Gadget News
- Think Gmail's too Slow? Google's on It [Gmail]
At Google's panel today at SXSW in Austin, a Gmail team member named Jonathan Perlow asked the crowd to raise their hands if they think Gmail is too slow. We love Gmail, but certainly we can sympathize with the fair percentage of those audience members who raised their hands—the problem is pretty much limited to those, like us, who are power users with hundreds of thousands of messages (most of which are junk, we're not bragging, but still). Perlow had a response, confidently saying "We are fixing it." He didn't elaborate, but Google's always improving Gmail—hopefully this means we'll be seeing some improvements for power users soon. [TechCrunch]More »
- Breakaway: High-Schooler-Designed Robots Play Gauntlet Soccer [Image Cache]
This picture shows entrants in this year's FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Breakaway match. Teams of ambitious high school kids build robots to compete in what's basically the American Gladiator version of soccer. It's pretty amazing.More »
- Kotaku Reviews Final Fantasty XIII: Not Perfect, but "Fresh, New, and Highly Enjoyable" [Reviews]
Our game-loving sister site Kotaku reviewed the newest of that king of all RPG series, Final Fantasy, and found it, if not a blockbuster, worthwhile, and "a step in the right direction."Read the whole review here. [Kotaku]More »
- The Spiderpodium Gadget Stand Is Unnecessarily Freaking Me Out [Accessories]
The Spiderpodium is pretty self-explanatory: It's a gadget-stand/tripod (well, an octo-pod, technically) shaped like an arthropod. Lacking much to explain, I'm going to tell you the origins of my arachnophobia. Everyone take a seat. It's about to get real.More »
- The Diamond iPad [Ipad]
Listen up, rich people: If you ordered an iPad, cancel it. This is the one youneed, covered with 11.43 carats of diamonds, graded G/H in color, VS2/SI1 in clarity, and 100/100 in stupidity. I can imagine Steve Jobs reaction:More »
- AT&T Confounds Expectations by Not Ruining SXSW [Att]
Way to go, AT&T! It was nerve-wracking after last year's troubles, but reports are coming in that theoft-maligned networkis holding up to the stress of SXSW better than expected.More »
- Rhapsody iPhone App Allows Downloading Songs, for Listening Offline [Rhapsody]
Rhapsodyjust released a little teaser video for the next version of its iPhone app (to be followed closely by its new Android app) that marks a major change for the service: You can now download songs instead of streaming.More »
- iPhone-Loving Microsoft Employees Endure Unspeakable Hardship [Bluster]
TheWSJhas a discussion today of the phenomenon of the iPhone-using Microsoft employee. Apparently that timeBallmer fake-stomped an iPhoneis emblematic of some (barely) real anti-iPhone sentiment in Redmond.More »
- Ridiculously Fast iPhone Typist Shames Soft Keyboard Haters [Winners]
This iPhone typist/possible woodpecker earns today's Holy Shit YouTube Moment of the Day Award. I'm positive I couldn't beat him on my Droid—hell, he'd put up a good fight against me on my laptop.More »
- Total Solar Eclipses, 2001-2025 [Astronomy]
Want to know where you can get a glimpse of the ultra-rare totalsolar eclipse? This map shows exactly when and where every eclipse in the next fifteen years will be visible—and why you should move to Memphis.More »
- Happy Pi Day, Math Nerds! [Happy Pi Day]
Today's March 14th, which everyone knows is the day high school math club members further cement their alienation by celebrating their love of math, or circles, or whatever. But today's Sunday, so let's everyone celebrate nerddom in the comments! [Wiki]More »
- The iPad's (Pre-) Opening Day Sales: 120,000 [Ipad]
So, the iPad is finally available for pre-order, and it turns out thehalf of the Giz staff that bought onearen't alone:CNNestimates Apple received about 120,000 iPad pre-orders on that first day alone.More »
- Remind Me Again Why We Practice Daylight Savings? [Energy]
Tonight at 2am, remember to set your clock an hour forward. Look forward to both more sunlight at the end of the day and unfortunately, an earlier rise to work. Wikipedia explains why:More »
- On Google Buzz's Awkward Launch [Blockquote]
Social media researcher and general internet guru Danah Boyd gave the keynote address at SXSWi earlier today, focusing on matters of privacy. On paper, Google Buzz was a perfect social network. So why did it freak everyone out so much?More »
