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The creator of Action Launcher built a 'living' Android wallpaper app
The creator of Action Launcher has introduced SwirlWalls, an Android app meant to liven up wallpapers with reactions to motion and touch.
LG's 48-inch gaming OLED TV arrives in June for $1,499
If your idea of sticking it out at home involves catching up on games and movies, LG might have some good news. The company has started rolling out its 2020 OLED TVs, complete with US pricing and release dates for the collection. The highlight for many may be the smallest of the bunch -- the gaming-oriented 48-inch model in the CX series will arrive in June for $1,499. That might be more expensive than you were expecting, but it could hit the sweet spot if you either intend it as a gaming PC monitor or just want something better-suited to a small space.
Google's world is your next wallpaper
Google Earth is arguably the best product Google has ever created because it allows anyone to explore our planet (and beyond) with ease. However, you may not know that Google also has an app called Earth View that contains some of the best curated images you can find on the app. Google recently announced that it has updated this collection with over 1,000 new images (for 2,500 in total) and introduced new search tools to find that perfect wallpaper background.
Watch LG's CES press event in 9 minutes
This morning, LG used its CES press conference to reveal more details about its "Real 8K" televisions and rollable 4K OLED TV. LG also offered a glimpse of its 48-inch 4K OLED and its GX Gallery Series ultrathin wallpaper OLED TVs. Additionally, the company confirmed that the 2020 lineup will support Dolby Vision IQ and Filmmaker Mode, and US viewers will be able to get additional details about specific scenes.
LG's OLED TVs now pack loss-free 3D audio
There's a dirty secret to listening to Dolby Atmos sound on LG's current OLED TVs: all the audio is compressed, so you're losing a little fidelity for the sake of immersive 3D sound. You won't have to make that sacrifice before long. LG is trotting out an update later in October that will add support for lossless Dolby TrueHD audio to all its 2017 OLED sets. If you're watching a 4K Blu-ray movie (the most likely candidate for TrueHD support), you can hear jets soaring overhead at maximum quality.
Watch LG's G6 wallpaper get assembled by hand
During my visit to LG's headquarters in South Korea a few weeks ago, one surprising thing I learned was that the G6's hero wallpaper -- the one with a subtle "6" in it -- was not a digital render, but was in fact a combination of paper, acrylic, paint and two months of patience.
Warcraft Art, Fan Art, and Community Comic updates
A fresh round of updates have been added to the World of Warcraft Fan Art section of the official site, as well as new pieces for the Warlords of Draenor Art gallery, and a new World of Warcraft comic. The fan art in particular features some really stunning pieces highlighting the various Warlords of Draenor, as well as a creepy and perfectly suited idea for a warlock armor set. The full images are all available for download, and I might just be changing the wallpaper on my computer this time around. The concept art takes a look at what appears to be some concept work of Gorgrond, and two shots of Shattrath City. It's the Shattrath pieces that are really interesting, because you get a view of the city with the dome in place, and removed -- and the removed version is far more similar to what we've got in Outland today. What's interesting though is that the dome in-game cannot be traveled through, which makes me wonder -- is A'dal's future home under there, or did the design elements change at some point? More importantly, are we going to get in there at some point in the future? Head to the official post to check out all of the new goodies. And if you have a Warcraft fan comic or fan art of your own, don't forget that you can always submit them to Blizzard to be considered for future updates!
The heart of the Smithsonian's design museum is an API
The Smithsonian Institute's Cooper Hewitt design museum got a recent overhaul, and at its core is something app developers are likely pretty familiar with -- an application program interface. We know what you're thinking, "What does a museum need an API for, anyway?" Well, it turns out that this basically makes cataloging its massive inventory and making it linkable on the web a reality. The interconnectedness of the inventory means one aspect of the museum can draw upon another in ways that are visitor-facing, as well. For example, The Atlantic notes that there's a so-called "immersion room" that projects patterns from the outfit's wallpaper archives onto the walls. Sounds pretty neat if you ask us.
The Daily Grind: What's your current MMO-related desktop?
