Ask DLS: Cross-platform multiplayer games that work on Android and iOS

Here's one for our knowledgeable commenters: I recently bought my girlfriend an iPad. I, on the other hand, own an Android device. And now we're looking for games we can play using both devices.

There's no dearth of multiplayer games either for Android or for iOS. But finding multiplayer games that can cross the platform boundary is an entirely different matter.

Jay recently posted Words with Friends which is one such game. It's actually an ideal example, because it's turn-based so you don't necessarily both have to be next to your device at the same time (great for long-distance gaming).

But what other examples are there? What multiplayer games are there that let iOS users play with Android users?

[Why am I now humming 'Ebony and Ivory'? -Ed]

Ask DLS: Cross-platform multiplayer games that work on Android and iOS originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 02 Mar 2011 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New Firefox Nightly and Aurora logos unearthed, and how to enable channel switching

Later today, Firefox will undergo its biggest developmental upheaval ever. Mozilla-central, the source of nightly builds, will be renumbered to version 5 -- and at long last, after years of wallowing around version 1, Mozilla's rendering and layout engine, Gecko, will also have its version number updated to match Firefox.

Shortly thereafter, Firefox's new channel system will be implemented. Firefox 5a2 will be introduced as the first Aurora build, and we should also see a Firefox 6 Nightly build. While we we're not sure where they came from, one Sören Hentzschel seems to have unearthed the new Nightly and Aurora logos (see above), along with new About Firefox dialogs (after the break).

In other news, if you want to take a sneak peek at the new 'channel changing' technology that will be introduced in upcoming Firefox builds, head to about:config and create a new string called app.update.desiredChannel -- the value doesn't matter. Then open Help > About Firefox and you'll be able to switch channel, but it doesn't do anything just yet (image after the break). Here's hoping that Firefox channel switching is smoother than Chrome.

Continue reading New Firefox Nightly and Aurora logos unearthed, and how to enable channel switching

New Firefox Nightly and Aurora logos unearthed, and how to enable channel switching originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 07:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola Defy+ leaves the gym, coming this fall with slightly more muscle

You'd be hard-pressed to find many phones that look relatively stylish, are thin and light enough to carry comfortably in your pocket, and can hang out underwater for ten minutes. That's why, we suppose, the Motorola Defy became popular worldwide; it's difficult to build a device to be a tank without looking like one, and it's even more tough to do it right. Naturally, when you've got a good thing going, it's ideal to improve upon that model. The Motorola Defy+ aims to do just that -- keep the form factor, Gorilla Glass and IP67 certification, but beef up the internal components and throw in better firmware. The new iteration -- slated for a Q3 release -- will house a single-core 1GHz TI OMAP 3620, Android 2.3.4 with Moto's latest UI skin (still curiously referred to as MotoBlur) on top, and a 1700mAh battery while the rest of the specs remain the same as its predecessor. No word on specific carrier availability was given, though HelloMoto aims to launch it in Asia, Latin America, and Europe in the fall. Full press release can be found after the break.

Continue reading Motorola Defy+ leaves the gym, coming this fall with slightly more muscle

Motorola Defy+ leaves the gym, coming this fall with slightly more muscle originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Top iPad Apps of 2011

Some may say that the Apple iPad franchise may be fading, but in fact it is only just starting its global domination. Just about every person who is qualified to legally possess these devices has already joined in to experience the craze, which makes it all the more popular these days. One of the most [...]

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Now You Can Not Know What Time It Is on Your iPad, Too!

The Dominus Plus app is for those of us who don’t wear a watch but still want one of those artsy timepieces that use colored light patterns to show the time. �The Dominus Plus! app for iPad �or the Dominus Plus for iPhone/iPod touch use colored dots to display the time. �AM and PM use [...]

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Amazon Appstore for Android Test Drive hands on: surprisingly cool, but still US-only

When Amazon Appstore for Android launched last week, one of its primary features -- Test Drive -- was disabled just a few minutes after it opened. With no try-before-you-buy, no refund process, and 1-Click purchasing ready to strike at any moment, this caused some problems. Anyway, don't despair: Test Drive is now enabled.

