chis ferrara's world

Keydex: The Ugliest iPad ?Keyboard? Ever?

2011-02-28T06:45:00.001-08:00

The only part of the Sanwa Keydex iPad stand that won’t melt your eyes due to its sheer ugliness is the keyboard — and that’s because it doesn’t come with one. Instead, you have to supply your own iPad Keyboard Dock. And that’s where the pointlessness of this accessory starts to become clear. To fully [...]

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Gadget Lab Podcast: Motorola Xoom, iPad 2, Intel?s Thunderbolt

2011-02-28T06:15:00.001-08:00

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This week’s Gadget Lab podcast zooms in on the Motorola Xoom tablet, the upcoming iPad 2 and Intel’s new Thunderbolt connectivity standard.
The Motorola Xoom is a neat piece of hardware. It’s got a 10.1-inch screen (slightly bigger than the 9.7-inch iPad), front- and [...]

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AppBoy Releases A Check-in SDK For iOS Apps

2011-02-28T05:45:00.001-08:00

With the number of iOS apps now well over 300,000, app discovery is becoming an increasing frustration for users. It's also become a major challenge for developers as the increasing number of apps is making it more and more difficult for them to attain exposure for their apps. Now, straight from the "What Took So Long for Something Like This to be Released" department, mobile developer community site AppBoy has released an iOS app check-in SDK.

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Windows Phone's new UI and Xbox games are most exciting aspects of Microsoft deal, says Nokia poll

2011-02-28T05:15:00.001-08:00

In search for feedback on its momentous decision to dump Symbian in favor of Windows Phone, Nokia has put up the above poll on its Conversations website canvassing opinions about what users anticipate most out of the new deal. There's no consensus choice, with the equivocation of reactions being underlined by the fact that the "Other" option was the modal response, however of the given categories, a UI refresh and Xbox-related gaming boons turned out to be most important. No surprises there, Symbian's touchscreen UI shortcomings are well known about while the Xbox tie-up has been one of Microsoft's big selling points for Windows Phone 7 since its start. We'd just ask Nokia to be quick about delivering on these things -- spending too long in anticipation mode won't be good for our health.

Windows Phone's new UI and Xbox games are most exciting aspects of Microsoft deal, says Nokia poll originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Feb 2011 09:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Beleaguered Huawei encourages US government to investigate it, quotes two presidents in the process

2011-02-28T04:45:00.001-08:00

When you're the second-largest supplier of communications infrastructure in the world and your president is an ex-member of the Chinese military, suspicions of espionage -- warranted or not -- are pretty much a foregone conclusion. Indeed, Huawei has suffered a couple of high-profile business setbacks in the past year over vague concerns that the company could be some sort of Trojan horse for Chinese intelligence, and they're fed up: after being pressured into shelving a planned acquisition of server virtualization firm 3Leaf Systems' intellectual property by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, they've published a lengthy open letter that implores the government to fully vet the company to put to rest any concerns or fears it has.

The gist of the letter is that Huawei is owned by its employees, not the Chinese government, its loans are commercial, its products are continually audited by third-party companies for security, and the tax breaks it gets from the government are consistent with what private corporations in other countries receive. Huawei also manages to quote both Obama and Lincoln in the letter -- just to make sure it has both Democrats and Republicans covered, we suppose -- and concludes by saying it believes that "any thorough government investigation will prove that Huawei is a normal commercial institution and nothing more." Sounds like a challenge to us.

Beleaguered Huawei encourages US government to investigate it, quotes two presidents in the process originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Feb 2011 07:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What ?The Social Network? Won (Three Awards, But Not Best Picture) #Oscars

2011-02-28T04:15:00.001-08:00

Despite losing Best Picture to The King's Speech, Aaron Sorkin and David Fincher's epic Facebook creation myth The Social Network did pick up three Oscars tonight, more than any film about nerds has ever garnered, unless you count A Beautiful Mind. The Social Network won Best Film Editing (Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter), Best Original Score (Trent Reznor) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Aaron Sorkin) at tonight's 83rd Academy Awards Ceremony. The film, which picked up four awards including Best Picture at the Golden Globes and was nominated for eight Oscars, was definitely the Twitter and tech crowd favorite but apparently not the Academy's.

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Nintendo 3DS launches in Japan, populace tears through initial 400,000 unit shipment

2011-02-28T03:45:00.001-08:00

You won't be able to snap one up at your local GameStop for a full month, but the Nintendo 3DS had a solid launch in Japan today, reportedly liquidating nearly its entire initial shipment of 400,000 spiffy stereoscopic gaming handhelds by the end of the day. Some of those sales were to customers waiting in a few lines up to 2,000 persons long, but those lines were exceptions to the norm -- several publications note that very few stores actually had any lines to speak of, as most Japanese electronics retailers sold out when the 3DS went on pre-order over a month ago. Get a refresher on what to expect from the system here (and here) or read all about the surprisingly orderly Japanese launch at our source links.

Update: Our friends at Engadget Japanese were on hand for the 3DS launch, and picked up a pair of systems themselves -- get a closer look at one of the first retail 3DS units in the gallery below!

Gallery: Nintendo 3DS -- Japanese retail version

Nintendo 3DS launches in Japan, populace tears through initial 400,000 unit shipment originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Feb 2011 21:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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3D-Print Yourself With Kinect

2011-02-28T03:15:00.001-08:00

“Fabricate Yourself” is like a 3-D photo-booth. Using a Microsoft Kinect, anyone can hit a button and have a 3-D model of themselves printed right then. The project, headed by Karl Willis, removes the arcane intricacies of CAD software and replaces them with something anybody can pick up and play with.
Presented at the Tangible, Embedded [...]

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Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread comes to Nexus One with WebM, disables Facebook contact sync

2011-02-28T02:45:00.001-08:00

Google has pushed another minor update to its tandem of Android flagship phones, the Nexus One and Nexus S. Apart from officially rolling out Android 2.3 Gingerbread to the Nexus One nearly two months after it was released, the update also brings with it support for Google's WebM video container. Changes in Android 2.3.3 also include fixes for a random reboot issue on the Nexus S and additional NFC functionality -- most notably, the ability to modify rewritable NFC tags which can currently only be read.

The update has also put the kibosh on Facebook for Android's built-in contact sync. Previously, Google had allowed Facebook to leave users' contact data in the cloud and access them on demand. With the Android 2.3.3 update, Google seems to be sticking to its guns that contact data needs to be synced to the phone using Google's approved methods. That way, even if you uninstall the Facebook app, you'd still have access to your friends' contact info like email addresses and phone numbers.

Right now, this change only affects owners of the Nexus S and other "lead devices," as was explained to Engadget. Google's official statement on the change is after the break.

Continue reading Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread comes to Nexus One with WebM, disables Facebook contact sync

Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread comes to Nexus One with WebM, disables Facebook contact sync originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 23 Feb 2011 08:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC Incredible S, Desire HD, Desire Z and original Desire will all be eating Gingerbread by the end of June

2011-02-28T02:15:00.001-08:00

When it launched the Incredible S at MWC a couple of weeks ago, HTC promised the new 4-inch device would be quick to get a Gingerbread update and now it's giving us a definitive schedule for it by saying that Android 2.3 will be distributed to its new flagship phone by the end of Q2 2011. We're not sure four months of sitting by the window waiting for the OTA update to float in necessarily matches up to our definition of "quick," but there are much better news for owners of HTC's older devices. The Desire HD and Desire Z -- both released in September 2010 -- will also be leaping away from Froyo and up to Gingerbread and will be joined by the original Desire, which was announced way back at last year's MWC. That handset was essentially HTC's own-brand Nexus One, so we already knew it was capable of running Gingerbread, but it's still rare to see a device go through two significant Android updates (the Desire began life with Android 2.1). All these old Desires are placed on the same update schedule as the Incredible S, whereas the newly announced Desire S and Wildfire S will ship with Gingerbread preloaded.

[Thanks, Johannes]

HTC Incredible S, Desire HD, Desire Z and original Desire will all be eating Gingerbread by the end of June originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 Feb 2011 08:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Store Your Data in Retro Style

2011-02-28T01:45:00.001-08:00

An Etsy store called 8BitMemory converts old NES games into external hard drives.� They use Toshiba 2.5″ drives for the conversion.� You can get a 500GB for $129.99, 750GB for $149.99, or a 1TB drive for $179.99.� These drives are fully USB-powered.� A Star Wars game is shown here, but many others are available.� You [...]

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OCZ's consumer-grade Vertex 3 SSD gets benched, SandForce SF-2281 helps it spank competition

2011-02-28T01:15:00.001-08:00

We thought OCZ's Vertex 3 Pro was some flaming hot stuff, but solid state storage reviewers have mind-boggling news -- the plain ol' Vertex 3 will bring the same completely ludicrous 550MB / sec read speeds (plus even faster 525MB / sec writes) at a down-to-earth price. Previews found the Vertex 3's new SandForce SF-2281 controller and Micron 25nm flash memory chips edged out even its own enterprise-grade cousin in nearly every test -- with a few anomalies here and there -- and were reportedly too fast to achieve full performance with any SATA 6Gbps controller save the one in Intel's new Cougar Point chipset. Best of all, they claim that OCZ's targeting a price of just $250 for the 120GB version, or $500 for the 240GB drive benched here. That's still a chunk of change, but considering current-gen 120GB SSDs still cost over $200 street, it sounds like OCZ and SandForce are setting a bar that will drive down prices across the board. We can't wait.

