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Giving or getting a Mac for the holidays? 10 apps every new Mac user needs
All new Macs come with great bundled software. Between the iLife suite, Safari, iTunes, and TextEdit, plus the ability to access and use cloud applications for free, almost all of the most basic modern computing needs get met for most users. That said, having used four different Macs over the past seven years, there are several applications that don't come with OS X that I find myself immediately loading onto a new Mac. Most of these are big-name apps that you've probably already heard of, but it's still pretty amazing how much extra functionality you can eke out of a Mac with only ten additional programs, and all of them (save the last one) are free. Whether you're buying a new Mac for a relative this holiday season or getting a new one for yourself, these are ten applications you should download as soon as that shiny new machine loads the desktop for the first time.
Report: Transmission Games ceases all communications, shuts down
Heroes Over Europe and Ashes Cricket 2009 developer Transmission Games has apparently closed. Tsumea, along with several other Australia-based outlets, report the Melbourne developer just couldn't survive its very bad year. Allegedly, payments from failed publisher Red Mile never materialized and contracts, concerning a now-canceled Red Tails game for LucasArts, weren't properly concluded.The news of the shutdown comes weeks after the company laid off 30 of its staff. We'll update if Transmission offers an official statement.[Via Develop]
Ashes Cricket demo bowls wicked googly on Xbox Live
We know nothing about cricket. Having looked up a list of cricket terms on Wikipedia, we now know even less about cricket. With the bottom of our cricket resource barrel officially scraped, it was time to consult one Ludwig Kietzmann, Joystiq's Head Cricket Consultant. About the sport of cricket, Mr. Kietzmann had this to offer: "It's a polite, turn-based competition of precision ball-whackery."You are now completely prepared for the Ashes Cricket demo available on Xbox Live. Enjoy.
Video: Breath-over-IP concept is a fun way to creep out your friends
This might have been a Crapgadget contender but for the fact it's a homemade system and therefore deserves some kudos for the ingenuity shown. An irrepressible geek by the name of Thomas Edwards has concocted a system for communicating breathing over the interwebs -- a surefire way to take your cyberstalking game to the next level. Employing an Arduino protoshield, AdaFruit Xport shield, Lantronix Xport Direct, and a Kestrel impeller to create the device, Thomas demonstrates a taste for obscure technology usually not seen outside of prototyping labs. Click through for video of a candle being blown out remotely, perhaps the one and only family-friendly use for an instrument like this.[Via Make]
Wireless USB 2.0 to dawn on the Japanese horizon?
Japanese researchers at KDDI have spliced two technologies that didn't seem to have much of a future in the wireless realm -- USB and Infrared -- and come up with a method for achieving transmission speeds of up to 1Gbps. Their innovation is in overcoming a latency problem that until now prevented USB 2.0 transmissions from being converted into Infrared signals and then back into electronic form. While still very early in the development and standardization process, this is a tantalizing premise, especially with ever-increasing storage capacities in portable devices. The new communication medium, which admittedly sounds a lot like irSimple, will be demonstrated for the first time at the Wireless Japan 2009 exhibition later this month, but we wouldn't hold out hope for an imminent release.
Spintronics magic appears again, aims to vastly accelerate data storage and retrieval
As the list of "awesome things that won't ever happen" grows ever longer, we've got a brilliant team of French physicists who have seemingly concocted a method for storing and retrieving data on hard discs that's around 100,000 times faster than usual. Yes, 100,000x. The trick is based around spintronics, an almost mythical procedure that involves the use of lasers, magnetic sensors and mutant abilities to shuffle data around at a dizzying rate. This particular method, however, improves upon the comparatively sluggish attempts of the past, as it uses photons that "modify the state of the electrons' magnetization on the storage surface." In layman's terms, this all means that the HDD you buy in 2098 will probably operate significantly faster than the one you picked up during Circuit City's going-out-of-business sale. Got it? Good.
