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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MobileMe Shuts Down Tomorrow: Save Your Pictures and Files Before They Disappear [Psa]

If you didn't get the memo last year, here's your last warning: MobileMe is shutting down on Saturday June 30th. That's tomorrow. If you still have pictures in your MobileMe Gallery or files on iDisk, save it or it's going bye bye forever! More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/XwVmcRQx1EA/mobileme-shuts-down-tomorrow-june-30th-save-your-pictures-and-files

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Amazon Appstore for Android Test Drive hands on: surprisingly cool, but still US-only

When Amazon Appstore for Android launched last week, one of its primary features -- Test Drive -- was disabled just a few minutes after it opened. With no try-before-you-buy, no refund process, and 1-Click purchasing ready to strike at any moment, this caused some problems. Anyway, don't despair: Test Drive is now enabled.

Before you get your hopes up, Test Drive doesn't work with every app. The IMDb app works fine -- you can even watch movie trailers on it! -- but the Angry Birds games are sadly not enabled. Some games work surprisingly well, though, like Bubble Buster. There's very little latency, and the framerate is really rather good. The Test Drive experience is so true to life that you even get ads; how cool is that?

Gallery: Amazon Appstore for Android Test Drive

Continue reading Amazon Appstore for Android Test Drive hands on: surprisingly cool, but still US-only

Amazon Appstore for Android Test Drive hands on: surprisingly cool, but still US-only originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/28/amazon-appstore-for-android-test-drive-hands-on-surprisingly-co/

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Opera 11.10 gets HTML5 File API support, IMAP improvements

The crew in Oslo keeps plugging away at Opera 11.10, and the latest snapshot build includes a number of improvements to Opera's built-in email client -- as well as HTML5-related additions.

On the IMAP front, Opera now supports special folders like sent items, spam, and trash. It also better handles duplicate items in Gmail -- such as those which appear in all mail and under your custom labels.

Opera 11.10 now partially supports the HTML5 File API as well, which means your favorite Web apps (like Gmail) may soon begin adding Opera to the list of supported browsers.

You can download the latest Opera 11.10 snapshot for Windows, Mac, or Linux from the official release post.

Update: The Opera 11.10 RC is now available, as pointed out by SlashZaku in the comments. Thanks!

Opera 11.10 gets HTML5 File API support, IMAP improvements originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/06/opera-11-10-gets-html5-file-api-support-imap-improvements/

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Google Chrome and Chromium add protection against malicious downloads

Google Chrome already sports a number of security-minded features, from Incognito mode to a software sandbox which makes exploiting the browser a Herculean task. Now, Google has announced additional protection for Chromium and Chrome users.

Built upon the Safe Browsing API, the new feature introduces protection against malicious downloads. If a download link appears in the Safe Browsing blacklist, Chrome and Chromium will warn users against downloading -- a save button is still presented, of course, in case you're convinced a file is perfectly safe to download.

We'd like to see something a bit more eye-catching than the red warning icon -- like perhaps painting the entire bar red. Many of the people a feature like this aims to protect probably won't notice the icon or change in wording as they'll be focused on clicking the save button.

Google is initially making download protection available to Chrome dev channel users, and you'll likely see it in Canary and Chromium snapshot builds as well. After thorough testing, beta and stable users will be next in line.

Google Chrome and Chromium add protection against malicious downloads originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/05/google-chrome-and-chromium-add-protection-against-malicious-down/

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Google Glass Team: ‘Wearable Computing Will Be the Norm’

Wired's Steven Levy interviews Google's Babak Parviz and Steve Lee, the principle brains behind Project Glass. Read on for exclusive details on how the wearable computing glasses work, and what's in store for Google ambitious technology.

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/06/clear-glass-leaders-googles-wearable-computing-breakthrough-explain-it-all-for-you/

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Gladinet maps Amazon Cloud Drive to your Windows desktop

Amazon's recently-introduced Cloud Drive is a great place to store your files online. It offers 5 gigs of totally free space, and U.S. users also get access to the handy Cloud Player app (for Web and Android!) which streams music you upload to your Cloud Drive.

The service could be a little easier to use, however. Until Amazon releases a desktop client, Windows users might want to take another look at Gladinet. The multi-service cloud connector has now added Amazon Cloud Drive support and will let you map a network drive letter to your account with minimal fuss.

Once you've added your credentials to Gladinet, just pick the letter you want to assign to the drive and you're good to go. You can then copy files to and from your Cloud Drive, rename items, and manage folders like you would any local hard drive in your system.

The only downside is that the free version of Gladinet gives you a limited number of cloud interactions. Once you use those up, you'll need to upgrade to the paid version, which costs $49.99. If you work with a number of cloud-based storage providers, however, it could be well worth the price tag.

