Words With Friends for Android updated, promises "smoother game experience"

As several of you noted in the comments to our post asking for cross-platform iOS/Android games, Words With Friends for Android does not provide the smoothest gaming experience... and that's being rather charitable.

You might be happy to hear that a couple of days ago Zynga released an update which promises to solve many of the Android-specific issues, such as notifications not popping up.

Sadly, installing the update is not a smooth experience; you have to manually uninstall the previous version, and then go to the Android Market and install it. What's nice is that it doesn't lose your saved games - this screenshot shows a game I've started before the update and continued after updating.

How's the new update working out for you? Let us know in the comments!

Words With Friends for Android updated, promises "smoother game experience" originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 04 Mar 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/04/words-with-friends-for-android-updated-promises-smoother-game/

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Verizon gets new prepaid plans, adds Jetpack hotspot to contract-free lineup

And just like that Verizon has revamped its prepaid pricing structure. Starting tomorrow, May 1st, the carrier will be offering unlimited talk and text packaged with 1GB of data for $80 a month. The new offering will be available first with the Samsung Illusion, a disappointingly 3G handset, though, one that wont demand a two year commitment to Big Red. Verizon is also adding the Jetpack MiFi 4510L LTE mobile hotspot to its contract-free offerings for $130. Prepaid plans for the 4G wireless hotspot start at $15 for 250 MB a week, but quickly climb to $60 and $90 for 3GB and 10GB, respectively. For more info check out the PR after the break.

Continue reading Verizon gets new prepaid plans, adds Jetpack hotspot to contract-free lineup

Verizon gets new prepaid plans, adds Jetpack hotspot to contract-free lineup originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/XZDC25hx66w/

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Instagram: Fun but No Threat to the Art World

Instagram, the popular photography and social networking app for the iPhone, with a whopping 27 million iOS users, recently became available for Android. Around 5 million Android users reportedly signed up for the app in the first few days of the Android release. Then social network Facebook offered $1 billion for the company. What's going on?

Source: http://ectnews.com.feedsportal.com/c/34520/f/632000/s/1ecc56db/l/0L0Stechnewsworld0N0Crsstory0C74960A0Bhtml/story01.htm

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Frank Gehry's Tiffany Chess Set Is a Miniature Architectural Marvel [Games]

Architect Frank Gehry is best known for his curvaceous buildings like the Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA, or the other Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. But he was also recently commissioned by Tiffany & Co. to create this funky chess set which looks like a tiny Gehry-inspired cityscape. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/xPFhZKmO9xE/frank-gehrys-tiffany-chess-set-is-a-miniature-architectural-marvel

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Sneaky Tax Tactics Save Apple Billions of Dollars [Apple]

The NY Times is reporting that by routing huge amounts of income through low-tax places like Nevada, Ireland, Luxembourg, and the British Virgin Islands, Apple probably avoided paying $2.4 billion dollars in U.S. taxes last year alone. That's billion, with a B. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/feAlrSspT50/sneaky-tax-tactics-save-apple-billions-of-dollars

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GNOME 3 released, ushers in an interesting amalgam of iOS and OS X

GNOME 3, after more than two years of development, has been released into the wild. GNOME 3 is not merely the logical successor of GNOME 2: it is an entirely new project, started from scratch, to create a "completely new, modern desktop designed for today's users and technologies."

The best way to check out GNOME 3's new features -- and it has lots of new features -- is to run a live version of openSUSE or Fedora, or simply head over to the GNOME 3 website and watch the (rather pretty) introductory videos. If you want a synopsis, though, here it is: GNOME 3 looks a lot like Mac OS X, with a healthy dollop of iOSesqueness for good measure, but yet it still somehow retains an underlying feel of Linux.

The overall aesthetic is very simple, very elegant, and despite being slightly out of fashion, there are plenty of rounded corners, too. The main addition, workflow-wise, is the addition of an app-launcher-cum-alt-tab screen, where you can launch apps, or flip through your open windows. For a complete list of the new features and changes, check the GNOME 3 release notes.

Despite GNOME 3 being officially launched, there aren't actually any releases for existing, stable Linux distros -- it's the live CD/USB images, or Ubuntu users will have to wait for the launch of 11.04 for a GNOME 3 PPA, but it will break Unity in the process. Fedora users will have to wait for for the May 24 release of Fedora 15. Of course, if you're feeling crazy, you can always build GNOME 3 from source.

GNOME 3 released, ushers in an interesting amalgam of iOS and OS X originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 06:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/07/gnome-3-released-ushers-in-an-interesting-amalgam-of-ios-and-os/

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Stunning Ice Sculpture Table Will Never Melt Away [Furniture]

You won't have to worry about global warming, or your broken air conditioner, causing architect Zaha Hadid's beautiful Liquid Glacier table to melt away. It might look like a perfect frozen sculpture, but it's actually made from long-lasting clear acrylic. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/_w8WMeA7mC4/stunning-ice-sculpture-table-will-never-melt-away

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WWDC 2012, Avengers, and other awesome Retina wallpapers for your iPad and iPhone

No matter what you're looking for, be it Apple's WWDC 2012 logo, the upcoming Avengers movie and Prometheus movie posters, something from Star Wars, even Hollywood hotness, you'll find it and plenty more. And if you've got something special, just start a thread and share away! (If there's a wallpaper you want for iPhone -- or any phone or tablet -- and you can only find it for iPad, don't worry -- your iPhone can scale it down and crop it perfectly to fit any of your devices!) We're going to be adding more and more every day, so bookmark the iMore Forums and check back often!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/Ntr1B1bmM1o/story01.htm

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Konstruct for iOS creates generative augmented reality art with your voice

If you have an artistic temperament, but you weren't blessed with steady hands or an eye for color, Konstruct might be the app for you. Not only does the iPhone app let you produce generative art using words, warbles and whistles, but it also uses augmented reality to bring your artistic creation to life.

To get started, you first need to print out the Konstruct marker and place it wherever you'd like to create your AR sculpture -- it could be on your living room wall, or on the floor of your bathroom, it doesn't matter. Open the app, point your iPhone at the marker, and start making some noises! Once you're done, you can save your creation, or simply wipe the slate clean and start again.

The volume of your voice affects the size of the shapes that are drawn on the screen, and you can move your head around to alter the path of your 'brush' -- but to change the shape of your brush or modify the color palette you have to use a menu. Without knowledge of the app's internal workings, it's hard to say what the actual difference between whistling, talking and singing is -- and judging by the developer's affinity for whistling in the demo video (after the break), the app probably doesn't perform that much analysis on your input.

Still, Konstruct is just a prototype! A later version could do away with menus and rely entirely on the location, tonality, quality and amplitude of your voice -- and judging by the the words of the developer, James Alliban, there is definitely more in store for Konstruct: "The idea of transforming entire cities into user generated virtual art galleries really appeals to me. I see Konstruct as an early prototype that will hopefully be realised in this form in the future."

Download Konstruct for free from the App Store (iPhone 3GS and 4 only)

[Thanks to Richard for the tip!]

Gallery: Konstruct for iOS: create generative augmented art with your voice

Continue reading Konstruct for iOS creates generative augmented reality art with your voice

Konstruct for iOS creates generative augmented reality art with your voice originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/05/konstruct-for-ios-creates-generative-augmented-reality-art-with/

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