Wednesday, November 30, 2011

How Apple's Grand Central Station Store Is Screwing New York [Apple]

The Grand Central Apple store isn't even open yet and it's already becoming a massive headache for New York. First was its garish video facade. Now comes word that Apple's lease on the space is jobbing the city's transit department out of a bunch of revenue. More »






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Zen Coding high-speed HTML shorthand plug-in updated

Zen Coding made quite a splash when we first covered it almost a year ago. For those who aren't familiar, Zen is a fantastic form of shorthand for quickly hand-coding HTML. And today, a new version is out!

Here are some of the goodies version 0.7 brings to the party:


Text nodes: Writing something like a[href=/]{Click here} now works, and puts "Click here" within the link.

New actions added: Increment/decrement number under cursor, evaluate math expressions, and more.

Wrap with Abbreviation was upgraded.

There are several other improvements but they're all rather technical. If you use Zen Coding (or are intrigued by the concept) go ahead and read the release notes for this new version.

Zen Coding has official implementations for a ton of editors, including TextMate, Apatana, Coda, E2, Komodo, Notepad++, PSPad, and more. It also has unofficial builds for Vim, UltraEdit, Visual Studio and more.

If you want to play with Zen Coding without installing it, you can use the online demo to see some of its magic in action.Zen Coding high-speed HTML shorthand plug-in updated originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 15 Mar 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Toyota pulls Cydia theme and ads to appease Apple

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.Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Blanket EU Privacy Regs Could Make Facebook Break a Sweat

The European Union may begin an overhaul of its 1995 Data Protection Directive next year to provide one single unified body of legislation on this issue. EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding will propose the reform in January, according to spokesperson Matthew Newman.

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DropSpace adds real Dropbox sync to Android

Dropbox offers a lovely client for Android, but it's lacking true "sync" functionality. You can merely browse your Dropbox, pull files into the device, and manually upload specific files.

DropSpace is a little Android app that makes Dropbox on Android work like Dropbox - that is, you get real folder synchronization in the background.

When you run the app you're prompted for your Dropbox credentials. After logging in to Dropbox, you get to select which device folders you'd like to sync to the cloud. It's a straightforward mapping process: You select a folder on the device, and then specify where in Dropbox it should go.

The interface is rather clunky, at least for now. The biggest annoyance is that you can't edit your "sync list": if you add a folder and then wish to remove it, you must delete the entire list of folders and start over.

In terms of functionality, it works quite well. I tested it with the camera folder, and it was nice to be able to take my photos using the lean default Camera app and have them sync up to the cloud instantly.DropSpace adds real Dropbox sync to Android originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 04 Mar 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

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AT&T Thought We Were All Idiots (Updated) [At&t]

As promised, the FCC provided their full report on the now-defunct AT&T-Mobile merger, in which they laced their comments throughout the original proposal. What'd the FCC think? That AT&T tried to play us all for fools. More »






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British royal family announces iOS and Android wedding app

To celebrate the imminent marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Royal Collection will release an Android an iOS app that chronicles the last seven royal marriages, including Queen Victoria's marriage to Prince Albert in 1840.

Ironically, the app won't actually feature anything to do with William and Kate's marriage -- rather, it will focus on the "tradition, splendor and romance" that are intrinsic to British royal marriages. "[The app] will share the stories of past royal weddings and offer a wealth of historical context for the ceremony on April 29."

Unfortunately, the app, which has been lumbered with the fantastically creative name of 'Royal App,' won't be available until April 18 -- just 11 days before Kate's big day. It won't be free, either: it'll cost the rather princely sum of £1.79, or three of your Tea Party-loving dollars. The money will go to the Royal Collection, though, which is a good cause!British royal family announces iOS and Android wedding app originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Adobe Flash Player 11.1 coming to the Galaxy Nexus by end of year

Adobe's been saying this for a week or so now, and today it made it officially official in an official blog post: Flash Player 11.1 will come to the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Huzzah. Look for the update in December (makes since, because November's 24 hours from being in our rear-view mirrors). Glad to see another one last update for Flash Player (and AIR as well, which we're already seeing in the Android Market) for the Galaxy Nexus. Now if only we could get the phone in North America. Source: Adobe; Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

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The USMC's Next Generation of Target Dummies Ride Segways [Monster Machines]

For years, military live fire exercises have relied on either stationary or pop-out targets but they don't really simulate enemy movements—they just sit there, waiting to be shot. These targets, newly developed for the USMC don't; they move, behave, and react just like real combatants. More »






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Zoho Docs 2.0 adds iPad support

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.Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Autonomy CEO talks about HP's future, promises 'really stunning technology'

New details are emerging today about HP's plans for Autonomy, nearly two months after Whitman & Co. purchased the software-maker for a cool $10.4 billion. In an interview with ZDNet UK, Autonomy chief executive Mike Lynch said his company's search, data analysis and AR technologies will be integrated within a range of HP products, including its printers, servers and storage unit, and its consumer-focused Personal Systems Group, which handles phones, tablets and PCs. "There is a lot of work going on between the different business units at HP," Lynch explained. "Servers and storage is obviously key [but with the] Personal Systems Group stuff is going to come that was only available for very large companies." He went on to say that Autonomy's data analysis artillery will be linked up to HP's public cloud service, and that both companies have developed some "really stunning technology" for printers. The exec didn't offer many details beyond that, but he did promise that more information would be released "very shortly." Autonomy CEO talks about HP's future, promises 'really stunning technology' originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Nov 2011 04:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink   |  ZDNet UK  | Email this | Comments

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Daily Tip: How to set up safe iPad or iPod touch email for your child

Thinking about getting your child an iPad or iPod touch and wondering how to safely give them limited email access on iOS? Email is a handy way to share things like pictures they’ve taken with the Camera app. I’ve chosen to use Hotmail (Windows Live) for my kids because...

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Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Facebook Finally Fixed Its Terrible Privacy Policy [Facebook]

Facebook's privacy record has been shaky at best. But that's about to change, thanks to today's settlement with the FTC. From now on, all privacy changes have to be opt-in for users, instead of Facebook changing it for you. About time. More »






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Dodge is a space-shooter in which you have no weapons

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.Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Is Spotify About to Open Its Doors to Other Apps? [Music]

Spotify will be holding a press conference tomorrow to announce some special goodness. But what? Some are speculating that Spotify plans to make its huge music library available to you via apps other than its own. And Spotify everywhere sure sounds nice. More »






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Gladinet maps Amazon Cloud Drive to your Windows desktop

Amazon's recently-introduced Cloud Drive is a great place to store your files online. It offers 5 gigs of totally free space, and U.S. users also get access to the handy Cloud Player app (for Web and Android!) which streams music you upload to your Cloud Drive.

