A few days ago, the internet freaked out over a viral video of a guy who hacked Times Square video screens with a live feed from an iPhone. It was a fake viral marketing stunt for the new movie Limitless. But now a guy has done it for real – sort of. More »
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Giant model steps over Times Square crowd, snaps Polaroid, shows close-up, leaves. Repeat. Nice little augmented reality billboard cycle you’ve got there, Forever 21. Oh! Except for when she picks someone up and waves them around. That part’s different. More »
When Faisal Shahzad left his bomb-loaded car parked in Times Square, every step of his escape route through Manhattan was caught by both police and private spycams. If they’re the NYPD’s eyes, this room is its central nervous system. More »
Fart machines have struck again! Juvenile? Yes… but you can’t help but laugh. Everyone seems to agree that the best reaction comes about 42 seconds in. More »
The 2010 Times Square New Year’s Ball is ready to go. They saved money and didn’t add any LEDs, but they added new stunning Waterford clink-clink glass panels. Here’s the insider look on how they did it, and why. More »
You’re being punked whenever you walk into Times Square: The massive billboards assaulting your eyeballs are much higher res closer to ground than they are up top. Engadget discovers this, and other secrets, going “hands on” with Times Square. [Engadget]
Last year, we published the 100 year timeline of the Times Square New Year’s Ball. Now we’ve updated it with Philips’ and New York’s newest, most dazzling time ball ever. (Click image for big version.)
The 2009 New Year’s Ball is 12 feet in diameter and weighs in at 5,386kg. It will blind you with 32,256 Philips Luxeon Rebel LEDs—that’s roughly triple the 9,576 LEDs that the ball had just last year—shining 16 million possible colours through 2,668 Waterford Crystals.
And despite these barely fathomable numbers, the new ball is 20% more energy efficient than last year’s.
To celebrate the century-old tradition (and appease the tourists), the new ball will stay on display all year long in Times Square. So does that mean we can get drunk and celebrate in the streets all year, too? (Yes, yes it does.) Happy New Year! [Times Square Alliance]
In a clever bit of green marketing, the non-profit Electronics TakeBack Coalition ran the above ad warning of “toxic waste” on Panasonic’s own proud Times Square display. The coalition promotes manufacturers accepting their own products back for recycling. Unfortunately, clever ads and even manufacturer support are only half the battle. [via Treehugger]
