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Team Crossword: Your new Facebook gaming addiction

admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:00:21 +0000

The pointy hatted wizards at the Microsoft FUSE studio have conjured up Team Crossword, a cool mix of a standard crossword puzzle and social gaming staples — friend invites, chat options and Facebook sharing. If you don’t know 25 DOWN you can post that to your Facebook stream and have your friends join you in the game. Still having trouble with the whole puzzle? Share the link via email and your friend can join you in real-time to work on the puzzle.

The interface is not perfect — It took a while to figure out how to type the answer into the correct box, in the correct direction. Despite that one small quirk, anyone with a knack for crosswords will want to give this new Facebook game a go.

Click here to play Team Crossword Now >

Here is the official information about the game from the about section:

About Team Crossword

Team Crossword was primarily developed by 3 members of the Microsoft FUSE Labs team during the semi-annual creative week. The inspiration for the project comes from the weekly inter-family tug of war that occurs at Matt’s house with the paper version of the Sunday crossword puzzle. And Jeff wanted to finally build some software his mom would like.

Technologies used to build Team Crossword include:ASP.net MVC 2, jQuery, SQL Azure, Visual Studio 2010, and it’s hosted on Windows Azure. Crossword puzzle data is provided by uClick LLC.

To provide feedback or report an issue, please visit our support/feature ideas forum, or else email us at xwrd AT microsoft dot com

Happy (team) puzzling!

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Team Crossword: Your new Facebook gaming addiction via http://blog.games.com/2010/09/02/team-crossword-word-games-microsoft/Games.Com

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Google Wave to Rise Again on Its Own

admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:00:18 +0000

Google Wave was once one of Google’s hottest projects, promising a new way of communication that might even replace email. Alas, it was not to be, and Google shut it down soon after public launch due to lack of user adoption – but not completely.Wave still draws interest from users, although it turned out to be more of a niche product than a massively disruptive tool. Recently, Google promised to keep Wave alive at least until the end of the year and to open source some parts of it.Now, Google has finally decided what to do with Wave. According to a recent blog post, Google will release most of the Wave code in the form of an (almost) complete application, which Google calls “Wave in a Box.”For exact deatils on what this bundle will include go here, but it seem to be enough for developers to pick up where Wave left off and create their own, complete app based on the code.Yes, Wave was a failure in Google’s hands, but we’ll sure that developers will find a way to instill new life into the project. Who knows, maybe soon we’ll see a better Wave, and maybe this new version will (finally) conquer the hearts of users.

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The hottest new game will be Team Crossword

admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:00:25 +0000

I have seen the future of Crossword puzzles and exciting. Team Crossword by Microsoft released a couple of days ago is here. The pointy hatted folks at the Microsoft FUSE studio cooked this game up and it’s very cool. Baked into a standard crossword puzzle are, invites, chat options and Facebook sharing.

If you don’t know 25 DOWN you can post that to your Facebook stream and have your friends join you in the game. Still having trouble with the whole puzzle, you can share the link via email and your friend can join you in real-time to work on the puzzle. This is the first interactive synchronous (playing at the same time) crossword puzzle that we have seen.

The interface is not perfect and I did have a hard time figuring out which question I was answering. Typing the answer into the correct box, in the correct direction took me a minute to understand. I would recommend anyone interested in crossword puzzles give the game a chance.

–>>> Click here to play Team Crossword Now

Official game information after the jump

Here is the official information about the game from the about section:

About Team Crossword

Team Crossword was primarily developed by 3 members of the Microsoft FUSE Labs team during the semi-annual creative week. The inspiration for the project comes from the weekly inter-family tug of war that occurs at Matt’s house with the paper version of the Sunday crossword puzzle. And Jeff wanted to finally build some software his mom would like.

Technologies used to build Team Crossword include:ASP.net MVC 2, jQuery, SQL Azure, Visual Studio 2010, and it’s hosted on Windows Azure. Crossword puzzle data is provided by uClick LLC.

