If you’re an Android and a PC, you should check out BlueStacks — before hackers catch on or Chrome sneaks in this functionality, take advantage. The startup’s software has been going like hotcakes over the last few months, as it’s offering a much-needed service for Android and PC users, having developed software that allows Android users to run their apps on all Windows PCs, tablets, and laptops — without any modifications. Thanks to this appealing concept, BlueStacks lured $7.6 million in venture funding pre-launch, $6.4 million more a few months later, and now it seems the yet another investor is on board.
The startup finally released its public beta on March 27th, and so far users have been eating it up. In the first 10 days after its release, BlueStacks’ App Player racked up more than 1 million downloads, with over 12 million apps collectively being run by its users. It’s on the heels of this early traction that the company is today announcing that global telecom giant Qualcomm has joined as an investor. → Read More
There has been much debate about what the post-PC era is, when it will arrive, or whether it’s already here. But key pieces of new data, emerging last week, are making the case that we crossed the imaginary line from the “PC” era to the “post-PC” era at the end of 2011. According to analysts at Canalys, two major computing milestones were achieved at the end of this year: smartphone shipments outpaced PCs for the first time ever, and Apple became the world’s largest PC maker, if you count iPads as PCs (as well you should).
Combined, what these numbers tell us is that the post-PC era is happening now. Right now. And maybe we need to think about how we define “PC.” → Read More
Vizio, maker of cheap LCD TVs for most of this millennia, has just announced they’re releasing five new PCs including ultralights and all-in-ones. These things are oddly well-designed and should come in at under competitor prices – a plus in the low-margin world of CE.
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As promised earlier this summer, mobile video calling app Tango has finally made it to the PC. Today, a year after its launch on iOS and Android, Tango is now available for Windows desktop computers (XP, Vista and Windows 7). The company says a Mac version will be available later this year. → Read More
Is Silverlight really dead, or is it the future of Microsoft’s Windows 8 and Windows Phone? This is a question weighing on the minds of legions of Microsoft developers right now – developers who were once promised that Silverlight was the answer to their cross-platform, cross-browser compatibility woes, only to be later informed that JavaScript and HTML5 will be the tools used to build Windows 8 applications. HTML5 is also supported in the IE9 browser, coming soon to Windows Phone “Mango,” due out this fall.
Does that mean HTML5, then, is the future of the Microsoft platform? Maybe not. A new, unannounced platform called “Jupiter” may soon have Microsoft developers leveraging their existing skills to write applications for both Windows 8 and Windows Phone. Which means, of course, apps that run on all platforms – not just PCs, but tablets and phones, too…and even the TV (via Xbox). → Read More
Oh, happy day! Angry Birds is now available for the PC. “But wait,” you say. “There’s no app store on Windows. How will I download it?” Don’t worry: Intel has you covered → Read More
We all agree that the Crysis 2 leak was pretty crummy, hoping that Crytek doesn’t use it as an excuse to abandon PC development altogether. If the Cervat Yerli’s message on the MyCrisis forum is any indication, then the company won’t hold this latest bit of unpleasantness against the larger PC community. → Read More
A panel at this year’s Game Developers Conference has the Internet (or, at the very least, the CG chatroom) spinning around in circles with excitement. The panel, “Update on PlayStation Move Development,” says the official description, “will bring developers up to speed on developing for the PlayStation Move controller. We will cover developing for the new PlayStation Move Sharp Shooter accessory. We will discuss the new Move Server project that will make it possible for academics and hobbyists to develop software using the PlayStation Move controller on their own PCs.” PC? Wait, what? → Read More
The long-awaited Dreamcast collection for the Xbox 360 and PC now has a release date: February 22. The collection includes Sonic Adventure, Crazy Taxi, Space Channel 5: Part 2 (ha!), and Sega Bass Fishing. No price available just yet. → Read More
Are we looking at the final days of BIOS? Apparently so, if we’re to believe the BBC. Its replacement, UEFI (which I’ve taken to pronounce like UEFA, as in the UEFA Champions League), will be found on more and more PCs beginning next year. For end-users that immediately means one thing: much faster boot times. → Read More
How do you guys feel about PC cases these days? Are you a fan of the over-the-top styling that so many of them feature, or would you like something a little more staid? I ask because NZXT has a new case called the Phantom. It’s not too crazy—there’s no spinning lights or any of that jazz—and it’s a full tower. That’s key in case you want to rock dual video cards or want to add a bunch of PCI cards. → Read More
Back in the dark ages, it used to be if you wanted a computer, you built it yourself. And I don’t mean order the parts and put them together, I mean soldering the chip sockets into a breadboard and assembling all the bits by hand. For whatever reason, computer enthusiast Matt Sarnoff misses the halcyon days of the Altair, and decided to build his own PC the old fashion way: with a hot piece of metal and some lead wire. Despite the fact that I’m pretty sure this makes him crazy, he’s quite good at it. Check out the video after the jump. → Read More
The twee little Mini-e ER1402 is a $300 computer with a big heart. The fella weighs a mere 9 pounds and has HDMI out and AMD Athlon II NEO Processor, NVIDIA GeForce 9200 graphics and 2GB of memory, just enough for a walk in the park and a wee snoot of brandy at the local after.
The shape? Not my absolute fave but when you have so little work with, you kind of take what you can get. Very, very cute. → Read More
Digital Storm just announced their latest PC, the Special|Ops. Intended mainly for the gaming fanatic, the Special|Ops runs the latest is CPU/GPU technology, and comes boxed in a quite attractive and well ventilated case. Of course they’ve already brought us the Black|Ops and the Black|Ops Assassin, so I think we’re starting to see a trend here. → Read More
Digital Storm announced their latest enthusiast PC, the Black|OPS Assassin. Normally we don’t bother telling you about every new computer that hits the market, but this one is actually fairly unique. It’s a departure from your standard design in that it uses vertical cooling, and the laws of physics. → Read More
Uh oh, sounds like the tablet that Steve brought down from the mountain might be susceptible to attack. A recent campaign by malware spammers has been targeting users of the much hyped iPad, inviting users to download an updated and improved version of iTunes. The update promises to provide more compatibility and better performance, and is completely fake. → Read More
Maingear just announced their new mX-L 15 notebook, a gaming machine with a price that’s not on the crazy scale. It’s available in multiple configurations of course, which we’ll talk about after the jump. → Read More
Whoa. Rockstar just announced that the two DLCs for Grand Theft Auto IV, The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, will be released for the PS3 and PC on March 30. That’s March 30 world-wide, mind you. The games will be sold separately (as downloads on PSN and Games for Windows Live) as well as in the familiar Episodes from Liberty City double pack. → Read More
TransferJet is a close-proximity wireless transfer technology Sony introduced in 2008. The idea is to let two electronic devices quickly exchange data (theoretically at up to 560 Mbps) just by bringing them close together (touch is possible, too). By way of comparison: The data transfer rate for Bluetooth Version 2.0 + EDR stands at just 3 Mbps.
Toshiba announced during IFA in Berlin last year they are planning to use the technology in their products soon. And now Sony made its move, too (if you don’t count the TransferJet-compatible LSI Sony announced in November). → Read More
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