Read - AnandTech
Read - Hot Hardware
Read - Legit Reviews
Read - PC Perspective
Read - Storage Review

OCZ's consumer-grade Vertex 3 SSD gets benched, SandForce SF-2281 helps it spank competition originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 Feb 2011 15:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Switched On: Back from the Mac

2011-02-28T00:45:00.001-08:00

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

Last week's Switched On discussed Nokia's quest to help Microsoft create a third mobile ecosystem alongside those of Apple and Google. That word - ecosystem - has clearly passed into the pantheon of buzzwords, leveraging many synergies from purpose-built paradigms. And yet, building and maintaining ecosystems is something few companies really understand. True technology ecosystems are more than just successful platforms or throwing many products together simply because they are owned by the same company. They are characterized by strategically implemented nurturing.

One concept that Apple seems to have adapted from natural ecosystems is the concept of the water cycle you probably learned about in grade school. Apple turns up the heat on the life-sustaining water of innovation that passes between the well-grounded Mac market and the soaring growth of the iOS market. Apple alluded to this cycle in its Back to the Mac event. After inheriting many technologies from Mac OS X, iOS began offering Mac OS X launch screens, full-screen apps, app resuming, and document autosaving. This week's announcements, though, show that the cycle may soon be heading again in the other direction as Apple showed off two Mac technologies that may well wind up strengthening the iOS ecosystem.

Continue reading Switched On: Back from the Mac

Switched On: Back from the Mac originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 Feb 2011 22:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Man in Gap is an addictive, simple Time Waster

2011-02-28T00:15:00.001-08:00

Man in Gap is not about a guy trying to find his way around a Gap store; the gap is quite literal here, as you can see in the screenshot.

Basically, each level is composed of a ceiling and a floor, which snap together quite suddenly. As can be expected, when that happens and you're caught in-between, you're squished to a very thin line of pixels. Not so good.

What makes it even worse is that the ceiling and the floor mostly interlock: They're like two pieces in a zipper, and where the ceiling has a "peak" the floor usually has a "valley" that meshes with it. You can see what I mean if you look at the jagged line in the screenshot - that's the contour of the floor and ceiling.

Lucky for you, there are one or two places in each level where the ceiling doesn't quite meet the floor. Your job is to quickly find those places (with your eyes only) and get to them before the level snaps shut. It takes about two-three seconds every time, so it's very fast. And every level has a different terrain, so you never get used to it.

Zero plot, minimal controls, and tons of fun. Really addictive, at least for me. I love the soundtrack, too - it's a nice guitar track with some hardcore distortion.

Man in Gap is an addictive, simple Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 07 Feb 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Download every Sports Illustrated 2011 Swimsuit photo with a simple Perl script

2011-02-27T23:45:00.001-08:00

After the runaway success of last year's Sports Illustrated Perl downloader, Download Squad reader and cameltoe connoisseur, Sparticus, has produced the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Downloader 2011. It's a simple Perl script that you can run on Windows, Mac and Linux -- and before you know it, your computer will be positively overflowing with bikini-clad babes.

Like last year, the script doesn't only download the final, glossy-magazine-destined photos. There's tons of behind-the-scenes stuff, and lots of shots that simply didn't make the final cut. Last year there were around 1200 photos to download -- we're still running this year's downloader, but it looks like there could be even more!

Linux users, you'll be able to simply download the script, chmod +x, and run. Windows users will need a copy of wget and a Perl distro, such as ActivePerl. Mac users can use the Xcode Developer Tools.

Alternatively, be a cool kid and run Ubuntu in VirtualBox!

Download every Sports Illustrated 2011 Swimsuit photo with a simple Perl script originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 06:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just How Likable Is Each Angry Bird Anyway? [Image Cache]

2011-02-27T23:15:00.001-08:00

We don't really want to think about how many hours we've spent flinging little cartoon birds at little cartoon pigs—it's too sad to consider all that wasted time. Instead we're going to focus on which of those little cartoon birds we like best and why. More »

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Twitter overhauls its Translation Center, adds Turkish, Indonesian and Russian

2011-02-27T22:45:00.001-08:00

First launched in 2009, Twitter has just overhauled its 'gameified' Translation Center. It now has a very shiny UI, and voting on suggested translations or adding your own is easier than ever.

Translating phrases earns you experience points, and ultimately yields level-ups. You don't actually get anything by leveling up -- you just end up at the top of a feel-good leader board. If you're an active translator, though, you do get a badge on your profile page -- and as we all know, except for having wheelbarrows of cash, badges are the single most important metric of social status.

To get started, head on over to the Twitter Translation Center and connect it to your Twitter account. You can choose from a bunch of languages, and your translation services aren't limited to just the Twitter.com website: you can translate the mobile website and iPhone and Android apps, too.

Twitter overhauls its Translation Center, adds Turkish, Indonesian and Russian originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Readability pulled from App Store, calls out Apple for its greed

2011-02-27T22:15:00.001-08:00

Apple's new in-app ~~extortion~~ subscription fee model hasn't made the company many fans since it was announced last week. Apple has further vilified itself by pulling Readability -- a longtime geek favorite -- from the App Store for violating the new in-app subscription rules.

Readability is an odd target, especially considering Apple liked the script enough to build it into its Web browser as Safari Reader. Nevertheless, rules are rules, and Apple helpfully pointed Readability to section 11.2 of the App Store Guidelines, which requires developers to utilize Apple's payment system. The Readability team is pretty miffed, going so far as to say, "we believe that your new policy smacks of greed."

Continue reading Readability pulled from App Store, calls out Apple for its greed

Readability pulled from App Store, calls out Apple for its greed originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 21 Feb 2011 17:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hubble's Personal Telescope Is Beautifully Vintage [Hubble]

2011-02-27T21:45:00.001-08:00

This is one of Edwin Hubble's personal telescopes, the one Hubble used before he finished his Ph.D. It was given to a teacher when he left for graduate school and has been handed down from generation to generation. The telescope is beautifully vintage and to just think about the great man's eye looking through it, and how he saw the rest of the galaxy, makes it one of a kind. [BoingBoing] More »

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Xeno Defense is a fantastic tower defense Time Waster

2011-02-27T21:15:00.001-08:00

117,944 - that's my final score in Xeno Defense. I think this is the first Time Waster I found addictive enough to actually play all the way to the end. It is a casual game - you don't have to finish it to enjoy it. But it was easy enough, and definitely addictive enough, for me to just finish. It took me about half an hour, I think.

There's a story line, but it's not very important. The gist of it is that you're a scientist stranded in an outpost, and there's an alien invasion. Your encampment is all the way to the right side of the screen, with swarms of aliens coming in from the left and trying to invade. Your job is to shoot them and defend your turf.

As the game evolves, you gain experience points. At the end of each level you go to the store and choose what you want to spend your points on: new buildings, new weapons, upgrade existing weapons, or invest in repairing your base.

The final goal is to build a weapon that's advanced enough to use against the alien mothership. This is done by building enough research buildings - but you must balance the buildings you buy with your weapons upgrades, because each swarm of aliens is stronger than the last.

I finished the game with two days to spare; what was your score?

Xeno Defense is a fantastic tower defense Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 02 Feb 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC Thunderbolt said to have terrible battery life, might explain delay?

2011-02-27T20:45:00.001-08:00

We're hearing from... well, let's call them "people familiar with the matter" that HTC's Thunderbolt -- a phone that's supposed to be Verizon's first with LTE -- is experiencing positively miserable battery life that's making it difficult for testers to avoid carrying a second phone around as a backup. How bad? Two to three hours from full to empty in some cases. Of course, we wouldn't be surprised if battery life was really bad with the LTE radio left on -- the EVO 4G wasn't much different at launch with WiMAX lit up -- but the word on the street is that the power situation is largely responsible for the delays we've been seeing. In fact, our source tells us the phone is currently working on its sixth retail delay at the moment. More on this situation as we get it.

Update: We've just heard from another trusted tipster that there's definitely a new firmware in the works to address battery life and signal issues (which -- you guessed it -- are interrelated). Thanks, HTC Kid!

HTC Thunderbolt said to have terrible battery life, might explain delay? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 19:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chinese government launches Panguso, all your search are belong to us

2011-02-27T20:15:00.001-08:00

Not content with by far the largest cellular network in the world, state-owned China Mobile has joined forces with the state-owned Xinhua News Agency to create the state-owned search engine Panguso. Their new offering pits itself against the current incumbent, Baidu, which has 75% of the search market in China.

The idea is that Xinhua, which is one of the world's largest news agencies, will provide the content -- and judging by the front page, news is definitely front and center at the moment. China Mobile, with its 600 million mobile subscribers, will provide the technological expertise, and maintain an SMS bridge between the search engine and its mobile users.

This isn't just about mobile, though: China has 450 million Internet users, and Panguso's launch is obviously the Chinese government's attempt to grab back some of the market share from Baidu and Google. Google, incidentally, decamped from China to Hong Kong back in March 2010 -- and it was only in August 2010 that China Mobile and Xinhua begun work on Panguso. Baidu has enjoyed a virtual monopoly since its inception in 2000.

