Hasta La Gadget!

Pretty much every item of clothing you purchase comes with tiny paper tags, which in most cases end up in the garbage can. But what if that tag could be made into something a little more useful?

A new design concept called the Melt Tag does just that, and is made with a combination of paper and soap. Since most clothing items recommend you wash them before wearing them, the Melt Tag simply makes this step easier. You throw the clothes in the wash, tag and all, and it simply melts away becoming soap.

The Melt Tag recently won an award in the “green” category at the Red Dot design awards, so it’s still in the concept phase.

Via GOOD

The 404 Digest for Episode 786

Cameron illustrates a typical conversation on The 404 Podcast

(Credit:
Cameron Gebhart)

• Jeff spent all weekend making socially awkward penguin memes.
• A picture tour of the CNET office.
• Everything you need to know about Firefox 4.
• Setting the record straight costs celebrities $1,000 a year.
• European Union proposes legislation for “right to be forgotten.”
• New app shields you from annoying celebrity news.

• Morgan Freeman gaming box art from Eddy and Jason.
• The Oatmeal comic submissions by Justin, Attariq, and Cameron (pictured).

Episode 786

Listen now:

Download today’s podcast

Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video

Originally posted at The 404 Podcast

Back at CES, Samsung pulled out quite a few surprises, and no, we’re not referring to its Zoll-infused press conference — although, that performance still gives us the willies. Of all the Korean company’s announcements at the show, which we’ll remind you included an impressive new LTE phone and range of SmartTVs, it was its Series 9 laptop that left us the most stunned. And well, a glance at that picture above should explain why we found ourselves counting down the days until its March launch date. The 2.8-pound system is a complete and total 180 from Samsung’s typical bulky mainstream systems, yet its 0.64-inch thick chassis still crams in quite a bit of horsepower with a Core i5-2537M processor, a 128GB SSD, and 4GB of RAM. It’s also built from some of the toughest stuff on earth, has a backlit keyboard, and an incredibly high quality 400 nit LCD. You see, the $1,699 machine teeters on having the absolute perfect balance of beauty and brawn, and certainty has the core ingredients to compete with that other extremely popular and super thin ultraportable — but when you get it home and out of its fancy box, does it truly have the chops? Or is this just yet another rail thin and expensive Windows laptop that falls short? The time has come to find out – hit the break for our full review.

Continue reading Samsung Series 9 (NP900X3A) laptop review

Samsung Series 9 (NP900X3A) laptop review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Plutonium has been discovered for the first time outside Fukushima’s reactor buildings. The radioactive material was found in the soil at five points of the nuclear plant. More »

Android app developers can test in-app billing before it debuts next week

Developers and mobile gamers alike will be happy to learn that in-app purchasing for Android will be available starting sometime this week.

The Android Market’s in-app billing system is currently available for developers to test, but apps using the service won’t be able to publish until it goes live.

Android’s in-app billing will handle financial transactions and provide a standard purchasing ecosystem across all apps, while giving developers the freedom to control how virtual goods are purchased and tracked.

“This new service gives developers more ways to monetize their applications through new billing models including try-and-buy, virtual goods, upgrades, and more,” Eric Chu says on the Android Developers blog.

Until now, developers wanting to include in-app transactions in their app needed to go through PayPal, Zong, or develop their own solution, like Angry Birds did. Google announced its intention to provide an in-app billing service in January. Apple has offered in-app billing on its iOS devices since October 2009.

Perhaps the in-app billing system will help rejuvenate Android’s historically sluggish app sales. By lowering the barrier to entry — offering apps for free or at significantly reduced prices — more users may be willing to download apps, then make additional purchases within the app later on.

“I’m incredibly excited as a developer and a user because it opens the door to another avenue for revenue. This will increase the quality of apps you will see on Android and create more incentives for developers who aren’t targeting the platform to give it a shot,” said Andreas Schobel, CTO and co-founder of Catch.

Many iOS developers who have held off from committing to Google’s OS due to monetization concerns may also finally port their apps over to Android, so we could be seeing a slew of new apps in the coming weeks.

Android devices running 1.6 or higher will be able to access the new in-app billing system when it’s available (possibly tomorrow, according to AllThingsD). Apps in both Google’s Android Market and Amazon’s App Store will have access to the service.

“Some of the great free apps on iPhone are solely supported by in-app purchases of virtual goods. This will be another avenue for developers to make money,” says Schobel.

For detailed information about the release, visit Google’s In-App Billing Dev Guide.

See Also:

• Android In-App Payments Begin With Angry Birds
• App Sales Sluggish, Despite Android’s Popularity