The Apple Store is down. Let's celebrate with Joel Johnson's "Apple Store is Down" song, recorded while he was Boing Boing Gadgets editor a couple of years ago. Check it out here. More »

While the Blendtec blender can blend all manner of topical gadgets, it looks like it's met its match in a pair of keys. Will it blend a pair of keys? Uh...no. [@ahphotovideo via Lansing Noise via The Daily What] More »

Earlier today, the Environmental Protection Agency and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration showed off stickers that would give car buyers standardized info on a particular model's fuel economy and environmental impact. Gadgets should have standardized ratings, too. More »

The producers of Entourage have already shown their tech savvy with a littering of BlackBerry, Jawbone and iPad use, but how about some unreleased hardware? Turtle was spotted doing a bit of cardio in last night's episode, nothing too shocking about that, but he did it using Microsoft's Kinect peripheral as a workout buddy. Last time we checked, that motion-controlled goodness wasn't supposed to be out for another two months -- we can only guess that good old Sal Assante managed to get his name on that top-secret beta tester list.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Screen Grabs: Turtle gets his Kinect on

Screen Grabs: Turtle gets his Kinect on originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Aug 2010 08:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Man, you just can't hide your gadgets from curious onlookers these days. Case in point: Samsung's Galaxy Tab was innocently doing some testing rounds through Sydney recently, only to be happened upon by the Electronista scribes, who diligently videotaped it -- seemingly without the knowledge of the tablet's possessor. The video confirms what we already know, it's a 7-inch tablet, it'll be driven by an Android, and it looks very much like a giant cellphone. The Samsung employee described it as "awesome" and very different from the iPad's experience, while the UI apparently looked very responsive. Go after the break to see for yourself.

Continue reading Samsung's 7-inch Galaxy Tab gets spied in the wild (video)

Samsung's 7-inch Galaxy Tab gets spied in the wild (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Electronista  | Email this | Comments

Here's a comforting truth: the next time your gadgets make you angry enough to pout, stomp, and scream, know that you're not alone. In fact, you're in the majority. More »

Inspecting power lines isn't the safest job we can imagine having, so we're pretty happy to see that robots -- which don't have the same... feelings we do about getting injured -- can be hacked to do the job. Hydro-Quebec's LineScout can get past most power line obstacles by partially detaching itself from the line and then grabbing a hold of it again once said obstacle has been cleared. It can also easily get from one section of the line to the next relatively quickly, and of course, the best part of this bot's ability is that it can pull all this off while the lines are powered. Check out the video below to see the bot in action.

Continue reading Power line inspecting robot isn't afraid of getting juiced

Power line inspecting robot isn't afraid of getting juiced originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Aug 2010 08:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Hacked Gadgets  |  Bot Junkie  | Email this | Comments

Apple's shiny little gadgets can suck up a lot of juice. XtremeMac's InCharge Duo and Home, a dock and a wall charger, respectively, can simultaneously charge up any two iPads, iPhones, or iPods, in any combination. More »

Ah yes, the NES Zapper. Your weapon of choice for eradicating ducks, clay discs, criminals, cowboys, and just boring old targets.

The NES Zapper made is North American debut in October of 1985 when it was bundled with the Nintendo Entertainment System and a now infamous game, Duck Hunt. The technology behind the Zapper is painfully simple, although I remember it feeling like science fiction in 1985. When the trigger of the Zapper was pulled it would cause the entire screen of the game being played to go black for one frame. The subsequent frame would have your games target (ducks, clay discs, whatever) appear in all white. The gun would detect this change from dark to light and determine if you’ve hit your target. If multiple targets are on the screen more than one “white” frame is used to determine which target has been hit. The process is mostly invisible to the eye, although, as most people remember, you can see the screen flash when the trigger is pulled (which was cool, because you were shooting a fake gun!). The Zapper truly was a milestone in gaming, but fess up… how many of you pinched off a couple of rounds at the Duck Hunt dog to blow off some steam?

BGR Throwback Thursday is a weekly series covering our (and your) favorite gadgets, games, and software of yesterday and yesteryear

MintyBoost was a terrifically handy DIY USB charger, housed in an Altoids gum tin. It worked great, until Apple started changing the way it charged devices. But have no fear! The MintyBoost team is on the case. More »

I feel like a castaway in a sea of glossy black plastic, chrome, and glowing blue buttons. Do we really need every piece of electronics to look the same, sandwiched in this shiny ebony that is the 21st Century beige? More »

This weekend, the Wireless Power Consortium finalized specification for a low-power wireless charging standard. The new specifications will allow you to charge gadgets that draw up to 5 watts of power sans cords; most devices that charge over USB use 2.5 watts of power. The standard also calls for a third-party certification process that will allow gadget manufactures to brandish their device with the Qi logo. The purpose of this is simple: Qi logo bearing devices will work with other Qi logo bearing devices. Hit up the read link for all the nerdy details.