Before you get your hopes up, Test Drive doesn't work with every app. The IMDb app works fine -- you can even watch movie trailers on it! -- but the Angry Birds games are sadly not enabled. Some games work surprisingly well, though, like Bubble Buster. There's very little latency, and the framerate is really rather good. The Test Drive experience is so true to life that you even get ads; how cool is that?

Gallery: Amazon Appstore for Android Test Drive

Continue reading Amazon Appstore for Android Test Drive hands on: surprisingly cool, but still US-only

Amazon Appstore for Android Test Drive hands on: surprisingly cool, but still US-only originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kickstarter Project Promises Menacing Desktop Jellyfish On-Demand [Animals]

Fish tank? Pish posh. I desire a desktop tank full of jelly-like invertebrates, thank you very much, which is why I'm currently desiring this tank full of tiny Medusozoa something fierce. Yes, that'd be jellyfish to the layperson. More »

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Social Menaces

In terms of online communication, social media is the biggest trend in recent years. There are billions of participants around the globe as well as an array of forms: blogs, forums, wikis, multimedia content, social bookmarking and, of course, popular platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Google+. What's more, social media is strongly established as an important channel for companies to communicate with their customers.

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Kickstarter Project Promises Menacing Desktop Jellyfish On-Demand [Animals]

Fish tank? Pish posh. I desire a desktop tank full of jelly-like invertebrates, thank you very much, which is why I'm currently desiring this tank full of tiny Medusozoa something fierce. Yes, that'd be jellyfish to the layperson. More »

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Google chimes in on Lodsys patent issue, asks USPTO to re-examine their validity

Google has broken their silence on the whole Lodsys software patent nonsense, and are asking the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) to re-examine the validity of both patents in question.  This is in contrast to the way Apple has handled this situation, they have made the argument that the patents are covered by their license with Lodsys and developers for the iOS platform are immune to litigation.  Google is saying that the patents should have never been issued in the first place.  In a statement to Wired, Google senior VP and general counsel Kent Walker said:

We’ve asked the US Patent Office to reexamine two Lodsys patents that we believe should never have been issued. Developers play a critical part in the Android ecosystem and Google will continue to support them.

Lodsys is currently suing 11 application developers for infringment, saying that their patents cover in-app payment technology.  Of the 11, Rovio, and Illusion Labs have released applications for the Android platform.  There is no wanton suing of Android specific developers -- yet. 

Google's stance that these patents are invalid goes along with their strategy of the patent system being broken and in need of a revamp.  But even if the USPTO grants the re-examination request, that doesn't mean they will be invalidated.  A quick look at the current crop of lawsuits and trade dress actions makes that evident.  We wish Google, and the developers involved, the best of luck.

Source: Wired; via TiPb

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Microsoft files antitrust complaint against Google in Europe, showdown imminent

Microsoft, citing Google's tyrannical 95% share of the European search market, has lodged a formal complaint with the European Commission. It's not like Microsoft is breaking any ground here -- the European Commission has been investigating Google's alleged violation of European competition law since November 2010 -- but there's no doubt that the addition of Microsoft's gravitas will affect the proceedings.

Microsoft's complaint reads like a sincere and plaintive cry for help against the Google Overlord. Microsoft lists no less than six damning reasons why Google's behavior is anti-competitive -- from Windows Phone 7's incompatibility with YouTube, to its nefarious handling of Google Books -- and finishes with a wide-eyed plea to the European Commission to please find Google guilty.

For those of you that have been following Microsoft's own antitrust troubles over the last decade, don't worry: MS is quick to point out the irony in the situation. "There of course will be some who will point out the irony in today's filing. Having spent more than a decade wearing the shoe on the other foot with the European Commission, the filing of a formal antitrust complaint is not something we take lightly. This is the first time Microsoft Corporation has ever taken this step. More so than most, we recognize the importance of ensuring that competition laws remain balanced and that technology innovation moves forward."

It sounds like Microsoft, having well and truly gone through the wringer, wants Google to be held similarly accountable. That's fair enough, right?

