New Dolphin Browser
Tue, May 17 2011 09:33
| Communication
| Permalink
They dropped a new beta browser today.
- Upgraded User Interface
- Speed Dial Tabs
- More Powerful Sidebar
- Subfolder Support
- Faster Browsing
If you are interested in checking it out you can read all about it here and download it ;)
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New Flash player
What's in this version:
Flash Player 10.2.157.51 – Features and Enhancements
- Hardware accelerated video presentation (requires Android 3.1)
- Enhanced browser integration for Honeycomb tablets (requires Android 3.1)
- Important bug fixes and security enhancements
The complete set of release notes can be found here
ScummVM - Monkey Island and more
For the oldtimers who picked up a Motorola Xoom, ScummVM will provide months of enjoyment. While digging through the web, I tripped over ScummVM again, and figured I'd give it a go on my Xoom. And it worked great :)
What Is ScummVM?
ScummVM is a program which allows you to run certain classic graphical point-and-click adventure games, provided you already have their data files. The clever part about this: ScummVM just replaces the executables shipped with the games, allowing you to play them on systems for which they were never designed!
ScummVM supports many adventure games, including LucasArts SCUMM games (such as Monkey Island 1-3, Day of the Tentacle, Sam & Max, ...), many of Sierra's AGI and SCI games (such as King's Quest 1-6, Space Quest 1-5, ...), Discworld 1 and 2, Simon the Sorcerer 1 and 2, Beneath A Steel Sky, Lure of the Temptress, Broken Sword 1 and 2, Flight of the Amazon Queen, Gobliiins 1-3, The Legend of Kyrandia 1-3, many of Humongous Entertainment's children's SCUMM games (including Freddi Fish and Putt Putt games) and many more.
I grew up during the golden years of PC gaming. Before all the 3D shooter extravaganza, people played classic point and click games like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade/Fate of Atlantis (they should made that into Indiana Jones 4), Monkey Island, Sam & Max, Full Throttle and the Dig. Even decades later, these games still hold up the true gaming experience for me.
Anyway, I figured I'd try a few of my old games, and see how they play on my Xoom
What Is ScummVM?
ScummVM is a program which allows you to run certain classic graphical point-and-click adventure games, provided you already have their data files. The clever part about this: ScummVM just replaces the executables shipped with the games, allowing you to play them on systems for which they were never designed!
ScummVM supports many adventure games, including LucasArts SCUMM games (such as Monkey Island 1-3, Day of the Tentacle, Sam & Max, ...), many of Sierra's AGI and SCI games (such as King's Quest 1-6, Space Quest 1-5, ...), Discworld 1 and 2, Simon the Sorcerer 1 and 2, Beneath A Steel Sky, Lure of the Temptress, Broken Sword 1 and 2, Flight of the Amazon Queen, Gobliiins 1-3, The Legend of Kyrandia 1-3, many of Humongous Entertainment's children's SCUMM games (including Freddi Fish and Putt Putt games) and many more.
I grew up during the golden years of PC gaming. Before all the 3D shooter extravaganza, people played classic point and click games like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade/Fate of Atlantis (they should made that into Indiana Jones 4), Monkey Island, Sam & Max, Full Throttle and the Dig. Even decades later, these games still hold up the true gaming experience for me.
Anyway, I figured I'd try a few of my old games, and see how they play on my Xoom
While ScummVM supports many more games, these are the ones I tried, and they run great. They look a little "blocky" because they are older games (back from the DOS days) so the low-resolution is scaled to run full-screen on the Xoom, and when the game scrolls/pans the camera view a bit, there is a light stutter, but the games are perfectly playable and voices run smoothly.
You can download the ScummVM build that works on the Xoom from here:
http://anddev.at.ua/load/scummvm_svn55436/1-1-0-7
and if you do not have any of the games it supports, you can download some free versions (demos as well as a few released as freeware) from here:
http://www.scummvm.org/downloads/#extras
Soundhound - What's that song?
Fri, Apr 22 2011 03:36
| Music and Audio
| Permalink
I have had SoundHound on my phone for ages. When Shazam can out for free on the Amazon market I loaded it on my tablet played with it a few times and forgot about it because it was rather lame (bad orientation, cut of screens). Last night there was a song on the television I was trying to figure out what it was and after Shazam failed me again. So on a whim, I loaded Sound Hound and was very surprised it was tablet optimized and it works my better for me. Try it for yourself.
SoundHound includes:
- The world's fastest music recognition: name tunes playing from a speaker in as little as four seconds - now unlimited
- The world's only viable singing and humming recognition
- Instant lyrics and artist info
- Split-second Say search: just speak a title or band name to check it out
- NEW: Unlimited IDs in this free version - get SoundHound Pro to go ad-free and enjoy more features
- And there's more: Geotagging options, Facebook and Twitter sharing, previews, purchase links, full length YouTube videos, and your favorite artists' top songs and bios.
Glow hockey for your tablet
Glow Hockey is a free tablet app that if fun and colorful. It plays just like air hockey, the only thing it is missing, in my opinion, is 2 player. Not a bad time waster. Give it a go.
Dolphin Browser Beta has working Flash
Tue, Apr 19 2011 08:08
| Communication
| Permalink
I downloaded the new Dolphin Browser beta today and although it has some orientation issues during set up (it wants to be held like a phone/portrait) it seems to be working well. This is my favorite browser on my Droid X for a number of reasons, color theming, a massive amount of plugins being the greatest attraction for myself. Yes, there are a few quirks in the beta but so far so good. We have a working Flash, no lag, and the ability to close Facebook chat windows in the browser.
So if you have a Xoom tablet you may want to give the beta a go.
Find a new place to live
New HotPads (House or Apartment finder) app optimized for your tablet. The highlights:
* Easily navigate the map while browsing property details (all on one screen).
* Use your current location or enter any another location
* Search apartments, rental houses, real estate, and hotels
* Inquire about properties right from your Android tablet device!
* View detailed listings with photos
* Mark search results as favorites
* Save your searches/favorites and come back to them later.
* Share a property with a friend
Download HotPads for Tablets
* Easily navigate the map while browsing property details (all on one screen).
* Use your current location or enter any another location
* Search apartments, rental houses, real estate, and hotels
* Inquire about properties right from your Android tablet device!
* View detailed listings with photos
* Mark search results as favorites
* Save your searches/favorites and come back to them later.
* Share a property with a friend
Download HotPads for Tablets
