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Breaking down the best, most must-have first-person shooter (FPS) games to blast and brawl your way through on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad First person shooters, affectionally initialized as FPS, are some of the most popular games on any platform and iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad are no exception….
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/tBJjIG9ZGFo/story01.htm
Board games and card games are kind of dorky to begin with. And there are plenty of titles out there that hold a special place in the heart of the nerd (just ask one about Settlers of Catan). But, there is a line, a line which even the nerdiest amongst us might not care to cross. For example, c-Jump — a board game that teaches the basics of programming. Some of the spaces you’ll land on in the course of your journey down the mountain include “goto jump;” and “switch (x) {“. Then there’s CPU Wars, for the three people out there that think Magic: The Gathering is too mainstream. In this card battle game you pit CPUs from throughout history against each other and attempt to collect all your adversary’s processors. You can order c-Jump through ThinkGeek for $25 and pledge cash to CPU Wars over at Kickstarter. You’ll find a video of the card game after the break.
Continue reading CPU Wars and c-Jump: the nerdiest card and board games ever
CPU Wars and c-Jump: the nerdiest card and board games ever originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Dec 2011 20:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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CPU Wars (Kickstarter), c-Jump (ThinkGeek) | Email this | Comments
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/RqpvMD0bOfc/
With intellectual curiosity — especially a love of science — as their common bond, an informal group of uncommon men establish what will become the Royal Society.
Source: http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2011/11/1128britain-royal-society-founded/
How about that: iPad Live, treasure of the internet podcast space, deploys again tonight with special guest Mark Gurman of 9to5Mac. Be there most ricky tick! Time: 9pm ET, 6pm PT, 2am GMT. Place: http://www.tipb.com/live If you have any questions or topics you’d like us to…
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/97elGsC_oiw/story01.htm
For the first time, the Facebook for Android mobile app has eclipsed the daily active user count of Facebook for iPhone. The Android app launched in September 2009 more than a year after its iPhone sister and has been playing catch-up ever since. Both are developed internally by Facebook. This week the two were briefly tied, but the Android app is now pulling away with 58.3 million DAU compared to the iPhone app’s 57.4 million, according to the AppData tracking service. With the Android device base growing at 550,000 activations per day and Timeline now available for Android but not yet for iPhone, I expect this gap to widen.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/NrZFLtYqM30/
Space-shooters are usually a fairly fiery affair, with many types of guns, weapon upgrades, power-ups and more. Dodge does away with all of that, while keeping the very essence of a space shooter: Dark background, fast action, and stuff blowing up all over the place.
Your vector-looking spacecraft is the fastest thing on the screen, most of the time. And as the header implies, you have absolutely no weapons; you can’t get any, either. All you have is agility and maneuverability.
Your opponents shoot heat-seeking missiles at you; the missiles lock on and start tracking you. The trick is to dodge the missiles while putting them in the path of one of your enemies, thus letting them have a taste of their own medicine.
There are three types of enemies, at least in the first few levels: “simple” spaceships which fire slow projectiles, “tanks” which seem to be more serious and take more hits to destroy, and “circles.” The circles simply explode, spewing twenty or thirty very fast projectiles. This sounds dangerous, but is actually great once you learn to use them; they are very destructive for tanks, and can even blow up other circles.
The soundtrack is very techno, but it meshes very well with this type of game. Intense fun!
Dodge is a space-shooter in which you have no weapons originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 01 Mar 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/01/dodge-is-a-space-shooter-in-which-you-have-no-weapons/
The Street by 50 headphones get the job done when it comes to sound quality and volume, but there are a few quirks that didn’t sit well with me. When all is said and done, a decision to buy these headphones all comes down to how serious you are about music and how often you use a pair of cans.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/t093rRnQKss/
Sahara Force India has finally confirmed the not unexpected news that Nico Hulkenberg has been promoted from his third driver role to partner Paul Di Resta in 2012. Dr Vijay Mallya waited until the day after the team’s Xmas party … Continue reading 
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2011/12/16/hulkenberg-and-di-resta-confirmed-at-force-india/
Zoho has offered an iOS app for a while now — at least for the iPhone and iPod touch. Those of you who have been wanting to use the Zoho app on your iPad were out of luck, but that’s no longer the case.
Zoho Docs 2.0 has landed in the App Store, and the most notable change is that it’s now a universal app. Now you’re able to take advantage of the app’s mobile productivity powers on your larger iOS device. Retina display support has also been added, as have document sharing options — which you can utilize in both the viewer and collaboration modes.
Just like the basic Zoho service, the app is available totally free of charge. Paid subscriptions get you additional storage space and start at $3 per month for professional use.
Zoho Docs 2.0 adds iPad support originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 22:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/06/zoho-docs-2-0-app-for-ipad-arrives/
After it was confirmed that Kimi Raikkonen would return to Formula 1 next year, the former World Champion has been speaking about his decision. The 32-year-old has signed a two-year deal with Renault (who will become Lotus in 2012) to return to the sport he left in 2009. Speaking about his decision to return, Raikkonen [...]