Microsoft files antitrust complaint against Google in Europe, showdown imminent originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 05:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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IE9 and Firefox 4 post top marks in Web browser power use comparison

Over on the Internet Explorer Blog, Microsoft has posted results from an extensive comparison of the top five Web browsers. The goal: to determine whether Internet Explorer 9, Firefox 4, Chrome 10, Safari 5, or Opera 11 is able to squeeze the most life out of your laptop's battery.

A baseline was determined with test systems sitting idle, and then browsers were pointed at about:blank, a news site, the HTML5 Galactic demo, and the IE9 fish tank demo. Perhaps unsurprisingly, IE9 came out on top -- though Firefox 4 was a very close second on nearly every test. As you can see, the other browsers didn't necessarily fare quite as well, with Google Chrome, Safari, and Opera all posting significantly worse scores. In Opera 11's case, a laptop battery would last over one hour more with Internet Explorer 9 installed.

But what we'd really like to know is where did Microsoft find the dilithium crystals required to run a Galactic Total Power Consumption test...

IE9 and Firefox 4 post top marks in Web browser power use comparison originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ChromeLite: experience the ASCII Web of yesteryear

Have you ever wondered what the Web was like before the Mosaic Web browser? If you were born in the last 20-odd years, or you only discovered your inner geek recently, did you miss out on monochrome monitors and the dial-up BBS era? Well, here's your chance to get a sneak peek at history: grab the ChromeLite extension and marvel as the entire Web is transformed into ASCII characters.

Now, ChromeLite isn't really all that functional. For the most part, it simply strips images and converts text into a monospaced terminal font. There are a few Easter eggs inserted -- such as a fun message at the bottom of YouTube (image after the break) -- and some fun ASCII art, but that's about it. Rather oddly, most JavaScript continues to work -- so you can still enjoy Google Instant Search!

ChromeLite was actually made by Google as an April Fools' joke -- and indeed, an annoying 'you can uninstall this!' message appears at the top of every page -- but we're kind of hoping that Google, or another developer, takes ChromeLite and turns it into a real ASCII browsing extension with configurable settings. If anything, it will provide an easy way to save bandwidth and CPU time.

Continue reading ChromeLite: experience the ASCII Web of yesteryear

ChromeLite: experience the ASCII Web of yesteryear originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 07:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Amazon axes copied content, duplicate Kindle Store ebooks get the boot

If we take a can of Spam and call it "Engadget's precooked pork meat product," you'll still know it's the same mystery meat you ate for lunch, right? Under the idea of "private label rights," authors can do just that: sell their works to others who can rebrand and resell them. This week, Amazon cracked down on duplicate ebooks in its Kindle Store, pulling titles because they "diminish the experience for customers." One copycat who got the smack down called it a "kick in the pants" when his 22 titles got yanked. He did, however, admit he had the swift one coming. Aping authors can expect more book banning Kung Fu as Amazon continues to rid itself of "undifferentiated or barely differentiated versions of e-books." Hi-yah!

Amazon axes copied content, duplicate Kindle Store ebooks get the boot originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 13 Aug 2011 16:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Internet Explorer 9 nears 4% share on Windows 7, IE6 extinction countdown picks up steam

Microsoft has shared some news about the state of its most and least loved Web browsers -- Internet Explorer 9 and 6, respectively. Even with IE9 only recently exiting beta, Microsoft reports that 3.6% of Windows 7 users are now running the new browser (no mention of Vista... what's with that?). The post also reveals that the adoption rate is almost five times what IE8 garnered in the early going.

It's also interesting to note that there are now more than 1,000 sites utilizing Internet Explorer 9's Windows 7 integration features -- like the new desktop notification support we showed you in Hotmail.

But perhaps the best news of all is that Microsoft's IE6countdown.com now has more than 400 partners and is generating nearly two million pageviews per month, helping to lure users away from the woefully out-of-date browser. Can the end come soon enough, DS readers?

