Electric Friends Speaker Docking Station for iPhone

Electric Friends Speaker Docking Station for iPhone is a cute, cartoony, way to charge and play music from your iPhone or iPod. I had a chance to try out the Sing Sing the Panda version, which is one of four animal friends available -- the others being Chew Chew the dog, Ki Ki the cat, and Kwack Kwack the duck. Yes, it really is like Kung Fu Panda cradling your iPhone.

Electric Friends Speaker Docking Station for iPhone

Sing Sing, like all the animal friends, has a little back story to give her (or him if you prefer) some character:

Friends call this adorable Panda Sing Sing because you never know when this entertainer will break out in song. Sing Sing is definitely a panda bear full of surprises. At first his friends thought he was quit, but they quickly learned just how entertaining Sing Sing could be.

Each animal friend in the Electric Friends Speaker Docking Station line has two 5 watt, 40mm full range neodymium drivers powered by an AC adapter or 4 AA batteries. I'm not overly fond of the AA batteries. I prefer built-in, rechargeable batteries so I never have to worry about having AAs on hand if an when I run out. It can be nice to be able to run into a store and buy more batteries if you're traveling and can't get to an outlet to recharge, but if I'm traveling, I'm not taking a Panda with me...

The Electric Friends Speaker Docking Station sounds good but there is a little sound distortion at higher volumes. I absolute love, however, how you change the volume -- you tap Sing Sing on her ears. The left ear reduces the volume, the right ear increases it.

Also, Sing Sing's nose glows bright red to let you know when she's working, and they blink to let you know when she's recognizing commands, like the volume change tap.

The Dock is hidden beneath a little belly hatch. It's the standard 30-pin connector, of course, and it's fairly roomy. It's also fully removable, which I'm not very fond of, because I'll lose it. Once I've taken the hatch off the Electric Friends Speaker Docking Station, I'm going to put it down somewhere, and chances are it'll be long gone before I every even think about putting it back on.

There's also a 3.5mm AUX jack in the back so you can plug the Panda into the Matrix. No, not really. So you can plug in non-Apple devices if you so choose.

The good

  • Cute design
  • Dock fits iPhone and a variety of iPods
  • AUX connector for non-Apple devices

The bad

  • Sound distorts at high volumes
  • No built-in rechargeable battery

The conclusion

The Electric Friends Speaker Docking Station is a great change of pace from the usual, conservative, black and metal speaker docks. But that means that, while they'll appeal way more to some people, they won't appeal at all to others. If you're the type of person -- or you know the type of person -- who would love a cute panda, dog, cat, or duck on their bedside table, Sing Sing and her animal friends are a great option (especially if you can plug in it the wall and keep it plugged in the wall.)

$60 and up - Buy now

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/6qNlcLPjvIE/story01.htm

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Facebooking While Rome Burns

fireI'm an optimist, I really am, especially when it comes to technology and its ability to transform the world. But today I can't shake the feeling that we as a species are really screwing up. Guess what? "There is no hope of saving the global coral reef ecosystem." How's that for depressing? Meanwhile, even those few scientists who previously doubted that climate change was human-caused are increasingly conceding that global warming is a) very real b) our fault -- and yet, "the American public has grown increasingly skeptical." What do coral extinction, global warming, and global finance have in common? All are screwed up beyond all recognition, and given our current geopolitical systems, all are beyond all hope of repair. To which the innovator's response should be: disrupt the system! But of course there's no money in that. The system is, pretty much by definition, built to distribute money to those who perpetuate it. Still, despite that defense mechanism, there's money to be made in changing the world. Elon Musk is doing it twice over with Tesla and SpaceX. I believe Google's Glass and self-driving cars, among other products of the "Google X" lab reportedly headed up by Sergey Brin, will both become huge money-minting markets. But note that both Musk and Brin were already enormously successful. How many truly ambitious founders who haven't already hit home runs ever get to step up to the plate?

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

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Slices, Perfectly Clear, and More [Android Apps Of The Week]

It's time for a new round of the week's best Android apps. This week there's a easy photo editor for your phone, a new Twitter client, a way to find new apps, and more. Fire up the Google Play store. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/x6teL4dF4ps/slices-perfectly-clear-and-more

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Mitoza is a fun, freaky Web toy with an artistic look

mitoza
While not a game per se, I found Mitoza intriguing enough to spend quite some time with it. You start off with a seed, and are then presented with two choices: you can either click a flower pot, or click a cute little birdie.

If you click the flower pot, a flower pot appears and the seed is planted inside. You're then presented with two further choices -- a water can or a bottle of fertilizer. Each choice you make causes your creation to morph, and presents you with two other choices.

There's no winning or losing, really. Each "game" usually lasts around four or five choices, at which point the plant/animal dies in some creative (but not too gruesome) way. At this point you instantly start over with a new seed.

The graphics are captivating; the whole thing has a cinematic feel to it, with a bit of artificial camera shake added for style.

All in all, it's a fun, peaceful way to spend a few minutes, and it might even make you think a little bit while you're at it.

Mitoza is a fun, freaky Web toy with an artistic look originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 28 Mar 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/28/mitoza-is-a-fun-freaky-web-toy-with-an-artistic-look/

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webOS 3.0 beta now available to developers

hp touchpad webos 3.0
With the webOS 3.0 SDK available for almost two months, HP has now given developers access to a beta download of webOS 3.0 -- which powers the upcoming TouchPad and will likely ride along on HP desktops and laptops in the form of an emulator.