I typically roll with game-related desktop wallpapers on my computers, and those wallpapers relate to something I'm currently playing (or wishing I was playing, in the case of Star Citizen). Sometimes I go with concept art, sometimes I go with developer- or community-created wallpapers, and sometimes I even go with a screenshot I took myself. That's rare, though, because I'm not much of a photographer. Anyway, what about you, Massively readers? What sort of MMO-related badassery do you currently have on your desktop? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Twelve South loves you and is giving you a Christmas present
Those of you who have dual-screen setups for your Macs are going to love the nice Christmas gift that accessory manufacturer Twelve South is sending your way. The company has partnered with San Francisco photographer Scott Gordon to create sets of dual-screen backgrounds that you can download and install for free. According to Twelve South Creative Director and Co-founder Andrew Green, "I've always enjoyed the dual-screen experience with my Macs, and the best way to make the most of that setup is with gorgeous dual-screen backgrounds. In the spirit of the holiday season, we've partnered with San Francisco photographer Scott Gordon to share a stunning set of dual-screen backgrounds with you. Happy Holidays from everyone at Twelve South." The collection of backgrounds is titled "Collection 1: Fall in San Francisco", which seems to be a subtle hint that there will be future collections coming from Gordon and Twelve South. Visiting the page for the collection, you have your choice of four different wallpaper duos -- Golden Gate, Nightscape, Cloudveil, and Soma -- all of which come in a variety of sizes and resolutions. Frankly, this is tempting me to get a 27-inch iMac with Retina display to sit next to my "old" 27-inch iMac so I can get a stunning set of San Francisco images... Many thanks to Andrew Green, Twelve South, and Scott Gordon for this fun and useful gift.
Cool Wallpapers HD offers more than 8,000 free images
Wallpaper apps are commonplace, but so many have really second-rate images. On my own iPhone I prefer to use photos I have taken, especially landscapes, but Cool Wallpapers HD (free - ad supported) has some simply beautiful images that are tempting me to add them to my library. The photos work with all iPhones including the new 6 and 6 Plus, and new images are added every day. There are more than 8,000 in the collection now. There are 14 wallpaper categories, like nature, 3D, people, abstract and so on. You can browse through the collections as thumbnails, enlarge them to full screen, and save them to your photo library. The app notifies you of new photos, but that's a feature you can skip if you're already drowning in notifications. Any photo can be saved as a favorite, or shared with a friend. I was struck by the high quality of many of the images, and of the many I liked, I wouldn't be ashamed to have them as my wallpaper or lock screen. The images are sized in the following way for different iPhones: iPhone 6: 890 × 1590 pixels, iPhone 6 Plus: 1438 × 2592 pixels, iPhone 5s/5c/5: 744 × 1392 pixels. There's nothing fancy about the app, but the image collection is a solid one. The ad banner across the bottom is a bit distracting, but most people will be able to live with it to get the quality images. Cool Wallpapers HD requires iOS 6.1 or greater. It's free; give it a go.
Warcraft wallpaper, costume, art, and comic updates
Another round of new art and updates has been added to Blizzard's official website. This time around, the costume updates are all featuring cosplay from BlizzCon 2013. Mylune makes another appearance, along with some stunning costumes of various tier sets and familiar characters from the franchise. In addition to the costume updates, a new wallpaper has been added to the fan art section. The piece, by Juyoung Oh, is a warlock flanked by a couple of Nightmare steeds and wings that would make Deathwing jealous. And if you're still anxiously awaiting Warlords of Draenor, the concept art gallery has been updated with some new images. There are a few new concept pieces of draenei temples, as well as a pretty stunning piece of Tanaan Jungle lit at various times of day. Rounding it all off is an update to the comic section, appropriately themed for Hallow's End. Take a look at Blizzard's official post for links to all the new updates.
New Warcraft wallpaper, costumes, art and comic updates
Blizzard has put together another giant pile of updates to many of the fan content galleries on the official site this week. Included with this round of updates is a new wallpaper featuring Chen Stormstout, along with a new fan comic. But the highlight of the gallery updates this time around has to be the costume section, featuring a ton of the costumes and cosplay from Gamescom 2014. The attention to detail with all of that armor continually impresses me, and this round of updates features a ton of trolls! I think what excited me the most, however, was the fact that we got a couple of new concept art pieces -- and this time, it's Warlords of Draenor art! Don't get me wrong, I love seeing the Mists of Pandaria concept art, but Draenor is so visually unique on the beta servers that I pretty much figured the concept art for the expansion had to be some amazing stuff. While we only got a couple of pieces this time around, I'm hoping we'll see more added as the weeks go on. Check out Blizzard's official post for links to all of the new additions.
New Warcraft wallpaper, costume, dessert, art and comic updates
Blizzard has put together another gigantic round of updates to many of the fan content galleries on the official site this week. Included with this update is a new wallpaper featuring Grommash Hellscream, a Pandaria-themed cake, another round of Mists of Pandaria concept art, and a new Warcraft fan comic. In addition to all of that, there's another group of images for the costume gallery, including the familiar face shown above. Cosplayer Lyz Brickley made the amazing recreation of everyone's favorite critter enthusiast Mylune for BlizzCon 2011, and we interviewed her about the process shortly after. I think the costume section updates win out as my favorites for this round -- in addition to Mylune, there are several other really well done costumes featured, including an amazing Garona and even someone who chose to cosplay as a Training Dummy, of all things. This is also the first update we've seen to the dessert gallery in quite some time -- I'm hoping that means there are more updates on the way for that particular section as well. Check out Blizzard's official post for links to all of the new additions.
