2/15 Gizmodo UK

Gizmodo UK Why Apple Is So Wrong About Privacy According to Steve Jobs Himself February 15, 2012 at 1:59 PM Someone found out that Path — and most probably other apps — was stealing your contact data from your iPhone and iPad without telling you about it. This happened because of Path's greediness, but also because Apple is not protecting your privacy as it should. Continue reading » Twitter Saves Your Address Book's Contents for 18 Months February 15, 2012 at 1:59 PM Twitter, did you learn nothing from Path's recent kerfuffle? Customers do not like it when you remotely store their personal information, especially without telling them. Continue reading » The Great Nerf Guns of 2012 February 15, 2012 at 1:59 PM Will we ever feel too old to love Nerf guns? No, I doubt it. What about Super Soakers? Oh hush, of course not. Shooting things with toy guns is an intrinsic human joy. Here's what you'll be firing this year. Continue reading » The Coolest Action Figures You Can't Buy Yet February 15, 2012 at 1:59 PM Toy Fair is full of lame jigsaw puzzles, toy horses, and other antique things nobody cares about anymore. But! There's also plenty of unreleased Star Wars, Spider Man, and other stuff that makes us feel like excited kids again. Lightsabers! Continue reading » Samsung Galaxy Note: Truly, Freakishly Large February 15, 2012 at 1:59 PM For a while Samsung couldn't decide whether to call its Galaxy Note tablet or a phone. Considering that its 5.3-inch screen splits the difference between an iPhone and a Galaxy Tab 7, that's not surprising. Continue reading » Tim Cook: Apple Does More than Any Company To Improve Labour Conditions February 15, 2012 at 11:14 AM Tim Cook led off his appearance at a Goldman Sachs conference today with a stirring defense of his company's efforts to curb unsafe and unfair labor conditions in its supply chain. According to Cook, Apple's not just good at keeping its suppliers in line; it's the best. But is "better" good enough? Continue reading » If Blackberry Playbook OS2 Drops Next Week and No One's Around to Update, Will It Make a Sound? February 15, 2012 at 11:14 AM RIM's Playbook tablet hasn't exactly been a blockbuster success (or even much of a "success") since its initial launch last year—due in part to a clunky UI and lack of basic features. However, according to a report by 4NBB, the vastly improved Playbook OS 2 could start rolling out next week. Continue reading » Yeah, That's Probably Not the Best Comparison to Make When Talking of Your Google TV Remote, Sony February 15, 2012 at 8:30 AM When discussing the changes between the US and European remotes, Sony's business development chap for Google TV, Ralph Becker, made the above observation regarding the US remote (pictured above). At least RIM has one fan? He also took us through the additions we'll see when it launches in Spring/Summer (or even as late as October?), including the gyroscope and microphone. Continue reading » The Next-Generation Macbook Pro 2012 February 15, 2012 at 8:30 AM Have no doubt about this: Apple is revamping their MacBook Pro line in 2012 in a radical way—not merely evolutionary. We know this not because of the usual rumours, but because there is no way this will not happen. This is what we can expect: Continue reading » Drinking Vodka Makes You Talk More Better February 15, 2012 at 5:48 AM If you've been looking for an excuse to drink all morning, I just found you one: according to a recent study, drinking vodka improves word association and verbal creativity. Somebody pass the bottle. Continue reading » You Can Buy Boo, the Internet's Cutest Dog February 15, 2012 at 3:05 AM Boo, an animal so impossibly cute as to make physicists question our understanding of the cosmos, is now available for mass production. It's soft. It's lifelike. We went hands-on with the most disgustingly cute toy ever seen. Continue reading » Update: How (Not) to Find a Last-Minute Valentine Using Social Media February 15, 2012 at 3:05 AM I seem to have struck out. After 2+ hours, my quest to find a last-minute Valentine using social media has come up dry. There's reason for you to be hopeful on your own search, though. Continue reading » The World's Smallest Chameleon Fits on a Fingertip February 15, 2012 at 3:05 AM Chameleon's are famous for changing color in order to blend in with their surroundings. This little guy doesn't really need to, though; at just an inch long he's the smallest chameleon in the