Hasta La Gadget!

Android app player BlueStacks has launched for Mac, with a new beta allowing OS X users to run software intended for Android phones and tablets on their iMac, MacBook Pro, or other Apple kit. The freshly released beta – which follows a similar Windows version released earlier this year – means more than 750,000 Android titles can now be run on OS X, a huge increase from the sparse number of compatible titles from June’s alpha release for Mac.

BlueStacks’ software basically works as a virtualization engine for Android titles, allowing them to be run as if native code. So far, adoption of that has primarily been from the PC side, with BlueStacks inking deals with ASUS, with Qualcomm, and with AMD.

Those agreements will see BlueStacks’ technology used to expand the number of titles available for Windows users, though potentially rebranded in the process. ASUS, for instance, calls the system ASUS@Vibe, while AMD’s version is the AMD AppZone Player.

Apple is far less likely to adopt BlueStacks with equal enthusiasm, but Mac owners keen to try out alternative titles (as well as developers looking to code for Android, Windows, and OS X users) may well make up the difference. You can download the BlueStacks AppPlayer beta for Mac here.

[via TechCrunch]

BlueStacks beta for Mac brings 750,000+ Android apps to OS X is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

When I was growing up, my dad taught me that potassium nitrate, sulphur, and charcoal made gunpowder. He told me that you could add iron to the mix to get a red flame and that acids wouldn’t eat through your test tube. Then he sent me into the basement to make whatever I wanted while he read the paper.

That was, arguably, a long time ago. All that’s changed. As this NY Times story notes, the days of making bombs (mine were unpacked and placed in toilet paper rolls, to be clear, so I wasn’t setting off pipe bombs) are long gone.

“Basically, you have to be able to eat everything in the science kit,” said Jim Becker, president of SmartLab Toys, who recalled learning the names of chemicals from his childhood chemistry set, which contained substances that have long since been banned from toys.

Instead, we must neuter the science our kids are learning and hope against hope that the guys at Mythbusters can keep our kids entertained enough to consider going into STEM subjects. Once we built rocket scientists by giving them an Estes engine and a paper tube. Now you can’t set off a model rocket anywhere in New York unless you own hundreds of acres of unspoiled fields (no one in New York does).

Kids don’t have a chance to play with dangerous things anymore. I try to change that when I can. I got my son the Bandit rubber band gun which we built on the night after Christmas. I took him outside in my parents large back yard to shoot a Red Ryder and go over gun safety. I would, if I could find it, dig out my old chemistry set so all three kids could know the joy of making red fire. I’m encouraging my daughter to dabble in electricity by giving her a Roominate. I want them to break stuff and learn how to put it back together.

I support the right to tinker. I want my kids and yours to build the next rockets to Mars. I want them to see the world as a series of reactions, and I want them to be able to measure those reactions in order to cure disease, crime, and hunger. We have a Makerbot at the house because I think that simply having a thing in the house, that the kids have it somewhere in their minds that they can 3D-print a green plastic skull, is important.

So here’s to the banned chemistry sets and dangerous capacitors. Here’s to the code that formats the C: drive. Here’s to the sharp-edged Lego kits that let you build a robot or moon station or monster. Next year let’s get the kids potassium nitrate, charcoal, and sulphur and teach them how to use them responsibly and intelligently. Here’s to the dangerous toys.

Image of GonKiRin the Dragon.

While smartwatches may seem like a short-lived fad, it’s rumored that Apple and Intel think the contrary. It’s said that the two companies are teaming up to release an “iWatch” sometime in 2013. The device would connect to your Apple devices via Bluetooth, especially the iPhone and iPod line, in order to relay information from these devices to the watch.

It’s said that Intel will be working with Apple to create the watch device, and it’ll come with a 1.5-inch PMOLED display made by RiTDisplays, and will feature ITO-coated glass. Low-power Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity will also be a big feature in the rumored Apple smartwatch. Sadly, though, that’s all the details that were provided.

Smartwatches have certainly gained some traction lately. We can’t forget the Pebble smartwatch, which raised over $10 million in funding on Kickstarter. Sony also released their own smartwatch. However, the market for smartwatches isn’t anything to write home about, and it may just be a passing fad that will die out in a year or two.

Of course, this is only a rumor, and we’ll remain skeptical of such a product from Apple, but we can’t say that we’d be too incredibly surprised if the company did end up releasing a smartwatch of their own. The 6th-generation iPod Nano was extremely popular as a watch of sorts, and Apple built on that popularity by releasing several watch faces for the mini music player.

[via Mobilegeeks.de]

Apple and Intel rumored to be working on iWatch for 2013 is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

During busy times of entertaining friends and family we all become master bartenders. No one ever seems to want the same drink, so you become a mixologist. You get lemons, limes, oranges, spices and herbs involved. The bar resembles a hoarders home. And you need more tools in the arsenal to make the perfect drinks.

Arm yourself for the holidays or any days where you find yourself playing master of the bar. The Bar10der provides a 10-in-1 bar tool to conquer about anyone’s needs – “the ultimate at-home bartending tool” as they refer to it.  Think of it as a Swiss Army Knife for the bar. First off you have some of the more obscure and lesser used tools: a muddler to crush things, reamer to get freshly squeezed juice into the mix, channel knife for creating twists, and a zester for your citrus. Also included are more common devices: a jigger to measure ½ or 1 ounce pours, expandable stirring tool, 4” knife, corkscrew, bottle opener and strainer. With all 10 tools there should be no drink in the book you cannot conquer. This Bar10der runs $49.99 at bar10der.com and is available in four colors. The site also feature some fun drink ideas to put your tool to use.
[ All Your Bartending Tools in One copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Gadgets get thinner. Apple’s gadgets more than most. That’s just the natural order of things. But while thin and light are two of the chief virtues of mobile, and prettier is always better, the new deskbound iMac has to prove it’s more than just a diet plan. More »