Farmville invades iPad

Fresh on the heels of a class-action lawsuit being filed against it, social games publisher Zynga has launched an iPad version of its mega hit Farmville.
So now those annoying people on the subway will have another reason to never look away from their screen when they walk through the doors.

The existing iPhone version of Farmville is playable on the iPad, but as with most other iPhone game it isn't optimized for the larger screen. The new Farmville iPad game, which is available to download for free,
has "custom graphics built specifically for the larger iPad" and enhanced touch-based gameplay controls. Even though it's free, though, you won't be able to escape the grasp of DLC entrapment. This is the first Zynga game developed specifically for the iPad.

It's not all champagne and roses for the social gaming

giant today, though. Zynga has found itself in a lot of hot water this week due to allegations it was illegally collecting private information about users who played its games. It could end up tying the company in litigation for years.

Luckily, though, playing the game on iPad doesn't expose as much private data as it would if you were playing it on Facebook. The game does have integration between platforms, though, so if you start up a farm on the iPad game, you can tend to it later on Facebook and then give it a last-minute check on your iPhone before you go to bed. In other words, you're now supposed to have an eye on your digital farm during every waking hour.

Is it a scary thought? Yes. Will at least some of us still latch onto it like it's our new baby? You betcha. That's what social gaming is all about.

iPhone 4 Launched Into Space, Takes HD Video

Going into space -- covered by AppleCare?

People take their phones with them everywhere, but one guy and his son sent their iPhone 4 into space and had it capture the HD video of the experience both upwards and downwards.

Luke Geissbuhler of Brooklyn, NY built a housing for the iPhone 4 that would help it withstand the extreme conditions of the journey into the atmosphere (including simple solutions such as hand warming-packs to prevent freezing) and attached it to a simple weather balloon.

The homemade solution travelled 19 miles high before the balloon popped and the iPhone 4 rushed back to earth at 150 miles per hour.

While there are other devices that can record HD video, Geissbuhler likely chose the iPhone 4 for the MobileMe GPS tracking feature so that he could easily recover the phone once it was back to ground level.
Check out the video below. It's fun if you're into geeky space project

'Ugly Meter' iPhone app may be hurtful to kids and fodder for bullies

Call it the iTaunt.

Critics of the new iPhone "Ugly Meter" app fear it's all too easy for users to harass their victims, especially when those victims are image-conscious teenagers, according to Switched.com.

The 99-cent app analyzes how symmetrical a person's face is by using facial recognition. It scans and rates faces as they are submitted by the user, generating a ranking on a scale of 1 to 10.

A "1" means the person is "not ugly,"while a "10" comes with a message that says, "You're so ugly, when you walk by the bathroom, the toilet flushes."
The News tested the app on male and female members of the staff. The results often varied depending on the angle of the photo or how well the subject's face matched up with facial recognition software.

One male News staffer's photo elicited a high score on the ugly scale along with the comment that his face appeared to have put in the dryer with rocks.  Yet, another photo of the same staffer scored a lower, more pleasing score and the comment, "I am blinded by your beauty".

Most staffers received less than glowing messages from the app, including "You're so ugly a farmer could use you as a scarecrow"and "your face could turn milk into yogurt just by looking at it."

While adults can see the silly side of the app, there are concerns over the Ugly Meter's potential to make young people feel bad about their appearance and give bullies new ammo.

One in six kids are regularly bullied, according to a recent study conducted by Clemson University, per MSNBC.  Of those bullied, nearly 40 percent of the girls and 45 percent of boys say the abuse has gone on for over a year.

"There's a fine line between teasing and razzing one another,"Dr. Gwen O'Keeffe, who wrote "Cybersafe: Protecting and Empowering Kids in the Digital World of Texting, Gaming and Social Media,"told Fox News. "And this is just hurtful. It could have crushing blows on kids with low self esteem. There's just nothing good that could come from an app like this.”

She'd like to see the app either taken off the market (it's on the iTunes store) or make it only available to adults. So far, Apple hasn't issued any comment. But Eugene Overline, app programmer, doesn't see the "Ugly Meter"going away anytime soon.

"All of our insults are PG-rated,"Overline said, according to Switched.com. "We kept it pretty clean on purpose."