In a day and age where we have grown accustomed to the democratization and decentralization of information, it seems rather odd to see the emergence of a state-owned search engine. China already has a very strict policy on censoring politically-sensitive material, which Baidu strictly abides by -- so unless it wants to further extend its control of information inside its borders, why would the Chinese government be interested in offering an alternative?

If we fast forward a few years, to when the Chinese government eventually blocks Baidu, a whole 20% of the Internet's populace will be forced to use a state-owned search engine. Xinhua, the government-run news agency, would of course become the de facto source of news for every cellular and Internet user in China. You can probably imagine what it would be like to have just a single news source in the U.S. -- now imagine that, plus a firewall that prevents you from easily peering beyond your border to see what's actually going on...

Chinese government launches Panguso, all your search are belong to us originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 23 Feb 2011 07:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A Small Car is a frustrating 3D Flash Time-Waster

2011-02-27T19:45:00.001-08:00

It's not often that I see 3D attempted in Flash, and to be honest, after playing A Small Car I can see why.

It's not that it's not a fun game - otherwise I wouldn't mention it as a potential Time Waster. It's just very frustrating. Your job is to steer a car over a complex course, hanging in mid-air, to the checkered "landing zone" at the end of each level. You sometimes need to jump, too - so that means you can't always drive super-slow. The tracks are quite short, and it's all keyboard driven -- you don't need to use the mouse for anything.

As an experiment in 3D Flash content, it is quite impressive. The graphics are very blocky, but the motion is smooth. You can even change cameras by pressing C if you want to see what the track looks like from the driver's seat.

It's a fun game, but only if you've got plenty of patience.

A Small Car is a frustrating 3D Flash Time-Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aiaiai TMA-1 Headphones Review

2011-02-27T19:15:00.001-08:00

Looking at the box containing the Aiaiai TMA-1 headphones, one would expect flashy, ?Look-at-me? headphones to be packed inside. After all, they were developed by and for DJs, and DJs like to be noticed, right? What you may not know is that Aiaiai is a Danish company? Scandinavian. Lets face it, Scandinavians are design minimalists [...]

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Firefox 4's best restartless add-ons

2011-02-27T18:45:00.001-08:00

Unless you've been sleeping under a rock, or in a tent outside the Googleplex with an "I LOVE SCHMIDT" banner, you hopefully know that Firefox 4 supports restartless add-ons, or in developerese: bootstrapped extensions.

Unfortunately, however, the process of converting an existing add-on into a restartless wonder is far from simple. A few months ago, back when the Firefox 4 beta machine really got into the swing of things, the developer of the world's most popular add-on, Adblock Plus, described his laborious and infuriating attempt at making his add-on restartless -- and today, just a few days away from the final Firefox beta, there still isn't a single big-name restartless add-on to be found.

On the flip side, writing new restartless add-ons is a little easier. Uptake amongst developers still seems to be very slow, though. Add-ons for Firefox (AMO) only has about 80 add-ons tagged with 'restartless', and even less with the restartless add-on's SDK, 'jetpack'.

Then, of course, only a few of those add-ons are actually worth using! Read on for our pick of the best Firefox 4 restartless add-ons.

Continue reading Firefox 4's best restartless add-ons

Firefox 4's best restartless add-ons originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 18 Feb 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This 5-ton Megatron Tank Was Hand Built By a Man [Tanks]

2011-02-27T18:15:00.001-08:00

A Chinese man decided to build Megatron in tank form (from Transformers). So he did it. And it is ridiculously detailed and just brain meltingly awesome. The whole sculpture (that's what he called it) weighs just about 5 tons. [Zcool via Neatorama] More »

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Sorry Entrepreneurs: You?re Probably the Rule, Not the Exception

2011-02-27T17:45:00.001-08:00

I was in the air an average of 30 hours a month for the last two years, so I watched a lot of movies -- typically semi-delirious on Ambien-- that I wouldn't ordinarily. One of those was the star-studded rom-com "He's Just Not That Into You." Note: You won't see this movie at the Oscars tonight, or any night, and that's not because it was cruelly overlooked. But as a plane movie, it sufficed.

I'm assuming most TechCrunch readers are far to Y-chromosomey to have seen it or even admit they've seen it, so I'll fill you in on the thrust of the film. Like most things in life, the simplest explanation is usually the right one: If a guy doesn't call, he didn't lose your number, he isn't away on business in Yemin, he wasn't kidnapped and held at gunpoint-- he just didn't want to call you. All these fairy-tale stories that lonely girls thrive on about how the jerky guy one day woke up and realized how great you are may have happened to somebody, sometime, but that person was the exception, not the rule. The somewhat cold message of the film is that you shouldn't live your life assuming you are the exception. (Of course as rom-coms go, the main character does end up being the exception, undercutting the wisdom of the point. But for the purposes of real life, let's pretend she didn't and moved on to someone else.)

Believe it or not, this movie came up in conversation at a dinner party in Silicon Valley the other night.

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Windows 7 Taskbar Items Pinner makes it easy to pin special folders

2011-02-27T17:15:00.001-08:00

Pinning programs, folders, and even frequently used documents to your Windows 7 taskbar can be a real time-saver. Certain folders, however, aren't so easy to add -- especially if you want them right on the taskbar and not buried in the Explorer jump list.

Windows 7 Taskbar Items Pinner makes pinning everything from your downloads folder to the control panel to network connections as easy as ticking a checkbox. Just download Pinner from Door2Windows, extract the files, and right-click the executable to run it as Administrator. The app also allows you to unpin existing items, and you can even integrate Pinner into your context menu if you like.

If you want to add Control Panel to your taskbar, we still recommend using the method we showed you -- pinning it with Pinner won't give you a jump list to utilize.

Download Windows 7 Taskbar Items Pinner

Windows 7 Taskbar Items Pinner makes it easy to pin special folders originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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National Geographic Ultimate Dinopedia App for iPad

2011-02-27T16:45:00.001-08:00

The iPad’s big display is a beautiful canvas for displaying full-color, detailed images.� It seems lately that many publishers are bypassing the standard book reader apps for iPad and creating their own applications that display their books to their best advantage on the iPad’s beautiful display.� Many of these book apps also incorporate interactive elements [...]

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Twitpic introduces video support, lets you tweet your vids

2011-02-27T16:15:00.001-08:00

Twitpic, the Twitter photo-posting service, has now extended its reach into photos that move, also known as "video". Users will now be able to upload quick videos shot on the move, and share them directly with Twitter.

Twitter's Web interface currently only shows a thumbnail of the video, but Twitpic says it's working on embedding the actual video into Twitter. Right now it basically looks like a link, not much different than posting a simple YouTube link.

One difference between Twitpic video support and plain old YouTube however, is that users are able to e-mail their videos in, rather than just uploading them from the site. Once applications using Twitpic start integrating this new functionality, users will be able to upload video right from within their favorite Twitter client, on the go.

While this sort of functionality has been attempted before by 12seconds, we can only hope Twitpic's video space endeavor meets with better luck.

Twitpic introduces video support, lets you tweet your vids originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 09 Feb 2011 05:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel Oak Trail Atom Z670 tablets to arrive at the end of March

2011-02-27T15:45:00.001-08:00

Intel's spent the last nine months prepping its Oak Trail silicon to improve the battery life and performance of Windows 7 tablets, and come the end of next month we should finally have some slates with the new 1.5GHz Atom Z670 chip inside. While Fudzilla has heard that the tablets will hit in the general March time frame, the eagle-eyed guys at Netbook News spotted the Fujitsu Stylistic Q550 press materials stating that the new platform will launch on March 30, 2011. That seems to line up with what we've heard on timing, since both the Oak Trail-powered Samsung Sliding PC 7 and MSI WindPad 100W were announced with March availability. Chances are we will hear more about it all at CeBIT next week, but honestly, at this point we're just really eager to get one of these in our hands to see what Chipzilla's really improved.

Intel Oak Trail Atom Z670 tablets to arrive at the end of March originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 18:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Daily Crunch: Office Espionage Edition

2011-02-27T15:15:00.001-08:00

Alert Phone Lets Your Loved Ones Warn You When They?ve Wandered Off CrunchGear?s Valentine?s Day Gift Guide: Gifts For Girls Good Morning. Here?s A Floppy Drive Playing Toccata And Fugue In D Minor Somehow Interesting: Fingerprint Patterns After Using iPad Apps Hybrid Table-Lamp Is? Practical

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Xeno Defense is a fantastic tower defense Time Waster

2011-02-27T14:45:00.001-08:00

Xeno Defense is a fantastic tower defense Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 02 Feb 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Avast 6 ready for download, adds sandboxing to antivirus defense

2011-02-27T14:15:00.001-08:00

After only a few weeks in beta testing, Avast 6 is now ready for download. If you're looking for a good, free antivirus program for your Windows computer, Avast is still one of the best options -- and version 6 adds one very powerful defense mechanism.

