Bleeding Edge TV 462: Surface Touch Cover review

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Features, Microsoft, Podcasts, Product Reviews, Videocasts, Videos,

We give you a look at the Microsoft Surface Touch Cover, the keyboard accessory for Microsoft's tablet, in this episode of Bleeding Edge TV. The Touch Cover offers a pressure-sensitive touch typing experience for the Surface, making it a super-thin, convenient way to type when using the tablet in kickstand mode with Windows RT. We give you a look at all the different colors available for the Touch Cover, attaching each to the Surface to give you a little bit of a fashion show, and review the overall functionality with a demo.

You can pick up the Touch Cover for $119.

2012 Holiday Gift Guide: Monopoly zAPPed

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Features, Toys, Family, Techies, Under $100, Under $250, Under $50, Under $500,

Next up in our 2012 Holiday Gift Guide is Monopoly zAPPed, a full-fledged verion of Monopoly that can also be considered an iPad accessory. There are gonna be a lot of iPads and iPad minis under the tree this year, and if you already know someone who owns one (or who will own one this holiday season,) consider this game as a fun gift for them. The game is played with an iPhone or iPad with two to four players, and is different from tradtional Monopoly in that the device (iPad, iPod Touch or iPhone) is the bank and there are on-screen mini games. Also, there is no money, as you just swipe your credit card on the display for transactions. Included in the box are the game board with rubber pads, 6 tokens, 28 Property cards, 32 green houses, 12 red hotels, 2 dice, 4 Monopoly Touch-banking cards and instructions. You can pick up Monopoly zAPPed for $29.99, or $26.24 on Amazon (a 14% savings!)

Read More | Monopoly zAPPed Edition

2012 Holiday Gift Guide: Star Wars Death Star tea infuser

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, Smart Home, Movies, Techies, Under $100, Under $25, Under $250, Under $50, Under $500,

Techies seem to love tea, and this Death Star tea infuser bring both of those worlds together in a delicious way, so we're featuring it in our 2012 Holiday Gift Guide. Made of stainless steel, this tea infuser is molded to resemble Darth Vader's Death Star. Just put some loose leaf tea in there and steep it in your favorite mug. It's dishwasher-safe and available from ThinkGeek for $19.99.

Read More | Death Star Tea Infuser

Watch every Apple commercial from 1977-2012

Posted by Jason Diaz Categories: Apple, Smartphones, PC / Laptop, Portable Audio / Video, Videos,

Speaking of marketing, watch every Apple commercial from 1977 to present day. There's about 485 commercials, which includes the famous Mac vs PC, the technicolored hipster iPod dance ads and, of course, the iconic 1984 Macintosh SuperBowl spot directed by Sir Ridley Scott. One of my favorites, the first iPhone ad 'Surprised' from 2007.

Click to continue reading Watch every Apple commercial from 1977-2012

Marketing Samsung Galaxy Devices visualized

Posted by Jason Diaz Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Corporate News,

There's a high cost for making Samsung Galaxy devices. Horace Dediu, from Asymco, breaks down the math and visualizes them into nifty graphs. There's no question that the mobile Galaxy line embedded with Android has been a success for the South Korean conglomerate but, apparently, it comes at a cost of marketing the products. Sales, general and administrative (SG&A), is part of the equation being extrapolated for the results for past trends from 2009 to 2012. In other words, Samsung basically spends roughly four times more on marketing than its most rival mobile competitor. A good marketing example is seeing a payed advertisement for the Samsung Galaxy S III at the top of the Twitter Trend. Or those now infamous "Next Big Thing is Here" commercials basically trolling Apple customers at a line for a faux launch.

Click to continue reading Marketing Samsung Galaxy Devices visualized

Read More | Asymco

RIP Jeff Millar

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,

The well-known comic strip writer (Tank McNamara) and movie reviewer Jeff Millar has passed away.

Millar, and artist Bill Hinds, created Tank back in 1974 and quickly carved out a nice niche for itself as one of the few successful sports-based cartoons at a time when sports was fast becoming a national obsession.

Tank was always a top-notch strip. Millar had a playful and punny sense of humor and Hinds was a great draftsman.

That they managed to keep the strip going for 38 years is quite an accomplishment.

Here's the obituary from the Houston Chronicle, where Millar used to work. It details a lot of his non-comics accomplishments, many of which I was previously unaware.

[Artwork: Tank McNamara]

Museum of Modern Art begins collecting video games for new exhibit

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Action, Adventure, Culture, Puzzle,

Museums must have something against Roger Ebert. First, the Smithsonian American Art Museum holds an exclusive video game event earlier this year, and now the New York City Museum of Modern Art is following suit.

MoMA is officially bringing in 14 videogame classics to begin an ongoing gaming collection that will go on display in March 2013 in the Philip Johnson Architecture and Design Galleries. Currently, the included games feature obvious choices such as Pac-Man, modern games like Portal, and obscure games like vib-ribbon. The collection MoMA is aiming for consists of about 40 titles, which will fall in as part of a "new category of artworks."

Click to continue reading Museum of Modern Art begins collecting video games for new exhibit

Read More | MoMA

Google Drive now allows site publishing

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Google, Internet,

Google Drive users are now able to publish web content via their Drive storage using a public folder available from any browser. Web content published through Drive will also be able to host JavaScript, so you'll be able to run web apps on your page. Google, being the stickler for simplicity, demands published content remain static, and any outbound links must be addressed in a way that shows up in layman terms.

Read More | Google Apps Developer

Next Issue adds eight new titles to its unlimited monthly magazine plan

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Corporate News, Software,

Next Issue, the digital magazine services that's often described as "the Netflix of digital magazines," announced it will add eight new titles to it's tablet app. This brings the total library to 80 magazines, with impressive big hitters like New York Magazine, Food & Wine, and Men's Fitness.

Despite the additional magazine titles, pricing remains at $10 a month for 73 monthly and bi-weekly magazines, and $15 a month for access to the entire library, which adds in the weekly publications. If you use an Android tablet, the new titles aren't yet available on your platform, but should be the near future.

Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One Collection back on sale, release date confirmed

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Home Entertainment, Movies,

It's been a long time coming for patiently waiting Marvel fans, but the 10-disc Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One - Avengers Assembled Blu-ray collection set is finally slated for release on April 2nd. The collection had previously been delayed by lawsuit, leaving Amazon to pacify pre-orderers with free copies of The Avengers.

Originally, the collection was to come with a S.H.I.E.L.D. briefcase, but that has since been scrapped due to the aforementioned licensing issue. It will, however, come with a suitcase featuring a glowing Tesseract on the inside. Also, thanks to the delay, the collection will have a few new extras, such as an early Iron Man 3 preview and the second phase of films. But with extra content comes extra financial responsibility, as the price is now $219 at retail--but you can preorder it for $197.10 on Amazon, saving yourself 10%.

Read More | Marvel