Join CooTek TouchPal Tablet Keyboard app announced
CooTek has just announced their TouchPal Tablet Keyboard app which will play nice with the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, and what makes this special is it is the only Android tablet keyboard app which will rely on gestures in order to split and resize the keyboard. Not only that, you will be able to enjoy swiping and typing input methods.
With the plethora of Android-powered tablets having rolled out recently, as more and more people take on these devices, it goes without saying that some of them would have concerns about the overall typing experience. Well, CooTek’s TouchPal makes sense of it all, where it will address the concerns by offering a powerful soft keyboard that was specially designed for tablets. If you happen to have unwrapped an Android-powered tablet (from any manufacturer) under the Christmas tree this year, then you might want to make a beeline and download this free app so that your tablet typing experience is a snap. For those who are interested, there is a a video of the TouchPal Tablet Keyboard app in action after the jump.
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Google and NORAD help to track Santa
I know, I know, the entire excitement of Christmas is already over, and chances are you might be in bed right now or having a nightcap (depending on the time zone), or just having woken up if you happen to live across the pond. Another day to reflect on the year, as well as to think about what the next year will bring. Well, have you ever wondered how you are going to tell or explain to your kids the manner where Santa actually managed to fulfill his title of being the busiest man in the North Pole by going across the globe to drop off presents in just about most houses?
Well, Google as well as NORAD have come together to add a modern, technological twist to the Santa-tracking experience. This is a rather long standing tradition though, as NORAD started tracking Santa on Christmas Eve all the way back in 1955. This happened when a Sears and Roebuck ad promoted the Talk-to-Santa hotline which sent callers to CONAD (NORAD’s predecessor) commander-in-chief’s operations hotline. There was the initial shock from a small boy who asked if the commander was Santa Claus, where Colonel Harry Shoup decided to ask his team to check their radar for signs of Santa’s sleigh – and hence, giving birth to this tradition.
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Greenest server farm in the world
Imagine a server farm – you would probably have rows and rows of computers in mind, where they not only make sure websites all over the world will continue to work as usual and for most of the time, but also the immense amount of heat that they generate. If you have watched Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, you would know what I am talking about, no spoilers here, sorry. To make sure the mercury remains within manageable means so that the computer components do not fry themselves, immense amount of energy is required to power whatever cooling solutions are in place.
As most of us know by now, Scandinavian countries do tend to be on the green side, as well as their corporations. IKEA of Sweden is a fine example, and Norway’s Green Mountain Data Center might soon be another idea for other server farms to emulate. Its developers claim that it is the world’s greenest server farm, where it will pipe cool water from a nearby fjord into the mountain halls which will actually keep the server racks in place. This will directly do away with the need for power-hungry electric chillers.
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Retro USB Mouse
Hey you, 1980s kid – do you miss the era of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Ghostbusters as well as playing NES for the entire summer at your friend’s place? Well, if you answered in the affirmative, then you might be interested to know that ThinkGeek has obtained a time machine and returned to the 1980s in order to gain inspiration to come up with the $19.99 Retro USB Mouse. Yes sir, the name itself gives the game away, where it sports all the trappings of a modern mouse underneath the hood, although it comes dressed ready to party like it is 1980.
I guess with clothings and fashion being able to go through different cycles which repeat themselves after a while, why not technology where aesthetics is concerned? This is not a wireless mouse though, as it will remain tethered to your computer via USB, measuring all of 3.66″ x 2.56″ x 1.30″.
Facebook for PlayBook introduced
When you are the 800lbs gorilla in any industry, niche or otherwise, you can certainly throw your weight around, and whatever you do or say does have repercussions on others who are far smaller and depend on you. Case in point, RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook – this particular tablet is not exactly doing gangbusters in the market ever since it was released earlier this year, never mind the fact that the hardware itself looks rather solid. What the PlayBook misses out on would be software and the different kinds of corporate connectivity that users are looking for, which means most people have decided to stick to the iPad 2 as well as Android-powered tablets.
