In what is quickly becoming one of my favorite parts of the search engine giant, Google has released yet another Google Doodle today on its homepage, this time celebrating the spooky season.
Instead of just a picture, this Doodle – like Star Trek and others before it – is clickable and interactive. For those not afraid of a little fright, click behind each of the five doors for a little trick or treat. Make sure you have your volume turned up to really get into the spirit.
Since this is now obviously recurring, what pop culture days in November would you like to see Google honor? I’m personally hoping for some history of Bond around Nov. 9.
Two weeks ago, beloved universe-denting tech giant Apple sold its 100 millionth iPad. That might sound impressive. But we all know the sad truth. Around this miserable world, Apple consumers are using their iPads in 100 million different ways — reading books, surfing the internet, playing Angry Birds, playing Angry Birds Space, trying to find the one specific place in their apartment where the Wi-Fi won’t cut out while they use FaceTime, checking Twitter during the presidential debate so they can tweet about how annoying Twitter gets during the presidential debate. And they are all thinking the same thing: “Truly, this iPad is indeed a fine device. But why must it be so grotesquely obese? Would that Apple could create a beautiful new iPad! Would that I could replace this pot-bellied butterball of a tablet with something thin!”
It’s a communication contraption! It’s an mp3 player! No — it’s Samsung’s new smartphone, a mobile device designed specifically for music lovers. The Galaxy Music boasts a host of features sure to please audiophiles — dual stereo speakers, built-in FM radio, a state-of-the-art Sound Retrieval System meant to mimic 5.1 surround sound, and SoundAlive technology, which “intelligently makes automatic adjustments to sound quality by analyzing the source.” Sounds simultaneously Jetsons awesome and 2001: A Space Odyssey terrifying.
The Galaxy Music runs on the Android 4.0 operating system — adorably called Ice-Cream Sandwich — making it a great option for anyone who loves music but doesn’t want to be led to their death by Apple Maps. But even those who have sworn off physical Apple products will likely be using iTunes to populate their shiny new Samsung phones; it’s going to be tough for any other tech company to encroach on Apple’s musical monopoly.
Just when you thought you had conquered your Angry Birds addiction, the game is getting a Star Wars makeover.
Launching worldwide on Nov. 8, the new Angry Birds mobile game will adopt the stories and settings (including the deserts of Tatooine and the depths of the Death Star) of the legendary film.
“This is the best Angry Birds game we’ve ever done,” Peter Vesterbacka, CMO of Rovio Entertainment, which has partnered with LucasFilm for the project, said in a statement. “It’s the best parts of Angry Birds with all new cutting-edge gameplay set in in a galaxy far, far away. As a big Star Wars fan myself, I’m really excited about this new universe. The Force is definitely strong with this one.”
The game will be available on iOS, Android, Amazon Kindle Fire, Mac, PC, Windows Phone, and Windows 8. Hasbro will launch an Angry Bird Star Wars line of merchandise ranging from Halloween costumes to collectible plush toys on Oct. 28.
We don’t know yet what scenes from the saga will be incorporated into the game, but we certainly hope the five moments below are included in some capacity.
1. The defining moment of the series: Darth Vader telling Luke Skywalker “Luke, I am your father” in Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back.
2. The gold bikini: Princess Leia being held captive in Jabba’s court, sporting the most iconic two-piece in movie-nerd history in Episode VI — Return of the Jedi.
3. The killer opening: The opening crawl of “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” in Episode IV — A New Hope.
4. The ultimate race against the clock: Wedge, Biggs, and Porkins joining Luke to take on the Death Star in Episode IV — A New Hope.
5. Han Solo offing Greedo at the Cantina: Let the Who shot first? debate continue on a whole new platform.
What Star Wars worlds and iconic scenes are you hoping to rediscover in Angry Birds?
You’re turning 14 today, which means that you’ve been a teenager for one year. But I’m loving that instead of search engine rebelling, you’re just creating more cool features, whether that be Bacon Numbers or Google Doodles.
