Airport "Naked" Body Scanners Get Privacy Upgrade to Anonymize Your Naughty Bits [Privacy]


Gizmodo 9 Sep 2010, 2:40 am CEST

Airport security scanners that literally see through your clothes are contentious. Because ... well, think about shadowy TSA guys peeping at your bits. Hence some firms are now tweaking them to anonymize your "x-rays" to protect your decency. More »

Here's What You Can Play in the Game Center So Far [Games]


Gizmodo 9 Sep 2010, 2:21 am CEST

The iOS 4.1 update added the Game Center to our iPhone and iPod Touch devices, but we've been struggling to find games which let us take advantage of this feature. Here are the ones we've discovered so far. Updating. More »

Incubator Coaxes Start-Ups Out of Their Shells (Tomio Geron/Wall Street Journal)


Techmeme 9 Sep 2010, 2:05 am CEST

Tomio Geron / Wall Street Journal:
Incubator Coaxes Start-Ups Out of Their Shells  —  Silicon Valley incubator Y Combinator recently held a daylong pitch session that underlined the organization's growing clout in the region.  —  At the event last month, 36 new companies that completed a start-up program run by Y Combinator pitched …


HDR photo hands-on with iPhone 4 and iOS 4.1


The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) 9 Sep 2010, 1:53 am CEST

I've never used one of the HDR apps, so I was eager to try out this new feature using iOS 4.1 on my iPhone 4. Launching the camera now gives you an HDR option at the top of your screen. It's automatically set to off. When you toggle the option on, it will automatically switch the camera flash to off. Using HDR will provide you with two shots -- one normal shot and one with HDR utilized. For my test subjects I used:
  • A shot of a window from a few feet away.
  • A shot of a window standing at the window.
  • A dark shot using the cat lounging next to the iMac as a model
  • A well-lit shot using one of the other cats, who happened to claim a kitchen cabinet as his own, as a model.
The most noticeable difference came from the window shot taken a few feet away. As seen above, the normal shot has the outside areas overexposed while you can clearly see the apartment building across from mine -- including some detailed areas -- in the HDR shot. This shot was taken about eight feet from the window.

TUAWHDR photo hands-on with iPhone 4 and iOS 4.1 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Thoughts on Google Instant (Matt Cutts/Gadgets, Google, and SEO)


Techmeme 9 Sep 2010, 1:45 am CEST

Matt Cutts / Gadgets, Google, and SEO:
Thoughts on Google Instant  —  The blogosphere is absorbing today's announcement of Google Instant.  I wanted to give some context and some thoughts.  —  Google's web search (and web search infrastructure) team tries to do several things well:  — We want the most comprehensive index of the web.


iPod Touch Teardown Reveals Only 256 MB of RAM and No Vibrator [Apple]


Gizmodo 9 Sep 2010, 1:38 am CEST

We'd heard that the newest iPod Touch comes with a built-in vibrator for FaceTime notifications, but there was no such thing to be found when the gadget was torn down. And even worse? There was only 256 MB of RAM. More »

First Hump-Backed Dinosaur Could Eat Several Humans for Brunch [Science]


Gizmodo 9 Sep 2010, 1:30 am CEST

This is the Concavenator corcovatus, a new species of dinosaur discovered in Cuenca, Spain. It's the first ever dinosaur with a hump. This carnivorous predator was 20 feet long, and shared some features with the velociraptor and, surprisingly, birds. More »

How Do You Feel About Google Instant? [Google]


Gizmodo 9 Sep 2010, 1:20 am CEST

Today we got Google Instant, a fairly radical overhaul of Big G's homepage that delivers predictive search results as you type. That's crazy! But do you think it's crazy cool or crazy stupid? More »

Check Your iPhone 4's Antenna Reception With Field Test Mode In iOS 4.1 (Jesus Diaz/Gizmodo)


Techmeme 9 Sep 2010, 12:55 am CEST

Jesus Diaz / Gizmodo:
Check Your iPhone 4's Antenna Reception With Field Test Mode In iOS 4.1 … 07:05 PM  —  14  —  By Adam Dachis … How Much Faster is Google Instant?  —  Google Instant likes to think it's pretty fast, but how fast is it really?  We pitted regular old Google against Google Instant …


A Recycling Bin That Knows When You're Not Using It (And Fines You For It) [Scary]


Gizmodo 9 Sep 2010, 12:40 am CEST

We've heard the promise: in the future, everything's connected. But when Cleveland rolls out its new RFID-enabled recycling bins next year, ones that know if you're using them and report you if you're not, you might long to disconnect. More »

Google Instant is an example of how Yahoo could have won in search (Stephen Hood/unique hazards may exist)


Techmeme 9 Sep 2010, 12:35 am CEST

Stephen Hood / unique hazards may exist:
Google Instant is an example of how Yahoo could have won in search  —  Today Google launched Google Instant, and make no mistake: this is big.  It's far more than just a new fancy interface.  It's a fundamental change to a user interaction model that's been largely unchallenged for years.


