People really, really like taking pictures of landmarks. The national maps—like the one above, which shows the most photographed landmark in each of the top 20 most photographed cities—are somewhat predicable, with…
Still sore from their rough first step into the smartphone industry in February, Acer has committed to building one Android handset before 2010. On the possibility of an Android netbook, though, they dithered. Hard. https://gizmodo.com/acers-first-smartphones-are-missing-something-5154515 Acer’s President and CEO: We are working on an Android solution for the smartphone, [but] I think it’s too early…
RealNetworks’ courtroom feud with the MPAA is now under way, and as predicted, the company doesn’t really give a mouse’s ass about RealDVD. It’s Facet, RealNetworks’ archiving DVD player, that everyone’s all worked up about. https://gizmodo.com/why-the-realdvd-trial-might-actually-matter-5225712 After getting cornered with a few leading questions about whether or not RealDVD software is capable of copying rented…
You saw the pictures, you read the spec sheet, and you heard the pitch. But how does Samsung’s first Android phone look in motion, while interacting with a Real Live Human? https://gizmodo.com/meet-the-i7500-samsungs-first-android-phone-5229244 Fine! This video further vindicates Samsung’s choice to design the I7500 in the tradition of their handsome SGH feature phones, rather than like…
We’ve heard rumblings of a new PSP sans UMD in the past, and sources have now confirmed the rumor and added a date of announcement: E3, merely a month away. https://gizmodo.com/sony-not-denying-plans-for-a-psp-2-without-umd-5161391 1Up’s sources claim the new PSP hardware will adopt the moniker “PSP Go!,” and yes, that exclamation mark is correct. They further claim the…
We don’t have an explanation for this, but the new version of the Google Mobile App for iPhone/iPod Touch lists some pretty wacky improvements, notably “Longer Version Number” and “Ninja.” Rimshot! This screen can be seen in the “Update Details” section of the app. We hope some fun-loving Google employee didn’t just get fired for…
I’m fairly certain that 99% of the population does not need an OLED screen or fingerprint scanner packed into the Ennova USB thumbdrive, but still, it’s nice to stop and ogle at it’s super-techie aspects. The retractable USB drive used the OLED screen to browse files and carry out certain functions. When used as a…
WWDC 2009 sold out in record time this year. I guess no matter what the state of the economy, there’s a belief that producing for the mac and iphone is worth the effort. [WWDC]
In what’s possibly the meanest anti-Apple pun ever, Consumerist reader Ryan was sold an actual brick in a box instead of the MacBook Pro for which he paid over $2,000. He purchased the “MacBook Pro” at a Best Buy in Texas, and the retailer is citing the problem as Apple’s responsibility rather than its own.…
Unlike some smartphones we know, phones running WinMo 6.5 will get a pretty amazing connected voice command interface, courtesy of Microsoft subsidiary TellMe. https://gizmodo.com/windows-mobile-6-5-announced-leaks-confirmed-5154116 There are already TellMe apps out there, where the service listens to requests—search queries or requests for other data—and carries them out online. BlackBerry and Sprint Instinct have them, and the…
The new version of iTunes 8.2 (required by the latest iPhone 3.0 Beta) has a mention of Blu-ray in the about screen. This means Blu-ray in Macs come WWDC? https://gizmodo.com/iphone-3-0-beta-4-is-up-and-so-is-itunes-8-2-pre-relea-5231916 Maybe, maybe not. Although the old version didn’t have DVD either (the new version does), there was no Blu-ray functionality at all in iTunes before.…
Flickr user Norby figured out a way to make the site’s interface work in ways we hadn’t expected. [Flickr]
Keith Loutit’s tilt shift video returns with two more clips: another relaxing one of the beach and one of Mardi Gras. The beach one (Bathtub IV) is very soothing in an innocent way. [Neatorama] https://gizmodo.com/amazing-tilt-shift-time-lapse-videos-make-lilliputians-5060074
At a lobbying dinner hosted by the MPAA, Vice President Joe Biden chastised piracy as “pure theft” and assured the MPAA that President Obama’s administration will find the right person for the intellectual property czar. Showing favor towards the MPAA, President Obama also appointed Jon Leibowitz—former vice president of congressional affairs of the MPAA—as the…
Epson’s ensemble projector kit is being paired with their Powerlite 6100 and 6500 UB models, both 1080p projectors, with the UB model getting a much higher dynamic contrast ratio of 75,000:1. The projector itself is LCD based, accounting for the price of the total kit, as LCD based projectors have been traditionally more more price…
