Category: GReader

Mini Maps on FacebookMini Maps is a great driving game for Facebook that lets you race anywhere in the world on Google Maps. You can race on tracks created by other players, competing against the best track times or even race against others by inviting your Facebook friends to play. Alternatively you can create your own tracks, set the best time and challenge others to try and beat you.The game has some great features. Visibility is affected by the local time, so, for example, if you log into San Francisco at night, you are going to be driving with the assistance of your headlamps. Unlike most Google Maps based driving games this one actually features collision detection. There’s no off road driving here – you will have to stick to those roads. The game also lets you select from a number of Mini models and even lets you customise the look of your car. ________________

Riot police fired tear gas, pepper spray and flash bombs in Vancouver Wednesday night to try to disperse rioters who set cars on fire, looted and taunted police officers after the Canucks’ 4-0 Stanley Cup final loss to the Boston Bruins.

So we already know Lenovo has designs on bringing the LePad westwards in the form of the IdeaPad K1, but now the company’s also revealed plans to deliver a Think-branded Android slate to the market, at some point later this summer. That 10-inch device will strive to serve professionals’ needs, coming with a stylus for signature capture, and will be followed by an identically sized Windows tablet by the end of the year. Lenovo COO Rory Reid has changed his tune, having previously said there’d be no Windows 7 slates, but he does seem fully cognizant of the difficulty his company faces in breaking through in this rapidly saturating market. He notes that the experience is being tailored to a high standard and that “we only have one opportunity to make that first good impression.” For more info on what this new ThinkPad pad might look like, check out the previous leaks of purported specs and a Lenovo roadmap that identified it before this official confirmation.

Lenovo ThinkPad tablet coming in summer with Android, Windows slate later in the year originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Jun 2011 07:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A little shindig held by Orange in the UK has unearthed a T-Mobile-branded LG device that we’ve never seen before. It features a display of moderate size and resolution, which slides up to reveal a split QWERTY keyboard and yet another color display. The hidden visualizer is apparently used as an app-launching shortcut repository, though other details remain frustratingly light. Kineto Wireless were the company to bring this unannounced LG handset to the party, along with a bunch of others intended for the US market, and the rep on hand dropped the name Flip II to the Pocket-lint sleuths. There’s also the possibility that what we’re eyeing is the LG Maxx Q, which has popped up on a recently leaked T-Mo USA roadmap, though that Android 1.6 wallpaper could mean that this is just an aged prototype that never saw the light of retail day. Which would be a darn shame, if you ask us. Give the source link a bash for more pictures.

Dual-screen LG Android phone shows up in the wild, poses more questions than it answers originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Jun 2011 06:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This up to 1000 years old snow has metamorphosed into highly pressurized glacier ice that contains almost no air bubbles. Thus it absorbs the visible light despite the scattered shortest blue fraction, giving it its distinct deep blue waved appearance. This cavity in the glacier ice formed as a result of a glacial mill, or moulin.

Rain and meltwater on the glacier surface is channelled into streams that enter the glacier at crevices. The waterfall melts a hole into the glacier while the ponded water drains towards lower elevations by forming long ice caves with an outlet at the terminus of the glacier. The fine grained sediments in the water along with wind blown sediments cause the frozen meltwater stream to appear in a muddy colour while the top of the cave exhibits the deep blue colour.

Due to the fast movement of the glacier of about 1 m per day over uneven terrain this ice cave cracked up at its end into a deep vertical crevice, called cerrac. This causes the indirect daylight to enter the ice cave from both ends resulting in homogeneous lighting of the ice tunnel.

Tim Thomas is bringing the Stanley Cup back to his blue-collar hometown of Flint, Mich. And he’ll have the Conn Smythe Trophy in tow, too.

Microsoft’s been talking up its forthcoming Kinect for Windows SDK for quite a while now, and it looks like developers might soon finally be able to get their hands on it. According to WinRumors, Microsoft will roll out the beta version of the SDK during a special event on Channel 9 at 9:30 AM Pacific time (12:30 Eastern) tomorrow — something that’s now been backed up somewhat by the Channel 9 website itself, which is simply promising a “special Kinect focused event tomorrow.” WinRumors is also reporting that the President of Microsoft Spain said during an appearance at a conference today that the beta SDK would be available “this week.” So, it certainly seems like things are lining up for a release — it’s just a shame that “Kinect applications” doesn’t have the same ring as Kinect hacks.

Kinect for Windows SDK beta to roll out tomorrow? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Jun 2011 22:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dolby has decided to sue Waterloo-based RIM for infringing on their patents. In a press release today Dolby stated that they “seek recovery of financial damages and injunctions to halt sales of the many RIM products that infringe Dolby’s patents”.

