For anyone who has followed Apple’s history, John Sculley is a familiar figure. He was the CEO who famously ousted Steve Jobs from the company he co-founded in 1985; he championed the ill-fated Newton; and he eventually left Apple as its profits turned to losses in 1993.
Yesterday afternoon, The …
The new Tweetbot 3.0 app is completely revamped for iOS 7 and few apps look as good as the new light freshness of Tweetbot. Little animations like bouncing buttons, little details like blurred backgrounds and so forth make it absolutely delightful for diehard tweeters. $3 [iTunes]
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Tweetbot 3 for iPhone has been released, one of the most popular Twitter clients for Apple’s platform, updated for iOS 7 and the shift away from skeuomorphic design. The new app keeps the features of the old Tweetbot, but matches the aesthetic of Apple’s latest iOS release, complete with minimalistic new iconography and new animations. […]
Volvo has completed a wireless charging system trial for EVs, concluding that though the technology works and is particularly convenient, the lack of a common standard means it’s not ready for the mass market. The trial, which saw a modified Volvo C30 Electric recharged by embedded induction coils in a wireless base-station, proved that not […]
Oppo, a Chinese manufacturer, announced the N1 only recently. On paper, it has enough specifications to rival devices from major global manufacturers. It appears that Oppo is aiming high with the N1 and that it might be looking to roll out the device globally. A presentation by the CynaogenMod team hints at the ETA of N1′s global launch, it may happen as early as next month.
The Oppo N1 launches in China towards the end of this week. It is actually the first smartphone that comes with the ability to install a custom CyanogenMod ROM without losing full warranty and community support. A version of the N1 with a CyanogenMod pre-installed is also expected to be released in the future. As per the CM team that was giving the talk, N1 global launch may take place by the end of November. It is unclear right now exactly how many markets will the N1 be launched in and how much will it end up costing prospective customers. It is also not known if the manufacturer has struck up a deal with a carrier to sell the N1 at subsidized rates in the U.S. If it has no carrier partnerships, it is likely that Oppo will only sell unlocked versions through its website.
Oppo N1 Global Launch Is Apparently Next Month original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Today, Instagram posted an image of what an ad posting inside its mobile photo-sharing service will look like.
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As wind energy has expanded over the years, engineers have raced to build larger and larger turbines—designed to take advantage of as much wind as possible. But the architect Renzo Piano and an energy company in Italy are trying to make a smaller turbine—one that’s suitable for the average yard.
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Today a new set of “master filmmakers” has been announced as working on the next Star Wars film, these including first and foremost J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan as screenwriters. Keen-eyed fans will recognize that Abrams is also the director of this film, tentatively titled Star Wars: Episode VII, while Kasdan was also already a […]
I really love having Philips Hue lights in my house. If I could, I’d do the whole house, but for now, I’ve only got my media room/arcade/mancave and my foyer done up with the colorful remote-controlled LED bulbs. However, one thing that has always been a bit lacking with Hue is the standard control app. It’s pretty limiting – it doesn’t do light animations or even acknowledge the concept of different rooms in your house. A little app has recently surfaced which adds both of these capabilities to Hue bulbs.
Goldee is a third-party app which has been made possible by Philips release of an SDK and API for Hue. The application’s primary purpose is to add dynamic looks to Hue which go beyond the static scenes enabled by other applications.
To use Goldee, simply add your bulbs and rooms to the app the first time you start up, then tap on the room and the scene you want to run. With the app’s built-in scenes, you can gradually watch the colors in your room shift to set one of ten moods. Each scene has been composed by a professional lighting designer and it shows.
My personal favorites are the pinky/orange hues of Night in Paris and the blue and green tones Aurora Glow. When you first fire up the app, you get the first eight scenes for free.
Sharing Goldee on social media opens up the ninth scene, while providing a review gets you the tenth. This is a clever take on downloadable content – instead of charging money for these unlockables.
As you can see from the video below, Goldee’s color sequences change very gradually – this isn’t a disco app. Goldee provides soothing and relaxing scenes which you can live with while you sit in a room and read a book, listen to music or throw a dinner party.
Goldee also offers a wake mode which can wake you up to its Sunrise scene, though without any Hue bulbs in my bedroom, I didn’t test this feature. You can apply scenes to multiple rooms simultaneously, a pretty slick trick that no other Hue control app does as far as I know. While the initial 10 scenes are all pretty good looking if you’ve got enough bulbs, Goldee promises a library of additional scenes you can run in the not-too-distant future.
A couple of quick notes about Goldee you should be aware of: 1) the app needs to be running – and in the foreground – to work; 2) there’s no way at this time to make your own custom scenes. I’m hoping that these are addressed in future releases – especially now that iOS7 allows true background applications.
You can download Goldee from the iTunes App Store for free.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