Internet Explorer 9 nears 4% share on Windows 7, IE6 extinction countdown picks up steam originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Top iPad Apps of 2011

Some may say that the Apple iPad franchise may be fading, but in fact it is only just starting its global domination. Just about every person who is qualified to legally possess these devices has already joined in to experience the craze, which makes it all the more popular these days. One of the most [...]

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Game Review ? Dead Space HD

One of the more popular game genres in the market today is survival horror. For those who have become a fan of the Dead Space series in the console or PC, much is expected in this release of Dead Space HD for the iPad. You play the role of an engineer tasked to explore the [...]

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Daily Crunch: Bike Path Edition

Quick Bike Hack: Put A Seatbelt Inside Your Tires To Resist Punctures Hands-On With The Creative ZEN Style M300 The Bracketron All-Weather Soft Case Bike Protects Your Smartphone During Your Ride The anaPad Is A White Board And Wooden iPad Clone For Kids RIM, You?re Done Here

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Corel releases VideoStudio Pro X4, we go hands on (video)

Corel seems to be on a roll lately; after releasing WinZip System Utilities just last week, this morning the company announced VideoStudio Pro X4.

VideoStudio Pro is aimed at home users and small business professionals who want to create professional-looking videos, but without the hassle, steep learning curve and price of Adobe Premiere Pro and the likes.

This new version introduces several features:

• Stop motion animation: You can now capture still frames using a webcam, camcorder or DSLR and use them to produce an animation. Tools such as "onion skin view" let you compare the previous image in the sequence with the current one and make the animation as smooth as possible.
• Processor optimization: Corel says the app is optimized for Intel's new Sandy Bridge systems, and have shown us some graphs with very impressive numbers. We've been unable to test this particular point, but if you have a recent-generation Intel or AMD Fusion system, VideoStudio performance should be blazing. Even on our older test system performance was quite impressive.
• Customizable workspace: You can drag the video preview window to your secondary monitor (if you have one) and tweak just about any other element in the window layout. Once done, you can save your ideal workspace in one of three slots.
• Share-to-Web: VideoStudio Pro X4 hooks directly into YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook and Flickr, so you don't even have to launch a browser to upload your final product. Edit, produce and share from within the app itself.
• Smart Package: Video projects typically consist of many files; Smart Package lets you bundle all video assets for a given project into one ZIP file which you can password-protect and keep in a safe place once you're done editing.

I've had a chance to play around with a pre-release version for a few days, and have put it through its paces editing a short video for my day job. Overall, I've been impressed with how easy it was to create pro-looking results. If you do any sort of video editing but are leery of the investment other apps require (both in dollars and effort), VideoStudio Pro is well worth checking out. To see a bit of the interface itself and what the app can do, watch the video after the jump.

Note: We'll be running a give-away of ten VideoStudio Pro X4 licenses later today, each worth $100 USD. Keep your eyes peeled for the giveaway post!

Continue reading Corel releases VideoStudio Pro X4, we go hands on (video)

Corel releases VideoStudio Pro X4, we go hands on (video) originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 22 Feb 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Get free MLB.tv access during April with MLB.com At Bat app

If you're a baseball fanatic, the MLB At Bat app is a must-have. It's packed with live updates, scores, stats, news, and videos -- and right now there's another great reason to pick up At Bat. Pony up for At Bat and you'll get to enjoy MLB.tv free for the entire month of April.

The service streams games in HD to just about any connected device you can imagine, from iPhone to PS3, and even Roku boxes and LG Internet-ready televisions. The basic subscription will set you back $99 for the season, and a Premium sub is an extra $20 (and adds DVR functionality, multi-game PIP, and more).

MLB At Bat is available for Android and iOS and both apps run to $14.99 US.

Get free MLB.tv access during April with MLB.com At Bat app originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I Want to Drink the World's Tiniest Brewery's Entire Output [Booze]

There are two ways to look at the World's Smallest Brewery, which opened in Coney Island yesterday. On one hand, it's one more in an unending string of largely-unsustainable hipster businesses, since it produces just one gallon of beer at a time. On the other hand? Beer by the gallon! More »

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