Elephant Quest is an addictive, deep platformer

When someone tells me about a "platformer", my first thought is that it's probably a simple game that mainly revolves around running and jumping around, with a minimal plot. [Play a Zelda game! -Ed]

Elephant Quest is one platformer that managed to prove me completely wrong. Yes, you do run and jump around, and you also shoot at stuff. But the game has much, much more going for it.

Basically, as you run, jump and shoot, you gain experience points and level up. Hitting Space brings you into an interface where you can convert your experience points into Charisma, Intelligence, Agility and Dexterity points. Once you've "specialized" your points, you then get to pick what exact skills you'd like to enhance in each field. For example, you could use your dexterity to enhance your weapons or increase your swiftness.

The game is played in a huge maze; you go through rooms using doors, and there's a large map. As the name implies, there are quests you can take, too. For example, one quest had me searching all over the place for ten balloons.

The bottom line is that this is a surprisingly deep game that just might ensnare you for a good bit longer than you intended to play. Beware!

Elephant Quest is an addictive, deep platformer originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 25 Mar 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/25/elephant-quest-is-an-addictive-deep-platformer/

Novellus Systems Novell Network Appliance Netgear Ncr

This week in Crave: The superhero edition

by Leslie Katz December 31, 2011 5:00 AM PST

Superhero Ramona shows off the design on her new customized cape.

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

Too busy learning new pickup lines from robots this week to keep up with Crave? Here's what you missed while you were studying Daniel123's winning ways.

• Is a 311-mph train fast enough for you?

• Never has the world seen a cuter superhero.

• This week's Low Latency: Times change, and so do people.

• Your brand new camera's out of the box. Now what?

• If you have green hair and flip-flops, you're probably not an Android user.

• For out-of-this-world flair, try pairing a Boba Fett hat with Princess Leia headphone covers.

• See what dominated Google's Zeitgeist in 2011.

• And now that 2011 is just about over, what are your tech-related resolutions for 2012? We want to hear them!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/cnet/tcoc/~3/1dj_LPtS0wo/

Total System Services Tns Tibco Software Tibco Software Thq

New Firefox Nightly and Aurora logos unearthed, and how to enable channel switching

Later today, Firefox will undergo its biggest developmental upheaval ever. Mozilla-central, the source of nightly builds, will be renumbered to version 5 -- and at long last, after years of wallowing around version 1, Mozilla's rendering and layout engine, Gecko, will also have its version number updated to match Firefox.

Shortly thereafter, Firefox's new channel system will be implemented. Firefox 5a2 will be introduced as the first Aurora build, and we should also see a Firefox 6 Nightly build. While we we're not sure where they came from, one Sören Hentzschel seems to have unearthed the new Nightly and Aurora logos (see above), along with new About Firefox dialogs (after the break).

In other news, if you want to take a sneak peek at the new 'channel changing' technology that will be introduced in upcoming Firefox builds, head to about:config and create a new string called app.update.desiredChannel -- the value doesn't matter. Then open Help > About Firefox and you'll be able to switch channel, but it doesn't do anything just yet (image after the break). Here's hoping that Firefox channel switching is smoother than Chrome.

Continue reading New Firefox Nightly and Aurora logos unearthed, and how to enable channel switching

New Firefox Nightly and Aurora logos unearthed, and how to enable channel switching originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 07:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/11/new-firefox-nightly-and-aurora-logos-unearthed-and-how-to-enabl/

Lsi Linear Technology Lexmark International Level 3 Communications Lawson Software

ComScore: Android up, RIM down, water wet

Stop us (oh, oh, oh stop us) if you've heard this one before, but in the world of cellphone market share: nothing's changed -- or at least almost nothing. The quarterly data from ComScore say you all still love Android and iOS only slightly more than you used to. Of the 91.4 million smartphones in the US, Google gained the 3.1 percent of the market that RIM lost, and is now inching toward controlling half the nation's phones with 46.9 percent, whilst Apple swallowed the modest gains that Microsoft and Symbian lost. Samsung remains top manufacturer in a report where the only surprise is that 72.6 percent of users send text messages, so what do the other 27.4 percent do when they've been delayed or way-laid?

[Thanks, Wilson]

Continue reading ComScore: Android up, RIM down, water wet

ComScore: Android up, RIM down, water wet originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Dec 2011 07:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink OddPattern  |  comScore  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/30/comscore-android-up-rim-down-water-wet/

Verisign Verifone Holdings Veeco Instruments Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates United Online

Researcher finds vulnerability in WPS protocol, looks for manufacturers to offer fix

On the plus side, your router's mostly secure. Security researcher Stefan Viehbock has just discovered a major security hole which allowed him to use a brute force technique to access a WPS PIN-protected network in about two hours. According to Viehbock, a design flaw allows the WPS protocol's 8-digit PIN security to fall dramatically as additional attempts are made. With each attempt, the router will send a message stating whether the first four digits are correct while the last digit of the key is used as a checksum and then given out by the router in negotiation. As a result, the 100,000,000 possibilities that the WPS should represent becomes roughly to 11,000.

The US-CERT has picked up on this and advised users to disable WPS on their routers. Viehbock, in turn, claims to have attempted to discuss the vulnerability with hardware vendors such as Buffalo, D-Link, Linksys, and Netgear, but says he has been roundly ignored and that no public acknowledgement of the issue has been released. As a possible final step, Viehbock has promised to release a brute force tool soon, thereby pushing the manufacturers to work to resolve the issue. In other news, that evil supercomputer from the movie War Games just got a few more digits of the nuclear launch codes -- maybe one of Stefan's pals can look into that one.