Sandboxing -- which allows your computer to run unknown and untrusted programs in an isolated spece where they can't harm your operating system or data -- has been added to Avast 6. It's even there in the free version, and it's a very compelling reason to take another look at Avast. Since Avast 6 can automatically sandbox programs, you're protected even if its definitions and behaviorial scanning can't tell that program is malicious. In paid versions, Avast has added a new Safe Zone designed to offer increased protection when transmitting sensitive data to banks or other Web sites.

Continue reading Avast 6 ready for download, adds sandboxing to antivirus defense

Avast 6 ready for download, adds sandboxing to antivirus defense originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Helmet-Cam Captures What it's Like to Fall Down a Mountain [Video]

2011-02-27T13:45:00.001-08:00

When an adventurous skier tumbles backwards down the rocky side of a mountain his helmet-cam is there to record it all. According to his Vimeo account he was very lucky not to be seriously injured. More »

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Engadget reader meetup tonight in San Francisco at 6:30PM PST! Win a limited edition gold Xoom!

2011-02-27T13:15:00.001-08:00

That's right human beings -- it's happening again! The Engadget crew is getting together their best party outfits and shipping out west for another installment of our fabulous reader meetups. Our last event in NYC drew loads of people and was an all around blast, and the San Francisco installment is sure to be just as explosive (or maybe more? c'mon... show us what you've got). This time around we're partnering with Sprint, as well as Sony PlayStation, Motorola, HP, Roku, Samsung, VUDU, RIM, Sling, Sonos, HTC, Corning, Sphero, OnLive, Plantronics, Snapstick, and more to bring you a night of gadget geeking, delicious foodstuffs, and some awesome music (provided by none other than our podcast producer, Trent Wolbe). Also, a whole mess of the Engadget editors will be on hand to entertain and inform, so if you have any pressing questions -- jot them down! Oh, and don't forget to include the hashtag #EngadgetSF in your tweets!

And did we mention there will be tons of serious giveaways for people in attendance? Because there will be. You seriously don't want to sleep on this. For instance, one lucky attendee to the event will walk away with a super limited edition gold Xoom (being gifted to this year's Oscar nominees). Check out an image and info after the break!

The all ages shindig will take place tonight, February 25 at City View at The Metreon, which is located conveniently in downtown SF. If you're a nerd in the city, you most likely already know what we're talking about. The doors will open at 6:30PM, and capacity is limited to 1200 people -- so if you want to get inside, get there early!

Update: A quick update on where to go -- the line is forming at 4th Street and Mission. Yes, there will be a line, but word is Sonos has brought a taco truck! Yes, free tacos starting at ~~3pm~~! [Scratch that, taco-palooza begins at 4:30!]

Continue reading Engadget reader meetup tonight in San Francisco at 6:30PM PST! Win a limited edition gold Xoom!

Engadget reader meetup tonight in San Francisco at 6:30PM PST! Win a limited edition gold Xoom! originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 15:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Daily Crunch: Knife Fight Edition

2011-02-27T12:45:00.001-08:00

Pro Tip: Fruit Roll-Ups Make Solid Flash Gels World?s First Flexible Microprocessor Made With Organic Semiconductors Clock Clock Is A Clock Of Clocks The Creditor Carbon Fiber Money Clip Knife Keeps Your Money Safe Gadg-Art: Love It, But Don?t Really Use It.

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10+ Chrome extensions and Web apps for new users

2011-02-27T12:15:00.001-08:00

It might only be a couple of years old and its extension interface might not be quite as powerful as Firefox's, but in terms of developers, big-name publishers, and sheer numbers, Chrome already has a very healthy ecosystem of add-ons.

When you factor in Chrome's exclusive selection of Web apps, it's even possible to say that Chrome has a wider variety of extensions -- or at least until Mozilla launches its Open Web Apps later in the year.

Still, as always, the problem with add-ons is finding the right ones. You have thousands of add-ons to choose from, and only a handful that are actually worth using. First-time users haven't got a snowball's chance -- unless they read this list of must-have extensions!

But this list of extensions is for converts, too. With massive defections from Internet Explorer and Firefox, Chrome has grown from just a few million users in 2009 to over 120 million at the start of 2011. Firefox users will be especially pleased to find almost every add-on has a comparable extension -- and IE users... well, they'll just be glad to have any extensions at all.

Whether you are looking for helpers or shortcuts, or full-blown Web apps, you will be pleasantly surprised with the variety and power of Chrome's extensions.

Continue reading 10+ Chrome extensions and Web apps for new users

10+ Chrome extensions and Web apps for new users originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 22 Feb 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lavasoft Rogue Gallery puts fake antivirus and rogue applications on display

2011-02-27T11:45:00.001-08:00

It's hard for less-savvy computer users to stay out of trouble on the Internet, and part of the problem is that they just don't know how to identify potential threats. Fortunately, there are plenty of great online resources you can use, or point your friends and family to. We've already covered the excellent Facecrooks, which helps users avoid trouble on Facebook, and today we're taking a look at the Lavasoft Rogue Gallery.

Lavasoft is the company behind Ad-Aware, the granddaddy of adware removal apps. Though its malware cleanup crown has been snatched away by Malwarebytes in recent years, Ad-Aware remains enormously popular -- and Lavasoft provides a nice public service by displaying the fake antivirus (fakeAV) and rogue applications it discovers for all to see.

Rogue applications are those nasty programs which appear to be useful utilities like antivirus or Windows tune-up tools. In reality, of course, they're some of the nastiest threats around. They're easy enough to spot if you know what to look for, so spending a few minutes going through the Lavasoft Rogue Gallery is highly recommend to anyone who needs a bit of help avoiding Internet dangers.

Lavasoft Rogue Gallery puts fake antivirus and rogue applications on display originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 21 Feb 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Visual VoiceMail pulled from Android Market, Google accused of 'pulling an Apple'

2011-02-27T11:15:00.001-08:00

Looks like Apple isn't the only one wanting to make sure that app payments are being run through appropriate channels. The Visual VoiceMail app, which has been downloaded about a million times (literally), has just been pulled from the Android Market. When developers at PhoneFusion asked the reasonable question, "why," they were simply directed to section 3.3 of the Android Market Developer Distribution Agreement:

If you want to collect fees after the free trial expires, you must collect all fees for the full version of the Product through the Payment Processor on the Market... All fees received by Developers for Products distributed via the Market must be processed by the Market's Payment Processor.

The service allows users to purchase premium features through the company's website, something that many other apps do and that is certainly not new to Visual VoiceMail. What's next remains to be seen, but sadly Google is saying PhoneFusion must re-submit the app with a new name -- losing all the positive reviews it's racked up. Hardly an ideal solution.

Visual VoiceMail pulled from Android Market, Google accused of 'pulling an Apple' originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 21:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Archos Arnova 8 and 10 tablets hit the bargain bin (video)

2011-02-27T10:45:00.001-08:00

We know, Archos already makes fairly cheap tablets, but believe it or not, the company's going after an even cheaper segment with its new Arnova 8 and 10. The two have been popping up all around the web -- they stopped by the FCC earlier this week and there was an early spec leak from a Russian site -- but now we're finally getting some real details and hands-on impressions courtesy of Charbax, who is quite possibly the biggest Archos fan in the world. The $199 10.1-inch Arnova 10, which we have to say looks a lot like the Archos 101, packs a 600MHz Rockchip RK2818 processor, resistive touchscreen, 8GB of storage, and Android 2.1 -- but before you gag, know that there should also be a 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 Rockchip RK 2918 / capacitive touchscreen version coming in April. Meanwhile, the 8-inch Arnova 8 rings up at $150 with the same processor and resistive touchscreen, but only 4GB of storage. If the cut corners don't faze you and you're in the mood for a closer look, we suggest you hit the break for some Charbax video originals.

Continue reading Archos Arnova 8 and 10 tablets hit the bargain bin (video)

Archos Arnova 8 and 10 tablets hit the bargain bin (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Feb 2011 23:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Get LTE on your Motorola Xoom in one week, and a dozen or so easy steps

2011-02-27T10:15:00.001-08:00

We've known since its unveiling in January that you're going to have to take the Motorola Xoom somewhere to be upgraded to LTE date. The question was where, and how. The answer(s)? Back to Motorola, via FedEx.

Verizon's posted up instructions on everything you should do before shipping your new Honeycomb tablet back to the mother ship for some LTE re-education, and it all it takes is three simple steps (one of them is optional) -- in a dozen or so parts.

The first step is backing up your user data and saving it locally onto a computer -- something that's a bit foreign in this day an age, but something we'd still recommend doing. (We're anal like that.)

The second (and optional, but very cool) step is to encrypt and hard-reset your Xoom. You've gotta have a full battery to do it. And if you leave it encrypted, you'll have to enter a password each time you log on. Or you can unencrypt, which also involves a hard-reset, but you'll restore all your date in the process. Time-consuming, but safe and cool.

The third step is to actually ship the device to Motorola via FedEx. You'll be provided a bubble pack -- wonder how long it'll take to get to you -- and then ship it off. And a week or so later, you'll get it back, LTE-enabled.

