Wired: Gadget Lab
- iPad Could See 50 Tablet Rivals This Year
We’d be naive to think manufacturers were twiddling their thumbs while Apple pimps out its iPad. Sure enough, there could be as many as 50 tablet devices from competing manufacturers worldwide this year, according to mobile microprocessor company ARM.
In anticipation of the upcoming tablet invasion, ARM has rented out more space at the Computex electronics [...]
- Video: Walking Lego Mecha
This amazing Lego mecha is, according to the authoritative Brothers Brick, the first walking Lego mecha that “also boosts aesthetics”. We take that to mean that it actually walks by picking up its feet rather than shuffling along like a burned-out meth-addict.
Either way, the IR-remote controlled bot, named Element Commune, is [...]
- Seatbelt Cutter and Window Smasher for Paranoid Drivers
If you have watched too many episodes of Criminal Minds, you probably already have a panic room in your home, ready for when golf-club and baseball-bat wielding psychopaths invade your house. But what of the other place where you spend so much of your time? What if you car plunges down a steep ravine into [...]
- Pentax 645D: 40 Megapixels, $10,000
Pentax has gone large with the new 645D medium-format DSLR. The 40MP monster has a 33×44mm sensor to fit all those pixels comfortably, and round the back has the DSLR standard-sized screen, a three-inch, 921,000 dot LCD. For a camera of this type the 645D is cheap, at ¥850,000, or $9,400.
Pentax has traditionally offered good [...]
- Google Maps Adds Bike Directions
Great news for bikers: the nerds at Google have added bicycling directions to Google Maps. It appears right alongside the other options, walking, car or public transit. It doesn’t work everywhere yet - I tried to find a way from my apartment to the local bike-polo court and Google Maps just told me it couldn’t [...]
- Warpia Wireless Notebook Dock Cuts Cable Clutter
Warpia’s new Easy Dock could do with a new name and a prettier box, but the promise of the product is an enticing one: rid yourself of (almost) all cable-clutter. The wireless-USB kit consists of a USB stick that plugs into your notebook and a base station that plugs into everything else: your monitor, speakers, [...]
- Quirky’s iPad Case With Two-Way Kick-Stand
Quirky’s new crowd-sourced widget, the Cloak, is a rather clever and good-looking iPad case. The rubber and plastic construction goes with the already established book-cover metaphor, and adds a few twists.
We predict a huge market for iPad cases. That may seem obvious, given the amount of protective sheathes out there for iPods and iPhones, but [...]
- Just How Fast Is Cisco’s New Router? Really Freaking Fast
Cisco Tuesday announced a new router, the CRS-3, that it says is capable of delivering 322 terabits per second.
Now, we don’t usually cover routers and similar enterprise hardware here in Gadget Lab, but this one’s worth a brief mention. Let’s leave aside Cisco’s breathless hype (it will “forever change the internet” — yeah, we’ll believe [...]
- MacHeist Packs Killer Mac Apps Into $20 ‘NanoBundle’
MacHeist, an annual Mac software promotion, is nearing the end of its NanoBundle sale. At the last minute, the bundle just added our favorite Twitter app Tweetie.
Other apps in the MacHeist NanoBundle include Flow, an FTP app, Tales of Monkey Island, a five-episode adventure game, and RipIt, a DVD ripping utility, among others. With the [...]
- Apple’s Secret iPhone Developer Agreement Goes Public
The first rule of the iPhone developer program is: You do not talk about the iPhone developer program.
Before you create software for the iPhone, Apple demands that you sign away a laundry list of rights, including the ability to sell rejected apps through other channels, the ability to sue Apple for more than $50, and [...]
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Wired: Gadget Lab
- iPad Could See 50 Tablet Rivals This Year
We’d be naive to think manufacturers were twiddling their thumbs while Apple pimps out its iPad. Sure enough, there could be as many as 50 tablet devices from competing manufacturers worldwide this year, according to mobile microprocessor company ARM.
