Shows / Hrkn to .. Gadgets & Gizmos
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & Gizmos
Stocks may rise and fall, businesses may boom and bust, but gadgets keep appearing at an ever-increasing rate. Share Radio’s Gadgets & Gizmos show explores the latest technological innovations, from the indispensable to the downright ridiculous. Show host Simon Rose and technology editor Steve Caplin take a weekly humorous look at what’s on offer, featuring both existing products and those whose inventors utilise crowdfunding platforms to make them a reality. Through its 300-plus shows, Gadgets…
Episodes
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: iPhone Duo problems, making salt safer & reinventing pliers
Steve Caplin explains the problems Apple's customers are having with the new iPhone Duo. Chinese scientists have found a way to make salt saltier so we don't…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: The slowing world, fishing for iPhones and AI cracking Napoleon's code
Steve Caplin explains that the world is slowing down and that there will be a leap hour to solve the problem – in about 1,000 years. The new Tesla has a model…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: Apple Homeview: an AI mayor & the hacking of French supermarket fridges
Steve Caplin thinks Apple's new Homeview gadget is too expensive for what it does. He is happy to celebrate Japan's Gboard Day, in which local Google engineers…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: Mind-reading AI, two-legged delivery robots & whisky in space
Steve Caplin says that Google Maps will now guide you to find the cheapest – well, less expensive – petrol. With AI prompts often going wrong, scientists in…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: The downside of AI agents, reducing blood pressure and crying robots
Steve Caplin discusses Muse, Meta's "world's first personal AI agent", which you can get in a pendant. However, he also warns of some downsides of AI agents…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: Our second brain, a human-mouse hybrid, the latest scam trick & an ambulance for robots
Steve Caplin explains that the latest research shows that humans have not just one brain but two. Scientists at Stanford have created a human-mouse hybrid to…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: The Ig Nobel Prizes, AI's new language and treadmills for chickens
Steve Caplin is moderately impressed with Apple's new phone operating system and with Siri AI but warns of the dangers of searching for cheap iPhones. Uber is…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: The folding iPhone, the sound of a Juraasic forest & the amazing Mezmodrop
Steve Caplin is excited by the "gorgeous" folding iPhone Duo, although a little daunted by the price. He's also impressed by new features on the Apple watch…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: Autonomous cars and TVs, WiFi replaces security cameras & 3D-printed biscuits
Steve Caplin explains how difficult it will be to flag down the new self-driving taxis on London streets. However, you can now get a mobile TV that you can…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: Balcony solar panels, 3D-printed banjos and a air-conditioned jackets for dogs
Steve Caplin discovers that balcony solar panels, while a good idea, don't actually appear to be on sale anywhere. He explains how Meta will change its safety…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: Jony Ive's smart speaker, a devil robot & a human washing machine
Steve Caplin is intrigued by top designer Jony Ive's portable smart speaker for OpenAI, apparently a metal doughnut with moving parts but not available until…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: Meta Glasses backlash, AI watermarks & a self-playing guitar
Steve Caplin says that although Meta sold 7m pairs of their smart glasses last year, there's a massive backlash against them. The AI Claude is to have readable…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: Nagging toothbrushes, fonts to defeat AI & shopping without spending a penny
Steve Caplin is not inclined to get Philips new high-tech toothbrush, showing the teeth you've missed. He's more impressed by a font that can be read by humans…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: Humanoid robot teachers, flat bikes & souped-up car displays
Steve Caplin says that plans for a humanoid robot teacher in New York have been cancelled. In several US state, schools are buying drones designed to combat…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: Human fridges, humanoid robots & invisible drones
Despite the warm weather, Steve Caplin is not tempted by the Japanese human fridge in which overheated people can cool down for a mere £7,000. Nor is he…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: The end of long wave, bionic baggage handlers and lab-grown sperm
Steve Caplin laments the passing of Long Wave radio. He can't wait while a new robot makes a bed so slowly and is nervous about a pair of robots performing…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: World Cup in 3D, Amazing Amazon fulfilment centres & delivery robots
Steve Caplin is so amazed to discover that you can watch World Cup matches on BBC in 3D, it has almost made him keen on football. WhatsApp is soon to allow…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: China's supercomputer, World Cup streaming problems & a green screen error
Steve Caplin reports that the Chinese LineShine supercomputer is beating the American El Capitan. A battery-swapping system for electric lorries has an serious…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: The least human-looking robot, artificial gravity in space & spy turtles
Steve Caplin is keen on the social media ban for under-16s: not so Simon Rose. Steve is impressed by new lighter batteries for electric planes. AI is helping…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: The tallest Lego model, a surgeon the size of a seed & discrimination against robot magicians
Steve Caplin is not willing to stump up £650 for Lego's tallest model, Gaudi's Sagrada Familia. Nor is he likely to buy a souped-up version of a 1960s Ford…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: 5,300-year-old sourdough bread, 747s going floppy & the problem with AI and plastic surgeons
Steve Caplin tells Simon Rose that scientists have extracted yeast from the 5,300-year-old Ozti the Iceman to make sourdough bread. Next, they plan to produce…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: Keeping cool in hot weather, an affordable robot and singing mushrooms
Steve Caplin offers some solutions for keeping cool, including Sony's wearable air conditioner, a neck fan and an umbrella with a built-in fan and water…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: Cars projecting movies, dogs controlling houses & will the Spitfire fly again?
