Flickr released an overhauled iPhone app today, capping a year of effort to reclaim its lost glory with software that it believes will become central rather than peripheral to using the photo-sharing site.

The new app is designed to show off individual photos better, to ease sign-up for new users, to speed photo browsing, and to improve discovery. Better smartphone support was critical, given how much activity has moved to mobile apps.

"Engagement to a high percentage is happening on mobile," said Markus Spiering, head of the Flickr product at Yahoo. "It really brings Flickr into the … Read more

PETALUMA, Calif.--Driving along the back roads of this idyllic, easy-going Northern California town, you'd never know that behind the walls of one of the most unassuming buildings around is perhaps the best collection of geek memorabilia in the world.

Welcome to Rancho Obi-Wan, Steve Sansweet's homage to his life's passion -- "Star Wars," a non-profit museum dedicated to serving "the public through the collection, conservation, exhibition and interpretation of [the films'] memorabilia and artifacts." Formerly Lucasfilm's head of fan relations and a Los Angeles-based reporter for the Wall Street Journal, Sansweet … Read more

Amazon has been granted a patent for protecting gadgets from accidents by using tiny airbags and even jets of air.

The patent application made waves immediately after it was published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office last August. Amazon filed for it in February 2010 and was granted it today, Engadget notes.

At its core, the patent details a system that uses your gadget's built-in gyroscope, accelerometers, camera, and other onboard sensors to figure out if the device has gone airborne. If so, a system can keep the device from getting too badly damaged by changing its … Read more

Despite owning an iPhone 5 for several months, I find myself using Siri only when someone else wants to see how it works.

A video created by a Raspberry Pi enthusiast motivates me to learn about Siri's unadvertised side -- as a place where hackers can use special software to teach Apple's voice assistant new commands. One such person found a compelling use for the $35 Linux-based Pi and Siri: the ability to open a garage door with a push of a button and a simple spoken sentence. … Read more

Did you miss out on this year's keen Orionid meteor shower or the super perigee moon? Don't fret, as a mega meteor shower this Thursday evening could appease those craving an extraterrestrial event.

Set your alarm for 11 p.m. ET on Thursday, as that's when the Geminid meteor shower peaks. It could deliver dozens (or even hundreds) of visible meteors per hour until about 3 a.m. on December 14. Keep your eyes (and scopes) toward the constellation Gemini for the best view of the shiny shower. … Read more

Competition is good for consumers, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the tablet arena -- at least among key players Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

While Apple doesn't do discounts and Google recently added more memory to its entry-level $200 Nexus 7, taking it from 8GB to 16GB, where we're seeing the most deal action is on Kindles and Nooks, with some new "specials" cropping up every few days.

Here's a look at some of the past deals and announcements designed to bring attention to the new tablets: … Read more

We all wanted so badly for the Tacocopter to be real, but the supposed Silicon Valley quadrocopter taco delivery service was just a clever fake, designed to appeal to our most basic desires for Mexican food delivery by airborne gadget.

Just because we've had our hopes dashed once doesn't mean we shouldn't come back for more. A new hope has arisen. It's called the Burrito Bomber. As its name might suggest, the Burrito Bomber is a flying drone capable of dropping a burrito payload from the sky.… Read more

Rumors of an Angry Birds movie have been flying about like Red Birds in the digital sky. Now we finally have some more concrete details on the film, which is expected to come out in the middle of 2016.

No surprise, the film will be a 3D CG-animated production. There goes my dream of seeing Robert DeNiro playing a live-action Mighty Eagle with Lily Tomlin as Pink Bird.… Read more

We're coming close to the doomsday of Mayan calendar/Nibiru lore and there's a huge, mountain-size asteroid in the neighborhood of Earth this week. Coincidence?

Of course it is. Sorry, apocalypse fans. The 3.4-mile-long asteroid known as 4179 Toutatis will pass within 18 lunar distances of Earth on Wednesday, December 12, but won't require sending Steve Buscemi, Ben Affleck and friends to take it out. … Read more