giovedì 30 giugno 2011

Chromebook boards Virgin America, checks-in at Ace Hotel for summer vacation

How do you solve a consumer education problem like the Chromebook? You put it into the idle hands of urbanite travelers -- that's how. The fast-booting neither laptop, nor netbook entity with negligible storage and not-yet-defined purpose will find a temporary summer home at select Virgin America gates and New York's Ace Hotel starting Friday. Jet-setters flying between San Francisco and either Chicago O'Hare, Dallas / Fort Worth, or Boston Logan can get an on-the-fly, marketing-fortified crash course in Chrome OS computing by visiting special 'Chrome zones' located near departure gates. Virgin's also thrown in some free in-flight WiFi to ensure you test drive Google's Cloud-dependent lap-dweller . And if you're one of the millions of tourists planning on seeing the Big Apple in all its humid splendor, the Ace Hotel's got an on-the-house stash that lobby lizards can use, but only guests can take out. But the promotional push doesn't just stop there: all partners involved have bundled specialized travel-planning apps into the experience -- sure to be ripe with cooler-than-thou recommendations. It's a noble attempt by our search giant overlord to make a name for its portable computing entrant, and a helpful distraction from that armrest hog next to you.

Continue reading Chromebook boards Virgin America, checks-in at Ace Hotel for summer vacation

Chromebook boards Virgin America, checks-in at Ace Hotel for summer vacation originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jun 2011 18:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Shot Shot Pirate is a fun, simple physics game

shotshotpirate
Shot Shot Pirate is very satisfying, because each level is short and to the point. You know what you have to do and you just do it.

As you may have gathered from the name, you're cast in the role of a pirate. Your goal is to shoot at a diamond and make it fall off a tower of bricks. The height of the tower changes as you progress through the levels. It's not enough to just make the diamond fall off the tower of bricks - it has to fall below a certain line (drawn on the screen) for the level to be completed.

There are also different kinds of bricks, with some heavier than others, and different kinds of ammo. You only get a certain amount of ammo for each level, and when it's gone, you lose. But don't worry! If you don't make it on the first try, it's very easy to restart the level and just give it another shot (or three).

All in all it's a cute game. I've seen similar games with better graphics and music, but the game delivers on its main promise - a few minutes of pure time wasting!

Shot Shot Pirate is a fun, simple physics game originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Skype 5.3 for Windows released, improves mobile video call quality

Version 5.3 of Skype for Windows has just been released, with the main emphasis of the new release being improved call quality, and the quality of video received by mobile Skype users. Presumably one party of the video call must be using Skype for Windows 5.3, though.

Beyond improved call quality, not much has changed. You can now see your friends' presence icons when contact cards are collapsed, and the topic editing button is now always visible on the conversation header. For a complete list of changes, hit up the Skype Garage blog.

Download Skype 5.3 for Windows

Skype 5.3 for Windows released, improves mobile video call quality originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 12:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Elephant Quest is an addictive, deep platformer

elephantquest
When someone tells me about a "platformer", my first thought is that it's probably a simple game that mainly revolves around running and jumping around, with a minimal plot. [Play a Zelda game! -Ed]

Elephant Quest is one platformer that managed to prove me completely wrong. Yes, you do run and jump around, and you also shoot at stuff. But the game has much, much more going for it.

Basically, as you run, jump and shoot, you gain experience points and level up. Hitting Space brings you into an interface where you can convert your experience points into Charisma, Intelligence, Agility and Dexterity points. Once you've "specialized" your points, you then get to pick what exact skills you'd like to enhance in each field. For example, you could use your dexterity to enhance your weapons or increase your swiftness.

The game is played in a huge maze; you go through rooms using doors, and there's a large map. As the name implies, there are quests you can take, too. For example, one quest had me searching all over the place for ten balloons.

The bottom line is that this is a surprisingly deep game that just might ensnare you for a good bit longer than you intended to play. Beware!

Elephant Quest is an addictive, deep platformer originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 25 Mar 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Robotic armpit sweats you out of harm's way, Uncanny Valley just got a lot stinkier

London-based designer Kevin Grennan has a particular stance on the yet-to-be-fought Robots vs Humans war -- it'll stink, literally. Mocking a part of our bodies we spackle to stop secretions, this Brit created a robotic armpit that sweats out pheromones so you stay out of danger. As part of his graduate exhibit at the Royal College of Art, our android-averse artiste has three smelly cyborg concepts up for your schematic consideration: there's the underarm-equipped, bomb-sniffing bot that'll warn you away with the scent of human fear, and a picker robot that enchants female assembly liners to work harder, better, faster with its manly musk. Sure it all seems harmless, that is until you enter into a trusting relationship with an oxytocin-spritzing surgical automaton. We don't blame you if any of the above has you locking the Roomba up for the night -- that's exactly Kevin's point. But there's no need to panic just yet, a future filled with "but I'm a real boy" robot-complexes is still a ways off.

