App Turns Your Phone's Camera Into A Jaundice-Detecting Paediatrician

Infant jaundice, where a baby’s liver can’t remove blood toxins, is potentially fatal. Doctors recognise it as an unusual yellow hue in a baby’s skin and eyes, but what if you’re a nervous parent far from a pediatrician? This experimental app turns your phone’s camera into a doctor’s trained eye. BiliCam‘s premise is simple: Just lay the printed colour key on your baby’s belly and snap a photo. The app sends the photo’s data to the cloud, where an algorithm measures the difference between...

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Chrome update lets you share your browser, not your history

If you typically share your computer and your browser with a sibling, a roomie or a friend who has no respect for your privacy, this latest Google Chrome beta update might make things easier for you. It comes with a pull-down menu that lets you easily switch users, put the browser to guest mode or launch an incognito tab on Windows, Mac or Linux. According to some comments in the update's Google+ announcement, though, you still have to log off from your accounts to be...

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MSN Messenger will finally, definitely be dead in October

Microsoft's 15-year-old MSN Messaging service will soon be a part of computer lore. It has been shut down in most placesfor over a year, but Microsoft kept it running in China where it was still quite popular. However, with the advent of Tencent's QQ, Line and other services, Redmond recently emailed Chinese users (on their Hotmail accounts, naturally) that the service would ride into the sunset on October 31st. To give you an idea of how old it is, the service was created in 1999 by Microsoft...

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'Angry Birds' maker crowns a new CEO as it reaches a crossroads

Today Mikael Hed announced he would be stepping down as CEO of Rovio and that former Nokia exec Pekka Rantala would be taking his place in 2015. The developer has quickly gone from being a company that no one had ever heard of to one of the biggest names in mobile gaming. How? Almost entirely on the strength of its flagship franchise: Angry Birds. The problem is, nearly five years on, the Angry Birds name just isn't enough any more. The developer continues to churn out new titles at a fairly...

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Tesla opening up 400 EV charging stations across 120 Chinese cities

There aren't more electric cars because there's no infrastructure, but there's no infrastructure because there's no demand. It's this chicken-and-egg problem that Elon Musk is hoping to end, at least in China, after a signing a deal that'll see Tesla open 400 charging stations in the country. The car maker has signed a deal with state-owned mobile network China Unicom, which'll see the latter business providing space at its retail locations for Tesla owners to re-juice at. The pair aim to...

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Sprint offers free international WiFi calls for your next overseas jaunt

There's just enough time to pop off for a far-flung holiday before summer ends, and Sprint's trying to make calling home from Guangzhou a little easier. The canary-hued carrier announced the other day that it's launching free international WiFi calling for a handful of compatible Android smartphones. For better or worse, some older hardware is getting the nod first: S amsung's Spark-friendly Galaxy S 4 will get the update before the ten other devices capable of making WiFi calls. Curiously...

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Google testing 'Project Wing' delivery drones

Google is testing out in-house drones with hopes that the sky-high bots could be used for delivering goods in the future. The trials, dubbed Project Wing, are headed up by Google X, Google's top secret research division which investigates revolutionary future tech. While Amazon's Prime Air drones are being developed for commercial reasons, Google's looking to launch its autonomous aerial vehicles to provide humanitarian aid. "Even just a few of these, being able to shuttle nearly continuously...

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BB's new Porsche phone: image and specs revealed

BlackBerry's third Porsche-pal smartphone is readying up for launch, and we're now privy to host of new handset details thanks to Indian tech site BBIN. The Porsche Design P'9983 is tipped to be a luxury blower (read: paycheque price-tag) that will follow the earlier P'9982, a Z10 revamp. The new device is expected to sport the BB Q10's innards with a ritzy Porsche exterior that looks to justify an expected price hike. So, onto the specs then. Visuals will be beamed to your retinas by...

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Creative's new Sound Blaster Roar speaker available in UK

Creative has launched its brand new Sound Blaster Roar here in the UK, promising beefed up beats it reckons can rival your home stereo system. The wireless Bluetooth speaker is designed for 'space-filling' sound, which it achieves with five multi-directional drivers, each pinning down different audio frequencies for optimal tuneage. The front-firing speakers cover high-frequency audio, while two side-firing radiators enhance the low-end. Bass and mid-range is covered by a top-firing driver....

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Jump Safely From Burning Buildings Wearing This Window Escape Pack

As more and more cities battle urban sprawl by building taller and more densely-packed buildings, threats from fire, terrorism or similar calamities become more pronounced, especially for people living and working on the upper floors where the designated exits are their only options. But this lifesaving device aims to gently lower its wearer to safety from 25 storeys up. Built by Israeli firm SkySaverUSA (the same folks that are working on the AirMule UAV ambulance) and bearing the same name, the SkySaver system is a self-contained, personal...

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Microsoft Just Slashed $130 Off The Price Of The Surface 2

Microsoft has knocked $130 off the price of its Surface 2 Windows RT tablets in Australia — making them cheaper than even the lowliest large iPad models. The price reduction means the base 32GB model now costs $399, and the 64GB unit costs $509. The reductions — running until September 27 — are available through Microsoft’s physical and online stores, and some other retailers, including Amazon. Those less concerned by price cuts and more enamoured with the rumour mill might see this as...