The service could be a little easier to use, however. Until Amazon releases a desktop client, Windows users might want to take another look at Gladinet. The multi-service cloud connector has now added Amazon Cloud Drive support and will let you map a network drive letter to your account with minimal fuss.

Once you've added your credentials to Gladinet, just pick the letter you want to assign to the drive and you're good to go. You can then copy files to and from your Cloud Drive, rename items, and manage folders like you would any local hard drive in your system.

The only downside is that the free version of Gladinet gives you a limited number of cloud interactions. Once you use those up, you'll need to upgrade to the paid version, which costs $49.99. If you work with a number of cloud-based storage providers, however, it could be well worth the price tag.Gladinet maps Amazon Cloud Drive to your Windows desktop originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Cyber Monday Savings in the ShopAndroid.com Phone Store!

Cyber Monday is upon us, the ShopAndroid Phone Store has the biggest online shopping day of the year covered with some great discounts if you're in the market for a new Android phone. We've got savings on the HTC Wildfire, Droid Incredible 2 and Inspire 4G, the LG Marquee, the Motorola Photon and the Samsung Stratosphere -- plus more of your favorite phones in stock. Follow the links below to learn more and take advantage of the savings. The sale ends tonight, so hurry! Cyber Monday Deals at the ShopAndroid Phone Store HTC Wildfire S on T-Mobile HTC Inspire 4G on AT&T (or in red) LG Marquee on Sprint Motorola Photon on Sprint Samsung Stratosphere 4G on Verizon HTC Droid Incredible 2 on Verizon

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NVIDIA announces special edition GTX 560 Ti with 448 CUDA cores, available now for $289

Now that we're officially in the throes of holiday shopping season, NVIDIA's rolling out a promotion of its own, though sadly it doesn't involve any steep discounts. The outfit just announced a special edition GPU: the GTX 560 Ti with 448 CUDA cores, running at 1.46GHz, a 732MHz graphics clock and 1.25GB of GDDR5 memory charging ahead at an effective rate of 3.8GHz. Other features include support for three-way SLI, DisplayPort, HDMI and DVI. Those specs place it snugly between the current GTX 560 Ti with 384 CUDA cores, and the higher-end GTX 570, which packs 480. If this seems like a puzzling move, it is indeed the first time NVIDIA's bothered with a limited holiday edition card, though in conversations with reporters the company made it clear its new hardware is meant to dovetail with the arrival of games like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Battlefield 3 and Batman: Arkham City. If you're shopping for a gamer (or, you know, yourself), it's available now for $289 in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Russia and Nordic countries through companies like ASUS, MSI and Gigabyte, among others.

Update: Looks like the reviews are rolling in! We've linked a handful of 'em below.NVIDIA announces special edition GTX 560 Ti with 448 CUDA cores, available now for $289 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Nov 2011 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments



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Apple Tops Android In Mobile Ad Performance, But Windows Phone Still Leads The Pack

Mobile ad optimization platform�Smaato, Inc. released the results of its mobile ad report for Q3 2011 today and found that, for the third consecutive quarter, Windows Phone (156) led the company's "Smaato Index," a measure of mobile operating system click-through rates. In second place was RIM (113), which has now overtaken both Apple (89) and�Android (84) .

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Sharp AQUOS SH-01D appears on NTT DoCoMo, offers up glasses-free 3D

Not content with brandishing a medley of LTE-packed smartphones this season, Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo has confirmed a December release for Sharp's AQUOS SH-01D. While it lacks any 4G chops, the Android phone is cocooned in waterproof protection and packs a 12.1 megapixel camera on the back. An OMAP 4430 1GHz dual-core processor runs Gingerbread on the 3D-capable 1280 x 720 ASV display -- all crammed inside a waifish 9.7mm frame. Despite a recent visit to the FCC, there's no word on whether the water-defiant device will brave the Pacific ocean to arrive on these shores. However, any ex-patriots gasping for the SH-10D's potent screen will be able to grab one on December 2 and can unravel more specification mysteries in the Google-translated press release below.Continue reading Sharp AQUOS SH-01D appears on NTT DoCoMo, offers up glasses-free 3DSharp AQUOS SH-01D appears on NTT DoCoMo, offers up glasses-free 3D originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Nov 2011 12:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink SlashGear  |  NTT DoCoMo (translated)  | Email this | Comments

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Insert Coin: Prototype peripherals incorporate no moving parts, multitouch functionality and freaking lasers

When in doubt, strip out the moving parts and see what you wind up with. This is the idea inventor Jason Giddings is following as he turns to Kickstarter to help fund the prototype creation for a glass keyboard and mouse, both sporting multitouch functionality. The design uses the same biometric systems that currently capture fingerprints on assorted trackpads and keyboards, and uses a technique known as Frustrated Total Internal Reflection -- which incorporates a series of LEDs on the bottom of a device -- to bounce infrared light beams around the inside of the glass. This process is interrupted when a finger touches the glass, wherein a simple embedded camera captures the event, processes where the keystroke, mouse click or gesture took place and relays the signal to the computer.Continue reading Insert Coin: Prototype peripherals incorporate no moving parts, multitouch functionality and freaking lasersInsert Coin: Prototype peripherals incorporate no moving parts, multitouch functionality and freaking lasers originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink Gizmodo  |  Kickstarter  | Email this | Comments



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Freelance Writing Marketplace Scripted Signs For $700K

Writer marketplace Scripted.com is announcing $700K in seed funding today, from Crosslink Capital, Shopzilla CIO Jody Mulkey and Douglas Feirstein.

Starting out as an offshoot of scriptwriting community Scripped, Scripted pays writers a flat rate to create blog posts, articles, copywriting and tweets for various small business clients. The company, which says it vets writers according to wants and needs of its clients, provides a thousand posts a month for customers like Mailchimp and Levi?s.

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Monday, November 28, 2011

Toshiba Thrive Review

The Toshiba Thrive is definitely an affordable option for people who would really like an excellent Google android Tablet computer. Having a good quality display screen resolution, many different storage space options along with a powerful NVidia Tegra Dual Core processor chip, this particular tablet computer might just turn into a competitor to the best-selling Samsung Galaxy Tab and Asus EEE Pad tablet computers. Toshiba Thrive Key specifications * Price: $370 – $580 * Launch date: 2011 * Operating system: [...]

