classic

Want to watch movies and TV shows on your Android phone or tablet? For the moment your choices are a bit limited. There's Netflix, which works with only a handful of phones (unless you're game for a little hacking) and requires a monthly subscription. Same goes for HBO Go.

Enter Crackle, a new app that lets you watch dozens of TV shows and a couple hundred movies, all free of charge (but with commercials, natch).

Available for Android 2.2 and later, Crackle is compatible with around two dozen Android phones (unlike Netflix, which runs on only half a dozen or so). I was hoping to test it with my Samsung Galaxy Tab Wi-Fi, but a tablet-compatible version isn't available--yet. (It's coming soon, according to the developer.) Thankfully, it worked like a charm on my Samsung Nexus S 4G.

Crackle delivers much of (but not all) the same content as its eponymous Web service. On the TV side, you'll find shows like "The Tick," "NewsRadio," "Soap," and AMC's "The Killing."

Unfortunately, a lot of the available series (especially newer ones) are merely clips or "minisodes," not full eps. At the risk of sounding ungrateful, I don't want 5 minutes and 30 seconds' worth of "Fat Albert"--I want the whole show. Hey, hey, hey!… Read more

Once game consoles hit their stride in the '80s and '90s, the platform game became enormously popular. Especially with the release of the now legendary Mario games, just about every developer rushed to produce a game that offered that perfect mix of running, jumping, and collecting items for points, all while exploring a strange and often fantastical world.

This week's collection of apps includes modern twists on the old-school platform games many of us remember. The first lets you explore deep mines for treasure; the second will bring back memories of precision-heavy, rage-inducing platform classics; and the last offers up cartoonlike graphics as you explore a dreamlike fantasy world.… Read more

Back in the 1970s, '80s, and '90s, one of the favorite destinations for kids after school and on weekends was the local video arcade. Many readers will probably remember changing dollars for tokens, stacking up tokens and quarters on machines to indicate you "had next," and how quickly you could blow your money by playing game after game. Sadly, arcades slowly died out as home gaming consoles improved and stand-up arcade cabinets--for the most part--became a thing of the past.

When iOS devices and the iTunes App Store came along years later, the developers of those old games (… Read more

The Energy Take Classic 5 pack is exactly the same as the Energy Take Classic 5.1 speaker system, except that it's sold without the subwoofer. Since the 5.1 (with subwoofer) version is available for just $399, we strongly recommend prospective buyers purchase that one instead.

Beyond Ynth is an innovative and idiosyncratic puzzle-platformer game, a fun follow-up to Ynth, and now also available in striking HD on the iPad.

You play as a fragile little bug named Kribl, who traverses a series of worlds of various types (forest, desert, volcano, and snow), scurrying through mazelike boxes. You push and rotate these boxes to create a safe, interconnected pathway from one end of the level to the other, and along the way (depending on the type of world you're in), you have to watch out for deadly sunbeams, freezing air, falling acorns, and the like. … Read more

Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP is a stylistically unusual and engrossing action and adventure game that focuses on artistic audio and visuals. Immediately upon starting the game, you'll notice it has a very distinctive style and you'll get onscreen cues that teach you how to control your character. As the story unfolds, you'll travel across a mythic realm and solve puzzles as you go.

Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery offers a unique experience and an interesting control scheme that sets it apart from other side-scrolling games. As you travel the world, you'll run across impassable areas that … Read more

Sure, you can watch movies and TV shows on your iPhone or iPad, but there's always a catch--usually a monetary one. Hulu and Netflix cost money. PlayOn costs money and requires you to leave your PC on. The ABC Player is iPad-only and, well, ABC-only.

Enter Crackle, a new app that lets you watch dozens of TV shows and a couple hundred movies, all free of charge (but with ads, natch).

Available for iPhone, iPod, and iPad (the app is universal), Crackle delivers much of (but not all) the same content as its eponymous Web service. On the TV … Read more

Atari's Greatest Hits lets you relive the early history of video gaming, giving you tons of old-school arcade and Atari 2600 hits on your iPhone. But it's not without flaws. Games like the original Asteroids, Tempest, Gravitar, Crystal Castles, and many more are available via in-app purchases packaged with their associated Atari 2600 games and some extras. In other words, the Atari Greatest Hits app itself is free, but if you want to play Tempest, for example, you'll need to buy the Tempest pack (99 cents), which comes with Tempest, Tempest for Atari 2600, Outlaw (2600), and … Read more

In a CNET News story yesterday, our very own Josh Lowensohn explored Apple's recent patent application for an interesting touch-screen concept. The patent details separate smaller displays outside of the regular iPhone touch screen. According to the patent filing, these separate displays could be used in tandem with the main iPhone touch screen or used by developers to show added information in apps and games. Josh is careful to point out that patent applications don't necessarily mean a company will use an idea in a future product, but they are nonetheless interesting to consider.

Obviously, adding separate screens would open up all kinds of options for apps, but I wonder if these areas would be used by Apple for showing things like battery life, current time, camera information, or other more generic smartphone-related uses. But if these added touch-screen areas could be used by app developers, it would open up a huge number of possibilities for more interesting on-screen controls and other information widgets related to what's happening on-screen.

Even without knowing whether this will come to light, what sort of uses can you envision for extra displays around the main iPhone screen? Let me know your ideas in the comments.

This week's apps include an app for star gazing that uses augmented-reality technology and an app that lets you play classic arcade and console games from the golden age of gaming.… Read more