Google +1

Look like Google's latest incursion into the "social graph" is now available to all. With the Google +1,  which many can think of as being Google's Like Button (in Facebook-speak), you'll be able to see results your friends have "vetted" for... which can come in handy... if you're friends are trustworth.

You can activate Google +1 on Google Labs right now.

Maximize iPhone Battery Life - Disable Ping

While the iPhone is one of the best mobile devices around, and has one of the longest battery life of the class; some users may have noticed it has recently began using up more power than it used to.

People who recharged their iPhones only every couple of days, found they could barely make it through the day. (I, for one, being one of them!)

Apparently, there's a service to blame running on your iPhone, and it's the seldom used Ping service (or actually never - in my case). No, it's not the network ping utility, but the much hyped and completely failed social network attempt by Apple.
It's a bigger fail, because the service is up and running whether or not you're using it or not... and sucking up precious battery power which would be best left untouched for the Apps we really do want to run.

How do you maximize your iPhone battery life back to normal again? Well... it's quite simple:
just head to settings->general->restrictions and disable the Ping service. You'll be asked to enter a restriction code - in case you had none. And hopefully your iPhone will back to its former glory.

Asus Eee Pad Transformer

The Asus Eee Pad Transformer is one of the most eagerly awaited Eee devices of all times - and I just hope it won't have the same fate of the yet-to-be-seen Eee Keyboard.

The Eee Pad promisses to be an all-around pleaser, for both the netbook and tablet crowd, as it can easily become one or the other, by simple attaching or removing the screen from the "keyboard" part.

A really nice concept, which only need to arrive soon... and at a realistic competitive price.

The Secret Behind Hubble Photos

Ever wondered how those amazing Hubble space photographs are created? Want to know how different the Universe would look if you were to look through a space telescope lens with your own two eyes?

That's what you can find out by peering into this behind the scenes look of Hubble photos, and learn everything about the process of taking dozens of images, captured by different sensors, and creating those beautiful Universe portraits we've all grown to love.

Antigravity Levitating Platform

Because it's always magical to have something levitating in the air, today I present you an antigravity platform that will amaze both you and your friends.

Although, as you'd expect, it's secret isn't really magic, but pure science. This antigravity platform relies on advanced magnetics to make a magnetic disc levitate.

Unlike the well known Levitron, this platform can levitate an object indefinitely one inhc over the platform, whether it's spinning or not. You can even open up the globe and use the disc to levitate any object you want, provided it's under 1 ounce and doesn't interfere with the system's magnetism.



In their site you can also find the amazing parabolic mirror illusion, that makes an object appear where it is not.

P.S. If you order their antigravity platform, be sure to select the right AC power plug for you country.

USA Aircraft Identification Chart

We have received the the top-secret U.S. Air Force Aircraft Identification Chart, and can now understand why all UFO occurrences are cataloged as being mere "Weather balloons" os "Swamp Gas" sightings... :)

Festo SmartBird

The dream of flying like a bird has been with since the very first time the ancient man looked up in the sky and saw a bird soaring through the sky.

Until now, most of our attempts have focused on flying using fixed wings and powerful engines. But Festo has now shown its SmartBird, a bionic bird that flies using nothing but the same principles and techniques of a real bird.

And yes, just like its flesh and blood twins, it can can start, fly and land autonomously – with no additional assistance.

Truly remarkable!

How to use SmartCovers on iPad 1

Though it used nothing new, the new iPad 2 magnetic SmartCovers were one of the things a lot of people really liked about Apple's new tablet.

Unfortunately, that left iPad 1 owners a bit sad, as those covers are not usable with their first generation iPad - as it lacked the magnetic attachment areas present in the iPad 2.

But, in the best MacGyver tradition, nothing is impossible, and you wont' even need duct tape... although you'll be using some super-glue! :)

I sincerely don't know how many iPad 1 owners will be willing to superglue magnets to their iPads in order to use the new smartcovers. But in case you're one of them, here's the how to use SmartCovers on the iPad 1.


Smart Cover for iPad 1 from Studio Neat on Vimeo.

