Capcom Mobile Launches KENKEN for iPhone

Capcom Mobile, a leading developer and publisher of mobile games, and NEXTOY today announced the launch of the hit puzzle game KENKEN on the Apple App Store for the iPhone and iPod touch. KENKEN: Train Your Brain!, features stunning graphics, intuitive controls and 250 new puzzles to challenge puzzle masters and casual gamers alike.

KENKEN has become a certified phenomenon with more that 1.5 million puzzle books sold and regular puzzles appearing in The New York Times, Boston Globe, Detroit Free Press, Readers Digest and on NYTimes.com.

The brainchild of Japanese Math teacher Tetsuya Miyamoto and made famous by puzzle master Will Shortz, KENKEN requires simple arithmetic calculations and logic to decipher the ingenious puzzles. Translated as 'wisdom squared' in Japanese, KENKEN involves addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

With difficulty levels from beginner to advanced, KENKEN puzzles improve logical thinking, concentration and perseverance.

If you've never played KENKEN it is in the same category as Sudoku but with a different twist. You can try it out online here and see what you think, or you can watch a how to play video here.

KENKEN: Train Your Brain is available from iTunes for $4.99.

Self-Healing Plastic

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) have developed a nanotechnology polymer that can 'heal' itself by filling in cracks and tears automatically. Although self-healing plastic is not an entirely new concept, the UIUC material is different because it can repair itself multiple times without any intervention.

The material could have important uses where making repairs is difficult, where materials are under enormous stress and/or where material failure would be catastrophic -- such as in implanted medical devices, airplane and spacecraft components, and microprocessors. The UIUC researchers emphasize, however, that practical applications are years away, and that initial products will be highly expensive.

Source: MIT Technology Review

Apple le gana a Samsung el puesto como primer fabricante de smartphones del mundo

Hoy Samsung bien puede lucir como la "Blancanieves" del mundo móvil: rodeada de fabricantes "enanos" que le acompañan y compiten en la aventura de Android, la coreana se ha visto "envenenada" por la manzana que desde Cupertino le arrebató el primer lugar como fabricante de teléfonos inteligentes en el mundo. Así es: Apple encabeza la lista por muy poco, con la venta de 37 millones de teléfonos en diciembre, mientras que Samsung tuvo que conformarse con el segundo lugar al lograr la nada despreciable cifra de 36,5 millones de equipos vendidos en el mismo período.

Así, con una mínima diferencia, Samsung mantiene su honor pero no el primer lugar que otrora le pertenecía. Sin embargo, la victoria de Apple aún no da para que la fabricante del iPhone 4S se acomode en el trono a descansar. Recordemos que cuando Samsung desplazó a Apple lo hizo con 27,8 millones de terminales vendidos frente a 17,1 millones de iPhone: diez millones de diferencia que pudieron ser derrotados.

A pesar de estos números, si no se considera el último trimestre de 2011 sino el año completo, Samsung sigue quedando de primero. Según la consultora Strategy Analytics, el envío de smartphones y otros dispositivos aumentó 14% este año y la tendencia se mantiene en ascenso, así que ahora es cuando nos quedan reyes ungidos y derrocados por conocer.

De este modo, las expectativas para el Mobile World Congress 2012 se crecen más y más: con rumores infinitos sobre lo que Apple podría presentar para competir con el resto de los fabricantes, los ojos del mundo se centran en el Galaxy Nexus como principal arma de Samsung y hasta en un incierto Galaxy S III.

Remote-Controlled Pigeons

Chinese scientists have reportedly been able to control a pigeon's flight remotely through electrodes that stimulated different parts of the bird's brain. Scientists at the Robot Engineering Technology Research Center at Shandong University were able to send the pigeon commands to fly left, right, up and down. It is reportedly the first such successful experiment in the world, and could have important implications for neurology and even remote mind control.

Source: MSNBC

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/PocketPcLive/~3/xgcalpbEacA/windows-metro-ui-for-desktop.html

Now, you can setup an entirely personalized Windows Phone 7 theme. A  theme that could clutter a desktop looks great on a dual display, with the information in the middle and plenty of space for graphics on sides.

Britain Piloting First Biofueled Train

Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group has embarked on yet another venture -- Virgin Trains, which seeks to replace traditional diesel trains with models run on biofuel.

Virgin Trains' pilot project will test a train running on 20% biological material (typically a type of vegetable oil) in Britain for six months. If the test is successful, Virgin Trains will use the 20% mix full-time, with an eye toward engines run purely on biofuel. Virgin Trains says that switching to biodiesel could cut emissions by 14%.

Source: MSNBC