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Tom Bihn?s New Travel Tray, Travel Money Belt & Citizen Canine

Those travel-savvy folks at Tom Bihn are at it again, having not long ago introduced their new Cadet minimalist laptop bag and now three more new travel items. �The Travel Tray is a container to keep track of your loose pocket-sized items during your journey. �It collapses flat and closes with a drawstring. �One size, [...]

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Amazon sees huge jump in Kindle Black Friday sales, Fire leads the way

The pandemonium of Black Friday has now subsided, leaving Amazon with nothing but a big grin and stellar sales. According to the retailer, the Kindle Fire dominated this year's one-day extravaganza, standing proud as the top-selling product across all of Amazon.com and the best-selling tablet at Target. Amazon also claims to have sold four times as many Kindle products as it did during last year's post-Thanksgiving rush, though it didn't divulge any precise figures -- Cyber Monday, after all, is far from over. Head past the break for the full PR.Continue reading Amazon sees huge jump in Kindle Black Friday sales, Fire leads the wayAmazon sees huge jump in Kindle Black Friday sales, Fire leads the way originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Nov 2011 06:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

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Deal of the Day ? Planar PX2710MW 27-in 1080p 2ms LCD Monitor

Today?s LogicBUY Deal is the 27? Planar PX2710MW LCD monitor for $209.99.� Features: �1080p, 2ms response time, 1200:1 contrast ratio, think black bezel, HDMI, built-in stereo speakers. $469.99 �?$260 off ��= �$209.99 with free shipping. � This deal expires November 29, 2011 or sooner. Check the above link for more details on this deal, and [...]

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Gigabyte updates its netvertible range with the 11.6-inch Booktop T1132

With Gigabyte's gaming motherboards doing so well, it's nice to be reminded that the company makes whole PCs too. The latest in its Booktop line of swiveling tablet hybrids is the T1132, which trumps the T1125 with a 1.6GHz Core i5-2467M processor and a GeForce GT520M GPU with 1GB and NVIDIA Optimus switching technology. You get one USB 3.0, one USB 2.0, eSATA and HDMI on the 1.76kg (3.9-pound) lappie itself, but you can add more ports and an optical drive with the optional docking station. There's no indication as to availability or whether it'll cost more or less than the T1125's original $1300 asking price, but you could always try to snag a free one via Gigabyte's wanton Facebook bribery competition detailed after the break.Continue reading Gigabyte updates its netvertible range with the 11.6-inch Booktop T1132Gigabyte updates its netvertible range with the 11.6-inch Booktop T1132 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Nov 2011 09:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink   |  Gigabyte  | Email this | Comments

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Daily Crunch: VR Drone Edition

Giant VR Helmet Is Very 90s, Yet Way Cooler Europe Launching Gigapixel Probe To Map Milky Way Effectology: Paranormal Spooooky Sounds Do A Barrel Roll: AR.Drone Challenges You To Become A Great Drone Pilot Kid-Tested, Grant Imahara Approved: Hexbrite Open Source Flashlight

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Toshiba Thrive Review

The Toshiba Thrive is definitely an affordable option for people who would really like an excellent Google android Tablet computer. Having a good quality display screen resolution, many different storage space options along with a powerful NVidia Tegra Dual Core processor chip, this particular tablet computer might just turn into a competitor to the best-selling Samsung Galaxy Tab and Asus EEE Pad tablet computers. Toshiba Thrive Key specifications * Price: $370 – $580 * Launch date: 2011 * Operating system: [...]

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Ask DLS: What's your primary Web browser?

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?

View PollAsk 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.Permalink | Email this | Comments

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BlackFly Day, 360 Panorama, Price Check, Rick O'Shea [Video]

The turkey has been decimated, the door-buster deals have been acquired, and your family is already arguing about who's going to host Christmas dinner. Just because the Back Friday deals have come and gone doesn't mean you shouldn't continue your moving-saving ways. Panorama 360 will help you capture the three-circus that is your family. Plus, I bet you could use a game to distract you. I know I need one. And a stiff drink. More »






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Yahoo! Messenger now censors the links you share

We've all thought it, but never dared think it could be true: what if Microsoft, Yahoo, and AOL actively monitor our instant messenger chats? What if mentions of 'bomb' and 'underage' are tracked and sent to law enforcement agencies? What if chat providers don't agree with the things we say, or the links we share, and filter or censor the content of our transmitted messages?

Well, it looks like our fears may actually have some basis in reality: Yahoo Messenger strips FilesTube links from instant messages. It doesn't tell either party that a URL has been removed from chat -- it just deletes it. Poof. FilesTube, in case you were wondering, is one of the largest file hosting meta search engines on the Web -- it indexes RapidShare, Megaupload, Mediafire, and many other 'cyberlocker' services.

It's fairly obvious why FilesTube links are being removed -- the Censor General at Yahoo is probably one of those perplexed primates who think all uses of BitTorrent are illegal -- but this situation poses a far more important question: is Yahoo censoring messages on the client side, or the server side. Does the messenger client itself maintain a list of 'blacklisted' words -- and if so, why are we not told that FilesTube links are banned? What other words and terms does Yahoo protect us from?Continue reading Yahoo! Messenger now censors the links you shareYahoo! Messenger now censors the links you share originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 05:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Hello Expense is a simple, reliable expense tracker for Android

A good mobile application is a fine balance between simplicity and functionality. You're using it on the go, so you don't have a lot of time to sit there and fumble with the phone to figure it all out. But you also need it to be powerful enough to let you do whatever it is you're trying to get done.

Hello Expense is one mobile app that gets it right. It's an expense tracker that lets you use your Android-powered phone to quickly log the money you spend and then analyze it and see where it all went.

I recently had the chance to use it in a real-life situation - a road trip that took a few days and involved quite a few expenses. Logging each expense took seconds, and at the end of each day I could get a great overview of how much money I spent on each category so far.

Categories and tags are user-configurable; the app also sports its own number pad to make number entry easy, regardless of what keyboard you're using.Hello Expense is a simple, reliable expense tracker for Android originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Sexy Gifts for Kink-Curious Newlyweds [Gift Guide]

You finally found that special someone, settled down, and tied the knot. This is the one person you're going to be having sex with from here to eternity. Here are ten gifts to add some kinky spice to forever. More »






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Sunday, November 27, 2011

Gift idea for the cycling wine fan on your list

Cycling and wine drinking are two activities that I never considered going hand in hand. Obviously I have been severely misinformed because the Bicycle Wine Rack from Oopsmark allows the wine drinking cyclist to transport their favorite bottle along for the ride. Wacky? Yes. But it’s made of leather, so you know people aren’t going [...]