Right now, the webOS 3.0 beta is only available to Early Access developers. The crew at PreCentral states that HP appears to have eased up on access restrictions, however, so hopefully more devs will get on board and those of you who are planning to buy a TouchPad in the next couple months will have plenty of slick webOS 3.0 apps to install on your new tablet.

webOS 3.0 beta now available to developers originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 09:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/31/webos-3-0-beta-now-available-to-developers/

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Survival Lab is a fun pixelated game where dying doesn't matter

Survival Lab
In most games, dying is a bad thing. You have to start all over again, or at least revert to the last save point and lose some progress. Not so in Survival Lab: in this pixelated gem you play as a lone individual pitted against ruthless weapons in a sealed chamber. You have to run, jump and duck, collecting little yellow things (I have no idea what they're called).

For each donut-like yellow thing you pick up, you gain a bit of experience. If you manage to collect several in a row without getting hit, this counts as a combo. You can see my mad combo skills in the screenshot, of course. Collecting combos is a good thing, because a ten-point combo gives you for more experience than just collecting ten dounts one by one (getting hit in-between).

Having experience is useful, because once you die, you get to a screen where you can upgrade your skills. You can learn to run faster, double-jump (and then double-jump higher), and duck. You can also gain more armour so that getting hit won't kill you so quickly.

What makes this simple game so addictive is that when you die, your experience doesn't reset. You just go back to the same level, or another level of your choosing, and keep accumulating more and more experience. Lots of fun, especially if you're into the whole retro-gaming thing.

Survival Lab is a fun pixelated game where dying doesn't matter originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 28 Feb 2011 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/02/28/survival-lab-is-a-fun-pixelated-game-where-dying-doesnt-matter/

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Deal of the Day ? Dell XPS 8500 ?Ivy Bridge? Core i5 Desktop with 1TB Hard Drive, GeForce GT 640, and 8GB RAM for $699.99

Tuesday’s LogicBUY Deal is the Dell XPS 8500 desktop with the 3rd generation Intel Core i5 “Ivy Bridge” architecture, starting at $669.99.  Base features:  Core i5-3450M 3.1GHz Quad-core CPU, 8GB RAM, 1TB SATA 6.0Gb/s hard drive, 1GB GeForce GT 640 graphics, 16X DVD burner, 15-months McAfee SecurityCenter subscription, 1-year Premium Protection Package, Windows 7 Home [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2012/07/31/deal-of-the-day-dell-xps-8500-ivy-bridge-core-i5-desktop-with-1tb-hard-drive-geforce-gt-640-and-8gb-ram-for-699-99/

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Gargantuan SQL injection infects 3.8 million URLs, installs rogue antivirus

LizaMoon SQL injection rogue AV
Over the last few days, a mass SQL injection attack has been quickly gathering speed. Just three days ago only 28,000 URLs were affected, but at the time of writing, there could be up to 3.8 million infected URLs.

Websense
has a complete write up the attack, dubbed 'LizaMoon,' but here's the basic gist: it looks like someone is exploiting a vulnerabilty (or vulnerabilities) in hundreds of thousands of websites running on Microsoft SQL Server 2003 and 2005. It's not yet known whether this is a vulnerability in SQL Server, or simply a case of outdated, unmaintained, and easily-exploitable CMSes.

The attack takes the form of an SQL injection, which then inserts a link to a JavaScript file hosted on the attacker's server. This is repeated over and over until every Web page in the SQL database has been infected -- and considering 3.8 million URLs have been infected, you can see that this is a very easy, and automated, attack.

Fortunately, the JavaScript isn't particularly malicious: it pops up a rogue AV program called Windows Stability Center, but that's it. Better yet, the rogue antivirus is already recognized by a bunch of real antivirus suites, including Avast, Panda and Microsoft Security Essentials.

The real problem with SQL injection attacks is that there's nothing we surfers can do about them. There will always be old and unmaintained websites, and thus SQL injections will remain one of the easiest and most lucrative tools of hackers and spammers alike. All you can do is keep your antivirus and anti-malware software up to date, and pray.

Gargantuan SQL injection infects 3.8 million URLs, installs rogue antivirus originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 05:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/01/massive-sql-injection-infects-3-8-million-urls-installs-rogue-a/

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Poll: What will Apple call the next iPhone?

The next iPhone is reportedly coming on September 12, so what will Apple call it? For the last two years, Apple has used iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S respectively, so does that mean iPhone 5 and iPhone 5S is next? Apple's internal model number is iPhone 5,1, and the next number after 4 (and 4S) is 5, so could Apple just keep on counting?

Maybe Apple isn't done with 4 yet. Could last year's iPhone 4S become this year's iPhone 4GS with 4G as in LTE? Or could they drop the number and go back to radios like they did with the iPhone 3G, and just call it the iPhone LTE? Are there enough LTE markets to even justify that yet?

They could decide to skip the fives entirely and go straight to 6. It will be the 6th version of the iPhone sold, after all.

Or they could just take a page from Sprint's Android handbook and call it the iPhone 4S II, Epic 4G LTE Touch. Though that probably wouldn't fit on the usual box...

How about "the new iPhone" or just "iPhone"? Sure they'll have to do iPhone (6th Generation) or iPhone (2012) for tech support and store orders, but that's exactly what they've been doing with Macs for years, and started to do with the new iPad back in March. Then they could do "the new new iPhone" next year, reduce the price of this one, and sell it as "the old new iPhone". I kid. Really. Because those names return such productive search results...

You know the drill! Answer the poll up top and then tell me why you picked the name you did in the comments below!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/nrjmEWTbE-8/story01.htm

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