Archive for June, 2011

Regardless of who manufactures an electronic device, to sell it in the U.S. it has pass a number of stringent safety tests. That means we can buy and use the device safe in the knowledge it isn’t going to harm us. What those tests don’t guarantee is that a device will continue to work when […]

If you haven’t been keeping up with your cat-related meme, you may have missed the adorable Nyan cat. Let us explain: it’s an 8-bit animation of a cat that flies through space as rainbows stream from its Pop Tart body. We know it sounds strange, but it’s an internet sensation. YouTube confirmed that with surprise […]

All seemed good and well at Apple after the company finally signed the four major labels just in time for its iCloud and iTunes Match announcement at WWDC. However, one indie label is stirring things up by being the first to publically denounce the iTunes Match service. The Chicago-based label Numero Group specializes in creating […]

Back at the end of April Redbox announced that it was branching out beyond DVDs and that video games would be making their way to the company’s now familiar kiosks. Today is the day they become available, and the line-up of titles is already impressive. For $2 a day you can take home one of […]

Richard O’Dwyer, a 23-year-old student studying computer science at Sheffield Hallam University, created the website TV Shack. Its sole purpose was to offer links to thousands of movies and TV shows from around the web. In return, he generated advertising revenue from the site, but also caught the attention of the US government who have […]

JK Rowling knows how to tease her fans, and there are plenty of them to be teased. Yesterday she launched a new web site called Pottermore, which features nothing but the Pottermore logo and JK Rowling’s handwriting underneath that reads “Coming soon…” and her accompanying signature. Some fans think it’ll be a new series of […]

If PlayStation 3 owners were unhappy with Sony because of the PSN hack and the extended downtime surrounding it, or if you were thinking now would be a good time to pick up a used PS3 at a good price, you’d be wrong. Sony reported that PS3 sales actually went up while PSN was unavailable, […]

Crafty malware authors aren’t the only cybercriminals angling to make an illegitimate buck off Windows users. For more than a year, unsuspecting users have been receiving phone calls from what sounds like a Microsoft tech support representative. It’s a scam, of course, but to the untrained ear the alarming news that Microsoft was notified of […]

Rumors of Apple’s Back to School promotion had many future-Mac customers talking about the possibility of Apple offering a $100 iTunes gift card instead of the iPod touch it offered for last year’s promotion. Today, we have the official word from Apple that it will indeed be giving college students and teachers who purchase a […]

Students and teachers looking to purchase a MacBook during their back-to-school shopping spree are usually rewarded with a little extra incentive from Apple. The company has been offering free or discounted products since about 2006 for students and teachers purchasing a MacBook during the Apple Back to School event. Apple is launching its Back to […]

The longest total lunar eclipse in 11 years is set to take place tonight, and if you live in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Australia, you’ll have a front-row seat to the sight. The event is called a “central” eclipse, a somewhat rare lunar eclipse where the moon passes clear over the center […]

Sphero, the robotic brainchild of the Orbotix robotics company, has been on my mind for quite some time now. The robotic ball fits in the palm of your hand and is controlled completely by your smartphone or tablet. These Android- and iOS-friendly balls have been seen floating around tech events for about a year now, […]