Comments on the "Ugly Meter"are varied on the official iTunes website. One user wrote, "I was suffering from extreme depression due to my looks. This app has given me a new outlook on life. I'm now dating a model and making millions due to my new found confidence. Thanks for changing my life ugly meter!"

Another person called the description of the Ugly Meter "cheating"and added, "It sounded like a serious app. However the joke is on you if you buy it!"

A third user left a comment that he wanted his 99 cents back.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/2010/10/20/2010-10-20_ugly_meter_iphone_app_may_be_hurtful_to_kids_and_fodder_for_bullies.html#ixzz12vODkSip

If you want the cold, hard truth about how you look, don't ask your friends. Ask your iPhone

A new iPhone application called "Ugly Meter" lets users take photos of their faces and then analyzes their facial structure in real-time. Once the app is done scanning, it delivers a score on a 10-point scale. Get a 10 out of 10? It might tell you "You're so ugly, when you walk by the bathroom, the toilet flushes." But if you score something closer to 1, it might be a little kinder. A 2.6-rated picture, for example, might generate the comment, "If beauty were time, you'd be an eternity."

"We've done some serious games in the past and just wanted to do something funny," said Eugene Overline, co-owner and lead programmer of Dapper Gentlemen of Gilbert, Arizona, the company behind the application. "You take it out and you won't get your phone back for an hour."

When he's taken it out at dinner parties, he said," People will just be crying, they're laughing so hard."
The application, which launched last week, costs 99 cents in Apple's Overline said the application is based on actual science linking symmetry to beauty, but given the limitations of an iPhone camera (in terms of lighting and resolution), it's meant to be a light-hearted game, not any kind of scientific tool.

iPhone 4 Breaks 68% More Often Than iPhone 3GS

Apple's iPhone 4 is more fragile than its predecessor, according to data from SquareTrade, a company that provides warranties. It released the chart below based on the response of 20,000 people with warranties on their iPhones. As you can see, reported accidents for the iPhone are up 68% compared to the iPhone 3GS. SquareTrade also reports that broken screens constitute 82% of the accident claims. (That number is an 82% increase from the broken screens reported for iPhone 3GS.)

The silver lining here for Apple: Only 4% of iPhone owners are claiming broken screens. That means 96% aren't. Also, Square Trade says the iPhone compared favorably to other smartphones when it did a similar study in 2008.

Of course, Apple sells millions of iPhones each quarter. If this trend holds, it means hundreds of thousands of iPhone 4s will have broken screens.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/charts-of-the-week-google-chrome-beats-firefox-to-own-the-tech-set-2010-10#iphone-4-breaks-68-more-often-than-iphone-3gs-2#ixzz12gpF7cjm

White iPhone 4 exists, but you still can't have one

The white iPhone 4 may not be available in stores, but apparently they're stacked up in boxes at Apple's headquarters.

At least that's what a random New Yorker spotted with one this week said. U.K.-based tech blog Pocket-lint noticed and photographed a man using the much-delayed white version of the iPhone 4 at a press event this week.

When pressed for details, the man (who apparently didn't want to be identified) said a friend of his who works at Apple in Cupertino, Calif., "fixed him up" with one of the white iPhone 4s sitting around the office, according to Pocket-lint.

So why aren't they in stores yet? Apple had said from the first day the iPhone 4 went on sale in June that the white version would be delayed a few weeks. A few weeks then turned into "later this year," citing manufacturing "challenges." The specifics of the problem were--not surprisingly--left unexplained.

But according to the guy who has one, the issue is related to the paint. He told Pocket-lint that Apple said the company that is manufacturing the phone can't get the white home button to match the exact shade of the white faceplate of the phone.

Until they figure that out, it looks like you can buy the iPhone 4 in any color you want, as long as it's black.


Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-20019745-260.html#ixzz12WyBOGSd

iPad users spend 20pc of their time with the gadget in bed: Study

A new survey has found that twenty percent of the time iPad owners spend with the tablet computer is between the covers.he poll of 500 iPad users conducted by the NPD consumer-research group also found that the device is becoming addictive, reports the New York Post.

People who bought an iPad within two months of its launch earlier this year say they are using it more than 18 hours a week and for more than a third of them, that amount is increasing.

The gotta-have-it gang, who bought their iPads early, are also the happiest users, according to the on-line poll.
Eighty percent of those who got their iPads right after its April release said they were very satisfied with it, compared with 65 percent of those who bought it later, the survey found.