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New software uses facial recognition to defend against prying eyes

Having the right programs and hardware to keep the information on your display safe from prying eyes is never a bad idea, and new software from Oculis Labs offers a very interesting take on how to do just that. It's called PrivateEye, and it utilizes facial recognition to automatically pixelate the contents of your display when you look away.

If you step away from your system and someone else decides to sit down and poke around, PrivateEye will present a confusing jumble of garbled text. It'll even notify you if someone tries to peek over your shoulder -- and display a picture of your peeping Tom, throw up an alert, or sound an alarm.

Check out the video embed after the break, and share your thoughts in the comments!Continue reading New software uses facial recognition to defend against prying eyesNew software uses facial recognition to defend against prying eyes originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 13:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Interlocked is a three-dimensional brain teaser

Back when I was a kid, I used to love crafting ornate puzzle boxes out of Lego. There would be just one way to open the box, by carefully shifting and rotating a bunch of pieces. Well, either that, or breaking the box in frustration.

Interlocked takes that spirit and turns it into a beautiful Flash game. It's a good thing the soundtrack is soothing, because the game itself can get pretty frustrating.

At the start of each level, you're presented with a box built out of blocks in different colors. You can click and drag the mouse to rotate the box any which way. Once you decide you want to shift a part of the box, hit SPACE to switch into "move" mode. You can then click any part of the box and drag it. Of course, you can only move a part as long as nothing is in its way. So it becomes a matter of understanding how the box is built, and what parts you need to move around so you could eventually take the box apart.

It's a tricky, difficult game, but it's a great brain teaser -- and definitely a keeper.Interlocked is a three-dimensional brain teaser originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

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(Founder Stories) Bump?s David Lieb: ?We Want To Build That New UI Layer For The Real World?

Seeking a way to reduce friction while exchanging contact information, David Lieb and his two co-founders launched Bump - a service that allows users to trade personal data (and an array of items spanning calendar events to music samples) by simply tapping their smartphones together.

In part II of his Founder Stories interview,�Lieb notes there is bigger picture at play than just swapping content. He tells host, Chris Dixon, "there is a lot of time spent figuring out how I interface with this [smartphone] to go access the virtual world, but nobody has really spent a lot of time thinking, well I am using this phone in the real world, what do I want to do in the real world, and how do I want to interact with other people and things in the real world, and that is the problem that we want to solve, we want to build that new UI layer for the real world."

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Happy Thankgiving from The Gadgeteer

Here we are again. It’s another Thanksgiving Day where most of us probably woke up to thoughts of turkey dinners, parades, football games and family visits. While you’re compiling your list for your Black Friday shopping adventures tomorrow, please don’t forget to spend a few minutes today to give thanks for all the important people [...]

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Fresh "HTC Ville" render sighted, now sporting capacitive buttons

We saw the first image purporting to show the "HTC Ville" earlier this month, although there wasn't much to see, just another rounded black slab containing a screen of some description. Now a brand new render of the rumored device has appeared over at Pocketnow, showing what's apparently a 4.3-inch display on a phone with a thickness of just 8.49mm. That's thinner than the Galaxy S II and the Xperia Arc, and just about everything else on the market. Looking at the renders, you can now make out four capacitive buttons down at the bottom (behind the watermark), along with what appears to be HTC's trademark aluminum unibody construction. The rumored specs don't appear to have changed over the past couple of weeks -- you're still looking at a dual-core Snapdragon S4 clocked at 1.5 GHz, along with an 8MP BSI camera, HSPA+ support and a 1650 mAh battery. In terms of software, the rumor mill says the Ville will run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and a brand new version of Sense, presumably version 4.0. The usual caveats relating to unannounced devices apply here -- all of this stuff is unconfirmed and subject to change. If there's any truth to it, though, then we'll look forward to getting our hands on the Ville (or whatever it's eventually called) next year, most likely at Mobile World Congress. Source: Pocketnow

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Tasty Planet is a fun flash game where you eat everything in sight

So this professor comes up with a new toilet cleaner that works by "eating" the dirt; or so he thinks. That's how the plot starts for Tasty Planet. You play the role of the toilet cleaner, but you're not really a toilet cleaner after all -- you're a blob of gray goo that can eat anything that's smaller than yourself.

As you chomp away, you grow -- and as you grow, you can eat bigger and bigger stuff. The first level pits you against microscopic particles; by the time I stopped playing, I got all the way to eating cats and dogs. I know that sounds disturbing, but it's a really cute game, and there's no gore or anything like that.

Supposedly you keep growing and growing until you're able to eat whole planets (hence the name). The challenge factor comes when you realize you can't touch any critter larger than yourself - you'll get "bitten" and become smaller. In the beginning you're so small, that a single touch can kill you. Later on, you're big enough that touching larger animals doesn't kill you on the spot, but it does reduce your size. Each level is timed, so if you're not large enough by the time your clock runs out, you need to start again. As long as you don't touch the larger animals, you should be fine.

All in all, a fun, addictive little game. It's available for iOS, too.Tasty Planet is a fun flash game where you eat everything in sight originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Asus? Quad-Core Tablet to Run Android 4.0, aka Ice Cream Sandwich

We’ve already seen Android 4.0, aka Ice Cream Sandwich, or ICS, run smoothly on a phone. But the real draw is seeing how well it performs on a tablet, as it’s the first version of Android designed to run on both smartphones and tablets.
Well, the wait is over. On Tuesday, Nvidia released a video [...]

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Mouse Computer's LuvBook S heals emotional scars, one Hello Kitty at a time

What the world needs now is just one thing, and that thing is a bejeweled Hello Kitty laptop. Fortunately, Japan's Mouse Computer is well aware of this, which is why it's unleashed the LuvBook S, pictured above. Designed in collaboration with Sanrio and Swarovski, this masterpiece is powered by a 2.2 GHz Intel Core i3-2330M processor and boasts an 11.6-inch, 1,366 x 768 display. It also packs a 500GB HDD and a 1.3 megapixel camera, but all that really matters is the swaggy centerpiece -- a heart-ensconced Hello Kitty mug made out of about 1,100 Swarovski stones and untold buckets of cuddles. The LuvBook is available now for ¥69,930 (about $900), at the source link below.Mouse Computer's LuvBook S heals emotional scars, one Hello Kitty at a time originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Nov 2011 03:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink TechCrunch  |  LuvBook S (Japanese)  | Email this | Comments



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Security firm RSA attacked using Excel-Flash one-two sucker punch

It has emerged that the underlying cause of RSA's SecurID gaffe was the recently-reported zero-day vulnerability found in Adobe's Flash Player.