Ericsson demos 500Mbps vectorized VDSL2, HD streams get way excited
If you were jazzed about Comcast's recent announcement that its DOCSIS 3.0 technology was spreading even further across America, you should probably have a seat before reading the rest of this. Ericsson, who is generally known for its work in pushing mobile broadband speeds past the limit, has just demonstrated a VDSL2-based technology achieving data transfer rates of more than 0.5Gbps. Yeah, 500Mbps. The so-called "vectorized" VDSL2 tech can even offer up these speeds on existing copper lines, and for what it's worth, the demo utilized six bonded lines. We know, the only question here is "when?" Ericsson asserts that the standards for VDSL2 and line bonding are available today, but the standardization of vectoring "is ongoing and is expected by the end of 2009." Gimme, gimme.[Via Total Telecom, image courtesy of VideoJug]
Red Mile sinking: Sin City, Heroes Over Europe release in question
With cash short and options shorter, publisher Red Mile is in danger of going out of business, leaving both the video game adaptation of Sin City and Heroes of Europe to tread water. Red Mile inked a co-publishing deal with Atari in mid-2008 for Heroes Over Europe, something it expected to net the struggling company "minimum guaranteed payments" and back-end royalties to help keep it afloat. However, the checks stopped arriving on February 11 as Atari pulled its hand out of Red Mile's wallet, ending its publishing agreement for reasons unknown. Without any income, and means to pay Heroes Over Europe developer Transmission Games, it's not surprising that the devs walked away as well when Red Mile failed to pay the studio some $281,000. Red Mile is currently considering going after Atari for "compensatory damages," but time is running short and it's likely the company could simply run out of cash before any settlement is reached. The publisher has around $341,000 left in its coffers, which it estimates will run dry at the end of March. The company predicts that it needs an additional $10,000,000 to keep its doors open another 2-3 years, leaving the eventual release of Heroes Over Europe and Sin City in question. However, given that Red Mile has continually posted losses totaling more than $35 million since it was formed in 2004, we doubt many banks will be opening up their vaults for the company any time soon.
Ericsson promises 42Mbps HSPA demo using multi-carrier technology
Leave Ericsson alone for five seconds, and it goes and makes the technology it was just bragging about seem archaic. Just in case Telstra's 21Mbps Next G network seemed a bit -- how do you say, sluggish? -- Ericsson will be showcasing a new approach that enables peak downlink data rates of 42Mbps at Mobile World Congress. In order to achieve such tremendous speeds, it will rely on its so-called multi-carrier technology, which is the next (or is that next-next?) generation of HSPA. The secret? It allows users to "receive data simultaneously on two frequency channels," which doubles the data rate in the coverage area of an HSPA network and on the cell edge. The best part of all this isn't that you can one day look forward to crushing your cable modem with a wireless USB stick, it's that "one day" will be ready to happen before the dawn of 2010. Huzzah![Via phonescoop, image courtesy of TornadoChaser]
uTorrent for Mac beta officially released
Way back in June of 2007, rumors of a beta version of uTorrent for the Mac first started making waves. For the uninitiated, uTorrent is a super-lightweight BitTorrent client which is widely considered the best in the business. Sadly, it has remained a Windows-only option. A few months ago, an alpha version was leaked (appropriately, on a BitTorrent tracker), but it was alpha, buggy and had a minimal UI (even by uTorrent standards). Today, uTorrent has officially released its first Mac beta for Intel Macs running OS X 10.5 Leopard. It doesn't have all the features of its Windows counterpart (it's missing the RSS downloader, for instance) but it has a nice interface and the signature uTorrent low-memory footprint. The only real question will be, is this too little too late? When uTorrent for the Mac was first announced 18 months ago, the BitTorrent client landscape was very different. Transmission was still new and buggy and Vuze (nee Azureus) suffered from significant problems with Tiger and Java. Today, Transmission is a full featured client and Vuze, although still a memory hog, is signicantly faster and more stable in Leopard. This doesn't mean that it isn't great to finally have uTorrent for OS X -- it just means that the client will need to do more than just exist to get many users to switch over. uTorrent for Mac is free. It is beta software and it will have bugs, but it is available now. Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
Honda's color-changing speedometer to drive out bad driving habits
So, you've a lead foot? What of it, right? Honda's hoping to make that bad little habit vanish by using the tried and true guilt trip method, or more specifically, the Ecological Drive Assist System. For starters, the technology's ECON Mode works with the CVT and engine to "support more fuel-efficient driving." The real kicker, however, is the color-based "guidance function" -- drive like a granny, your speedo lights up green, drive a little wilder, and things get a bit blue, and if you toss fuel economy to the wind and let 'er rip, expect a full-on blue screen and the voice of God to come thundering through your sound system instructing that those horses be held. The EDAS should appear in the automaker's Insight hybrid as early as Spring 2009, though there's no word if it'll be standard equipment on the rumored S3000.