Sounds like a good time. [Verizon via Android Central Forums]

Get LTE on your Motorola Xoom in one week, and a dozen or so easy steps posted originally by Android Central

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Your Bones Will Feel the Rumbler Siren Coming [Sirens]

2011-02-27T09:45:00.001-08:00

Sirens! Nothing new. Ubiquitous on city streets. Even small towns have, to some degree, grown accustomed to their shrill warnings. That's kind of a problem! Enter the Rumbler. You literally feel it coming. More »

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HTC Merge first hands-on! (video)

2011-02-27T09:15:00.001-08:00

HTC just rolled in to set up for our San Francisco reader meetup tonight, and what's this? They brought a brand-new HTC Merge with them. No one's talking about what carrier this interesting Android slider is going to launch on yet, but that Verizon-red earpiece and search button aren't exactly coy. Apart from that, it's pretty much exactly the device we've seen leaked all over for months now -- a really nice landscape Android slider with a solid keyboard. More pics in the gallery, and a video after the break!

Gallery: HTC Merge first hands-on!

Continue reading HTC Merge first hands-on! (video)

HTC Merge first hands-on! (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 20:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tarzan Ball is a tricky hook-and-pull physics game

2011-02-27T08:45:00.001-08:00

So, you're a ball. A Tarzan Ball, to be precise. You've earned the nickname thanks to your astonishing ability to shoot out a lengthy 'vine' (I hope it's a vine) at objects, and then pull yourself towards those objects.

That's a handy ability to have, especially since you've got no legs, no arms, and no other means of transportation. In Tarzan Ball, the rope is everything. But you don't just swing around the screen aimlessly - that wouldn't be much of a game now, would it?

Instead, your goal in life is to collect "targets". Each level has one of these "targets" hidden away somewhere on the screen, usually behind some kind of barrier. Once you navigate close enough to the target, you can shoot your rope at it and just reel it in. That's when you pass the level.

You can't die in this game, but it can still be very frustrating. It's actually one of the tougher games I've posted recently. Still, if you enjoy physics games, this one is quite nicely made.

[This is actually the sequel to IQ Ball, which we covered last year! -Ed]

Tarzan Ball is a tricky hook-and-pull physics game originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 21 Feb 2011 18:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mac OS X Lion has TRIM support for SSDs, HiDPI resolutions for improved pixel density?

2011-02-27T08:15:00.001-08:00

As you'd expect, developers have wasted no time in tearing apart the Mac OS X Lion preview, and in so doing they've allegedly discovered some intriguing things -- namely, support for the SSD-wiping TRIM command, and a series of high-DPI display modes which would allow for icons and UI elements with twice the graphical detail -- which could mean a PC-sized Retina Display. The former doesn't sound like the most exciting upgrade, but it's truly a boon for Mac users with solid state storage, as TRIM can greatly improve write speeds in compatible drives. As far as the improved pixel density rumors are concerned, it's not clear whether Apple's actually looking at doubling display resolutions in new computers (9to5Mac imagines a 15-inch MacBook Pro with a 2880 x 1800 screen) or whether Apple's simply moving to maintain icons that are precisely the same physical size across all its displays -- which would make fantastic sense for a touchscreen UI, by the way.

Mac OS X Lion has TRIM support for SSDs, HiDPI resolutions for improved pixel density? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Feb 2011 19:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Separation of Church And Zynga: Wedding Chapels Stripped From CityVille

2011-02-27T07:45:00.001-08:00

Zynga made a small but fascinating change to its young-yet-ubiquitous game CityVille over the weekend. Players could previously buy "Wedding Chapels," which looked like small country churches but without a cross or other religious symbols, to add to their city. But the virtual item has been removed and replaced with the more secular and nondescript "Wedding Hall." With two gold ring things that somehow makes me think only of McDonalds. Err, ok. I asked Zynga if this was in response to complaints, or otherwise why they did this. No comment from them so far. They could, of course, simply add other icons for other religions, and let people choose. But perhaps even that would be too insensitive. Players who had previously purchased the Wedding Chapel still have it, but it's also been renamed to "Wedding Hall." Presumably friends visiting the city might get offended.

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The Winkelvii Still Hate Mark Zuckerberg [Zuckerberg]

2011-02-27T07:15:00.001-08:00

Cameron and Tyler Winkelvoss, who if you believe them, are the true inventors of Facebook, seem like decently level headed people. They're from the upper crust, for sure, but they respect hard work (as judged by their Olympian status) and reason (as judged by their Hahvadness). More »

SYNTEL SONUS NETWORKS PEROT SYSTEMS MOTOROLA

Visual VoiceMail pulled from Android Market, Google accused of 'pulling an Apple'

2011-02-27T06:45:00.001-08:00

If you want to collect fees after the free trial expires, you must collect all fees for the full version of the Product through the Payment Processor on the Market... All fees received by Developers for Products distributed via the Market must be processed by the Market's Payment Processor.

Visual VoiceMail pulled from Android Market, Google accused of 'pulling an Apple' originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 21:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CrunchGear Week in Review: Happy Valentine Edition

2011-02-27T06:15:00.001-08:00

Here are some stories from the past week on CrunchGear: Powertrekk Fuel Cell Charges USB Powered Devices Hybrid Table-Lamp Is? Practical CrunchGear?s Valentine?s Day Gift Guide: Gifts For Girls Video: Esper Contactless Dominoes ?Reality Touchscreen? Is 10 Meters Long, Accepts 100 Touch Inputs

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Sony Wants Translucent Mirrors in All Their DSLRs [Photography]

2011-02-27T05:45:00.001-08:00

After releasing DSLR cameras such as the a33 and a55, which feature a translucent mirror inside, Sony said they plan to put the same tech all of their interchangable-lens cameras...eventually. The translucent mirror technology helps to increase shutter speed. [Photo Rumors via PetaPixel] More »

FARO TECHNOLOGIES DOLBY LABORATORIES GEN-PROBE OPENWAVE SYSTEMS

Windows Phone 7 coming to Verizon in March, starting with HTC 7 Trophy?

2011-02-27T05:15:00.001-08:00

With Sprint starting up its Windows Phone 7 adventure on March 20th with the HTC Arrive, Verizon is now said to be matching its CDMA competitor with its own offering, the HTC 7 Trophy. We already knew this particular handset would be coming to this particular network in "early 2011," but now WinRumors has narrowed that down to a launch at some point in late March. Verizon's announcement is expected as early as February 28th, this coming Monday, and we're hearing the NoDo update -- the one with copy and paste -- should be preloaded on the device from the start. Should this solid-sounding rumor bear out as foretold, Microsoft should finally be on all US carriers by the start of April.

[Thanks, Mike]

Windows Phone 7 coming to Verizon in March, starting with HTC 7 Trophy? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 15:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CrunchGear Week In Review: The Bat And The Bees Edition

2011-02-27T04:45:00.001-08:00

Here are some stories from the past week on CrunchGear: Video Of Escher?s Impossible Waterfall A La Rube Goldberg Irony: Smartphones Can Save The Honeybees Mimoco?s Latest Puts Your Data On DC Comic Classics HTC Announces The Desire S, Wildfire S, and Incredible S Canjo: You Know, A Banjo Made From A Can

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Verizon CEO claims Apple LTE products are coming, doesn't specify when

2011-02-27T04:15:00.001-08:00

Dan Mead, Lowell McAdam's successor at the helm of Verizon Wireless, has told the Wall Street Journal that we'll "see more coming from Apple on LTE. They understand the value proposition of LTE and I feel very confident that they are going to be a part of it." No further details were forthcoming from the chief exec, such as timing and the particular shape of Apple's participation in Verizon's LTE plans, but at least we now have an indication that Cupertino is actively working toward 4G connectivity. Mead's comments came as part of an interview discussing the iPhone 4's launch on his network, which has already seen the device bust through Verizon's opening sales record. Notably, at the actual launch of that phone, Tim Cook said an LTE version of the iPhone would have required too many compromises, so we suspect those compromises are exactly what Apple's working on right now.

Verizon CEO claims Apple LTE products are coming, doesn't specify when originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 17:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Clash of the Titans sequel will be another 2D-to-3D conversion, and Inception too?

2011-02-27T03:45:00.001-08:00

After a poor response to the first Clash of the Titans movie and its substandard 3D effects, courtesy of a rushed conversion process, you'd think they would never try that again, and you'd be wrong. Director Jonathan Liebesman, fresh off of Battle:LA is helming sequel Wrath of the Titans and says was talked into doing the conversion process again (but shooting with that in mind, Piranha 3D-style) on this flick by a series of demos including, Christopher Nolan's Inception. This is notable both because no 3D re-release has been announced for the visually engrossing flick, but also because Nolan himself has suggested 3D would be a bad choice due to the dimming effect of the glasses. Warner Bros. could only manage to tell Cinematical "At this time, the plans for Inception 3D cannot be confirmed," leaving the possibility of a return alongside Star Wars, Titanic and others to twist in the wind for now.

Clash of the Titans sequel will be another 2D-to-3D conversion, and Inception too? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 20:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AVG LiveKive to launch as Dropbox alternative

2011-02-27T03:15:00.001-08:00

When you think of AVG, you probably think antivirus -- probably because it has sat near the top of Download.com's list of most downloaded apps for years. AVG has been tapped by tens of millions of users for malware protection, and the company now hopes those same people will turn to it for synchronized cloud storage.

Called AVG LiveKive, the new service will launch in beta form next week -- competing against apps like Dropbox, SugarSync, and SpiderOak. Users will get 5GB of storage for free and while we assume there will be paid options as well, AVG hasn't posted any details yet.