To provide feedback or report an issue, please visit our support/feature ideas forum, or else email us at xwrd AT microsoft dot com

Happy (team) puzzling!

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The hottest new game will be Team Crossword via http://blog.games.com/2010/09/02/team-crossword-word-games-microsoft/Games.Com

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IFA 2010: Sharp shows off glasses-free 3D tablet, phone and camera tech

admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:00:24 +0000

Sharp is no stranger to glasses-less 3D technology. It was the company which gave Nintendo its screens for the 3DS and the company has also hinted that more handheld consoles are on the way with this 3D technology.

Although Sharp did not actually announce any glasses-less 3D gadgets, it did show of a few prototypes which looked more than a little intriguing,

To view the parallex barrier tech properly, you need to be round 30cm away from the screen – so this is great technology for the likes of phones and cameras.

The screens contain 800 x RGB x 480, when seen in 2D and 400 x RGB x 480 when viewed in 3D.

The prototypes we saw were impressive. There was a tablet-sized screen, around 7-inches, shown off with some animated 3D, and also a smaller 3.5-inch screen which could easily be ported to a mobile phone.

Seeing both these in action was great, although it is all about the sweet spot when viewing this content. A few times we were too far away, too close and moved our head the wrong way and the illusion of 3D was shattered. It is great to see 3D work without glasses, though.

The most intriguing non-glasses 3D tech, though, was the prototype camera on show. The camera had the parallex barrier panel on the back and images looked crisper than you would expect.

It could also shoot moving images and still video.

Sharp are in no rush to bring this technology to the masses but as we have seen with the 3DS, the panel tech is around and it is being picked up by the big boys of the technology world.

Sharp did also hint that screens as big as 9.7 inches will be in the market before long as well – which is the same size as an iPad.

Not that we are reading in to this at all…

IFA 2010: Sharp shows off glasses-free 3D tablet, phone and camera tech via http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techradar/portable-devices-news/~3/YoLt9E-e0Lw/story01.htm”> TechRadar Portable Devices

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Cheapest Tech Deals

admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:00:15 +0000

$66.99, AMD Athlon II X2 260 ADX260OCGMBOX 3.2GHz Dual-Core CPU
$64.99, GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H 785G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
$1,499.99, LG 55LD520 55in 1080p 1920×1080 LCD HDTV
$799.99, Mitsubishi WD60638 60in 3D Ready 1080p DLP HDTV
$14.99, Samsung WEP470 Noise Filtering Bluetooth Earset
$14.99, Wii Fit Charging Stand Battery Pack Balance Board

More Hot Tech Deals at www.UberBargain.com

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Cheapest Tech Deals via http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2010/09/cheapest_tech_deals.html UberGizmo

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Mafia Wars promises ‘a better user experience’

admin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:00:18 +0000

Filed under: Mafia Wars

Mafia Wars players have been extremely vocal about the game’s bugs and general sluggishness. So it seems very brave for Zynga reps to say that a better user experience is on its way in the most recent post on the official Mafia Wars blog:

“Our team has fixed a whole lot of bugs over the past 2 days. Some of these issues include fixing cross-promotional items that players weren’t receiving, replacing wonky error messages and stopping players from awarding themselves extra skill points when they complete jobs.”

OK, so we’re glad that some bugs have been fixed. Some is better than none. Perhaps more telling are the seemingly endless comments after the post, brimming with suggestions on other things that need to be fixed or changed in the game, including “overloaded’ servers, complaints about players using ’snag’ cheat apps, no more challenge missions and allow clans/all players to share loot… to name a few.

The post ends by saying “Our work is far from over.” Seems like a lot of fed-up virtual mobsters will agree with that.

Have you had trouble with bugs and sluggishness in Mafia Wars? What else (if anything) needs to be fixed?

