For the last six months, orangutans — those great, hairy, orange apes that go 'ook' a lot — at Milwaukee Zoo have been playing games and watching videos on Apple's iPad, but now their keepers and the charity Orangutan Outreach want to go one step further and enable ape-to-ape video chat via Skype or FaceTime. 'The orangutans loved seeing videos of themselves — so there is a little vanity going on — and they like seeing videos of the orangutans who are in the other end of the enclosure,' Richard Zimmerman of Orangutan Outreach said. 'So if we incorporate cameras, they can watch each other.' And thus the idea of WiFi video chat between orangutans — and eventually between zoos — was born. It might seem like folly, but putting (ruggedized!) iPads into the hands of apes could really revolutionize our understanding of great ape behavior

http://idle.slashdot.org/story/11/12...oos-with-ipads ...

Back in October, we discussed news that India had launched a $35 tablet. Now, JohnWiney writes with a story in the Globe and Mail about the device's development. Quoting:"Part of the difficulty in engineering such a device is that the underlying goal—that its final price should be within the means of those who can’t afford high-priced tablets—dictates crucial engineering and component decisions. A piece of high-impact-resistant glass, such as the touchscreen face of an iPad, can cost upward of $20. Datawind’s touchscreen glass, which the company had engineered down the street, costs less than $2, though it won’t allow for luxuries like pinch-and-zoom finger swiping. There were also compromises on processing power: Datawind’s 366 megahertz processor costs less than $5, a fraction of the $15-plus price tag on the chips that power iPads and other comparable tablets. And while the decision to run Google’s free Android mobile operating system on the gadget saves money, it requires coders to dig deep into the Linux kernel that underpins the software, tweaking it until it runs smoothly on Datawind’s weaker processor."

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/12...heapest-tablet ...

Electronista reports that Sony, Nintendo, and Electronic Arts have all pulled their support for SOPA, but have not issued any statements as to why. The house.gov list of SOPA supporters is here."

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/12/...w-sopa-support ...

Google bought Motorola, Nokia tried to regain its mojo, fake Apple stores were discovered in China..

20. NFC - coming whether you want it or not

The history of mobile can be carved up into three eras: voice, messaging, data. And after data, well who knows? But if the combined will of Google, Mastercard, Visa and the world’s operators has any bearing on it, it could be contactless payments. This year has seen a series of remarkable announcements in the field of NFC-based mobile wallets. In the US, the big three operators unveiled their own project, called Isis. In the UK, after Barclaycard and Orange rolled out a service, the big three networks unveiled a cross-operator collaboration. And then, in September, Google actually went live with its own Google Wallet service. Remarkable, given that NFC is present in just a single mainstream Western handset, the Nexus S. To be fair, the emphasis isn’t entirely on payments – Google and the UK opcos are more interested in coupons and advertising – but it’s still bold future-gazing stuff given that one survey in 2011 showed that 91 per cent of consumers have never heard of NFC.

19. The Cloud – coming whether you want it or not

When did server farms in remote Nordic locations become the cloud? And, er, what is the cloud anyway? This year saw two huge announcements bring the cloud into the mainstream. Well, the B2B mainstream anyway. Because it’s pretty obvious the punters haven’t got a clue. Apple confirmed its plan to press ahead with the iCloud system that lets users keep all their music in cyberspace (the stuff they’ve purchased anyway) and have a copy locally too. Then Google did the same, but letting users upload their collections. Then there’s the DNLA consortium, which is trying to give OEMs one standard through which to offer ‘access anywhere’ media on TVs, in-car etc etc. Then there’s Spotify. All are slightly different, and all have distinct business models. Yet they’re all the cloud. It was so much easier when we had external hard drives.

18. Did we all dream the Nokia N9 MeeGo phone?

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In the first series of Happy Days, Richie Cunningham had an older brother called Chuck. The makers soon realised that Chuck wasn’t interesting, and that Fonzie was ‘the one’. So one day Chuck went to his room and was never seen again. In the mobile world, the Nokia N9 is Chuck Cunningham. It’s the lonely MeeGo device deemed surplus to requirements. A handset with no narrative purpose when set against the Arthur Fonzerelli that is WinPho 7. Get an N9 now. Keep it in the box. And save it for Antiques Roadshow.

17. If you've got one I want one too: social gaming

There’s money in coins. Well, of course there’s money in coins. That’s the whole point. This year it was the virtual coinage offered by various social gaming platforms that lit up the M&A columns. As micro-payment surged (app analytics firm Distimo found 49 per cent of the revenue on iPhone apps in 2010 came from in-app purchases), these firms suddenly looked very tempting. After DeNa bought ngmoco in 2010, RIM swooped for Scoreloop and Gree bought OpenFeint.

16. There are other tablets beside iPad. It's just that no one buys them.

When Apple launched the iPad in 2010, people said ‘oh tablets, that’s been tried before. No one will buy them.” They were right. No one would buy tablets. They’d just buy iPads. It’s an exaggeration of course, but the truth is that rivals have tried smaller tablets, cheaper tablets, tablets with 3D – and still Apple rules. Analysts put iPads share as high as 75 per cent. In October, ComScore revealed that 97 per cent of tablet data traffic in the US comes from iPads.

