Google Games And Sony Videos

Apps are absolutely everywhere, and Google is bringing an app store to Google Chrome that will include in-browser gaming. Showing off the potential of the new apps, they said that they would charge a 5% fee to developers for including their games in the app store that is set to launch in October. It could also be part of the reason why Google has been buying up social gaming companies and online gaming companies, although many believe that they’ve done this to help them launch a social networking site to rival the likes of Facebook.

Many users turn to sites like Facebook in order to play games because it offers a central location, a single account, and a simplified way of finding the games that interest them the most. The app store which will include some pretty big games straight from the off including Doom and Worms games, it is a bold move but could potentially help them gain a greater market share from their Google Chrom web explorer software which competes with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Mozilla’s Firefox.

Gamers will be able to pay using Google Checkout online payment system and it will support free game trials, regular subscriptions, and discounts.

Meanwhile, in gaming, Sony has announced that the next incarnation of the PS3 will include streaming videos and ITV Player. This means that you will be able to watch BBC programs through the iPlayer feature and ITV programs, and you will also be able to stream videos from Mubi. There was no announcement regarding the alleged deal with Channel 4 to bring 4OD to the gaming system but that could also be just round the corner.

As with most things Sony, there will be a community side to the whole thing which will let users chat and enjoy Facebook integration and more.

Will you be watching free TV shows and streaming movies on your Sony?

Play Music to the Womb With Bellybuds

There have been countless studies on the benefits of playing music to babies whilst they are still in the womb, the problem that most expectant mothers have is not if they should do it but how do they do it? We have discovered a gadget called bellybuds that allows music, sounds or voices to be safely and comfortably played to prenatal babies.  

This nifty gadget has a few useful applications as you can play whatever you like over them. You can play soothing music before bed time to set a routine for when the baby is born, or for fathers who are away on business for a long time that want their baby to hear their voice. The guys at belly buds even suggest you can play the baby messages from friends and family.

The bellybuds come with everything you need to get started including 2 sets of gel based adhesive rings, a headphone splitter so mother and baby can listen to the same thing, a belt clip and a neat storage pouch. The bellybuds are available in the UK for £49.99.

With a variety of uses we think that this product will be a big hit with expectant mothers and fathers alike – a simple idea with a number of applications.

What do you think of the bellybuds? Did you or anyone you know play music to their baby? We would love to hear from you.

Available from: Amazon |

Microsoft Could Soon Challenge In Smartphone Wars With XBox Live Integration

Microsoft has finally confirmed the details of what could be a major change in the smartphone wars having given full details of the crossover between XBox Live and Windows Mobile 7. If you own a phone that rocks up Windows 7 then you will be able to play XBox Live games directly on your phone. You will be able to bag achievements, play multiplayer, and download some high quality games.

What’s more, Microsoft has announced the initial list of games which noyt only includes some of the titles that certain other mobile phones have been offering for a while but it also includes console specific titles like Halo Waypoint and Splinter Cell games.

The phones will also offer full avatar, achievement, and gamerscore support so pretty much whatever you can do on your XBox 360 you’ll be able to do on your Windows based mobile phone. It could well turn out that the new mobile phone operating system is the only choice for the 360 owning gamer. At launch, there will also be a good range of more casual titles such as Bejeweled and Uno which will help attract those that are probably less likely to own a 360.

Microsoft has kind of struggled to get the kind of attention it craves from its mobile operating system and the phones that boast it but this could be a move in the right direction. Not only is it offering decent quality but it’s also unique and plays on the fact that many people own and love their XBox 360 as a total gaming machine.

There will be 50 titles straight from launch and bearing in mind the fact that XBox Live on your console keep expanding with new features including Netflix video on demand don’t be too surprised to see a few other extra features added in time.

Will you swap to a Windows mobile to gain access to XBox Live on the move?

Fujifilm Finepix Real 3D W3 Goes All 3D… Much Like Everything Else

You can barely turn around at the moment without being smacked in the face by an albeit beautifully realistic and gloriously good looking 3D-this or 3D-that. As if Sky 3D TV and 3D camcorders weren’t enough, the new Fuji Finepix offers 3D photo taking at a not entirely unreasonable £400 price tag. Fuji will also be offer 3D printing services because obviously the typical home computer and all-in-one printers isn’t really going to generate the kind of results you’re looking for.

You don’t need to wear the special glasses because the Finepix Real 3D uses lenticular technology. The camera has two lenses spaced roughly the same distance apart as a person’s eyes. The two images are then combined on furrowed 3D paper in order to create the 3D effect without giving you a headache.