Robotic armpit sweats you out of harm's way, Uncanny Valley just got a lot stinkier originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jun 2011 14:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sharp sends another Galapagos tablet through the FCC, keeps all the pertinent details to itself

Over the past six months, we've gotten scant few details about when, exactly, Sharp's Galapagos tablets will at last make the long trip stateside. When they do, though, it might be an even bigger family than we were expecting. We took note when the 10.8-inch EB-WX1GJ slipped through the FCC, making reference to another slate -- the 5.5-inch EB-W51GJ -- in its user manual. Now, yet another slate has passed the FCC's battery of tests. It's called the EB-W71LJ-H, and based on Sharp's naming convention thus far, we suspect it could have a 7-inch display, which would be a nice, just-right complement to the 10- and 5-inch models we already knew about. Based on the test results, we also know it has a 802.11b/g/n WiFi radio, but other than that, the report is devoid of specs, as Sharp asked the FCC to refrain from playing show-and-tell with its trade secrets. For now, though, you at least don't have to wonder where the company plans to slap that requisite label.

Sharp sends another Galapagos tablet through the FCC, keeps all the pertinent details to itself originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jun 2011 16:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ask DLS: Cross-platform multiplayer games that work on Android and iOS

askdls
Here's one for our knowledgeable commenters: I recently bought my girlfriend an iPad. I, on the other hand, own an Android device. And now we're looking for games we can play using both devices.

There's no dearth of multiplayer games either for Android or for iOS. But finding multiplayer games that can cross the platform boundary is an entirely different matter.

Jay recently posted Words with Friends which is one such game. It's actually an ideal example, because it's turn-based so you don't necessarily both have to be next to your device at the same time (great for long-distance gaming).

But what other examples are there? What multiplayer games are there that let iOS users play with Android users?

[Why am I now humming 'Ebony and Ivory'? -Ed]

Ask DLS: Cross-platform multiplayer games that work on Android and iOS originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 02 Mar 2011 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Talk Guru answers questions via your IM app

google talk guru answersBots -- like the kind which automate IRC rooms and Google Wave -- are a good thing to know about. There are plenty of useful bots worth knowing about, too, including the Google Talk Guru.

Just add guru@googlelabs.com to your GTalk buddies, and you can start firing off questions. Lifehacker suggests that the same types of queries supported by Google SMS will work, though we didn't have any luck getting a response out of the Guru with phrases like "score detroit red wings" or "sushi R3N 1Y1."

Still, Guru does answer a good variety of questions and it works right within your favorite IM app. It's well worth adding to your friend list, especially for getting answers on the go on your mobile device of choice.

Google Talk Guru answers questions via your IM app originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Little Rubber Brick Turns Anything Into Kitchen Tongs

Konstantin Slawinski’s little silicone widget could soon become one of the most useful gadgets in your kitchen (or in the back yard, if you have a grill). It’s a rubber hinge with two holes into which you slot any utensils you might have to hand, instantly turning them into a pair of one-handed tongs.
A fork [...]

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Auslogics Disk Defrag 3.2 gets smarter, faster

auslogics defrag
Auslogics Disk Defrag has been part of my system maintenance toolkit for quite some time. With the release of version 3.2, it's now even better at tidying up and optimizing your system's hard disk drives. In addition to a cleaner, easier-to-use interface, Disk Defrag 3.2 offers improved single file and folder defragging, better processing of multiple disks, a simplified scheduling screen, and more informative tool tips. Auslogics has also fine-tuned the program's defragmentation and file consolidation algorithms.

For laptop users, there's a new option to lock the program if your system is running on battery power -- so scheduled operations don't kick in and drain your power source at an inopportune moment. If you happen to have an SSD installed in your PC, you can head to the Disk Defrag options and exclude it from scanning (many think that defragmenting an SSD is a very bad idea).

Auslogics Disk Defrag is a free download and works with most versions of Windows.

Auslogics Disk Defrag 3.2 gets smarter, faster originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toyota pulls Cydia theme and ads to appease Apple

Apple asks Toyota to remove jailbreak Cydia theme
In news that will no doubt shake the very bedrock of your belief system, Apple has asked Toyota to remove its Scion theme and its advertising from ModMyi, a Cydia repository. The Scion theme has been available for weeks, but after it received a ton of press in the last couple of days, Apple finally lashed out.

It's not like we should be surprised, considering Apple has claimed in the past that jailbreaking is illegal -- but at the same time, did the Cupertino cronies hear about the ruling that made circumventing DRM, and thus jailbreaking, legal? Anyway, whether Toyota was supporting illegal, legal, or deliciously gray and ambiguous, activity, it doesn't matter: Apple asked Toyota to remove the theme, and Toyota graciously bent over and capitulated.

This story raises a much more interesting topic, though: this is the first time a multinational company has publicly acknowledged and embraced the jailbreak community. Considering jailbreaking is technically legal, and Cydia's creator, Jay Freeman, estimates that up to 9% of OS devices are jailbroken, it simply makes good, commercial sense to target jailbreakers with ads. Toyota was simply trying to make some money, for shame!

