Gizmodo, the Gadget Guide

Ie 8

IE 8 Could Get "Porn Mode": Would it Change Your Mind About IE?

What is the best way for IE to gain market share back from Firefox? Porn. That's right—when it comes to the internet, the answer is always porn. You know it, I know it, and apparently Microsoft knows it because there are rumors floating around that they may incorporate a private browsing feature, a.k.a "porn mode," similar to Safari (Firefox pulled the feature from 3.0) that would allow users to thoroughly cover up their smutty tracks from anyone who might be checking their browsing history. More »

8:40 PM on Tue Aug 19 2008
By Sean Fallon
383 views, 8 comments

Alcohol power

Charge an iPod With Vodka? Sounds Educational, Incapacitating

Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies have launched the the Bio Energy Discovery Kit, a product that they are calling "the fuel cell industry’s first direct ethanol product." The kit directly converts alcohol into electricity and can run non-stop for days on end. The purpose of the kit is to introduce fuel cell technology to students, scientists, teachers and engineers using a simple gadget that is easy to understand. More »

8:20 PM on Tue Aug 19 2008
By Sean Fallon
301 views, 2 comments

Classified intel

Mystery Tablet Shown at Intel Event, Either the Classmate 3 or a Quad-Core Speak & Spell

At the end of an otherwise tepid presentation at the Intel Developer Forum today, Dadi Perimutter, head of Intel's Mobility Group, dropped a bomb (via PowerPoint) on his audience: a mysterious tablet device, which could well be the next generation of the Classmate OLPC competitor. If that is the case, the OLPC might really have something to worry about. Sugar, the "revolutionary" Linux-based OS originally developed for the OLPC, is already in development for the Classmate project, not to mention that fact that this new picture indicates that Intel may have taken a few of Nick Negroponte's visions for the OLPC XO-2 to heart, and possibly to production. More »

8:10 PM on Tue Aug 19 2008
By John Herrman
22 views, 1 comment

As Seen on TV

Kinoki Footpads Are Stained with Lies and Shame, Not Body Toxins

Sarah Varney of NPR's "All Things Considered" tested out the Kinoki body-detoxifying footpads currently making the rounds of late-night infomercials, to see if they really eliminate "heavy metals and metabolic waste." She and her husband used them for a night, and by the next morning the pads were covered in disgusting black gunk, as advertised. But then she took them to a lab for chemical analysis to learn exactly what was going on. The results? The Kinoki footpads are a dirty scam. More »

8:00 PM on Tue Aug 19 2008
By Dan Nosowitz
2,971 views, 17 comments

Blu-Ray

Firefly Series Comes to Blu-ray November 11

Firefly might have been the best thing Joss Whedon has ever done in our opinion, but it's also one of the shortest things he's ever done. In just 14 episodes, the space western was able to surpass both Buffy and Angel (and all of his smaller creations) in our minds as his work, which is why we cannot wait to get this thing on Blu-ray. If you're rating this box set on an purely dollar-to-hour ratio, the $90 price tag ($62 on Amazon) would be absurd. But you know you're going to watch and re-watch this thing many times over, if only for the scenes with Inara and the other companion. We'll be in our bunk. [Amazon]

8:00 PM on Tue Aug 19 2008
By Jason Chen
376 views, 7 comments

Magsafe replacement

Apple MagSafe Replacements Are Now Free

In our anecdotal experience, Apple has been pretty good about replacing clearly faulty MagSafe power adapters—the ones that split or fray from faulty manufacture. But now they are making their replacement policy official and offering free MagSafe replacements for the MacBook (13-inch Late 2006), MacBook (13-inch), MacBook Pro (15-inch Glossy), MacBook Pro (17-inch). (We read that as all models that use the MagSafe power adapter). Bring in your bad MagSafes to any Apple retailer and they'll take care of you. [Apple via Cult of Mac]

7:40 PM on Tue Aug 19 2008
By Mark Wilson
1,229 views, 12 comments

Office 14

Office 14 Alpha to Begin Testing this Year

It's not yet ready for your download, but according to a now-pulled post on a company blog, Microsoft is accepting internal applications to be part of their technology adoption program (TAP) for Office 14. The new touted feature is Office's PerformancePoint Server, a boring-for-most-of-us business performance analysis system. Other details are scant and Microsoft has no official announcements to make, but an alpha of Office this year should beckon a new release next year. No word yet on whether or not Microsoft will allow Pam and Jim to finally get married. [ZDNet and The Inquirer]

7:20 PM on Tue Aug 19 2008
By Mark Wilson
632 views, 13 comments

Bus stop playground

Bus Stop Swing Set: A Public Transportation Playground

The idea of making public spaces more playful is the brainchild of artist Bruno Taylor. In this project, he modified several London bus stops with swings to brighten the day of busy commuters. Never mind the smell, the noise, or that dude rubbing up against you—a swing set at the bus stop would melt away all of the stress associated with public transportation. That is until you get a little too carried away with the swinging motion and knock out someone walking behind the bus stop with your ass. On the playground that's detention—in the adult world it's called assault. Haha...(ass)ault. [Pixelsumo via PSFK via Dvice]

