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Plants vs. Zombies for iPad gets hot and buttered

The iPad's bigger screen real estate has held some of the biggest promise for fans of tower defense games, and iPhone and iPod Touch best-seller Plants vs. Zombies from PopCap could be one of the best early examples.

The iPad version of the title, dubbed Plants vs. Zombies HD, was leaked last week along with a slew of other iPad games through Apple's iTunes Web interface for apps. At $9.99, it costs more than three times its smaller sibling.

However, the iPad-optimized version brings the game nearly up to parity with the versions found on PC and Mac computers, which cost twice as much. This includes the proper top placement (instead of the side) of all the weapons and resources you must work with to defeat your zombie foes, as well as survival mode, which lets players try to stay alive for as long as possible. For many of those who have finished the game's campaign, this is the mode of choice, and something that was sorely missing from the iPhone version.

iPad users also get a new (and exclusive) mini-game mode called "buttered popcorn," which makes use of the iPad's multitouch display. As PopCap explains it:

Players attack zombies by first "buttering" them up before firing corn-cob cannons at them. To defeat the growing hordes of zombies, players can touch them to place butter on their heads. With the multitouch user interface, players can select up to 11 zombies at a time, targeted for 'buttering' by the powerful cob cannons.

Presumably, by selecting "11 at a time," PopCap means players are expected to use their nose, or the help of a friend, to select the extra zombie beyond their own 10 digits.

PopCap says it's sold 650,000 copies of the title for the iPhone and iPod. Users who have already paid for that version will, of course, still be able to play it on the iPad, but will need to buy a copy of the HD version if they want to take advantage of all the new features and extra screen real estate.

More screens after the break. Click on any shot to see it in its native iPad resolution.… Read more

The 404 Podcast 517: Where we're huge in Japan

Japanese pop star Leah Dizon joins the guys on today's episode of CNET's The 404 Podcast, and Mark Licea also joins the fun to talk about his personal history with the international sensation.

It's not every day we get a chance to interview a Japanese pop star, so when we found out that Mark Licea of CNET's The Green Show grew up with host/model/singer Leah Dizon, we booked her right away. Mark hangs out in the studio as well and we get the inside scoop on their childhood friendship, Leah's rise to fame in the States and abroad, and Japan's advanced technology that makes our iPhone look like the Jitterbug.

In the second half of the show, Wilson tells us a strange story about a man who claims that a booty call cell phone ruined his life. Apparently a Canadian woman found a series of lewd photo messages on her boyfriend's phone. After she confronted him about the pictures, the guy blamed Virgin Mobile for selling him a used phone with preloaded media. Nothing fishy here...

We also can't ignore the big news of the day: Google is testing out its new Internet service that promises speeds of 1Gbps. The fiber-optic network is set to humiliate Verizon FiOS, but at a more "competitive price," whatever that means. If you want Google to test out the service in your home town, you can sign up online anytime before March 26.

Thanks to Leah Dizon for chatting with us today! Check out her Web site and buy her music! Also, be sure to send your Valentine's Day questions to the404(at)cnet[dot]com, because the girls of Sugar Rock Catwalk will be in the studio tomorrow to offer tips on how to impress your boo bear this Sunday!

EPISODE 517 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Fist pump! All your 'Jersey Shore' finale tweets

When the biggest pop-culture sensation on television details the adventures of a bunch of loudmouthed, lowbrow twentysomethings, of course the buzz on Twitter is going to be a big deal.

So for the Thursday season finale of MTV's "Jersey Shore," the network has launched a "Twitter Tracker" to see which of the reality show's excessively tanned, middle-finger-flipping cast members are getting talked about the most.

