PayPal to launch a new, social, group-buying tool called Shoptimist

With the a groan-worthy name, and equally tired slogan -- "Positively awesome shopping!" -- PayPal looks set to launch a new service called Shoptimist.

Details are thin, but it looks like Shoptimist will be a Groupon with emphasis on real-world, physical products. Fellow shoppers will band together to get cheaper deals from suppliers -- and the more people that join in, the better the deal. That's where the social aspect comes in: you'll want to add friends to your 'purchasing group' so that you can open up the cheapest prices. No doubt, all of your recent purchases will be fed through to your Facebook wall, too.

There also seems to be a 'sweepstakes' element to Shoptimist -- like this Facebook page for a chance to win! -- but I suspect that's just to drum up initial interest in the service.

PayPal to launch a new, social, group-buying tool called Shoptimist originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/11/23/paypal-to-launch-a-new-social-group-buying-tool-called-shoptim/

24 Ways, the geeky Web developer advent calendar, is back for 2010

Back for its sixth year and as nerdy as ever, 24 ways gives you a delicious daily dose of design and development between the 1st and 24th of December.

Almost every article has something to do with CSS or HTML, and it's definitely not targeted at beginners -- but if you work with websites, or you know someone that does, 24 ways is a must-read. The archives are fantastic, too, if only to see the dwindling popularity of technologies like AJAX, and the rise of CSS animation.

Even if you're not a Web designer or developer, I would suggest you check out 24 ways just for its beautiful layout. I think the entire site uses only one image, with the rest being glorious CSS. It does look a bit like a modern, gray-and-pink Scottish tartan, though.

If you find the site useful, and want to give something back, there will be a book containing the 24 articles, and all proceeds will go to UNICEF.

24 Ways, the geeky Web developer advent calendar, is back for 2010 originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/12/03/24-ways-the-geeky-web-developer-advent-calendar-is-back-for-20/

Future Ubuntu bumps could be a daily occurrence

We're getting used to software developers releasing early and iterating often. Web browsers are perhaps the best example, with Google, Mozilla, and Opera dropping bleeding-edge snapshots like so many quarters into a one-armed bandit. Operating systems, however, are another story.

Canonical is looking to change that, and frontman Mark Shuttleworth thinks that you may see Ubuntu pushing things in a similar direction. "Today we have a six-month release cycle," Shuttleworth said. "In an internet-oriented world, we need to be able to release something every day," he told The Register. This would go beyond the package updates Ubuntu users -- and Linux users in general -- are used to receiving via their package manager. Major new features, subtle UI changes, or new core applications like the recently-added Shotwell photo manager could be delivered piping hot, fresh from the development teams working on a particular aspect of Ubuntu.

Future Ubuntu bumps could be a daily occurrence originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 18:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/11/23/ubuntu-daily-builds-updates/

Acer to launch app store, will pre-load on PCs

Our pals over at Engadget covered the Acer hullabaloo this morning, and there's one bit which blipped on the Download Squad radar. Yes, software aficionados, Acer is launching an app and content store.

It'll be called Alive, and you can't really blame Acer for the move -- they're a top-3 manufacturer selling millions of laptops and desktops every year. The opportunity to glean a few percentage points in commission for selling an app or album could amount to a significant revenue stream. Plus, there's the 'we're providing a convenience for our customers' angle. To the average computer user, finding, downloading, and installing quality apps remains a bit of a mystery. A curated store, of course, offers a solution that just about everyone is familiar with in 2010.

Acer to launch app store, will pre-load on PCs originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/11/23/acer-to-launch-app-store-will-pre-load-on-pcs/

Polaroid Teases Of A New Camera For CES 2011

When it comes to cameras, you might not think of Polaroid as much as Canon, Panasonic or Nikon, but that doesn't mean that the company can't make a comeback. A teaser has been released by the company, informing users that there will be an exclusive event at CES 2011 next month. The image provided didn't give too much information, but some folks out there went a little further to tweak the photo and find that it features an intriguing slot at the bottom, allowing us to fantasize about instant photography again. With CES 2011 just around the corner, stay tuned and we'll keep you updated with the latest juicy news.

