Wired: Gadgets

Syndicate content
Objects of desire, tested by science.
Updated: 12 years 37 weeks ago

Girls Have a Ball Making Music With Magic Belles

Wed, 2011/07/06 - 09:00
My two-year-old daughter clearly loves music. She dances to everything, and she sings with abandon. Although I'm married to a musician and live nearby to one of the top music schools in the world, I have been blessed with only an average aptitude for making the stuff. I'm a poor guide for my daughter as ...


Categories: Tech

MIT Project Uses Smart Phones to Detect Cataracts

Wed, 2011/07/06 - 06:01
CATRA is an invention of MIT's Media Lab which uses a cellphone and a cheap plastic eyepiece to detect cataracts. Not only is it cheaper and easier to use than existing solutions, it actually provides much better results. Cataracts cause blindness by fogging the lens of the eye, scattering light before it reaches the retina. Normally, ...


Categories: Tech

<em>Portal 2</em>'s "Want You Gone" - A Great Fan-Made Music Video

Tue, 2011/07/05 - 17:02
If you've played Portal 2 solo mode all the way to the end, you've heard the excellent end-credits song "Want You Gone," Jonathan Coulton's follow-up to "Still Alive," his justly famous song from the first Portal. Well, a fan named Pedro Calvo has made a music video based on the song and the ending of the ...


Categories: Tech

Netflix Confirms Streaming Issues for Some Apple TV Customers

Tue, 2011/07/05 - 15:19
A number of Apple TV customers are unable to stream Netflix movies to their devices, according to several user reports posted over the weekend. A Netflix spokesman confirmed to Wired.com that a small number of Apple TV devices were experiencing technical issues with the service, and the company claims the issue has been fixed. "Now I have ...


Categories: Tech

PhotoForge 2, Possibly the Best iPad Photo Editing App Yet

Tue, 2011/07/05 - 09:19
IPad-owning photographers should stop reading right now (well, not right now, or you won't know what to do next) and go download PhotoForge 2, a rather splendid update to the already decent photo-editing app. Better still, if you already bought the iPhone version, the update is free -- the app is now universal. The biggest differences ...


Categories: Tech

Nerdapalooza Spotlight: I Fight Dragons

Tue, 2011/07/05 - 08:30
Like all genres of music, the genre of nerdcore has it's annual gathering, the apex of live performances in a 2-day music festival called Nerdapalooza. Regardless of the genre classification, Nerdapalooza is a high energy gathering with a solid and continuous line-up of musical performances and straight up fun. Over the past couple years, attendance ...


Categories: Tech

Hands-On: The SoundJaw Fixes the iPad 2's Awful Speaker

Tue, 2011/07/05 - 07:41
It would be hard to say anything good about the iPad 2's speaker. It is tinnier-sounding than the surprisingly good speaker on the first iPad. It faces backwards, firing all sound away from you. It is far too easy to cover it with a hand or a Smart Cover and -- worst of all -- it is about the ugliest piece of design to come out of Apple since that stupid hockey-puck mouse that shipped back in 1998. Luckily, there's a fix.


Categories: Tech

Video: Cameras Mounted on Fireworks Show Dizzying Point-of-View

Tue, 2011/07/05 - 05:40
Sure, you love to watch a crash-bang firework show while you sip a cold beer on July 4th, but did you ever think about how the poor firework feels? Well did you, you callous spectator, you? No, you didn't, which means that Jeremiah Warren is a much better man than you. Not only did he ask ...


Categories: Tech

Three-Way Headphone Splitter Shaped Like a Tiny Branch

Tue, 2011/07/05 - 05:17
I can think of precisely one use for a headphone jack splitter, and that's for watching movies on the iPad when I'm on a plane or train, traveling with The Lady. However, I am also aware that there are couples whose individual musical tastes don't make each other physically sick, and who might like to ...


Categories: Tech

Weather-Ready Bike Bag Keeps Your Stuff Drier Than a Mormon Wedding

Mon, 2011/07/04 - 20:00
After a helmet, a cyclist's best friend is a weather-ready bag. This one works as both a backpack and a pannier.


Categories: Tech

Lots to Like About Sony's Low-Light Camcorder

Mon, 2011/07/04 - 20:00
The HDR-CX700V is Sony's top-of-the-line consumer camcorder, and it's fair to say this sucker is loaded.


Categories: Tech

Canon's Low-Light Camera Is a Filmmaker's Perfect Nocturnal Companion

Mon, 2011/07/04 - 20:00
There are full-manual controls, a wide range of cinematic filters, and excellent low-light, feature-worthy performance. But it's spendy.


Categories: Tech

De-Moisturize Your Gadgets With the Bheestie Bag

Mon, 2011/07/04 - 20:00
It won't bring a dunked Droid back to life, but it gets the residual damp out of your gadgets.


Categories: Tech

Bluetooth Thermometer Turns Your iPhone Into a Sous Chef

Mon, 2011/07/04 - 20:00
No, you don't need a Bluetooth thermometer to keep tabs on your steak from 200 feet away. But backyard cooking is rarely about need.


Categories: Tech

Scuba Mask POV Camera Sees Everything Under the Sea

Mon, 2011/07/04 - 20:00
With a 136-degree field of view, this hybrid scuba mask/videocam captures 720p video and 5-megapixel photos -- from your face!


Categories: Tech

Backstroke With a Backbeat: UWaterG2's Waterproof MP3 Player

Mon, 2011/07/04 - 20:00
Need a little Kanye to get you through your morning laps? Try this tiny waterproof player on for size.


Categories: Tech

Not Entangled by <em>Quantum Thief</em>

Mon, 2011/07/04 - 09:00
Writing book reviews can be difficult. One person may like a book... another person may not. As a rule, I don't like to review books that I haven't enjoyed. I know how difficult it can be to write a book, and I know that in addition to large amounts of time and planning, a writer ...


Categories: Tech

Five Reasons Why the iPad Was Made to Keep Parents Sane

Mon, 2011/07/04 - 08:00
Being a tech dad is a curse. We are always chasing the latest and greatest that tech minds are producing despite our economic status, how many kids we have or whether or not the CFO at home (the wife) will approve. We want it. We need to have it. We don??t want to wait. We don??t ...


Categories: Tech

Plastic Case Protects Your Precious iPad from Spills, But Not Dunks

Mon, 2011/07/04 - 07:00
Dropping $500 on an iPad? Ouch. Dropping a soda on said device? $!%*!#@!!!


Categories: Tech

GeekDad Game Review: <em>Seven Dragons</em> From Looney Labs

Sun, 2011/07/03 - 07:00
Overview: Seven Dragons, the latest card game from Looney Labs, is a quick dominoes-style card game that has you matching up colored dragons in a race to get seven cards connected before the other players. As you might expect from Looney Labs, though, goals can change mid-game and you never know what might happen before ...


Categories: Tech