Guitar Hero Gone: What Went Wrong?
The premiere plastic guitar game just flamed out. Activision, beset by falling sales, has decided to shutter the division that created Guitar Hero and its sequels. It’s an ignominious exit for a title that was once touted as the first great game franchise of the 21st century. Guitar Hero was created in 2005 by indie studio RedOctane, in collaboration with Harmonix, which had previously found su
8 Musical iPad Apps for the Digital Maestro
Peter Meyers is a digital book producer and the author of Best iPad Apps (O’Reilly Media). He’s covered the intersection of writing and technology for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Wired and blogs at anewkindofbook.com.Early iPad critics were sure about one thing: This gadget was going to be for consuming, not creating. iPadders, the argument went, will spend all their time feas
The Top iPhone & iPad Apps of the Year
With more than 300,000 applications for iOS devices, Apple’s iTunes App Store is a marketplace of enormous proportion. Apple has released its annual iTunes Rewind feature and named its apps of the year, which makes this the perfect time to reflect on the apps that have managed to best the competition and rise to the top of the charts this year.Apple named Flipboard its iTunes Rewind 2010 iPad app
Engadget Podcast 219 - 11.13.2010
The Engadget Podcast: It's like a movie, but without the pictures. Well, actually, it has pictures, but they are small, and they don't move. So it's more like a CD than a movie, a Karaoke CD+G disc. Actually, it's EXACTLY like an MP3, an Enhanced AAC File, or an OGG file. That is exactly what it is. It also recently became the Howard Stern Show of Technology Podcasts, and that's all the info you
Gwyneth Paltrow Covers Cee-Lo’s “F**K You” on “Glee”… Stop It, Hollywood
video Cee-Lo’s “F**ck You” started off as the unofficial song of the summer, and now it’s become the choice karaoke hit for decidedly tame Hollywood stars. Yup, first William Shatner covered the catchy jam, and now Gwyneth Paltrow gives us her own interpretation — on Glee, no less.On next week’s Glee — a wildly popular I-don’t-know-if-I’m-a-parody-or-not musical dramedy — Paltrow will appear as substitu
“Def Jam Rapstar” Raises the Roof Just Short of Greatness
SingStar or Guitar Hero for hip hop and rap is an obvious idea, but nobody’s done it right — or really at all — before today. Now PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii gamers have Def Jam Rapstar, an intriguing mash of hip hop sensibilities and social media savvy.Def Jam Rapstar is better than 2004’s Get On Da Mic (the only other release in the category) and leaves little to be desired for rap
The Future of the Hotel Industry and Social Media
The Future of Social Media Series is supported by Gist. Gist provides a full view of the contacts in your professional network by creating a rich business profile for each one that includes the most news, status updates, and work details. See how it works here.Unlike many modern industries, most of what a hotel does needs to happen offline. It’s hard to deliver room service or make beds with a cl
From Accelerate 2010 In Singapore: List Of “Asia’s Top 50 Apps”
Earlier this week, I attended Accelerate 2010 in Singapore, a two-day tech and mobile industry event that attracted no less than 2,000 international attendees. Organizer and major telco SingTel (which boasts around 350 million customers worldwide) offered up a slew of presentations and panels. But giving in to my penchant for discovering Asian startups, I will just focus on Accelerate’s so-called
Top 3 Stories in Social Media and Tech This Morning
This series is brought to you by HTC EVO 4G, America’s first 4G phone. Only from Sprint. The “First to Know” series keeps you in the know on what’s happening now in the world of social media and technology.Welcome to this morning’s edition of “First To Know,” a series in which we keep you in the know on what’s happening in the digital world. We’re keeping our eyes on three particular stories of in
Glee Karaoke for iOS Keeps It Rocking in the Free World
video Just in time for the second season of the hit TV show Glee, Smule has updated its über-successful iOS app. The app, now known as Glee Karaoke [iTunes link], brings back all the same features of the original and adds a layer of competition to the mix.We were big fans of the original app, and we’re happy to report that version 2.0 is just as much fun. The big, new feature is that users can compete w
Our Favorite YouTube Videos This Week: The Dancing Edition
video Yes, I know that at present your face is likely stuck to your keyboard, but weekend is bass-booming right around the corner, and I don’t know about you, but for me that means only one thing: Dancing! It’s also the theme of this week’s YouTube roundup.Doesn’t matter if you shake it, work it, roll it, or twirk it (whatever the hell that is), there’s really no excuse to avoid busting a move this week
Top 16 Unusual Foursquare Badges
Since Foursquare’s launch in March 2009, there has been a lot of excitement about where the company is going. But we’d like to take a moment to reflect upon where it’s been, via one of its most entertaining features — badges.Badges are, for many users, one of the main benefits of the app, driving competition among friends, co-workers, and even enemies. Whether the badges provide a real-life benefi
The Most Social Music Game Yet: “Def Jam Rapstar”
The new game Def Jam Rapstar from Konami and 4mm Games isn’t just a hip hop karaoke game or a challenging performance simulator like Rock Band 3. It’s a social media platform for building connections, promoting yourself, speaking your mind and maybe (just maybe) becoming an actual rap star.We were given a behind-close-doors tour of the game by representatives from Konami, 4mm Games and Def Jam Ent
“Glee” Gets an Addictive iPhone and iPad App
video Calling all Gleeks! Fox Interactive has partnered with Smule – the team that brought us Magic Piano and I Am T-Pain – to bring the Glee experience to the iPhone and iPad.The app [iTunes link], priced at $2.99 and available in the App Store, takes the best elements of Glee, I Am T-Pain, Rock Band Karaoke and Chatroulette and rolls it into one awesome experience.This is how it works: You download t
Gadget Deals of the Day
Get your spending cap on because today's dealz features a fantastic bargain on a 12-month subscription to Xbox Live, a nice discount on one of HP's most portable offerings, and a free version of the new and catchy Yeasayer single. Top Deals: • 14" HP dv4 Core i5 Laptop for $649.99 plus free shipping (normally $740 - use this form). • Xbox Live 12-Month Gold Subscription Card for $34.99 plus free
Gadget Deals of the Day
Get some amazing deals in the midst of all the iPad fury. There's a nice Core i7 laptop, an unbelievable price on one of the best games of the last decade, and a free version of Terminator Salvation. Go nuts! Top Deals: • 16" ASUS N61JQ-X1 Intel Core i7-720QM Quad-Core Laptop for $999.99 (normally $1299). • Psychonauts (PC) for $2 download (normally $9.99). • Terminator Salvation Download for $0.