America’s favorite pastime, and perhaps that of all first-world countries, has yet to be truly rocked by technology. Sure, there have been a few true advancements like on-demand, streaming and the DVR, but only about 30 minutes of the average seven hours of TV Americans watched in 2010 was time shifted. Forty percent of homes have a DVR today, but most are just using them as tapeless VCRs. The reasons are complex and can’t be summed up easily, but most would agree that DVRs and streaming options are where smartphones and MP3 players once were: plenty of people are throwing things against the wall, but nothing’s sticking. I don’t have the answers, but I do understand what the problem is and what it might take to change it. I can only hope that such a proposed change could become a self-fulfilled prophecy.
Continue reading Editorial: What’s wrong with TV, and what it might take to change it
Editorial: What’s wrong with TV, and what it might take to change it originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Dec 2011 13:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/16/editorial-whats-wrong-with-tv-and-what-it-might-take-to-chang/
Facebook’s recent acquisition of location-tracker heavyweight Gowalla is an indicator of the potential strategic importance of location-tracking technology in the social network arena. Players in this marketplace include Gowalla, which lets users share favorite places with fellow Facebook and Twitter friends and then be rewarded with deals from local businesses, and Foursquare, which offers similar functions.
Source: http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/73978.html
James Christopher McMurray Central Desktop VOLT INFORMATION SCIENCES
Continue reading HP releases X4000 and X5000 mice that don’t mind which hand you use (video)
HP releases X4000 and X5000 mice that don’t mind which hand you use (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Dec 2011 19:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/16/hp-releases-x4000-and-x5000-mice-that-dont-mind-which-hand-you/
Sarah Michelle Gellar IDEATIVE Product Ventures ProcessMaker
‘It’s challenging in all the right ways,’ Marcus Mumford tells MTV News about the band’s Sigh No More follow-up.
By James Montgomery, with reporting by Matt Elias
Winston Marshall and Marcus Mumford of Mumford & Sons
Photo: MTV News
Mumford & Sons have spent most of 2011 working on the follow-up to their breakout Sigh No More album (when they weren’t touring the U.S. by rail, of course). Though they’ve been performing a handful of new songs live, last month they officially unveiled a somber new tune called “Ghosts” during a stop at a Philadelphia radio station.
But as the year draws to a close, there’s still no official release date (or even a title) for the new album, which sort of makes sense, especially since they’re still working on it, as the band told MTV News backstage at the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas in Los Angeles.
“We’re still recording. We don’t really like to put any boundaries on it; we’ll keep going until it’s right,” frontman Marcus Mumford said. “It’s definitely a different experience from the first one, as it should be, I think. But it’s been challenging in all the right ways. It’s going well.
“I think we just want the songs to be good, and to sound right, and to feel like we’ve expressed everything we want to as straightforwardly and honestly as we can … and we’re working towards that,” he continued.
“We’re really enjoying playing the new songs live, and we still feel that our recorded work should be adverts for our live work. The fact that we call it work is a bit pretentious — it’s not work, it’s just playing music with your mates. It’s really fun, and it still is. I think we’re getting on better than we ever have.”
Mumford said that the songs on the new album have been inspired by their whirlwind year, which not only saw them break through in the U.S., but found them going to places they never thought they’d go and meeting the kinds of folks they never thought they’d meet.
“We’ve been writing as we go, and you can’t deny the fact that our circumstances around us will always affect our writing, so we sometimes intentionally put ourselves in circumstances that we want to be inspired by,” he explained. “We went to Nashville for a couple weeks in January and did some really cool writing there; we felt really happy with some of the stuff that came out of it. We stayed in this little farmhouse and had some friends who are musicians come play with us. We played a house show, just had a really nice time. And then we write on the road in these hectic places with lots of people around, and I suppose we’ve always put in ideas that we pick up from conversations with people, and things that we read and things that we listen to and feel.”
Of course, there’s also good news for fans of Sigh No More: From the sound of things, the follow-up isn’t going to stray all that far from that debut. In fact, it’s basically the same songs. After all, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
“If you’re asking whether they’re different from the first album,” multi-instrumentalist Ben Lovett laughed, “what we’ve actually done is taken all the songs from the first album, used all the same chords, some of the same melodies, and just tweaked the lyrics!”
Related Artists
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676133/mumford-sons-sigh-no-more-album.jhtml
We originally reported on SPDY way back in November 2009, when Google introduced it as yet another experiment in making the Web faster, like Go, Native Client and speculative pre-connections. Over the last 18 months, though, SPDY support has found its way into the stable build of Chrome.
SPDY is basically a streamlined and more efficient version of HTTP. At its most basic, SPDY introduces parallel, multiplexed streams over a single TCP connection — but at the same time, SPDY allows for prioritization, so that vital content (HTML) can be sent before periphery content (JavaScript, video). All in all, the SPDY protocol can halve page load times, which is obviously rather significant.
