Tech News

Closer Than We Think! Headphone TV (1960)

Hacking the brain hasn’t caught on in consumer products quite yet, but we can see that it’s always been right around the corner. This Closer Than We Think! strip was found in the November 27, 1960 edition of the Chicago Tribune. Today’s television receivers may one day be replaced by devices that will “tickle” the…

Opening Weekend iPhone Numbers: 500,000 Sold, Mostly (Surprise) 8GB Models

Analysts from Piper Jaffray guesstimate that Apple moved around half a million iPhones in the 48 hours from 6 p.m. Friday to 6 p.m. Sunday. Besides the big-baller number, there are a couple other chewy ones: 95 percent of SF, NY and Minneapolis disciples picked up the 8GB version and about half were new AT&T…

Destroy Your G.I. Joes With Remote-Controlled VS Tanks

Definitely more awesome than Tokyo Wars, VS Tanks feature rotational turrets that fire AirSoft shells, and can go disco with a “super spin” move to bewilder and confuse opponents. On top of the obvious remote control goodness, you can outfit each one with an action cam so you can relive your friend’s humiliating defeat again…

Universal Flexes Muscles, Not Renewing Long Term iTunes Music Contract

Just as Apple was riding high on the iPhone, Ferris Bueller style in a parade of fans and media alike, Universal Music plans to throw a knee into Jobs and Co.’s collective crotch. Universal Music Group will supposedly tell Apple that they will not be renewing a long term contract for iTunes music, instead going…

iPhone Battery Life Not Even Close to Rated Specs?

Take this with a grain of salt, until more tests come in. WirelessInfo, the site that does 15,000 word cellphone reviews just finished testing the iPhone’s battery life while talking and browsing, and it’s not looking even close to the rated specs, or the other phones in that battery life chart that Apple published. 4…

iPhone Ringtones Kind of Bother Me (Video)

Not only are we kept from using AAC or even nude MP3 files for ringtones, we’re stuck with a list of mostly bad ringtones. (I did find one I like, and it’s not the one from the Macworld Keynote.) We can’t even buy new ringtones, although iTunes 7.3 seems to have functionality for this hidden…

Is Anyone buying the 4GB iPhone?

I’ve never been into Video on iPods, but the iPhone’s screen is huge, prompting me to convert some DVDs and buy some TV shows on iTunes. I want video on this thing. And so, I find myself already filling up the 8GB model all the way. Especially when system files take up 700MB right off…

Four iPhones Per Person at Apple Stores

The two-iPhones-per-person rule instituted for people who lined up on launch day? Out the window. You can now buy four iPhones in the SF store, and possibly even more depending on how your local Apple store operates. Go nuts, but don’t expect much for them if you’re eBaying. https://gizmodo.com/iphone-ebay-and-craigslist-watch-its-a-buyers-market-274056

iPhone Bluetooth Does Nothing But Calls

Remember way back in 2004, when Verizon Wireless introduced Motorola’s V710 with “crippled” Bluetooth? Headset pairing worked, but there were no file-transfer options and other extended features. People literally sued in protest. Well, as you probably know, the scales of justice never tipped. In the past three years, most Bluetooth phones sold by carriers in…

No Video Output on iPhone

It’s official: your older video iPod can duplicate many of the features of Apple TV, but the iPhone specifically cannot. There is no capacity for outputting video, via Apple dock, cable or third-party accessory. This means that the iPhone will not be a direct competitor to the Apple TV (good news for Apple, perhaps). It…

Cute Kid in iPhone Costume

I bumped into Leander from Cult of Mac on Friday’s launch, with the cutest thing ever — his kid dressed up as an iPhone. Some Macheads pointed out the icons were incorrect, missing YouTube. And people think we’re sick. Listen to Leander tell the kid to keep smiling for the cameras, or else there’ll be…

iPhone Destruction, From Accidental to Premeditated

Let’s start with the accidental… 😉 A reader dropped her iPhone (pictured above) shortly after buying it, from a distance of only two feet up, but managed to crack her screen on the thinly-carpeted floor. But with no replacement plan, insurance, or any sort of clumsy-protection, she found herself screwed out of $600. That was,…

iPhone Works With iPod Music Docks But Not Video Docks

When it comes to iPhone compatibility with old-school docks and accessories, the fear factor has been pretty high. Compounding that is the annoying message you get as soon as you dock an iPhone: “This accessory is not made to work with iPhone.” Then, more mysteriously, “Would you like to turn on Airplane Mode to reduce…

iPhone eBay and Craigslist Watch: It’s a Buyer’s Market

Even though most AT&T stores sold out of iPhones on the first day, many Apple stores still had them in yesterday (as well as today). So why are people putting up iPhones for $700-$900 on Craigslist? And why are auctions on eBay ending at higher than retail? It’s hard to say. Looking through completed auctions…

Kickin’ It Old School With Lil’ Optimus at the 2007 BotCon (Video)

If you know what’s good for you, you’ll watch this video. I encountered the ultimate “Mini Me” of Transformer Land this Saturday at the 2007 BotCon Transformers trade show in Providence, RI. Lil’ Optimus and his madcap creator (Mr. Stripey Hat) spent several months converting his motorized wheelchair into a full-blown Optimus Prime tractor trailer.…

iPhone Gets iChat Connection in Leopard

You know that AIM mobile device forwarding that forwards your AIM messages to your phone via SMS? The one that just about all IM clients already have now? Apple’s building a link to that feature in Leopard’s iChat, under the accounts screen in preferences. What does this do? Well, with this, you can forward your…

Gizmodo’s no-lifecam is online again, I’m filming some iPhone stuff live. [iPhone SF Campout Live Video] https://gizmodo.com/sf-iphone-line-is-a-friggin-circus-p-s-were-live-273439

Unconfirmed: Activate the iPhone With Extra iPhone

Most people know by now that the iPhone is essentially a brick without a contract and activation. But a lot of the phone’s features don’t require phone service at all, like WiFi and music playback. And pending that you have two iPhones handy, we have unconfirmed instructions on how to activate those latent features without…

iPhone Firmware in the wild; so far, useless but it could lead to some nice hacks. [Engadget]

What To Do With the iPhone While Waiting for Service

Waiting for the painfully long iPhone activation has brought about all sorts of creative, unlisted functions from the iPhone’s feature set. Reports of iPhone coasters, sushi trays, and tear collectors have filled the Internet. And then, of course, there is this…Video by Richard Blakeley. So what have you been doing with your iPhone while waiting…