Gadget Deals of the Day
Take a break from all the CES madness and contemplate today's deals. Check out a kickin' rad Toshiba laptop, some boombastic Polk Audio floor speakers, and a wispy game for your iPhone. Top Deals: • 13.3" Toshiba Satellite T135 Laptop for $579.99 plus free shipping (normally $698). • Polk Audio R50 Floorstanding Speakers for $116.56 plus free shipping (normally $195 - use coupon code BONUSBUY).
The 40 Best Branded iPhone Music Apps of 2009
Music apps are a huge category of apps, and 2009 was a huge year for music apps. Music Ally sums up the year's biggest music apps for us here. 2009 was the year of the App Store, as Apple passed the two-billion downloads milestone for its store. The year also saw labels and artists jumping onto the bandwagon with their own branded iPhone apps. The most successful, like Smule's I Am T-Pain (picture
YouTube Caroling: YouTube Launches $5,000 Singing Contest
video Who doesn’t love carolers? They show up at your door, sing a holiday favorite, and leave, imparting you with Christmas cheer. If caroling is your thing, but you’re not brave enough to bear the winter weather and go door-to-door, YouTube has a rewarding incentive for you to take your tunes to the Web and carol online instead. YouTube Caroling, a new channel from the video site sponsored by Marshall
Yahoo Shuts Bix Down. Did Anyone Notice?
It must be disconcerting to a big Internet company to shut down a whole website and nobody even notices. Not even a short note on Twitter from a concerned user until now. But that’s what apparently happened. At some point Yahoo shut down Bix, a karaoke and contest website that they acquired in late 2006. Yes, at some point in 2006 someone at Yahoo said “Karaoke? Contests? We gotta own that!” Six d
SonicSwap Puts Your iTunes Library On The Web For Streaming And Sharing
Since the launch of YouTube’s API and the release of Seeqpod, we’ve seen many sites emerge that allow users to create playlists of their favorite songs that can be streamed free of charge. Unfortunately, this can be a tedious task - oftentimes users are forced to recreate the playlists they already have in iTunes because the sites lack an upload function. SonicSwap, a startup that launched this
Tomy Hi-Kara karaoke cube is world's smallest
Filed under: Portable Audio Sometimes it's best to not ask why. In the case of the Tomy Hi-Kara, which they claim is the world's smallest karaoke machine (unless others have something to say about it), we will simply list off some specifications and dimensions then allow you to judge amongst yourselves, because, really, yeah. The Hi-Kara measures just 2.75 x 2.75 x 2.75-inches in a cube format wit
Pioneer MEP-7000 and SEP-C1 Software Is Digital DJ Dream, Purists' Nightmare
Rather like some of my Swedish girlfriends, Pioneer is going after mobile DJs and bars with their new MEP-7000 player and matching SEP-C1 controller. The MEP-7000 allows to play anything except vinyl (which will probably cause a Macbook-Air-sized conflict), including MP3, WAV, AIFF and AAC files, from any source, including hard drives, CD, DVD, USB keys and computers. It can also work alongside so
Mini Review: Amazon Non-DRM MP3 Store now in Public Beta, Easy to Use
Amazon's MP3 store is now in public beta, so you can all have a fiddle around with the DRM-free service &mdash like I just did. First observations:There are two million tunes available, from 180,000 artists, including tracks from EMI and Universal. Over half of the songs are priced at 89 cents, including the Top 100 tracks, and they're at 256 kbps resolution. Once you've installed the Amazon M
Apple: No BS iPhone Review
Greetings irrational fanboys and Apple haters! Ten days and 12,000 words later, our stone-cold look at what it means to own an iPhone is done. Before we get to the in depth hands-on, here's the verdict I'd give any good friend: Wait to buy the iPhone. Wait for What? Wait until Apple updates the software on this iPhone. That was a hard sentence to write, since I'm thumbing through my own iPhone li
Internet Piano: Yamaha PSR-S900 Keyboard is Not Your Grandpappy's Player Piano
This Yamaha PSR-S900 keyboard bridges the gap between musical instruments and the Interwebs, and it can play music and connect to the Net at the same time. It has an Ethernet port that gives you a direct connection to the Internet without even using a computer, and that lets you download thousands of compositions and 7,000 karaoke arrangements. It's pretty much a computer unto itself, with a 5.7-i
Weird Multimedia Players: "Very Special"
While these devices don't have sexy names, Cartoon Network branding, or in some cases, any design point of origin at all, we are in love. First Cable Line's flagship model, the MPD-101A (seen above), is innovative, and great for children who should be learning about multimedia in places other than your private stash. Plus, I thought it was hilarious when the PR lady said everyone at the company