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''Gizmodo'' ( ) is a design, technology, science and
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
website. It was originally launched as part of the
Gawker Media Gawker Media LLC (formerly Blogwire, Inc. and Gawker Media, Inc.) was an American Online and offline, online Mass media, media company and Link farm#Blog network, blog network. It was founded by Nick Denton in October 2003 as Blogwire, and was ba ...
network run by
Nick Denton Nicholas Guido Anthony Denton (born 24 August 1966) is a British Internet entrepreneur, journalist and blogger, the founder and former proprietor of the blog collective Gawker Media, and was the managing editor of the New York-based ''Gawker'' ...
, and runs on the
Kinja The Waimiri-Atroari or Uaimiris-Atroari are an indigenous group inhabiting the southeastern part of the Brazilian state of Roraima and northeastern Amazonas (Brazilian state), Amazonas, specifically the Waimiri Atroari Indigenous Territory. They ...
platform. ''Gizmodo'' also includes the subsite ''
io9 ''io9'' is part of Gizmodo media since 2015, and it began as blog launched in 2008 by Gawker Media. The site initially focused on the subjects of science fiction, fantasy, futurism, science, technology and related areas but over the years has ...
'', which focuses on science fiction and futurism. ''Gizmodo'' is now part of
G/O Media G/O Media Inc. is an American media holding company that runs ''Gizmodo'', '' Kotaku'', ''Jalopnik'', ''Deadspin'', '' Lifehacker'', ''Jezebel'', ''The Root'', ''The A.V. Club'', ''The Takeout'', ''The Onion'', and ''The Inventory''. History ...
, owned by private equity firm Great Hill Partners.


History

The blog, launched in 2002, was originally edited by
Peter Rojas Peter Rojas (born March 18, 1975) is the co-founder of technology blogs Gizmodo and Engadget, as well as the video gaming blog Joystiq (2004). Education Rojas attended Harvard University from 1993 to 1997 where he managed the school's radio sta ...
, who was later recruited by Weblogs, Inc. to launch their similar technology blog, ''
Engadget ''Engadget'' ( ) is a multilingual technology blog network with daily coverage of gadgets and consumer electronics. ''Engadget'' manages ten blogs four of which are written in English and six have international versions with independent editori ...
''. By mid-2004, ''Gizmodo'' and ''
Gawker ''Gawker'' is an American blog founded by Nick Denton and Elizabeth Spiers and based in New York City focusing on celebrities and the media industry. According to SimilarWeb, the site had over 23 million visits per month as of 2015. Founded in ...
'' together were bringing in revenue of approximately $6,500 per month. Gizmodo then launched in other locations: *In 2005, VNU and Gawker Media formed an alliance to republish ''Gizmodo'' across Europe, with VNU translating the content into French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, and adding local European-interest material. *In 2006, ''Gizmodo Japan'' was launched by Mediagene, with additional Japanese contents. *In 2007, ''Gizmodo Australia'' was launched in the US, by
Allure Media Fairfax Media was a media company in Australia and New Zealand, with investments in newspaper, magazines, radio and digital properties. The company was founded by John Fairfax as John Fairfax and Sons, who purchased ''The Sydney Morning Herald' ...
under license from Gawker Media. This site incorporates additional Australian content, and is branded ''Gizmodo AU''. *In November 2007, the Dutch magazine license was taken over by
HUB Uitgevers {{Infobox company , name = HUB Uitgevers , logo =Hubuitgevers-logo.png , type = Besloten Vennootschap , foundation = 1993 , location = Haarlem, the Netherlands , key_people = Wouter Hendrikse (Founder) , area_served = Benelux , industry = M ...
. *In September 2008, ''Gizmodo Brazil'' was launched with Portuguese content. *In September 2011, ''Gizmodo UK'' was launched with
Future The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently ...
, to cover British news. ''Gizmodo UK'' was later shut down in September 2020, with all web links redirecting to Gizmodo.com. In February 2011, ''Gizmodo'' underwent a major redesign. In 2013, Matt Novak moved his Paleofuture blog to ''Gizmodo'' from '' Smithsonian''. In 2015, the Gawker blog ''io9'' was merged into ''Gizmodo''. The staff of ''io9'' continued with ''Gizmodo'' and continued to post articles on subjects covered by the website, including science fiction, fantasy, futurism, science, technology and astronomy. ''Gizmodo'' was one of six websites that was purchased by
Univision Communications TelevisaUnivision (formerly known as Univision Communications) is a Mexican-American media company headquartered in New York and Mexico City, which owns the American Spanish language broadcast network Univision. 45% of the company is held by the ...
in their acquisition of Gawker Media in August 2016. Univision in turn sold ''Gizmodo'' and an array of sister websites to private equity firm Great Hill Partners in 2019. In Australia in 2018, after
Nine Entertainment Nine Entertainment (registered as Nine Entertainment Co. Pty Ltd) is an Australian publicly listed media company with holdings in radio and television broadcasting, newspaper publications and digital media. It uses Nine as its corporate brandi ...
merged the business behind PEDESTRIAN.TV with that of Allure Media, forming the larger
Pedestrian Group Pedestrian, formerly PEDESTRIAN.TV, is a youth digital news and entertainment website based in Sydney, Australia, which has existed since 2005. It is owned by Pedestrian Group, a company created by Nine Entertainment in 2018 after buying out PE ...
, the website and associated company changed its name to Pedestrian, and also incorporated the brands ''Gizmodo AU'', ''
Business Insider Australia ''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German publ ...
'',
Kotaku ''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ...
and POPSUGAR Australia.