As long as Apple continues to throw around its increasingly-expansive mass, the legality of jailbreaking will continue to be inconsequential. It will be interesting to see if another big company dares embrace the jailbreak community after this, too.

Toyota pulls Cydia theme and ads to appease Apple originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 05:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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OmmWriter brings its clean, calm writing interface to Windows

ommwriter
I have a thing for full-screen text editing. I use WriteMonkey for my creative writing needs, and VIM in a full-screen PuTTY session for my Web development work. That being the case, I'm all over the monospace, dark-background, focused editing scene.

OmmWriter attempts to take that aesthetic and make it somehow more spiritual, with three picturesque backgrounds and ambient background audio tracks (there are seven of each in the paid version).

I'm of two minds about this app. On the one hand, yes, it's beautiful. But if you want music as a background to your writing, why not pick your own soundtrack with Winamp or Foobar2000 running in the background?

OmmWriter also offers three keyboard-clicking sounds, which are kind of nice. None of these features are groundbreaking, really. OmmWriter could be seen as a way to gently ease into the world of distraction-free writing -- in case something like WriteMonkey's dark background is just too oppressive for you.

After the fold you can see a video showcasing several of OmmWriter's features and creative soundscapes.

Continue reading OmmWriter brings its clean, calm writing interface to Windows

OmmWriter brings its clean, calm writing interface to Windows originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Daily Crunch: Animal TV Edition

Video: Super-efficient Chicken Breast Deboning Robot Colorfly?s ?Audiophile-Quality? Audio Player Is Made Of Wood Video: A Scary Realistic Iron Man Mark I Suit The 4:20 Watch From Cadence Panda Itazura Bank: Super-Cute Piggy Bank (Video) This Wooden iPad Frame Does Retro Right

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Deal of the Day ? HP Pavilion Elite h8qe Quad Core i7-960 3.2GHz Desktop PC with Free Blu-ray Upgrade

Today?s LogicBUY deal is the HP Pavilion Elite h8qe Core i7 customizable desktop PC with free Blu-ray upgrade for $899.99.�� Features:� metal surfaces, built-in valet tray on top for easy cable management, top-mounted 15-in-1 card reader, tool-free access to some internal components.� 35% off 21.5? widescreen monitor, �free 15 month Norton Internet Security subscription and [...]

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Would You Climb Into a Capsule To Escape a Tsunami? [Tsunami]

A pair of former Boeing engineers are building an escape pod that would let people ride out the worst of a Tsunami inside a giant ball. The Tsunami capsules could hit the market in two years with a price tag as low as $1000. More »


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Get Posting With Gorgeous New Tumblr iPhone App

If you are part of the Tumblr Nation, and a growing number of you are, then you will want to download Tumblr's new iPhone app, redesigned from the ground up with a new interface. It loads up your Tumblr Dashboard stream, but the post button brings up six simple icons for each post type: text, photo, link, quote, audio, and video.And then, of course, you can post photos or videos right from your phone. New features include support for multiple Tumblogs, landscape editing, replying to messages, and saving drafts. It also taps into your address book on your phone to help you find other people to follow on Tumblr. And new users can sign up right from the mobile app.

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ChillBed Laptop Cooling Stand Review

One of the problems with laptops is their tendency to overheat, which can damage internal components.� Their small size doesn?t allow a lot of venting nor big cooling fans to keep down heat.� And their portability often means that people are using them places that can block the cooling vents ? like on laps or [...]

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Help Bob make money in Sticks, a fun physics game

sticks
Sticks is another one of those rare games where the intro is actually worth watching. It introduces you to office worker Bob, who is basically a wage slave fantasizing about a better existence.

Then, on his way back home from another grueling day at the office, he passes a huge sign which says "Sticks." This is where the game starts.

Each level has a number of coins hovering in mid-air, and your goal is to place sticks that lead those coins to Bob -- but you only have a limited amount of wood to play with. As soon as you're done placing your sticks strategically, hit the big Play button and let nature, or rather gravity, run its course. The coins will drop down, and if you place your sticks correctly, they will roll all the way to Bob.

The soundtrack is soothing and playful, and didn't get on my nerves even after playing for quite a while. All in all, a very cute game, especially for a day at the office.

Help Bob make money in Sticks, a fun physics game originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 18 Feb 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia's N950 demos MeeGo Harmattan in marathon video


Still obsessing about Nokia's N950 -- you know, the sexy developer-only MeeGo device you can't have? Before you let Elop rain on your parade, indulge yourself with an exhaustive 17 minute video from Thailand, dutifully documenting every nook and cranny of Espoo's ill-fated OS. The long-winded film tours the dialer, browser, and gives a peek at a plethora of camera settings -- like ISO, aspect ratio, and timers -- that we didn't get to see on the N9. Also making an appearance are maps with turn-by-turn navigation, what appears to be a document viewer, and a Facebook app. Go on, have a gander, and dream about a luscious MeeGo future that might have been.

Nokia's N950 demos MeeGo Harmattan in marathon video originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jun 2011 04:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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