While AVG's post says users will be able to access LiveKive cloud data from "all their synced devices," it's not clear whether there will be mobile companion apps or if this is strictly a desktop app. AVG does already offer antivirus and backup apps for Android, so we expect to see LiveKive hit the Market as well.

AVG LiveKive to launch as Dropbox alternative originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 18 Feb 2011 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AOC Aire Black LED-backlit monitors, more of the same, now in black

2011-02-27T02:30:00.001-08:00

If this super slim monitor looks familiar, it's for a good reason -- AOC's new Aire Black LED monitors are nearly identical to their white counterparts, save a couple exceptions. As the name suggests, the new monitors are an all black affair, and come in 20-, 22-, and 23-inch iterations. The slender screens also come equipped with a new software feature called Screen+ that allows users to divide the display into four separate work spaces. Other than that, not much is new here -- like the rest of the Aire series, the Aire Black features a 12.7-millimeter-thick screen, with a 16:9 aspect ratio, 50,000,000:1 dynamic contrast, DVI-HDPC input, and five millisecond response time. If you like your monitors skinny, you can get your hands on the ebony displays now for $129 (20 inch), $149 (22 inch), or $179 (23 inch). Full PR after the jump.

Continue reading AOC Aire Black LED-backlit monitors, more of the same, now in black

AOC Aire Black LED-backlit monitors, more of the same, now in black originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Feb 2011 07:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RIM, Bank of America partnering up for Mobile Wallet NFC trial

2011-02-27T01:45:00.001-08:00

We've known for some time that RIM is going all-in on NFC (isn't everyone?), but we didn't realize they were going retroactive, too. A NFC payment trial coming up involving RIM and Bank of America will allow selected testers to get an NFC-capable back for their Curve 8520 or 8530, Tour 9630, or Bold 9000, 9650, or 9700 -- in other words, most of the company's portrait QWERTY models from the last couple years. You'll also need an active Bank of America account, at which point you'll be able to tap your 'Berry on NFC terminals to get your pay on. The trial starts this spring; no word on when it might be open to everyone.

[Thanks, Dylan]

RIM, Bank of America partnering up for Mobile Wallet NFC trial originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Feb 2011 11:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Final Firefox 4 beta released, add-ons still languishing

2011-02-27T01:15:00.001-08:00

Mozilla, proving just how mind-numbingly torturous public beta testing can be, has just released the final beta of Firefox 4, beta 12. If you're already running Firefox 4 beta, head to Help > About Firefox to update; or download it directly.

Other than increased stability and performance when viewing Flash content, and some tweaks to hardware acceleration, beta 12 simply represents one last bug-stomping push towards the Release Candidate. The RC, incidentally, is due in the next few days.

With only a handful of bugs remaining, it is now almost time for Mozilla to pass its new browser over to the next standard bearers: the add-on developers. Most big-name add-ons now support Firefox 4, which is a relief -- but at the same time, very few add-ons are utilizing all of FF4's new UI elements. We struggled to find more than 20 add-ons designed specifically for Firefox 4, which is odd, considering there are "millions of beta testers." Still, with the final release of Firefox 4 around the corner, things can only improve.

Finally: it may please you to hear that, in beta 12, link tooltips are yet again displayed in the bottom left corner, rather than in the address bar! If you fancy some fun Saturday afternoon reading, there's an epic thread on Bugzilla that chronicles their return to the bottom of the window -- be warned, however: open source contributers sure are a feisty bunch...

[Thanks to Silver Wave for the tip!]

Final Firefox 4 beta released, add-ons still languishing originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 26 Feb 2011 13:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Memes Could Hit The Silver Screen In ?The Chronicles of Rick Roll?

2011-02-27T00:45:00.001-08:00

Move over, Chronicles of Narnia, there's a new dreamworld of magic in town. That's right. Andrew Fischer, CEO of Colorado-based marketing company NURV, has recruited a stellar cast of Meme-lebrities, including Antoine Dodson of Hide Yo Wife, Hide Yo Kids fame, Double Rainbow videographer Paul Vasquez, Brian Collins (the "Boom goes the dynamite" kid), and "Numa Numa" vocalist Gary Brolsma, for a feature-length film entitled "The Chronicles of Rick Roll". The title, as you probably know, is derived from the meme to rule them all: the music video for Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up", which became the source of a viral prank, called "Rick Rolling". Thanks to Rick Rolling, never again will you be able to say to your friend, "hey, you should check out this amazing video of Steve Jobs singing karaoke," without being suspected of collusion with Rick Astley.

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Apple patents ?Places? as a social networking service for iOS

2011-02-27T00:15:00.001-08:00

While Apple and social networking didn’t get off to a good start with Ping!, it appears Apple may be willing to try again with a new patent pointing to a social networking feature they are titling “Places”. (Does this sound familiar to anyone else?) The patent shows that Places will be a social networking type [...]

Apple patents “Places” as a social networking service for iOS is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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HTC Incredible S now available in the UK

2011-02-26T23:45:00.001-08:00

Mobiles.co.uk and parent company The Carphone Warehouse are now shipping HTC's new Incredible S in the UK. SIM-free, the Incredible S can be yours for £499.95 (~$800), while on-contract prices range from free to £319.99 (~$510). Right now the Incredible S is only being offered on contract with O2 and Vodafone, and the cheapest way to get the phone for free is on a £25 per month contract with O2.

The Incredible S is the first of HTC's new European phones to ship, and it'll be joined by the Wildfire S and Desire S during the second quarter of the year. Check out our hands-on feature for more Incredible S goodness. [Mobiles.co.uk, Carphone Warehouse]

HTC Incredible S now available in the UK posted originally by Android Central

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This Week's Best Apps [Video]

2011-02-26T23:15:00.001-08:00

In this week's app roundup: cows, herded (and not abducted); Adult Swim, mobilized; DSLRs, controlled remotely; birds, trained to fly; cocktails, mixed; flights, found; cook books, brought dazzlingly into the future, and more! More »

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How an Adorable Pig Could Take Down the Internet [Video]

2011-02-26T22:45:00.001-08:00

Oh, how I love the Onion! It constantly creates fantastic nightmare scenarios detailing how the world as we know it could be destroyed—or in this case, how a cute piglet could take down the Internet. More »

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The Week's Best iPhone Apps [Video]

2011-02-26T22:15:00.001-08:00

Cows vs. Aliens: The premise is simple: herd your cows into your barn without letting any pesky extraterrestrials in. You can get by using two thumbs, scooting the cows and aliens along in various directions, but as their numbers start to increase, you're probably gonna wanna try out more fingers. $2.

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Google's Native Client updates to Pepper API, looks set to fragment the Web

2011-02-26T21:45:00.001-08:00

Native Client (NaCl), Google's attempt at bridging the gap between pure JavaScript Web apps and installed programs, creeps ever closer to a stable release, and ultimate inclusion in other browsers, including Firefox. The plug-in, which allows the browser to safely execute native compiled code, has retired its NPAPI interface in favor of Pepper (PPAPI), and now has a much-improved SDK.

NaCl, as a concept, is awesome. It allows for untrusted code to be executed natively, which is perfect for processor-intensive tasks like games and data analysis. The ultimate goal is to have NaCl modules that you can plug into a website, just like JavaScript is used at the moment -- a physics module, a maths module, a graphics module. JavaScript would still manage the easier bits, while NaCl would be leveraged for meatier tasks.

Ultimately, however, NaCl could cause immeasurable damage to the Open Web paradigm. NaCl is an open source project, but it still brings the same risks of fragmentation as Flash, Silverlight and Java applets. As it stands, only Chrome supports the Pepper interface that NaCl requires -- and with IE9 and Firefox 4 only weeks away from release, it would be a long time until support for the plug-in could improve.

If NaCl gains enough traction, Chrome could become the next IE6...

Continue reading Google's Native Client updates to Pepper API, looks set to fragment the Web

Google's Native Client updates to Pepper API, looks set to fragment the Web originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 21 Feb 2011 06:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Watch a Spoon Melt and Turn Into Liquid Metal Ooze [Video]

2011-02-26T21:15:00.001-08:00

How does this happen? Well, the trick is that the spoon is made from gallium, a substance that melts at only 86 degrees Fahrenheit. So when you put the gallium spoon in hot water it turns into T-1000 style liquid metal ooze. So awesome. [Reddit via The Daily What] More »

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Final Firefox 4 beta released, add-ons still languishing

2011-02-26T20:45:00.001-08:00

Final Firefox 4 beta released, add-ons still languishing originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 26 Feb 2011 13:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Xeno Defense is a fantastic tower defense Time Waster

2011-02-26T20:15:00.001-08:00

Xeno Defense is a fantastic tower defense Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 02 Feb 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Verizon's dropped 911 calls leave one woman trapped in burning house (video)

2011-02-26T19:45:00.001-08:00

We're just hearing of a story that makes that 10,000 or so emergency calls that didn't go through over Verizon's network on January 26 look a little more serious. A house in Silver Spring, Maryland caught fire that evening during the snowstorm that knocked out power and landlines. A neighbor, noticing the house was ablaze, tried calling 911 on his cellphone but couldn't get through. Thankfully he was able to save the 94 year old woman who was trapped inside, but it would be about 30 minutes of repeated dialing before finally being connected to emergency services. Thank goodness for heroes, but maybe Verizon Guy has some work to do himself.