In anticipation of the upcoming tablet invasion, ARM has rented out more space at the Computex electronics [...]
- Video: Walking Lego Mecha
This amazing Lego mecha is, according to the authoritative Brothers Brick, the first walking Lego mecha that “also boosts aesthetics”. We take that to mean that it actually walks by picking up its feet rather than shuffling along like a burned-out meth-addict.
Either way, the IR-remote controlled bot, named Element Commune, is [...]
- Seatbelt Cutter and Window Smasher for Paranoid Drivers
If you have watched too many episodes of Criminal Minds, you probably already have a panic room in your home, ready for when golf-club and baseball-bat wielding psychopaths invade your house. But what of the other place where you spend so much of your time? What if you car plunges down a steep ravine into [...]
- Pentax 645D: 40 Megapixels, $10,000
Pentax has gone large with the new 645D medium-format DSLR. The 40MP monster has a 33×44mm sensor to fit all those pixels comfortably, and round the back has the DSLR standard-sized screen, a three-inch, 921,000 dot LCD. For a camera of this type the 645D is cheap, at ¥850,000, or $9,400.
Pentax has traditionally offered good [...]
- Google Maps Adds Bike Directions
Great news for bikers: the nerds at Google have added bicycling directions to Google Maps. It appears right alongside the other options, walking, car or public transit. It doesn’t work everywhere yet - I tried to find a way from my apartment to the local bike-polo court and Google Maps just told me it couldn’t [...]
- Warpia Wireless Notebook Dock Cuts Cable Clutter
Warpia’s new Easy Dock could do with a new name and a prettier box, but the promise of the product is an enticing one: rid yourself of (almost) all cable-clutter. The wireless-USB kit consists of a USB stick that plugs into your notebook and a base station that plugs into everything else: your monitor, speakers, [...]
- Quirky’s iPad Case With Two-Way Kick-Stand
Quirky’s new crowd-sourced widget, the Cloak, is a rather clever and good-looking iPad case. The rubber and plastic construction goes with the already established book-cover metaphor, and adds a few twists.
We predict a huge market for iPad cases. That may seem obvious, given the amount of protective sheathes out there for iPods and iPhones, but [...]
- Just How Fast Is Cisco’s New Router? Really Freaking Fast
Cisco Tuesday announced a new router, the CRS-3, that it says is capable of delivering 322 terabits per second.
Now, we don’t usually cover routers and similar enterprise hardware here in Gadget Lab, but this one’s worth a brief mention. Let’s leave aside Cisco’s breathless hype (it will “forever change the internet” — yeah, we’ll believe [...]
- MacHeist Packs Killer Mac Apps Into $20 ‘NanoBundle’
MacHeist, an annual Mac software promotion, is nearing the end of its NanoBundle sale. At the last minute, the bundle just added our favorite Twitter app Tweetie.
Other apps in the MacHeist NanoBundle include Flow, an FTP app, Tales of Monkey Island, a five-episode adventure game, and RipIt, a DVD ripping utility, among others. With the [...]
- Apple’s Secret iPhone Developer Agreement Goes Public
The first rule of the iPhone developer program is: You do not talk about the iPhone developer program.
Before you create software for the iPhone, Apple demands that you sign away a laundry list of rights, including the ability to sell rejected apps through other channels, the ability to sue Apple for more than $50, and [...]
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Wired: Culture
- Call Me Google. (And Call Me, Google) Google's announcement that it intends to build and test super fast fiber-optic broadband networks in a few communities around the US has a few communities in the US pulling out all the stops to be selected with some attention-getting stunts that scream to the search giant "Pick me! Pick ME!"
- Ten Jobs You Absolutely Should Not 'Take Your Child to Work Day' Take Your Child to Work Day is fast approaching, and chances are your place of employment is already making plans to host and entertain more than the usual number of immature people who show up for work every day. But there are jobs that just don't fit. Here are GeekDad’s Top Ten.