The early purchasers also reported they used iPads more often in certain ways.

For example, they were 44 percent more likely to watch YouTube videos on it, 50 percent more likely to watch movies, 60 percent more likely to watch TV. (ANI)

http://sify.com/news/ipad-users-spend-20pc-of-their-time-with-the-gadget-in-bed-study-news-international-kkkp4iiffbc.html

Report: Apple Investigating iPhone 4 Case Scratches, Cracks

 
Is a third-party case scratching up or even cracking your iPhone 4?
Tech blog gdgt reported Thursday that some slide-on, third-party cases can cause scratches or cracking on the iPhone 4, so Apple pulled them from its retail and online stores. The cases re-appeared online this week, but are still missing from stores, gdgt wrote.
"Internally, I've heard the iPhone team has grown to be very concerned by this issue with slide-on cases, and has created a lab and large new test program specifically to investigate this further," according to the post.
As a result, many iPhone case manufacturers are in limbo, waiting to see if they can get their products back into Apple stores.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The report comes months after "Antennagate." Following the release of the iPhone 4, customers experienced connectivity issues when gripping the device in a certain way. As a solution, Apple provided free bumpers to iPhone 4 buyers until Sept. 30, which alleviated the problem.
 
The comments on the gdgt post ranged from those who had experienced their own iPhone 4 scratching and cracking problems to those who said concerns were overblown.
 
"I'm on my second iPhone 4. The glass on the first one shattered after it dropped about 4 inches out of my pocket onto the ground," wrote one reader.
Another person, however, said the article was "a story in search of a problem," while a third said simply that "phones get scratches and glass can break."
PCMag security analyst Neil Rubenking has been using a third-party case for his iPhone 4. He took a few snapshots (above) of the device this morning, and found the smartphone no worse for the wear. Reporter Leslie Horn found the same thing on her phone.
For what it's worth, my own iPhone 4 - which is housed in a free Apple bumper - has been dropped several times on a wood floor with no cracking or breaking. There are two, barely visible scratches on the back, but I chalk that up to daily wear and tear.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2370466,00.asp

New species discovered in New Guinea

A new species of ant was discovered in the isolated mountains of Papua New Guinea. Around 200 new species were discovered in just two months of field study by an expedition. (WENN.com)

 http://www.torontosun.com/news/world/2010/10/08/15636811.html

PayPal's iPhone app now scans your checks

There may be no jet packs yet, but we are very much living in the future. Proof enough of that is PayPal's latest addition to its iPhone app, which brings with it the capability to snap a photo of a check and have it be deposited to your PayPal account free of charge.
Sure, this is something that customers of Chase and USAA have been able to do with each company's respective iPhone applications for months now, but this is PayPal. Why is that important? It means if you've connected your PayPal account to another bank that does not offer such a feature, you can use PayPal as the go-between.
Of course PayPal has limits of how much you can transfer from your account each month, but you can have that lifted if you do things like confirm your Social Security number and debit card.
There are some other strings attached, including the fact that you must hang on to that check for 15 days after sending that information to PayPal, just in case it does not clear. PayPal also says that it takes "about six days" for the amount to show up in your PayPal balance, which is considerably slower than if you took it to the bank.
PayPal says the new feature is powered by Las Vegas-based BankServ (formerly NetDeposit). No word yet on if and when PayPal plans to bring this feature to its apps on other platforms like Android and BlackBerry


Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-20018826-248.html#ixzz11dsXXgNY

Sharp's New Smartphone Matches iPhone 4's Retina Display

The iPhone 4 has a great, super-high-resolution screen, but it's about to have some company. Sharp's new smartphone, dubbed the IS03, houses a screen which has the same dimensions and resolution as that of the iPhone 4's. Measuring 3.5 inches diagonally and bearing a 960 by 640 resolution, Sharp's IS03 has the highest pixel density found on a non-Apple smartphone.
Sharp claims that the display has great viewing angles thanks to the advanced super view (ASV) display technology found within--a technology which is said to be similar to that of In Plane Switiching (IPS).
The high-end phone will run on Google's Android operating system, however it won't run on the latest version of the OS. Instead of coming preloaded with version 2.2, the device will ship with the older 2.1 version of Android. Lame.
Other things packed into Sharp's Japan-only smartphone include a 9.6-megapixel camera, contactless technology for payments, and a TV-tuner.
Sharp offered no word on whether the handset will be released outside of Japan.

