Posts tagged Feature
Giz Explains: Android, and How It Will Take Over the World [Giz Explains]
Nov 6th
This week we met Motorola’s Droid, the first handset with Android 2.0. To an outsider, it just looks like another Google smartphone, but 2.0 is more than that: it’s proof that Android is finally going to take over the world.
So Wait, What Is Android, Exactly?
In Google’s words, it’s “the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices.” That doesn’t mean much, so here’s a breakdown: It’s a Linux-based, open-source mobile OS, complete with a custom window manager, modified Linux 2.6 kernel, WebKit-based browser and built-in camera, calendar, messaging, dialer, calculator, media player and album apps. If that sounds a little sparse, that’s because it is: Android on its own doesn’t amount to a whole lot; in fact, a phone with plain vanilla Android wouldn’t feel like a smartphone at all. Thankfully, these phones don’t exist. Read the rest of this entry »
Apple Tablet Will Restore Comic Books To Former Glory [Apple Tablet]
Oct 27th
“What is it in France they say? ‘America contributed three things to culture: jazz, musical comedy and comic books.’” You can already buy two on iTunes. And if things pan out, you’ll be get the third on the Apple tablet. Read the rest of this entry »
Apple iMac Review: 27 Inches and Less Chin [Apple]
Oct 23rd
In the 10+ years since the iMac was born as Apple’s simple computer, it’s become visibly less of a computer and more of a display. And what a screen this new iMac has.
But First, Simplicity
This 1998 ad with Jeff Goldblum narrating implies there are two physical steps to setting up an iMac. They skipped the mouse and keyboard cable, though. Today, an iMac is set up using just one power cable, depending on wireless networking and bluetooth peripherals to get the rest done.
The LCD
The 27-inch iMac’s screen is the thing to focus on in this revision. It is practically as bright (and more contrasty) than any of the previous iMacs—even Cinema Displays—and it looks astounding. It’s LED-driven so it comes to full luminescence immediately and takes up less power. It also has better side-to-side viewing angle as an IPS tech monitor; like the iMac 24 before it, it goes 178 degrees without much change in color accuracy or brightness. And here’s the kicker: Although it has 19% more area of LCD than the old 24-incher, it has an astounding 60% more pixels. That makes it more pixel dense than any of the Cinema Displays at 109ppi. And with a 2560×1440 resolution it has 90% of the dot count of a 30-inch cinema display. All these stats are great. They sound great, and they make for a powerful picture. But the actual view of the screen leaves me with a positive—but slightly imperfect—impression. Read the rest of this entry »
Microsoft’s First Retail Store Opens (Like Apple Store With More Colors) [Microsoft]
Oct 22nd
You’ve seen the mockup of the Microsoft Store, now step inside for a look around the real thing. We asked Phoenix-area stringer Dennis Tarwood to head over to the snooty mall and check things out. Here’s what he experienced:
I’m in Scottsdale today to visit the off-Broadway tryout of a Microsoft store. (MSFT goes to the big city next week when they open in Southern California. As you can see from the photos, it bears a haunting resemblance to Apple Stores. (Despite Microsoft’s desire to distance their retail outfit from that of Mr. Jobs, the fact is, they did hire one of the same designers as a consultant, among other things.)
Though Windows 7 starts belting out its big opening number today, we’re here to see the whole show from Xbox to Zune. Still, the chanting before the store opening—as brought to us by brightly-shirted store employees—told us what today was: “Windows! Seven! Windows! Seven!”
Among those waiting in line were John Hernandez, an unemployed south Phoenix gentleman who jumped in line around 6 pm Wednesday and found himself in 23rd place. “I’m not much of a computer person,” said John. However, he heard there might be free stuff, so he stuck out the night outside the Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall, and says he received food and drink from helpful Microsoft staff.
Most of the line, however, showed up this morning, including George Nesbitt. An IT third-shifter, he headed over around 7:00 am for the 9:30 am opening and found himself #134. Breakfast had already been served by 8:30 as energy bars and water kept the hardy-ish line nourished.
At 9:30, Microsoft COO Kevin Turner came out to bow and cut the ribbon, while another exec, David Porter, contented himself to stay out with the crowd and provide exhuberant high-fives to the team when the store flew open. Read the rest of this entry »
Ten Really Dumb Old Inventions and Their Really Dumb Modern Counterparts [Wrongmodo]
Oct 22nd
Hookay. So, you think that this M3 sub-machine gun—with a shoot-first-and-ask-later curved barrel—is a really stupid, really dumb invention, right? I don’t blame you. But, trust me, you don’t know what really stupid, really dumb inventions are. Yet.
I just saw a selection of 30 dumb inventions in Life, and I couldn’t resist picking my favorite ten. These things are so damn stupid they became obsolete before even becoming real products. It was hard to choose. After all, how could I leave out scientology nutcase L. Ron Hubbard and his Hubbard Electrometer, which in 1968 made him reach the conclusion that tomatoes “scream when sliced”? See? Really hard.
Then I thought that these all looked weirdly familiar. I searched in Gizmodo, and instantly found their modern counterparts. Some of them make sense now, with current technology. Others, as you will see in the gallery, seem equally goofy. All of them, however, we can live without. Enjoy:
Clearly, humans are the only animals that trip twice over the same stone.
Why Stuff Crashes (And Why It Happens Less Often Now) [Crashes]
Oct 21st
You’re working on the most important document you’ve ever typed and suddenly—boom: Blue screen. “A PROBLEM HAS BEEN DETECTED.” What the hell just happened?
There’s all kinds of new hotness in Snow Leopard and Windows 7, but what’s old and busted is when stuff crashes, even on the newest OSes. This is how that happens, and why it’s thankfully happening less and less.
Unibody Apple MacBook Review [Review]
Oct 21st
It was inevitable that Apple would take their unibody manufacturing prowess from their MacBook Pros and focus it on the MacBook line. We just never expected the new MacBook to be as enticing as the 13-inch Pro.
It’s Basically a White Macbook Pro
To illustrate just how good the internals are on the MacBook, just compare them to the current base 13-inch MacBook Pro. Both have a 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo with a 3MB L2 cache, a 1066 MHz frontside bus and a 2GB default RAM. They also have a really similar LED backlit display, which eliminates the problem of narrowed viewing angles that we docked the first generation unibody MacBooks for, and both now have the same contrast ratio. The only difference is that the Pro has a 60% greater color gamut.
The new body
The rounded edges and a reduced number of seams make the new MacBook appear to be a flattened marshmallow. A glossy, rubber-bottomed marshmallow. It’s an immediately more appealing shape than the previous generation of white MacBooks, marking the end of the transition of Apple laptops to unibody construction. That rubber bottom is also pretty satisfying, both in the fact that it grips surfaces better to not slide around, and because it’s a more thigh-friendly material when the machine heats up. The whole body is more solid, thanks to an aluminum sheet and some more structural supports found in the teardown.
Otherwise, there are many other small design changes you’ll appreciate. The trackpad is now the standard glass multitouch type found on the Pros, the screen has a more prominent bezel and the iSight is circular instead of square. Keyboard layout is the same, but on-key shortcuts have been updated to the latest standards. It also comes with Apple’s new 60W power adapter, which has a tip that looks more like the MacBook Air than any of the previous chargers.
In general, the build quality is more solid and more “Pro” than ever before, despite the material being polycarbonate instead of aluminum. It’s like trading up from a Toyota Yaris to a Camry—not luxury, but it’s a noticeable difference. Read the rest of this entry »