15. Never mind fake iPhones, let's fake an entire Apple Store

China eh? It’s like a foreign country or something. They certainly do things differently there, as one US blogger discovered when she felt there was something weird about the Apple Store in Kunming. There was. It wasn’t one. Your heart bled for the cheery staff who thought Steve Jobs was their boss, not some bloke who could also do you dodgy D&G belts. A month later the BBC unveiled 22 more fake stores. It’s not funny.

14. Barcodes may not be shit

Designers hate the way they look on adverts. Most consumers don’t know what they are. Barcodes are rubbish, aren’t they? Not so fast. In June, 14m Americans scanned mobile barcodes (says Scanbuy), and overall global scans grew 88 per cent in the quarter to May (says I-nigma). Barcodes are everywhere and they are converging around a single (QR) standard. The public is catching on. And when the first codes hit the peachy backsides of Olympic Beach Volleyball players, the mainstream may beckon.

13. Spotify streams into the US

After protracted legal negotiations Spotify finally hit the US this year, and then pulled off a coup by tying up with Facebook. The results were impressive, which must have royally annoyed Real, Napster et al. Spotify now has 2.5m premium subs, roughly half of which come from the US.

12. Here you go, InMobi. Have $200m.

Over the years, we’ve become accustomed to large VC rounds in mobile. And why not? If you’re going to invest in tech firms, then damn right ...

This year's great platformer nobody bought, Rayman Origins, is just one of the alluring items on sale in GameStop's new year sale. Now you can fix that by totally buying Rayman: Origins for $30. Just a suggestion!

If you're looking to upgrade that crummy launch unit or finally see what this "next gen" is all about, GameStop is also offering a pretty sweet Xbox 360 package. A 250GB Xbox 360 S without Kinect will net shoppers a $75 gift card. If you want Kinect, GameStop has knocked off $20, bringing it down to $129.99.

This GameStop sale lasts until January 3, so you'll need to act relatively quickly. For the full weekly ad, hit up the source link below.

http://www.gamestop.com/gs/weeklyad/...1/default.aspx ...

You tried to be grateful, you really did. But with every Snuggie, Slanket and Opiate-Laced Cuddle Cocoon you opened, it became abundantly clear that you were getting none of the EA PC games you asked Santa for this Christmas.

Luckily, Amazon is there to set this sad situation right, with deeply discounted, digitally delivered diversions like Dead Space 2 ($4.99), Dragon Age 2 ($5.99), Mass Effect 2 ($4.99) and more. See the full list right here, and try to cut Santa some slack, okay? He always gets depressed this week.Amazon’s download deal of the day it to save up to 75% on Electronic Arts Games. There are a number of titles at absolutely silly prices. Check out the highlights below.

• Dead Space 2 – $4.99
• Dragon Age Origins: Ultimate Edition – $8.99
• Dragon Age 2 – $5.99
• Mass Effect 2 – $4.99
• Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit – $9.99
• Mirror’s Edge – $5.99
• Battlefield Bad Company 2 – $5.99

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.htm...reative=390957 ...

You enter the quiet, overgrown cavern by pushing open the heavy stone door with all your might. Inside, sunlight streams through the broken ceiling, and dust that hasn't been disturbed in hundreds of years lazily floats through the air, shaken up by your entrance. The sunbeams land on the summit of a small set of stairs, where an ornate, red and gold chest sits, teasing and waiting for you to open it.

You do. As you crack open the ancient treasury, a small fanfare plays, starting quietly and then opening up into a triumphant series of simple notes, telling you that you have finally done it. The item you pull out of the centuries-old coffer is fine treasure indeed.

It's a shirt, adorned with some kind of legendary logo, a heart container tag, and the number "25" on the back. It's available in five sizes, for a special one-time only printing. Order now, before February 20, 2012, to get it sometime this May. You fold the shirt into your leather pack, and move on through the dungeon -- who knows what fearsome beast you might have to use this on, three different times, to defeat it?

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/12/29/le...reasure-for-a/ ...

GameStop's iOS device trade-in program has been "successful," according to the company. The program, which began in September, allows customers to trade iDevices for hundreds in company credit. GameStop claims customers can receive up to $180 for an iPod Touch, up to $300 for an iPhone and up to $400 for an iPad.

"The velocity of this trade program has exceeded our expectations," said GameStop president Tony Bartel.

The company was unwilling to provide specific sales numbers or details on the program, but informed us it will have more to share with its holiday sales release, which regularly arrives during the first week of the new year. The company also expects to see more iDevice trade-ins as consumers upgrade their Apple products over the holiday.

GameStop is moving ahead and expanding the availability of "refurbished devices" in more stores and online in the coming year.

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/12/29/ga...-expectations/ ...

It's hard to set much store by early sales performance, particularly after the evergreen 3DS faced such arocky road. Nevertheless, the Vita's latest stats do look disappointing for such a highly anticipated -- not to mention high-quality -- console: after shifting a remarkable 321,000 units during its first two days on sale in Japan, it could only muster 72,500 in the whole week between December 19th and Christmas Day. In comparison, the PS3 sold 76,000 units during the same period, while the 3DS rang up half a million. This doesn't necessarily reflect a lack of interest, however: there have been stock shortages, and it's also possible that buyers are waiting to make sure that all the launch bugs get cleaned up. As for us, our alarms remain firmly set for February 22nd.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/29/t...uring-first-f/ ...