world. Continue reading » Scandalous: The First On-Screen Kiss February 15, 2012 at 3:05 AM At one time kissing in public was considered a scandalous act, which is probably why Thomas Edison, who was just as much a showman as he was an inventor, was responsible for capturing the first on-screen kiss way back in 1896. Continue reading » Raw Beef Bouquet: How to Land a Meat-Lover Lover February 15, 2012 at 3:05 AM A box of chocolates? Yeah, that might be fine for omnivores, but what about that special carnivorous someone? How's about a dozen beef sirloin roses from this butcher in Gloucestershire? Continue reading » There's Some Shotgun in This iPhone Case February 15, 2012 at 12:20 AM Borrowing from the design of the recoil shoulder pad you’ll find on a shotgun, the sidewalls on the iPhone GunnerCase are filled with air cells that collapse on impact, absorbing the forces and minimizing the damage of a dropped handset. … Continue reading » So How Much Vomit Would One Need To Fly? February 15, 2012 at 12:20 AM Completely forgetting that today is supposed to be about romance, Minute Physics asks if it's really possible for the Milk Man superhero, featured in Freddie Wong's video, to fly by spewing milk from his mouth. Continue reading » Reckless Racing 2 for Android and iOS: Buckle Up for a Bumpy Ride February 15, 2012 at 12:20 AM Vrooom vrooom! Choose from a selection of 18 cars, whether they're dune buggies or gleaming supercars, and fling them through 24 tracks of mud, gravel and tarmac. It's reckless, it's racing, it's Reckless Racing 2. Continue reading » Perhaps the Most Striking Photo Taken in North Korea Last Year February 15, 2012 at 12:20 AM Amongst the newly announced winners of the 2012 World Press Photo Contest, you'll find spectacular images from last year's most shocking news events. But some of the most stirring photos are solemn and sober, like this photo, taken in the North Korean capital Pyongyang just two months before the sudden death of Kim Jong-il. Continue reading » Windows 8 on ARM: Everything You Need To Know February 14, 2012 at 9:37 PM Up until late last week Windows 8 on ARM was a complete mystery. We know the product existed, that it would launch at some point in the future, and it would sport the Metro interface Microsoft has been showing off for almost a year now. The silence on just about everything else had led many to wonder if Microsoft was further behind on the ARM version than they were letting on, but this week they finally opened up the information floodgates. Continue reading » Why Rubber Rules February 14, 2012 at 9:37 PM When Charles Goodyear figured out how to take the smelly sap from some trees and turn it into the rubber of industry, the finished, stretchy product bounced a crazy diverse number of materials out of their soon-to-be former jobs. Like sheep intestines. Ick. Continue reading » This Girl's Eaten Her Weight In Plastic February 14, 2012 at 9:37 PM Do you love to eat plastic? Of course you don't, because you're a sane food-eating person. You might chew on the odd pen or straw here and there, but that's about it, right? Kailyn on the other hand -- not so much. She's addicted to eating plastic. Continue reading » This Gadget Turns Your Lensbaby Kit Into a Tilt-Controlled Arsenal February 14, 2012 at 9:37 PM If you've always fancied getting involved with tilt-shift photography but never wanted to drop the cash on a specific lens, here's you chance. Lensbaby's new Edge 80 Optic can turn most of their lenses into tilt-controlled versions. Continue reading » These Leaked Clips of Dredd 2012 In Post-Production Show There's Still a Long Way to Go February 14, 2012 at 9:37 PM Let me preface this with an admission that I'm a big fan of the original, so when I heard they were making a new Dredd film, well, I was both excited and apprehensive. Let's face it; some of the recent reboots of classic franchises have been a bit crap of late. Unfortunately, these leaked clips don't fill me with confidence. Continue reading » Take a Tour Through the World's Biggest Cave February 14, 2012 at 9:37 PM Working as a National Geographic photographer is (thankfully) more than just panther attacks and paraglider crashes. Sometimes you get to explore the underground equivalent of "a previously undiscovered Mount Everest" like photographer Carsten Peter. Continue reading » Sony's Google TV Boxes Arriving Earlier Than Expected, In Spring February 14, 2012 at 9:37 PM Last we heard of Sony's