Continue reading Verizon's dropped 911 calls leave one woman trapped in burning house (video)

Verizon's dropped 911 calls leave one woman trapped in burning house (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 11:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WinZip System Utilities Suite giveaway

2011-02-26T19:15:00.001-08:00

WinZip has just released WinZip System Utilities Suite! Earlier today we published a quick hands-on with the app, but why should we have all the fun?

While you can always download the trial version, WinZip has also provided us with 10 full System Utilities licenses to give away! To enter our random draw, you just have to leave a comment. Full terms and conditions are after the break.

Continue reading WinZip System Utilities Suite giveaway

WinZip System Utilities Suite giveaway originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Daily Crunch: Fly Fishing Edition

2011-02-26T18:45:00.001-08:00

Portable Rainbow Machine Makes Cheery Vandalism Easy Augmented Reality-Powered Fishing Reel Toy We Need To Build A Fishing Net In Space To Protect Us From All Of The Junk Honeycomb Is The First Shot Fired Along Apple?s Bow KeepOn Dancebot Now Available For $40

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Choose Your Own Software Update Adventure [Image]

2011-02-26T18:15:00.001-08:00

Depending on which platform you use, the experience of downloading and installing updates to your OS can vary. Which one are you? [Sticky Comics] More »

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Man Discovers His Online Girlfriend of 2.5 Years Is Fake—After Paying Her $200,000 [Bizarre]

2011-02-26T17:45:00.001-08:00

A 48-year-old man in Naperville, Illinois must be crying his eyes out right now because he was recently finally forced to face reality about a few things. More »

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GM shows off Terrain SUV with noise cancellation, says silence equals fuel efficiency

2011-02-26T17:15:00.001-08:00

GM claims its new Terrain has other SUVs beat when it comes to fuel efficiency, and they're citing active noise cancellation -- a concept near and dear to audiophiles everywhere -- as one of the driving factors that puts it 4MPG above the competition. Basically, the Terrain's enlisted a new one-touch "Eco mode" that allows its four-cylinder engine to run at a lower torque, decreasing engine speeds, and thus saving gas. The thing is, this increased fuel efficiency comes with a "low-end frequency boom," which is where the noise cancellation sets in: two microphones built in to the car's headliner detect the boom, prompting a frequency generator to pump counteracting sound waves through Terrain's speakers. Simply put, GM's just getting rid of an unpleasant hum. So a quieter car isn't necessarily a greener car, but we'll take a more fuel efficient SUV any day. If you're picking up what GM's laying down, check out the full PR after the jump.

Continue reading GM shows off Terrain SUV with noise cancellation, says silence equals fuel efficiency

GM shows off Terrain SUV with noise cancellation, says silence equals fuel efficiency originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 06:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Opera 11.10 Barracuda adds infinite Speed Dial

2011-02-26T16:45:00.001-08:00

If you guessed the unnamed-but-very-popular feature Opera was planning to overhaul in Opera 11.10 was the Speed Dial, buy yourself a beer! The browser's trademark new tab page has indeed been retooled. In the latest Opera 11.10 snapshot build, there's no limit to the number of Speed Dial entires you can add. Gone are the blank placeholder boxes from previous Opera versions, replaced with only active Speed Dial entries and an add button.

Opera has temporarily disabled Speed Dial sync in this build, and there are a handful of other known issues listed on the official blog post.

As for this being the "big secret" planned for the Opera 11.10 release -- Opera's Thomas Ford tells us "That's not the only improvement we have lined up for Opera 11.10, though. Speed Dial is just the first to get an overhaul."

Download Opera 11.10 build 2104 for Windows / Mac / Linux/FreeBSD

Opera 11.10 Barracuda adds infinite Speed Dial originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows Phone's new UI and Xbox games are most exciting aspects of Microsoft deal, says Nokia poll

2011-02-26T16:15:00.001-08:00

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A Brief and Wonderful History of Hollywood Special Effects [Blip]

2011-02-26T15:45:00.001-08:00

From the earliest cartoon dinosaurs to stop-motion to CGI to today's eye-gouging 3D, Time guides us through a tour of the major milestones in over a century's worth of special effects achievements. Even The Parent Trap gets some much-deserved love. And who knows? Maybe studying up here will help out with that Oscar pool. [Time] More »

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Ask a VC: ?Investing in Music Is a Little Like Vietnam? (TCTV)

2011-02-26T15:15:00.001-08:00

Ask a VC was on hiatus for a few weeks, but your Friday investor-talk fix is back. Our guest this week is Tony Conrad, partner at True Ventures and founder of About.Me, which recently sold to AOL along with TechCrunch. There was a pent-up flood of questions this week, and Conrad addressed many of them. In case you want to skip around here they are in order: -Why does True Ventures invest in more product and gadget companies than most VCs? What do they look for? -True's views on International investing. -Conrad's advice on getting into business in Southeast Asia and the moment he knew he'd "gone native." -Does Conrad have a secret "formula" for building companies to flip? And did he sell About.Me so early, because he didn't believe in the business? -Why True isn't betting big in the current game frenzy. -Why True doesn't bet on education or music companies. -And a general roundup of questions about how to pitch True.

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Flash Player 10.2 with Stage Video hardware acceleration out of beta

2011-02-26T14:45:00.001-08:00

Flash Player 10.2 is finally out of beta!

We've covered this upgrade before, and after three months of beta testing, Adobe feels ready to roll this one out as an official update.

The key features that make Flash 10.2 a worthwhile upgrade are:

Proper full-screen support for multi-monitor systems: At long last, users with more than one monitor would be able to play a full-screen video on one monitor while working with another monitor! Hurrah! This long-overdue feature alone is worth the upgrade.
Stage Video: Adobe's new API for high-performance video playback across multiple platforms. In simple terms, it makes HD video fast and easy on your computer. The only snag is that developers will have to build in support for it - it's not just a client-side change. Adobe says YouTube, Vimeo, and Brightcove are already hard at work adding support.
Font smoothing: Flash player isn't all about video, after all. This improvement adds ClearType-like font smoothing.
Hardware acceleration: Last but not least, Flash 10.2 supports IE 9's hardware acceleration capabilities ("GPU rendering").

All in all, Flash 10.2 sounds like a worthy upgrade. Click here for the download page, and if you're using Chrome, be sure to disable the built-in Flash plug-in to reap the benefits unless you're on the updated Dev channel.

Flash Player 10.2 with Stage Video hardware acceleration out of beta originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 09 Feb 2011 04:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google makes rich richer, poor poorer in search results

2011-02-26T14:15:00.001-08:00

If you've been paying attention to the state of search as of late, you'll know that Google's between a proverbial rock and hard place right now. Some individuals and companies claim Mountain View's beloved search engine is losing to the spammers, squatters, scrapers and content farms by failing to weed them from the system -- though you can now do that on your own -- while others say it's squashing the little guy by unfairly downranking competitors in search results. We're not sure if either is truly the case, the company's made a mildly controversial move this week: it's tweaked the search algorithms to "reduce rankings for low-quality sites," and "provide better rankings for high-quality" ones. As ever, Mountain View's not talking about what that change mathematically entails, though it says about 11.8 percent of queries will be affected as a result. In short: some will be happy, some sad, some angry, and many won't notice at all.

Google makes rich richer, poor poorer in search results originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 13:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Flight challenges you to fly a paper airplane to London

2011-02-26T13:45:00.001-08:00

Who doesn't like flying paper planes? I know I do, but I can never make them quite right - they never fly for more than a few seconds. Flight has just given me another chance to fulfill my lifelong dream of flying a paper plane all the way to London, England!

The background story is not the best - a lonely girl is sending a note to Santa to bring her mommy home for Christmas (not sure why Santa would be in London) - but the game itself is super-fun.

You need to fly your paper airplane as far as it would go, and collect as many stars as you can along the way. The stars, the distance you travel and some other parameters like velocity and altitude help you accumulate money. With this money you can buy cool upgrades for your plane that will help you get it to London that much faster.

The graphics for this game are pretty impressive, but you might want to engage that mute button before you really get into it - the music is rather annoying.

All in all it's a fun little game. There are just two things I still couldn't figure out: What does the pink origami swan do? And what happens when you get to London? Tell us in the comments if you made it!

Flight challenges you to fly a paper airplane to London originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 08 Feb 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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'Windows On Speed': A comprehensive guide on speeding up your OS

2011-02-26T12:45:00.001-08:00

MakeUseOf has just published yet another excellent guide, this time on the topic of keeping your Windows installation lean, mean and fighting fit. It's available as a free download (PDF), or online (Scribd).

The guide is impressively comprehensive -- it covers everything from partitioning your hard drive to installing more RAM -- but some Download Squad readers will probably find it a bit too simplistic. Having said that, it managed to teach us a couple of new things about Windows 7, so it can't be that simple.