How to Fix Chrome Sluggish Performance

I have already said previsouly, I was quite disappointed with the performance of the latest Chrome versions.

Google announced an ever faster and better browser, but my experience with it was getting worser and worser.

As I complained to a couple of friends, I soon discovered they were not experiencing the same problems. Whenever I was opening a new page in a new tab, all the other tabs slowed to a crawl. I couldn't even scroll the new page as it was loading - making me believe we were back in the "dark ages" where browsers needed to completely render the page before allowing interaction.
My Chrome was slow and unusable whenever a page was loading.

I couldn't take it anymore, and so I started looking for what could be causing it...

I started by disabling all the extensions I had installed, and immediately Chrome was as snappy as ever!
Now, the real detective work could begin... I enabled each extension, one at a time, by itself... until I finally caught the one causing the weird delays: it was AdBlock!

An extension I so fondly appreciate was the one giving so much headaches!
After browing for a while I came across a recomendation to try out AdBlock Plus instead, and indeed it worked as just well as AdBlock... but without any page-loading delays.

If you're experiencing erratic delays in Chrome and you're using AdBlock, be sure to try this one instead... as you'll probably find your browser to be a lot faster than you're used to!

Firefox 4.0 is Here

Firefox 4 is now officially available for download, and it looks like it's an instant success, with over 6000 downloads per minute.

You can see a real-time worldwide Firefox download map at: http://glow.mozilla.org/

Update: 1 million downloads achieved in under 2h30 :)


You can get to know some of the new features of Firefox 4.0 here, and learn how this Firefox is faster and safer than ever.

Better yet, give it a try and download Firefox 4.0.

iPhone Latitude App with Check-Ins

Here's the moment I so much waited for: Google Latitude App for iPhone has Check-In's at last.

Though I can understand why people appreciate Foursquare and GoWalla, I could never quite convince myself to use a separate dedicated App for that purpose alone - particularly when I was already using Google Latitude and giving my friends access to my real-time updated location.

Now, Latitude on the iPhone has finally learned to manage check-ins, and now I might actually start using it.
At least, it's intelligent enough to automatically check you out when you move away from the place.

Beside the Latitude App, Google Places was also updated, being available in more languages, and allowing you to see your favorite and saved places.

USB Lego Minifigure

Although it's no shame to keep playing with LEGO at older ages (truth be told, I just wish I had the time to explore some of those amazing things you can do with Lego Technic), today I present you a safe way to carry an iconic classic Lego minifigure with you at all times - without causing awkward staring from your colleagues.

This small Lego minifigure is in fact a 2GB USB Flash Drive.

Sure, you could probably find a 8 or 16GB USB pen for the same price... But would that pen bring back all those nostalgic memories from yesteryears? :)

iPad 2 vs iPad Multitasking Performance Compared

As any original iPad owner can assure you, the iPad - even with its lowly 256MB ram - still offers one of the most immediate and fluid experiences you can find in any tablet; even when compared with Tables offering much better hardware specs.

However, just like what happened with the iPhone evolution, from the 3G to the 3GS and to the iPhone 4, once again the performance jump offered by the iPad is better felt when trying the two models side by side.

As you can see in the following video comparing App fast switching in bothe the iPad and iPad 2 the differences can really be felt. Thanks to the new A5 dual-core CPU, and twice the Ram, the iPad 2 can easily switch back and forth between Apps effortlessly; even in extreme cases like having two apps streaming video (a scenario where the iPad 1 almost freezes!).

So, be sure to keep using your iPad 1 far away from any iPad 2, because just like what happened with the iPhones... if you try out one of the new generation models for a couple of days, going back to the "old" models will truly reveal it to be slower than you ever felt it was.

Google Docs New Discussion System

Collaborative work in Google Docs just got easier and better than ever. There's a new Google Docs discussion system that makes working with multiple people a lot simpler. You can easily see comments and requests from anyone, and you don't even have to worry about the people being online at the moment to read it - as the system automatically sends emails (and allows you to reply to them).

If a picture is worth a thousand words, nothing like a video to make it worth a million words: see it for yourself.
(And keep in mind this will only affect newly created documents for now...)

