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Reddit turns top contributors' Reddit Gold into real-world money
Reddit rolled out a new program today that allows the platform’s biggest contributors to earn real-world money for their virtual rewards.
A nano-thin layer of gold could prevent fogged-up glasses
A gold nanocoating could prevent your glasses from fogging up.
Hitting the Books: How Bitcoin is somehow worth more than the paper it's printed on
In 'The Future of Money,' Senior Professor of Trade Policy at Cornell University, Eswar S Prasad deftly examines how we collectively assign value to cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and what that means for the economics of tomorrow.
Pablo Escobar’s brother is trying to sell refurbished iPhone 11 Pros for $499
Pablo Escobar's brother is trying to peddle refurbished "gold-plated" iPhone 11 Pros for $499. It is most likely a scam.
Motorola's Razr is still $1,500 but now you can get it in 'blush gold'
The Motorola Razr is now available in blush gold.
A gold-colored Motorola Razr is coming this spring
The reborn Motorola Razr has a few quirks, but one of the most obvious is that all-black exterior. How are you supposed to flex with your foldable phone when it's so inconspicuous? Don't worry -- you'll have a better chance to flaunt your handset soon. Motorola has confirmed that a "Blush Gold" version of the Razr will be available in the spring. More specific launch details weren't available as we wrote this, but we wouldn't expect it to carry a significant premium over its less resplendent counterpart.
Researchers create '2D' gold a million times thinner than a fingernail
Scientists have created the world's thinnest gold. At just two atoms thick, the material is one million times thinner than a human fingernail, which is big news for the tech industry. Gold is already used in a range of applications such as engineering, aerospace, as well as in medicine -- gold nanaoparticles play a significant role in cancer treatment, for example -- but in a "2D" form it has the potential to be used even more efficiently.
Tokyo unveils its recycled e-waste Olympics medals
The organizing committee for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo have unveiled the designs for the medals. The baubles that'll hang from the necks of the winningest athletes in each game reflect their struggle for brilliance in the years before the games themselves begin.
Tokyo will achieve its goal of making 2020 Olympic medals from e-waste
To make a statement about sustainability, Japan recently announced it would forge its 2020 Olympic medals from recycled smartphones, laptops and other gadgets. It just revealed that it has nearly met that goal after collecting nearly 48,000 tons of e-waste. The committee collected its 2,700 kg (5,950 pounds) target of bronze back in June, 93.7 percent of its 30.3 kg (67 pound) gold target and 85.4 percent of the 4,100 kg (9,000 pounds) of silver it needed. All told, over five million unwanted devices have yielded over $3 million worth of metals.
The FCC leaked pictures of a gold iPhone X
On the same day that an Apple memo urging employees to stop leaking company info leaked, the company is now dealing with another, well, leak. But, this time it wasn't anyone from inside Apple who spilled the goods; it was the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). As spotted by 9to5Mac, a gold iPhone X appears to have arrived at the FCC offices, which is surprising considering Apple hasn't made an official announcement about the new color on its flagship smartphone. The tones on this iPhone X are quite shiny and, at a glance, look like a darker version of those on the gold iPhone 8. One of the main differences with the gold iPhone X is that it has black bezels, whereas the gold iPhone 8 comes with white ones. Apple just tried a similar formula with the Product RED iPhone 8 Plus we checked out yesterday.
Amazon's gold Kindle Oasis reminds everyone how rich you are (updated)
The Kindle Oasis is a conspicuous display of wealth by its very nature (you have money to burn if you can spend $250 on an e-reader in 2018), but apparently Amazon didn't think it was ostentatious enough. The internet giant is taking US pre-orders for a Champagne Gold version of the Oasis that includes the same 7-inch screen, water resistance and Audible support of the regular black model, just in a slightly garish I-have-money color. Amazon pitches it as a stylish option ideal for "Mom or the fashionable traveler." Let's be real, though -- you're buying it because you want to be seen using it.
