Written on 27th April 2009
0 COMMENTS 
Zee, Editor in Chief at The Next Web, Principal at WeDoCreative.
“Periscope have updated their Folio booklight case to fit the Kindle 2, which still houses a little memo pad, a pen, and a retractable light for covert reading. At $50 it’s not cheap, but since Amazon charges $30 for a book cover already, you’re only really paying $20 more…” via Gizmodo
Written on 21st January 2009
3 COMMENTS
Peter Robinett, Web Programmer and Founder of Lunch 2.0.nl
The first Android phone, the G1, is only coming to the Netherlands next week and to other European countries in the next few months, but already we hear its successor is coming. Gizmodo just posted what they claim are the first photos of the G2.
Gizmodo claims the the phone is slimmer, which must surely be thanks to the fact that it apparently does not have a hardware keyboard. While I would be very surprised if Google, T-Mobile and HTC weren’t already developing a successor to the G1, I’m not sold that this phone is it.
The photo definitely seems to be of an HTC Android phone but the claimed lack of a physical keyboard really astounds me. Coming after the launch of the iPhone and with so many similarities, the fact the G1 has a physical keyboard despite having a touchscreen struck me as a strong statement that the Open Handset Alliance was learning from Apple but not seeking to slavishly copy the iPhone.
I spent the day demo’ing the G1 to T-Mobile employees and the keyboard elicited two reactions. Those coming from BlackBerries and Windows Mobile phones would immediately proclaim the superiority of the phone over the iPhone due to its physical keyboard. Those used to iPhones were more hesitant, and several actually looked for the on-screen keyboard they were sure was there.
To me, a nice compromise would be to have some sort of iPhone-style virtual keyboard while in portrait mode but rely on the hardware keyboard in landscape mode. This is surely possible and looking at the second of Gizmodo’s photos, I can easily imagine the phone having a keyboard that slides straight out, like many other HTC phones, rather than the sort of diagonal slide the G1 has.
What do you think? Do any Next Web readers have the inside scoop?
Written on 19th January 2009
9 COMMENTS
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
The great Infographics blog by Randy Krum presents this game controller overview – created by Damien Lopez. From one stick plus one button to a motion sensitive controlling device.
Evolution isn’t always better though, as this video from Gizmodo proves. Breaking your precious screen was a whole lot harder with the Atari 2600.
Written on 11th January 2008
10 COMMENTS
Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, Serial Internet Entrepreneur
The Gizmodo team is known for its humor, different look at things and pranks. But it seems they have gone too far this time. At CES they walked around with a little home made device called a TV-B-Gone which allows you to remotely switch of LCD screens. Then they walked around the expo floors and randomly switched of LCD monitors. In a post titled “Confessions: The Meanest Thing Gizmodo Did at CES” they show a video of LCD screens switching off and sales people, sometimes with a large audience, panicking to get their equipment working again.
The first 10 seconds are funny but then you start wondering about those poor guys with their failing equipment. Apparently most people are more annoyed than amused and it seems this thing is turning into a PR nightmare fast. The post has received over 600 comments and most are negative. Bloggers are publicly voicing their anger and disagreement too.
They say that there is no such thing as bad press and the post has been viewed more than 150.000 times. But annoying your loyal followers is never a good idea. It is going to be interesting to see how they talk themselves out of this. And if they get another invitation for next years expo…
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