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Today, Amazon launched an iPhone app that’ll exist solely to make buying crap easier. Its killer, buy-more-crap feature? Take a picture of anything, and Amazon’ll shoot you the product page to waste money on it. So how does this economy-stoking magic app work? A complex, supremely intelligent algorithm that can analyze pixels and determine just…
I love this [email protected] snapshot. Bono, Jesuschrist, Rudolph, and Steve in his contacts; him chatting about how he’ll give Xboxes to bad boys instead of coal because of the energy crisis; God wanting a Wii… His inbox is just hilarious. I want to read the rest of these emails, badly: • Yahoo! Answers Answer-Jim311 responded…
There was nothing wrong with the Eee Box, a PC not so dissimilar to the Wii, except that it lacked any real reason for existence with processing no more powerful than a netbook. https://gizmodo.com/asus-eee-box-b202-our-first-look-plus-official-specs-394563 The new Eee Box B204 and B206 look to beef up the line’s capabilities into something worthy of HTPC application. While…
Are you a big Amazon Unbox fan who has been insanely jealous over Netflix HD streaming? Don’t break that remote in passionate rage just yet. https://gizmodo.com/netflix-hd-streaming-debuts-on-xbox-360-5070290 One TiVo user spotted this “Available in High Definition” option in their Amazon Video on Demand menu system. Clicking on the option did nothing, but it’s probably pretty safe…
Moderately musical little person Scooter Smiff has helpfully demonstrated, point by point, how not to endorse gadgets in your music video. 1. Get a company’s flagship phone I understand that Scooter Smiff’s audience is probably as young as he is and doesn’t buy many massive smartphones, but if you’ve got to shill for a BlackBerry,…
Wii Music set up a solid control scheme for drumming with the console’s various attachments, which hacker He Zhao has basically replicated. Except this time it’s free, customizable and on your PC. Just like in its Wii progenitor, this program follows a simple pattern: feet control bass drums, while the swinging hands take care of…
As we saw yesterday, the accusations from the BBC, Washington Post, and Cnet saying that Apple was trying to “quietly” recommend antivirus software were false: Our quick fact check showed it was all an update to an old tech note. Now, Apple has removed the articles entirely. https://gizmodo.com/false-alarm-apple-mac-os-x-anti-virus-recommendation-i-5100996 In a statement to these media outlets,…
It’s a piece of promotional material, but it raises memories: your first, imprecise mousings; excitement at the earliest wireless mouse, and subsequent realization that it was uselessly jittery. The timeline, meant to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the mouse, highlights of Logitech’s odd diversions too. The extremely literal Kidz Mouse never really caught on with…
The July 16, 1943 Morning Herald (Uniontown, PA) ran this piece about the kitchen of the future, complete with built-in pots and pans. The kitchen was designed by the Libbey-Owens-Ford Glass company, which may be the same company that imagined the glass house of the year 2008. A special thanks to Warren for pointing me…
China cultural fun fact: People here love giving nicknames to buildings. With all the avante-garde architecture around, sometimes the nicknames are less than complimentary. The new CCTV building is now trying hard to not be known as “Hemorrhoids.” https://gizmodo.com/china-television-hq-done-looks-as-crazy-as-the-renderi-5034159 The China Central Television headquarters is a 6.45 million square foot complex that involves twin leaning…
This USB Card Shaver is the thinnest of its ilk that we’ve seen and, with a diameter of only 10mm, is perfect for the man-on-the-go trying to hide that he uses an USB shaver in the first place. https://gizmodo.com/usb-shaver-rechargeable-less-crappy-222669 The product page explains that its great for business, traveling and as a holiday present for…
Looks like it’s official! Microsoft has confirmed that it’s newest Xbox 360 Arcades come with 256MB of internal storage, making it NXE-compliant without you having to buy an extra memory card. https://gizmodo.com/new-xbox-360-motherboard-leaked-has-256mb-flash-memory-5099721 A Microsoft spokesperson told Xbox360 Fanboy that they constantly update the console’s 1700 plus internal components and that the Xbox 360 Arcade was…
Imagine one-upping Adam Frucci by posing with a 180-inch screen… that displays 3D! NewSight could give you a chance with their new gargantuan 3D video wall. Sadly, it uses LEDs for pixels, making the resolution all Monet-like. https://gizmodo.com/150-inch-tv-in-action-itll-melt-brains-and-empty-walle-5056828 Unlike Panasonic’s behemoth, Newsight’s 3D Wall most likely will never make it into a trajillionaire’s AV room.…
If you didn’t watch Jon Stewart yesterday, check out his hilarious take on Black Friday, recession, and people’s stupidity fighting for silly things. His purchases: a wobble-headed C-3PO doll and, get ready, the Lego Millennium Falcon*. https://gizmodo.com/sorting-the-5-195-pieces-of-the-millennium-falcon-gives-335673 * Don’t you dare ask about that again. https://gizmodo.com/the-construction-of-the-lego-millennium-falcon-part-i-335036
BKIS, a Vietnamese security center, recently demonstrated that face-recognition security programs found in Toshiba, Asus and Lenovo laptops can be bypassed with a special photo. To enroll in the face recognition software, the built-in webcam on the laptop scans the face for prime areas, such as the eyes or more conspicuous facial features. The special…
We’ve featured crazy ass Christmas lights on here before, and seeing as it’s officially past Thanksgiving, it’s time to show them off again. This Xmas light display, which is in its second year running by a couple named Willy and Deb, has a rotating array of music that’s synced to their flashing lights; a technique…
Hey Brian, remember the book Kotaku’s Brian Ashcraft wrote? The one on Japanese game centers (arcades) and the different types of games, players and cultural influences surrounding them? It’s available now! https://gizmodo.com/japanese-arcade-mania-book-by-kotakus-b-ashcraft-5032501 I’m more than halfway through the book already and it’s pretty fantastic, giving a non-textbook history of stuff like the sticker pictures (Purikura),…
All iPhone users get free AT&T Wi-Fi, hurray. But the text-message-based access system makes it a pain in the ass to log onto. Enter Easy Wi-Fi for AT&T, an app that makes it, well, easy. When you fire up the app for the first time, you just enter your number. After that, when you hit…
Our Toys for Tots fundraiser and all mega gadget exhibition, Gizmodo Gallery starts this Thursday in NYC. And among the ~40 devices we’ll have more than just a huge TV; we’ll have one of the world’s tiniest projector, like the Aiptek PocketCinema Wilson reviewed last week. https://gizmodo.com/at-giz-gallery-103-inch-plasma-5098715 I’d like to imagine that one day all…
While us normal folk were gorging on turkey and fixings, the tireless US Patent Office was busy filing an interesting Apple patent detailing a mobile liquid cooling system—something that looks like it could be used in a future portable device. Initially filed in May of 2007 (it’s government, people!), the patent app describes a two-part…