Hasta La Gadget!

Google has always had a funny or rather, cheeky side to them when it comes to Easter Eggs, and over the years, they have had their fair share of fun releases. This Christmas season, Google intends to expand their Easter Egg collection by transforming your mobile devices into karaoke machines. It does not matter whether you are standing on the Android or iOS divide, all you need to do is to type “Let’s go caroling” into your phone or tablet’s Google Search app, and you will be able to select from five famous carols.

Regardless of which carol you choose, each of them will come with corresponding music and lyrics. All you need to do then is to press play, and sing along to “O Christmas Tree” without having to suffer the embarrassment of forgetting any of the lyrics. Just in case you are in a situation where it is extremely noisy and you are unable to hear the sound from your device’s speakers, just follow the red bouncing ball that follows the words, and you’re good to go, although we have received reports that it does lag at times on the way to the beginning of the next line. What other kinds of Easter Eggs from Google is the most memorable one for you?

Google’s Christmas Easter Eggs Turns Mobile Device Into Karaoke Machine original content from Ubergizmo.

Earlier today, we brought you word that there was a leaked video which showed off the possibility of Yahoo’s plans for a voice-controlled personal assistant. Well, this particular rumor has more than meets the eye to it, as sources that are close to Yahoo has shared with The Verge that the app shown off in the leaked video itself was not developed by Yahoo.

Yup, did you hear the pin drop? While the leaked video did show off a Yahoo-branded personal assistant app that ran on a smartphone with Android as the mobile operating system of choice, the person, or persons, behind this video is not under Yahoo’s payroll. Of course, this does not mean that we are writing off the possibility of a voice-controlled personal assistant from Yahoo in the long run, especially not after they have purchased SkyPhrase, a company that has its specialty in natural language recognition. In a nutshell, today’s leaked video would prove inconclusive to the big picture, and we do hope that time will tell eventually. Do you think that Yahoo’s foray into the world of Google Now and Apple’s Siri would allow them to be a major player, or will they be too far behind the game already to make any kind of significant impact?

Leaked Voice-Controlled Personal Assistant Video Not Made By Yahoo original content from Ubergizmo.

Over the past few years, Apple has released new versions of its OS X software, with the latest being OS X 10.9 Mavericks. Prior to that we had Mountain Lion, Lion, and Snow Leopard which was released back in 2009, a good four years ago, and it would seem as though Apple’s support for the four year old operating system could be coming to an end. While Apple has not formally announced anything, it was speculated that this could be the case in a recent Safari update which included updates for OS X Lion, Mountain Lion, Mavericks, but not Snow Leopard. As it stands Safari 5.1.10 is the most-current update for Snow Leopard and was last updated back in September.

Speaking in an interview, Andrew Storms, the director of DevOps at CloudPassage, “Let’s face it, Apple doesn’t go out of their way to ensure users are aware when products are going end of life […] They live by the motto that users will just take all updates all the time as soon as they become available. Or users who are left in the dust will just go to the store and buy a new device.” In any case the browser is still usable, it just probably will not sport the same features or bug fixes that might have been included in later updates, but with OS X Mavericks being a free upgrade, those with older but compatible hardware should upgrade lest they don’t want to be left out of the loop.

Missed Safari Update Could Signal End Of OS X Snow Leopard Support original content from Ubergizmo.

When it comes to modding our PCs, for the most part the average modder would probably toss in a couple of extra LED lights, a couple more fans for extra cooling, or for the slightly more serious modder, perhaps a liquid cooling system as well. However we have in the past seen some more hardcore mods in which the end result looks more like a piece of art, rather than an actual computer, and it is safe to say that we can add Japanese designer, Hiroto Ikeuchi’s piece to that list. Upon a cursory glance you could be forgiven for not being able to tell that the masterpiece pictured above is in fact a complete PC setup, with a keyboard, monitor, CPU tower, a desk lamp, and even a webcam, all of which are camouflaged under a plethora of army miniatures.

Ikeuchi actually spent a good part of 2012 building this mod and was reportedly inspired by the likes of Gundam and Macross. The attention to detail here is astounding as it would seem that every single part of the mod is covered, with the keyboard even undergoing a more rugged and military look to help it blend in with the rest of the setup. Also if you’re wondering where is the mouse, well it’s right in front of you, only except that it has been disguised to look like a tank, along with a handful of USB flash drives which have also been disguised to resemble military objects. At the moment Ikeuchi’s masterpiece is only display at the Ars Electronica Center in Austria, with Ikeuchi is already planning his next piece.

This PC Case Mod Is A Work Of Art original content from Ubergizmo.

It was slightly more than a week ago when we brought you word on how Viber offers phone call capability now, and here we are with word that Viber for Windows 8 has rolled out. Just a little bit of history lesson before we continue – Viber first rolled out on the desktop back in May earlier this year, offering support for the PC and Mac platforms. This time around, the offer has been extended to those of you who use Windows 8 as the operating system of choice, where it comes complete with features that are special to the operating system.

In Viber for Windows 8, one is able to pin conversations directly to the Start screen, snap Viber over to the side of the screen by taking advantage of Snap View, as well as look for Viber contacts through the use of the universal search charm. Just like all of the other Viber versions that are currently available, Windows 8 users, too, are able to perform a quick switch between desktop and mobile with but a single touch of a button. Viber CEO and founder Talmon Marco shared, “This is the natural next step for Viber following our support for Windows Phone 8, bringing a fully compatible and custom designed version of Viber to Microsoft’s touch-friendly OS. Windows 8 is an exciting platform to develop for, and brings a whole new set of UI elements and unique functionality to Viber for the first time. We are excited to support Viber users on Windows 8 and this is part of our commitment to wide, cross platform availability.” [Press Release]

Viber For Windows 8 Released original content from Ubergizmo.