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Google releases Android 4.0.3 ‘Ice Cream Sandwich’ partner update

Posted: 19 Dec 2011 10:12 AM PST

Google formally announced Android 4.0.3 on Friday, the base version of its "Ice Cream Sandwich" operating system that will be provided to partners.

Although Google described the new version as a mix of optimizations and bug fixes, the real significance is that the new OS will be the baseline version that will be rolled out to partners interested in developing phones and tablets around the new OS. It also appears to possibly include Facebook Ticker-like functionality.

"Going forward, we'll be focusing our partners on Android 4.0.3 as the base version of Ice Cream Sandwich," Xavier Ducrohet, the Android SDK Tech Lead, said in announcing the new version. "The new platform will be rolling out to production phones and tablets in the weeks ahead, so we strongly encourage you to test your applications on Android 4.0.3 as soon as possible."

In addition to incremental improvements in graphics, databases, spell-checking, Bluetooth, and other features, the new OS includes a new social stream API.




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Google releases Android 4.0.3 ‘Ice Cream Sandwich’ partner update originally appeared on Gear Live on Mon, December 19, 2011 - 10:12:31


HBO GO coming to Time Warner Cable

Posted: 19 Dec 2011 09:17 AM PST

Time Warner Cable on Friday announced that it has signed a deal to provide its customers with access to HBO GO, the streaming service from the popular cable channel.

Cinemax subscribers will also be able to access content via MAX GO.

Time Warner will kick off a beta test of both services shortly, and it will launch to all Time Warner Cable customers who subscribe to HBO and/or Cinemax in the next month.

In a blog post, Time Warner spokesman Jeff Simmermon said the beta was needed to "keep things running smoothly for everyone."

"We are working with HBO and our internal tech teams right now to determine the parameters of that beta trial, and will absolutely announce more specific details as soon as we can," he wrote. "Once started, that beta trial should be overwith very quickly, and our customers will be streaming all of their favorite HBO shows shortly thereafter."

HBO GO is accessible online via HBOGo.com and via the Roku set-top box, but subscribers can also watch on mobile devices, including the iPad, iPhone, and Android devices.




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HBO GO coming to Time Warner Cable originally appeared on Gear Live on Mon, December 19, 2011 - 9:17:35


Hack your Galaxy Nexus to run Google Wallet

Posted: 19 Dec 2011 08:39 AM PST

Be it Verizon's fault or Google's, owners of the recently released Galaxy Nexus smartphone can't tap into the device's built-in Near Field Communication feature for use with Google Wallet. It's just not going to happen.

Not going to happen, that is, unless you perform a few lengthy customizations on your smartphone. A crafty workaround has been found that allows Galaxy Nexus owners to use Google Wallet just like all of their friends that own Sprint's Nexus S 4G smartphones. But the hack comes with a few catches: Namely, you're going to hack off both Verizon and Google if you try it.

How's that? Well, the process for enabling Google Wallet on your Galaxy Nexus demands that you unlock the device's bootloader and root the smartphone. And once you've done that, there goes your warranty through Verizon should your smartphone encounter any errors (or catastrophic free-falls) in your future.

And that's just the first half. Google's own terms of service prohibit using Google Wallet, "on a mobile device or Android operating system that has been modified or customized in any way." There's no indication as to what could happen to you or your account should you proceed with the hack for your Galaxy Nexus.




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Hack your Galaxy Nexus to run Google Wallet originally appeared on Gear Live on Mon, December 19, 2011 - 8:39:46


Custom Star Trek PC on eBay for $8,000

Posted: 19 Dec 2011 07:07 AM PST

The rare HP TouchPad Go tablet has come and gone on eBay, but fresh on this week's list of geek-themed eBay offerings comes a one-of-a-kind desktop computer designed by esteemed Star Trek graphic designer Michael Okuda – the same guy who designed a number of the control panels for the very computers featured in some of the earlier Star Trek movies and television shows.