The best bit, though, is that SPDY is an open-source project. HTTP 1.1 is a lumbering beast that needs to be replaced before low-latency real-time computing really becomes a reality, and SPDY is one of the best options currently on the table. To be honest, we’re not sure why SPDY hasn’t received more coverage — it’s awesome in every way. At the moment, though, the only way to help speed up SPDY’s proliferation, is with an experimental Apache mod.
As far as actually ‘trying it out,’ your best bet is downloading Chrome, hitting up some Google sites, and then checking chrome://net-internals to see your active SPDY sessions. SPDY is a transparent replacement for HTTP, though, and as such it’s rather hard to see its effects. Google’s sites definitely feel fast in Chrome, but there are more technologies than just SPDY at work.
Google Chrome now uses SPDY HTTP replacement, halves page load time originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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ELECTRONICS FOR IMAGING TRANSACTION SYSTEMS ARCHITECTS Kyle Busch
This week was packed with news on the mobile front, so it was easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here’s some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of December 12, 2011:
Continue reading Mobile Miscellany: week of December 12, 2011
Mobile Miscellany: week of December 12, 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 17 Dec 2011 11:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/n3-SK5hqg1I/
Zoho has offered an iOS app for a while now — at least for the iPhone and iPod touch. Those of you who have been wanting to use the Zoho app on your iPad were out of luck, but that’s no longer the case.
Zoho Docs 2.0 has landed in the App Store, and the most notable change is that it’s now a universal app. Now you’re able to take advantage of the app’s mobile productivity powers on your larger iOS device. Retina display support has also been added, as have document sharing options — which you can utilize in both the viewer and collaboration modes.
Just like the basic Zoho service, the app is available totally free of charge. Paid subscriptions get you additional storage space and start at $3 per month for professional use.
Zoho Docs 2.0 adds iPad support originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 22:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/06/zoho-docs-2-0-app-for-ipad-arrives/
This week on the Gadget Lab podcast, the gang checks out the hot new Samsung Galaxy Nexus, a bunch of pint-sized digital cameras and an awesome smartphone microscope mount.
Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/12/podcast-nexus-cams-scope/
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is not the largest plane in the world. Nor is it the fastest. It doesn’t have on-board showers or full-size beds, nor can it lay claim to the greatest range or sleekest entertainment system in the air. But it will change the way we fly for decades to come. Boeing’s latest commercial airliner is several feet wider and longer than the 767, the company’s smallest wide-body (twin-aisle) jet, yet it’s 20 percent more fuel efficient. Given that fuel is the single greatest operating cost for any airline, savings of that magnitude could return the industry to profitability, and perhaps even usher in lower airfares for passengers.
But while the 787′s efficiency makes it an attractive option for airlines, it also serves up a more comfortable ride for passengers. We recently had a chance to fly on a domestic round trip between Tokyo and Okayama in Japan aboard an All Nippon Airways (ANA) Dreamliner — one of the first two ever delivered. Quieter engines, dimmable windows, LED lights, huge overhead bins, an in-flight bar and on-demand entertainment enhance comfort, even during shorter flights, while higher humidity, a greater internal pressurization level and a gust alleviation system reduce the effects of turbulence. Care to take a ride? Jump past the break to join us on board Boeing’s brand new Dreamliner.
Gallery: Boeing 787 Dreamliner exterior
Continue reading Boeing 787 review: ANA’s Dreamliner flies across Japan, we join for the ride
Boeing 787 review: ANA’s Dreamliner flies across Japan, we join for the ride originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Dec 2011 15:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/16/boeing-787-review-anas-dreamliner-flies-across-japan-we-join/
Yesterday, Facebook rolled out its new Timeline feature to the masses. This ultra-illustrative, chronological listing of posts, photos, shared links, check-ins, and more is a radically different arrangement than the Facebook profile you’ve been used to. Here’s how to curate it to best effect.
Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/12/facebook-timeline-tips/
Nortel, once one of the biggest telecoms company in the world but now in the death throes of bankruptcy, has selected Google’s $900 million bid for its patent portfolio as the stalking horse bid. This doesn’t mean that Google will automatically win Nortel’s massive array of telecoms patents, but it does mean that Google is the preferred buyer.
Google, which has a history of lobbying for patent law reform, has been the target of many patent litigation suits. Google’s relative infancy means that it has a lot less patents in the vault than big-hitters like Microsoft, Oracle and IBM, and buying Nortel’s portfolio of 6,000 patents could provide better protection against patent litigation in the future. It’s worth noting that both Apple and RIM have showed interested in the portfolio, too.
Mashable speculates that the patents — which are nearly all telecoms-related — will be used to defend against Oracle’s attacks on Android’s use of Java. We reckon that Google is simply looking to cover its future endeavors in the world of networking. In the absence of patent law reform, and continued threats to net neutrality, owning a bunch of telecoms patents sounds like a very sensible move.