Created in sync with social-media firm Radian 6, the tweet aggregator brings up extremely scientific graphs pulling in data for Twitter searches for the show's characters so that … Read more

Best downloadable games of 2009: A year without boxes

In many ways, 2009 seems to be the year download-only games hit their stride. Between the iPhone and iPod Touch dominating the portable market with the ever-growing App Store; the release of the completely disc-free PSP Go; and the Nintendo DSi--which also can download games from an online store--portable gaming has started to move beyond the cartridge and disc. Even in home consoles, there's been a continuing focus on lower-cost downloadable games and DLC sold on Sony's PSN, Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade, and the Nintendo Wii's WiiWare as alternatives to pricier disc-based titles.

While download-only … Read more

'Bowie: A Biography,' a book review

"Bowie: A Biography" by Marc Spitz (Crown, 429 pages) isn't just about David Bowie.

After the Beatles, there was David Bowie. I'm not equating them, not by a long shot, but Bowie's music felt like a big change from what preceded it in the 1960s.

Born David Jones in the suburbs of London in 1947, Bowie had a huge impact on the music of the 1970s. If you're old enough to remember you know "Space Oddity" made him a star, and "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust" and his … Read more

Snow Leopard 10.6.2: Unable to receive POP messages

Some users may experience an issue with their POP accounts after upgrading to Snow Leopard. When attempting to retrieve messages in Mail after updating it is possible that messages may no longer download. The 10.6.2 update to Snow Leopard has altered the process for authenticating POP accounts. Mail will only attempt to download messages using your selected authentication method, instead of attempting each method (as was the case in previous versions of Mac OS X).… Read more

The 404 442: Where we've won the Nobel Peace Prize even though we've done nothing...yet

It's the end of the week! It's also Audio Draft Time, and this might raise a little bit of controversy. It's Matt and Kim, an Indie pop band from Williamsburg, New York City. Nope this isn't Justin's pick; it's Wilson's. Strange, no?

We check out their tracks "Daylight" and "Yea Yeah." We apologize beforehand for the overdriven audio. It may not be your cup of tea, but Wilson assures us they are great in concert and just lots of fun. On a further note, they will be touring with Weezer in the coming days.

On today's show, we check out an outrageous iPhone app, where you actually have to lick the screen to play the game. The premise of the app is to lick off the food on your plate. Without getting too detailed, we come up with a couple of other apps that might take advantage of this lick-touch-screen idea. Just be sure to wrap up your iPhone before you partake.

We also check out a study that says HDTVs are mostly a placebo effect to most users. Now, we admit this study didn't compare a SDTV next to a HDTV, but we know plenty of people who think that composite video looks just as good as 1080p. After that we get to plenty of voicemails, and yes, we have two--count 'em--two voicemails from women!

EPISODE 442 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video

Broadcast your iPhone pics from Times Square

You know that picture of you and your cat that features so prominently on your Facebook page? Well, play your cards right and you and Buttons could show up on the 7,400-square-foot Reuters Billboard in New York's Times Square. Fortunately for the rest of us cynical travelers, the pic will only tower 23 stories above the city for 15 seconds.

It's all part of a promotion by a new company called CanvasPop that lets you print any image at any size on canvas, including pics from Facebook, Flickr, Photobucket, and iPhones. CanvasPop's first 100 customers will … Read more

Ice pops ready for lift off

Getting kids to eat homemade ice pops can be a little bit of a challenge: after all, they don't have the cool designs and colors that the Popsicles at the store do. But with the Tovolo Blue Rocket Pop Molds, you can turn out a few fancy treats of your own. The molds work with just about any juice or flavor you want--and with a little extra work, you can actually make combined colors, like a rocket pop that is red, white, and blue. The molds are plastic and have a base that holds them upright in the freezer, … Read more

Fun photo-editing program

Pop Art Studio is a versatile program that allows users to perform all the typical image-editing functions and a few cool extras, as well.

The program's interface is a bit overwhelming at first, with a whole lot of little buttons across the top, but, on the whole, it is well-organized and intuitive. Users who are familiar with the basics of photo-editing software should find most of what they're looking for pretty easily. There are the typical options for cropping, resizing, retouching, working with layers, and so-on. What makes this program different is the variety of pop-art effects it … Read more