Permalink: Polaroid Teases Of A New Camera For CES 2011 from Ubergizmo | Hot: Macbook Air Review, Google TV Review

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Source: http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2010/12/polaroid_teases_of_a_new_camera_for_ces_2011.html

Visualized: Tron Armchair redefines furniture art

If you haven't noticed already, Disney (and the rest of the world, seemingly) is going all-out for this year's rendition of Tron. What's potentially better than a cinematical remake? You're looking at it. The Tron Armchair was dreamed up and designed by New York's own Dror Benshetrit, with the seating apparatus officially debuting this week at Design Miami / Art Basel. There's a whole slew of motifs to peek down there in the source link, all of which make "impregnated fiberglass and polyester resin" look about as good as they can. It's a crying shame that no price tag accompanies them, but hopefully that'll change soon. Really soon.

Visualized: Tron Armchair redefines furniture art originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Dec 2010 06:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/04/visualized-tron-armchair-redefines-furniture-art/

Go Launcher is a slick, customizable home screen for Android

Now that my Android device is cluttered with apps and games, I figured it was time to tidy up my home screen -- and Go Launcher is up to the task. It's a highly customizable home replacement which supports app folders (like iOS), and widgets, multiple pages, and a huge number of user-configurable settings.

Tap the grid icon and Go displays all your apps in a paged 4x4 grid -- which you can switch to 5x4 or 5x5. There's also a landscape mode, though it's disabled by default. Simply pop in a checkmark in the operation settings screen to enable rotation. Screen switching is lightning fast, and Android's built-in search is there to respond to your queries. Go Launcher even offers basic gesture support and can do everything from opening settings screens to launching your favorite app with the flick of a finger.

Find the QR Code after the jump!

Continue reading Go Launcher is a slick, customizable home screen for Android

Go Launcher is a slick, customizable home screen for Android originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 30 Nov 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/11/30/go-launcher-is-a-slick-customizable-home-screen-for-android/

Microsoft releases details of the upcoming Silverlight 5

Speaking at the Silverlight Firestarter conference yesterday, Scott Guthrie, the vice president of Microsoft's Developer Division, reassured the masses of Silverlight's future by detailing the exciting new features in Silverlight in 2011.

On the application-development front, there's a ton of exciting new features. Font rendering has been improved (which is no surprise, given Silverlight's new home on the Windows Phone 7), lower-latency networking has been added, immediate mode graphics are now possible (cue some very sexy games and visualizations), and also some improved sandboxing features have been thrown in. Scott mentions better integration with IE9's hardware acceleration, too, but no real details are given.

Top of the bill, media-wise, is GPU-accelerated video decoding (I thought Silverlight 4 already did that?). There's a cool new feature called Trickplay that lets you alter the playback speed of Silverlight videos -- with pitch correction! (I've wanted this feature for so long -- why has Silverlight beaten you to it, Flash?) Finally, there's improved "power awareness," which will stop the screensaver kicking in while a Silverlight video is playing.

Exciting stuff, but we'll have to wait until "the first half of 2011" for the first beta!

Microsoft releases details of the upcoming Silverlight 5 originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 06:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/12/03/microsoft-releases-details-of-the-upcoming-silverlight-5/

Concept: Wind Cubes

Solar power isn't the only form of green power that can be harnessed to power your iPhone. Designers out there have come up with a concept device called Wind Cubes and we don't need to tell you what kind of power it runs on. This device is designed to be installed on a wall and you can combine multiple Wind Cubes together to gather more power. If there isn't much wind going around, the fan blades can be pushed back into the device to be safely stored. The designer claims that these Wind Cubes could potentially generate 21.6 kilowatt-hours per month and if you have about fifteen of these around, you could probably generate enough juice to keep family of four happy.

Permalink: Concept: Wind Cubes from Ubergizmo | Hot: Macbook Air Review, Google TV Review

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Source: http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2010/12/concept_wind_cubes.html

12 Retro Video Phone Concepts [Vintage]

If you thought Skype was a new idea, you need to catch up on your old school sci-fi movies! Video phone concepts have actually been popping up since the 1870s. Proof? This collection of forward looking photos, illustrations, and ads. More »

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Source: http://gizmodo.com/5705454/12-retro-video-phone-concepts

Spinning Shelf Balances Your Books

Christian Kim’s DreiX shelf brings a little bit of the fairground to your living room, in the form of three spinning, rotating cubbyholes. His concept features three boxes. The central box is fixed to the wall and the other two are joined on by a pair of metal beams, which allow them to move around [...]

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Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/12/spinning-shelf-balances-your-books/

Xfinity TV Smooths Comcast's Rough Interface Complexion

Personal appearance can be a sensitive issue sometimes, but I'm going to have to risk hurting my TV cable box's feelings in order to get this out of the way: It's ugly. Not necessarily the box itself, though its remote does seem to resemble a big, rubbery club. I mean its interface is ugly.