Google bids $900 million for Nortel’s patents to protect against litigation trolls originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Sand Trap is one of those games that at first seem too hard to bother with, but when you try to stop playing it you discover you’re hooked.
The goal is to get as much sand as you possibly can out of the maze and into the bucket at the bottom of the screen. You need to rotate your maze every which way to get the sand rolling around it. You then try to direct the sand to one of the exits of the maze, and hopefully into the bucket. It took me several tries to actually get sand into the bucket, but that might be due to the fact that I didn’t even realize the bucket was there at first. Things improved significantly after that.
As you level up, the mazes get more complicated, with moving parts and other things making your life more difficult. Once you manage to get through all these obstacles and get enough sand into your bucket, you can move on.
As I mentioned, this is not an easy game, but it’s highly addictive. The graphics remind me of some long lost game from the 80s, but this just proves that you don’t need super graphics and crazy sound to make a game work. There’s a soothing guitar track playing in the background and that’s it, as far as I could hear, and you can enjoy it just as much with no sound at all.
If you like a fun physics challenge, don’t miss out on this one!
Sand Trap is a fun and difficult physics maze game originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/04/sand-trap-is-a-fun-physics-maze-game/
Sarah Michelle Gellar IDEATIVE Product Ventures ProcessMaker
The first is a full-featured proxy API, which will, for example, allow users to set different proxy servers for normal browsing and Incognito mode. Proxy auto-config scripts are also supported by the API.
The second — Web Navigation Extension — is a bit more expansive. This API will allow devs to build everything from more powerful safe browsing extensions — like Traffic Light — to data analysis and reporting extensions.
Both APIs are currently experimental, so you’ll need to enable them on the about:flags page to try out any relevant extensions. Apart from a proxy example built by Google and shipped with the Chromium source, we’re not aware of any examples just yet, however. We’ll let you know when we spot any slick, new extensions which do surface.
Chrome 11 beta adds new experimental APIs for proxies, Web navigation originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
You heard right — Google itself has just affirmed on its own social networking branch that Android 4.0 will begin to hit GSM / UMTS (sorry, Sprint users!) Nexus S devices over the coming month, with the luckiest few to get it today. Outside of that, there’s no more specific time table to be had, but if you’re able to suck it down in the coming hours, definitely sound off on the improvements in comments below.
Update: Looks like the package is available to download and install (at your own risk, of course) for Nexus S, AWS version (T-Mobile compatible). Huzzah!
Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) comes to GSM / UMTS Nexus S starting today originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Dec 2011 16:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Google+, Google Support | Email this | Comments
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/16/android-4-0-ice-cream-sandwich-comes-to-gsm-umts-nexus-s-sta/
Google, in an interesting but not entirely unexpected twist, will not be open-sourcing Android 3.0 Honeycomb for the foreseeable future.
Historically, Android is usually open-sourced via the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) a few days or weeks after the code is finalized. While this departure from the norm won’t affect OEMs like HTC and Motorola that have access to internal builds of Android, small-time developers will likely have to wait months before rolling their own distributions.
As to why Google is holding back Honeycomb, its reasons are actually rather rational. Honeycomb, while originally intended to run on all mobile form factors, is only ready for deployment on tablets. “To make our schedule to ship the tablet, we made some design tradeoffs,” says Andy Rubin, the head of Google’s Android group. “We didn’t want to think about what it would take for the same software to run on phones. It would have required a lot of additional resources and extended our schedule beyond what we thought was reasonable. So we took a shortcut.”
In other words, Google wants to prevent OEMs and homebrew developers like Cyanogen from rolling their own smartphone versions of Honeycomb — it doesn’t want to see the same bitter-tasting tabletified bastardization that occurred with Android 2.1 and 2.2 last year.
Continue reading Google holds back on open-sourcing Honeycomb, heralds massive shift for Android
Google holds back on open-sourcing Honeycomb, heralds massive shift for Android originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 25 Mar 2011 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
We’ve covered Classic Shell before, but here’s the crib note: Classic Shell restores almost every Windows XP-era Explorer feature. The best change, in our opinion, is the reemergence of the ‘up’ arrow, meaning you now navigate without using the Windows Vista/7 ‘breadcrumbs’ address bar. The status bar yet again shows the total size of your selection, and — praise be! — the diabolical Windows 7 Copy File ‘copy and replace?’ dialog has been replaced with a Windows XP lookalike (image after the break).
New to the most recent version of Classic Shell is the ability to make IE9 look like IE8. With Classic Shell the title bar yet again has a caption, so you can see the full title of Web pages. The current security zone and loading progress indicator have been put back into the status bar, too. If you enable ‘Show tabs on a separate row,’ it’s almost like using IE8.
Finally, Classic Shell replaces the omnipotent Windows 7 Start Menu with the age-old ‘classic’ Windows 2000/XP-style Start Menu. Classic Shell makes the Start Menu skinable, too, if you’re into the kind of thing.