Having said that, it is nice to know that Facebook still considers the the BlackBerry PlayBook to be crucial enough to offer support, hence the social networking giant has just revealed their latest update to Facebook for BlackBerry, coming in version 2.1 this time around. Launched in the BlackBerry App World storefront, this bit of news ought to get you jumping up and down in excitement if you are a PlayBook owner, considering it comes with the often requested feature from #TeamBlackBerry – Facebook Groups.
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Skype helps US travelers connect for free with Skype WiFi
Do you love to Skype? If the answer is in the affirmative, then Skype intends to make your traveling plans more pleasant this coming Yuletide season by putting up on offer a free hour of Internet access to 3rd party wireless hotspots, as long as those fall under the umbrella of the Skype Wi-Fi hotspot footprint in certain airports that are strategically located across the US. This offer will be made available from December 21st through to December 27th, and those who are passing through or have their flights delayed in more than 50 airports across the US will be able to advantage of these third-party hotspots thanks to Skype Wi-Fi, helping them connect with loved ones through a Skype video or voice call without having to fork out a single cent from their pockets.
Skype Wi-Fi will be made available to travelers who are running on PCs, Macs and iOS-powered devices. In order to get started, you would have to download the latest version of Skype for Windows or Skype for Mac, or have the option of having downloaded the Skype Wi-Fi app straight to your iOS device. The moment use your valid Skype ID to sign in, you can look into your wireless network connection to see whether you are in a supported hotspot, how hard can that be?
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Santa gets Google Voice number
Do you have a Google Voice number? If you have answered in the affirmative, guess who else is deemed on the ‘nice’ list to own his very own Google Voice number? It seems that Santa, the most popular imaginary resident at the North Pole, has gotten his very own Google Voice number as well. In fact, Santa received his number last year, where folks living in the US were able to be on the receiving end of a special personalized holiday phone call from the man himself. What about this year – what else would be different?
For 2011, Santa wants you to do it the other way around – by calling him. I suppose he must have gotten all lonely at the North Pole, never mind that he has elves to help him out with all those present wrapping, in addition to his son who starred in the movie ‘Arthur Christmas’, and his merry bunch of reindeer aren’t exactly the best conversationalists to begin with. For those of us out there who have a special request for Santa, you can always call him from Gmail – just bear in mind that this call is free for those living in the US and Canada, as for folks who reside outside of the two mentioned countries, it will cost you $0.01 per minute in addition to any applicable taxes.
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Verbatim USB 3.0/USB 2.0 Universal Card Readers and USB 2.0 Pocket Card Reader
Verbatim is no stranger when it comes to storage devices and media, and this time around, they have rolled out a couple of devices which will read your stored data – in the form of the USB 3.0/USB 2.0 Universal Card Readers and USB 2.0 Pocket Card Reader. Both of them will play nice with Windows and Mac platforms, and are 100% compatible with all USB ports. Featuring a sleek, modern design in either model, the USB 3.0 device comes in an eye-catching, silver finish while the USB 2.0 model will definitely attract fingerprints with its classic piano black finish.
Supported memory cards by both the USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 Universal Card Readers include CompactFlash Type I & Type II (CF), Secure Digital (SD), Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC), miniSD, microSD, Memory Stick (MS), Memory Stick PRO, Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick PRO Duo, Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo, Memory Stick Micro (M2), MultiMedia Card (MMC) and xD-Picture Card (xD). Depending on your needs, I would say go for the future-proof USB 3.0 model – after all, it retails for $10 more compared to the $14.99 USB 2.0 Universal Card Reader.
Those who tend to do a whole lot of traveling can always fall back on the $9.99 USB 2.0 Pocket Card Reader, and as the name implies, it fits into most pockets without missing a beat, and will read just about any memory card format while you’re on the go.