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Source: http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/71248.html

TiPb TV 04: Should you get an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPod nano?

Should you get an iPhone 4, iPod touch (2010), or iPod nano (2010)? Or more specifically, who should get an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPod nano? That’s a question we get a lot from people considering their first iOS device or a second device for their family, and that’s the topic for the fourth episode [...]

TiPb TV 04: Should you get an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPod nano? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/sX6B1y5m724/

Thanks Google, For the Free, Unusable Wi-Fi on Planes This Holiday [Rant]

Did you know Virgin, Delta and AirTran has free Wi-Fi on their planes this holiday season? If you didn't, the flight attendants will tell you when you board—which is bad for those who actually need to use the Wi-Fi. More »

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Source: http://gizmodo.com/5705458/thanks-google-for-the-free-unusable-wi+fi-on-planes-this-holiday

Glow In The Dark Uranium Soap

By Andrew Liszewski
Forget Zest or Irish Spring, if you really want to feel refreshed and invigorated in the morning you’ve got to scrub up with a chunk of Uranium 238! Ok, so it’s not actually Uranium, and is in fact real soap that’s even vegan friendly, so it probably won’t kill you by noon. But [...]

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Ohgizmo/~3/bU0rfj9ae9w/

Magento Error: Method Varien_Object::__tostring() cannot take arguments

If you encountered a bug in Magento that says:
Method Varien_Object::__tostring() cannot take arguments
and you have PHP 5.3 or newer then you have 2 options:
1) downgrade to PHP 2.9
2) fix the bugs

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Source: http://de77.com/php/magento-error-method-varien_object__tostring-cannot-take-arguments

Chairman's son promoted to president of the Samsung Electronics gang

And so it goes. Samsung Electronics' Chairman, aka The Notorious Lee Kun-hee, has just seen his son Lee Jae-yong promoted to the position of president of the chaebol kingdom. Lee previously served as executive VP in the flagship arm of the Samsung Group conglomerate. As if that wasn't enough nepotism, Lee's little sis was promoted to the position of president of Everland, a Samsung-owned theme park / resort operator. Naturally, Samsung stock closed at a record high on the news.

Chairman's son promoted to president of the Samsung Electronics gang originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 05:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/03/lee-kun-hees-son-promoted-to-president-of-the-samsung-electroni/

Ubuntu One client for Windows goes beta

One knock against Canonical's Ubuntu One sync service is the fact that clients for other operating systems aren't available. That gives Dropbox a pretty big edge at the moment -- though Canonical has taken one huge step toward leveling the playing field with the release of a beta Ubuntu One app for Windows.

OMG! Ubuntu has gotten beta access already and shared a handful of screenshots. Ubuntu One for Windows offers a very similar experience to its Linux cousin, though right now now it can only sync your main Ubuntu One folder. Support for other folders, contacts, notes, and bookmarks is on the way.

You'll need to sign up on this page with the email address you used to create your Ubuntu One account. Once that's done, it's just a matter of waiting patiently for your invite.

Ubuntu One client for Windows goes beta originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 30 Nov 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/11/30/ubuntu-one-client-for-windows-goes-beta/

How BlackBerry Could Benefit From a Swedish Redesign

See Also:


RIM’s Fighting Apple On Every Front


RIM Unveils Tethered Tablet, the BlackBerry PlayBook


BlackBerry OS Makeover Promises Social Feeds, Better Search


BlackBerry Maker Overhauls Phone Operating System


BlackBerry 6 Coming to New Curve 3G

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Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/12/tat-blackberry-redesign/

Verizon confirms contract-free 4G LTE options: same rates, pricier modems

Verizon didn't make any mention of it during it's big announcement yesterday, but PC Magazine's Sascha Seagan has confirmed with the carrier that it will indeed be offering its 4G LTE service off-contract as well. That will actually come in at the same rates as the on-contract pricing -- $50 for 5GB or $80 for 10GB, plus a $10 per GB overage -- but you'll have to shell out a full $249.99 for the modem, as opposed to just $99.99 on a two-year contract (after a $50 mail-in rebate).

Verizon confirms contract-free 4G LTE options: same rates, pricier modems originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Dec 2010 17:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/02/verizon-confirms-contract-free-4g-lte-options-same-rates-prici/