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Mafia Wars promises ‘a better user experience’ via http://blog.games.com/2010/09/01/mafia-wars-promises-a-better-user-experience-is-on-its-way/Games.Com

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Samsung Officially Unveils Galaxy Tab

admin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:00:15 +0000

Samsung has finally spilled the details about its long-awaited tablet computer, the Galaxy Tab, during a press conference at the IFA consumer electronics fair in Berlin.Samsung calls its tablet a “smart media device,” and Galaxy Tab definitely has the specifications to back it up: Android 2.2 support, a Cortex A8 1 GHz processor, 512 MB of RAM and 16/32 GB of internal memory with the possibility of upgrading through microSD memory cards.Furthermore, there’s a 7 inch TFT-LCD display with 1024×600 pixel resolution, a 3 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED Flash plus an additional fron 1.3 megapixel camera for video chats (that’s got to hurt iPad owners at least a little bit) as well as WiFi and 3G connectivity. The dimensions of the device are 190.09 x 120.45 x 11.98mm, with 380 grams of weight, and the battery should last through 7 hours of movie playback.In other words, the iPad got a worthy competitor, not only because of the capable hardware the Tab is sporting, but also because it has the latest and greatest version of Android. Although it’s smaller than the iPad, whose screen measures 9.7 inches, Galaxy Tab does a lot of things the iPad cannot do: it has two cameras, it supports Flash and a wide variety of multimedia formats, including DivX, XviD, MPEG4, H.263, and H.264.Samsung has partnered with Vodafone for the launch, and the Galaxy Tab will start selling in October in the majority of Vodafone’s European markets and later this year in the U.S and other markets.

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Mafia Wars promises ‘a better user experience’

admin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 00:00:22 +0000

Filed under: Mafia Wars

“Our team has fixed a whole lot of bugs over the past 2 days. Some of these issues include fixing cross-promotional items that players weren’t receiving, replacing wonky error messages and stopping players from awarding themselves extra skill points when they complete jobs.”

The post ends by saying “Our work is far from over.” Seems like a lot of fed-up virtual mobsters will agree with that.

Have you had trouble with bugs and sluggishness in Mafia Wars? What else (if anything) needs to be fixed?

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Mafia Wars promises ‘a better user experience’ via http://blog.games.com/2010/09/01/mafia-wars-promises-a-better-user-experience-is-on-its-way/Games.Com

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Hands on: Apple iPod touch 4G review

admin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 00:00:22 +0000

Apple’s jewel in its iPod crown is, without a shadow of a doubt, the new fourth-generation iPod touch, revealed earlier today by the company’s charismatic CEO, Steve Jobs.

The new iPod touch 4G was perhaps the least surprising of this week’s announcements from Apple. The good old Apple rumour mill had been suggesting that the latest touchscreen media player would get front and back-facing cameras and Apple’s Retina screen for weeks.

iPod touch 4G: An impressive upgrade to Apple’s flagship iPod

Which is exactly what it did get. It is essentially an iPhone 4, minus the phone and SMS functions. Jobs himself stated this in no uncertain words in his presentation.

“No contract,” said the Apple CEO, while demonstrating the new iPod touch 4G, with the words “no contract” written in large letters on the big-screen slideshow behind him, at which point some elements in the assembled industry and media crowd tittered, as if Jobs had made some kind of naughty joke at the expense of O2 or AT&T.

Yet the new iPod really does have to be seen and played with to be fully appreciated. If you have yet to feast your eyes on the iPhone’s 3.5-inch, 960 x 640 pixel resolution ‘Retina’ display, then you have yet to appreciate the vibrancy and quality of the images that are now available on the new iPod touch.

iPod FaceTime: Sure to be a hit with students and teens

In terms of the overall form factor, Apple has stuck with the curved stainless steel back of the previous model, although has managed to shave around 15 per cent off the thickness and weight, so the new iPod touch is noticeably thinner and lighter when sat in the palm of the hand. We had, we have to admit, suspected Apple might go the whole hog and follow the boxier design of the iPhone 4. But after a very quick hands on play with the new iPod touch, we are more than glad they didn’t.