The exploit, which used specially-crafted Flash embedding in Excel spreadsheets, was first reported on March 15 and has since been fixed. RSA was hacked sometime in the first half of March when an employee was successfully spear phished and opened an infected spreadsheet. As soon as the spreadsheet was opened, an advanced persistent threat (APT) -- a backdoor Trojan -- called Poison Ivy was installed. From there, the attackers basically had free reign of RSA's internal network, which led to the eventual dissemination of data pertaining to RSA's two-factor authenticators.

The attack is reminiscent of the APTs used in the China vs. Google attacks from last year -- and indeed, Uri Rivner, the head of new technologies at RSA is quick to point out that that other big companies are being attacked, too: "The number of enterprises hit by APTs grows by the month; and the range of APT targets includes just about every industry. Unofficial tallies number dozens of mega corporations attacked [...] These companies deploy any imaginable combination of state-of-the-art perimeter and end-point security controls, and use all imaginable combinations of security operations and security controls. Yet still the determined attackers find their way in."

What we'd like to know, though, is whether the attack on RSA was caused by Adobe's lackadaisical approach to patching Flash -- or was it the other way around? Was it the RSA attack that first brought the zero-day vulnerability to Adobe's attention?Security firm RSA attacked using Excel-Flash one-two sucker punch originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 06:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Price Check by Amazon: Make Sure You're Really Getting a Good Deal [Android Apps]

Tomorrow's Black Friday. In the future, Thanksgiving will be known as Black Friday Eve. Families will condition their bodies to consume large amounts of poultry and starches to keep them fueled up for door-busting madness. While we await this dystopian future you can check out our Black Friday super chart and download Price Check by Amazon app for your Android phone. More »






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Altaro Hyper-V Backup beta launched, only 250 places available

This one's for the sysadmins in the audience: Altaro, makers of our favorite "time machine for Windows" back solution, OopsBackup, have just announced a new product entering beta called Hyper-V Backup.


It's a backup solution for virtual machines running on Microsoft's Hyper-V virtualization solution. If that sentence just seemed like a bunch of buzzwords crammed together, Hyper-V backup is not for you. But, if you actually use Hyper-V and are hankering for a good backup solution, Altaro might be worth checking out.

The beta run is limited - Altaro are looking for just 250 testers. All participants will get a free license key to the final, production version. So if you're interested in helping test Hyper-V Backup, get yourself over to Altaro now and join the beta.Altaro Hyper-V Backup beta launched, only 250 places available originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 02 Mar 2011 05:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Saturday, November 26, 2011

Moscow Hopes To Boost Tourism With a Giant Spokeless Ferris Wheel [Architecture]

The London Eye has become a major tourist attraction for the city, so Moscow is hoping a similar structure will attract more visitors to the Russian capital. Except that theirs will be the world's tallest, with a unique spokeless design. More »






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Screen Grabs: Covert Affairs exposes secret Rogers service in Washington DC

Screen Grabs chronicles the uses (and misuses) of real-world gadgets in today's movies and TV. Send in your sightings (with screen grab!) to screengrabs at engadget dot com.




Fans of USA's Covert Affairs know that Annie Walker's stomping ground is Washington DC, where she pretends to be a buyer for the Smithsonian. So, there are only two plausible explanations for her iPhone 4 being able to connect to Rogers Wireless Canadian network: Either she's got a nuclear powered antenna on that thing, or the company is running a south-of-the-border service for Government agencies. Some might point out that the show is filmed in Toronto for cost purposes and the art directors aren't too hot at spotting continuity errors, but we'd dismiss that as paranoid fantasy.

[Thanks, Mike G]Screen Grabs: Covert Affairs exposes secret Rogers service in Washington DC originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Nov 2011 00:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

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Flickr adds to sharing options, now easier to share photos across the Web

It sure is nice to see some new developer action over at Flickr. The relatively slow-moving photo-sharing service has just announced a new sharing update, which consists of several new and easy ways to embed or link to your photos:


Share from Photo page: There's a new sharing option on each and every photo page. When logged off, the button shows only Facebook and Twitter options. But once you log on, you get Tumblr and Blogger too, and can configure other sharing venues as well.

Share non-public content on Facebook: This doesn't sound like a great idea, but you now can share private photos on Facebook if you're so inclined (and if you trust your privacy settings).

That's the gist of the update; it makes it easier to show off your pretty pictures in a plethora of places.Flickr adds to sharing options, now easier to share photos across the Web originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 03:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

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The Best Books Have Booze Hidden In Them [Alcohol]

If later today you're planning to try and shy away from your family by reading a book, I have a great suggestion for you: choose one which contains a bottle of scotch. More »






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IE9 and Firefox 4 post top marks in Web browser power use comparison

Over on the Internet Explorer Blog, Microsoft has posted results from an extensive comparison of the top five Web browsers. The goal: to determine whether Internet Explorer 9, Firefox 4, Chrome 10, Safari 5, or Opera 11 is able to squeeze the most life out of your laptop's battery.

A baseline was determined with test systems sitting idle, and then browsers were pointed at about:blank, a news site, the HTML5 Galactic demo, and the IE9 fish tank demo. Perhaps unsurprisingly, IE9 came out on top -- though Firefox 4 was a very close second on nearly every test. As you can see, the other browsers didn't necessarily fare quite as well, with Google Chrome, Safari, and Opera all posting significantly worse scores. In Opera 11's case, a laptop battery would last over one hour more with Internet Explorer 9 installed.


But what we'd really like to know is where did Microsoft find the dilithium crystals required to run a Galactic Total Power Consumption test...IE9 and Firefox 4 post top marks in Web browser power use comparison originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Feeling Sick? Spit On Your Phone To Work Out What's Wrong [Science]

It's never fun feeling ill, especially if you don't know what's up with you. But soon you might just have to spit on the screen of your phone to get an instant diagnosis. More »






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Words With Friends for Android updated, promises "smoother game experience"

As several of you noted in the comments to our post asking for cross-platform iOS/Android games, Words With Friends for Android does not provide the smoothest gaming experience... and that's being rather charitable.

You might be happy to hear that a couple of days ago Zynga released an update which promises to solve many of the Android-specific issues, such as notifications not popping up.

Sadly, installing the update is not a smooth experience; you have to manually uninstall the previous version, and then go to the Android Market and install it. What's nice is that it doesn't lose your saved games - this screenshot shows a game I've started before the update and continued after updating.