Researcher finds vulnerability in WPS protocol, looks for manufacturers to offer fix originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Dec 2011 19:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Verge  |  Stefan Viehbock, US-CERT  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/L8yvnzXWtT8/

Virgin Media Viewsonic Verisign Verifone Holdings Veeco Instruments

The FLOTE Stand for Tablets and eBook Readers

Here’s another Kickstarter project.  The FLOTE Stand is a floor stand that works with most tablets and eBook readers, with or without a cover.  The all-metal stand is machined by US craftsmen, and it’s available in aluminum, black, or white finishes.  It easily adjusts without having to loosen or tighten anything, and it has a [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/12/27/the-flote-stand-for-tablets-and-ebook-readers/

Imation Ikon Office Solutions Idt Ibasis Hypercom

Here's Amazon's Final Damage Report for the 2011 Holiday Season [Amazon]

Chances are the holidays have driven you mostly insane by now, so Amazon's gone ahead and packaged its Christmas shopping postmortem (it sold lots of Kindles!) with some goofy facts that will appeal to the infantile mush that used to be your brain. Here are some of the more charming/pertinent bits: More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/SCtpV6ECCUw/amazons-holiday-season-funbag

Lexmark International Level 3 Communications Lawson Software Land Software Lam Research

Engadget Mobile Podcast 119 - 12.29.2011

It's that weird week between Christmas and New Year's, and what have we got for you, dear listener? A completely normal international Engadget Mobile Podcast, of course! Settle in around the media player dock and make all your 2012 dreams come true with us, won't you?

Hosts: Myriam Joire (tnkgrl), Brad Molen
Guest: Mat Smith
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Music: Tycho - Coastal Brake (Ghostly International)

00:03:40 - Pantech Pocket review
00:14:20 - Samsung: No room for ICS on Galaxy S, Galaxy Tab, TouchWiz to blame
00:39:06 - Verzo Kinzo unboxing and impressions
00:48:57 - LG Prada 3.0 sashays over to South Korea because Android phones are so hot right now
01:04:06 - HTC Fireball and LG Spectrum may bring global awesomeness to Verizon's LTE lineup




Hear the podcast


Subscribe to the podcast
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes
[RSS MP3] Add the Engadget Mobile Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically
[RSS AAC] Add the Engadget Mobile Podcast feed (in enhanced AAC) to your RSS aggregator
[Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune Marketplace

Download the podcast
LISTEN (MP3)
LISTEN (AAC)

Contact the podcast
podcast (at) engadgetmobile (dot) com.

Follow us on Twitter
@tnkgrl @phonewisdom @engadgetmobile @thatmatsmith

Engadget Mobile Podcast 119 - 12.29.2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Dec 2011 07:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/f9IfpnSu4xw/

Western Digital Volt Information Sciences Vishay Intertechnology Virgin Media Viewsonic

The Fastest RAM for Your Gaming PC [Memory]

You just bought the fastest (and most expensive) desktop platform on the planet. Which company's memory will you use to populate Intel's quad-channel controller? We tested four purportedly high-end kits in order to find out which set is the best. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/gAfjWeQUN-c/four-blazing+fast-high+end-memory-kits-reviewed

Total System Services Tns Tibco Software Tibco Software Thq

Verizon confirms latest LTE outage restored, again claims 3G operated normally

Verizon Wireless appears to be standing behind its claims of operating "the nation's largest, most reliable 3G network and the nation's largest 4G LTE network," following this month's latest nationwide data outage. A Verizon spokesperson wrote in to inform us that "the 4GLTE issue was resolved overnight. 3G operated normally; calling, texting were unaffected." We were unable to access data on both LTE and 3G CDMA networks with our Galaxy Nexus yesterday, however. Verizon may be working furiously to add cities to its LTE coverage map, but with repeated outages and little clarification this month, it may be a very long time before the carrier can include 4G reliability in its corporate maxim.

Verizon confirms latest LTE outage restored, again claims 3G operated normally originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Dec 2011 09:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Verizon News (Twitter)  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/29/verizon-confirms-latest-lte-outage-restored-again-claims-3g-ope/

Si International Seagate Technology Scientific Games Sandisk Salesforce Com

CyanogenMod Compiler project allows Android tweakers to easily make custom blends

Ever wish that building your own personal ROM was as simple as placing an order at Starbucks? Well, an intrepid coder known as lithid-cm has taken that vision one step closer with the CyanogenMod Compiler (CMC), a command line utility that allows armchair mixers to remove unwanted features and then compile their own special blend of CyanogenMod. While CMC's functionality is currently rather limited -- which allows users to eliminate languages, wallpapers and tweak themes -- the developer will introduce new installation / removal features and additional plug-in support in future releases. The software is early alpha stage, which means its creator needs the help of others to identify and resolve the rough edges. So, if you aren't afraid to get your hands a bit dirty, CMC seems quite worthwhile. Just don't blame us when you break something.

CyanogenMod Compiler project allows Android tweakers to easily make custom blends originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Dec 2011 01:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Android Community  |  xda-developers  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/29/cyanogenmod-compiler-project-allows-android-tweakers-to-easily-m/

Apple Computer Applied Materials Arian Semiconductor Equipment Arrow Electronics Asml Holding

Smack All SOPA Supporters With This Automated Robocall Service [Video]

This is going to feel good: now you can call all supporters of SOPA and PIPA, the dreadful US internet censorship laws, using a simple web site. Just record your very own message, pay some dollars and fire away. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/oEGJHGL9VpU/smack-all-sopa-supporters-with-this-automated-robocall-service

United Online Unisys Triquint Semiconductor Trimble Navigation Limited Trident Microsystems