Steve Caplin discusses the limited-edition Piguet swatch which has caused near riots in several countries. Hauwei are to make smart headlights that can project…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: Wordle as a TV show, egg-shaped mice & destruct AI bots - 14 May 26
Steve Caplin wonders how exciting the NBC show based around Wordle will be. There's a beer station with surge pricing in China and satirical video games…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: Typing by thinking, robot fish and are chatbots conscious?
Steve Caplin is impressed by the Sabicap, a beanie hat which enables you to type merely by thinking. For the deaf, a vibrating pillow sleeve will alert them in…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: Robot runners, table tennis players & wild boar chasers
Steve Caplin majors on robots. A robot won a half marathon against human runners, another beat elite players at table tennis while one in Poland chased away…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: Data roaming, robot seeing-eye dogs & AI singers
Steve Caplin warns holidaymakers to check their data allowance abroad, having saved a small fortune by using the Roamless app in Morocco. He loves some of the…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: Hydrogen-powered trucks, perfect hair-dyeing & smelly VR
Steve Caplin is impressed by hydrogen fuel cells for trucks, but disappointed there are so few hydrogen stations to fuel them. There's a device for perfectly…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: ChatGPT as literary critic, an amazing video drone & controlling games with your brain
Steve Caplin is surprised to find that Amazon can amend or even delete Kindle books you supposedly own. He is less surprised at how ChapGPT assesses good…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: Electric submarines, self-balancing motorbikes & robotic wasps
Steve Caplin discusses some of the features of Apple's updated operating sstem, including having the ability to talk to chatbots while driving although…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: AI renting humans, lab-grown computer gamers & plastic bottles treating Parkinson's
Steve Caplin tells Simon Rose that AI agents can now rent human beings to carry out tasks they can't manage themselves. Brain cells in a petri dish have been…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: 50 years of Apple, remote prostate removal and hummus on the Moon
Steve Caplin celebrates 50 years of Apple, a company which he claims has changed our lives in many ways. A man in Gibraltar has had his prostate removed by a…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: AI opts for nuclear war, Meta Ray-Ban owners being spied on & the Tesla Cybercab
Steve Caplin says Apple have come out with a slew of new devices, the only interesting one being a new MacBook at a surprisingly low price. When three AIs…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: Dyson's electric mop, musical freezers and the world's largest spherical building
Steve Caplin is dismissive of a robot that can fold laundry – very slowly and possibly needing remote human operation. More impressive is the forthcoming Dyson…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: AI partner turned off, ghost number plates & a smart badge to wear
Steve Caplin is surprised by research showing that children are mostly watching YouTube on television. 20 years on, the V&A is mounting an exhibition on…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: Flying pigs, drones predicting crimes & an AI piano teacher
Steve Caplin reports on the Chinese village which lost power after a farmer transporting a pig to the abbatoir by drone managed to get it tangled in a power…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: Cyborg pigeons, flying umbrellas and who is more creative, humans or AI?
