Wilson Rothman

Tech News

Wilson Rothman, Signing Off

Today is my last day at Gizmodo. It’s with a heavy heart that I bid farewell to all of you amazing readers. “Readers” is a loose term. You guys read, yes, but you also watch, you follow, you rant and rave, you’re fans, you’re tipsters, you’re sources, subjects, even guest editors. All the formal rules … Continued

Tech News

Why I Steal Movies… Even Ones I’m In

Like a billion other people, I download things illegally. I’m also an actor, writer and director whose income depends on revenue from DVDs, movies and books. This leads to many conflicts in my head, in my heart, and in bars. From an industry standpoint, physical media has a great advantage: It is its own copy-protection. … Continued

Tech News

LSD, Sexy Fonts and Muppet Genitalia: The Strangest Tech Q&A We’ve Ever Witnessed

Thousands of you Twittered up to feed questions about tech—and some Muppet-based ones—to guest editor Peter Serafinowicz. He answered 25 in a torrent of wordplay. While we await his first guest post, here’s the amazing #PSQA playback: @mort47: What is the greatest threat to the Internet? @serafinowicz: Becoming clogged with sperm. @grapesy: Where are my … Continued

Reviews

The Best $250 Blu-ray Players, Reviewed

I’ve argued that a Blu-ray player could soon be your only set-top box. These $200-$250 models, the four fullest-featured you’re likely to buy, all strive to be Swiss Army-like in their utility, but only one comes closest to the promise. https://gizmodo.com/why-a-blu-ray-player-might-become-your-only-set-top-box-5447402 We call them “Blu-ray players,” but if you use these right, you’ll spend less … Continued

Tech News

Guest Editor Peter Serafinowicz Q&A Improv Today at 5pm ET

Meet guest editor Peter Serafinowicz—aka Darth Maul, Sctanley or “that Mactini guy”—on Twitter today at 5pm ET (2pm PT) for a technology-themed edition of his hilarious Q&A improv sessions. Update: It’s started. For the uninitiated, here are some past #PSQA classics: @nukungfu: What do ninjas wear in bed? #PSQA Ninjamas @karnzter: How do you see … Continued

Tech News

The Mystery of the Orphaned Robot

Deep in the bowels of an old industrial building in Brooklyn, behind a dusty steel door, stands a cylindrical device marked “DANGER.” Black rubber accordion folds separate its silver base from its rectangular top, from which protrudes The Claw. The Claw rises from a sea of colorful wires and pieces of half-built machinery. In The … Continued

Tech NewsApple

The Best iPad Apps for Babies, Toddlers and Sanity-Loving Parents

Having a kid aged zero to five means constantly having to come up with entertaining diversions. Fortunately, even this early, the iPad is absolutely brimming with those. If you have a small kid, the iPad bandwagon beckons. There’s no trick to it, no Jobsian black magic: Touchscreens were made for little kids, and the bigger … Continued

Tech News

Follow Our New Guest Editor on Twitter… and Await His Instructions

You probably recognize our new guest editor, even if you don’t know his name. Peter Serafinowicz was the angry roommate in Shaun of the Dead, the Guitar Hero guy in Couples Retreat, and “John” of Mactini fame. Now he’s ours. Peter is better known in the UK, thanks to the stupendous (and shamelessly self-titled) Peter … Continued

Tech NewsApple

For Now, iPad Magazine Issues and Subscriptions Will Cost More Than Their Paper Equivalent

Apple priced digital downloads lower than CDs. Amazon said a digital book should be cheaper than a paper one. But for the time being, virtual magazines will cost a pretty penny, says Fortune. The story by Phil Elmer-DeWitt quotes PopSci editor Mark Jannot defending his $5 an issue current price, and $30 per year proposed … Continued

Tech News

HP Slate Is Dead On Arrival, Says TechCrunch

HP is killing its Windows 7 “slate” tablet project, says TechCrunch, citing a source “briefed on the matter.” Business Insider already posted a less sourced report on its demise. Now that there’s some insider confirmation, we’re inclined to believe it. (We sent a note to HP to confirm for sure, and can update if we … Continued

