Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
We received word today that Dell is talking about a Mini 11 netbook behind closed doors. Mahoney, that Mini 9 Hackintosh OS X howto was awesome, so be ready for this when it hits, ok? https://gizmodo.com/how-to-hackintosh-a-dell-mini-9-into-the-ultimate-os-x-5156903 The big reveal came as some internal Dell docs were leaked to Netbook News. In the image at left,…
AppleInsider is reporting that the wireless radio specs in the iPhone 3.0 firmware beta reveal support for a new chip and 802.11n. Current gen iPhones and the iPod touch support 802.11b/g networks. [Update] So you know what that means. Yes, yet another morsel of rumor and speculation to add to the “new iPhone something or…
Touch economic times call for cheap MP3 players (don’t they?), and Archos is trying to deliver, if a pair of low cost updates ever come to fruition. Called the Archos 2 and 4, the two players are light on features, which explains the relatively low price point. It’s nothing ground breaking, of course, but $60…
First, the otters learned to use camcorders. Today, Cuban Tree Frogs are glowing like E.T. in the muggy swamplands of Southern Florida. And yes, this is a real, live froggy, not some lame USB dongle. https://gizmodo.com/otters-making-home-videos-of-passing-photojournalists-i-5158150 Thankfully, the little guy did not cook from the inside out. He lived, and was simply protesting the fact…
My headline won’t put the Updike’s of the world out of business, but maybe Google’s new technique for scanning books into its ever-growing digital library will help me read more and become a better blogger. Probably not, you’re right. Anyway, the program, as you may know, is called Google Book Search, and it’s pretty simple:…
I’m all for mods, hacks and whatnot, but this SNES USB hub goes too far. Removing the innards from Mario Kart, just for a USB hub? Surely, Hong Kong 97 deserves such a fate, no? But in all seriousness, it’s not like you have to gut a classic to create this DIY hub. And, in…
AT&T is expecting traffic to increase tenfold with the presumed release of the next iteration of the iPhone this summer, and is expanding and improving their wireless network to handle the added stress with ease. Currently, AT&T’s network only goes up to 7.2 Mbps, though the iPhone 3G itself (responsible for about half the network’s…
DemoGod displays your iPhone’s screen live on your Mac over WiFi, so you can show off your awesome new fart app (if you’re cool) or your impressive, profitable new project (if you’re a productive weirdo). https://gizmodo.com/ifart-vs-pull-my-finger-the-battle-for-iphone-fart-ap-5153778 DemoGod is based mostly on iPhoney and VNC, and uses the jailbreak app ScreenSplitr to stream your screen’s activity…
Microsoft’s new Lauren is a tech-savvy engineer with a complicated, foreign name, tasked with finding a laptop that’ll address his needs for under $1,500. You’ll never guess what this Microsoft-paid probable-actor decided to buy. https://gizmodo.com/lauren-we-have-someone-whod-like-to-talk-to-you-5187031 That’s right, it’s a not-Mac! I mean, it’s an HP! It’s hard to keep track, since the only complaint the…
As predicted by Battlestar Galactica, machines are beginning their takeover. An elderly woman in Cornwall, England was seated peacefully on her supposedly-helpful scooter when the iron-hearted machine forcefully drove her onto a highway without permission. The scooter planned its move carefully. It knew the woman’s husband, recovering from a triple-bypass surgery, would be unable to…
Somebody alert the NYPD: A huge, blocky cat with pupil-less eyes and a single, misshapen foreleg is roaming the streets of Manhattan. Warning: Possibly psychic. Last seen at the Nintendo World Store. [Engadget]
Consumer activist group Free Press has asked the FCC to investigate AT&T’s refusal to allow Skype to access its wireless network on the iPhone, instead restricting it to WiFi. https://gizmodo.com/skype-for-iphone-now-available-in-the-us-has-voip-over-5191538 Free Press alleges that this restriction is “designed to cripple applications or hinder consumer choice for anticompetitive purposes,” which would be an illegal practice. An…
Instructables has a great hack to turn an old Power Glove, that triumph of silliness, into an Arduino-controlled, Bluetooth-and-accelerometer-sporting modern peripheral. The new and much-improved Power Glove is positioned as kind of a 20th anniversary present to the original Glove. The video below gives a pretty detailed instruction for how to tear apart your own…
A voluntary recall of one of Best-Buy-house-brand Insignia’s HDTVs has been issued, after an irreparable design flaw causing burns and fire was discovered. But customers are getting burned in more ways than one. Update: [Note: Zing!] The 26-inch sets, of which more than 13,000 units were sold, was priced between $900 and $1,000 at Best…
Our favorite electronics aren’t always the easiest items to recycle, but Wired took a tour of a factory where they’re stripped down to their essential parts so manufacturers can reuse the good bits. The gadgets are separated into categories, and then ripped apart for the valuable or recyclable parts, like glass, steel, aluminum, and more…
Using VNC, you can log into your home computer from any machine in the world with web access (including your iPhone) to access files, schedule downloads, and tons more. Here’s how. VNC (virtual network computing) is one of those tricks that never gets old, and having it set up can often save your ass—whether you…
We’re in Tahoe, and the Snowmodo reader meetup is happening right now. Here’s a photostream of the festivities. https://gizmodo.com/gizs-snowmodo-reader-meetup-saturday-april-4th-north-5143084 People are using their own phones to upload the shots, but some of the nicest photos are coming in by way of Nokia handsets packing high megapixel sensors and optics. [Full Snowmodo event details here] *Adam…
The fondant-wielding wizards at Ace of Cakes created this huge replica of a Nikon D60 DSLR for a photographer’s birthday party. Way to stick it to all those upstart amateurs, Charm City Cakes. We can’t find any shots of it, but this cake actually featured another cake in its “viewfinder,” which sounds both clever and…
Yeah, usually our featured images are photos, but Alex Broeckel’s photorealistic rendering—of that all-too-likely scenario that we will soon battle giant robo-octopuses using the power of steam—well, it just made horrifying, paranoia-inducing sense. [io9] https://gizmodo.com/an-ocean-battle-between-steam-ships-and-a-cyber-octopus-5196053
I love the idea of light-up HDMI cables but I’m not sold on these, from Japan’s Donya electronics retailer. In a sense, they are completely backwards. Have you guessed why? Like any other home-theater fiddler, I definitely could use more light back behind my TV and my home-theater gear. But I want that light back…