two Google TV boxes, the Blu-ray drive-equipped NSZ-GP9 and non-Blu-ray NSZ-GS7 models were due to launch in the UK in summer. But today, Sony told Giz UK that we can expect to see them in spring, giving the company a "more clear direction of where to go," in regards to the future of Google TV. Continue reading » Send This Love Equation to Your Nerdy Valentine February 14, 2012 at 9:37 PM The Batman Equation is great, but Batman is a sociopathic egomaniac. Totally not appropriate for Valentine's day. Send the Love Equation instead. Continue reading » Nokia's Taking Windows Phone Budget With the Lumia 610 February 14, 2012 at 9:37 PM We've seen the Lumia 900, 800, 710 (shown above) and even a rumoured 910, but it seems there's another Nokia on the block -- the Lumia 610. Continue reading » New British Booze Tricorder Can Tell You That Vodka's Not Really Smirnoff February 14, 2012 at 9:37 PM Apparently the UK is battling with counterfeit booze at the moment. I can't say I've noticed any knock-off Gordon's floating around, apart from the so-close-it's–almost-copyright-infringement own brands from the supermarkets that is. Still, boffins from the University of Leicester have come up with a hand-held booze scanner that'll detect the dodgy stuff without even having to open the bottle. Continue reading » Modular Kitchen Tools Let You Finally Build the Perfect Spoontula February 14, 2012 at 9:37 PM Like a kitchen-friendly version of Voltron that's come to help you with dinner, Enrico Azzimonti's Take It line of cooking cutlery come in unorthodox shapes that can be combined to further expand their functionality. Continue reading » How an Agoraphobic Visited Her Facebook Friends to Conquer Her Fears February 14, 2012 at 9:37 PM In 2011, agoraphobic ArLynn Presser made a New Year's resolution. To combat her anxiety disorder, she vowed to visit all 335 of her Facebook friends, across 51 cities in 13 countries, in just one year. Continue reading » Google Thinks This Is the Funniest Video on YouTube February 14, 2012 at 9:37 PM You may have wondered in the past what the funniest video to appear on YouTube is. I bet, whatever criteria you used, you wouldn't choose this one. Which is odd, because according to Google's comedy algorithm, it should have us all in stitches. Continue reading » Eating an Edible Helium Balloon Looks Like the Most Fun You Can Have at a Fancy Restaurant February 14, 2012 at 9:37 PM The chefs at Alinea, very probably the best restaurant in Chicago, have cooked up a super fun dish that'll brighten up any dinner table: an edible helium balloon. Yep, the entire balloon is edible, right down to the string which is "obviously dehydrated apple". The ballon is filled with helium and you can either pop the balloon with your mouth and inhale all the helium whilst eating or pop it with a needle and eat everything sans helium. Don't do that, suck the helium and sing. Continue reading » DIY Rapid-Fire Pellet Gun Shoots Your Eye Out For Just £10 February 14, 2012 at 9:37 PM YouTuber Nighthawkinlight shows you how to turn £10's worth of air hose parts, and a plastic soda bottle, into a remarkably devastating airsoft-like pellet gun that will riddle a foam target into dust. Continue reading » Closer ToGetHer Let's You Remotely Control Her Vibes February 14, 2012 at 9:37 PM It might be Valentine's Day, but not everyone can be with their loved ones. If you can't be with your special someone today, but you both own iPhones, there's an app that could help you out, and I can't believe it squeezed past Apple's App Store censors. Continue reading » A Horse's Head Is Your "I'm Not a Weirdo, Honest" Deal of the Day February 14, 2012 at 9:37 PM Right, it's Valentine's Day, and if you're sitting and staring at this, chances are that you're all alone in this world. If you weren't, you'd be in the midst of a romantic walk, or in some mutual daisy hair-threading. Continue reading » 50 Killer Jailbreak Apps For Your iPhone and iPad February 14, 2012 at 9:37 PM With the recent release of the iOS5 jailbreak that finally frees your iPad 2 and iPhone 4S from Apple's shackles, we put together a comprehensive and detailed list of essential jailbroken apps to celebrate the momentous occasion. Get your party hats on, USB cables handy and back ups at the ready, as we prep you on exactly what awesome apps, tweaks and hacks you need on your device. Continue reading » The Super Soaker Lightning Storm Is a Water-Blasting Tommy Gun February 