Ben's Blog World: December 2011

Saturday, December 31, 2011

TiPb Asks: iPad 3 accessories

TiPb Asks: iPad 3 accessories
What kind of accessories do you want for the iPad 3? 2011 was Apple’s official “year of the iPad 2″, and there’s little doubt 2012 will be the...

iPad 3 accessories

What kind of accessories do you want for the iPad 3? 2011 was Apple’s official “year of the iPad 2″, and there’s little doubt 2012 will be the “year of the iPad 3″. Aside from a 2048�1536 Retina display and Apple A6 chipset, Apple probably won’t innovate much with the form factor — it already “just works” — but could they, and third party manufacturers, innovate more when it comes to accessories?

This year, with the iPad 2, we got the Smart Cover. Light and thin it could turn your iPad on and off by virtue of magnets. We also, finally, got an HDMI dongle. What could next year bring?

When Apple releases an iPad 3 next year, what accessories do you want them to release with it? Transparent Smart Covers, Apple branded keyboard cases? What?

Nikki Reed
Elisha Cuthbert

Sirius XM releases Lynx radio, ensures that you never miss the beginning of another Jimmy Buffett song

Need a shiny new way to enjoy SiriusXM's revamped channel lineup? For $250, you can pick up the Lynx Portable Radio, which lets you start shows and songs (Jimmy Buffett or otherwise) from the beginning and pause, fast forward and rewind programming. The wildcat radio also stores up to 200 hours of programming and features "dynamic" presets and a show finder, which offers up a programming schedule for the next seven days. It's currently available online for $250 and will be hitting retail shops in the near future. More info on the radio can be read from the beginning in the press release and video trailer after the break. Still no word on that whereabouts of that shaker of salt.

Continue reading Sirius XM releases Lynx radio, ensures that you never miss the beginning of another Jimmy Buffett song

Sirius XM releases Lynx radio, ensures that you never miss the beginning of another Jimmy Buffett song originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Dec 2011 23:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/30/sirius-xm-releases-lynx-radio-ensures-that-you-never-miss-the-b/

Epicor Software Emulex Ems Technologies Emc Electronics For Imaging Electronic Data Systems

Elephant Quest is an addictive, deep platformer

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/25/elephant-quest-is-an-addictive-deep-platformer/

On Semiconductor Nvidia Nuance Communications Novellus Systems Novell Network Appliance

HTC Jetstream receives custom CWM based recovery and permaroot

While development for the HTC Jetstream has been pretty slim since its release that's not to say the device has been abandoned totally by developers and now, some new doors have been opened. DooMLoRD has created a custom CWM based recovery and permaroot for the HTC Jetstream and made it available for download.

The recovery is still in testing so feedback is needed. Plus, like all things of this nature -- caution is advised should you put it to use but if you're fine with that then you can head on over to XDA, grab the download and check out the full list of changes and features built in.

Source: XDA

Lily Allen
Nadine Velazquez

Ice Cream Sandwich ROMs for the Nexus S 4G [from the forums]

Google may not have officially pumped out Ice Cream Sandwich for the Nexus S 4G yet, but that won't stop you from having it. We've got two custom ROMs in the forums that are dripping with ICS goodness. If you're a fan of the stock Android experience, you can get a fully working AOSP 4.0.3 ROM for your 4G, with just enough changes from standard to make everything work well from Beezy. It's like having a smaller Galaxy Nexus in your pocket, with face lock, beam, and everything else you've seen in videos and reviews.

If you want something a little different, fergie716 has ported over the latest ICS MIUI ROM to the Sprint Nexus, with everything good to go except for Wimax (which you'll never see working on MIUI). It's also Android 4.0.3 under all the candy, and offers a very different experience that everyone should try for themselves at least once. It's subtle, beautiful, and a nice change of pace.

Of course, nobody here will blame you if you just want to wait for Google to get the official 4.0.3 build pushed to you. But if you like to tinker around, there's no need to wait. Check 'em out.

[ROM] AOSP 4.0.3 for the Nexus S 4G

[MIUI 4.0] MIUI SwAT for the Nexus S 4G

Thanks, devs, and thanks Paul for the tip!

Charlize Theron
Anna Faris

Verizon nixes planned $2 fee for some bill-payment methods

Score one for the good guys. Under a hail of bad PR and a report of the FCC getting involved, Verizon Wireless has killed plans to charge an extra $2 a month for some bill-paying methods. Verizon said it "made the decision in response to customer feedback about the plan, which was designed to improve the efficiency of those transactions."

“At Verizon, we take great care to listen to our customers. Based on their input, we believe the best path forward is to encourage customers to take advantage of the best and most efficient options, eliminating the need to institute the fee at this time,” said Dan Mead, president and chief executive officer of Verizon Wireless.

In a poll today on Android Central, a third of some 3,300 respondants said they were considering leaving Verizon over the proposed $2 fee. More than another third planned on using one of the bill paying options that would have avoided the fee.

Source: Verizon; via Phone Scoop

Charlize Theron
Anna Faris

Josh's top apps of 2011

Being the "apps guy" is an interesting position. It means I get tasked to play with apps all day long, each and every day. It feels a lot like being an adventurer, wandering through a dense (really dense) forest, where danger and suspense lurk around every corner.

As such (and because I'm more the average Joe user than you might think), my list is a combination of my most-used apps and some apps that are so great, they still deserve recognition (despite not being on the daily list).

With that said, here's some of my favorite and useful apps from the past year.

Anna Kournikova
Hayden Panettiere
Cameron Diaz

LG to Show Off 84-Inch ?Ultra Definition? TV at CES

Apparently, a 55-inch OLED television isn't wowing enough. So, in addition to the TV we reported on Tuesday, LG will also be unveiling at CES what it describes as the world's largest 3-D "Ultra Definition" television -- an 84-inch, 3840x2160 resolution 3-D display.

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/12/lg-84-inch-4k-display/

Yahoo Xilinx Western Digital Volt Information Sciences Vishay Intertechnology Virgin Media

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.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/04/map-amazon-cloud-drive-to-windows-local/

Spss Spansion Sonus Networks Sonic Automotive Skyworks Solutions Silicon Laboratories

Jared's top apps of 2011

Applications come and go on a daily basis, some for testing purposes, others because they are new and shiny and well I think I have to have them.

Only a few applications make the daily use category, so hit the break to find out which those are!

Ciara
Blake Lively
Scarlett Johansson

MIPS NOVO7 mini review -- the 'first' Ice Cream Sandwich tablet

But how far did you think $99 would get you?

Ice Cream Sandwich, and a 7-inch tablet -- two things that (for me) that go great together. We got our 7-inch Ainol NOVO7 tablet fresh off the boat, and we're having a look at "The first Android 4.0 tablet in the world." We really don't expect much from these no-name tablets -- especially one that retails at less than $100, but the intrigue of Ice Cream Sandwich running natively on one made it too hard to resist.

Hit the break, and let's have a look.

Pen�lope Cruz
Hilary Duff

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