7:00 PM on Tue Aug 19 2008
By Sean Fallon
1,499 views, 22 comments

Credit Card

Visa and Eight Banks Test Real-Time SMS Notifications For Transactions

Visas and eight banks ("PNC Bank, SunTrust Bank, U.S. Bank, Wachovia, and Wells Fargo in the United States, and Royal Bank of Canada, TD Bank Financial Group, and Vancity in Canada") are testing real-time SMS notifications whenever your card makes one of a few types of transactions. The 2000 pilot beta customers can pick alerts for ATM cash withdrawals, internet or telephone charge, an out-of-country charge or a charge that's over a pre-defined amount. You can choose to have these alerts go to your phone or your email (if you're cheap like us and don't want to burn up all your messages), which you can then immediately use to alert Visa to any fraudulent activity. Great idea or greatest idea? You be the judge. [Slashphone]

6:40 PM on Tue Aug 19 2008
By Jason Chen
1,193 views, 14 comments

iPod Nano

Apple Confesses First-Gen iPod Nanos Smoking and Sparking, Will Replace Them

Thanks largely to those meddling kids at Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry—who were investigating cases of people burned by too-hot-to-handle nanos—Cnet says Apple admitted today that some first-gen iPod nanos were overheating and said that it will replace any first-gen iPod nano that smokes or sparks (or blows up). More »

6:20 PM on Tue Aug 19 2008
By matt buchanan
2,946 views, 22 comments

sprinklers

Police Radio Keeps Disrupting Sprinklers, Local Residents Get FCC Involved

The police around Cedar Hill, DeSoto and Duncanville Texas have a fancy new communications system that broadcasts their 10-4s and 187s up to 30 miles, which coincidentally enough is screwing up a fancy radio-controlled networked sprinkler system in that general area. Turning off the sprinklers may not sound like it does anything except for making the grass die, but that's exactly what local residents are pissed off about—pissed off enough to get the FCC involved. Too bad for residents that the precedent for FCC decisions on cases where two frequencies overlap is to award use to public safety. If they don't, those same residents would be enjoying that fresh, green lawn when they're burning to death. [Dallas News]

6:00 PM on Tue Aug 19 2008
By Jason Chen
1,024 views, 16 comments

Cellphones

Cox Communications Getting Into The Wireless Business

Cox communications, one of the top three cable companies in the US, is planning on making a foray into the wireless business with an offering that integrates all of their services into one device. Cox president Patrick Esser explained saying: "I won't divulge too many secrets here, but we'll focus on providing simple calling plans, integrating all our services into one device with a consistent cross-platform interface; and making our content and applications mobile." More »

5:40 PM on Tue Aug 19 2008
By Sean Fallon
947 views, 19 comments

iPhone 3G

iPhone 2.0.2 Kills 3G Calling For Some Users

We're not having any problems, but Ars has found many people complaining about the iPhone 2.0.2 update killing their ability to actually make calls over 3G. Among the people who suffer from no-calling-itis is one guy who took his phone to AT&T and had them swap out the SIM, which somehow fixed the problem. If you're getting "call failed" on 3G, try switching back to 2G in Settings -> General -> Network and making the call again. [Ars Technica]

5:21 PM on Tue Aug 19 2008
By Jason Chen
4,507 views, 64 comments

Etch-A-Sketch

Etch-A-Sketch Laptop Case Is More Fun Than the Computer Inside

While most of us have acquired too many responsibilities to waste the day away with a good, marathon Etch-A-Sketch session, every time we pull out the laptop to get more work done we can at least dream of less productive times with this Etch-A-Sketch laptop case. More »

5:20 PM on Tue Aug 19 2008
By Mark Wilson
2,384 views, 12 comments

Question of the Day

Question of the Day: Do You Prefer an Electric or Manual Toothbrush?

After investigating the debate between electric and manual shavers yesterday, I thought it might be a good idea to dig a little deeper into the topic of hygiene gadgets. In the previous poll, manual shavers have a commanding lead with over 40% of the vote—but I am curious to see if the same holds true for manual toothbrushes. So, the question is simple: do you prefer an electric or manual toothbrush? More »

5:00 PM on Tue Aug 19 2008
By Sean Fallon
8,051 views, 93 comments

Jay-z headphones

Jay-Z's Motorola Bluetooth Headphones Start East Coast/West Coast Rapper Headphone War

Jay-Z's upcoming Bluetooth headphones don't look nearly as good as Dr. Dre's noise canceling version, but their mere existence sparks a new East Coast/West Coast gadget war. We can't tell which we would prefer without looking at them, but Jay's model has the benefit of being smaller and wireless Bluetooth enabled, which is totally different from noise canceling ones you use when you're on a train or plane. Our prediction is that Diddy will come out with a pair of in-ear buds sometime within the next six months. [FCC via Crave via Engadget]

4:20 PM on Tue Aug 19 2008
By Jason Chen
2,263 views, 24 comments

Daylite flashlight

Duracell's Rugged Daylite LED Flashlights Annihilate the Darkness

A knife, some rope and a decent flashlight. When it comes right down to it, these are tools that a guy can really use. As for the latter of the three, a good choice may be these new "Daylite" superbright torches from Duracell. Besides a sturdy all-weather design, the Daylites feature TrueBeam technology that uses "both a lens and a reflector to capture and project up to 100 percent of the light," which they claim significantly enhances brightness. Plus, a 3:1 zoom eliminates the annoying dark spot typical of most flashlights. More »

4:00 PM on Tue Aug 19 2008
By Sean Fallon
6,118 views, 32 comments

Gizmodo

Apple Confesses First-Gen iPod Nanos Smoking and Sparking, Will Replace...

Gizmodo Team

Gawker Media Network