Microsoft Not Leaving China like Google - Ballmer

Ricardo Trejo Jan 19, 2010 Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Us Google, Microsoft, World

If it's one thing Steve Ballmer wants to point out in this whole Google/China mess is that he simply 'doesn't understand'. When talking to Reuter's earlier he made it clear that Microsoft doesn't plan to follow through with anything Google does at the moment in regards to closing up shop in China and the recent cyber attacks originating from there:

"There are attacks every day. I don't think there was anything unusual, so I don't understand. We're attacked every day from all parts of the world and I think everybody else is too. We didn't see anything out of the ordinary."

And when Reuters asked Microsoft Steve if they had any plans of exiting China:

"No. I don't understand how that helps anything. I don't understand how that helps us and I don't understand how that helps China."

                                                                                                 - Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO

Exit strategy? Nope. If anything we'll be seeing Microsoft take advantage of the situation and make Bing the default search engine on all Chinese PC's.

[The Register via Reuters]

Dual iPhone Dock Reconnects you with Nature

Ricardo Trejo Jan 19, 2010 Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Us Humor, Minimalism, iPhone

Woodtec, a joint venture between a husband and wife, love working with their hands, and with these two devices they're bringing it back to the basics. Who needs solid white and silver chrome gadgetry when you can gave a simplicity and natural look of a piece of bark hooking your iPod or iPhone to your computer of choice. 

...handmade of cedar....looks, feels and smells amazing! compatible with all iphones and all ipod devices(except shuffle). The docking stations use a standard USB plug, so it can be used to charge and sync with a computer. If it is for an iPhone, it came with an adapter to plug into the wall for charging. 

The Dual Dock station is $129 and a similar device known as the Triple Dock is $149. 

[Etsy]

De-Smell You And You Laptop With A USB Drive

Nick Mahar Jan 19, 2010 Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Us Gadgets, Hardware, Humor

There are some rare occasions that make many people go a few days without showering. Typically for guys it's when we're working on long projects on our computers, or we're just up playing video games for much longer than we should. Thankfully, we now have a cute little device to make everything smell better. The USB Scent Flowers (above) spread a fresh aroma all around you and your computer for about $9.99.  They come in a variety of colors and fragrances and includes 3 refill cartridges which should last you a while.

[Chipchick]

Bioshock 2 DLC Already in the Works

Alex Tretrop Jan 18, 2010 Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Us Gaming, Industry News, News

Bioshock 2 is coming out in a few weeks and while it's looking great, will it live up to the huge bar that the original game had? We'll see on February 9th, but as we wait Australian Gamer has posted an interview with the Senior Systems Designer from 2K Marin, Kent Hudson, who confirms that "We are working on pretty aggressive plans for DLC and that's actually something that is already under-way."

Other than that there is no information on what it could be, since Bioshock 1 only got some extra DLC in the form of extra plasmids, a new achievement, and some challenge rooms on the PS3, it's a little bit suspenseful as to what we could expect.

Still, more DLC is never a bad thing and considering that Bioshock 2 has multiplayer we can predict new plasmids and multiplayer levels added in the near future. Whether the multiplayer is any good is up in the air, but you can check out Ricardo's CES 2010 multiplayer impressions if you want more info. The DLC also could be more challenge rooms but hopefully 2K does something more interesting than that.

Think Bioshock 2 will need more content? For multiplayer, singleplayer, or both? Will the game be good? Come back in a few weeks when the game hits store shelves for our full review.

[Shacknews via AustralianGamer]

Video: Crazy MS Paint art took 4 years to make

Brandon Davenport Jan 18, 2010 Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Us Design, Humor, Microsoft, Videos

Long nights and mis-spent childhood bring the results of this insanely epic MS paint world. If you ever wonder how long it took him to make this masterpiece, lets just say it took him four years, yes thats right 4 years! At 2.5m x 2.3m, it's more than a painting -- it's an entire world, filled with fancy people and magical beasts. Also, the hairmetal soundtrack is quite fitting.

[Geekologie]

Apple January 27th Event invites sent - "Come see our latest creation"

Brandon Davenport Jan 18, 2010 Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Us Apple, News, breaking

Yep, the rumors are true *hi fives* and I am super stoked for this. Apple will be holding their renowned event Janurary 27th at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco, and will get underway at 10AM Pacific.

What do you think will be announced? We're thinking a new Tablet -- we think it will be called the iBook or iSlate. We think it may be called the iBook because of the discontinuation of the iBook line and the grey area of the Macbook and Macbook pro. Take a guess...

Read more -- past coverage of the Apple Tablet

Square payment system for iPhone demo by Kevin Rose

Brandon Davenport Jan 18, 2010 Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Us Apple, Gadgets, Mobile, Videos, iPhone

If you are a farmer selling fresh veggies, or a small business that is always on the go, you no longer have to accept a jar of change or a handful of leafy cash as a payment. This little gem is called Square and it allows you to take payments for however much via credit card right on your iPhone. It does this all by plugging into the headphone jack and requires no power. Once you swipe your card, it takes the info like the amount, name, your signature and GPS location and emails that to you as a receipt you can download at any time. It even gives you photo verification of your buyers. It also makes a perfect omelet.

Visit -- Square (learn More)