Super Sized Moon [with Pic]

If you're not to keen on looking up to night sky, be sure to make an exception tomorrow, March 19th, 2011.

The Moon will be at its closest point to Earth, making it 14% bigger than it is at its furthest point, and offering us an amazing super-sized Moon.

The last time this happened was 18 years ago. So, be sure not to miss this opportunity to see a large splendid Moon.


Update: Here's how the moon is out there today...

Isn't it incredible what the kind of photos you can grab these days, with a simple digital camera? (And it's just a regular hand-held photo, no tripods or anything else but the in-camera image stabilization holding it all together... :)

Better Blogger for 2011

It's no secret I've always been a Blogger/Blogspot fan. Ever since the idea of creating a blog crossed my mind, I instantly knew Blogger would be "the one" for me.

Sure, it is not perfect. Sure, it lacks several things. Sure, it has its own quirks, and the dev team sometimes seems to be "out of their heads" and add/remove features that completely drive me (and lots others) crazy.
But, just like in any other relantionship, things have ups and downs - and I wouldn't trade blogger for any other blogging platform in the world (which might not sound much to you; but considering I indeed already had some offers to switch... it means a lot to me.)

But finally, Google seems to be devoting Blogger the attention it really deserves, and 2011 is a  year that will present us a completely new and impoved blogger interface!

It was about time! Here's to blogger and the amazing team behind it!

iPad Shares iPhone GPS

Looks like the new hotspot WiFi sharing feature of iOS 4.3 on the iPhone 4 comes with a much appreciated secret feature when used together with your WiFi iPad.
As you're probably aware, only the iPad 3G models come equipped with a true GPS receiver. The WiFi models can only determin their position via geolocated WiFi hotspots, or IP geolocation.

But... if you happen to have an iPhone 4 and use the hotspot feature to share your internet connection with your iPad, your WiFi iPad magically becomes GPS aware!



Better still, this feature works for bothe the iPad 2 as well as the original iPad, and it certainly will help lots of people make up their mind regarding which iPad model to get - particularly all those people already having an iPhone 4.

Now... how long do you think it will take for someone to reverse engineer this, in order to make the GPS location work with Android devices serving as WiFi hotspots?

New Google Mobile App for iPhone

The best way to use Google on the iPhone just got better! Google's own Google App for iPhone has just received a very big update, and you'll want to know what's changed.

Besides looking a lot more modern and polished, the App now uses swipe gestures to make it easier to narrow down your searches to what you want. Didn't find what you're looking for? Just swipe right and narrow down your results to images, places, shopping, videos, news, updates, blogs, discussions... you name it!

Of course, you still get your push notifications for your google gmail account, as well as the amazing Google Goggles photo search and voice search as well.

Better see the following short video to see this new Google App in action:



[via Google Mobile]

iPad 2 Jailbreak

Well... it didn't take them long. Just the other day, Apple was announcing their brand new iPad 2, and it reached the stores less than a week ago - with expected, but still surprising, results: nearly 1 million units sold in the first weekend, and going out of stock in nearly every store - and now... it has already succumbed to the jailbreak efforts of the hacking community.

Yes, the jailbreak for the iPad 2 is here.

Looks like Apple will soon have to release a 4.3.1 iOS update to fix yet another exploit being used by this jailbreak method. And the hunt will go on and on... as usual.

Would it be that hard for Apple to simply concede and allow anyone to jailbreak their devices at will?
After all, jailbreak is legal!

How the iPad 2 Smart Cover Works

For lots of people, the most intriguing thing about the iPad 2 annoucement were the mystifying Smart Covers. These covers seem to have a life of their own, automagically attaching itself to the new iPad, and even being able to suspend/wake it.

Thanks to some teardown and dissection, you can now discover how the "magical" iPad 2 magnetic smart cover works, and find out there really isn't anything magical about it. It's all done with 21 simple magnets.

And no... You cannot use these magnetic smart covers with your old iPad.

Fake Calls on your Android

Ever wished your phone would ring and save your from any number of boring, annoying, awkward moments you'de be better off not enduring?