[Via ArsTechnica]Read

If you live and breathe gadgets and tech, and love writing about them, then we might have something for you. We’re currently expanding faster than ever and are looking for talented, dedicated, hardworking individuals to help grow BGR. Professional writing experience is not required, though it will most certainly help. Some of these are full time gigs — salary and benefits — and some are location-specific. Here are the positions we’re currently looking to fill:

• East Coast contributor (preferably NYC)
• West Coast contributor (preferably San Francisco or Seattle)
• Weekend contributor
• European Correspondent
• Business editor
• Gaming editor
• Mobile editor

Think you’ve got what it takes to rock out in a fast-paced constant cycle of tech news? Well, if you do, we’d love to hear from you. If you’d like to apply, please send an email to jobs at bgr dot com. Please include the following:

• Some information about yourself. Name, age, where you live, what you like to do, your passion for all things tech, etc.
• College and work-related background information
• Your top 4 favorite gadgets or pieces of tech of all time. Phones, TVs, gaming systems — whatever!
• What position you’d be most interested in, how much time you’d be able to contribute to the job, and how flexible you are with timing.
• Three sample posts written in the BGR flavor. Be comfortable with the writing, keep it professional, and write things you think would appear on the site, written by one of us.

Please include all of this information in the main body of the email, and put the position you’re most interested in the email subject. Please don’t send attachments, we won’t look at them. Unfortunately we won’t be able to respond to everyone, but you’ll hear from us if we’re interested!

You didn't seriously think the Mac Mini would be spared, did you? The maniacal customizers over at Colorware have added Apple's latest bit of desktop furniture to their stable of "have it your way" electronics, with a $250 price tag for the paintjob by itself and a $1,000 levy if you want them to procure the hardware as well. Hey, we know that's expensive, but somebody's got to be buying all these crazy-hued gadgets for the company to keep going, right? Anyone willing to own up to it?

Mac Mini suffers chromatic maltreatment at hands of Colorware originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Jul 2010 03:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Colorware  | Email this | Comments

We’ve been on a little bit of a retro software bender lately, and today’s Throwback Thursday is no different. So, step one: open this YouTube link (it will open a new window) and press play. We’ll wait for you, go ahead… Back? Great.

Now, there is a rumor that one “Vick the Slick” — one of Carmen Sandiego’s mustachioed marauders – is on the loose. We’re counting on you, young gumshoe, to help capture Vick the Slick and track down Carmen Sandiego.

The original Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego was a computer game created by Brøderbund in 1985. After its huge success in schools and homes, subsequent versions were made and had users trying and track down Carmen — and her gang of criminals — in the United States, Japan, Time, and even Space. The software’s leading lady quickly turned into a brand empire, and eventually spun-off into a cartoon, a board game, a book series, and a game show for grade schoolers (which originally aired on PBS).

Go ahead, let us know what your favorite Carmen Sandiego memory is. Personally, Carmen taught me what the meaning of spelunking is… to explore caves of course.

BGR Throwback Thursday is a weekly series covering our (and your) favorite gadgets — and in this case software — of yesterday and yesteryear

Lithium-ion battery technology keeps improving by (theoretical) leaps and bounds, but what good's that to you when you're faced with a dead TV remote? Brother Industries has a plan, and it doesn't involve ink for once -- the Japanese printer company's developed a set of prototype batteries you simply shake to charge AA and AAA models are already in the works, though you shouldn't expect to slot them into cameras or R/C cars, as the miniature electromagnetic induction generators inside are designed for infrequently used gadgets and provide as little as 10mW (or as much as 180mW) when shook. Of course, when it comes to TV remotes there's an even easier way to squeeze some juice, but we have to imagine standard-sized cells have a slightly better chance at market.

Brother shakes up expectations with vibration-charged low-power batteries originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 17 Jul 2010 17:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Geek.com  |  Tech-On  | Email this | Comments

Remember when you could download all of the MP3s you wanted from peer-to-peer site Napster and not get sued by the RIAA? Remember trying to find an audio player that would play all of those pesky MP3s? Remember Winamp?!? Initially monikered WinAMP, the audio player was first released on April 21, 1997. Winamp gained popularity among audiophiles for being feature-rich, small, free, and compatible. Winamp also won fans over with its skinable interface, allowing you to inflict your personal steez on your media player. Winamp was developed by Nullsoft, a company who was known for their llama logo and humorous opening sound clip: “Winamp, it really whips the llama’s ass!” Winamp is still very much alive, and very much available; although it is now owned by AOL. Hit up their website and take a trip down memory lane.

BGR Throwback Thursday is a weekly series covering our (and your) favorite gadgets — and in this case software — of yesterday and yesteryea