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Runico lets you create personal amulets for good fortune
Runico is a universal app that enables you to create customized amulets to bring good fortune. These can involve anything from love to career success to health. Depending on your beliefs, you might take comfort in knowing you have a personal amulet on your phone that will ensure a better future. The app offers various amulets and design styles, plus the ability to paste it on an image or wallpaper so it's always visible to you. Runico is free with in-app purchases and requires iOS 7.0 or later. To get started creating an amulet to help with your life goals, tap the Plus icon at the bottom and choose a category. Runico comes with amulets for love, success, protection, career and health. Tapping "Your Own Formula" lets you create your very own amulet as well, dragging and dropping runes - each with their own meaning - to form a unified symbol that suits your needs. Pre-made amulets come with a name and description. For instance, I picked out the Inspiration amulet, which according to Runico "stimulates inspiration and a flow of creative ideas" and "will prove helpful to the people whose work requires creativity." Unfortunately, a lot of the amulets available in the app require an in-app purchase. Only a select few in each category are free and the rest have locks on them, selling for US$0.99 to unlock. Additionally, to create an amulet entirely from scratch, it sets you back $2.99 - a tad pricey for a personal symbol likely to only make an appearance on your iOS device's display. When you do find an amulet you like, whether free or paid, you have an option to paste it on a new photo, a photo already in your camera roll, a photo from a social network, or one of the app's unique wallpapers. The latter entails yet another fee: $0.99 to buy the entire wallpaper pack. Runico does provide a number of decent styles for your amulet to overlay onto an image, like metallic, glass and wooden backgrounds - or just plain works, too. Fortunately none of these cost more money. Fill in a description for your amulet if you'd like or elect to set it as for an event so that it only lasts for the duration of that event. When you create the amulet, there's no going back. The Edit button only works to change the description or event. The image and amulet design are permanent. Though the library of different amulets is extensive and the design on photos are adequately elegant, the fact that Runico limits so much content in the app by in-app purchases is frustrating. In-app purchases should be implemented in a way that they enhance the app and enable more possibilities, but here they just feel like walls locking you out from the app's full potential unless you pay up. If you're willing to overlook the large amount of in-app purchases, solely as an amulet creator the app does work very well. The amulets are tasteful, easy to create and there's plenty to choose from. If you want a little spark of good luck in your life, give Runico a try in the App Store.
Amulet shows off Kinect voice control for Windows Media Center (video)
The Amulet Devices team has been pushing voice control for Windows Media Center through its remote accessory, but now it's dived into the pool of Kinect hacks with a demo (video embedded after the break) using the Xbox 360 add-on instead. The company blog breaks down some of the hardware capabilities of the device that make it ideal for voice control (as previously seen in the Xbox apps for ESPN3, Hulu Plus and Netflix) and also details some of the efforts used to make it work here. If there's enough interest it may release the demo software for free, and already plans to bring out a full version when Microsoft unleashes a commercial version of the Kinect SDK. We're still not sure if voice control is ready to take over for standard remotes but at least talking to the TV is less of a strain than gesture control on our weak made-for-blogging arms.
Amulet voice-activated remote for Media Center demo
Although we scoured the CEDIA 2010 floor for products that use or are related to Windows 7 Media Center, we had a hard time finding anything. One of the only two booths we did find that wanted anything to do with Redmond's media software was Amulet Device's voice-activated remote for Windows 7 Media Center -- Vidabox was the other one. Overall it seemed to work, but didn't do what it was commanded on every attempt, which is what one might expect from beta software. As you can see in the video, the company has optimized many of the screens for voice control, but you can use the old favorites if you prefer too.
Amulet voice-activated Windows Media Center remote hits the FCC
Amulet Device's intriguing voice-activated remote for Windows Media Center has long since missed its original ship date, but it just popped up at the FCC, complete with product shots and the user manual. Besides providing typical universal features like IR learning, as a package the rechargeable battery-powered controller, USB dongle, and companion Windows Media Center Plugin will allow users to operate their home theater by simply speaking commands to the remote's built-in microphone. Like any good robot servant, the remote will also audibly respond to questions such as "what song is playing" and even distinguish when you're talking to it versus just chatting with friends, thanks to nifty advanced positioning sensing technology. Sadly taking dictation isn't in the cards and there's still no word on an official launch date, but that hasn't stopped the budding emperor in us from hoping it arrives soon.
Amulet Remote actually listens when you yell at it
Now here's a novel concept. The Amulet Remote, designed specifically for Vista Media Center but likely adaptable to other setups, is a voice-activated controller that enables users to record a series, watch a recorded show, skip to a new playlist or queue up a photo slideshow by simply hooting and hollering. The built-in microphone is there to take whatever vocal abuse you feel is warranted, and there are even a few actual buttons if you're still fond of the tried-and-true approach. It's expected to ship in March for a palatable $299; have a look at what it can do for you in the video after the break.[Thanks, Vanbrothers]
The Light and How to Swing It: Gearing up your Retadin for Karazhan part III
Alright. So you got your weapon. I can't stress enough that this is the single most important piece of equipment in a Retribution Paladin's possession. Then there's your armor. Your armor pieces are only slightly more important than the stuff we'll be covering if only because 1) they confer larger stat bonuses, and 2) having a matching set makes you look cool. And Retadins must always look cool. It's bad enough that the pre-Wrath population laughs you out of raids and 5-mans. When the expansion hits, of course, you'll smash all their faces with the Divine Storm just to put them in their place. Until then, you gear up. Today we're looking at the last few pieces of the puzzle. Amulets, cloaks, librams, rings, and trinkets. Unlike the weapons or armor pieces, where the real meat is Strength, you can have a little creativity with these slots because many items confer non-stat bonuses. Strength is obviously a premium, but it all comes down to taste. Once you've filled about half your gear slots, you should be ready enough for Karazhan and not gimp the raid.
NTT DoCoMo creates kid-friendly handset and bracelet combo
NTT DoCoMo is launching a new mobile phone / bracelet combo aimed at helping youngsters stay safe on the mean streets of Japan. The two-part system combines the FOMA F801i phone, which adds safety features like a 100-decibel alarm, high intensity flashing LEDs, and the ability to automatically notify family in the event of an emergency, and a bracelet remote control which communicates with the device. The phone can be set to provide its location to registered parties, and will turn itself on if it has been switched off. Coupled with the phone is the "amulet style" bracelet, which can be used to locate a misplaced phone, lock the handset, or send a message to another phone (if the device and bracelet are out of range for over five minutes). We suspect that for worried and / or nosey parents, this is a dream come true.
New textures for Lore-master pets
The Book 11 content update for Lord of the Rings Online has been dubbed, among other things, the month of the Lore-master. Among the new spells, new pet (go Lynx!) and other goodies is a little surprise for our nature loving friends: new textures for their animal servants.Using new amulets crafted by Jeweller's, Lore-masters can now summon their animal companions in darker and lighter colors. Confirmed so far on Roheryn, the Preview server: Black Lynx: must be wearing Amulet of Supreme Black Lynx, Neck, BoE, +15 Agility, +29 Might, +15 Fate, Min Lvl 48. Crafted from 4 Misty Mountain Ingots and 2 Polished Beryls. Snow Lynx: similar to Black Lynx amulet Frost Raven: must be wearing Amulet of the Greater Frost Raven, BoE Neck, +7 Will, +4 Vitality, Min Level 23.