Production Tesla Roadster gets glorious hands-on: stifle your envy, please
Here at Engadget, we hold a special place in our hearts for Mr. Jason Calacanis, but regardless of whose name is on the pink slip, there's no denying that the vehicle you're peering at above just struck all sorts of jealousy in your chest. This Very Orange (seriously) Tesla Roadster is one of the very first to be produced with the revamped drivetrain, and according to the lucky (lucky!) souls over at AutoblogGreen who were able to give it a go, the "new, higher torque motor immediately made its presence felt." All that aside, we know you're here for the photos, so head on down to the read link when you've got ten or so free minutes to shuffle through. Let's just say you'll have a new appreciation for one Drew Phillips (photographer) when you're done treating your retinas.
USB 3.0 demonstrations dazzle: uncompressed 1080p transfer proves simple
You've been adequately teased with what all USB 3.0 (or SuperSpeed USB, as we tend to refer to it) can do, but a gaggle of companies took the chance in San Jose, California to really demonstrate just how quick the protocol is. Most notable was the demo by Synopsys, which prototyped an HDTV video transmission system based on USB 3.0 and showed to wide-mouthed onlookers that an uncompressed 1080p feed at 30 frames-per-second could be whisked along at around 450Mbps. Sure, USB 3.0 has wireless HD to watch out for, but given that said technology is currently on track for an August 2298 release, it could really do some tethered damage in the meanwhile.
Comcast gets serious about DOCSIS 3.0 rollouts
Alright Minneapolis, you've had your fun. Now it's time for another swath of Comcast markets to indulge in the lavish joys that only DOCSIS 3.0 can provide. For those unaware, the aforesaid technology enables 50Mbps internet to be delivered over the cable company's infrastructure, which brings it up to speed (ahem) with offerings by fiber-based carriers Verizon and AT&T. In the next few weeks, the DOCSIS 3.0-based "Extreme 50" option will bring 50Mbps down / 5Mbps up to subscribers in parts of New England, Philadelphia and New Jersey. Better still, the company announced its intentions to bring the $139.95 per month service to ten other big markets where it will reach "about 10 million homes and businesses in the next few months." Oh, and if that's just too much intarwebz for you to handle, an "Ultra" 22Mbps downstream service will be available for $62.95 per month.[Via Reuters, image courtesy of TheRedWoodMotel]
Sin City game changes devs, still coming
Red Mile's interactive adaptation of Frank Miller's landmark, hard boiled graphic novel(s), Sin City, has a new-ish developer. The title was originally being handled – presumably with those special gloves used for working with razor wire – by Transmission Games, the same outfit producing Heroes Over Europe for Red Mile. Both games have 2009 release dates.The publisher, who is working with Atari to get its games onto shelves, tells GameSpot that work on Sin City: The Game was handed to another developer "quite some time ago." Said developer's identity is unknown, but we do know that Frank Miller practically hand-picked his old pal (and The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay writer) Flint Dille to "spearhead the design, scriptwriting, story generation, and overall production" of the game, which will – unsurprisingly – utilize Unreal Engine 3. Also, the color red. Lots of it.(And no, the new developer isn't Platinum Games, despite MadWorld's more-than-vague resemblance to Sin City.)
