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NBA 2K13 delivers Justin Bieber experience
Oh, baby, baby, baby, Justin Bieber is a playable character in 2K Sports' NBA 2K13. We aren't exactly sure about the demographic crossover between the Biebster and those who purchase NBA 2K13, but here we are.It would appear that NBA 2K13 executive producer Shawn "JAY Z" Carter-Knowles saw fit in his artistic vision to include the international sensation in the game, but not on the game's soundtrack. Clever.Celebrity appearances in basketball games are nothing new. NBA Jam has a long-standing history of including celebs, musicians, first ladies, politicians and even the president of the United States.
Facebook's new Recommendations Bar pops up, just wants to be liked
Facebook's Recommendations Box sits passively on many websites, allowing us to engage or ignore as we see fit. But too much of the latter option has led to something slightly different: the new Recommendations Bar -- a pop-up variant which, when integrated by your favorite page, plugs site-specific links based on your friends' thumbs and shares. The Bar is similar to the in-house recommendation pop-ups we're all familiar with, but adds a like button for posting the current page to your timeline. It shouts much louder than the Box, so it's no surprise that in early tests the new plug-in produced a three-fold increase in click-throughs. In this case, privacy wasn't an afterthought -- Bar integration, like the Box, is at the site's discretion and sharing pages is very much on your terms. Just try not to accidently hit that like button during your daily scan of Bieber's homepage.
Facebook launches 'listen with friends' feature, lets others shame you for poor taste
While Facebook's Open Graph might have exposed you as a Belieber way back in September, you couldn't chat and stream that questionable musical taste to your friends, Turntable.fm style, until now. Listening to tunes on music services that integrate with Facebook's API -- like Spotify and presumably Rdio, amongst others -- populates the ticker adjacent to the news feed and the chat overlay with clickable "Listen with" buttons (as seen above). Upon clicking those, you're slung into a group chat window whereupon you can listen and discuss those beats with your friends. Don't fret if you can't see it just yet, as it'll roll out in the following weeks, but while you wait a link explaining all awaits at the source.
Crapgadget: BFF Gemz dilute the notion of a best friend (video)
If you want a charm that hangs 'round your neck and glows whenever your friend Missy tells you she loves Justin Bieber, then eMotion Inc has the gadget for you. The BFF Gemz sends pre-written coded messages to pals up to 450 feet away, which they can access the next time they're at a computer. You can add up to eight best friends (the BFF currency devalued to Weimar proportions) and four more if you buy some GPA: Girl Power Average points. It's not entirely private: Mom and Pop will get a weekly email, listing who you're messaging, so if you swap notes with that gal from the wrong end of town you'd better stick to paper airplanes. Those curious to see what the kids might be clamoring for instead of a new cellphone, check out the video after the break.
Best Buy Buy Back becomes official, free through February 12th
Best Buy's gadget repurchase program has become official during the Super Bowl, courtesy of a silly commercial starring Ozzy Osbourne and Justin Bieber. The ad's actually a lot less cringe-inducing than it might have been, though the content of the program still doesn't seem to make much fiscal sense to us. You have to buy into it at the time of purchasing a gadget -- that requirement is set aside until this Saturday as a sort of grace / enticement period -- and Best Buy depreciates at a very aggressive annual rate, arguably cutting more of your trinkets' value than the incumbent options like online auction sites. Skip past the break to see the two gentlemen at opposite ends of their careers selling their souls to the almighty dollar, along with Best Buy's full press release and Buy Back Program details.
Best Buy's Buy Back Program to be made official during the Super Bowl... by Justin Bieber and Ozzy Osbourne
We heard about this during the news avalanche that was CES early last month, but today Best Buy has started making its new Buy Back Program official in emails sent out to valued Reward Zone customers. The gist of the scheme is that Best Buy will offer you set "Buy Back" prices for goods you purchase from its stores, advertising it as a reassurance that your electronics won't depreciate too much during your ownership. The leaked info we saw in January showed that you'll have to pay an extra fee at the point of purchase to enroll into the Program and Best Buy's highest re-purchase offers were capped at 50 percent of the initial price, so don't expect this to be any great favor to you, Mr. Consumer. For more info, keep your eyes locked on the Super Bowl this Sunday, when Justin Bieber and Ozzy Osbourne (no, seriously) will do their best to explicate Best Buy's new venture. [Thanks, Jeff and John]
Beats by Dr. Dre launching Beatbox iPod dock, along with LeBron and Bieber-branded headphones
Dr. Dre knows a hit when he sees one, and the already sprawling Beats lineup is getting five new products to hit just about every demographic you can imagine. First off is the Beatbox, a high-end portable iPod dock with 5.25-inch bass drivers and 2-inch high frequency drivers which will retail for $400. Next up is a LeBron James-branded set of athletics-friendly earbuds dubbed the Powerbeats. The $170 headphones include dual drivers and a design that lets in external noises. Meanwhile, the Beats Pro blows the lid off with a $450 pricetag and audio pro-style quality and performance. At the cheap end we have iBeats, a $120 pair of i-device friendly cans for the less discriminating, and our personal favorites: JustBeats. JustBeats are better than all the other headphones and we heart them and they're totally worth $200 for the on-ear and $120 for the in-ear versions because Justin Bieber is totally down to earth and sexy and probably the best singer ever. All of these should be landing in the next few weeks; we know you'll make the right decision. Update: Oh, and just so you know: we still hate Monster. You just can't pass up some Bieber, you know? %Gallery-103656%
Gadget bandz bring gear lust to tween wrists
You know about Silly Bandz, right? Well, maybe you don't have subscriptions to Tiger Beat and spend your evenings at home alone on Bieber message boards like we do, so allow us to explain. They are rubber bands that are shaped like things--unicorns, peace signs, hamburgers, aliens, emoticons--traditionally worn on the wrists, and eventually traded with like-minded collectors. They are very popular in the 8 - 12 demographic. You might relate them to Pogs, slap bracelets, Lisa Frank pencils, and baseball cards. Now that you know what's up, the point is that they are now available in gadget shapes: iPod nano, laptop, iPhone 3G, NES controller, digital camera, and the "most collectible" iPad...er, "tablet." That is all.
Caption Contest: Justin Bieber is an eenie meenie miney mo lova... of the Sony Dash
Here's a little inside baseball on why yours truly typically works alone at night: when in control, I give writers some, erm, creative mandates. Such as watching an entire Justin Bieber / Sean Kingston music video to contribute to this caption contest... but not telling them when exactly the Sony Dash and Sony Ericsson X10 make their respective cameos. Blatant abuse of authority? Probably, but as we sow, so shall you reap. The unfortunately US-only music video (and a picture of Kingston totally geeking out on subpar smartphone technology) after the break. Nilay: "Is there a widget that alerts me when I'm not a trending topic?" Ross: "You don't need to roll the dice... there's already a widget for that." Chris: "It's small, fits in any decor, and makes a great gift for mom. The Sony Dash also appears in the video." Joanna: "The stars, err, prepubescent boys are just like us: they'd rather play with tech than party." Richard Lai: "This Sony Dash should make.believe I've reached puberty." Sean H: "Not trying to rewind... I've just got to turn down the color temperature, it's ruining my tan." Sam: "Meh, by the time I reach puberty this thing is going to be obsolete." Tim: "I'm glad you're not a real Chumby. This way I'm still the cuddliest thing in the room." Thomas: "Who the hell is Justin Bieber?" Paul: "And I was like baby, baby, baby ohhh, baby, baby... oh, were we supposed to come up with something funny here? [Thanks, Kristopher Piersiak]