As awesome as it sounds, we’ve only touched on a small section of Classic Shell’s feature set. Check the Classic Shell site for a complete list. There’s a few more images of Classic Shell in action after the break.
Download Classic Shell for Windows
Continue reading Classic Shell now makes Internet Explorer 9 look like IE8
Classic Shell now makes Internet Explorer 9 look like IE8 originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
You know those fridge magnet kits composed of a whole bunch of words? The ones you put all over your fridge door and then try to arrange into all sorts of juvenile and/or amusing sentences. Well, Farragomate is the social, webby version of that very same pastime.
You get to play with a bunch of random strangers in real-time, and make up sentences out of a pre-set collection of words, including some fairly naughty ones, and all players’ nicknames. As you can imagine, some of the results are not child-friendly.
There are ten rounds to a game. Once a round is done, players get to vote for their favorite sentence from that round. You can’t vote for your own creation, of course. There’s in-game chat, too.
I think the vocabulary could be made a bit more eclectic, but even as it is, it’s a nice way to spend a few minutes and meet random strangers on the Internet (always a thrilling experience).
Farragomate is a social fridge magnet game where you make up sentences originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is not the largest plane in the world. Nor is it the fastest. It doesn’t have on-board showers or full-size beds, nor can it lay claim to the greatest range or sleekest entertainment system in the air. But it will change the way we fly for decades to come. Boeing’s latest commercial airliner is several feet wider and longer than the 767, the company’s smallest wide-body (twin-aisle) jet, yet it’s 20 percent more fuel efficient. Given that fuel is the single greatest operating cost for any airline, savings of that magnitude could return the industry to profitability, and perhaps even usher in lower airfares for passengers.
But while the 787′s efficiency makes it an attractive option for airlines, it also serves up a more comfortable ride for passengers. We recently had a chance to fly on a domestic round trip between Tokyo and Okayama in Japan aboard an All Nippon Airways (ANA) Dreamliner — one of the first two ever delivered. Quieter engines, dimmable windows, LED lights, huge overhead bins, an in-flight bar and on-demand entertainment enhance comfort, even during shorter flights, while higher humidity, a greater internal pressurization level and a gust alleviation system reduce the effects of turbulence. Care to take a ride? Jump past the break to join us on board Boeing’s brand new Dreamliner.
Gallery: Boeing 787 Dreamliner exterior
Continue reading Boeing 787 review: ANA’s Dreamliner flies across Japan, we join for the ride
Boeing 787 review: ANA’s Dreamliner flies across Japan, we join for the ride originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Dec 2011 15:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/16/boeing-787-review-anas-dreamliner-flies-across-japan-we-join/
By and large, the ?Sherlock Holmes” movies are a more-or-less faithful adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle?s sharp-eyed sleuth, albeit with some slo-mo bareknuckle boxing thrown in for good measure. There?s Holmes, cracking wise; there?s Watson, looking perturbed. What more do you need? As you can see in this newly released clip, not much.
Watch an [...]
Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2011/12/16/five-sherlock-holmes-stories-that-should-be-adapted-next/
News curation startup Scoop.it has arrived on the iPhone today, allowing you to create your own digital magazine while on the go. The app, which works alongside the Scoop.it web service, essentially lets anyone be a publisher for any topic. Or perhaps, the more correct word is not “publisher,” it’s “aggregator.”
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Q7_617lwgq8/
Competition is a good thing, and the browser arena has been a fierce arena for years now. There are at least four “major” browsers each vying for your attention, along with lots of smaller spin-offs (SRWare Iron or Flock, anyone?).
While the browser usage charts we share from time to time show overall browser usage amongst the Web at large, Download Squad readers are not exactly the average bunch in terms of browser use. So today we have one simple question for you:
What’s your primary Web browser?
Ask DLS: What’s your primary Web browser? originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/02/16/ask-dls-whats-your-primary-browser/
Here’s an attractive entry to the world of iPad stands. The Mantis Stand for iPad & iPad 2 from Flatscreen Arms is made of solid aluminum and has an anodized, maintenance-free finish. The swivel, tilting head let’s you position your iPad in vertical or horizontal orientations; you can even adjust it to hold the iPad [...]
Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/12/14/mantis-stand-for-ipad-and-ipad-2/
TicketBiscuit LLC Automated Voice & Data Solutions Expedien, Inc
Did you see Barbara Walters’ interview with the Kardashian family on her ’10 Most Fascinating People’ special last night? She didn’t pull any punches, from asking Kim about her sex tape to pointing out they had no talent. Barbara asked … Continue reading
Source: http://www.imnotobsessed.com/2011/12/15/kardashians-admit-they-have-no-talent/
‘U guys always know a good thing! Ha!!!!’ Young Money MC tells MTV News.