As it turns out, the system–up for $8,000 on eBay as a "buy it now" auction–gets even geekier than that. Two were created as part of a giveaway by Maximum PC magazine: One went to a sweepstakes winner at this year's San Diego Comic-Con; and the other was built specifically for (and to the specifications of) former Star Trek writer David Gerrold. Yes, that's the same Gerrold who conjured up the concept of the mighty "tribble" in the 1967 episode he co-wrote with Gene Roddenberry, "The Trouble with Tribbles."




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Custom Star Trek PC on eBay for $8,000 originally appeared on Gear Live on Mon, December 19, 2011 - 7:07:02


Latest Google Easter Egg: Let it Snow

Posted: 19 Dec 2011 06:17 AM PST

Google's latest Internet Easter egg has a holiday theme. Even if you're living in a warmer climate, the search engine giant is making it snow.

Typing "let it snow" into Google.com will return the normal search engine results for YouTube videos of Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra singing the classic song. But then, a few snowflakes will start falling from the top of the screen until all the search results are obscured by a digital blizzard.

Once the page is completely full of snow, you can "draw" on the screen with your mouse. Clicking the "defrost" button will bring up the search results once again, but snowflakes will continue to fall in the background.

To see the snowy results, don't put quote marks around the phrase. The trick does not appear to work on mobile devices; nothing fancy from an iPhone 4 running iOS 5 (Update: One reader reported that it works on her iPad. Others, however, are having difficulties in particular browsers, like IE9.)




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Latest Google Easter Egg: Let it Snow originally appeared on Gear Live on Mon, December 19, 2011 - 6:17:09


Apple brings iPhone 4S to 20 more countries

Posted: 19 Dec 2011 05:41 AM PST

iPhone 4s

Apple on Friday launched the iPhone 4S in more than 20 additional countries, including several in South America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

According to a report from MacRumors, those countries are: Bahrain, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Morocco, Peru, the Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation.

In at least one country, the iPhone 4S carries with it a rather hefty price tag. MacRumors said due to import duties levied on electronics, the price of an iPhone 4S in Brazil starts at R$2599, or about $1,400 USD.




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Apple brings iPhone 4S to 20 more countries originally appeared on Gear Live on Mon, December 19, 2011 - 5:41:05


Adobe Flash Player 11.1 released, Ice Cream Sandwich now supported

Posted: 19 Dec 2011 04:27 AM PST

Adobe on Friday released Flash Player 11.1 for Android devices. The update includes support for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich but is the last major version of Adobe's mobile browser plugin.

An Adobe AIR 3.1 update will ship next week.

In late November, Adobe announced that it would no longer develop Flash Player for the mobile Web after its next release. "Our future work with Flash on mobile devices will be focused on enabling Flash developers to package native apps with Adobe AIR for all the major app stores," the company said at the time.

In a Friday blog post, Adobe reiterated that stance, arguing that apps are the wave of the future.




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Adobe Flash Player 11.1 released, Ice Cream Sandwich now supported originally appeared on Gear Live on Mon, December 19, 2011 - 4:27:16


Comet Lovejoy lives on, survives sungrazing

Posted: 19 Dec 2011 03:03 AM PST

On Wednesday, I reported on the approach to the Sun by Comet Lovejoy, the first "sungrazing" comet to be discovered by a ground-based observer in over 40 years. Most comet experts had predicted that the comet, officially known as C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy), would disintegrate on Friday, vaporized by its passage just a fraction of a solar radius from our star. Clearly, the comet had other ideas.

To the delight of astronomers, it survived its close encounter with the Sun, retaining much of its brilliance as seen in images from spaceborne observatories. It’s now receding from the Sun and should become visible in the night sky within days for observers at southerly latitudes.

Yesterday, as seen in images from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), Comet Lovejoy rapidly closed in on the Sun, brightening (as evidenced by the "wings" on either side of the comet’s head—an artifact due to "pixel blooming" as the camera’s CCD censors became oversaturated by the comet’s brilliance, flooding adjacent pixels with brightness) and then fading in its final approach to the Sun.




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Comet Lovejoy lives on, survives sungrazing originally appeared on Gear Live on Mon, December 19, 2011 - 3:03:54


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