Well... if you have an Android smartphone, all you need is this Fake Me Out of Here.

This is the dream app for anyone wanting to split from wherever they are, courtesy of an impromptu phone call you can't afford not to take.

Unlike other fake call Apps, this one doesn't require you to pre-schedule the incoming fake call; and you don't even have to press any button to trigger it - which could be perceived as suspicious by the other person.

You simply need to shake it around a bit, and some time later, you'll receive your much needed relieving phone call.

The app is completely configurable, from the type of shake to the time it takes to ring your phone; and you can select the name and number of the incoming call - and even playback voice coming from "the other side" - to keep it absolutely as real as it can get.

So... what are you waiting for? Don't be left stranded without this App, as you're sure to need it, sooner or later - and you'll wish you had it installed by then. :)

Apple Limits iOS 4.3 Nitro Javascript Performance

It was one of the most expected features for Apple's iOS 4.3 update: the new and improved Nitro javascript engine that would make Safari faster than ever. And indeed it was. Never before did the iPhone and iPad zoomed across javascript intensive sites as fast as it does now.

What is harder to understand tough, is why such improved performance doesn't happen in every single web page visit. Or better yet, why it only does when we're using the Safari App itself?

Someone decided to put the iPhone javascript performance to the test, and using this page you can see it for yourself run this test inside safari and then compare it to the results you get if you run it fullscreen via homescreen shortcut, or inside any other app that offers a browser view, like one of the many twitter apps.

Whenever you're not running the benchmark in Safari itself, you get much worse performance, more than twice as slow!

I sincerely hope this is just a bug that will soon be fixed by Apple, as I can't really imagine Apple would pull such a move in order to artificially degrade user experience and make WebApps perform worse than they could.

They can't even argue this is due to 3rd party developers not properly implementing their webviews, as the same low performance issue also happens when you use nothing but Apple's tools - such as adding a webpage to your homescreen for a fullscreen "webapp" experience. Yes, it gets slow javascript as well...

C'mon Apple... Are you really trying to pull this kind of stuff to hinder WebApp development?
Let's hope Apple will clarify this situation as soon as possible and explain why this is happening.

Money Viewer for iPhone

It's a pity this App works only with US dollar bills (it would be nice if it could recognize Euro and GB currency) but for many thousands of blind or vision-impaired users, that will be more than enough.

This Money Reader by LookTel allows you to simply point your iPhone camera to a dollar bill and immediately hear what bill it is.
It's such a simple task most people won't even realize just how useful it will be for everyone not being able to see as well as we do.

You can expect the App to reach the Android platform soon - and besides the extra foreign currency bill detection, I also suggest adding coin recognition. :)



[via NYT]

Hide Low Quality Sites from Google Search

Google has always tried (and keeps trying) to present us with the best possible results for each and every search we do. However, we're also aware thousands - or even millions - of people out there are continually trying to fake their way through google's ranking algorithms to get to the top places even if they don't really offer nothing valuable to their visitors..

Well... if you're tried of finding spammy sites on your results you can now do something about it. From now on you'll be able to hide low quality sites from your search results.

Obviously, you'll be able to manage your blocked sites in case you hid one by mistake and wish to see it again.

For now, this feature is available only in the english version of Google, but let's hope it will arrive worldwide soon.

Updated Google Chrome

You've probably already noticed your Google Chrome browser updated itself in the past couple of days. This new 10.x version is supposed to be the faster ever - but at least for me, it still hasn't improved responsiveness to the point it was in the pre-8.x versions.

The problem is: it may indeed be faster. But whenever I open a couple of tabs, each with its own webpage, other tabs - like Google reader, or Gmail, for instance - become completely unusable and crawling to an halt.

It is really very annoying, particularly as it makes the browsing experience in a 12GB octa-core system similar to what you get on smartphone!

(Update: just found the culprit, it was the AdBlock extension for Chrome, disabling it solved the problem. I've switched to AdBlock Plus and didn't notice any annoying delays ever since... So, it wasn't really Chrome's fault.)

... Other than that "inconvenience" you now get sandboxed Flash content.




