Anyone else tired of these “fastest computer in the world” stories? I am. They almost sound like bragging. Look what we did with our computer, but you can’t with yours! I don’t really care whether a Smaug-the-dragon treasure horde’s worth of silicon can do 10 or 100 petaflops. I just want to know how many frames per second it gets in …
Gadgets
‘Do a Barrel Roll’ and Several Other Fun Google Easter Eggs
The world went crazy over Google’s “Do a Barrel Roll” stunt yesterday. Crazy. In case you missed it, go to Google and search for “do a barrel roll” without the quotes. Ta-da. Cool, eh? Maybe you’re even a little nauseous.
But the old barrel roll trick—as it’ll one day be called when it’s actually old—isn’t the only Easter egg Google
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HTC Rezound: Beefy Specs, Beats Audio and Red All Over
With the holiday smartphone smackdown in full swing, the HTC Rezound is stepping into the ring. At $299 on Verizon Wireless, this Android phone will have some tough competition against Motorola’s Droid RAZR and possibly Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus, but HTC’s hoping the addition of Beats Audio will help the Rezound stand out.
The Rezound …
What the Heck Happened to Siri?
Open mouth, insert foot: Siri apparently did something like that yesterday, responding to iPhone 4S owners’ questions with decidedly un-savvy answers. Answers like: “Sorry, I’m having trouble connecting to the network” and “Sorry I’m not able to connect right now” and “Sorry, I don’t have a network connection.”
But users actually did …
Siri’s Guilty Secret: Data Guzzling
Everyone loves Siri, the iPhone 4S’ virtual personal assistant with a particularly snappy comeback for certain questions. But what they may not love is the amount of data Siri uses in catering to your every whim.
A report from Ars Technica suggests that overuse of Siri could unknowingly force users over their monthly data limit. Every …
HP’s Slate 2: A Windows 7 Tablet for $700
HP’s Slate 2 is a rare product from an unlikely company. You don’t see many Windows 7 tablets these days, because most hardware makers are presumably waiting for Microsoft’s touch-optimized Windows 8 to launch next year. HP, meanwhile, is still licking its wounds over the failure of its TouchPad tablet, and only recently decided it was …
Watch Negative Tweets Disappear… on Facebook?
When it comes to advertisers trying to reach out into the world of social media, results tend to veer wildly between “inspired” and “oh please make it go away I can’t unsee that oh no.” Or, in the case of the new Mentos “Negative Tweet Eliminator,” just plain confusing.
Don’t get me wrong; the idea of an app that “destroys” tweets …
Judge Allows Sprint’s AT&T/T-Mobile Lawsuit to Proceed
The $39 billion merger between AT&T and T-Mobile may still be going ahead, but it’ll have to face a lawsuit claiming unfair competition from Sprint and C Spire before it can be finalized, with a U.S. District Judge allowing the companies’ case to proceed after dismissing some of their more outrageous claims.
Judge Ellen Huvelle ruled …
WATCH: 16 Helicopters Form the ‘Multicopter’ Personal Flying Machine
It’s definitely more than meets the eye, as a team in Germany has connected 16 small, battery-powered propellers together to form the “E-Volo Multicopter”—described as “an innovative, vertically starting, human carrying transportation device” on the team’s website.
The machine has some important safety features, too, such as the …
Amazon ‘Prime’ Members Now Get Free Kindle E-Book Rentals
Amazon’s bringing free Kindle e-book rentals to Amazon Prime members, but a bunch of restrictions make the service less attractive than it could be.
The Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, as it’s officially called, lets Amazon Prime members check out one book at a time in one-month increments. If the member switches to another book when …
Surprise, Apple Will Reboot Entire Product Lineup Next Year!
I’m not sure this is actually newsworthy, but here it is anyway: Apple will overhaul its full product line over the course of 2012, including the iPad, iMac, iPhone and MacBook Air. That, according to a “source in the upstream supply chain” confabbing with DigiTimes. I know, it’s basically like shouting “Revelation! Computer manufacturer …
Apple Confirms Battery Issues for Some iOS 5-Enabled iPhones
Hold your horses before you update that phone. If you’re considering downloading Apple’s latest and greatest mobile software (specifically, iOS 5), you may want to rethink that for a second. Apple has admitted that some bugs are causing battery issues with certain iPhone models.
Some customers are finding that their iPhones are
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