By Christina Garibaldi
Nicki Minaj
Photo: Getty Images
Nicki Minaj‘s year was nothing short of amazing. The reigning queen of hip-hop spent 2011 climbing the charts, hitting the road and racking up a slew of awards. All of that helped her secure the #2 spot for her smash single “Super Bass” on MTV’s Best Songs of 2011 rankings and landed her at #2 on our list of the Best Artists of the year.
“Thanks MTV!!!!” Minaj said told MTV News in a statement. “U guys always know a good thing! Ha!!!! The barbz and I are thrilled. 
”
The Young Money MC released her debut, Pink Friday, at the end of 2010 and rode the success of that album well into 2011 with several hit singles, including “Moment 4 Life” (featuring Drake) and the infectious “Super Bass.”
Minaj also further expanded her fanbase into the pop world by joining Britney Spears on her Femme FataleTour. “I wanted my set to be more than an opening act, ’cause, you know, I did that already,” Minaj told MTV News back in August. “I always like to raise the bar for myself, and that’s what I did. I think it’s important to give people what they paid for. I don’t really expect them to know all the records, but I guess it just kind of transcends all genres of music at this point.”
And transcending genres is exactly what Nicki is doing. She just shot the video for Madonna’s “Gimme All Your Luvin”, which will also feature M.I.A. The four-time Grammy nominee also released “Roman in Moscow,” the first track off her upcoming sophomore album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded. It’s all setting the stage for a big 2012.
“It’s been overwhelming, it’s been crazy,” she recently told us about her tremendous year. “But it’s been fun. … It’s been a crazy year.”
Stick with MTV as we count down the Best of 2011, including the top Artists, Songs, Live Performances and EDM Artists of the year.
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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676072/best-artists-of-2011-nicki-minaj.jhtml
It’s always great to see genre titles make it to the awards shows, which is why we’re excited that Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s “American Horror Story” has been nominated for a Golden Globe in the Drama Series category. The Harmon family and their supernatural roommates are up against several other newcomers including the much-loved [...]
Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2011/12/15/american-horror-story-golden-globe-nomination/
It is a known fact that when most of the people encounter problems with their everyday use of the ipad, they resolve to upgrading or downgrading their firmware as a way to eliminate and solve their problems. There are many problems however that cannot be solved or fixed by upgrading or downgrading ipad firm ware. Though the two tasks appear to be similar, they differ from one another, and this is not in reference to upgrade or downgrade. The legality [...]
Source: http://tabletbuzzblog.com/how-to-upgrade-or-downgrade-ipad-firmware/
While this iPhone Carabiner Clip looks rather handy at first glance, I’m struggling to come up with any kind of real use-case. I guess you could let it dangle from the back of a bag until either both the iPhone’s glass faces were all scratched to hell, or a light-fingered passerby unhooked the clip and [...]
Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/12/carabiner-clip-for-iphone-possibly-pointless/
Palo Alto Library to loan out Google Chromebooks alongside real books originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Dec 2011 10:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/15/palo-alto-library-to-loan-out-google-chromebooks-alongside-real/
If you have an artistic temperament, but you weren’t blessed with steady hands or an eye for color, Konstruct might be the app for you. Not only does the iPhone app let you produce generative art using words, warbles and whistles, but it also uses augmented reality to bring your artistic creation to life.
To get started, you first need to print out the Konstruct marker and place it wherever you’d like to create your AR sculpture — it could be on your living room wall, or on the floor of your bathroom, it doesn’t matter. Open the app, point your iPhone at the marker, and start making some noises! Once you’re done, you can save your creation, or simply wipe the slate clean and start again.
The volume of your voice affects the size of the shapes that are drawn on the screen, and you can move your head around to alter the path of your ‘brush’ — but to change the shape of your brush or modify the color palette you have to use a menu. Without knowledge of the app’s internal workings, it’s hard to say what the actual difference between whistling, talking and singing is — and judging by the developer’s affinity for whistling in the demo video (after the break), the app probably doesn’t perform that much analysis on your input.
Still, Konstruct is just a prototype! A later version could do away with menus and rely entirely on the location, tonality, quality and amplitude of your voice — and judging by the the words of the developer, James Alliban, there is definitely more in store for Konstruct: “The idea of transforming entire cities into user generated virtual art galleries really appeals to me. I see Konstruct as an early prototype that will hopefully be realised in this form in the future.”
Download Konstruct for free from the App Store (iPhone 3GS and 4 only)
[Thanks to Richard for the tip!]
Continue reading Konstruct for iOS creates generative augmented reality art with your voice
Konstruct for iOS creates generative augmented reality art with your voice originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
They usually offer one “Deal of the Day”, which is a 50% discount code for a book chosen for that one day. But just for for today, they’ve created a discount code — DDJPN — that gives you a 50% discount on their entire catalog, and they give a part of the proceeds to aid Japan relief efforts.
So far they’ve raised over $60,000, and the day is still young. So if you’ve been recently hankering after some nerdy book (or three), now would be a great time to grab one.