And Chrome's setting have been completely revamped, and allowing you to send a URL to the settings page (useful when you're instructing someone remotely to tweak something).



And besides the usual favorites, and history syncing between Chromes in different computers, you can now also sync settings, plugins, and passwords as well.

Android Plug-in Launcher

Ever wished your Android would execute a particular App when you plug in your headphones or power/USB cable?

Well... now you can, thanks to this amazing little App called:
Plug In Launcher

It's as simple as you'd expect, and it does just what you need it to do.
You just need to select which apps to launch whenever you plug in a power cable or headphone, and never have to worry about it again.

Perfect to launch a music player when you connect your headset, or to call up a clock/alarm App when you plug it in at night to recharge it.

WiFi Light Painting

Ever wished you could see the electromagnetic spectrum of radio frequency? Well... while can't, we can try the next best thing, using lightpainting to reveal a WiFi signal strength across a city.

Amazing how you get very weird patterns in places you'd least expect it, and helping understand why we often have frustrations trying to have a good WiFi signal on a particular spot... but moving just a step in either direction fixes it.

Not I suddently feel the urge to WiFi lightpaint my entire home, in order to see how my wireless network actually looks like! :)


Immaterials: Light painting WiFi from Timo on Vimeo.

Inside Google Self-Driving Car

If you think Google's self-driving cars can only drive around the streets in a seemingly lazy manner... you have to watch the following videos and see just how wrong you are.



Not only can you watch its sports driving in action from the outised, but from inside it as well.



Seems that, just as IBM's supercomputer was pitted against humans in Jeopardy (and won), we'll soon be facing human vs computer racing driving competitions.

(Let's not forget AUDI has already sent its robot Audi TT car to conquer Pikes Peak.)

Google AdSense Mobile Interface

If you can't keep away from your AdSense track records, you'll be pleased to know that Google now offers a mobile version of the AdSense interface.

Just head up to the regular https://www.google.com/adsense/ web site, and if you're using a supported mobile device (like iPhones or Androids), you'll be greated with a new and improved mobile version.

If you still prefer to use the regular web interface, you can switch back and forth easily whenever you feel like it.

Looks like a lot of people will be staring at their mobile device's screens even more from now on (as if they didn't do that enough already! :)

Dotklok LED Clock

If there's a LED clock worth displaying in your living room, this is it. The Dotklok turns passing time into much more than simple numbers passing by.
Now, every minute will pass by with a cute transition/animation inspired in games like Pong, Tetris, Pacman, and Space Invaders.

You can build your own dotklok, as everything you need is publicly available. But, if you don't have the time/patience to spare, you can also buy a fully assembled one.
Of course, in that case, you'll be missing most of the enjoyment of building it yourself and saying to your friends (and yourself): "I made it!"


DOTKLOK: Game Time from The Latest Artists on Vimeo.


DOTKOK rev. 1.0 from The Latest Artists on Vimeo.

Chomp Android App Finder

It may sound hard to believe for most Android users, but for newcomers to the Android platform finding suitable Apps is often harder than you might think.
Sure you can browse the Android Market and search for the highest ranked Apps, but finding the best App for what you need to do isn't always that easy - and it's posed to get worse, as more and more developers launch thousands of Apps more into the market.

That's where Chomp jumps in, and tries to make it easier to find the right App for the job.

See it in action in the following video, and decide if it's worth saving a spot for it in your Android smartphone.

Apple iPad 2 Unveiled

The successor to the world's most successful tablet is out. Apple has unveiled their new iPad 2.
Apple has sold 15 million iPad units in 2010, and currently has over 90% of the tablet market share - which isn't that much of a surprise considering most competitors aren't yet available on the stores. In fact, the iPad 2 will be out sooner than many of those.

But let's proceed to what really matters: the new iPad 2.

Micro SpyCam

It might look light a cheap plastic piece of junk, but this tiny MAME CAM by Thanko actually hides a fully functional video camera inside. It weighs just 11g, and can record digital VGA video at 30fps to a microSD card for over 30minutes in a single charge.

You can get it from Japan by $95 dollars... and I'm sure few people would suspect this "toy" actually works and is recording their every move. :)