real

Top 10 iPhone games of 2010

With 2010 coming to a close, it's time to look back at some of the greatest games to hit the iOS over the course of the year. I have many more favorites than I've listed in this slideshow, but I guess I have to make a cutoff somewhere. In any case, many factors have contributed to the iPhone becoming one of the greatest gaming platforms yet, and I think it will continue to get even better in 2011.

There's no question that the popularity of the iPhone made game developers see an opportunity to create something special … Read more

First-person combat and true-to-life racing: iPhone apps of the week

This week, over at our Signal Strength blog, Maggie Reardon answered questions from readers regarding the upcoming Verizon iPhone. The article is not about the iPhone specifically, but about how a mass exodus from AT&T to Verizon might effect both carriers.

I got the iPhone 4 when it was launched, knowing that I would have to stick with AT&T for two years, but obviously, I had little choice as an iPhone app reviewer. Like many who got the iPhone 4 near launch day, I was sad to hear later that I missed the chance to get an iPhone with Verizon, which many say has the best network. But Maggie has an interesting point: With a mass exodus from AT&T, it will probably mean that those stuck in contracts will experience significantly better signal strength with a lot less users clogging up the network. Also, current Verizon customers have to wonder just how much a huge influx of iPhone users will effect the historically strong Verizon network.

I suppose we'll have to wait and see what effects a Verizon iPhone will have on each carrier, but you have to admit it's heartening to hear that AT&T users might be getting better service as a result of the Verizon iPhone. Hopefully both carriers will benefit from the change so all of us finally get good connection speeds.

This week's apps include the sequel to one of the best racing games for iPhone and the debut of an FPS game formerly only available on desktop computers and consoles.… Read more

Click clack: Mechanical keyboards compared

The first IBM Model M keyboard was made in the 1980s and quickly rose to a cult product with typing purists who prefer its buckling spring keys as opposed to the thin laptop keys we use today.

As a result, manufacturers like Das Keyboard, Matias, and Rosewill are rolling out updated versions of the Model M that bring back the same key switches and the click-clack sound--hence the term "mechanical keyboard."

This guide offers more about mechanical keyboards than even the average geek cares to know, but unfortunately you can't try them out before you buy, so … Read more

Real to announce new media organizer next week

Next week at the D Mobile technology conference, Real Networks will demonstrate its first new major consumer product in a long time, a cross-platform media management service. The as-yet unnamed product is in two parts: software that consumers run on their computers and mobile devices that will watch for new content they store on them; and a Web service that can collect that media and stream or load it to any of the devices the consumer owns.

Real's new-since-January CEO Robert Kimball believes that this product will address a major pain point for consumers and bring Real back to the public eye after years of decline. But he was clear with me that Real's consumer-facing media player (remember that?) accounts for less than a tenth of the company's business and that he doesn't expect a major boost from the new service. Currently, the bulk of Real's business is in its gaming platform, its licensing of technology, and, primarily (37 percent of revenues) the back-end and white-label service Real provides to wireless carriers. But even there, Real has a lot more potential than market: about 38 million mobile subscribers use Real-developed online services, out of a potential addressable market of 700 million people, Kimball says.… Read more

Twitter's promoted tweets come to Google

Twitter has scored some of the most prime advertising real estate on the Internet: Google's search pages.

In what Search Engine Land's Danny Sullivan called a first, Google has agreed to show Twitter's promoted tweets on its real-time search results page. The companies will share revenue from clicks on those ads, Sullivan confirmed with Google, although the nature of the split wasn't disclosed.

Twitter allows businesses to purchase ads in the form of tweets that show up at the top of search results for a given topic. Those ads will also now appear in Google search … Read more

Latest RealPlayer drops its beta label

These days, a great number of people are not only finding the majority of their entertainment online but are also conducting a fair amount of their social lives there as well. In such times, it's great to have a quick and simple tool for downloading, editing, sharing, and transferring media. With the latest version of RealPlayer, RealNetworks is aiming to provide just that.

Version 14 of the all-in-one multimedia jukebox made its way out of beta this week and has some new functionality under its belt. Since the software already offered a sweeping array of features, from one-click video … Read more

New RealPlayer adds mobile-friendly features

In its rather successful attempts to keep up with the video-hungry masses, RealNetworks started adding some attention-grabbing improvements to its RealPlayer multimedia app last year. First, the software slapped on the ability to quickly and easily download videos from the Web and transcode them to various devices.Then, earlier this year, the company threw in a user-friendly video editing and sharing tool.

Today, RealNetworks announced another update to the software aimed at making it even simpler to manage, share, and transfer your media. Details in the release are scarce as to the actual changes that accomplish this, but company Vice … Read more

Browser powers and video tools

Three things are on the tips of our tongues lately: Internet browsers, security suites, and video-editing apps. Let's start with the first. NetApplications' browser usage statistics for September provide a look at who's gaining clout on the Web: Google's Chrome, twin mobile powerhouses Apple iOS and Google Android, and Microsoft's IE9. In other browser news, Chrome enjoyed an update that added activation by default of the WebGL 3D graphics technology, an option for built-in Google Instant search results, and some hardware acceleration for some CSS transformations--to the dev version, at least.

On the security side of … Read more

Save big on Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (PC) and Command and Conquer 4 (PC)

I won't join the chorus of pundits who've declared PC gaming "dead," but I will say it's pretty bereft of high-profile titles these days.

On the other hand, if you're into real-time strategy (RTS), there's absolutely no better platform than the PC. And many would argue that there's no better RTS experience than the Command & Conquer series.

Normally $29.95, Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight is now just $17.97 when you download it from the EA Store.

Is C&C 4 the best game in the series? In … Read more