Tech NewsApple

iPad DJs Show You How It’s Done (Literally and Figuratively)

Cut past the nerdy hipster schtick, and—if you’re not trying to DIY—the technical orientation. Starting at 5:20, these guys bust a surprisingly palatable mashup of Prince, Vampire Weekend, G’N’R, Eurythmics and… I Dream of Jeannie. We’ve seen other iPad DJs, and God knows we’re going to see a lot more, in every style. But I … Continued

Tech News

Beer Cooler Sous Vide: The Not Exactly Right Way to Do It Yourself

I applaud Serious Eats for attempting sous vide in a beer cooler, but the adventurous article didn’t convince me that the mass sous vide revolution would come via Coleman or Igloo. Remember, sous vide cooking consists of holding water at a specific temperature, and immersing vacuum-sealed food into that water, cooking it right up to … Continued

Tech NewsApple

Will iPhone 4’s Audio and Video Chat Finally Break the Voice Calling Scam?

A front-facing iPhone camera means video calling, but it’s also a sign of something bigger. Combined with other recent leaks, it means that Apple is bringing iChat to the iPhone. Everything about voice calling may be about to change. iChat, You Chat So, how does the appearance of a front-facing camera change standard voice calling? … Continued

Tech NewsMicrosoft

Microsoft Kin: Rise of the Smart Dumbphones

This week, Microsoft finally unveiled what had long been known, in rumors and leaks, as Project Pink. The official name: Kin, which consists of two phones, a new way of doing things, and a chance that it just might sell: • Microsoft Kin: The Perfect Phone for Sidekick Fans – Here’s the rundown of the … Continued

Tech News

How Apple Screws Every Ebook App But iBooks Updated

UPDATE: The Kindle app indeed has a brightness control. It is buried under the font adjustment menu option. Gotta say, points off for crappy UI design on Amazon’s part, but I indeed stand corrected. Thanks to everyone who pointed it out. Apple may have built a great LCD-based reader, but when it comes to favoring … Continued

Tech NewsApple

Why Microsoft Is Trying to Sell a (Smart) Dumbphone

Dumbphones are dead, right? So why—at the time of the great Windows Phone 7 resurrection—is Microsoft pushing a totally separate phone platform that doesn’t even run apps? The answer is borderline insane, but just might work. https://gizmodo.com/dumb-cellphones-must-die-5279250 When I first saw the two-pronged strategy, with Windows Phone 7 on one side, and the Kin phones … Continued

Tech NewsApple

Smartphone OS Beginner’s Guide – UPDATED

Today Apple added some excellent features to its iPhone platform, so we were forced to update our smartphone beginner’s guide chart. Here it is: Use the above chart to easily gauge the differences in the current smartphone platforms on the market, or jump to our original guide for a deeper phone-by-phone lesson. Note: We just … Continued

Tech NewsApple

Careful, Amazon: A Kindle 3 iPad Clone Would Be Suicide

Everybody’s talking about Amazon retaliating against the iPad with a multitouch, multimedia, app-heavy Kindle 3. But it’s not as obvious a move as you think. In fact, it’s a bad idea. As I pointed out yesterday, Amazon is going to do well by the iPad—and plenty of other platforms—as long as they keep their software … Continued

Tech NewsApple

iPad Etiquette: The Official FAQ

Etiquette on the iPad is white space on the map. It’s not a smartphone. It’s not a laptop. It’s something new. As early adopters, the opportunity to define proper etiquette is ours. If we let them, the old guard will try to take the reins on when and how we should use this goddamned thing. … Continued

Tech NewsApple

The iPad: Amazon’s Secret Weapon

The iPad may seem like Apple’s move to cockblock Amazon in the Ebook Wars, but Amazon’s Kindle app makes it part of Amazon’s larger ebook ecosystem. In many ways, the iPad is the best Kindle yet. This argument suddenly (but not surprisingly) stopped being about e-ink readers, and Amazon is the only one of the … Continued