- Celsius X VI II's Mysterious Mechanical Cellphone Gets Slightly Less Mysterious [Mechanics]
Last month,I risked life and limbto tell you about Celsius X-VI-II, a shadowy French company who was building a $300,000 mechanical cellphone. The first pictures of the phone have surfaced, though they don't exactly answer our questions.More »
- FujiFilm Finepix Z700 Point-and-Shoot Is the First To Offer Pet Detection [DigitalCameras]
At least in the parts of the internet I frequent, pet pictures have been enjoying an unusual popularity as of late. FujiFilm's Finepix Z700 has technology that snaps a photo when your furry friend smiles. Talk about capturing the zeitgeist.More »
- Inside the Apple-Google War: It's Personal [Applegooglewar]
The New York Times has a long, juicy look at what's been going on behind the scenes with theever-escalating conflict between Google and Apple. The cause for all the enmity, according to insiders? Ego.More »
- Apple Will Replace Dead Battery iPads For $99 [Ipad]
The Battery Replacement Service FAQ on Apple's site outlines their policy for handling iPads with diminished battery capacity, and its surprisingly generous: for a $99 service fee, they'll send you a replacement iPad.More »
- How To: Turn Your Web Apps Into Real Apps [How To]
When you use a site like Gmail, you have to decide: Do I want to use the service's website, or do I want to use it through an app, like Outlook? Here'show toget the best of both worlds.More »
- Netflix's Million Dollar Contest Shut Down Amidst Privacy Concerns [NetFlix]
Yesterday, Netflix announced that they're pulling the plug on the sequel to theirsupercool Netflix Prizein which teams competed to improve the company's recommendation algorithm for a million dollar reward. Privacy: can't live with it, can't live without it.More »
- Five Foot Lego Blackberry Adds Punchline Functionality [BlackBerry]
We're no strangers to the work of Lego masterNathan Sawaya, but his latest creation achieved the impossible: making a Blackberry exciting. It incorporates a working flat screen TV for comfortably displaying video. Clearly he took some artistic liberties.More »
- Apple's iPad Will (Perhaps Controversially) Read E-Books Aloud [Ebooks]
In addition to theorientation-lock button,yesterday's pre-order commencement delivered another surprise nugget: the iPad will read all EPUB books out loud. If you remember theshitstormthat surrounded Kindle's text-to-voice feature, you'll know that this is a bold move.More »
- Google Reportedly 99.9 Percent Sure To Shut Down Its Chinese Search [Censorship]
Though the last we heard, Google was nearing a compromise that would allow them tostop censoringtheir Google.cn results, the Financial Times is reporting that they are almost certainly going to close their Chinese search engine. Since theirinitial ultimatumin January, Google and China have traded vague statements about reaching a compromise, but, unsurprisingly, talks haven't produced a mutually agreeable solution. [Financial Times]More »
- Apple's Magic Mouse Gets Decidedly Unmagical Ergonomic Fix [Magicmouse]
The Magic Mouse, for all of its sleek lines and multitouch, uh, magic, can feel a little awkward in the hand. MMFixed has the solution: a stick-on hump that gives your fingers some leverage and your palm some lovin'.More »
- FCC Proposing Its Plan For America's Net Future To Congress This Week [Fcc]
As the intertubes overtake boob tubes and telephone tubes as our primary mode of communication, it becomes increasingly important to ensure that access is available and affordable for all Americans. The FCC's ambitious new plan looks to do just that.More »
- Audio-Technica BoogieBox Speaker Handles the Heaviest of Metals [Speakers]
There's no shortage of cutesy portable speakers for listening to music when you're out and about. But if you want something that doesn't feel like it's going to snap in two, the Audio-Technica BoogieBox will do you a solid.More »
- A Reminder of How Sad the Internet Can Look Without Flash [Image Cache]
When we discussed the iPad and whether it wasworth giving in to the peer pressureand pre-ordering it, acommenterdecided to remind us of his reason for resisting: No Flash. And yes, it can make things look sad.More »