Gladinet maps Amazon Cloud Drive to your Windows desktop originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/04/map-amazon-cloud-drive-to-windows-local/

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Burrito Bison is a simple game for gummy bear lovers

Burrito Bison is a pretty simple game, but if you're into gummy bears you might find it addictive.

As you may have guessed from the name, you're a bison (not a burrito, though). In the course of your day-to-day grocery shopping, you're abducted into a bag of gummy bears, and must now fend for yourself.

At the beginning of each round you launch yourself onto the marching gummy (gummi?) bears, while you're being watched by a huge crowd of even more gummy bears. Your goal is to keep bouncing on the bears and earn more and more money while you do it. Every time you hit a gummy bear, you lose some momentum. If you hit the floor, you basically lose all of it.

But don't give up just yet! You have an emergency thrust which you can use to gain some momentum and keep bouncing on those bears. This extra thrust gets refilled as you hit more bears.

There are also special gummy bears that give you extra thrust or extra money. The money comes in handy at the end of each round, when you can shop for cool stuff to make your bison even more effective against those gummy bears.

It's a fun and colorful game that kept my interest for quite some time, and almost sent me running to the closest store to get some gummy bears!

Burrito Bison is a simple game for gummy bear lovers originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 26 Mar 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/26/burrito-bison-is-a-simple-game-for-gummy-bear-lovers/

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Farragomate is a social fridge magnet game where you make up sentences

You know those fridge magnet kits composed of a whole bunch of words? The ones you put all over your fridge door and then try to arrange into all sorts of juvenile and/or amusing sentences. Well, Farragomate is the social, webby version of that very same pastime.

You get to play with a bunch of random strangers in real-time, and make up sentences out of a pre-set collection of words, including some fairly naughty ones, and all players' nicknames. As you can imagine, some of the results are not child-friendly.

There are ten rounds to a game. Once a round is done, players get to vote for their favorite sentence from that round. You can't vote for your own creation, of course. There's in-game chat, too.

I think the vocabulary could be made a bit more eclectic, but even as it is, it's a nice way to spend a few minutes and meet random strangers on the Internet (always a thrilling experience).

Farragomate is a social fridge magnet game where you make up sentences originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/02/25/farragomate-is-a-social-game-where-you-make-up-sentences/

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FlyGrip Gives Your Smartphone One Handed Usability

Do you use your smartphone, small tablet or eReader with just one hand? Probably not. You most likely hold it in one hand and use a finger on your other hand as the stylus to tap the display. For those of you that are talented enough to hold your phone in one hand and use [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2012/06/30/flygrip-gives-your-smartphone-one-handed-usability/

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The Stoner Channel: RZA Brings the Pain, Mexico Tries Something New, and GNR Does the Ritz [Video]

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Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/CMttmFIPRVs/

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Windows 8 Upgrade Plans Unveiled — Legacy OS Users Won’t Be Totally Hosed

Microsoft has detailed Windows 8 upgrade options, including for users who are running older versions of Windows, such as Windows Vista and Windows XP.

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/06/windows-8-upgrade/

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This Combo Trackpad-Mouse Combo Is Either Twice As Awful or Half As Good As a Regular Mouse [Mouse]

There's no way Gigabyte's Xenon Dual Mode Touchpad Mouse, that is a trackpad and mouse in one combination, can be any good, right? The mouse looks like a complete horror show, like using an angular Magic Mouse, and the trackpad looks neutered and drooping. I don't believe. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/x2bdk-nDDak/this-trackpad-and-mouse-combo-in-one-is-either-twice-as-awful-or-half-as-good-as-a-regular-mouse

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100% Waterproof Case Lets You Take Underwater Photos with Your iPhone

Each Endurance Protective Case for iPhone 4/4S from driSuit Technologies has been tested under 5 meters of water for one hour before it’s sold to ensure it meets the IP-68 standards for water exposure.  The case has a hard exterior with a soft interior to provide protection against drops and shocks, too.  There’s a waterproof [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2012/06/27/100-waterproof-case-lets-you-take-underwater-photos-with-your-iphone/

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Atari offers 100 greatest hits for free to commemorate 40th anniversary

Atari's 40th anniversary is this week, and to celebrate they're offering their catalog of classic games on iOS for free. Normally the 100-strong collection goes for $9.99, and even then, most of the titles still required in-app purchases.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/TjFYD3RH6VA/story01.htm

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Matias Duarte Q&A: Jelly Bean, the Nexus 7, and the Wild, Weird World of Android [Android]

Matias Duarte is the Director of Android User Experience at Google, which means he's the artist who pretties up the green robot's gears. We got some one-on-one time with him at Google I/O, and he opened up about the Nexus 7, Jelly Bean, and why we shouldn't be so huffy about Android fragmentation. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/7QeTppEdjo4/matias-duarte-interview-jelly-bean-the-nexus-7-and-the-wild-weird-world-of-android

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