iStoryTime Closes $2M Series A To Make More Mobile Children?s Books

iStoryTime LogoTimes, they are a changin'. Magazines are falling at the feet of their digital replacements, while the printed book feels the burn of affordable, portable reading devices. And yet, we still seem to cling to one category of the binded book (if only for nostalgia's sake): the children's book. But for how long? iStoryTime, a publisher who releases "books" (in interactive app form) exclusively for mobile devices, has just closed a 2 million dollar Series A.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/56Dsj00N8nA/

Jacqueline Kiesel Michel Rohr Hilde Baaden Hartmut Theobald

Toshiba Introduces First Glasses-Free 3-D Notebook

One of the biggest obstacles to 3-D adoption in the home is the uncomfortable, eye-straining glasses that are required. Now there is an alternative, at least in the laptop department. Today Toshiba introduced the world’s first glasses-free, 3-D notebook. The Qosmio F755 has an Intel Core i7 processor and NVIDA GeForce 540M graphics, as well as harmon/kardon [...]

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/08/glasses-free-3-d-notebook/

Anna-Lena Baumgärtel Sabine Kinzler Frieda Falkner Hans-Joachim Kammann

Speedtest.net overhauled with new look, new features

speedtest
Speedtest.net is pretty much the go-to site for quickly figuring out how fast (or slow) your connection really is and comparing the numbers your ISP boasts with what it actually delivers. And now it's got a new coat of paint and a couple of neat features. In brief:
  • New UI: The map widget is much improved; it actually looks like a map now, and it's easy to see where you are.
  • Smart server selection: If there are several test servers nearby, Speedtest will now ping each to see which has the least latency and use that for the test. You can still specify servers manually, too.
  • User accounts: You can sign up for a free account and aggregate results from several computers/connections.
  • Speed Wave: This new feature lets you add your test results to the results of many other users, and get a nice composite view.
All in all, you get some nice, new functionality and a snazzier interface to boot. Nice!

Speedtest.net overhauled with new look, new features originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 07 Mar 2011 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/07/speedtest-net-overhauled-with-new-look-new-features/

Elena Lasch Hans-Jürgen Haake Arno Zimmerling Jacqueline Kiesel

Video: Hackney Woman Stands Up To London Rioters In Stirring Speech (NSFW) [UK Riots]

A Hackney woman stood up to rioters and gave them a piece of her mind in a video shot by Matthew Moore. In her own way, she told the small crowd to get off the streets and stop the rioting. [Matthew Moore via Good] More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/JwevmjrhybI/hackney-woman-stands-up-to-london-rioters-in-stirring-speech-nsfw

Angelika Frey Mika Bernhardt Ingeburg Liebermann Elsa Alexander Furtmann

Google's Blogger platform adds five new HTML5 Dynamic Views

Google Blogger Mosaic Dynamic View
Google, as part of its ongoing and much-needed overhaul of its popular Blogger platform, has just enabled five dynamic, HTML5ish, AJAXy 'Dynamic Views'. There's a video introducing the new layouts after the break.

The five new views provide fresh and interesting ways to explore your favorite Blogger blogs. The Mosaic view, for example, creates a wall of thumbnails -- click one, and it zooms to fill the screen; click it again and it minimizes. Flipcard is similar to Mosaic, but not quite as eclectic. Sidebar, Timeslide and Snapshot round off the new views, with each one obviously targeted at different types of content, from photo blogs, to text-only philosophy blogs, and everything in between.

For now, you have to visit a Blogger blog and add /view to the URL to enable the new Dynamic Views. If you own a Blogger blog, you can disable the new views -- and really, why weren't they disabled by default?

If feedback is positive -- which we're sure it will be -- these Dynamic Views will soon be enabled by default. You'll also be able to edit the views in much the same way as current Blogger templates.

