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HP's Envy 15 returns with a vapor-chamber-cooled Intel i9 CPU
HP has unveiled its latest laptop lineup, designed with creators in mind.
The latest 3Doodler 3D printing pen is smoother and easier
The team at WobbleWorks has been quick to iterate on the concept of a 3D printing pen in the past 3 years, and it's not stopping any time soon. The startup has unveiled the 3Doodler Create, a third-generation pen that irons out some of the remaining kinks. The refined drive system should give you smoother output, but the real centerpiece may be the ease of use: WobbleWorks is promising simpler controls that get anyone printing "in seconds." It's even a bit flashier, as there's an both an ambient light bar as well as a transparent panel to show what's going on inside.
The iPad Pro can handle firmware updates for accessories
Well, here's an interesting development. Some iPad Pro users have noticed that, with the latest version of iOS 9, their monstrous tablet is able to push firmware updates to a connected accessory. Many customers were experiencing lag and other niggles with Logitech's Create Keyboard Case, but found they could fix the problem by updating their slate to the second beta of iOS 9.3. As German developer Stefan Wolfrum notes, when the keyboard is attached through the Smart Connector an intriguing "Accessory Update" option appears on-screen. Within less than a minute, the update is completed and the problems are seemingly resolved.
Logitech's iPad Pro keyboard case is relatively affordable
Apple's iPad Pro is pricey even before you add in the $169 official keyboard case, but Logitech may have a way to make the whole package a little more palatable. It's now shipping its promised Create Keyboard Case for the gigantic tablet, and the add-on will sell for a slightly more frugal $150. It only works at two angles, but you'll get perks like backlit keys, automatic pairing (thanks to the Smart Connector) and a raft of iOS shortcuts. And if you don't want to turn your iPad into a makeshift laptop, there's an $80 Create Protective case that ditches the keyboard in return for a more flexible stand. Either shell is available in black, blue or red, so you're not stuck with somber colors on your giant slate.
Apple isn't the only one making an iPad Pro keyboard
If there's one company that has experience building iPad keyboards, it's Logitech. The accessory maker has made countless typing tools for Apple's tablets, so unsurprisingly, it's also working on one for the iPad Pro. It's called the Create Keyboard Case and, like Apple's own Smart Keyboard, connects through the new three-pronged Smart Connector. That means there's no need to pair or charge the attachment, because it draws all of its power and data directly from the tablet. Logitech says it was developed closely with Apple -- the first teaser image (above) hints at a full QWERTY layout and an exterior covered in a "tightly-woven premium fabric." Why choose the Create over the Smart Keyboard? For one, the Create has plastic keys -- rather than the fabric covered set found on Apple's offering -- and if you've seen the Smart Keyboard folded up, well, it doesn't look all that attractive. Logitech says it'll be available in the US and select parts of Europe and Asia when the iPad Pro goes on sale in November -- there's no word on pricing just yet, however.
Create Game Jam declares its winners, picks the cream of the OUYA crop (video)
Kill Screen wanted to jumpstart OUYA game development with its Create Game Jam, and it turns out that there were more than a few takers -- 165, to be exact. That makes the grand prize winner, FreeLives' Strange Happenings on Murder Island, something special. The top-down action game's dinosaur rampages and Minecraft-like art were wild enough to earn the developer $20,000 and a head start in what's increasingly becoming a crowded field. Other developers weren't entirely left out, as winners in specialized categories still received $5,000 each. There's no guarantee that the results of Create will resonate with gamers in the long run; if they lead to a better selection for an untested console, though, they'll have been worth the effort.
Ouya's Create game jam yields more than 150 games in 10 days
The Create game jam was designed to jump-start Ouya game development, asking indies to make an Android-based game in just 10 days, from January 13 - 24. Now that development time is up, Kill Screen has a list of all the games up for judgment, with finalists to be announced on February 11 and winners on February 18.More than 150 games made it into the jam, including the cartoony Super Ushi Adventures from Brightside Games, robot-based skyrizer from The Long Gunmen, side-scrolling 3D adventure Battle Camel from Jibberish Games, and Pig Eat Ball from Serious Sam Double D developer Mommy's Best Games (video embedded above).Judges in the Create contest include geek extraordinaire Felicia Day, Canabalt creator Adam Saltsman, Phil Fish of Fez fame, Journey composer Austin Wintory, Ouya advisor Ed Fries and SpellTower creator Zach Gage. The grand prize is $20,000, plus an extra $5,000 if the game actually launches on Ouya. Winners in five more categories win $5,000 each, plus $1,000 if the game makes it to Ouya. There's a special category for games using the Unity engine, with the winner taking home $2,500 and a Unity Pro license.[Thanks, Nate!]
