Reality Bites
Two years ago, some dudes set the world on fire with the Half-Life 2 fan film Escape from City 17. Today, they return with part two of that film. Considering this 15-minute video only cost $250 to make, I think that’s two years well spent. This is a high-quality piece of no-budget filmmaking, for sure.
One of the biggest gripes from BlackBerry users is the lack of apps, which is why RIM hopes to boost sales by adding Android compatibility in future devices — DroidBerry, anyone? According to Bloomberg, sources familiar with the matter say RIM may add support for Android apps on future QNX-based devices, enabling access beyond RIM’s relatively limited App World. The feature is said to go live in the QNX-powered PlayBook tablet by the end of the year, but there’s no word yet whether the 2012 line-up of QNX phones will get a Google-friendly makeover. Rumor has it that anyone who bought the most recent batch of BlackBerrys won’t get to have a taste of Gingerbread, Honeycomb or any other mouth-watering Android flavor for that matter. Guess they’ll have to settle for plain old vanilla.
BlackBerry to run Android apps on future QNX devices? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Aug 2011 08:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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This may be of no consequence to those of you who frequent XDA Developers, but obviously, not all of us are comfortable rooting Asus’ EEE Pad Transformer just to get Netflix support. Now you might never have to, thanks to a build lovingly named HTJ85B.US_epad-8.6.5.9-20110816. In addition to enabling sideloading support for the streaming service, this Honeycomb update provides a choice of cursor icons, improves boot times and adds the ability to enable or disable the virtual keyboard while docked. Hitting the update? Let us know how you fare in the comments.
[Thanks, Zack]
EEE Pad Transformer gains Netflix support, minor fixes originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Aug 2011 00:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Nothing warms our hearts quite like the thought of corporate suits and government workers pumping out the tunes of Iris DeMent and Amy Martin as they scurry throughout their busy days. As we’ve previously speculated, a new service for BlackBerry Messenger — dubbed BBM Music — has now become real official. For $5 per month, users may keep up to 50 songs in their personal library, which is kinda reminiscent of the wistful days filled with 128MB MP3 players. Fortunately, it gets better. A social component allows you to add BBM Music friends, which gives you access to their current 50 songs, too — and serves as a real incentive to grow your social circle. Once you get bored of your jam selection, up to 25 songs per month can be swapped out for new ones, and your current library can be stored locally on the handset. The new service begins today in closed beta for residents of the US, Canada and the UK, but more countries will be added down the road. Curious if yours made the list? Just hop the break for the full PR to find out.
Continue reading BBM Music gets official for BlackBerry owners lusting after Spotify
BBM Music gets official for BlackBerry owners lusting after Spotify originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Aug 2011 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The union representing education support workers in Saskatchewan says special needs in the classroom are growing while educational assistant jobs are being cut.
A major development out of Cupertino: Apple CEO Steve Jobs has stepped down, the board naming Tim Cook as his replacement. The company said “Steve’s extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world’s most innovative and valuable technology company.”
Steve himself published the following letter:
I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.
I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.
As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.
I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.
I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.
Steve
Apple has confirmed that Jobs will stay on as Chairman. Full details in the PR after the break.
Continue reading Steve Jobs resigns as CEO of Apple
Steve Jobs resigns as CEO of Apple originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Aug 2011 18:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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There have been whispers that Facebook wanted to buy Instagram, but as that never went anywhere, Facebook now wants to kill Instagram. They’re adding photo filters to their Facebook app. More »
Sadly, summer’s ending and it’s time again to get back to those studies. But these kids were treated to one last bit of excitement. After their first day back, their bus exploded. Party! More »
In June we launched the +1 button for websites, making it easier to recommend content across the web. In July, the +1 button crossed 2 billion daily views, and we also made it a lot faster. Today the +1 button appears on more than a million sites, with over 4 billion daily views, and we’re extremely excited about this momentum.
It’s just the beginning, however, and today we’re launching two more features that make +1 buttons more useful for users and publishers alike.
Sharing with your circles on Google+
Clicking the +1 button is a great way to highlight content for others when they search on Google. But sometimes you want to start a conversation right away—at least with certain groups of friends. So beginning today, we’re making it easy for Google+ users to share webpages with their circles, directly from the +1 button. Just +1 a page as usual and look for the new “Share on Google+” option. From there you can comment, choose a circle and share.
+Snippets
When you share content from the +1 button, you’ll notice that we automatically include a link, an image and a description in the sharebox. We call these “+snippets,” and they’re a great way to jumpstart conversations with the people you care about.
Of course: publishers can benefit from +snippets as well. With just a few changes to their webpages, publishers can actually customize their +snippets and encourage more sharing of their content on Google+. More details are available on the Google Webmaster blog.
We’re rolling out sharing and +snippets globally over the next week, but if you’d like to try the new +1 button now, you can join our Google+ Platform Preview. Once you’re part of the Preview, just visit a site with the +1 button (like Rotten Tomatoes) and +1 the page. Thanks for all of your feedback so far, and stay tuned for more features in the weeks and months ahead!
Posted by Vic Gundotra, Senior Vice President of Engineering
In April, we introduced the Google Docs app for Android, which allows you to access and create new docs on the go, directly from an app on your Android phone. Since then, we’ve continued to work on ways to improve your mobile experience, and I’m excited to share a couple of new updates that we hope will do just that.
Starting today, you can easily take pictures with your Android phone and insert them into a Google document, using the new Web Clipboard feature. Here’s how:
1. From the Docs widget on your phone, tap the camera icon.
2. Snap a photo then select Send to Web Clipboard and press OK.
3. Open any Google document from your computer. Click the Web Clipboard icon and select the item to paste into your doc.
A couple of other new features for the Android app include improved open and send options. You can open your documents with any compatible viewer application or send a doc as an attachment through email or another app on your phone.
Last but certainly not least, we’re making the Docs app available in 45 additional languages so more users around the world can access, share and edit on the go. Here’s an example of what the app looks like in German:
You can grab the app from Android Market and learn more by visiting the help center. As always, let us know what you think in the comments or on the forum.
Posted by: Tobias Thierer, Software Engineer
The BlackBerry PlayBook officially launched on April 19th, over 500,000 people jumped on the opportunity to own RIM’s first tablet. However, many users were wondering why they had to bridge their BlackBerry smartphone to get their email. During BlackBerry World 2011 RIM came through and gave us all a quick taste of what the email client will look like, basically exactly like it operates on BlackBerry smartphones. Execs said that the OS update will be available sometime this Summer (the Summer officially ends on September 22nd).
In the same report as Android coming to QNX-based BlackBerry devices, Bloomberg reports that “RIM plans to issue a PlayBook software upgrade in September that adds a dedicated e-mail program and BlackBerry Messenger instant-messaging applications, one of the people said. A PlayBook upgrade for the Android player may come later on in the year, two of the people said.”
Only a few more weeks!
Source: Bloomberg
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Why isn’t Chrome a part of Android? It’s a question as old as time itself. Or at least a few years old. But given that the same company, Google, makes both products, it never made much sense. Now they’re finally taking steps to resolve this. A bit. Maybe.
We all love Windows 7, but who doesn’t want to find out more information about the upcoming version of Windows? Today Microsoft released some information about the new copy/move/delete dialogs.
The primary changes are that all the copy/move actions are in a single dialog window, where you can pause or resume copy jobs if you want, or even check out some really detailed information. The rename dialogs have been changed to be much more useful… but why are you reading this? Click the link to read the entire post over at MSDN.
Improving our file management basics: copy, move, rename, and delete [MSDN]
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