Slate Magazine - Gizmos

Netflix's new set-top box is a couch potato's delight.

Torie Bosch — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:04:57 EST

Netflix became a thriving business by catering to people who are too lazy to hop into the car to pick up a movie. Last year, with that demographic in mind, the company launched "Instant Watching," a Web service for customers who couldn't be bothered to walk to the mailbox and pick up a red envelope. Now, Netflix hopes to appeal to people who don't want to leave the couch: The company has started selling a set-top box that delivers streaming video directly to your television set.

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My five hours with Sony's amazing XEL-1 OLED television.

Justin Peters — Fri, 16 May 2008 07:06:21 EST

Earlier this month, the New York Times' David Pogue raved that Sony's XEL-1 OLED digital television is "drool-worthy." One-eighth of an inch thick, with hallucinogenic color reproduction and a 1,000,000-to-1 contrast ratio, the $2,500 OLED is the ne plus ultra in television picture quality. "It's like looking out the window. With the glass missing," said Pogue. A really small window, that is—Sony's OLED is only 11 inches diagonally.

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Why the Consumer Electronics Show is a lousy place to see the future of tech.

Harry McCracken — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 11:59:38 EST

For years, the gargantuan Consumer Electronics Show has opened with Bill Gates sharing his vision of the future of personal technology. The Microsoft chairman's presentations always attract throngs of conventioneers and plenty of press coverage. His futuristic visions, though, haven't usually come to pass. Windows Smart Displays, which he touted in 2003? Dead within a year. SPOT smart watches and Portable Media Centers (2004)? Never popular; now defunct. The MTV-branded Urge music service (2006)? Folded into Real's Rhapsody in mid-2007. It's enough to leave you placing bets against the Surface touch-sensitive table and Sync car computer, two of the products Gates demoed in his swan-song speech last week. (His move to full-time philanthropy will end the keynote tradition.)

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Why I'm disappointed in Apple's ultraslim new laptop.

Paul Boutin — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 07:44:23 EST

Apple's new super-extra-ultraslim MacBook Air laptop is undeniably sexy. As shown in Apple's TV spot, the new laptop slides effortlessly into a manila envelope. Its fat end is slimmer than the skinny end of Sony's thinnest Vaio notebook. (The specs: 0.76 inches thick at the back, tapering down to 0.16 inches at the front.) This is a major technical and aesthetic breakthrough, and a killer feature for those vexed by the fact that you can't send laptops via interoffice mail. But as I watched Steve Jobs demo his new products onstage at San Francisco's Moscone Center, I was struck by all the things you can't do with the MacBook Air. That's because the balance of power at Apple, and in the tech world generally, has tipped. In many ways, phones are now more powerful than laptops.

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Why last year's products make this year's best gifts.

Paul Boutin — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 07:49:55 EST

Still wondering what to buy this year for the gadget lover in your life? The bad news: This year's hottest gizmos, the $400 PlayStation 3 (plus the games) and the $400 iPhone (plus a monthly phone plan), are dubious deals for price-conscious shoppers. A $400 phone? Come on. The good news: If you don't want to overpay for this year's tech toys, you can just buy last year's. There are plenty of premium products from Christmas 2006 that are still worth buying, especially now that you can get them for half-premium prices. With the help of Gizmodo Editor in Chief Brian Lam, I've found five gadgets whose prices have dropped substantially since last year but that will still impress the geeks on your shopping list.

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