- Alt Text: Sleepy-Time Tips for Extreme Multitaskers With a little strategic planning and some extraordinary dream-time measures, the overnight hours can become certifiably productive.
- Botanical Drawings for the Digital Age With scalpel and software, artist Macoto Murayama creates botanical illustrations that look like something that blossomed in outer space.
- Popular Science Puts Entire Scanned Archive Online, Free Gadget nerds: Prepare to lose the rest of your day to awesomeness. PopSci, the web-wing of Popular Science magazine, has scanned its entire 137-year archive and put it online for you to read, absolutely free.
- How to Patent an Idea First step to becoming filthy rich and happy off your invention? Convince the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that your invention is actually new.
- 6 Elements Every Conspiracy Theory Needs London Times columnist David Aaronovitch says our rampant infoculture is a breeding ground for crackpot theories, and identifies six key elements to building one. Try out The Conspiracy Generator.
- What the Heck Is This Crazy #Repomen Thing? Last week, Wired, Universal Pictures, and Lone Shark Games launched an Alternate Reality Game / manhunt tied to the March 19 release of the movie Repo Men. This game is modeled after the #vanish hunt last year by Wired, where writer Evan Ratliff went on the run and was eventually caught by a horde of hunters with amazing computer skills.
- Magnum Launches Fund to Support Haiti Coverage The legendary photo agency goes deep, with a commitment to keep its photographers on the scene.
- Stormtrooper Super Shogun Packs Retro Punch Star Wars and vintage Japanese Jumbos form the basis of a modern mashup from San Francisco boutique toy shop Super7. A look at the making of the $300 colossal collectible and its vinyl brethren.
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Wired: Politics
- European Parliament Rips Global IP Accord European Parliament is coming out in opposition to a U.S.-backed intellectual property treaty accord, and is demanding the treaty's secret text become public.
- Mach 6 Cruise Missile, Ready for Prime Time? This spring, the Air Force was preparing for a groundbreaking test of the X-51 WaveRider, a hypersonic cruise missile that would reach speeds of up to Mach 6. But it looks like the WaveRider’s debut flight will have to wait while some technical issues are addressed.
- Lifelock Dinged $12 Million for Deceptive Business Practices The Federal Trade Commission is alleging Arizona-based Lifelock engaged in false advertising by promising customers that if they signed up with its service their personal information would become useless to identity thieves. The FTC fined it $12 million as part of a settlement agreement.
- Supreme Court Takes 'Informational Privacy' Case The Supreme Court agrees to decide a case concerning "informational privacy." The Obama administration claims the case could undermine how much background data it may collect on the 14-million-person federal bureaucracy.
- Feds Move to Break Voting-Machine Monopoly The Justice Department is moving to break up an alleged electronic voting-machine monopoly. The authorities say Election Systems & Software has a 70 percent market share of voting equipment in the United States.
- Justices to Weigh Religion, Speech Rights in Funeral Flap The Supreme Court agrees to settle a boundary dispute between freedom of speech and freedom of religion -- both rights protected by the First Amendment.
- Forget Airport Body Scanners: DARPA Wants to X-Ray Earth The Department of Defense already has omnipresent eyes in the sky, underwater and, of course, on the ground. It’s only when you start going underground that the surveillance powers of the Pentagon begin to wane — at least until now.
- Domain Name Czar Seeks .OnlineUnity The new head of the net's naming system faces some tough challenges. He has to keep the world happy and bring change to the net's backbone -- all at the same time. Meet Rod Beckstrom, the Silicon Valley exec who's taking on the challenge.
- 11 More U.S. Airports Get Body Scanners Full body scanners are on their way to more U.S. airports. The deployment lights up concerns about privacy and the devices' effectiveness as more airports bring them on line.
- Despite New Policy, Pentagon Still Wary of the 'Tubes The Pentagon issues a new "open door" policy on social media, and an Air Force network administrator finds out about the change by reading about it on Danger Room.
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