From a practical point of view that means that you can view the 3D pictures directly on your camera or you can have them printed on 3D paper and then stick them in your photo album, hang them on the wall (bit scary in the middle of the night until you get used to it) or do whatever else you wish with them.

The Finepix Real 3D W3 also enables users to film 3D home video in much the same way although you obviously can’t print a home video to paper. You can, however, view it in 3D on your camera viewer or even on a 3D enabled TV, and there will presumably be more tech coming along soon enough that will give you even greater options of what to do with it.

Fujifilm has also said that they will be launching a 3D printing service to coincide with the W3 which goes on sale in September and will cost around £400 each.

Are you into the 3D craze yet?

Want to see yourself in full, glorious 3D hanging on your wall at home?

Nikon S1100pj Projector Cam Details Leaked

Imagine being able to wander round while on holiday taking photos and then getting back to your room and beaming the results directly on to your hotel room wall. No need for a PC or TV and you don’t even need any extra leads. That’s what the unique Nikon S1000pj digital camera did and the S1100pj, the next incarnation, will do exactly the same thing while also featuring a few extra nifty little features – we don’t think you have to take it in that rather nauseous looking citrus green but that may just be your thing.

The Nikon S1000pj was a phenomenon in its own right. Not only was it a really good quality camera but it also had the unique feature of a built in pico projector. It was surprising that the camera didn’t have a massive cult following, in all honesty, but obviously it performed well enough that Nikon felt it was worth upgrading and improving and they’ve certainly done that with some extra features and tech loveliness.

One of the few complaints you can have had with the original was that it was clumsy, at best, if you wanted to edit video. You couldn’t do so while it was being projected onto a wall or other surface for obvious reasons. The new remote control means that you can do exactly that making litle edits and tweaks on the fly and with the backing of a decent size picture.

There’s also a touch screen because there’s some kind of unwritten law that states new gadgets must in some way feature a touch screen (thank Apple for that). The phone will cost the equivalent of about £290 which really isn’t bad considering the features you’re getting.

Would you buy one if it were only available in metallic lime green?

Can you even get metallic limes?

Branchr Founder Is A 16 Year Old Millionnaire Modelled On Steve Jobs

It’s all well and good saying that you’re inspired by the likes of Steve Jobs but very few people actually do anything about following in the footsteps of their inspiration. Christian Owens, however, has done exactly that – he set up his first website at the age of 14 and has since gone on to become a millionnaire despite the fact that he’s still only aged 16. He’s clearly got the drive and determination as well as the vision to ensure it happens, but how has he made his money?

Using his pocket money at the time, Christian established the website Mac Box Bundle just two years ago in 2008. The website sells applications for the Mac and in the two years since then the website has gone on to bring in an astonishing £700,000 – now that’s a better return than the average paper round; even if you include Christmas tips.

Last year it was time for the juvenile entrepreneur to branch out and that’s exactly what he did setting up the pay-per-click company Branchr. He worked on the site in the evenings and at weekends. To say the site was popular would be a massive under statement, a bit like saying Steve Jobs has got a bit of cash tucked away. It has made £500,000 since its lanch one year ago and means that Owens has become a millionnaire long before he’s even old enough to go out and celebrate the fact.

Christian comes from Corby in Northamptonshire and says that it was seeing Steve Jobs take his company to global success that led him to become such a success. He’s not ready to retire yet though and has said that he won’t leave Branchr until it has made him £100m.

Are you a secret teenage Internet millionnaire?

Do you use Branchr or have you bought anything from Mac Box Bundle?

Samsung Announces Three New 3D TVs For US Market

The world of 3D keeps taking big leaps forward and Samsung is hoping to lead the way in the US by announcing what will be the world’s largest 3D capable home TV at 65 inches. Samsung has been blazing a trail with its TV sets launching what was the first news RSS feeds on TVs and following the success of this they also released widget based TV sets that included Flickr and Twitter gadgets. This year, in the same vein, they launched the Samsung TV app marketplace that lets TV owners download any of 100 apps to use in their homes. This figure is expected to double by the end of the year.

All three of the new 3D TVs have something going for them. The top of the range is undoubtedly the C800 which is a 65 inch LED TV. It has WiFi connectivity, is obviously 3D ready, and a 240Hz refresh rate. It comes in at a not unreasonable equivalent of £3,850 so while it isn’t cheap it’s not overly expensive for what is an incredible set.

The mid range Plasma 680 offers a combination of affordability with very good quality. There are two sizes – the 50 inch costs £1,000 and the 58 inch just £1,500. They both have 1080p resolution and 600Hz subfield motion.

The third in the series is a lower end spec and is definitely notworthy for its budget price tag. The Plasma 490 costs just £650 and is without doubt one of the msot affordable 3D TV sets on the market and considering the technology was pretty much unheard of this time last year that’s some going.