O’Reilly helps Japan, offers entire e-book catalog for 50% off, today only originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 14:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Last.fm is going all HTML5 with Discover, a new music discovery service that lets you find artists through tag search and create playlists by dragging and dropping songs from the comfort of your browser. Once you’ve created a mix from the site’s rolling fields of music, you can share it via Facebook and Twitter to show the world just how indie you are. Check out the new service at the source link below.
Continue reading Last.fm Discover delivers greener pastures of music discovery
Last.fm Discover delivers greener pastures of music discovery originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/Sgukit7vt5M/
We originally reported on SPDY way back in November 2009, when Google introduced it as yet another experiment in making the Web faster, like Go, Native Client and speculative pre-connections. Over the last 18 months, though, SPDY support has found its way into the stable build of Chrome.
SPDY is basically a streamlined and more efficient version of HTTP. At its most basic, SPDY introduces parallel, multiplexed streams over a single TCP connection — but at the same time, SPDY allows for prioritization, so that vital content (HTML) can be sent before periphery content (JavaScript, video). All in all, the SPDY protocol can halve page load times, which is obviously rather significant.
The best bit, though, is that SPDY is an open-source project. HTTP 1.1 is a lumbering beast that needs to be replaced before low-latency real-time computing really becomes a reality, and SPDY is one of the best options currently on the table. To be honest, we’re not sure why SPDY hasn’t received more coverage — it’s awesome in every way. At the moment, though, the only way to help speed up SPDY’s proliferation, is with an experimental Apache mod.
As far as actually ‘trying it out,’ your best bet is downloading Chrome, hitting up some Google sites, and then checking chrome://net-internals to see your active SPDY sessions. SPDY is a transparent replacement for HTTP, though, and as such it’s rather hard to see its effects. Google’s sites definitely feel fast in Chrome, but there are more technologies than just SPDY at work.
Google Chrome now uses SPDY HTTP replacement, halves page load time originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Toshiba’s radiation spotting camera means the end of ‘nuclear hotspot hide and seek’ originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Dec 2011 19:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/14/toshibas-radiation-spotting-camera-means-the-end-of-nuclear-ho/
Talk That Talk leadoff broke records and quickly became a definitive single for the unstoppable star.
By Jason Kaufman
Rihanna
Photo: Getty Images
Rihanna‘s “We Found Love” didn’t have that many days on the calendar to make an impact — after all, it was just released in October. But that didn’t stop it from being the chart monster of the fall as well as #3 on MTV’s Best Songs of 2011. It was a classic upon arrival, a song that immediately felt like it had been here forever instead of just three short months.
The leadoff single from Talk That Talk is where Rihanna fully embraced EDM. Produced by Calvin Harris, “We Found Love” is a swirling party track about love and loss, the rare song that manages to be sad and joyous all at once. And it is a pinnacle of the pop/dance crossover, a throwback to ’90s raves that could make even the most stoic lover of pop want to break out a glow stick and just dance.
MTV correspondent Sway Calloway moderated a spirited roundtable discussion with some of our very own experts: James Montgomery and Rob Markman (MTV News), Yomi Desalu and Malika Quemerais (MTV Music and Talent) and Tamar Anitai and Nicole James (MTV.com). The panel managed to narrow down the Best Songs of 2011, with “We Found Love” besting top 10 tracks from the Throne, Chris Brown and Katy Perry.
Just how did “We Found Love” hit #3? Watch the debate below!
“That song came out and went to #1, and when a song has that kind of impact that quickly, it deserves to be recognized,” Quemerais said during the discussion.
Montgomery went even further in his personal Top 25 Songs of 2011 column: “A few weeks ago, someone told me ‘We Found Love’ would ultimately end up being Rihanna’s signature hit, and at the time, I sort of laughed him off. But the more I think about it, he may be right. Or at least on the right track.
“From the icy synth strains to Calvin Harris’ hard-charging pre-chorus, it most certainly is the song that best represents pop, circa 2011, and given RiRi’s standing in the field, perhaps in time, it will become her set-closing number too. For now, at least, I’m content to bask in “Love” ‘s masterful mix of the carnal and, well, the club.”
Get more of Montgomery’s personal picks for the Top Songs of the Year!
Beyond being a definitive pop dance track, “WFL” was also a historic single for Rihanna. “Love” just completed its climb to the top of the Billboard Hot 100, giving Rihanna her 11th #1 hit, which puts her one ahead of Stevie Wonder and Janet Jackson. “It’s the symbolic one that breaks the record and she gets credit for that,” Markman said during the debate.
Our panel of experts thinks there’s no stopping “We Found Love” from dominating the year ahead.
“I think this song is going to carry over into much of 2012,” Anitai said.
“Then maybe it will be on next year’s list,” Montgomery added.
The “We Found Love” video director breaks down the song below.
