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You can totally buy a fake Apple Watch at CES
Apple's gadgets always get barely functional clones, but it's rare that a company actually beats Apple to the punch with a low-quality version of a device that isn't even out yet. It's rarer still that such a gadget doesn't initially show up overseas, but instead debuts right here in the U.S., and at the country's biggest electronics expo, no less. That's exactly what Mashable's Karissa Bell discovered in a low-traffic hall at CES this year -- it's an Apple Watch, only not really, and it's already for sale. For $27, cash only. "The watch's screen only displays when it's turned on, and many of its icons are blatant ripoffs of Apple designs," Bell writes. "The pairing process took a few tries, but once connected to my iPhone 6, I was able to make phone calls and play music through the watch. It even vibrates when I get a call." The seller is promoting at as simply "Smart Watch," but there's no denying that it's a blatant Apple Watch clone. Hyperdon, the company that created the watch, claims it can last a whopping 180 hours before needing to be recharged, though that particular claim hasn't been confirmed. It actually pains me to say this, but for $27, a watch that forwards iOS notifications, plays music, and doesn't die within five minutes of putting it on your wrist is actually a surprisingly reasonable offering. Of course, decent build quality and any kind of support or updates are surely out of the question for that price point. [Photo via Mashable]
#SandbergSays: We're really not sure.
"Meh." It's possible that Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg was thinking this when speaking at an event in New Delhi. In an interview with NDTV of India, she apologized to users for toying with their emotions in a 2012 experiment. Sandberg went on to admit that the experiment was "poorly communicated." But is she really sorry? We have our own guesses as to what was running through Sandberg's head during this perfectly timed pic, but we know you can do better. Tweet your own caption at us with the hashtag #SandbergSays and we'll update this post with our favorite picks. [Image credit: Kuni Takahashi/Bloomberg via Getty Images]
Join us for the Macworld/iWorld 2014 State of Apple Technology panel liveblog
When it rains, it pours. Sure enough, it has been raining here in drought-stricken Northern California, so much so that numerous flights were delayed coming into the city yesterday. And after a drought of Apple-related liveblogs, we actually have two that will be happening simultaneously. Mike Rose will be covering Microsoft's announcement today at 10 AM PT/1 PM ET, where we expect to hear about an iPad version of Microsoft's Office suite. At the same time and just a few blocks away, we will be liveblogging the "keynote" of this year's top Apple fan event -- Macworld/iWorld 2014 -- which is a panel discussion on The State of Apple Technology. Longtime Mac writer Jason Snell (Senior VP, editorial director, IDG Consumer & SMB) will moderate the discussion and is joined by Ben Bajarin (Principal, Creative Strategies, Inc.), Christina Bonnington (Staff Writer, Wired), Rene Ritchie (Editor in chief, iMore), and former TUAW blogger Christina Warren (Senior Tech Analyst, Mashable). So choose your liveblog wisely. Even better, open up two tabs in your favorite web browser and flip between the two liveblogs. It should be quite fascinating!
Draw Something turns one under Zynga's banner, celebrates 100 million downloads
It's hard to believe that it's only been one year since Draw Something debuted on the App Store. Few apps have run the full cycle of popularity faster than Draw Something, which started as a huge word-of-mouth release before being acquired by Zynga. A year later, many iOS gamers have Draw Something in their rearview mirrors, but the executive in charge of the game says it's not over yet. Dan Porter is the CEO behind Draw Something's original developer. He now serves as a VP and General Manager at Zynga. Porter recently spoke with Mashable about what's going on with the game these days. Even though Draw Something has fallen out of the public eye, Porter notes, the game continues to be very popular with more than 11 billion drawings created, and more than 28,000 years of game play contributed by players. Traffic has leveled off, admits Porter, but the game still has a sizable amount of daily active users and has topped 100 million downloads. So how can Draw Something regain the limelight it once enjoyed? Porter didn't share Zynga's plans, but he says there are some surprises in the pipeline, while name-dropping both Coca-Cola and kryptonite. So, more branding deals and corporate partnerships, I'd guess. Here's an interesting thought experiment: If you were running Draw Something, how would you get it back to its initial popularity? If it were me, I'd slim the app back down. The Zynga purchase has added all sorts of crufty nonsense to the experience and the initial popularity was based on just how simple and fun the original game was. At the same time, though, I'd also build out the metagame a little bit. The core back-and-forth drawing game should stay simple, but I'd add some progression elements like goals and achievements to keep veteran players interested. Finally, I'd rebrand it as a newer, better version ("Draw Something Else," maybe?), just because I think the original Draw Something brand was hurt so much by the Zynga acquisition. But we'll have to see what Porter and his team have planned. He says that despite the well-publicized transition, they're still all together and hard at work on improving the game.
New version of the app wall at WWDC
I'm actually driving up to San Francisco this afternoon for WWDC (and if you're there already, be sure to make an appointment to see us sometime this week!), but one of the things that I hope to get a chance to check out is the famous "app wall," a real-time view of apps being downloaded from the App Store. This year they've tweaked the setup a little bit, as you can see in the video from Mashable above. Last year, the app icons just rippled, but this year, they drop down and organize themselves into colors, creating an awesome effect of seeing what apps are going out through the App Store. And the hardware behind the setup is even more amazing than it looks: apparently they've got 30 Mac Pros running this thing -- data is fed from the App Store into an XML feed, which gets passed off to an OpenCL kernel, while Quartz Composer renders the final output. That's a serious setup for something just shown at one conference a year! But it sure is cool.
Green-themed kids' game nabs $3.2 million in funding
Fluid Entertainment, a game company that employs only 14 people, has raised an impressive $3.2 million in funding for the development of a Flash-based online social game for kids aged 6 - 11. The game has an environment-friendly theme.After the successes of Webkinz and Club Penguin, these kid-oriented games and virtual worlds are hot items for venture capitalists, according to VentureBeat. Fluid is one of many companies aiming to enter that sector of the industry, but its game is particularly intriguing because it aims to use the medium to "[affect] real-world behavior around environmentalism and sustainability."This is one more example of the virtual world and MMO phenomenon expanding beyond the hardcore role-playing game niche and "just for fun" design. Fluid is aiming for a summer release of the new game, and its business model will combine subscriptions, micro-transactions, and apparently the sale of real-world merchandise. With $3.2 million in funding, these guys could end up notable players in the kids' MMO space, so we'll be watching them.[Via Mashable]
Scrapblog your virtual adventures
I'm a big fan of all things Web 2.0, so when I read about Scrapblog on Mashable, I decided to give it a try. Scrapblog capitalizes on the real life hobby of scrapbooking, something I've always been fascinated by, but too lazy to do. This fits perfectly with the gamer lifestyle, as I often want to show off my screenshots and videos from Second Life.Setup is very easy, allowing you to play with the tools without signing up, which is free anyway, unless you want to publish your Scrapblog. Within the web-based application, you can add pictures from a variety of sites, as well as upload them from your hard drive, choose backgrounds, apply stickers, add music, and even use transitions between slides. Once you've completed all the slides, you can publish your book, allowing you to share your creation, embed it on blogs, and even add it to Facebook![Via Mashable]