Coverage

A ''Gizmodo'' blogger captured the first photos from the floor of the
International Consumer Electronics Show CES (; formerly an initialism for Consumer Electronics Show) is an annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). Held in January at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Winchester, Nevada, United States, the event typ ...
(CES) 2007 and, according to
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...
, journalists at the (simultaneous) ''
Macworld ''Macworld'' is a website dedicated to products and software of Apple Inc., published by Foundry, a subsidiary of IDG Inc. It started life as a print magazine in 1984 and had the largest audited circulation (both total and newsstand) of Macint ...
'' debated whether ''Gizmodo'' or ''Engadget'' had the better live coverage of Steve Jobs' 2007 keynote speech.


Controversy


TV-B-Gone

Richard Blakeley, a videographer for ''Gizmodo''s publisher, Gawker Media, disrupted several presentations held at CES in 2008. Blakely secretly turned off TVs using
TV-B-Gone TV-B-Gone is a universal remote control device for turning off a large majority—about 85%—of the available brands of television sets in 2015. It was created to allow people in a public place to turn off nearby television sets. Its inventor ...
remote controls, resulting in his being barred from CES 2008, and any future CES events.


iPhone 4 prototype

In April 2010, ''Gizmodo'' came into possession of what was later known to be a prototype of the
iPhone 4 The iPhone 4 is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the fourth generation of the iPhone lineup, succeeding the iPhone 3GS and preceding the 4S. Following a number of notable leaks, the iPhone 4 was first unvei ...
smartphone by Apple. The site purchased the device for US$5,000 from Brian J. Hogan, who had found it unattended at a bar in Redwood City, California, a month earlier. UC Berkeley student Sage Robert, an acquaintance of Hogan, allegedly helped him sell the phone after failing to track down the owner. With Apple confirming its provenance, bloggers such as
John Gruber John Gruber (born 1973) is a technology blogger, UI designer, and one of the inventors of the Markdown markup language. History Gruber is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He received his Bachelor of Science in computer science from Drexel Univ ...
and Ken Sweet speculated that this transaction may have violated the California Penal Code. On April 26, after ''Gizmodo'' returned the iPhone to Apple, upon Apple's request California's Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team executed a search warrant on editor Jason Chen's home and seized computers, hard drives, servers, cameras, notes, and a file of business cards, under direction from
San Mateo County San Mateo County ( ), officially the County of San Mateo, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 764,442. Redwood City is the county seat, and the third most populated city following Daly ...
’s Chief Deputy District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe. Since then, ''Gizmodo'' and the prosecution have agreed that a
special master In the law of the United States, a special master is generally a subordinate official appointed by a judge to ensure judicial orders are followed, or in the alternative, to hear evidence on behalf of the judge and make recommendations to the jud ...
will review the contents of the items seized and determine if they contain relevant information. ''Gizmodo'' was since barred from Apple-hosted events and product launches until August 2014, when they were invited once again to Apple's September 2014 "Wish we could say more" event.


See also

* ''
Lifehacker ''Lifehacker'' is a weblog about life hacks and software that launched on January 31, 2005. The site was originally launched by Gawker Media and is currently owned by G/O Media. The blog posts cover a wide range of topics including: Microsoft W ...
'' * ''
Techcrunch TechCrunch is an American online newspaper focusing on high tech and startup companies. It was founded in June 2005 by Archimedes Ventures, led by partners Michael Arrington and Keith Teare. In 2010, AOL acquired the company for approximately ...
'' * ''
Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...
''


References


External links

* * {{Future plc American science websites Gawker Media Internet properties established in 2002 2002 establishments in the United States Former Univision Communications subsidiaries