We should also note that the guide offers a few bits of advice that we don't agree with: 20GB really isn't enough for a Windows 7 partition; something like 40GB would be more sensible -- with 1TB drives costing just a fistful of dollars, it's much better to overestimate your OS's requirements. The guide also suggests moving My Documents to a separate partition -- which is fine enough -- but it then goes on to suggest moving "all folders within your user profile" to a separate partition, which can cause issues with applying patches, service packs, and updating installed software.

In conclusion, the guide is a great resource but we're simply not sure of its target audience. It may be a bit overly-technical to send to your friends and family, and most geeks will already have their own preferred methods for keeping a Windows installation running smoothly.

Download Windows On Speed by MakeUseOf (PDF)

'Windows On Speed': A comprehensive guide on speeding up your OS originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 17 Feb 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Teardown: What?s Inside The Motorola Xoom

2011-02-26T12:15:00.001-08:00

From the outside, tablets are almost all the same, especially when seen from the front. But like a pretty actor in a reality TV show, once you get under their skin you find out what really makes them tick. So it is with the Motorola Xoom, which has been opened up and photographed by — [...]

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Daily Crunch: Sea Comb Edition

2011-02-26T11:45:00.001-08:00

Video: Connected Medical Devices At The GSMA Embedded Mobile House A USB-Powered Aquarium, Alarm Clock, Thermometer, And Desk Light Honeycomb Ported To The Nexus One New Amazon Kindle Commercial: ?The Book Lives On? A Very Happy 25th Birthday To The Legend Of Zelda

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Epic Makes Unreal Engine More Realistic for Small Devs

2011-02-26T11:15:00.001-08:00

Epic Games has created award-winning series like "Gears of War" and "Unreal Tournament," as well as a popular proprietary development platform. That platform, Unreal Engine, doesn't only appear in Epic titles, though. The company has allowed other developers to license it -- for a fee. Now, it's opening up that platform to independent developers with no upfront cost.

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Evernote for BlackBerry gets Android-style home screen and better search

2011-02-26T10:45:00.001-08:00

Evernote has updated its app for BlackBerry smartphones, rolling numerous bugfixes and improvements in to the new build. Among them is an updated home screen, which now looks much more like the Evernote app for Android. The search bar has been removed from the bottom of the screen and a shortcut to all your notes has been added.

The new version also brings a much more powerful search feature, which is why Evernote chose to swap the bar for an icon. The new search displays suggestions as you type and also allows searches to be saved for easy scroll-and-click (or tap, if you've got a BlackBerry with a touchscreen) execution later.

Download the new Evernote for BlackBerry from AppWorld -- the QRCode is after the break.

Continue reading Evernote for BlackBerry gets Android-style home screen and better search

Evernote for BlackBerry gets Android-style home screen and better search originally appeared on Download Squad on Sun, 20 Feb 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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'Windows On Speed': A comprehensive guide on speeding up your OS

2011-02-26T10:15:00.001-08:00

'Windows On Speed': A comprehensive guide on speeding up your OS originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 17 Feb 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Five Essential Best Picture Winners for Tech Lovers [Video]

2011-02-26T09:45:00.001-08:00

Pop some popcorn and zip up your Oscar watchin' pants, because the 83rd Academy Awards are this Sunday. To get us all in the proper cinematic mood, we've rounded up our five favorite tech-heavy Best Picture-winning flicks. More »

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Windows Phone's new UI and Xbox games are most exciting aspects of Microsoft deal, says Nokia poll

2011-02-26T09:15:00.001-08:00

Permalink The Inquirer | Nokia Conversations | Email this | Comments

TELETECH HOLDINGS SRA INTERNATIONAL QLOGIC . NCR

First Windows Phone 7 update updates update mechanism, no copy paste

2011-02-26T08:45:00.001-08:00

If you've been waiting patiently for your Windows Phone 7 device to get copy and paste support, bad news: you're still going to be waiting after you install the update Microsoft is pushing today. The first Windows Phone 7 update brings changes which will pave the way for future updates -- by improving the way the operating system handles updates.

And don't forget, for now you need the Zune desktop app for Windows or the Windows Phone 7 connector app for Mac to install updates on your WP7 phone. Perhaps one of the improvements being shipped is support for OTA updates...

First Windows Phone 7 update updates update mechanism, no copy paste originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 21 Feb 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Weekend Giveaway: Rebtel Wants You To Have A Motorola Atrix

2011-02-26T08:15:00.001-08:00

Rebtel is offering us one hot little Motorola Atrix to give away this weekend to one lucky reader. How do you win? Well first you have to be very very nice to animals and the environment and then you need to click through to comment.

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BMW Teams Up With, Invests $5 Million In MyCityWay

2011-02-26T07:45:00.001-08:00

Auto maker BMW recently established a New York-based venture capital firm dubbed BMW i Ventures that it seeded with $100 million to seek out partnerships that might facilitate BMW-i product adoption in urban markets. BMW-i is a BMW sub-brand solely focused on developing and producing sustainable mobility vehicles. Its first investment was made public this week: BMW pumped $5 million into MyCityWay, a user-driven, location-aware city guide. FirstMark Capital and IA Ventures, who participated in an earlier $1 million seed round, joined BMW.

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FIFA 11 updated, now includes multiplayer!

2011-02-26T07:15:00.001-08:00

FIFA 11 has received a major update and now offers multiplayer gaming over Bluetooth and WiFi. FIFA 11 is a highly successful football (soccer) console game, spanning many years and the release for iOS devices was a fantastic port but always lacked multiplayer. This latest update, as well as offering a few bug fixes, addresses this [...]

FIFA 11 updated, now includes multiplayer! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Deal of the Day ? Lenovo ThinkPad X120e 11.5? AMD Laptop

2011-02-26T06:45:00.001-08:00

Today?s LogicBUY deal offers the Lenovo ThinkPad X120e 11.6? laptop as low as $399 with free shipping, or you can customize to your liking (over $799) and save an extra 10%. This ThinkPad is the first laptop with the AMD Fusion E-series accelerated processing unit (APU). Battery life has been increased by 30%. The AMD [...]

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Rolling Drum-Shaped Battery Powers Office for Three Days

2011-02-26T06:15:00.001-08:00

Yill is a giant, rolling battery that will let you run an office wherever you might be. Think of it as a storage heater, except instead of chugging down cheap nighttime electricity to warm a box of bricks, it instead uses that same budget juice to charge a huge lithium titanium battery pack.
The big white [...]

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Motorola Xoom accessories available for preorder

2011-02-26T05:45:00.001-08:00

The Motorola Xoom Android tablet is looking to be one of the hot items of the spring, and accessories are now available for preorder. Xoom accessories available to preorder include the Motorola Folio Case, Skin Case, Basic Dock, Speaker Dock, Bluetooth keyboard and car charger, among others. And for a limited time, all orders over $50 receive free shipping anywhere in the continental united states, and 2-day shipping is just $4.95. Check out all the new Motorola Xoom accessories in the Android Central Store!

Motorola Xoom accessories available for preorder posted originally by Android Central

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Just How Likable Is Each Angry Bird Anyway? [Image Cache]

2011-02-26T05:15:00.001-08:00

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Ask DLS: How did your Windows 7 SP1 upgrade go?

2011-02-26T04:45:00.001-08:00

Now that the Windows 7 SP1 download is available to the general public and it's also being pushed via Windows Update, we thought we'd check to see how smooth the upgrade process has been for you.

It wasn't all unicorns and double rainbows here in the Download Squad bunker. One laptop refused to progress beyond 66% complete, even after several retries and reboots. Another workstation was left running the update all weekend, and just hit 98% when we returned to work on Tuesday -- only to fail at 99% and start rolling back the operation.

So tell us, DS readers, how was your experience installing the Windows 7 Service Pack 1 update? Hit the poll after the break!

Continue reading Ask DLS: How did your Windows 7 SP1 upgrade go?

Ask DLS: How did your Windows 7 SP1 upgrade go? originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 23 Feb 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola Xoom and Thunderbolt-equipped MacBook Pro get torn down

2011-02-26T04:15:00.001-08:00

The Xoom's big attraction may be the ethereal Honeycomb that oozes within it, but it's still a gadget made of metal, silicon and plastic, so we're as keen as anyone to see what its insides look like. iFixit has dutifully performed the task of tearing one down to its constituent components and found an Atmel touchscreen controller capable of picking up 15 inputs at a time, a Qualcomm MDM6600 chip capable of 14.4Mbps HSPA+ speeds, some Toshiba NAND flash memory, and of course, NVIDIA's beloved Tegra 2 dual-core SOC. The conclusion reached was that the Xoom is relatively easy to repair, though you should be aware there are no less than 57 screws holding the thing together, so free up a nice long afternoon if you intend to disassemble one yourself.

Aside from Moto's flagship tablet, iFixit has also gotten to grips with Apple's latest MacBook Pro, the one that can do Thunderbolt-fast transfers with as yet nonexistent peripherals, though discoveries there were predictably few and far between. The wireless card now has four antennas instead of three and there are some changes made to the cooling systems, but the real reason you'll want to see this is the quad-core Sandy Bridge CPU lurking within -- it's as big and imposing as the performance it promises to deliver.

Motorola Xoom and Thunderbolt-equipped MacBook Pro get torn down originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 12:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | iFixit (Xoom), (MacBook Pro) | Email this | Comments

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