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London to start trialling wirelessly charged buses

While London's public transport network is getting more hi-tech by the minute, the city's buses and trains aren't as green as they could be -- at least not yet. Transport for London (TfL) has already deployed 800 hybrid and a handful of all-electric buses o n the capital's streets, but keeping them charged isn't easy when they're miles from a depot. In a bid to keep them running as efficiently as possible, TfL has kicked off a new trial that will see inductive charging stations built into...

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New 12.5-in iPad coming early 2015?

Apple's readying its supply chains to produce the firm's largest ever tablet, with the supersize slate tipped to measure a broad 12.9-in. The firm's current tablet line-up offers two size variants, namely a 9.7-in model and the 7.9-in iPad Mini. "The Cupertino, California-based company has been working with suppliers for at least a year to develop a new range of larger touch-screen devices," reads the Bloomberg report. iPad sales have been on a downwards slope for the last two quarters, with...

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Hackers take down Twitch after Amazon buy-out

Twitch.tv went offline yesterday thanks to a targeted attack on its servers by a hacker group known as Lizzard Squad. The reasoning behind the attack is currently unknown, but it's likely a response to Amazon's acquisition of the game streaming platform yesterday. The retail giant announced it was buying out Twitch for $970 million, a move criticised by many gamers who think it's simple profiteering. We're not yet sure what Amazon's plans for Twitch are, but it's probably too soon to tag Bezos'...

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Seagate launches world's first 8TB hard drive

Seagate's one-upped data storage competitors, today announcing its shipping of the world's first 8TB hard disk drive. The beefy data brick trumps Seagate's existing 6TB line-up, offering consumers more storage than they probably know what to do with. "As our world becomes more mobile, the number of devices we use to create and consume data is driving an explosive growth in unstructured data," says Segate. "Seagate is poised to address this challenge by offering the world's first 8TB HDD,...

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Apple might launch thinner MacBook in coming months

A slimmed-down MacBook could be in the works, with rDigitimes article, which cites Taiwanese supply chain manufacturers as its source. eports suggesting the newly svelte device will ship near the end of this year or very early 2015. Production's already started on the line, according to the The tipsters reckon 80% of Apple's Mac sales can be attributed to the MacBook line-up, marking it as vital to Apple's business plan. The MacBook Air's current thickness slopes from 1.7cm down to a dieted...

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HP recalling 6 million laptop cables over 'burn hazard'

Hewlett-Packard has announced a recall of around six million AC power cables sold with HP laptops, mini notebooks, and docking stations, between September 2010 and June 2012. The worldwide recall is a result of a 'fire and burn hazard' risk that could set your prize battlestation ablaze. "HP customers affected by this program will be eligible to receive a replacement AC power cord for each verified, recalled AC power cord at no cost," says HP. The power cables in question are marked 'LS-15',...

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Gadgets You Can Use Your Gadgets From Gate To Gate On Aussie Flights Right Now

We’ve known this was coming for a while, but as of right now if you’re flying with a major carrier on an Australian domestic flight, you’ll be able to keep your gadgets powered up all the time. Qantas and Virgin have both announced that they’re ready to fly with gadgets ready to go as of today for the majority of their flights. There are some restrictions. You’ve got to throw your devices into flight mode and can’t really use laptops to speak of. Smaller regional flights and carriers...

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Mobile HTC's First 64-Bit Phone Will Be A Mid-Range Desire

HTC’s signalled that it’ll launch a 64-bit ARM-based handset on September 4th. The surprising news is that this isn’t a high range handset. According to an HTC post on Weibo, HTC’s going to announce a 64-bit based handset on the 4th of September. HTC hasn’t stated which 64-bit chip it’ll be running on, although it’s likely to be the Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 based on Qualcomm’s own statements that suggest that HTC will be the first to use its mid-range 64-bit chip. G For Games speculates...

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If You Had $100,000, Which Three Cars Would You Buy?

Here’s a fun way to waste a few minutes (or a few hours) on your Monday afternoon — if you had a stack of $100 bills to waste on a garage full of pure motoring joy, which cars would you pick? The Gizmodo team took that challenge on. After setting out a few ground rules, we each had half an hour to choose. Firstly, we strictly had to pick three cars (although Luke kinda skirted that rule, but whatever). Secondly, every car had to be used — even if it was a demonstrator...

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Science China Says New Supersonic Sub Would Reach San Francisco In 100 Minutes

China claims it has found a way to create a supersonic underwater vessel that could travel from China to San Francisco in less than two hours using new developments in supercavitation. This could be extremely useful for travel — but also for the development of underwater weapons. In fact, this is a military project. This technique was originally developed for Shakval, a torpedo capable of reaching 370 km/h developed by the Soviet Navy during the Cold War. The size of the bubble and the...