Steve Caplin majors on AI, with Barnsley declaring itself the UK's first "tech town", Google's Project Genie creating a virtual world from text or even a photo…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: A dangerous AI assistant, a personal food concierge & talking to dead relatives and pets
Share Radio's tech supremo Steve Caplin wouldn't touch personal AI assistant Clawdot with a bargepole, useful though it might seem. However, Just Eat's…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: Lip-syncing robots, airbags for cyclists and reinventing the steering wheel
Steve Caplin is intrigued by a robot that the University of Columbia has been training to lip-sync to make it more lifelike. He discusses the history of the…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: More CES stuff including AI lawnmowers, saunas, showers and even a triceratops
Steve Caplin returns to Las Vegas's Consumer Electronics Show, marvelling at AI lawnmowers, air conditioners, saunas, showers and even an AI robot triceratops…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: The best and weirdest from the Consumer Electronics Show including musical lollipops
Steve Caplin highlights the first week of the Consumer Electronics Show, salivating over Lego's new smart bricks, packed full of features but currently only…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: Steve Caplin's Review of 2025
Steve Caplin rounds up his favourite gadgety stories of the year. Learn how best to let oral meds work, to grow your own teeth, to hear in a noisy room, write…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: A notetaker on your finger, modular electric cars & a robot traffic cop
Steve Caplin is intrigued by a ring for your index finger which will capture audio to take notes or set up timers or reminders. Dutch students have invented a…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: A bad week for Elon Musk, robot lobster hands and a redesign of the teapot
Steve Caplin says it's been a bad week for Elon Musk. X has been fined €120m for breaching EU digital laws, his Optimus robot demo was disastrous and X's new…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: The 2005 gadgets Christmas gift guide
Steve Caplin plays Santa with Simon his little helper as he unveils his 2025 gadgets Christmas gift guide. Many inexpensive stocking fillers come from…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: X marks the spot, avoid pirate Fire Sticks and what makes a good soldier?
Steve Caplin says the new location feature in X shows that thousands of pro-Trump accounts aren't US-based. The Grok chatbot has been bigging up Elon Musk…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: Largest data leak ever, Skoda's weird AI & AI's misleading financial advice
Steve Caplin discusses the way the University of Vienna got details of 3.5 billion people from Whatsapp in the largest data leak in history. He was mystified…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: Coffee and heart problems, renewing tooth enamel & a voice-controlled electric blanket
Steve Caplin reports that Australian researchers have found that coffee sharply reduces heart problems. Nottingham scientists have produced a gel that can…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: Nuclear waste-burying robot dogs, indoor skiing & Tesla's unsticky glue
Steve Caplin is surprised that, despite AWS's massive internet failure, OpenAI will pay it $38bn for computing power. Robot dogs are to be used to deal with…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: What caused the Amazon outage, 3D bike saddles & why expensive TVs are pointless
Steve Caplin says that the massive Amazon outage was caused by nothing more than an empty data record. Google has been providing misleading information on…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: The Amazon internet outage, fake Amazon books & helping endangered species
Steve Caplin explains about the Amazon AWS outage, the biggest in the history of the internet. He also points out how many Amazon book titles, even…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: Mass-produced humanoid robots, an electric Ferrari & houses on the Moon
Steve Caplin says that Figure AI's mass-produced Figure 03 is the Model-T of humanoid robots. He reveals the truth about the greenness of plug-in hybrid cars…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: 3D house-building spiders, robot dogs for the moon & high-tech white sticks
Steve Caplin marvels at Google's weird Japanese keyboard. Australian engineers think giant spiders could 3D-print buildings. The Chinese are training robot…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: Ticketless train travel, a hypersonic ramjet plane & AI actors
Steve Caplin says that northern train passengers can soon trial a ticketless system which will automatically find the cheapest fare. A new hypersonic plane has…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: The Ignobel Prizes, reinventing the wheel & tea grown on the Moon
Steve Caplin celebrates some of the bonkers research that has won scientists this year's Ignobel Prizes. A Denver designer thinks he can reinvent the wheel…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: AI cabinet ministers & MPs' speech writers, Zoox taxis & sleep earbuds
Steve Caplin tells an incredulous Simon Rose that Albania has appointed an AI cabinet minister which is 100% corruption free. AI is also apparently writing…
- Hrkn to .. Gadgets & Gizmos
Gadgets & Gizmos: New iPhones, Zuckerberg suing Zuckerberg & turning thoughts into words
Steve Caplin explains the features of the new iPhones and their clever cameras. Elon Musk has been offered a $1trillion salary – with tough conditions. Mark…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: Retail tech for ripeness & paying, glowing houseplants & livesaving couriers
Steve Caplin says Tesco are trialling tech that knows if avocados are ripe while Waitrose is testing ways of paying for shopping without needing to check out…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: Badminton-playing robot dogs, solar postboxes & biased maps
Steve Caplin says a robot dog can now play badminton – as well as a 7-year-old. Mobile phone conversations can be picked up by radar, with limitations. After a…
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & GizmosGadgets & Gizmos: Repairing teeth & eyes, robot motherhood & jazz-loving cows
Steve Caplin tells Simon Rose that scientists have worked out how to use nanoparticles to end the misery of sensitive teeth while others believe they can…