'Create' game jam will generate Ouya games, quickly
If the Ouya is to succeed among not only traditional game consoles, but other Android console things, it needs some standout games. To fulfill that requirement, Ouya is teaming up with Kill Screen to create a bunch of games in short order.The "CREATE" game jam is a ten-day competition running between January 14 and January 23. Developers are encouraged to create new games for the tiny console and promote it on social media, in order to get a piece of a $45,000 prize pool.Judges for the competition include Phil Fish, Adam Saltsman, Zach Gage, Felicia Day, Ed Fries, and more. No pressure.
OUYA and Kill Screen announce CREATE Game Jam, bait developers with $45,000 in prizes
Excited for OUYA? So are the folks at Kill Screen -- so much so, they've seen fit to host a 10-day competition to coax OUYA compatible game prototypes out of the development community. It's calling the event CREATE, and in addition to drumming up interest for Kickstarter's favorite game console, it aims to celebrate how OUYA and a new generation of indie game developers are making the television an open gaming platform. Starting on January 14th, Kill Screen will start accepting prototype submissions of playable (but not necessarily complete) games. Ten days later, a panel of indie veterans will cull the fat, and select finalists based on not only the game itself, but the social media efforts of its development team. This is an indie game competition, after all. The contest judges entrants on how effectively they use the OUYA platform too, including processor, sound, controller integration, in-game payments and other elements available in the console's development kit. Winners can score anywhere between $5,000 to $20,000 in prizes, with an extra bonus if the finished game launches on OUYA. Enough incentive for you? Check out Kill Screen's full contest rules at the source link below.
Butlers, lunar rovers, snakes and airboats: the best of Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute
How was your week? We got to spend a couple of days trekking around the Carnegie Mellon campus in Pittsburgh, PA to check out some of the latest projects from the school's world renowned Robotics Institute -- a trip that culminated with the bi-annual induction ceremony from the CMU-sponsored Robot Hall of Fame. Given all the craziness of the past seven days, you might have missed some of the awesomeness, but fear not, we've got it all for you here in one handy place -- plus a couple of videos from the trip that we haven't shown you yet. Join us after the break to catch up.
Hummingbird is a 'pre-Arduino' for kids (video)
It's an Arduino -- you know, for kids. Or, as BirdBrain Technologies' chief robot design Tom Lauwers put it, a "pre-Arduino." It's never too early to get kids into robot building -- or so goes the thought process behind this nectar-loving kit. At its center is a custom controller that can be used to manipulate a slew of different sensors, motors and lights, a number of which are included in the box. Getting started is extremely simple -- don't believe us? Check the video after the break, in which Lauwers connects two wires to get the whole process underway. The kit's also reasonably priced at $199 a piece. On top of the controller, you get a handful of LEDs, two vibration motors, four servos and light, temperature, distance and sound sensors. The kits are currently available through the company's site (click on that source link). Lauwers tells us that his company (which you may remember from last year's MakerFaire NYC) is working on a slightly more affordable option priced at around $130, which scales back a bit on the in-box components. Check out a conversation with Lauwers -- and a pretty awesome cardboard dragon -- below.
CloudOn offers Microsoft Office functionality for iPad, your parents will love it
If you got your parents an iPad for Christmas, you were probably thanked with this: "Can it run Office?" CloudOn may be the answer, the cloud-based service letting you log in to create and edit Office documents on the aforesaid slate. Similar to a lot of remote services, CloudOn runs Office on its own end and allows you to pull in documents from Dropbox for editing and post them back when you're done. Strangely, CloudOn launched on the App Store as a freebie but was pulled due to heavy demand. The company has asked users to sign up to be notified when the app goes back in the App Store. In other news, Las Vegas oddsmakers are now taking bets as to which will occur first; the release of an iOS-native version of Microsoft Office or the Robot Apocalypse.
IconSettings provides one-touch access to iOS settings with bookmarks
IconSettings, from the South African blog iPhoneZA, is an interesting hack that lets you set up one-touch buttons on your iOS device to access specific parts of the Settings app (like turning Bluetooth on or off, toggling Airplane mode, adjusting date & time, etc.) without going to the trouble of jailbreaking and using a tool like SBSettings. It's free, and takes only a moment to configure. All it is is basically a series of JavaScript links that you can save out to your iOS homepage as bookmark app icons. Tap an icon, and it loads the bookmark in the browser; Mobile Safari then tells the iPhone to launch the Settings app to a particular function, sending you to the appropriate screen with just a touch. Pretty smart. Of course, you'll need to be connected to the Internet when you use set up these things, since it's just a link on a webpage (the latest 2.0 versions of the bookmarks do not require connectivity after the initial config). But it's a cool implementation, and if there's a setting you find yourself having to browse through menus to adjust often, it might be worth setting up a bookmark or two for quick and easy access. [via Engadget]
Make your own browser-based MMO, just like the pros!