Sony Ericsson has launched a new watch-sized device that enables you control your smartphone remotely, without taking it out of your bag.

The tiny gadget can be worn as a watch, on a keychain or clipped to a laptop, the firm claims.

The LiveView micro display is designed to sync wirelessly with any mobile phone and lets you take calls and e-mail and control your music player.

The gadget is designed to work with Google’s open platform Android software which means it won’t work with the iPhone or even Sony Ericsson’s own high-end Xperia smartphone.

It even comes with a ‘Find my Phone’ feature that helps locate your missing Android device, the Daily Mail reported.

Some gadget experts have said that the innovative device is what Apple should have done with its latest iPod Nano, which some users have taken to wearing on their wrists.

The LiveView is smaller than an iPod Nano at 1.3 inches, with a colour 128x128 pixel OLED display and with a watchband mount.

The Sony Ericsson LiveView also links to social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook.

And it allows the user to control the Sony Ericsson music features of the handset from the micro display, selecting tracks and controlling the volume.

Luke Peters, the editor of T3 technology magazine, said LiveView seemed to be slightly out of step with current gadget trends.

“When the tech world is pushing towards one-device-does-all convergence, this seems to rally against that notion,” he added.

Microsoft To Unveil New Smartphones With AT&T - WSJ

(RTTNews) - Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), the world's largest software company, is planning to launch smartphones using the revamped version of its mobile operating system, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing people familiar with the launch plans. The products, which would be unveiled formally on October 11 in New York with satellite events elsewhere, will be marketed by AT&T Inc. (T) starting November 8.
Competition in the smart phone market is getting hotter, with Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) iPhone and a number of flashier consumer friendly devices using Google Inc.'s (GOOG) Android mobile software making significant inroads. Nokia's Symbian OS and Research In Motion's Blackberry OS are also in the fray.
The WSJ report suggests that AT&T will be the initial exclusive U.S. carrier to sell the Windows Phone 7 smartphones. The carrier will offer three handsets initially, one each made by Samsung Electronics Co. (SSNLF.PK, SSNNF.PK), LG Electronics Inc. (LGERF.PK), and HTC Corp. The deal will help AT&T, especially when the chatter of Apple allying with Verizon is getting louder. AT&T has thus far been the exclusive carrier of iPhone in the U.S.
Microsoft's Windows Mobile operating system was once commonly found in the smartphones, but the company failed to materially update its software and fell behind, following the emergence of the iPhone in 2007 as well as Google's Android. According to Gartner, Microsoft's share of the smartphone operating system market in the last year has nearly halved, falling to 5% in the second quarter from 9.3% a year ago.
Microsoft, along with carrier partner Verizon Wireless, launched a line of Kin phones, but scrapped it in July after only two months in the market. As per the report, Windows Phone 7 represents the company's chance to start over with a new platform. Microsoft, like Apple, is insisting on a closed, controlled system where applications can only be sold through the Windows Marketplace.
Meanwhile separately, Microsoft revealed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that its Chief Executive Steve Ballmer's total compensation for the year 2010 increased 5.9% year-over-year to $1.34 million, but lower than his maximum compensation opportunity.
Microsoft noted that Ballmer received a cash bonus of $670,000 for the fiscal year 2010, equal to his base salary and higher than his last year's cash bonus of $600,000.
Microsoft acknowledged Ballmer's role in helping the company report strong earnings and revenue in fiscal 2010, successfully launching products, including Windows 7 and Office 2010, cost cuts and spearheading cloud computing and active gaming efforts. On the flip side, the company also made note of the the unsuccessful launch of the Kin phone, loss of market share in the company's mobile phone business and the need to pursue innovations to take advantage of new form factors.
For fiscal year 2010, Ballmer's maximum compensation opportunity was $2,010,000, consisting of base salary and a potential Incentive Plan award of up to 200% of his base salary for the fiscal year.
The Annual Meeting of the Shareholders of Microsoft will be held at Washington on November 16.
MSFT closed Thursday's regular trading session at $24.49, down $0.01 or 0.04%, on a volume of 61.3 million shares