Fuji, NTT testing non-compressed HDTV video transmission at Olympics
Wireless HD is having a tough time catching on in the consumer market, but that doesn't mean that things are as dreary in the commercial realm. Fuji Television Network and NTT Corp. are testing out "non-compressed HDTV video transmission using a wireless technology based on the 120GHz milliwave band in live feeds from the Beijing Olympic Games." By utilizing the technology, the duo has demonstrated "simultaneous, wireless transmission of multiple HDTV video channels without delay," essentially enabling camera toting employees to capture footage from more places by being able to walk around untethered. Being able to record spontaneous outbursts from jubilant victors no matter where they are at the Games? Score.
Photonic breakthrough could mean 60x faster internet speeds
Every so often, we get wind of some new "breakthrough" from a few guys / gals in a lab that promises to simply revolutionize the web. A team from the University of Sydney is the latest bunch to do so, claiming that a piece of scratched glass (or a Photonic Integrated Circuit, if we're being proper) could enable internet speeds 60 times faster than "current Australian networks." Essentially, the "circuit uses the scratch as a guide or a switching path for information," and the resulting product is "photonic technology that has terabit per second capacity." Call us when you folks get everything ironed out -- we'll be over at Sigbritt Löthberg's house.[Via The Future of Things, thanks iddo]
Hydraulic transmission gives engines, wallets a break
Another day, another potential find to avoid the imminent fuel crisis. On the docket today is Ernie Brookins' hybrid drive system, which "captures, compresses, and stores wasted drive-train energy produced when a vehicle's engine is running." Ernie here has concocted a hydraulic transmission that can reportedly power vehicles without the engine running all of the time, and he expects the solution to save motorists around 50-percent in fuel costs. Better still, the contraption could theoretically work on nearly any vehicle -- from school buses to grain trucks to high-octane Power Wheel Jeeps. As these things seem to always go, the project has hit a roadblock without a source of funding, so if any VCs out there are looking for a somewhat solid place to shove $250,000, give this man a ring. [Warning: read link requires subscription][Thanks, Rachel]
Macnica demonstrates UWB-over-coax HD transmissions
Not that Macnica is the first to offer up a method for transmitting HD / HDMI over coaxial cabling, but it has taken the time in Tokyo to showcase a new system that relies on a Sigma Designs UWB transmission chipset (dubbed Windeo). The display saw high-definition content passed 100 meters over coaxial cable without noticeable degradation, and booth attendees at ESEC 2008 stated that the effective throughput was close to 120Mbps. We're still quite aways from this stuff being commonplace in the home, but with Pulse~LINK and Tzero battling it out in the courtroom over patent issues, we suppose someone has to pick up the slack.
IDX offers up CAM-WAVE HD wireless transmission camera
Typically, IDX sticks to making battery systems and portable chargers, but recently, it decided to broaden its portfolio with the CAM-WAVE HD. Essentially, this device is meant to piggyback on cameras (think news crews, sporting events, etc.) and can transmit uncompressed HD signals up to 150-feet (line-of-sight) / 100-feet (through walls). What separates this man from the boys is its ability to beam out full-bandwidth uncompressed HD-SDI and SD-SDI images over short distances with practically no latency, as there's no internal compression slowing things down. Also of note, it's designed to operate in the 5.1 - 5.8GHz frequencies (meaning no unique FCC license is required) and it'll even send those high-def transmissions with encryption to keep snoopers at bay. 'Course, such a swank setup demands a stiff premium, and you'll be looking at a $6,000 bill should you pick up the system in Q3.[Via FreshDV, thanks Uncle]