Daily Crunch: Landscape Portrait Edition

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Tarzan Ball is a tricky hook-and-pull physics game

So, you're a ball. A Tarzan Ball, to be precise. You've earned the nickname thanks to your astonishing ability to shoot out a lengthy 'vine' (I hope it's a vine) at objects, and then pull yourself towards those objects.

That's a handy ability to have, especially since you've got no legs, no arms, and no other means of transportation. In Tarzan Ball, the rope is everything. But you don't just swing around the screen aimlessly - that wouldn't be much of a game now, would it?

Instead, your goal in life is to collect "targets". Each level has one of these "targets" hidden away somewhere on the screen, usually behind some kind of barrier. Once you navigate close enough to the target, you can shoot your rope at it and just reel it in. That's when you pass the level.

You can't die in this game, but it can still be very frustrating. It's actually one of the tougher games I've posted recently. Still, if you enjoy physics games, this one is quite nicely made.

[This is actually the sequel to IQ Ball, which we covered last year! -Ed]

Tarzan Ball is a tricky hook-and-pull physics game originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 21 Feb 2011 18:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Help Bob make money in Sticks, a fun physics game

Sticks is another one of those rare games where the intro is actually worth watching. It introduces you to office worker Bob, who is basically a wage slave fantasizing about a better existence.

Then, on his way back home from another grueling day at the office, he passes a huge sign which says "Sticks." This is where the game starts.

Each level has a number of coins hovering in mid-air, and your goal is to place sticks that lead those coins to Bob -- but you only have a limited amount of wood to play with. As soon as you're done placing your sticks strategically, hit the big Play button and let nature, or rather gravity, run its course. The coins will drop down, and if you place your sticks correctly, they will roll all the way to Bob.

The soundtrack is soothing and playful, and didn't get on my nerves even after playing for quite a while. All in all, a very cute game, especially for a day at the office.

Help Bob make money in Sticks, a fun physics game originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 18 Feb 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Keen On? Michael Fertik: Why People Will Pay for Privacy (TCTV)

Will people pay for online privacy? Yes, they will ? at least according to Michael Fertik, the founder and CEO of Reputation.com, one of the early leaders in the new online privacy ecosystem. Indeed, Fertik believes that privacy is the next big thing in the online economy ? a necessary antidote to Reid Hoffman?s Web 3.0 economy of pervasive personal data. As Fertik told me when he came into San Francisco?s TechCrunchTV studio earlier this week, companies like Reputation.com give control back to the consumer in our Web 3.0 world. With products like the $75 a year MyPrivacy and MyReputation services, Reputation.com offers consumers a relatively affordable way to both block cookies and protect their online reputations in our increasingly public social media world.

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T-Mobile myTouch 4G Slide: The Best Camera Phone Everrrr? [Smartphones]

The iPhone 4 takes fantastic pictures, for a phone. With the myTouch 4G Slide, HTC's promising the first phone since the iPhone that takes better pictures and doesn't suck at, well, everything else. More »

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HTML5 MP3 player lets you listen to your music library inside your browser

While this slick little HTML5 audio player might not pack all of the features of your favorite desktop media application, it's still a very cool demonstration of what a Web app can do with access to local resources -- like MP3 and OGG files.

Just fire up http://antimatter15.github.com/player/player.html in your HTML5-compatible browser and browse to the topmost folder in your music library. The app will quickly build an index of all your tunes and let you start listening right inside your Web browser. Click on the filter library text, and you can enter a search string -- results load as you type.

There's a volume control, shuffle mode, play/pause control, and you can click and drag to skip forward or rewind during playback. As OMG! Ubuntu points out, you can even save the app to your hard drive and run it offline, which is pretty darn cool.

Not all browsers are equal when it comes to HTML5 implementation, of course. We found that Chrome worked the best, and Firefox was OK. It's also worth noting that this music player comes from the same developer that created one of our favorite restartless Firefox 4 add-ons, drag2up.

HTML5 MP3 player lets you listen to your music library inside your browser originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Deal of the Day ? Dell Vostro 3550 15.6? Core i3/i5/i7 Laptops as Low as $449

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Facebook update bumps it to version 1.6.0

Zing! And just like that, Facebook for Android just got an update that bumps it up to version 1.6.0. The changelog on Market reads:

• Added Pages
• News Feed improvements
• Added the ability to upload videos

Oh yeah, and while you're at it. Instead of accepting that friend request from your old stalker relationship from high school, why don't you go ahead and "Like" Android Central on Facebook.

Android Market Link: Facebook Thanks, LGiusti84!

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OmmWriter brings its clean, calm writing interface to Windows

I have a thing for full-screen text editing. I use WriteMonkey for my creative writing needs, and VIM in a full-screen PuTTY session for my Web development work. That being the case, I'm all over the monospace, dark-background, focused editing scene.