Apparently RIM is using Dolby’s digital audio compression technology in the Playbook and their smartphones. According to Dolby this patented technology outputs “high quality audio while using extremely limited amounts of transmission and/or storage space”. The downside is that “all other major smart phone makers have agreed to license the Dolby technologies”, but for some reason RIM opted to do otherwise. “Litigation was regrettably our last resort after RIM declined to pay for the use of Dolby’s technology”.

Clearly not good news for RIM.

Source: BusinessWire
Via: BerryReview

Related posts:

1. Nokia sued $17.77 billion for patent infringement
2. RIM and Prism Technologies settle patent-infringement case
3. Kodak files lawsuit against Apple and RIM. You guessed it…patent infringement

Google Sync has pushed Gmail messages, calendar updates, and contacts to iOS since its launch in 2009, but this half-baked solution previously lacked some key functionality. Beginning today, users can finally perform mail server searches and confirm appointment requests from their iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. This means that you’ll be able to search for messages in your entire mailbox, not just for emails stored on your device — a feature that first appeared with iPhone OS 3, but without Google Sync support. You can also respond to calendar invites from within the Calendar app. Fancy that! A third update brings support for sending messages from other addresses listed in your Gmail account, though only the first two features worked when we took Sync for a spin this afternoon. (Curiously, Google omitted a “Send Mail as” screenshot on its blog, so this last update may not actually be available yet.) This latest trio of updates is available for both gratis and Google Apps accounts, so head to the source link for set up instructions and the full feature rundown.

Google Sync adds mail server search, appointment confirmation to native iOS apps originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Jun 2011 17:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The final game of the Stanley Cup playoffs has set what could well be a record price tag in sports, with tickets fetching as much as $8,600 US in the hours before the showdown between the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins.

Golf ball-sized hail. Intense, gusting wind smashing the ground and spreading out, pushing everything in its way. Torrential downpour making it impossible to see anything farther than an inch away. My god, microbursts are previews for the apocalypse. More »

We already knew it was coming — Samsung hasn’t been particularly shy about its teasing — but the big day has finally arrived, and the Series 5 Chromebook is now officially shipping to those eagerly awaiting the Google-powered laptop. If you weren’t among the high-end coupon clippers who snatched one up during the surprise sale at Gilt a couple of weeks ago, you can now pick up a Chromebook of your own. At least for now, however, it looks like you’ll have to settle for a white exterior — the “Titan Silver” (also known as black) edition is still in pre-order mode at both Best Buy and Amazon.

Samsung Series 5 Chromebook now shipping in Arctic White — Titan Silver edition still to come originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Jun 2011 14:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This Thursday, the productivity of tens of millions of golf fans around the world will hit new lows as the U.S. Open, the second of the four major golf championships, kicks off at the Congressional Country Club. For those of you who are determined to keep up with what promises to be an exciting tournament, there are plenty of apps in the Chrome Web Store that can keep you from missing a single shot.

The USGA has just launched the U.S. Open Today app that provides you with the latest news, video highlights and photos from the tournament. For additional coverage, you can try the Eurosport app or catch the latest photos at Sports Illustrated.

If all this tournament coverage gets you excited to play, you can add the WGT Golf Challenge app to Chrome. This is the most realistic golf game on the web, allowing you to play a closest-to-the-hole challenge at Congressional Country Club, or a new championship course every month.

If you get inspired playing the U.S. Open in the virtual world and you want to plan your next golf expedition, the Fairways360 app will come in handy. With Fairways360, you can explore new courses as if you were standing on the tee. You can also use the app to book tee times at over 1,700 golf courses across the United States, as well as get the current weather conditions and directions to the golf course of your choice.

Finally, to take care of scheduling tee times with your friends, you can try ClubDivot. With ClubDivot, you can create leagues with your friends and instantly notify them via email when you book a tee time to let them know to sign up. You can also organize your favorite golf courses and view your monthly calendar of tee times. This way you can get back to the things that matter most, like working on your swing.

There are thousands of more apps in the Chrome Web Store. Discover them at chrome.google.com/webstore.

Posted by Brian Rakowski, Official Chrome Team Hacker

Yeah.

I feel like I’ve posted a pic of somebody wearing this before, but I can’t seem to find it. Sorry for not being able to make this even better.

Lindsay Powers
But Playboy magazine will still have a gaffe on its July cover, which already went to print and reads, “America’s Princess: Introducing Mrs. Crystal Hefner.”

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Just this morning we showed you a chopper-rocket-packing truck of the Libyan rebel army. Looks like it wasn’t the only one they’ve got: we found another hybrid missile pod pounder, firing away across flaming war wreckage. The scene is apocalyptically-surreal. More »