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Apr

SwiftKey Is Dedicated To April Fool's Day – 'Tilt' Is A Real Feature And You Can Use It Now

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

Earlier this morning, we added SwiftKey Tilt to our 2013 April Fool's day post. At first blush, it just looks like another funny idea made specifically for April Fool's Day – little did we know that Tilt is actually a real feature. According to a comment left on the official SwiftKey Blog, you can enable Tilt by long-pressing on the word "tilt" in the suggested words area above the keyboard in the newest version of the app.

Sure enough, it works.

And it functions just like in the video, too – simply move your phone around and the little ball (shown atop the "H" in the third screenshot) works like your finger to Flow Through Space.

Mar

Google Adds Over 400 Dark Horse Comics To Play Books, Including Star Wars, Serenity, And Buffy

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Google, News

Android devices are already pretty awesome comic readers. There's very little I love in the world more than watching Deadpool hack and slash everything in the universe up on the ultra-high resolution display of my Nexus 10. Though, if anything is gonna give the merc with a mouth a run for his ill-gotten money, it may just be the collective comic anthologies of properties like Star Wars, Hellboy, Serenity, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and more. Yes, Dark Horse comics are live on the Play Store.

The titles will launch in every country that Play Store books are sold (which, as of right now, includes Australia, Canada, Spain, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, India, South Korea, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, France, Russia and the United States).

Mar

NASA Releases Augmented Reality App With 3D Models Of Real Spacecraft Like Curiosity

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

NASA is kind of awesome. In case you live under some red rocks, the organization sent this crazy robot to Mars that sends us back high-resolution photos. The future is amazing. Of course, there's nothing the space administration loves more than curiosity (which is why they named the Mars rover after it), and it's aiming to fuel yours with this 3D model explorer.

In a somewhat odd move, instead of simply providing the 3D models themselves, the app requires you to print out some markers. Then, as you've seen in other AR apps, you point your camera at the page and the model appears.

Feb

Manos: The Hands Of Fate, The World's Worst Movie, Is Now An 8-Bit Platform Game And It's Awesome!

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Games, News

In the mid 60s, a man named Harold P. Warren set out to prove that making horror films is not difficult and, with a budget of $19k and a script written on a napkin, he got to work. What followed is, far and away, one of the worst pieces of cinema ever to be recorded. Yes, worse than Gigli or Cool As Ice. You think those are bad? Amateurs. While the film not only bombed in 1966, it continues to bomb to this day. An appearance on Mystery Science Theater 3000 prevented this atrocity from disappearing into obscurity, and since then the fandom hasn't stopped, as evidenced by what might just be the greatest platform game since the original Mario Brothers.

Jan

[CES 2013] ScotteVest Shows Off The Jacket Of The Future, But We Want It Right Now

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News

We have long speculated what the future will actually be like: flying cars, livable space stations, intergalactic travel will be the norm – you know, all that stuff. Alas, none of those things have quite come to fruition yet, and I doubt they will in my lifetime. What may actually become a thing that we can have, though, is wearable tech. And I'm not talking about smartwatches and the like. I'm talking about intelligent, sophisticated clothing.

Kind of like this insane concept jacket that ScotteVest is showing off at CES:

This is the TEC (Technology Enabled Clothing) Jacket 2.0. It has features that we've never seen before in a jacket (file that under "sentences that I never expected to write"), like built-in, flexible speakers and noise-cancelling microphones; onboard network-enhancing antennas, batteries, batteries, and more batteries; solar plates, and e-ink displays to output current stats.

Dec

Andru, The Loveable Bugdroid Charging Adapter, Now Available In White 'Chill' Version For $25

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Accessories, News

You remember this little guy? Of course you do. He's freaking cute, how could you not remember? Don't act like you don't want one. Everyone does. However, if you've loved the idea but were holding out for one in white, today's your lucky day. Right now, the useful bugdroid buddy has gone on sale in a new 'Chill' flavor. Perfectly white with a nice silver accent along the neckline. Fantastic.

If you want in on this, best to order sooner rather than later, as Android paraphernalia tends to go rather quickly. As with the previous versions, this adapter supports 120~240V AC current, comes with a 1.2m micro-USB cable, posable arms and glowing blue eyes to make you feel safe at night.

Oct

HTC J Butterfly Announced, Comes Complete With 5" 1080p SLCD 3 Display And A Japanese Launch

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in HTC, News

Remember that HTC phone with the massive, 5" 1080p display that we've been hearing rumors about? Well, it's here! Where "here" means Japan. The Taiwanese manufacturer has just announced the HTC J Butterfly, the follow up to the previous HTC J model. This phone is packing a positively drool-worthy 1080p SLCD 3 display (you read that right) in a 5" slate. In case you were wondering, that is a retina-destroying 440ppi.

Do you even care about the rest of the specs? Well, I suppose you do, but nothing's going to make you care more about this phone than that display.

Oct

Rdio Launches Beta For Its Upcoming App Redesign, And It Is Glorious

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

When it comes to streaming subscription services, Spotify has stolen the spotlight in the US, where companies like Rdio have struggled to get the attention and acclaim they used to enjoy back before the Swedish invasion. With Xbox Music looming on the horizon, promising to install 30 million free, ad-supported tracks into every computer running Windows 8, the market has never been more competitive. Which makes Rdio's newly announced overhaul to its Android app all the more timely. It's even better that it looks fantastic.

Old Versus New

^{The old version of Rdio that current users have.}

^{The slick new look.}

Oct

This Greasemonkey Script Lets You See All 'My Apps' On One Page And Filters Between Free/Paid In The Web Market

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News

The Play Store's web market has come quite a long way since it was first announced back in February of 2011. Still, that doesn't mean it's perfect - among others, there are quite a few filter options still on the request list. For example, many users want to separate their free and paid apps in the My Apps interface. Thanks to a Greasemonkey script Artem just stumbled across, now you can.

That's not all this ingenious script does, either: it also lets you see all of your apps on one page by adding a resizable handle to the bottom right corner of each box.