Tarzan Ball is a tricky hook-and-pull physics game

tarzanball
So, you're a ball. A Tarzan Ball, to be precise. You've earned the nickname thanks to your astonishing ability to shoot out a lengthy 'vine' (I hope it's a vine) at objects, and then pull yourself towards those objects.

That's a handy ability to have, especially since you've got no legs, no arms, and no other means of transportation. In Tarzan Ball, the rope is everything. But you don't just swing around the screen aimlessly - that wouldn't be much of a game now, would it?

Instead, your goal in life is to collect "targets". Each level has one of these "targets" hidden away somewhere on the screen, usually behind some kind of barrier. Once you navigate close enough to the target, you can shoot your rope at it and just reel it in. That's when you pass the level.

You can't die in this game, but it can still be very frustrating. It's actually one of the tougher games I've posted recently. Still, if you enjoy physics games, this one is quite nicely made.

[This is actually the sequel to IQ Ball, which we covered last year! -Ed]

Tarzan Ball is a tricky hook-and-pull physics game originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 21 Feb 2011 18:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/02/21/tarzan-ball-is-a-tricky-hook-and-pull-physics-game/

Laura Pauli Janna Löhnig Gabriela Schnee Rita Imhof

British royal family announces iOS and Android wedding app

William and KateTo celebrate the imminent marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Royal Collection will release an Android an iOS app that chronicles the last seven royal marriages, including Queen Victoria's marriage to Prince Albert in 1840.

Ironically, the app won't actually feature anything to do with William and Kate's marriage -- rather, it will focus on the "tradition, splendor and romance" that are intrinsic to British royal marriages. "[The app] will share the stories of past royal weddings and offer a wealth of historical context for the ceremony on April 29."

Unfortunately, the app, which has been lumbered with the fantastically creative name of 'Royal App,' won't be available until April 18 -- just 11 days before Kate's big day. It won't be free, either: it'll cost the rather princely sum of £1.79, or three of your Tea Party-loving dollars. The money will go to the Royal Collection, though, which is a good cause!

British royal family announces iOS and Android wedding app originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/05/british-royal-family-announces-ios-and-android-wedding-app/

Annette Lechner Margarethe Lachner Lutz Yalcin Birte Höß

Philco Mystery Control: The World's First Wireless Remote [Video]

We take remote controls for granted. For most of us, they've existed from the day they were born. We knew how to use them before we could even begin to fathom how they work. But really, they're magnificent devices. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/-_yKxNO_JtI/philco-mystery-control-the-worlds-first-wireless-remote

Antonio Fellberg Emma Knebel Jason Randow Benjamin Schötz

Amazon's Kindle Cloud Reader storms into Firefox on an HTML5 chariot

Just about three months after launching on Safari and Chrome, Amazon's Kindle Cloud Reader app has finally made its way to Firefox. With this HTML5-based app, Mozilla devotees can access Kindle books directly from their browsers for both online and offline reading, while syncing their digitized libraries, notes and bookmarks. Available for Firefox 6 and above, the Cloud Reader also offers a touch-optimized store that's integrated directly within the app, putting you within just one click of Amazon's coffers. Take it for a spin at the source link below, or float past the break for the full PR.

Continue reading Amazon's Kindle Cloud Reader storms into Firefox on an HTML5 chariot

Amazon's Kindle Cloud Reader storms into Firefox on an HTML5 chariot originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Nov 2011 08:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAmazon Kindle Cloud Reader  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/09/amazons-kindle-cloud-reader-storms-into-firefox-on-an-html5-cha/

Gabriela Prell Sylvia Lösche Steven Walnsch Lennart Tonn

The New and Improved Honda Asimo Pretends to be a Bartender and Pour Drinks [Video]

Honda Asimo, the frighteningly realistic yet increasingly useless humanoid robot, has learned another new trick! It can pour drinks. Watch Asimo roll out a cart, open up a thermos, grab the cup, tilt the cup, pour, finish the pour and hand it off to a pretty lady. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/e5IEcjwgmFU/watch-a-honda-asimo-pretend-to-be-a-bartender-and-pour-drinks

Erna Van den Hout Laura Pauli Janna Löhnig Gabriela Schnee

Want To Know What Apps Your Colleagues Use At Work? BestVendor Can Tell You

bestvendor-1We just can't get away from the social recommendations space, can we? Just this past month, we've seen new startups like Oink and Wikets arrive, and even a hilarious spoof of the trend via the fake startup Jotly. Well, now you can add another startup to the list, because today, a new social recommendations service for small businesses called BestVendor is opening its doors, too. And it already has $600,000 in seed funding from Peter Thiel, SVAngel, SoftBank Capital and Lerer Ventures to get things going. Now launching into public beta, what BestVendor offers is a free, online directory of Web services, online applications and software specially designed for startups or other small businesses. Eventually, the site wants to become the go-to resource to find everything you need for your company.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Qpg9Qk7Qhn4/