How's the new update working out for you? Let us know in the comments!Words With Friends for Android updated, promises "smoother game experience" originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 04 Mar 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Microsoft: ?Microsoft Has Had [Voice Control] In Windows Phones For A Year?

In a charming interview with Forbes Magazine, Microsoft's Craig Mundie discussed future products at Microsot, including the success and plans for the Kinect as well as their mesa para computaci�n, the Surface.

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Samsung N102S netbook listed on UK sites for �240, possibly with Cedar Trail

Even if Samsung plans to stop producing 10.1-inch netbooks from next year, there's still plenty of scope for new models in little ol' 2011. In fact, British online retailers have just put up listings for an N102S running an officially unknown Atom N2100 processor. This chip is rumored to be a low-power variant of Intel's delayed Cedar Trail line-up, which might explain why none of the retailers yet have firm information about availability. (We called the number above, they told us to ignore the bit about December 2nd.) Other listed specs include a distinctly last-gen 1GB of RAM, 320GB of HDD roominess and Windows 7 Starter Edition for £240 ($370).

Update: Netbook Italia also picked up on some Asus Cedar Trail Eee PCs in similar UK listings. These include the 1025CE we saw recently, which packs an N2800 processor for £270, plus a X101CH running on the N2600 for £225. Other specs are very similar to the Samsung's.Samsung N102S netbook listed on UK sites for �240, possibly with Cedar Trail originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Nov 2011 07:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink   |  Notebook Italia (Italian), AireTechIT, Businesstechsavers  | Email this | Comments



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Black Friday app deals

It’s Black Friday and there may be one little store you forgot to include in your shopping plans – the App Store! A plethora of apps are having huge sales this weekend, and we have gathered a few of our favorites that you do not want to miss. Noteshelf...

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AVG launches LiveKive cloud sync and backup tool

A while back, we told you about AVG's new LiveKive service, a new cloud synchronization and backup tool which appears to have been named after a vat in which mash is made during the brewing process. But enough about AVG's odd choice of monikers -- LiveKive has launched and is now ready to accept your files into the AVG cloud.

LiveKive takes aim at services like Dropbox and SugarSync, though at the moment it's lagging behind in terms of features. As it stands, LiveKive is only compatible with Windows and OS X. There are no mobile clients yet, though with AVG's strong presence on Android we wouldn't be surprised to see an app arrive in the near future.

The company is offering a heck of a deal right now, however. If you sign up for a paid account during the launch phase, you can score unlimited storage for $80 for a whole year. You can't even score 50GB per year at that price from Dropbox, so if cost and space are more important to you than cross-platform availability, LiveKive might be worth checking out.

If you're not interested in ponying up any cash at the moment, you can still get a 5GB account free of charge. Just head on over, and create a LiveKive account.AVG launches LiveKive cloud sync and backup tool originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 10:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Route 66 Maps + Navigation now available for Android users, augmented realists

It's been a long and winding road, but Route 66 Maps + Navigation has finally arrived on the Android Market, no less than eight months after launching for iOS. Available on handsets and tablets running Android 2.0 or above, this app brings Route 66's "Follow Me" augmented reality navigation to your windshield, superimposing upon your surroundings an animated lead car to act as your guide. It's available on a free, 30-day trial at the source link below -- after that, you'll have to shell out $65 for a lifetime worldwide license, or $40 for a US license. Steer past the break for more information, in the full press release.Continue reading Route 66 Maps + Navigation now available for Android users, augmented realistsRoute 66 Maps + Navigation now available for Android users, augmented realists originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Nov 2011 15:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink Pocket GPS World  |  Android Market  | Email this | Comments



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Friday, November 25, 2011

It?s Black Friday! What are you going to go buy today?

A few short hours ago the� frenzy of Black Friday began and shoppers looking for a great deal have started to flood the mall and other retail outlets.� There are deals on everything from� MacBook Airs and iPads to Blu-Ray players and more at Wal-Mart.� Many retailers are also now looking forward to Cyber Monday [...]

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Introducing the Android Central Phone Store, powered by Best Buy Mobile Solutions!

What do you get the Android Central reader who already has everything? You're already a part of the No. 1 site for all things Android. You're already a part of the most informative (and, just as important, friendly) Android forums around. So what else can we do for you to go along with providing the most in-depth reviews, the news behind the news, opinions and everything else that spews forth from Android Central 365 days a year? Welcome to the all new Android Central Phone Store. We've teamed up with Best Buy Mobile Solutions to bring you great prices on your favorite phones, from the top manufacturers and carriers. You can browse and purchase Android smartphones from Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile right from the store, with the same selection and customer service you'd expect when the likes of Android Central and Best Buy come together. It's really all a part of being the best source for all things Android. News, reviews, opinions, accessories and, now, phones. We'll help you choose the best phone for you. We'll help you learn to use it. And we'll help you find the accessories you need. And we're just getting warmed up, folks. There's more on the way. Stay tuned! Visit the Android Central Phone Store powered by Best Buy Mobile!

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Iphone 4s vs. iphone 4

The iphone is known as the corner stone of Apple Company and its subsidies. Since its introduction many have marveled at the concept of a unique never seen before smart phone capable of delivering where others have fallen short. In true reality, an iphone has no competitors, its only competing with its self. Though many see an iphone as a glorified oversized, hyped Smartphone that is used to gloat by the rich and powerful, there?s however one deniable factor, that [...]

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Engadget Distro Issue 15 tackles the Nook Tablet, HTC's Rezound and your turkey hangover

What better way to spend this post-turkey day than curling up with a brand new edition of Engadget Distro? This issue we cover Barnes and Noble's creatively named Nook Tablet, HTC's stellar new smartphone, the Rezound, and Toshiba's Ultrabook contender, the Portege Z835. We're also serving up a piping hot dish of a Samsung Galaxy 7.0 Plus review and Ross Rubin's lip-smacking Switched On, which explores HTC's journey back to the feature. If that's not enough to sate your geeky appetite, we've also got our latest installment of IRL. So belly up and download it now -- this is one holiday treat that won't go straight to your hips.Continue reading Engadget Distro Issue 15 tackles the Nook Tablet, HTC's Rezound and your turkey hangoverEngadget Distro Issue 15 tackles the Nook Tablet, HTC's Rezound and your turkey hangover originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Nov 2011 09:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink   |  iTunes  | Email this | Comments



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Gladinet maps Amazon Cloud Drive to your Windows desktop

Amazon's recently-introduced Cloud Drive is a great place to store your files online. It offers 5 gigs of totally free space, and U.S. users also get access to the handy Cloud Player app (for Web and Android!) which streams music you upload to your Cloud Drive.