All this week, watch “AMTV” on MTV every day at 8 a.m. ET for our Best of 2011 lists. Then, come to MTVNews.com at 5 p.m. as we reveal our top picks of the year!
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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676017/rihanna-we-found-love-best-songs-2011.jhtml
Continue reading Flex Lighting’s LED film will brighten your e-reader, mood (video)
Flex Lighting’s LED film will brighten your e-reader, mood (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink The eBook Reader | Flex Lighting | Email this | Comments
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/J91H6SYkmw0/
COTA has confirmed that it has concluded a deal with Bernie Ecclestone and paid him for the 2012 US GP. The race has remained on the calendar after today’s meeting of the World Motor Sport Council in Delhi. In a … Continue reading 
Source: http://adamcooperf1.com/2011/12/07/cota-we-have-paid-ecclestone-for-us-gp/
In news that will no doubt shake the very bedrock of your belief system, Apple has asked Toyota to remove its Scion theme and its advertising from ModMyi, a Cydia repository. The Scion theme has been available for weeks, but after it received a ton of press in the last couple of days, Apple finally lashed out.
It’s not like we should be surprised, considering Apple has claimed in the past that jailbreaking is illegal – but at the same time, did the Cupertino cronies hear about the ruling that made circumventing DRM, and thus jailbreaking, legal? Anyway, whether Toyota was supporting illegal, legal, or deliciously gray and ambiguous, activity, it doesn’t matter: Apple asked Toyota to remove the theme, and Toyota graciously bent over and capitulated.
This story raises a much more interesting topic, though: this is the first time a multinational company has publicly acknowledged and embraced the jailbreak community. Considering jailbreaking is technically legal, and Cydia’s creator, Jay Freeman, estimates that up to 9% of OS devices are jailbroken, it simply makes good, commercial sense to target jailbreakers with ads. Toyota was simply trying to make some money, for shame!
As long as Apple continues to throw around its increasingly-expansive mass, the legality of jailbreaking will continue to be inconsequential. It will be interesting to see if another big company dares embrace the jailbreak community after this, too.
Toyota pulls Cydia theme and ads to appease Apple originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 05:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Microsoft’s love affair with iOS isn’t over yet. Hot on the heels of an iPad-supporting OneNote update and the App Store debut of Kinectimals, comes an official SkyDrive app for the iPhone. Of course, the Redmond crew isn’t leaving its own handsets out in the cold. Windows Phone 7 is also getting an app to compliment its already rather deep integration with cloud storage service. Both apps sport, more or less, the same feature set: the ability to browse all of your files, share them with others, delete them and create new folders. When sharing links you can even choose whether or not a person can edit a document or simply view it. At least for now it appears that Android users who also happen to be SkyDrive fans will have to make do with the mobile web site. To see both the iPhone and WP7 versions of the app in action head on after the break.
Microsoft launches SkyDrive app for Windows Phone and iPhone, forms No Androids Club originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Dec 2011 16:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/MV-LG5uSAIc/
Coby has announced an upcoming line of Android Internet tablets that will be among the first to feature the Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich” OS. They’ll be introduced at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January 2012. There will be a 7″, 8″, 9″, 9.7″, and 10″ model, and all will have the [...]
Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/12/11/coby-introduces-new-android-4-0-ice-cream-sandwich-tablets/
After leaving London, Jessica Biel went to Germany, where she appeared on the German TV show “Wetten dass…?’ along with Karl Lagerfeld, Lenny Kravitz, and Til Schweiger (who escorted her onstage). While Jessica opted for bright orange in London, she … Continue reading
Source: http://www.imnotobsessed.com/2011/12/04/jessica-biel-on-german-tv/
Version 5.3 of Skype for Windows has just been released, with the main emphasis of the new release being improved call quality, and the quality of video received by mobile Skype users. Presumably one party of the video call must be using Skype for Windows 5.3, though.
Beyond improved call quality, not much has changed. You can now see your friends’ presence icons when contact cards are collapsed, and the topic editing button is now always visible on the conversation header. For a complete list of changes, hit up the Skype Garage blog.
Download Skype 5.3 for Windows
Skype 5.3 for Windows released, improves mobile video call quality originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 12:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
The Samsung galaxy tab follows the amazing line of tablet pc that has really changed the mobile device landscape. One cannot stop thinking of what is the next technology we are going to see in conjunction with tablet pc development in the near future. Tough the Samsung galaxy tab is not by far the most superior or popular tablet pc, it still is amongst the best. Coming with an amazing vivid touch screen and amazing specs that will leave most [...]
Source: http://tabletbuzzblog.com/tablet-samsung-galaxy-tab-vs-ipad/
Plenty of great movies came our way in 2011, and even more awesome ones are on the horizon for 2012. But even though some of these films feel far away, we’ve gotten plenty of advanced looks at some of the upcoming year’s hottest projects through trailers, posters and even the considerably more shady set-stalking.
From leaked [...]
Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2011/12/13/dark-knight-rises-best-set-stalking-2011/