Hans-Jürgen Haake Arno Zimmerling Jacqueline Kiesel Michel Rohr

Windows 8 getting a built-in PDF reader, Metro-style

For what seems like an eternity, Download Squad readers have reacted to news of security exploits targeting Adobe Reader with a common sentiment: why doesn't Microsoft build its own secure PDF reader into Windows? Apparently the Windows 8 team agrees, and they're working away at an application called Modern Reader which is exactly that.

From the handful of screenshots Paul Thurrott has shared, it's clear that Modern Reader has been built with Metro in mind. You can see the Reader back button in the top-left corner of the yellow image and the minimal page navigation bar on the right. We've posted some larger images we managed to scrape from Google's cache after the break.

Thurrott also mentions that Modern Reader is the first program spotted which is built using AppX -- a packaging technology that may allow developers to roll a single build to both Windows 8 desktops and Windows Phone 8 mobile devices.

Continue reading Windows 8 getting a built-in PDF reader, Metro-style

Windows 8 getting a built-in PDF reader, Metro-style originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/04/windows-8-getting-a-built-in-pdf-reader-finally/

Henrik Brenner Karla Reusch Wilhelm Klassen Nathalie Füllgraf

New periodic table element names confirmed, textbook makers sigh in relief

What's in a name? If you're the general assembly of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics, then quite a lot. It's that bunch who have finally rubber-stamped the names of elements Darmstadtium (110), Roentgenium (111) and Copernicum (112) on the Periodic table. The trio are so named in honor of Darmstadt (where it was first created), Wilhelm Röntgen (discoverer of X-Rays) and Nicolaus Copernicus (explaining the universe since 1533). All three elements are "super-heavy", lab-created substances that rapidly degrade down into less interesting materials -- Copernicium-285 has a relatively long half-life of 29 seconds. The ratification went without a hitch, causing a sigh of relief amongst the textbook makers who have included the elements in the table for quite some time. Although we were hoping that element 111 would have to change its name back to the original, nearly unpronounceable unununium.

[Image courtesy of the BBC / Talkback Thames]

New periodic table element names confirmed, textbook makers sigh in relief originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Nov 2011 18:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/4c_5LxUyiGA/

Annette Lechner Margarethe Lachner Lutz Yalcin Birte Höß

MOD and MOD Live Android ski goggles give extreme analytics, we go eyes-on (video)

Straight out of Q's closet of goodies are Recon Instrument's brand new MOD and MOD Live ski goggles, giving bikers, skiers and snowboarders a glimpse into the digital extreme with a tiny built-in LCD micro display -- powered by an itsy bitsy Android ARM Coretex-A8 600 MHz computer. The 428 x 240 WQVGA screen allows the hardcore to tune into things like speed, jump analytics, distance, pre-loaded trail maps, height and GPS location, while keeping MOD Live users connected to calls and texts via Bluetooth. Running Android 2.3, the LIVE variety will let you see who's calling, answer calls, receive texts and even respond to them with pre-programmed responses. Users can switch between screens using the included remote, attachable via wristband or headstrap. Since the display is so tiny, the amount of Android apps athletes will be able to use will be limited -- so, sorry kids, no Angry Birds while mountain biking off a cliff.

If that doesn't sound distracting enough, the manufacturer promises future third-party camera and video recorder integration to capture all the jumps, dives and spills associated with shredding the gnar. Sadly, the current model only has 512Mbs of storage and 256MB of RAM, so you won't be able to store too many Sean White-worthy feature films on them.

Giving these bad boys a go, they transported us into what seemed like the future with details of our personal best performances staring us in the eye from the corner of the screen -- rad. Flexible and bendy, the eye shield easily pops out of the frame to reveal the display itself, along with the computer's guts. Of course, the extreme flexibility and bulkiness of the goggles doesn't bode well for those of us who actually use goggles to protect our eyes -- giving us the impression that they would not offer much cushion with a severe spill. The enviable eyewear will retail for $299 with the Android smartphone-connected version available for $399. Check out the video and full PR after the break.

Continue reading MOD and MOD Live Android ski goggles give extreme analytics, we go eyes-on (video)

MOD and MOD Live Android ski goggles give extreme analytics, we go eyes-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Nov 2011 21:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/08/mod-and-mod-live-android-ski-goggles-give-extreme-analytics-we/

Benjamin Schötz Johannes Liebl Arne Koller Fiona Brandenburg