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Geek Out Teens Go Bananas And Take Scariest Selfie Ever Atop 346m Skyscraper

I’ve seen many cold-blooded daredevils climbing skyscrapers and towers, but this is the first time I’ve seen someone having a picnic up there — The Center skyscraper in Hong Kong, 346m above the ground. I couldn’t avoid gasping when photographer Daniel Lau lifted his camera above him and his friends. Watch YouTube: ...

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Terrifying Video Shows The Lung Capacity Of Smokers Vs Nonsmokers

 I’ve seen many photos and videos of smokers’ lungs — all of them disgusting — but I’ve never seen a better case against cigarettes than this Vine showing the differences in lung capacity between a smoker and a nonsmoker. Check out the video: Click here...

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Smartwatch belt gives you wearable tech without the convenience

Have you ever wanted smartwatch notifications without the convenience of having something on your wrist? No? Apparently, no one told that to the design team at Suzi Roher. The fashion outfit's new Urban Tech Belt includes a "digital watch computer" that lets you check calls, play music and read messages without grabbing your smartphone... which is stored in a holster just a few inches away. Yes, you're supposed to avoid reaching for a pocket or bag by reaching for your belt. Not much of...

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Scientists grow whole organs inside animals for the first time

Researchers have had success growing organs in controlled lab environments, but repeating that feat inside a complex, messy animal body? That's more than a little tricky. However, researchers at the University of Edinburgh have managed that daunting feat for the first time. They've grown thymus glands inside lab mice by "reprogramming" the genes in tissue-regenerating cells and partnering those with support cells. The team didn't have to use scaffolds or other "cheats" to trigger the...

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Ralph Lauren is making a tech-infused polo shirt

US Open ball boys will be sporting the latest in wearable tech starting this Monday, according to the NYT: Ralph Lauren's "Polo Tech" shirts. Of course, nearly everything the company makes is a "wearable," but these particular shirts contain conductive silver threads and other sensors designed to measure performance. The apparel maker said it wanted to do something different from the usual sports bands while eliminating the complexity: "You're just putting on a shirt." It'll still have the...

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Europe launches two navigation satellites into the wrong orbit

Arianespace, the company that launches satellites for the European Union, has had to concede that its latest mission hasn't been a complete success. Friday's launch conveyed two satellites, Dorea and Milena, into orbit to help build out Galileo, the EU's homegrown alternative to GPS and GLONASS.  Everything had gone to plan when the Soyuz rocket reached the upper atmosphere and deployed the satellites, but shortly after, authorities realized that the units were in "noncompliant orbit," ...

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China Wants Its Own Homegrown OS To Replace Windows And Android

The Chinese computing market looks much like most of the world. Windows rules desktops. Android rules smartphones. Now, the Chinese government wants to challenge both giants by putting its own homegrown operating system on everything. A Reuters report says that a senior official with COS — The China OS project — appeared on the Xinhua news agency on Sunday to claim that the Linux-based operating system will launch as soon as October on desktops and will expand to smartphones and tablets...

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Twitter plans to roll out 'buy' button later this year

It looks like Twitter is heading at full speed into the e-commerce sector, following a report from Re/code claiming its partnered up with payments company Stripe. According to the report, "multiple industry sources" say Twitter will unveil buttons within tweets that say 'buy' or some variation of the word. Users are expected to be able to enter in payment and possibly shipping information without leaving Twitter’s service. Businsses that wish to sell products or services on Twitter are being...

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Google cracks down as Swing Copters clones flood Play Store

Google has removed hundreds of Android clones of Swing Copters from the Play Store. The game was launched on Thursday but was beaten to the top spot by hundreds of cunning clones, looking to cash in on Dong Nguyen's previous success with viral sensation Flappy Bird and the presumed success of Swing Copters. The sneaky apps carried devious names like  Swinging Copter, Swing Copters Game, Swing Copters Free, Copters Swing and Swing Copters 2. Some were released by developers named Dong's...

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Dead Island film gets a director

Fans of zombie slash-em'-up Dead Island will be happy to hear that the film adaption has finally recruited a director to get the show on the road. Zach Lipovsky, a fresh-face around Hollywood who just recently completed Leprechaun: Origins, will take the reigns and bring Dead Island to the silver screen. Lipovsky was a contestant on Steven Spielberg and Mark Burnett's 2007 reality TV show On the Lot, which saw budding filmmakers compete for a development deal. He made it to the final three. According...

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Welcome to the Smart Highway: Cars and tech

In the not-so distant future, you'll be soaking up the morning's news and gossip on the latest Apple product as the car you are travelling in glides around the city without so much as a single human input.  Traffic and accident reports will be beamed directly to the vehicle's advanced navigation system so jams are avoided, stopping at traffic lights will be a thing of the past and the grey skies above can be transformed into sunny scenes thanks to smart glass technology.     Our ...

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The Futuristic Jets, Humans And Star Wars Designs Of Stephen Chang

Stephen Chang tells me he loves to think about how the future will weave technology into humans. He has done a lot of cool art so far and I’m sure he’ll get far. If he doesn’t, that’s fine: He got his design for the Rogue Shadow ship — from the game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed — turned into an official Lego set. And this cool private jet: Far future cities and transports: Stephen Chang has been a concept designer for the last nine years, starting off at Activision,...

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