The service could be a little easier to use, however. Until Amazon releases a desktop client, Windows users might want to take another look at Gladinet. The multi-service cloud connector has now added Amazon Cloud Drive support and will let you map a network drive letter to your account with minimal fuss.

Once you've added your credentials to Gladinet, just pick the letter you want to assign to the drive and you're good to go. You can then copy files to and from your Cloud Drive, rename items, and manage folders like you would any local hard drive in your system.

The only downside is that the free version of Gladinet gives you a limited number of cloud interactions. Once you use those up, you'll need to upgrade to the paid version, which costs $49.99. If you work with a number of cloud-based storage providers, however, it could be well worth the price tag.Gladinet maps Amazon Cloud Drive to your Windows desktop originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

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12 of the top movies in Android Market now 99 cents for the next two weeks

If you're looking to sit down and watch a movie over the next couple of weeks, Google may have just what you are looking for. They've now announced that over the next two weeks, 12 of the top movies in Android Market are available as rentals for only 99 cents. That's pretty awesome really, though it does appear to only be available in the US. Anyone going to be grabbing some movies? Source: Android Market; via @Android

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Firefox 4 Friday: 25 million downloads, anti-aliasing, and how to make it look like Firefox 3

If you've had your head under a rock for the last few days, here's this week's Firefox news in brief: Firefox 4 was finally released.

Yes, 13 months after the initial release of Firefox 3.7 alpha 1 and four more alpha builds, a renumbering to 4.0 and 12 beta releases, and finally a release candidate (or two), Firefox 4 has been released into the wild.

Just like every other Firefox release, initial reception for the new browser has been nothing short of insane. 7.1 million downloads were registered in the first 24 hours and the download rate continued to accelerate, clocking in more than 15 million downloads after two days. At the time of writing, three days in, Firefox 4 has been downloaded over 25 million times. In case you're wondering, the United States accounts for 7 million of those downloads, just beating out Germany's Firefox-downloads-per-capita.

But now that you've installed Firefox 4 (you have, right?), what do you do now? Well, obviously, in true Download Squad fashion, it's time to tweak Firefox 4 using add-ons and about:config hacks!

First up is an add-on called Stratiform that lets you change every aspect of the Firefox 4 browser chrome -- including the color of that orange button!Continue reading Firefox 4 Friday: 25 million downloads, anti-aliasing, and how to make it look like Firefox 3Firefox 4 Friday: 25 million downloads, anti-aliasing, and how to make it look like Firefox 3 originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 25 Mar 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Leaked Android Music app images and hands-on review

This morning, an updated version of the stock Android Music app was leaked along with a new version of Android Market. The new Music app, which is labeled 'version 3', is similar to the leaked build from December, but it has received a ton of polish -- and indeed, it looks almost ready for prime time.

If you don't have Android 2.3 -- or don't want to root your phone to install the leaked Music app -- take a look through our gallery, and then read on for our initial hands-on impressions.Gallery: Leaked Honeycombish Android Music appContinue reading Leaked Android Music app images and hands-on reviewLeaked Android Music app images and hands-on review originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Mitoza is a fun, freaky Web toy with an artistic look

While not a game per se, I found Mitoza intriguing enough to spend quite some time with it. You start off with a seed, and are then presented with two choices: you can either click a flower pot, or click a cute little birdie.

If you click the flower pot, a flower pot appears and the seed is planted inside. You're then presented with two further choices -- a water can or a bottle of fertilizer. Each choice you make causes your creation to morph, and presents you with two other choices.

There's no winning or losing, really. Each "game" usually lasts around four or five choices, at which point the plant/animal dies in some creative (but not too gruesome) way. At this point you instantly start over with a new seed.

The graphics are captivating; the whole thing has a cinematic feel to it, with a bit of artificial camera shake added for style.

All in all, it's a fun, peaceful way to spend a few minutes, and it might even make you think a little bit while you're at it.Mitoza is a fun, freaky Web toy with an artistic look originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 28 Mar 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Adblock Plus developer pokes holes in Mozilla's new add-on performance tests

Wladimir Palant, developer of the most popular add-on in the world, Adblock Plus, is also an active contributor to the Planet Mozilla blog community. Over the last few days, in response to Mozilla's new name and shame list of slow add-ons, Palant has been investigating whether Mozilla's testing methods are actually accurate.

Rather surprisingly, it turns out that Mozilla's numbers could be significantly wrong -- and if they're not wrong, the factors that Mozilla uses to tabulate an add-ons final score should definitely be made more transparent.

In the first set of tests, Palant shows that FlashGot's position in the top 10 is probably due to a fault in Mozilla's testing setup, and that add-ons can perform very differently depending on which operating system they're being tested on. In the second analysis, Palant uncovers an irregularity that doesn't seem to have an obvious cause -- but it could be due to an I/O bottleneck on Mozilla's test machines. Basically, even though performance testing of Read It Later is disabled because of a bug, it still (somehow!) manages to record a 14% slow-down on Windows 7.

Palant concludes both analyses by scolding Mozilla for going public with the performance data before its testing methods had been confirmed accurate. It definitely looks like Mozilla has been more than a little reckless, considering the importance of Firefox's add-on ecosystem.Adblock Plus developer pokes holes in Mozilla's new add-on performance tests originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 08 Apr 2011 05:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Google Cloud Print comes to HP ePrint printers

HP has become the first major OEM to deliver support for Google Cloud Print in retail-boxed printers. In an official release, HP announced that its ePrint-enabled printers are now fully Cloud Print compatible. Just sign in to your Google account, pick your HP ePrint device, and you're ready to fire off a print job from anywhere you've got Internet access. Well, as long as your app supports Cloud Print as well -- like Gmail and Google Docs, for example.

We're curious, though -- how many of you are still printing? Like our pals at Engadget, our printers have been mostly gathering dust for the last few years.
Google Cloud Print comes to HP ePrint printers originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

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YouTube and Photos updates come to Google TV

We saw some Google TV action not too long ago that included updates to YouTube but over at the official Google TV blog, they've expanded on what, exactly was included with that release: YouTube: The new Google TV YouTube experience introduces playlists to your living room. You can now easily watch your YouTube subscriptions on your HDTV and quickly access your other playlists like Watch Later and Favorites. If you have your own channel, you can now add videos to it from your Google TV. So whether you’re a newshound wanting a constant stream of world events or you’re a curator in search of an even more endless summer of content, you can sit back on your comfy couch and enjoy YouTube’s thousands of options in the High Definition brilliance of your Google TV. Photos: Your Google TV Photos app already syncs with your online photo albums uploaded to Picasa & Flickr, and now we’ve added a great new feature called Discover to your Google TV Photos app.  Discover creates an animated and constantly changing collage using photos from the albums you have uploaded online and synced with your Google TV. When you click on one of the photos in Discover, you go straight to the album where you can start a slideshow or simply view other photos in the album. With Discover you now have an even more fun way to rediscover your favorite memories caught on camera. Google is pretty insistent that there is more updates on the way and what we're seeing now, is only a portion of what is to come. Hopefully, they'll keep things rolling because Google TV is an interesting platform that could really be expanded upon if given the time needed. Source: Google TV Blog

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Thursday, November 24, 2011

The Engadget Mobile Turkeycast, live at 2PM ET with guest Phil Nickinson!