Where Is the Support for Object Scanning and Controllers In Xbox 360 Kinect? [Kinect]


Gizmodo 9 Sep 2010, 12:31 am CEST

The awesome Kinect object scanning is missing from all incoming titles, as well as of any hardware controller support. But fear not, because Kinect's big honcho Kudo Tsunoda has some answers about this and more. More »

Found Footage: Last week's SteveFest in three minutes


The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) 9 Sep 2010, 12:28 am CEST

We're all busy people, and I'm sure that many of us missed the iPod/Apple TV SteveFest on the first. Once again, Neil Curtis, master of cutting to the chase, has created a three-minute version of the 75-minute presentation. Previously, Neil did a very short version of the adjective enhanced iPad rollout; he's very good at this sort of thing. This little video (making wonderful use of music) only mentions stores "with people" in them, the new iPods, the Game Center, Ping, and the underwhelming new Apple TV. I've been through the full video a number of times, and nowhere does Steve mention just what resolution he's talking about when he says HD. In my opinion, this is a bag of hurt...but maybe that's just me. There's also some Lady Gaga in the video. So, don't expect anything about iOS 4.2 or anything iOS related. It's worth a look and will probably give you a chuckle or two. Keep up the good work, Neil.

TUAWFound Footage: Last week's SteveFest in three minutes originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Look, There's a Disco Party In My Pants [LEDs]


Gizmodo 9 Sep 2010, 12:00 am CEST

Marc DeVidts went from Miami to Atlanta to attend Dragon*Con 2010 and show off his party-in-a-suit custom, which is loaded with LEDs that are controlled from his iPhone. That's at least +259 courage points right there. [Makezine] More »

The Google Alphabet - Google's new search feature ... (Jennifer Valentino-DeVries/Digits)


Techmeme 8 Sep 2010, 11:55 pm CEST

Jennifer Valentino-DeVries / Digits:
The Google Alphabet  —  Google's new search feature, Google Instant, predicts what you're going to search for and giving you that information before you even finish typing.  In its introduction of Google Instant, the search giant demonstrated that if you type W into the search bar …


In Season 9, iPods Still Get High Ratings (David Pogue/New York Times)


Techmeme 8 Sep 2010, 11:25 pm CEST

David Pogue / New York Times:
In Season 9, iPods Still Get High Ratings  —  CUPERTINO, Calif.—At a special press event today, Steven P. Jobs, Apple's chief executive, unveiled a new lineup of iPod models, just in time for the holiday season.  The diminutive iPod Shuffle still has no screen and is still made of brushed aluminum …


Google Is Really Freaking the Hell Out of Me [Blockquote]


Gizmodo 8 Sep 2010, 11:20 pm CEST

Today, Google's founder Sergey Brin said that they want to be your third "brain half". Yesterday, Eric Schmidt said Google knows where you are, what you like, and will suggest what you should do next. And that wasn't all. More »

TUAW TV Live: An Apple TV in pieces and a machine that goes Ping


The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) 8 Sep 2010, 11:01 pm CEST

The time has come, the walrus said, to talk of many things. Of Apple TVs and iOS 4.1, of new iPods and Pings. On today's TUAW TV Live the discussion is sure to wander all over the metaphorical map. As promised earlier, I will have my old Apple TV torn apart and will point out some interesting design flaws that demonstrate why the darned things ran so hot. We have lots of other cool stuff to talk about, and I'm seriously hoping that iOS 4.1 drops before the show so I can give you a hands-on demo of some of the new features. To join in from your Mac or PC, just go to the next page by clicking the link at the bottom of this post, and you'll find a livestream viewer and a chat tool. The chat tool allows you to join in on the fun by asking questions or making comments. If you're driving somewhere and would like to watch TUAW TV Live while you're stuck in traffic, please don't -- keep your eyes on the road! However, if someone else is doing the driving, you can watch the show on your iPhone by downloading the free Ustream Viewing Application. iPad users haven't been forgotten, either, as you can tune in to TUAW TV Live on your iPad! That link will send you to a non-Flash page, although you won't have access to our chat tool. And one final note -- if the show has started and you're seeing a previously recorded show instead of the livestream, you can always pop on over to ustream.tv/tuaw to join the show in progress.

TUAWTUAW TV Live: An Apple TV in pieces and a machine that goes Ping originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Best App Advertisement Ever, Bar None, Is For Steve Young Football [Hilarity]


Gizmodo 1 Jan 1970, 1:00 am CET

We've seen plenty of app-promoting clips, but none has ever made us laugh and laugh and laugh like this one for the upcoming game Steve Young Football. Whether you know the original or not, all this does is win. [SteveYoungFootball] More »

Check Your iPhone 4's Antenna Reception With Field Test Mode In iOS 4.1 [IPhone]


Gizmodo 1 Jan 1970, 1:00 am CET

Now you can put your iPhone into field test mode, which will allow to easily and precisely test your cell signal reception quality. You just need to follow these steps: More »
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