Dell and Nikki Reed harvest gold from old laptops for jewelry
Dell's no longer just an electronics company -- it now makes jewelry too (sort of). It has teamed up with actor and activist Nikki Reed on the Circular Collection, which comprises pieces made from gold recovered from Dell computer motherboards. These are 14- and 18-carat gold rings, earrings and cufflinks, mind you, and don't look like they've been remade from waste material at all.
Bitcoin is failing as a currency
It's been a good year for bitcoin investors but a terrible one for those who hoped that the cryptocurrency would become the de facto tender for the internet. Satoshi Nakamoto, its creator, may be dismayed at what has become of the project, intended as peer-to-peer electronic cash that didn't require the supervision of banks. Instead, bitcoin has become an investment vehicle, embraced by many on Wall Street, an asset class like every other. For all the success of the blockchain and bitcoin's soaring value, it's clear that Nakamoto's original vision has failed.
Sony's new PS4 Slim is 1TB, gold and $249
Ahead of E3 (which kicks off this weekend) Sony has announced that it's cutting the price of the PlayStation 4, and giving it a new color. Between June 9th and June 17th you'll be able to get a gold PS4 Slim with a 1TB hard drive for $249. Last week rumors started popping up about such, and now it looks as though Sony has confirmed this one. According to The Verge, other accessories and games will be on sale during the same period, which makes this sound like a physical version of the PSN sales Sony typically runs during E3.
For the first time, bitcoin is more valuable than gold
Today marked a weird but auspicious moment in human history. The value of a single bitcoin, the most mainstream of cryptocurrencies, surpassed the price of one ounce of gold. While that's specifically due to a good trading day for the former and slightly bad one for the latter, resulting in a moment where a loosely-comparable unit of bitcoin value topped that of gold, both have been trending toward this point for awhile.
Samsung introduces a gilded, more powerful Galaxy TabPro S
While your smartphone is headed back to meet its maker, Samsung is rolling out a flashier Gold Edition of its already svelte Galaxy TabPro S tablet. It's been less than a year since the PC replacement debuted, and Samsung is already jumping on the gold finish trend and bumping up the specs with 8GB of RAM, a 256GB solid state hard drive and a battery that should be good for 10.5 hours of video playback.
Apple killed off its super expensive gold Edition watches
With today's launch of the Apple Watch Series 2, Tim Cook and company added the sleek new Ceramic Edition, but quietly did away with the more ostentatious, solid-18-karat-gold version. While that ceramic Series 2 model doesn't exactly come cheap at $1,249, it's still a fraction of the price of Apple's previous top shelf, $10,000-plus Gold Edition.
Titanium-gold alloy could lead to super-strong implants
Many bone implants (such as for hips and teeth) need to be replaced after a decade simply because they're not strong enough to survive for any longer. Rice University might put an end to those regular surgeries, though. Its researchers have crafted a titanium-gold alloy that's the strongest ever to be friendly to organic tissue -- four times stronger than pure titanium, and so strong that the team had trouble grinding it into a powder to check its purity. They created it by preparing titanium-3-gold (that is, three parts titanium for every one part of gold) at a high temperature, forming an extremely sturdy crystal structure.
Texas Instruments has a gold-hued graphing calculator
Want to prove that you're a cosine champion at your next math exam? Texas Instruments thinks it has the answer. It's trotting out a limited edition version of the TI-84 Plus CE graphing calculator that comes in a gold-hued (as TI puts it, "Golden Ratio") metallic shell -- yes, you can show some swagger while you're visualizing functions. There's also a special "Bright White" model (below) if you're not quite so ostentatious. Both calculators should arrive this summer without a price premium (existing models sell for $108 on Amazon), so you won't have to pay extra to bring some flash to your calculus class.
Samsung's Galaxy S7 phones get pink option that isn't rose gold
Not one to hold back on spinning out new colors and editions months after a smartphone debuts, Samsung's revealed metallic rose-hued Galaxy S7s and S7 Edges for Korean phone-shoppers. Wait, it's not rose gold. That's some other company. These phones are obviously pink gold. Completely different and "skin tone-inspired".
