Back to BlackBerry: closing time

Time's up. I've now had a full month to call the BlackBerry Z10 my very own and use it as my everyday device. I've had the opportunity to use it in every likely scenario, including a nine-day trip to Spain for Mobile World Congress. Now comes the moment of truth: have I become a BlackBerry convert? Is the Z10 my new daily driver?

Unfortunately, it's not. But before the BlackBerry fan base breaks out the torches and forms mobs, this isn't a denunciation of the phone or its OS. Quite the opposite, in fact. I decided to pursue this experiment for a few reasons: it's the best way to learn a brand-new operating system, I genuinely am interested in how well it handles regular day-to-day use and a month gives me plenty of time to form a solid idea of the platform's potential and future. Is it possible to have a great deal of admiration for a phone while simultaneously rejecting it as my daily driver? Yes. After the break I sum up the highlights of BB10: what works, what doesn't and what simply needs a little nudge or two.

Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Blackberry

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/o9VQ0_atH44/

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Reports: Apple's internet radio service delayed by slow-going music licensing negotiations

According to folks in the know who've spoken to Bloomberg and The New York Times, Apple's oft-rumored streaming radio service is set for a late arrival. The reason is because of snails-pace negotiations with the publisher Sony/ATV for music licensing deals. As the Times notes, Sony no longer lets outsiders like ASCAP dole out licenses, leaving itself as chief point of contact for such agreements on its content -- this apparently got Pandora locked into a twenty five-percent increase on royalty payments to Sony. Prior to today's reports, Bloomberg stated that Cupertino was aiming for a Q1 release for this year, and the NYT notes Apple hoped that launch would've happened near the Grammy Awards. If you'll recall, Apple's service is said be direct competition to others like Pandora rather than Spotify, as it would be ad-supported for revenue. As usual, take all of this with a grain of salt, and don't get too thirsty for an Apple-curated streaming music service just yet. More info at the source links.

Filed under: Portable Audio/Video, Internet, Apple

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Source: New York Times, Bloomberg

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/7Q8Zeqa_f8E/

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Facebook's New News Feed: The Biggest Change In Years

The last time Zuck overhauled the website you check all day every day was two years ago. Two! You've probably changed a decent amount since then, but Facebook hasn't in a way that's done anything but make us cringe—until today. Enter the clutter killer. Here's how you'll be stalking the universe now. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/zNAWbC_TV6I/facebooks-new-news-feed-the-biggest-change-in-years-updating-live

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Visualized: First photo using ISS-mounted ISERV Pathfinder zooms in on Panama

It's been a while since we last heard of the ISERV Pathfinder, an imaging instrument that consists of a camera, telescope and pointing system that was sent up to the International Space Station last July. Now it appears it's safely installed inside the Destiny module on the ISS and has captured its first ever image, seen above, a few weeks ago on February 16th. The high-resolution picture is of the Rio San Pablo, an ecological transition zone that's marked as a protected area by the National Environment Authority of Panama. Captured at three to seven frames per second with about 100 images per pass, photos like these are designed to transmit details of natural disasters and environmental mishaps to developing nations.

Even though NASA Marshall in Huntsville, Alabama is at the helm, it's in cahoots with researchers in Central America, East Africa and the Hindu Kush-Himalaya region to carry out its goal. Of course, they're still in the starting stages at the moment -- a few outstanding issues include the amount of sunlight needed and if the geometry of the ISS window affects the image -- but NASA hopes to open up the ISERV to other scientists in a few months once it has all its kinks worked out. To check out the stunning "first light" picture above in its full resolution, head on over to the source below.

Filed under: Science, Alt

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Via: Space.com

Source: NASA Earth Observatory

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/07/visualized-iserv-pathfinder-first-image/

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How Amazon's Navigation Is So Damn Fast

If you've ever been amazed by just how fast and responsive Amazon's drop-down menus are, you're not alone. But Ben Kamens, lead developer at the Kahn Academy, decided to work out how Bezos and co do it—and it's real sneaky. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/qBYyuksXjBw/how-amazons-navigation-is-so-damn-fast

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Wallet-sized ChargeCard cable now available.

Last July, Julie told us about a crowd-funding project for a charging cable that could be carried in a credit-card slot in your wallet.  That project was very successfully funded at more than 3 times the goal, and now the ChargeCard is ready for shipping to the general public.  BiteMyApple, a website that sells only [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/03/04/wallet-sized-chargecard-cable-now-available/

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Boomshine is a soothing-yet-frustrating time waster

One click; just one single well-aimed click. That's all you get in Boomshine.

That single click triggers a chain reaction; circles start exploding, and other circles colliding with the shockwaves explode as well, creating their own shockwaves, which then catch other circles.

It's been done before, yes, but this one is a great iteration. The soundtrack is mellow, with lots of piano and some nice percussion (not electronic - it sounds like drums).

At each level you need to make a certain number of circles explode to go on to the next level. I got up to level 12, where you get 60 circles and need to make 55 of them explode. And then I kept trying and trying, but simply couldn't get it. I did get to 54 circles a couple of times, but as they say, you don't get points for trying.

There's no time limit, so you can carefully study the pattern of motion and place your click at the exact right place to create the best chain reaction. I've found that clicking near the middle of the screen works quite well, especially if the balls are slowly moving in that direction. By the time the first shockwave dies off, the oncoming balls usually hit it and the chain reaction continues.

What level did you reach? Screenshots please!

Boomshine is a soothing-yet-frustrating time waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/02/16/boomshine-is-a-soothing-yet-frustrating-time-waster/

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