Amazon Cloud Player review: functional, not mind blowing, and still US-only

Amazon Android Cloud Player appIt's hard to believe: our world-spanning network, our Internet, which is the cornerstone of free speech and free society -- which, on a good day, is capable of causing populist revolutions -- is still crippled by banal geolocation restrictions. We are, of course, talking about Amazon's two latest offerings, both of which are only available in the United States. Last week it was the excellent Android Appstore for Android, and today it's the Amazon Cloud Player for Web and Android.

Along with Cloud Player, Amazon also launched Cloud Drive, which is basically just like any other cloud storage digital locker. It's not particularly feature rich, and there's no real reason to use it over something like SugarSync or SkyDrive -- it does work outside the US, however.

Its primary purpose, as far as we're concerned, is that it stores your your Cloud Player music in a subdirectory. You get 5GB of Cloud Drive storage for free, and then it's $1 per gigabyte per year if you need more space.

The Amazon Cloud Player itself will not, to put it bluntly, blow your mind. It works, but it's very much an early, and possibly rushed, release. Let's dive in to the Web and Android players for a closer look.

Continue reading Amazon Cloud Player review: functional, not mind blowing, and still US-only

Amazon Cloud Player review: functional, not mind blowing, and still US-only originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/29/amazon-cloud-player-hands-on-review-functional-not-mind-blowin/

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Fake iPhone ring found to be using actual iPhone components

Police in Shanghai, China have discovered a group of five people assembling and selling fake versions of the iPhone. Those arrested are thought to be part of an organised gang that were buying in parts from Guangdong in southern China and assembling them in rented apartments in...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/fsDkVjuoJVM/

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Balance is a challenging mouse-based physics game

balance
Years of computer use have taught us that the mouse cursor is "above" the windows. It doesn't push anything around; at least not without you clicking anything.

Balance takes that ingrained bit of knowledge and cancels it out. Suddenly your cursor (a blue dot) is solid - and if it touches the blue block, it pushes it around.

Your job is to use your cursor to nudge the blue block over to the orange block. You will have to push it, lift it and even flip it on its side, and then balance it. It's a very tricky game - one I wouldn't recommend tackling with a laptop trackpad.

Still, if you have a mouse and a hankering for a little physics gameplay, this is a cute little game. I like how the blue block never stops smiling, it makes me feel better about the world.

Balance is a challenging mouse-based physics game originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 10 Mar 2011 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/10/balance-is-a-challenging-mouse-based-physics-game/

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Ice Cream Sandwich supposedly seen in short video - is it the real deal?

ICS

So here's the story -- supposedly an anonymous fellow purchased a Nexus S on eBay, and to his surprise found it running Ice Cream Sandwich.  There are quite a few visual differences, namely a new launcher style, a new "Google Apps" folder, a new notification bar, and a new lockscreen.  There's also what looks to be a panorama feature in the camera, and the "Movie Studio" icon in the app drawer.  Everything is nice and fluid -- at least everything we get to see.

Here's where things get sticky -- those things can all be (and have been) faked.  Would it be easy?  Hell, no, but it's entirely possible.  With ICS coming sometime soon, this very well could be a development unit that somehow slipped away from Mountain View -- we've been expecting a leak or two for a while now.  But we have to hold off judgement and will let you guys decide and discuss yourselves.  Be sure to hit the source link and check out the video after the break if you haven't already.

Source: Engadget
Thanks everyone who sent this in!

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/WLMyjqwWJYc/ice-cream-sandwich-supposedly-shown-short-video-could-it-be-real-deal

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Official Flickr App Arrives For Android

flickrapppBeing an Android user as well as a Flickr user has been dangerous territory for quite a long time now. There's been no official app, and the third-party ones haven't been too hot. Luckily for us, Yahoo has finally dropped a Flickr app that not only has their official blessing, but doesn't suck at all.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Cry8sKY1Pbo/

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LeapPad the tablet PC for kids

LeapPad is a tablet pc targeted at kids aged 4 upwards. It has the most amazing features that are both education and entertaining for children. This tablet pc was designed and developed by LeapPad Company. What is a Tablet Pc?   A Tablet PC is a cross between a notebook PC and a personal digital assistant (PDA). It’s a flat-panel portable PC in the form of a slate. It features some of the most advanced technologies to be included in a [...]

Source: http://tabletbuzzblog.com/leappad-the-tablet-pc-for-kids/

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Zen Coding high-speed HTML shorthand plug-in updated

zencoding
Zen Coding made quite a splash when we first covered it almost a year ago. For those who aren't familiar, Zen is a fantastic form of shorthand for quickly hand-coding HTML. And today, a new version is out!

Here are some of the goodies version 0.7 brings to the party:

  • Text nodes: Writing something like a[href=/]{Click here} now works, and puts "Click here" within the link.
  • New actions added: Increment/decrement number under cursor, evaluate math expressions, and more.
  • Wrap with Abbreviation was upgraded.
There are several other improvements but they're all rather technical. If you use Zen Coding (or are intrigued by the concept) go ahead and read the release notes for this new version.

Zen Coding has official implementations for a ton of editors, including TextMate, Apatana, Coda, E2, Komodo, Notepad++, PSPad, and more. It also has unofficial builds for Vim, UltraEdit, Visual Studio and more.

If you want to play with Zen Coding without installing it, you can use the online demo to see some of its magic in action.

Zen Coding high-speed HTML shorthand plug-in updated originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 15 Mar 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/15/zen-coding-high-speed-html-shorthand-plug-in-updated/

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Canonical launches Ubuntu App Developer platform for curious coders

Creating apps for Ubuntu is about to get a lot easier, now that the folks over at Canonical have launched the Ubuntu App Developer platform. On the new site, developers will find guides, tutorials and other resources to help them create apps specifically for the Linux OS, or to port other apps to the platform. Once finalized, these apps can then be published on the Ubuntu Software Centre, where developers can choose to either offer them for free, or at a price. In announcing the new platform, community member David Planella predicted that it will offer a "unified and consistent journey for both open-source, non-commercial and commercial app authors." He went on to acknowledge, however, that there's still plenty of work to be done: "For all its current awesomeness, we are aware that the site needs to pass the test of a wider audience, adapt to their needs, and grow." Find out more at the source link, below.

Canonical launches Ubuntu App Developer platform for curious coders originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Sep 2011 05:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/JkXuIPEGQrU/

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Amazon reveals $79 Kindle, ships today!

As if a $199 Kindle Fire wasn't enough, Amazon's also launching a Kindle e-reader that'll dip below triple-digits for the first time. You heard right -- a $79 Kindle (or £89 if you're unfortunate enough to be on that side of the pricing insanity). According to Bloomberg Businessweek, the company's Kindle line will "start" at the aforesaid price as of today, a marked decrease from the $114 being charged for its lowest end unit earlier in the week. If anything, that's a huge blow for Barnes & Noble, and we're surmising that a reactionary drop will be coming soon in the Nook family if it hopes to keep pace. We've also learned that this guy has ads built right in -- not a shocker given the price, but notable for those who aren't keen on buying a device that continually serves up commercials to justify the lower up-front tally. If you're looking to avoid the hassle, the non-ads variant is priced at $109.

Keep up with the unveiling at our liveblog of the Amazon event.

Update: We've added the first commercial video after the break.

Update 2: Orders are live!

Continue reading Amazon reveals $79 Kindle, ships today!

Amazon reveals $79 Kindle, ships today! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Sep 2011 10:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/28/amazon-reveals-79-kindle/

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