Of course, the main beneficiaries of a slightly slimmer iPod touch are going to be the peripherals companies, with reps from all of the well-known brands out in force at today’s Apple launch. And we can be sure to expect a slew of new cases and peripheral product announcements from all of them in the coming days and weeks.

Aside from the massively improved screen, the next biggest new feature on the new iPod touch is the introduction of two cameras, which allow 720p HD video recording and also allow you to use Apple’s FaceTime video-calling app, to talk to your mates and family with iPhones (or new iPod touches). This is sure to be a massive boon to students and younger users that either don’t want (or, more likely, are not financially able) to get tied into long-term mobile contracts, yet still want to use their iPod touch for instant messaging and video calling. It is, as we heard more than one punter mumble at today’s London showcase, a potential game-changer. Although whether or not it will cannibalise the demand for Apple’s iPhone 4 remains to be seen.

iPod touch 4G: Around 15 per cent thinner and lighter

There are a slew of genuinely brilliant camera apps on Apple’s App Store, along with numerous fun photo-manipulation apps that let you make your friends into zombies, ghouls, avatars and fatties. All of which have to date been limited to iPhone users. The introduction of a camera into the iPod touch mix opens up access to these great camera apps to a whole new audience. Which is also great news for the many third party app developers out there, as well as Apple. All we can hope is that the growth of the market can only continue to drive innovation and creativity in photo and camera app development.

In terms of the actual resolution of the video recording, from the brief demonstration we were given by an Apple rep, the recording quality does seem to be impressively clear. However, whether or not this is going to be completely satisfactory as your primary video-recording device when you are away on holidays or travelling remains to be seen. We’ll be sure to put that through the test when we receive our review unit to put through its paces.

The one thing that really left us wanting the new Apple iPod touch more than anything else was spending a few minutes playing Gameloft’s superb gyroscope controlled first person shooter, NOVA, one of the best iPhone 4 games developed to date. It is the closest you can get to that feeling of the accuracy of a mouse and keyboard control scheme with a traditional PC fps on a mobile device. Which is why Steve Jobs made a point of bringing the guys from Epic Games on the stage to show off their new title, codenamed ‘Project Sword’ and due for release later this year.

iPod touch 4G: The world’s best selling gaming handheld just got better

Apple is determined to build upon the huge success it has already had in the gaming market with the iPod touch and the iPhone. And the fact that the new iPod touch 4G will fully support Apple’s new Game Center which is a key part of iOS 4.1, is proof positive that the company (and its triple-A game development partners) have the hardcore gaming market clearly in their sights.

So, to recap, Apple’s new iPod touch packs in a lot of notably-improved tech and new features, including the Retina Display, the speedier A4 chip, FaceTime Video Calling, HD video recording, that 3-axis gyro, and the multiplayer goodness and more that is part of Apple’s new Game Center.

On top of all that, it’s marginally thinner and lighter than the last gen iPod touch and Apple claims that the battery will let you listen to up to 40 hours of music on a single charge. Impressive, if that turns out to be anywhere near the truth. Again, we’ll put that to the test in our full review, to follow very soon.

You will be able to pick up Apple’s new iPod touch within the next week for of £189 for the8GB model, £249 for the 32GB model and £329.00 for the 64GB model via www.apple.com/uk.

Samsung Announces Its YP-Q3 And YP-U6 Media Players

admin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 00:00:20 +0000

Samsung has announced two new music players in the form of its YP-Q3 and YP-U6, both up which will be showcased at the upcoming IFA show. The YP-Q2 sports a clean design with a color-matching user interface, 5.1-channel sound support, SoundAlive, up to 45 hours of audio playback and 6-hours of video playback. The YP-U6 is a simple media player with a color display, SoundAlive, fitness mode, voice feedback, and up to 20 hours of continuous audio playback.

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Samsung Announces Its YP-Q3 And YP-U6 Media Players via http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2010/09/samsung_announces_its_yp-q3_and_yp-u6_media_players.html UberGizmo

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