WIRED

This week on the Gadget Lab Show: reviews editor Michael Calore and staff writer Roberto Baldwin check out the tentpole phones from Samsung and BlackBerry.

The BlackBerry Q10 is a return to physical keyboards for the Canadian company. It’s a great phone if you’re a dyed-in-the-wool BlackBerry power user that needs a keyboard made of physical buttons. It probably won’t get too many coverts from iOS and Android. But if you do get your hands on one, expect a rather startling transformation as illustrated by Mr. Calore.

Now if you’re not worried about your stock portfolio, the Samsung Galaxy S4 might be more of your speed. It has a larger five-inch screen, faster processor, and has more battery life than its predecessor the Galaxy S3. It’s a better phone. But it’s filled with wacky features like eye tracking and above-phone hand movements to help navigate. Unfortunately, these gimmicky features only work with Samsung’s default apps.

Weird features aside, the Galaxy S4 is an awesome phone and a worthy upgrade from the Galaxy S3.

April 28
, 2013

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Apple was granted a number of patents by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Tuesday morning, the most interesting of which concern Apple’s television software and a new method for packaging touchscreen technology.

In United States Patent 8,243,017, “Menu overlay including context dependent menu icon,” Apple describes ways to display onscreen menus and video for its Apple TV set-top box. What’s most interesting about this patent, which was originally filed in 2006, is that the patent illustrations show that the Apple TV either was originally designed to work with cable TV, or that Apple is primed to collaborate with cable providers in the future.

The set-top box (described in the patent as a “video device”) would employ a number of elements that are already familiar to users of TiVo and other DVRs, such as the ability to record live TV. Some of the shows included in patent diagrams include The Late Show With David Letterman, as well as circa-2006 favorites like King of Queens, Lost, and The O.C. Apple’s aspirations to include live network content may have died after networks like CBS declined a deal with Apple to stream content over its set-top box.

….but what we *really* want to know is: who is Dave interviewing in this patent illustration? We think it looks like the security guard from Goodfellas who helped set up the Lufthansa heist.

August 15
, 2012

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We’ve waited for this day forever. Now we can finally be our very own LOLcat! Check these Necomimi Brainwave Controlled Cat Ears on for size.

[Photo: Peter McCollough/Wired]

(Source: Wired)

July 13
, 2012

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March is OFFICIALLY the Month of Badass Gadgets here at Wired.

“Four times a week, our tech-obsessed taste makers will present shining examples of aggressive, purpose-built product design — each imbued with an aesthetic subtext that approaches you with a face slap, puts you in a submission hold, and whispers coldly in your ear, ‘Fear me. Respect me. Honor my fearsome posture.’”

We’ve got machetes for days. Also, videos of machetes for days.

(Source: Wired)