Author: Terren

Probably one of the best games ever created has found a place in the Android Market. J-J-J-Jenga is now available on your Android device. For us Canadians it’ll cost $2.89 but the good news is that when you get a game like this you want it as close to the real experience as possible. Natural […]

Related posts:

1. Android Market officially has 100,000 apps
2. Gartner: Android captured 36% market share in Q1 2011
3. Google to introduce Android Market for Android 1.6 soon

Researchers manipulate DNA strands to solve computational problems.

“What’s in a name?” We’d ask Toshiba, but the company hasn’t been able to give its upcoming 10.1-inch Honeycomb tablet one in five months — or has it? If you’ll recall, Toshiba registered the name Thrive for trademark and related domain names last month, and now evidence is mounting that all of that work wasn’t in vain. TabletCommunity learned days ago that a commercial for the device was in production via some chatty actors on Twitter; soon after, the site also uncovered a parking page for the slate on Toshiba’s website, albeit with little more than the aforesaid name categorized under “Tablets.” It’s a welcome update in light of the vapid titles “Antares” and “ANT300” that had also seemed possible, and once word spills of US pricing and availability, perhaps we can focus on more pressing matters… you know, like benchmarks.

[Thanks, Jakob]

Product portal, tweets suggest ‘Thrive’ moniker for Toshiba’s Honeycomb tablet originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 21 May 2011 04:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink TabletCommunity  |  Toshiba, @DavidLyddon, @actorlulumiller , @bigashb (Twitter)  | Email this | Comments

Google is on a mission to make the Web faster. One thing that slows down pageload times are fat image files. Even JPEG and PNG files can get pretty big. So Google is developing a new image format called WebP (which is a sister format to its WebM project for videos).

The key to making image files on the Web smaller without losing sharpness is better compression of the original file. Today, Google announced via the Chromium blog that the compression algorithms for WebP just got better and that they can even handle different parts of an image separately so that parts of it can be displayed without waiting for the entire image to be compressed and decompressed.

The images above, for instance, are from this gallery comparing JPEG to WebP. The WebP images are significantly smaller, but look just as sharp. Can you tell the difference? Unfortunately, WebP is only supported in Chrome and Opera browsers. Google products such as Gmail, Picassa Web albums, and Google Instant Previews also support WebP. But other than Opera, it’s pretty much an all-Google affair.

Websites aren’t going to start using WebP images just for Google Chrome visitors. But if it does speed things up without reducing the quality of images, other browsers will start supporting it as well or else be left behind.

One of the features that many people love in Chrome is the minimal UI at the top of the browser. Want to minimize it even more? Then you will definitely want to make use of the new feature added to the Experimental Features page.

To get started enter “about:flags” into the Address Bar and hit Enter. Scroll down until you see the listing for Compact Navigation. Enable it and let the browser restart to gain access to the feature.

Once the browser has restarted right click on one of the tabs and select Hide the toolbar from the Context Menu.

Here is what the top of the browser looks like afterwards. As you can see the Back, Forward, and Tools Menu buttons have moved into the Tab Bar.

To access the Address Bar simply click on the tab. Keep in mind that the Address Bar will auto-hide rather quickly if you do not make use of it soon enough.

Hiding the Address Bar and Bookmarks Bar will really minimize the top UI section of the browser (see first screenshot above).

Note: For the moment the feature is only available on Windows systems for Chrome Dev, Canary, and Chromium releases.

[via Digitizor]

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A medical examiner in Minnesota has ruled the death of New York Rangers enforcer Derek Boogaard was an accident, due to
mixing alcohol and oxycodone.

Firefox: LessChrome HD is a Firefox extension made by the folks at Mozilla that hides Firefox’s address bar by default, decluttering your browsing experience. When you want to see the address bar, either hover your mous over a tab or hit your address bar shortcut of choice. More »

Saskatchewan’s minimum wage will be going up 25 cents this summer.

According to a new book, the Roswell incident of 1947 wasn’t a crashed flying saucer, it was an elaborate Soviet plot to cause mass panic in the U.S.

The lawyer for Kim Walker, the Yorkton, Sask., man on trial for killing his daughter’s boyfriend, is arguing the father acted in self-defence.

For anyone who's well-versed in the history of the tech landscape—particularly the 1990s—this is stunning news: IBM is officially worth more than Microsoft. The House that Gates Built is now third in the list of highest market caps in the industry—right behind Big Blue, who's in second. [SAI] More »

The Atlanta Thrashers’ move to Winnipeg may be nearing completion, but it appears not be signed and sealed just yet.

Teachers across the province will be on strike for two days next week.

The mobile browser version Google Maps got a makeover on Android and iOS devices, which makes it alot more like the desktop and native app versions of the service. More »

Here’s an amazing story to end your week on a high note: a 25-year-old paraplegic is now walking again, thanks to a groundbreaking procedure developed by neuroscientists at the University of Louisville, UCLA and Cal Tech. The Oregon man, Rob Summers, was paralyzed below the chest in 2006, after getting hit by a speeding car. This week, however, doctors announced that Summers can now stand up on his own and remain standing for up to four minutes. With the help of a special harness, he can even take steps on a treadmill and can move his lower extremities for the first time in years. It was all made possible by a spinal implant that emits small pulses of electricity, designed to replicate signals that the brain usually sends to coordinate movement. Prior to receiving the implant in 2009, Summers underwent two years of training on a treadmill, with a harness supporting his weight and researchers moving his legs. This week’s breakthrough comes after 30 years of research, though scientists acknowledge that this brand of epidural stimulation still needs to be tested on a broader sample of subjects before any definitive conclusions can be drawn. Summers, meanwhile, seems understandably elated. “This procedure has completely changed my life,” the former baseball player said. “To be able to pick up my foot and step down again was unbelievable, but beyond all of that my sense of well-being has changed.” We can only imagine.

Paralyzed man can stand and walk again, thanks to spinal implant originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 May 2011 08:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink MedicalXpress  |  University of Louisville  | Email this | Comments

The 16GB-equipped, 7-inch Flyer from HTC is making its way west this week. Best Buy, which gets the honor of exclusively launching the WiFi-only Android tablet in the US, has revealed Sunday as the official first day of availability for the Flyer, at a price of $500. As you’ll recall, the stylus that ships in the retail box just about everywhere else will be markedly missing from the Best Buy bundle, costing an extra $80 to those who simply must have it. You’ll be able to purchase your Flyer online and at all brick-and-mortar Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile stores, but if mobile connectivity is more important to you, we’d advise holding out a little while longer for the 3G- and 4G-capable Evo View variety on Sprint.

HTC Flyer lands at Best Buy on May 22nd for $500, Magic Pen sold separately originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 May 2011 02:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink BGR  |  Best Buy  | Email this | Comments

PlayBoy Magazine might not have had the HP TouchPad’s price dead to rights, but it also might not have been far off the mark — if this allegedly leaked Walmart database entry is correct, the 32GB version of the webOS slate will cost $599. PreCentral nabbed the above image, as well as supplementary documentation suggesting an $80 sticker price for the Touchstone Dock, $50 for a first-party case, $30 for a spare AC adapter and $70 for the official Bluetooth keyboard. Of course, that $599 price tag puts the 9.7-inch tablet squarely in the sights of Apple’s 32GB iPad 2. We can’t wait to see if it’s worth the cash to pick up this underdog.

Walmart prices HP TouchPad 32GB at $599? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 May 2011 22:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  PreCentral  | Email this | Comments

Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger delayed his Hollywood comeback Thursday as he braced for what could be a costly divorce prompted by revelations that he had an affair and child with a housekeeper who worked for his family for 20 years.