- This Power Strip Has an Entire Miniature City On It [Art]
As part of a graduate show at the Kyoto University of Art and Design, students builtminiature citiesout of common household objects—including thispower strip. They're just missing mini-people. [Spoon TamagoviaCrib CandyviaBoing Boing]More »
- Black Ninja Monday is When the Commenter Trolls Get Their Due [Comments]
Several star commenters have noted recently that the troll factor is rising again. This post is reminder that all comments wasting words and the comment moderator's time wondering about such issues as "why does gizmodo love/hate/get paid by company XYZ?" may result in zero warnings and then a ban. And whatever happens to your comment account, remember: it's not my fault if you lose your account because you said something stupid. Black Ninja Monday is when the action goes down, so you've got two days to turn things around. The obvious choices: You can have fun in troll hell, or join the ranks of the thoughtful, starred, proud and clever commenters everyone appreciates. Again, Monday: that's when there'll be internet blood everywhere. But it won't be mine.More »
- By Your Accelerometers Combined, I Am Quake Catcher! [Earthquakes]
What if computers could be turned into a worldwide earthquake detecting network? With theQuake Catchersoftware and your laptop's built-in accelerometer, that might just be possible.More »
- Friday Night Funnies: 8 Images to Close Out the Week [Tgif]
It's been a long week and we could use a laugh. We've already started worrying about taxes and pre-ordering iPads, among other stresses. To sum it all up, here are some illustrations from a cartoon maestro called Lunchbreath.More »
- R/C Helicopters + Petri Dish + Flying Whale Snot = Science [Machines Vs Nature]
Instead of harpooning a whale for samples, wouldn't it be easier to just collect their snot using an R/C helicopter?More »
- This Week's Gaming Stories You Cannot Miss [Roundups]
We've all heard about thePlayStation Moveby now, but a lot of other neat stuff happened this week invideo games, includingGod of War III's release,Civ 5details and...aBattlestar GalacticaMMO??More »
- Did You Know That Octopus Love High Definition Crabs? [Machine Vs Nature]
New research shows that the advantages of HDTV aren't lost on octopuses. A recent study on octopus behavior made the upgrade from CRT sets to HDTVs for the playback of octopus-related videos, like one of a tasty crab.More »
- This Week's Best iPhone Apps [IPhone Apps]
In this week'sbipolarapp roundup: Foursquare, squared! Slow ISPs, tattled on! Videos, easily streamed! Street Fighter fans' high standards, met! Twitter apps, set free! Your entire life, documented! Your every plan, shared! And more...More »
- The Whole Cosmos Seems to Live in This Furry, Glowy Pillow [Design]
Maybe the whole cosmos isn't in this pillow, but the LEDs hidden in a zippered compartment and causing these glowing, swirling patterns sure do give the illusion that it is.More »
- Cash-and-Stock Bonus for Babysitting Apple While Steve Jobs Was Sick? $22 Million [Apple]
First Apple COOTim Cookreceived$12.3 million in stockfor watching the company whileSteve Jobswas on sick leave and now he's receiving an additional cash-and-stock bonus worth $22 million.More »
- Oh MGD 64 iPhone App, Guide Me to a Healthier Lifestyle! [Beer]
I don't know about you, but I used to be the case a day type. You know, pick up a 24 pack in the morning, sort my cardboard and aluminum recycling in the evening. Then, one app changed my life.More »
- Non-Enclosed 3D Printer Can Build Houses [3D Printing]
Normally they're contained in a box, so the fact that this3D printerisn't confined means it's theoretically capable of building much larger objects that most. In fact, the owner wants to build a cathedral with it.More »
- Want a Verizon-Based Nexus One? You'll Have To Buy It From Google [Verizon]
It doesn't really come as a huge surprise, but apparently the only way to get your hands on a Verizon-basedNexus Onewill be to order it straight from Google.More »
![Click here to read Kotaku Reviews Final Fantasty XIII: Not Perfect, but"Fresh, New, and Highly Enjoyable"](http://cache-03.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/03/160x120_500x_finalfanta.jpg "Click here to read Kotaku Reviews Final Fantasty XIII: Not Perfect, but"Fresh, New, and Highly Enjoyable"")