And, 3D TV is also making leaps and bounds in the world of phobias. The BugWorld Experience is showing a Sky TV created film of spiders including tarantulas as well as more common household spiders. In full, glorious 3D the video is aimed at helping those with arachnophobia to rid themselves of the fear.

Would a 3D display of deadly spiders cure your phobia?

Would you buy a 3D TV if it cost as little as £650?

Live Fantasy Football Game Launched For New Premier Season

The Premiership season kicks off tomorrow and while many people’s attention may be taken the antics of the Big Four or one of the smallest clubs in Premier history, Blackpool, fans of fantasy football games have a new way to enjoy games. The PickLive website is a new fantasy football like game that enables players to choose 3 players for televised games and then play in short 7.5 minute matches against 10 other people in a game room.

As yet we can’t find any way of winning money but with 17 different ways to score or indeed lose points it’s pretty in depth and according to the game creators an average 90 minute match would have around 1,200 scoring events compared to 15 in more typical fantasy football games.

There’s a very good selection of games in which you can take part and once you’ve signed up you choose 3 players from a match rather than the usual 11. As the game progresses, scores are updated in real time and you can even make 3 live substitutions as the game progresses.

The game went through its final test phase during the World Cup and the team behind the game say that tests went better than they could have ever hoped for and this led to the release of the game just in time for the start of the Premiership campaign.

Lets face it, much as we love the game of football, some of the matches can be incredibly dull and make 90 minutes feel like a prison sentence. Putting money on the game can help to improve the situation a little but not everybody wants to gamble away their wages getting scores wrong. PickLive looks like it could prove to be a fun and entertaining way to supplement the enjoyment of any game and you can play against mates too.

Have you tried PickLive yet?

Have you got your fantasy 11 sorted?

Amazon To Release More Hardware?

Following the succes of the Amazon Kindle, it has been reported (by the New York Times at least) that the Lab 126 division of Amazon which is responsible for the manufacture of their hardware devices, is gearing up to create new ranges that go beyond the ebook readers already popularised with the world. The whole report is based on some job openings with Lab 126 and it could just be that the company is looking for Supply Chain Managers and Engineers to help launch and improve newer versions of the hardware but you never know.

E-books are really only a small portion of the digital content portfolio that Amazon boasts and you can also download music and videos. This means that the move from ebook reader to multimedia player and handheld music and movie players may well make sense and now they’ve got their manufcturing toe wet by dipping it in the waters of success you can’t help but feel that the etailer giant may well be gearing up for bigger and better things.

There’s even a games on demand service that lets you download digital games so the possibilities are certainly not limited. There could be mp3 players, mp4 players, Tivo like set top boxes, and even tablet PCs from Amazon coming our way very soon.

However, the New York Times has quashed the mild rumour that Amazon will attempt to win the smartphone wars by releasing its own model. Apparently the company has decided against the idea of a turf battle for that particular crown – although, if they enjoy success with another device then they could well change their mind and you could see the Amazonia smartphone on shelves one day.

Would you buy an Amazon mp3 player?

Do you use their digital download service?

iPhone Owners Have More Sex Than Android Users

It could be the confirmation you were looking for or the reason you need to go out and buy an iPhone rather than a Blackberry or an Android mobile phone. According to a survey conducted by dating site OkCupid.com iPhone owners have more sex and with more partners than owners of other smartphones – wow, there’s an app for that?

Male owners of the Apple wonder phone will have had 10 different partners by the time they reach the age of 30 so it seems that antenna problems only stretch so far as the phone itself. Blackberry owners will manage 8.1 (we’re not sure about the use of decimal points in such figures because it makes us wonder how you have 0.1 of a sexual partner – a toe, maybe?) and Android owners are lagging behind with just 6 partners.

The figures get even more disparate for women too. Female iPhone users have 12.3 sexual partners by the time they reach 30. Blackberry owners only manage 8.8 and Android based smartphone owners rack up just 6.1 by the same age.

The moral of the story? The kind of people that buy iPhones are sexually promiscuous – you decide whether that means it’s time to swap phone or not.

The survey also looked at the type of photo that was most likely to make you appear more attractive on dating sites. Rather that considering whether photos of oneself taken in the mirror are considered good or bad, the dating site looked at far more technical details.

Apparently, sharp focus on the subject and blurred focus on the background makes the individual look more attractive. Photos taken late at night and late in the afternoon are best and the use of a flash is strictly a no-go if you want to appear more appealing.

What photo do you use on your dating site profile?

Which smartphone do you use and do you follow or buck the trend for sexual partners?

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