Google's Music Beta gives users two invites, keys to the cloud for their best mates

We probably all know at least one person who is bummed they missed out on the initial round of invites for Music Beta by Google. Well friends, you can be the bearer of good news for those troubled souls (who haven't moved on to other online music pursuits, of course), as we discovered through a fellow music enthusiast. Members of the cloud-based service are now the proud owners of two invites handed down from the Goog, to be passed out only through a thorough application and interview process. Ok, not really... but perhaps you do have the power to make two of your friends, or soon-to-be friends, pretty happy. That is, until they realize how long it will take them to upload that music library they've been curating since 8th grade.

[Thanks, Ralph]

Google's Music Beta gives users two invites, keys to the cloud for their best mates originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jul 2011 07:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/29/googles-music-beta-gives-users-two-invites-keys-to-the-cloud-f/

Lutz Yalcin Birte Höß Kerstin Klos Dieter Schreiter

Scrabble Helper helps you improve your Words With Friends gameplay

scrabblehelper
If you play Scrabble (or a scrabble-like game) from time to time, you may want to check out Scrabble Helper. This simple website is a godsend when you're at a loss for words. Simply enter whatever letters you have, and the word you'd like to connect with. Scrabble helper comes up with a whole bunch of suggestions sorted by score.

The site lets you select one of five dictionaries - Scrabble International/US, Lexulous International/US, and Words With Friends. Some people might say this constitutes cheating -- I think if the other side knows you're doing it, it's definitely not cheating. And it doesn't take the challenge out of the game, because implementing Scrabble Helper's suggestions and deciding which words you'd like to connect with still takes a fair bit of thought.

Very handy, though perhaps not one for the Scrabble puritans in the crowd.

Scrabble Helper helps you improve your Words With Friends gameplay originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 14 Mar 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/14/scrabble-helper-helps-you-improve-your-words-with-friends-gamepl/

Annika Schäffer Edgar Betz Antonia Koppe Gertrud Hölzl

CrunchGear Week In Review: Indoor Games Edition

Here are some stories from the past week on CrunchGear: Strange Video: Happinet Lets You Play Table Tennis Against Invisible Opponents Sweet DIY Book Light The Infinite Loop Tablet Holder: Actually A Cool Idea Day 1: My Week In The Nissan Leaf Weekend Giveaway: A Kobo eReader Touch (And Some Gift Cards)

Source: http://www.crunchgear.com/2011/06/27/week-in-review-indoor-games/

Hartmut Theobald Nicholas Graul Malin Hock Helmut Hölzer

Windows 8 App Store images leaked?

windows 8 app store
Windows 8 images continue to leak onto the Internet, despite Microsoft's wallpaper-based pleas to those with access to the early releases. Today's installment courtesy CNBeta shows the upcoming Windows App Store, which will likely feature prominently in Windows 8.

We've got our doubts about the authenticity of the image. In addition to showing several of the built-in games which already ship with Windows, Opera is listed -- and a competing browser seems like an odd inclusion this early on. Of course, with the browser ballot still in place in the EU for quite some time, Microsoft would probably need to include rivals like Opera and Firefox to stay out of trouble. We're also not sure why Clickgamer is shown beneath Angry Birds instead of Rovio -- the game's actual publisher.

It's still early, of course, so it's entirely possible that the Windows App Store image is genuine but merely using placeholder images and text for now. Anyone else thinking Windows Marketplace might be a more logical name? You know, to keep things consistent with Windows Phone and keep Apple's legal eagles at bay.

Windows 8 App Store images leaked? originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/11/windows-8-app-store-images-leaked/

Erna Van den Hout Laura Pauli Janna Löhnig Gabriela Schnee

Sad Time Warner Cable CEO: We Aren't Selling Enough Porn [Blockquote]

Although the experience of sitting on your couch for an HD porn viewing is unparalleled, most members of our species will go the quick and dirty laptop route instead. Time Warner Cable's CEO is peeved! They need that porno cash! More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/JFvDwfyyZqY/sad-time-warner-cable-ceo-we-arent-selling-enough-porn

Fiona Henschel Joshua Heinlein Markus Wigger Alexander Berner

Turn Your Travel Mug into a Portable Air Conditioner [Video]

One imaginative user over at Instructables, SHIFT!, got the idea to build a personal AC unit in a travel coffee mug. It's similar in idea to another DIY AC unit made from a cooler, except much, much smaller. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/Nji4-gW4Y3Q/turn-your-travel-mug-into-a-portable-air-conditioner

Erna Van den Hout Laura Pauli Janna Löhnig Gabriela Schnee

Video: This Guy Plays Air Drums That Actually Make Music

I find myself playing the air drums rather regularly when boppin' along to some tunes, and the drum set on Rock Band is by far my favorite instrument, but neither of those hold a candle to what Maayan Migdal has up his sleeve. My air drums don?t make real music. My Rock Band drums do, but they also take up a hunk of space in my room. His make real music and are invisible.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/smR15aD6_z4/

Laura Ungricht Edith Berner Lea Linden Kevin Fickenscher

Let it Slide is an engaging, difficult puzzle game

letitslide
I have a thing for physics games, and I've been known to post the occasional platformer or action game here and there. But Let it Slide is one of the brainiest games I've posted to date.

The idea is very simple, and far from original: You get a board with pieces arranged in a particular pattern; you have to slide those around until you get the special piece into its target location.

It's not even about finding out where the target location is - you can just hover over "dim tiles" and instantly see where you're supposed to bring the special piece. But getting it there is a whole different story.

There are five tutorial levels, which I strongly recommend you do. Then there are twenty "beginner" levels, but that's really a misnomer. If those are the beginner levels, I don't want to know what the intermediate and advanced levels look like!

Every time you finish a level you get a score based on how many clicks it took you - each level has a "par" (the minimum number of clicks it could be completed in), and your performance is compared to that gold standard. Because it's such a brainy game, getting it right is quite satisfying. I was downright proud of myself when I managed to finish a few levels. All in all, quite recommended, especially if you've got a few minutes of quiet. It might actually help you focus better later on.

Let it Slide is an engaging, difficult puzzle game originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 23 Feb 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/02/23/let-it-slide-is-an-engaging-difficult-puzzle-game/

Mika Bernhardt Ingeburg Liebermann Elsa Alexander Furtmann Siegrid Holstein

Rdio-Rolling: The Best New Way to Punk Your Friends [User Manual]

Social music services like Rdio and Spotify are a great way to discover new tunes because they pipe what your friends are listening to right to your dashboard. That can be embarrassing sometimes, but it can also be deviously fun. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/Jh52ZCzW9nI/rdio+rolling-the-best-new-way-to-punk-your-friends

Rosemarie Ramsauer Jörn Domenighini Marion Dallmeyer Hanna Wohlrab

Hard Graft Back Up Case for iPad 2

The Smart Cover for iPad 2 is a wonderful screen cover and stand, but it leaves the back of your expensive device exposed.  There are a variety of skins, cases, and covers available for iPad 2, but not all of them work with the Smart Cover.  Hard Graft is introducing their new Back Up Case [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/07/27/hard-graft-back-up-case-for-ipad-2/

Kristin Gehrmann Annette Lechner Margarethe Lachner Lutz Yalcin