14, 2012 at 4:52 PM Nostalgia nothing, where were badass Super Soakers like this when I was a kid? Continue reading » The Netherlands Looks to Take the Lead in Rational Copyright Legislation February 14, 2012 at 4:52 PM Copyright laws are designed to protect the "fair use" of copyrighted content such as mash-ups and remixes — or they were, at least, until the advent of the dreaded DMCA Takedown Notice. The Dutch government has taken notes on America's IP failures and is reportedly looking to explicitly protect such DMCA fodder, much to the chagrin of the European Union. Continue reading » Suspicious Lack of Buttons in Leaked LG Optimus 3D 2 Image February 14, 2012 at 4:52 PM Right behind the Moto Medfield leak we now have something substantially less exciting from LG, in the form of an image which allegedly shows the company's Optimus 3D 2. Continue reading » Motorola's First Android 4.0 Phone, Powered by Intel [doo-doo-do-doo] February 14, 2012 at 4:52 PM This rendered image is believed to be a future Motorola model, running a version of Android 4.0 and conforming to Google's future vision of a world where buttons appear through the magic of software only. Continue reading » MIT's Error Correcting Codes Will Fix Your Crappy Wireless Reception February 14, 2012 at 4:52 PM It doesn't matter how many signal relay towers blanket your city, the quality of your wireless reception can often change drastically — sometimes within a few steps. But MIT researchers think they've figured out how to improve reception using error correcting codes that work regardless of signal noise. Continue reading » Latest BlackBerry Leak Shows BB10 Widgets and Integrated Video Chat February 14, 2012 at 4:52 PM The previously leaked BlackBerry 10, RIM's all-new phone and OS combo, has once more been exposed, with new images giving us a proper, hands-on look at how RIM's possible future BB will work. Continue reading » Is Apple Working On a New 8-Inch iPad Too? February 14, 2012 at 4:52 PM The Wall Street Journal has been all over rumours of the next iteration of the iPad like a rash as of late. Yet more anonymous sources have told it that Apple's apparently testing out a smaller, eight-inch version of the iPad, which could supplement its bigger 9.7-inch brother. Continue reading » How to Make a Bunch of Roses Using Duct Tape February 14, 2012 at 4:52 PM In this hatefully commercial world we live in, nothing says "I love you" on Valentine's Day like a bunch of red roses. But if you can't locate a florist, or your partner has a sense of humour, why not try making a bunch using duct tape instead? Continue reading » Google Wins EU and US Approval to Buy Motorola, But is Warned Over "Strategic" Patent Use February 14, 2012 at 4:52 PM Google's seriously impressive attempt to blag an upgrade by buying all of Motorola's mobile phone division has finally been given the all clear, with anti-trust bodies in both the EU and US saying it's fine. Continue reading » Google Gets All Mushy On Us February 14, 2012 at 4:52 PM It's Valentine's Day and even Google's gone all soft on us for this Hallmark Holiday with a disgustingly cute video of a man trying to win his Valentine's heart. Continue reading » Ghost in the Shell's Think Tanks Are Intimidating, Even in LEGO Form February 14, 2012 at 4:52 PM Major Kusinagi's climactic fight against the Alakuneda Think Tank in the original Ghost in the Shell is easily one of the best fight scenes in modern anime. Now, that arm-shearing battle has gotten a bit cuter with a think tank made from stock LEGO bricks. Continue reading » Bowers & Wilkins' New Surround Sound System Aims to Make Blu-ray Flicks Roar February 14, 2012 at 4:52 PM I love audio gear, but until recently my obsession was limited to products geared around music. I watched Netflix on my computer, content to relinquish sonic control to my MacBook speakers. Then I got a TV, and a Blu-ray player, and now I'm addicted to ludicrous action movies. Looking at the latest Mini Theater system from Bowers & Wilkins, I don't think I can be happy until I own it. Continue reading » Angry Birds Pokes its Way to Facebook February 14, 2012 at 4:52 PM You'd think everyone who wanted to play Angry Birds would have already done so and gorged themselves to near death on its simplistic physics action, but just in case... it's now on Facebook. Same levels to plod through, only now with a mouse and social tools to bother other people with. [Facebook] Continue reading »