Besides those new updates, I want to personally thank you for 14 things you’ve helped me out with over the years.
1.) Last-minute research: Lord knows I got through college Sociology courses thanks to “Google Scholar.”
When I was a kid, we didn’t have any actual videogame consoles in my house, which meant that my early years were spent playing floppy-disk games on our aging Macintosh computer. Most of these games reeked of stealth education: the math-inducing Number Munchers, the undersea non-adventure Odell Lake, the surreal fairy-tale romp Mixed-Up Mother Goose. (The lone exception to all the edutainment was Sid Meier’s Pirates, a very proto proto-Grand Theft Auto which still has the coolest videogame cover art ever.) At some point, my parents broke down and got me a Game Boy, and I spent almost every car ride from ages 6-10 playing Super Mario Land, Super Mario Land II, and the overlooked masterpiece Wario Land: Super Mario Land III, where you got to play as the bad guy and thus learn a value lesson about moral relativism. READ FULL STORY »
For years, Myspace — which does, in fact, still exist — has been nothing but a punchline, a goofy cyber relic on par with Friendster or Pets.com. But a new video indicates that the nine-year-old social network might not be down for the count after all — thanks to a spiffy revamping and help from Social Network star/co-owner Justin Timberlake. Lying down and letting Facebook take over the world isn’t cool. You know what’s cool? A [billion] relaunches.
Myspace 2.0 boasts a clean, modern interface that fuses the best of Google+ and Pinterest, displaying tons of content without seeming cluttered. It seems designed for tablet use, which could set it apart from its competition — if those sites weren’t also doing the same thing. Here, check it out:
While half the country is spending the day winding through centipede-like lines in hopes of nabbing an iPhone 5, a growing number of early adopters of iOS 6 (the software update for iDevices) are online puzzling over‚ or more accurately taking potshots at‚ Apple’s brand new Maps app. A replacement for Google’s stalwart navigation app, which had been included since the introduction of the iPhone in 2007 (and c’mon, it’s the best), Apple decided for unknown reasons to go it alone with their own version. But despite the addition of a cool flyover mode and GPS-style turn-by-turn navigation, the app’s many and mounting hiccups are inspiring users to express outrage‚ in the way we Americans know best — by creating a snarky internet meme!
Silicon Valley gadabout and fencing enthusiast Mark Zuckerberg has fallen 22 spots in Forbes‘ annual list of the Richest People in America. This time last year, the Facebook founder was sitting pretty at number 14, with a net worth of $17.5 billion. In the new list, however, Zuckerberg’s net worth is listed at a measly $9.4 billion, where he’s forced to rub shoulders with blue-collar average nobodies like Steve Cohen and Charles Ergen. Adding further insult to injury, Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page — Zuckerberg’s sworn enemies, presumably — have added almost $4 billion to their respective coffers and are currently tied for 13th place. Zuckerberg is actually tied with News Corp. overlord and beloved Twitter den mom Rupert Murdoch.
Apple’s stock closed above $700 for the first time on Tuesday, the day after it announced that orders for its iPhone 5 topped 2 million in the first 24 hours. Shares closed at $701.91 Tuesday, up $2.13 from Monday’s close. They rose as high as $702.33 in afternoon trading Tuesday. The rally in Apple’s stock price puts the company’s market value at $658 billion.
The $700 mark is somewhat of an arbitrary milestone for Apple’s stock, representing little more than a nice round number and a record high trading level. The company, after all, already enjoys the distinction as the world’s most valuable public company ever, at least if one ignores inflation. Google Inc., its Silicon Valley neighbor, saw its stock price surpass $700 in 2007. On Tuesday, Google’s stock was trading at $712.28. But the online search leader’s market capitalization is well below Apple’s at $236.4 billion. READ FULL STORY »
Like Google wasn’t going to celebrate Halloween.