OmmWriter attempts to take that aesthetic and make it somehow more spiritual, with three picturesque backgrounds and ambient background audio tracks (there are seven of each in the paid version).

I'm of two minds about this app. On the one hand, yes, it's beautiful. But if you want music as a background to your writing, why not pick your own soundtrack with Winamp or Foobar2000 running in the background?

OmmWriter also offers three keyboard-clicking sounds, which are kind of nice. None of these features are groundbreaking, really. OmmWriter could be seen as a way to gently ease into the world of distraction-free writing -- in case something like WriteMonkey's dark background is just too oppressive for you.

After the fold you can see a video showcasing several of OmmWriter's features and creative soundscapes.

Continue reading OmmWriter brings its clean, calm writing interface to Windows

OmmWriter brings its clean, calm writing interface to Windows originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Daily Crunch: Falcon Edition

George Plimpton?s Video Falconry Is A Real Thing If You Loved Your Child, You?d Buy Them This $300 High Chair. But You Don?t. UUDDLRLRBABA Start Bringing Your Room Together With These Arcade Style Light Switches Replace Those Flimsy Collar Stays With The Exuvius Titanium Multi Tool Review: HTC Flyer

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Telstra will scrap Sense UI to make room for Gingerbread on the HTC Desire

What's this we spy in the dusty depths of a Telstra software update page? A little sentence that displays some crowd-pleasing logic in bringing Android 2.3 to the hoary old Desire. HTC originally told us the handset had insufficient memory to run Gingerbread, and so would be excluded from the update. Then it did a 180-flip and said the Desire would be getting Gingerbread after all, but with the sacrifice of some memory-hogging apps. But now Aussie Telstra has opted for arguably the smartest alternative: prepare a special update that kicks HTC's Sense UI out of the pub instead, freeing up plenty of room for Gingerbread while also pleasing punters who like to drink their Android neat. If it can work Down Under in August, other operators around the world ought to be able to make it work too. And if they don't, there's always the option of a spicy home-brewed beverage instead.

[Thanks, Alejandro]

Telstra will scrap Sense UI to make room for Gingerbread on the HTC Desire originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Jun 2011 07:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer Iconia Tab A500 to get Android 3.1 on 5th of July, at least in Deutschland

The Iconia Tab A500, Acer's "better choice" tablet, is set to join the ranks of Android 3.1 slates on the 5th of July, according to the company's German Facebook page. That's a little later than the June timeframe we'd initially been promised, but the precision of giving an actual date this time around inspires confidence that the OTA goodies will indeed be delivered. So far, we've only seen Acer announce this news on its German portal, so please keep your optimism in cautious gear if you reside outside the Bundesrepublik. The only certain Android update is the one that's already on your device.

Acer Iconia Tab A500 to get Android 3.1 on 5th of July, at least in Deutschland originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Jun 2011 04:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Breakdown: Verizon?s new data plans

If Verizon’s new tiered, capped data plans make the kind of sense that doesn’t, don’t worry — Phil Nickinson from Android Central has broken them down for us. Check out the chart up top for the details, and here are the bullet points: If you have Verizon’s $29.99 unlimited data plan, you’ll be able to [...]

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Hulu rumored to be considering a sale after receiving an offer from... Yahoo?

This afternoon rumors rapidly spread that an unnamed company had offered to purchase Hulu from its media giant owners, and now the LA Times Company Town blog has fingered that entity as Yahoo. According to the initial Wall Street Journal report, the offer received was not solicited, but it has caused the board to consider soliciting offers from other companies. The last time CEO Jason Kilar checked in he was looking forward to breaking one million Hulu Plus subscribers, now we're wondering which giant may be first in line to snap the streaming site up and add its content licenses to their warchest. Whatever happens, the newly formed NBCUniversal conglomerate won't have a say in it after forfeiting its board seats to get the merger approved. Drop in your wildly speculative commentary below -- rumors including YouTube, iTunes, Xbox, or some insane Spotify rumor you just made up, we're willing to listen to them all.

Hulu rumored to be considering a sale after receiving an offer from... Yahoo? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 21:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia's Play 360 Bluetooth speaker uses NFC daps to pair with your phone

Nokia's N9 got most of the attention earlier today, but the gang from Espoo also announced a nifty new portable speaker to complement its slice of MeeGo. Called the Nokia Play 360, this little barrel of omnidirectional audio streams music from your phone via Bluetooth. It also makes the pairing process easy with NFC -- a simple tap of your N9 or Nexus S to the speaker gets the tunes flowing. Not only that, when you get two of these sound boxes together, they sense each other through NFC and switch your sound to stereo. So, what's the price of such aural enjoyment? It'll cost you €149 ($213) when it ships in Q3 of this year.

Continue reading Nokia's Play 360 Bluetooth speaker uses NFC daps to pair with your phone

Nokia's Play 360 Bluetooth speaker uses NFC daps to pair with your phone originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 01:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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