Immersion haptic feedback SDK for Android released

Immersion haptic feedback SDK for Android
Haptic feedback, which all began with the mythical introduction of the Nintendo Rumble Pak and its use in Star Fox 64 and GoldenEye, is about to get a big boost on the Android platform thanks to the release of the Immersion SDK.

Immersion Corporation, which has long provided haptic feedback technology for a variety of other applications, has only really dabbled in video games before. This SDK is targeted straight at Android game developers, and is free to download immediately -- and royalty-wise, it's free up a $50,000 threshold, too. There's a video of the Immersion development platform after the break.

As for the effects that can be achieved with haptic feedback, the only real limit is the designer's imagination. The SDK comes with a bunch of pre-defined haptic responses which developers can simply plug into their games, but there's also a tool called MOTIV Studio that lets you design your very own rumbles. Hopefully this heralds a new age of games that don't try to vibrate their way out of your hand.

'Haptic,' if you were wondering, comes from the Greek haptikos, which means 'to grasp or touch.'

Continue reading Immersion haptic feedback SDK for Android released

Immersion haptic feedback SDK for Android released originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 10:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/08/immersion-haptic-feedback-sdk-for-android-released/

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iPad 2 Graphics Benchmarks: Way Better Than the Xoom, Kills the Original iPad [Ipad 2]

Anandtech put the iPad 2 under a GLBenchmark 2.0 test, a great benchmark for seeing the power of the GPU (where Apple is claiming 9x the performance of the original iPad), and came away with some staggering results. The iPad 2, or I guess more specifically, the A5 chip is going to be an absolute beast for 3D gaming. It's incredible, it's almost silly to put the Tegra 2 (which is in the Xoom) and A4 in the same conversation as the A5. Anandtech says: More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/Mt67CqJFPM4/ipad-2-benchmarks-way-better-than-the-xoom-kills-the-original-ipad

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A City in California Is the Tsunami Capital of the United States (Updated) [Tsunami]

Since 1933, Crescent City, California, a small city south of the Oregon border, has been ravaged by 31 tsunamis, more than any other city in the United States. The tsunamis caused by Japan's earthquake were expected to hit hardest in Crescent City and actually ended up causing significant damage to boats in the harbor and most of the docks. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/8vd9vCM1V5A/a-city-in-california-is-the-tsunami-capital-of-the-united-states

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Shot Shot Pirate is a fun, simple physics game

shotshotpirate
Shot Shot Pirate is very satisfying, because each level is short and to the point. You know what you have to do and you just do it.

As you may have gathered from the name, you're cast in the role of a pirate. Your goal is to shoot at a diamond and make it fall off a tower of bricks. The height of the tower changes as you progress through the levels. It's not enough to just make the diamond fall off the tower of bricks - it has to fall below a certain line (drawn on the screen) for the level to be completed.

There are also different kinds of bricks, with some heavier than others, and different kinds of ammo. You only get a certain amount of ammo for each level, and when it's gone, you lose. But don't worry! If you don't make it on the first try, it's very easy to restart the level and just give it another shot (or three).

All in all it's a cute game. I've seen similar games with better graphics and music, but the game delivers on its main promise - a few minutes of pure time wasting!

Shot Shot Pirate is a fun, simple physics game originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/02/24/shot-shot-pirate-is-a-fun-simple-physics-game/

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CorelDraw video tutorial: Pulling in photos and clip art from the Web

corelconnect
This is the fourth (and final) of our CorelDRAW video tutorials. You can watch the others by browsing the CorelDRAW tag.

When creating a vector image or a composition, you don't always have to re-invent the wheel. After all, it is more than likely that whatever it is you're trying to do has been done before, at least in part. Using existing images or clip art ("media assets" in business parlance) can greatly speed up your work, and even improve the overall look of the image you produce.

To this end, I've chosen to create a video showing Corel Connect. It's a media search engine that comes with CorelDRAW, and helps you pull in images from Flickr, Fotolia, iStockphoto, and of course, your local hard drive and CorelDRAW's own clip art repositories.

Corel Connect ties in very tightly with CorelDRAW itself, and also does a nice job of protecting the original creator's rights so you don't "forget" to license whatever content you're using. See for yourself after the jump!

Continue reading CorelDraw video tutorial: Pulling in photos and clip art from the Web

CorelDraw video tutorial: Pulling in photos and clip art from the Web originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 07 Feb 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/02/07/coreldraw-video-tutorial-pulling-in-photos-and-clip-art-from-the-web/

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How to block specific friends from reading a Facebook status update

Facebook granular status updates
This week's set of tech tips are all about the most popular website in the world: Facebook. For more tips, check our tips index!

Facebook, despite the blogosphere's perpetual bickering, actually has good, granular privacy controls. You can control exactly who can see each section of your profile, and easily block specific people from even finding your profile.

One lesser-known feature, however, is that you can control who can read each and every one of your status updates. You've probably seen the padblock below the status update box, but if you click it, and then Customize, you can block specific people from reading your update!

Maybe you're not quite ready to unfriend someone, or perhaps you're simply trying to arrange a surprise birthday party for one of your friends -- either way, it's a great little feature. As a commenter points out, it's also rather handy if you want to block family members from reading... sensitive... things.

Now, if only you could control who could read your posts on your friends' pages...

How to block specific friends from reading a Facebook status update originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 09 Mar 2011 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/09/how-to-block-specific-friends-from-reading-a-facebook-status-upd/

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T-Mobile's rumored 10GB data plan goes up a few dollars

It looks like those new webConnect plans from T-Mobile are still slated to go live this Sunday, but TmoNews -- which reported the original rumor -- has circled back with a minor bummer: the biggest of the plans has gone up a few dollars per month. There's no information on why the carrier has opted to suck a few more dollars out of your bank account, but the good news is that it's not too bad -- it's just another $5 (now $84.99) or another $4 (up to $67.99) if you're pairing it with a voice plan. Of course, both the 5GB and 10GB plans are overage-free -- it's just a question of how far you want to go before you start getting throttled.

T-Mobile's rumored 10GB data plan goes up a few dollars originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Mar 2011 16:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/8bEninKTCSU/

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These Repurposed NES Cartridges Provide Up To 1TB of Storage [Giveaways]

A lot of us have a treasure trove of now useless retired video game paraphernalia, but none of it is as cool as Jason Roach's of the Etsy shop 8BitMemory. Jason has transformed his collection of old NES cartridges into classy, but geeky timepieces and storage devices, that range between 500GB and 1TB capacities. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/cO93U5lvBeM/these-repurposed-nes-cartridges-provide-up-to-1tb-of-storage

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