Hasta La Gadget!

Remember RockMelt The “social web browser”? The name doesn’t come up often, especially when we talk about conventional browsers like Firefox, Chrome, IE and Safari. Well, rest assured, the startup is still alive and kicking: after releasing an iPhone app earlier this year, it’s introducing an iPad version as well. As ever, the browser is built around social networks like Facebook and Twitter, but instead of emphasizing chat and status updates, it’s all about using your social network to help curate a newsfeed that matches your interests. In other words, you could do a traditional web search and sift though the results, but if you sign in with your Facebook or Twitter handle what you’ll actually see are stories that RockMelt thinks might appeal to you. In theory, the browser will learn, over time, what you like and what you don’t, and at any point you can add specific news sources as you would with an RSS feed. As an added bonus, the experience of reading articles from within the app is actually quite smooth, but that’s neither here nor there.

And, of course, what would a social browser be without the ability to share cat videos? In addition to sharing things with people directly (i.e., through email), you can use so-called emoticodes like “lol,” “want,” and “aww” to comment on a story without actually commenting on it. (Think of it as the equivalent of liking something on Facebook: it’s less intrusive than posting random links on your friend’s wall.) The app is available for download today, and we’re told versions for other platforms are in development. In the meantime, check out the screenshots after the break to get a basic for the layout.

Continue reading RockMelt social browser comes to the iPad, offers up news stories tailored to your interests

Filed under: Tablets, Software

RockMelt social browser comes to the iPad, offers up news stories tailored to your interests originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Oct 2012 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rovio teased a certain film-inspired Angry Birds picture a long, long last week, and as expected, it’s another new game — Angry Birds Star Wars. Our furious feathered friends are assuming the likenesses of characters from the epic saga, with the trusty Red Bird taking on Luke Skywalker’s role. It wouldn’t be the Rebel Alliance without a dark side to fight, which is where the Pigs fit into the storyline; even the music and levels for gravity-based play will hark back to the film franchise. In addition to the software, details of related merchandise have also been uncovered, including table games, toys and costumes. The game is out on November 8th for iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Kindle Fire and computers, and if it follows the original storyline, we wonder how Red Bird’s going to feel about his porcine family history.

Continue reading Feel the Force: Angry Birds Star Wars coming November 8th to iOS, Android, WP, Kindle Fire and computers

Filed under: Gaming, Mobile

Feel the Force: Angry Birds Star Wars coming November 8th to iOS, Android, WP, Kindle Fire and computers originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Oct 2012 06:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Joystiq  |  USA Today, Idle Hands blog  | Email this | Comments

Before today, Carbonite had a few mobile apps, but the backup process was something of a one-way street: you could access content on your handset, but you couldn’t back up the contents of your phone. That changes today with Carbonite Mobile, a free app for iOS and Android that allows you to upload photos and other files to Carbonite.com. In addition to backup, though, the Android version offers some features typically reserved for standalone mobile security apps — things like remote wiping and the ability to reset the phone to factory settings if it falls into the wrong hands. Additionally, you can use the app to locate your lost device on a map, and you can also set off the ringer, even if you had set the phone to vibrate. In the case of the Android app, the software will run in the background; due to Apple’s different set of APIs, it won’t run 24/7. However, all you iPhone owners out there can program the application so that it backs up the device automatically when you get home. Curious? We’ve got screenshots below along with download links in Google Play and the App Store.

Continue reading Carbonite Mobile backs up the contents of your phone, Android version supports remote wipes

Filed under: Software, Mobile

Carbonite Mobile backs up the contents of your phone, Android version supports remote wipes originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Sep 2012 19:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember the days before Facebook’s iOS app ditched HTML 5 and sped things up with some native code? It turns out that there’s some regret in Menlo Park about relying on the web markup language. Betting on HTML 5 for the app is “one of the biggest mistakes if not the biggest strategic mistakes we’ve ever made,” Mark Zuckerberg said in an interview at TechCrunch Disrupt today. The firm’s CEO also mentioned that new features will be making their way to the app and a snappier Android version is coming down the pike “when it’s done.”

Filed under: Internet

Zuckerberg: betting on HTML 5 for Facebook mobile app was a ‘mistake,’ native Android version on the way originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Sep 2012 17:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you like your data local, but crave remote access, you’ve now got options like Synology’s new DiskStation DS413j — a network-attached storage (NAS) server for your own private cloud. The feature-packed box has four drive bays for a total of 16TB storage, and you can mix and match HDDs of different sizes without losing the comfort of RAID. Along with what you’d expect from NAS, its media server will stream content to your console or TV via DLNA or UPnP and push tunes to your stereo, with iOS and Android apps for couch DJing. The server will sync your files across computers if you wish, and give you access to all that data on the move via the internet or mobile apps. And, if you need more files, you can download directly using your favorite protocols — it’ll even automate them if you trust RSS feeds to make recommendations. All this can be yours for around $380, depending on the retailer, but don’t forget to budget for drives to fill those empty bays.

Continue reading Synology launches DiskStation DS413j NAS server for your own private cloud

Filed under: Storage, Networking

Synology launches DiskStation DS413j NAS server for your own private cloud originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Sep 2012 04:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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