I think we've found it. We've found the demon gate in which all browser-based MMOs are summoned. Its name is MakeMMO! OK, we kid, we kid. I'm sure these MakeMMO folks have nothing to do with any of the poorly made browser-based MMOs out there -- or demon summoning -- but now you can! That's right, if you have an idea for a new MMO but don't have the programming licks, MakeMMO might be able to help you out. According to the website, you can even make money from your MMOs, as the service can publish your game to a Facebook platform. Now, we imagine you're not going to be able to create the next Star Wars: The Old Republic here, but it seems like a fun project builder for those of us who say, "I can make a better game than that!"
Adobe CreatePDF for Android does exactly what its name implies
Google's mobile OS is growing and maturing into a business-savvy adult before our very eyes. With the release of Adobe's CreatePDF in the Android Market, we're delighted to finally see a PDF-creation app on the mobile front. Not only does it let you build a PDF from the ground up, it can convert most popular filetypes -- Word, Excel, Powerpoint, OpenOffice, Photoshop, RTF, and Illustrator, just to name a few -- into PDF format. You can import any of these kinds of docs from your phone to app via the built-in file manager, or transfer an email attachment to it using Android's share function. Available for a one-time payment of $9.99, CreatePDF won't be for the light-walleted or the casual app enthusiast; don't be put off by the price, though, because the online version charges that much per month to do the exact same tasks on your computer. Anyone rocking Eclair or better can partake of the PDF love, so head to the source link to get straight to installing.
Johnny Chung Lee makes DIY telepresence bot out of an iRobot Create and a netbook
Most of us don't have $15,000 to drop on an Anybot, even though having one around would be nice in the event we don't feel like leaving the house to get some coffee. To help those of us with more humble means, our old friend Johnny Chung Lee (of Wiimote hacking and Kinect dev team fame) has utilized his prodigious DIY talents to create a video chat robot for the relatively paltry sum of $500. Using an iRobot Create ($250), a netbook with Skype ($250), a cable to connect the two, and some control software he wrote himself, Mr. Lee built a digital surrogate on the cheap. Johnny isn't the first person to so leverage iRobot's hacking platform, but he added a stand on top of the robot to get the PC closer to human height, attached a fish-eye lens to the webcam for better remote viewing, and even did some re-wiring to allow the netbook to charge via the Create's base station. The code and how-to instructions are up on his blog, so hit the source link if you're feeling up to making one yourself. Seems like Johnny Lee's putting that Google 20 percent time to good use thus far -- keep 'em coming. Check the video of this latest creation after the break.
Create review: Losing the spark
I've spent a lot of time with EA Bright Light's Create over the last ten days. It hasn't exactly enjoyed a ton of fervor (or marketing support) and was only officially announced a few months back, plopped unceremoniously in a dark corner of EA's NYC summer press event. Frankly, the game hasn't been given a lot of attention, and taking a more thorough approach seemed like a great way to explore what folks might be missing. But after spending hours playing through puzzle after puzzle, the unfortunate truth is there just isn't that much game in Create to dive into deeply.%Gallery-98649%
Flickr Find: Say hello to the Mac-in-craft
You can make a lot of things in the gigantic sandbox game Minecraft, including a gigantic floating Macintosh computer. Flickr user Caius Durling put together this floating replica on his own Minecraft world, assembled pixelbrick by pixelbrick, along with a floating "Hi" to match. It's pretty impressive. The "resolution" on the Minecraft materials isn't quite good enough to show the Mac OS running on the machine, but he got the dimensions right, and he even got the handle built into the back. All it needs now is a one-button mouse, right?
Create 'Contraptions' trailer needs a history lesson
Rube Goldberg was a cartoonist who would create drawings of crazy machines that could complete simple tasks in wacky ways. Why are we telling you this? So that when we say this new Create trailer shows off some wacky, Rube Goldberg–like machines you can make in the game, you'll know what we mean.
Stuff gets built in Create 'Living Art' trailer
Never mind the puzzle creation element of EA's Create, as the latest trailer illustrates that players can put just as much creativity into the puzzle backdrops, creating everything from happy homes to frozen wastelands. And to think, we used to be satisfied with paper and a couple of crayons.