Continue reading Google's Blogger platform adds five new HTML5 Dynamic Views

Google's Blogger platform adds five new HTML5 Dynamic Views originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/31/google-blogger-platform-introduces-five-new-html5-dynamic-views/

Janine Harrer Emilia Münchow Claus Rehberg Tobias Leinenbach

CrunchGear Week in Review: Animal Shots Edition

Here are some stories from the past week on CrunchGear: ?Rotary Mechanical? Cell Phone Concept Isn?t Practical, But It Looks Great Lomo?s New La Sardina Camera Is Cheap And Sardine-Can-Like Panda Itazura Bank: Super-Cute Piggy Bank (Video) Meet The Robostir, A Robotic Soup Stirrer SugarSync Adds Mobile Device Management To Send Files To Devices From [...]

Source: http://www.crunchgear.com/2011/06/20/week-in-review-animal-shots/

Finja Kerkhoff Sascha Dörr Kristin Gehrmann Annette Lechner

Flickr adds to sharing options, now easier to share photos across the Web

flickr
It sure is nice to see some new developer action over at Flickr. The relatively slow-moving photo-sharing service has just announced a new sharing update, which consists of several new and easy ways to embed or link to your photos:
  • Share from Photo page: There's a new sharing option on each and every photo page. When logged off, the button shows only Facebook and Twitter options. But once you log on, you get Tumblr and Blogger too, and can configure other sharing venues as well.
  • Share non-public content on Facebook: This doesn't sound like a great idea, but you now can share private photos on Facebook if you're so inclined (and if you trust your privacy settings).
That's the gist of the update; it makes it easier to show off your pretty pictures in a plethora of places.

Flickr adds to sharing options, now easier to share photos across the Web originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 03:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/31/flickr-adds-to-sharing-options-now-easier-to-share-photos-acros/

Dieter Schreiter Monika Kley Heidemarie Frick Maike Beetz

Nokia: the N9 isn't coming to America

If you've been eagerly awaiting September 23rd so you can grab your very own Nokia N9 in America, the company's first (and last) MeeGo smartphone may not be shipping in your region after all. We've been reaching out to Espoo in recent weeks in an attempt to nail down a US ship date for the drop-dead gorgeous handset, and much to our chagrin, we received a rather disheartening reply:

"After the very positive reception to the launch of the Nokia N9, the product is now being rolled out in countries around the world. At this time we will not be making it available in the US. Nokia takes a market by market approach to product rollout, and each country makes its own decisions about which products to introduce from those available. Decisions are based on an assessment of existing and upcoming products that make up Nokia's extensive product portfolio and the best way in which to address local market opportunities."

Bummer. Moreover, the folks over at The Inquirer were fed an eerily similar line regarding a ship date in the UK, leaving us to wonder where exactly this thing is planning to launch. Regardless, we're still doing our darndest to get ahold of one for review, but it's becoming all the more obvious that it'll hardly matter to folks situated in the US of A. And that, friends, is a crying shame.

Nokia: the N9 isn't coming to America originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Aug 2011 10:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/09/nokia-the-n9-isnt-coming-to-america/

Jörn Domenighini Marion Dallmeyer Hanna Wohlrab Henrik Brenner

Sprint Conquer Breaks the C-Note Barrier

Sprint on Friday unveiled the Samsung Conquer 4G, an Android smartphone that will be available for purchase Aug. 21. The Conquer 4G is the first 4G smartphone from Sprint launched at less than $100. It has a 1 GHz processor, front and rear cameras, runs Android 2.3, and comes with Sprint ID widgets, shortcuts, ringtones and wallpapers.

Source: http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/73023.html

Elena Lasch Hans-Jürgen Haake Arno Zimmerling Jacqueline Kiesel

Subway Installs Slides Instead of Stairs and More from Best of TreeHugger [EcoModo]

This week on TreeHugger, technologies saving sharks from extinction, a tricycle built for beer kegs, the world's skinniest house, adorable chicks, water on Mars, maps and more! More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/JbYuMPev7Gg/subway-installs-slides-instead-of-stairs-and-more-from-best-of-treehugger

Ingeburg Liebermann Elsa Alexander Furtmann Siegrid Holstein Michael Vollmar