Warcraft wallpaper, costume, art, fan art and comic updates
It's been a while since we've seen any updates to the various galleries Blizzard has featured on the World of Warcraft site. Blizzard has just updated its costume and fan art galleries with a handful of new photos from various artists. The costumes are pretty clever, but my personal favorites have to be a really clever training dummy costume, and a checkered box that should be very familiar to anyone who has played on any of the beta servers over the years. In addition to the costume and fan art galleries, there is a new community comic available in the comic gallery, as well as a new wallpaper featuring the Jade Forest rare, Martar the Not-So-Smart. And if that weren't enough, several new images of Mists of Pandaria concept art have also been added to the Blizzard art gallery. I do love the early hozen concept art, but I hope we get to see more of the concept art from Warlords, too. Check out Blizzard's official post for links to all of the new additions.
PolyGen: Create unique new iOS wallpapers with a tap
PolyGen is a free (with one in-app purchase) universal app that creates attractive wallpapers with a single tap. If you don't like the design, tap again. When you are finally happy with the generated design, you can export it to your camera roll, mail it, or send it via the Messages app. PolyGen generates polygon-based designs based on a built-in formula. The chosen colors seem to relate well, so the wallpaper is never garish. Some people might want to use a photo editor to blur the background. Each generated pattern is unique. With a US$0.99 in-app purchase, you can seed the generator with colors you select and choose cell size and the type of gradients. I was satisfied with the free version, but I can see where some people might want to exercise more control, and the extra features are inexpensive. There are a lot of other wallpaper apps around, of course. Most provide a static library of photos and designs; some, like the free Wallpaper Designer HD, give you basic surfaces you can modify. PolyGen is a useful app which gives your iOS home and lock screens a look you can constantly freshen up. The free app does display ads at the top of the screen, but I did not find them to be intrusive. The app requires iOS 6.0 or later, and is optimized for the iPhone 5.
MyLock creates attractive lock screens for your iOS device
There are many apps that let you create a custom lock screen, and occasionally I like to see what's new in the category. One notable app is MyLock (free with an-app purchases). It provides photos and graphics for your use, or you can use anything on your camera roll. There are also themes, which are overlays that can further customize your image. There are a variety of texts styles, and most are quite stylish. The themes and images are regularly updated. The app is a bit quirky. To save my image to the camera roll I have to shake the phone, which seems rather pointless. There are irritating, animated ads, some of which take over the whole screen. That's simply a no-no in my book. Apps are welcome to have ads, but they needn't be intrusive or obnoxious. Still, the app can create really interesting lock screens, so I have put up with some of its more bizarre 'features'. The graphics are generally of good visual taste, not the junk that often passes for design. The in-app purchase option is simply unnecessary. There are plenty of nice options built-in, plus your own endless supply of personal photos. Other similar apps that are worth a look are LockScreen Buddy (free with in-app purchases), and Wallpapers for iOS7. MyLock requires iOS 7 or later. It's not a universal app, so it's best for the iPhone and iPod touch.
Wallpaper lets your friends borrow e-books from real-world shelves
As convenient as e-books may be, lending them to friends is a headache; copyright woes notwithstanding, it's simply hard to show what you have on offer. Vodafone Romania just made things a bit easier, though. Its new Digital Library Wallpaper gives you real-world (if very flat) bookshelves to showcase your digital wares. As the library owner, you order a custom adhesive wallpaper that reflects the free e-books you've chosen at Vodafone's website. Once the print is on display, visitors to your home just have to scan QR codes to borrow titles and start reading.
Daily App: Lockscreen Wallpaper Designer for iOS
Lockscreen Wallpaper Designer (currently on sale for US$0.99) is a clever little app that lets you make an attractive lock screen for your iOS device that keeps the date and time legible. To use the app, grant it access to your photo library. Choose an image, and select a rounded, square or star shaped window. You can zoom, shrink or reposition the photo as you like. Finally, save it and then find the result in your camera roll. Save it as wallpaper and you're good to go. There's complex here. The app does its job and produces a nice result. It's just a simple solution to make your lock screen more readable and attractive. You can manually accomplish the same thing with many photo editors, but this is quick and easy. Lockscreen Wallppaer Designer is a universal app that requires iOS 7 or later. It is optimized for the iPhone 5.
The transparent Mac trick
Usually these wallpapers don't work well with desktops, but this is a big exception. [Photo credit: Thomas Huxley]