If you're hoping to get ready for the holiday by listening to a few turkeys, we have the perfect solution for you: Myriam Joire, Brad Molen and Joseph Volpe. Oh, and Phil Nickinson from Android Central will be thrown into the mobile oven as well. So join us, each and every one of you, for the Engadget Mobile Podcast Turkeycast, live at 2PM ET!

Note: While we're recording the podcast early this week, it likely won't be downloadable until this weekend due to the holiday. All the more reason to join us live!

And we're done! Thanks to everyone for listening and we'll be back next Friday afternoon at the usual time. We'll have another special guest next week, as Nicole Scott from Netbook News should be joining us. Have a great Thanksgiving!





The Engadget Mobile Turkeycast, live at 2PM ET with guest Phil Nickinson! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Nov 2011 12:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

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Ham radio licenses in the US top 700,000, still plenty of call signs to go around

Social networking wasn't always as easy as it is today. Long before Twitter or Facebook (or the internet itself), amateur radio was a popular way for folks to talk to people they may not necessarily know in real life -- although "popular" in this case is something that's always been measured in the hundreds of thousands rather than millions. While it's since been overtaken considerably by more modern technologies, ham radio is still now technically more popular than ever, with a recent count of licensed operators in the US topping 700,000 for the first time. Of course, they aren't necessarily all active users, but there is still a steady stream of folks taking the necessary exam these days -- the FCC has issued 40,000 new licenses in the past five years.

[Image courtesy Seattle Municipal Archives / Wikimedia Commons]Ham radio licenses in the US top 700,000, still plenty of call signs to go around originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Nov 2011 11:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink Slashdot  |  ARRL  | Email this | Comments



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Don't Insult the Thai King in an SMS, Unless You Like Prison [Wtf]

We've all said things we don't really mean in text messages. But when a retired Thai truck driver sent an SMS that insulted his king, he got more than he bargained for. Twenty years more, in fact. More »






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Beautifully Minimal ?Hidden Radio & Bluetooth Speaker?

I’m a sucker for Bluetooth speakers. They make it so easy to play music straight from my iPad or — when my slightly weird friends come to visit — from Android cellphones. No cables, no annoying Wi-Fi AirPlay delays, just simple music. And when the speakers look as good as the HiddenRadio & Bluetooth Speaker, [...]

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Samsung Skyrocket OTA update pushing out now, updates to Android 2.3.6

If you're rocking the new LTE Samsung Skyrocket on AT&T, you might want to check for an OTA update.  An OTA to Android 2.3.6 is pushing out now, and we manually checked on our review unit (Menu>Settings>Software update>Check for updates) and sure enough, one was waiting.  We're not quite sure what was changed here -- we know that 2.3.6 addressed a bug in Google voice search, but we imagine Samsung and AT&T packaged a bit more into this one.  We're not seeing anything listed at the usual locations, so we've reached out to AT&T and Samsung for an answer.  In the meantime, updates are always fun and make our inner Android geek feel good, so grab yours and we'll sort it out in the forums. Thanks, Vlad! read more

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Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet gets probed by the FCC, will play nicely with all the networks

Mr. & Mrs. Lenovo packed young ThinkPad Tablet on its big trip to Washington, smiling all the while. When it arrived, it was dragged into the FCC's underground bunker and subjected to horrifying experiments by our boys in blue lab coats. Turns out they were looking to see what kind of gear it was packing. They stumbled upon a Qualcomm Gobi 3000, which will happily connect to AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile's 3G internet (nothing faster, though). To show there were no hard feelings, the FCC approved the Tablet and handed it a carton of juice before sending it on its way.Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet gets probed by the FCC, will play nicely with all the networks originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Nov 2011 11:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink   |  FCC, FCC  | Email this | Comments



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Skype 5.3 for Windows released, improves mobile video call quality

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

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

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

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Facebook Whittles Down 6 Degrees of Separation to 4.74

Six degrees of separation may be good enough for most people, but for Facebook members, it's only 4.74 degrees, according to a study conducted jointly by the social networking giant and the University of Milan. Conducted earlier this year, the study examined all 721 million active Facebook users, who had 69 billion friendships among them, Facebook said.

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FCC chairman asks for judicial review of AT&T T-Mobile merger, AT&T responds

image courtesy ctrlZstudio The FCC chariman today recommended the $39 billion merger of AT&T and T-Mobile be sent for an official review by an administrative law judge.  Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski suggested this course of action to fellow commissioners, citing that the FCC found the deal "would significantly diminish competition and lead to massive job losses."  Genachowski's order still requires the approval of a majority of the commissioners, and if approved would extend the review of the merger beyond AT&T's hopes to have things all wrapped-up at the FCC early in 2012.  Of course, AT&T is none too happy, stating: "The FCC’s action today is disappointing. It is yet another example of a government agency acting to prevent billions in new investment and the creation of many thousands of new jobs at a time when the US economy desperately needs both." If you'll allow a bit of editorial comment, I'm a happy T-Mobile customer.  I don't want to change anything about my service from T-Mobile, and am concerned that I will lose the legendary customer support T-Mobile offers, as well as gaining an additional $100 or so attached to my monthly bill.  I'm also concerned that Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile's parent company no longer wants to retain control of the small U.S. carrier because of the huge financial drain that comes with.  I worry what will happen either way -- having AT&T as my carrier is my rock, and having DT let T-Mobile die is my hard place, and I'm smack dab in the middle.  Either case has me getting cell service from AT&T, unless the government has a contingency plan for T-Mobile should the merger fail to pass.  Hopefully, the fellows in Washington have a plan to serve the consumer's best interests, but I'm skeptical.  Unless another company like Google or Apple steps in and buys T-Mobile, our future looks shaky either way.  For now, I, and 33 million others, just have to wait and see. More: Reuters; BusinessWire

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