Friendster reborn as a gaming site, wishes Facebook cared

Friendster's as good as dead to the western world (it hasn't really crossed our radar since 2005), but Forbes reports that the site is still huge in Southeast Asia -- though not for the reasons you might think. It was the original social network when in launched in 2002, but its acquisition by e-payment provider MOL Global in 2009 led to its reincarnation as a top online gaming destination for countries such as India, Indonesia and Malaysia. The new Friendster just officially emerged from beta as a game-centric site, and the remaining vestiges of its social networking past -- you can still add friends, after all -- are gamified with reward points. Moreover, owner MOL Global has added e-payments to the mix, letting users buy Friendster Coins to purchase virtual goods. Given predictions that the Asian gaming community will exceed 1 billion by 2016, the site's future is looking rosier than ever. That might lessen the sting of being plum blown out of the social networking game by the big dogs.

Friendster reborn as a gaming site, wishes Facebook cared originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Apr 2012 02:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Photo of Falling Bear on College Campus Defies Description

A bear can be seen falling from a tree in a truly memorable image after being tranquilized by police in Boulder, Co., this week. Fortunately, he's doing fine.

The young bear, estimated to weigh between 150-200 pounds, had somehow wandered onto the University of Colorado campus and climbed into a tree.

While it's never funny that an animal has to be tranquilized, all ended well. He landed safely on a mattress and was released into the wild when he woke up:

"[The bear] was tranquilized by the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Department and it fell onto some mats that the Rec Center provided," CU Police said.

"It was placed in a cage, relocated at a higher elevation and released."

Before it was tranquilized and immortalized in this photo, the bear spent about two hours in a tree near the campus dorms, terrifying students.

On Tuesday, another family of black bears made the news, literally, after wandering onto the set and interrupting a news report in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

The University of Colorado was also in the news for another viral story this week, after this tipsy member of the student body hilariously posed with President Obama.

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Sprint confirms that unlimited data will stay unlimited, even if next iPhone has LTE

Sprint has confirmed that it will still offer an unlimited data plan for the next generation iPhone. There was some doubt that the unlimited data would remain, especially if the iPhone 5 has the expected LTE radio.

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ComScore pegs Kindle Fire at more than 50 percent of the US Android tablet market

We've seen some pretty clear indications that the Kindle Fire was rapidly gaining market share among Android tablets, and ComScore is now out with a new report that indicates it recently crossed a big milestone. According to the research firm, the Fire's market share in the US fully doubled from December to February, with it standing at 54.4 percent as of the end of the month. Counted together, the Galaxy Tab family sits in second at 15.4 percent, while the Motorola Xoom and Asus Transformer come in at 7 and 6.3 percent, respectively. Of course, the Kindle Fire isn't quite your ordinary Android tablet, so this is likely better news for Amazon than Google. In addition to that, ComScore also looked at the browsing habits of tablet users, and unsurprisingly found that larger screens tended to lead to more content consumption, with 10-inch tablets boasting a 39 percent higher consumption rate than 7-inch devices. You can find all the numbers at the source link below.

ComScore pegs Kindle Fire at more than 50 percent of the US Android tablet market originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TED-Ed website launches in beta, lets teachers customize video lessons

Last month, TED announced its new education initiative -- fittingly named TED-Ed -- with a YouTube channel showcasing teachers' lessons presented as animated videos. Today, the program moved forward, as TED opened up a beta version of a website meant to complement those lessons. Though there are plenty of study aides here, ed.ted.com is really about the grown-ups on the other side of the classroom. The site lets teachers with a TED account "flip" videos from TED-Ed and YouTube -- i.e., customize them to include multiple-choice and open-answer questions and links to additional info on a topic. Currently there are 62 videos and 238 "flips" available for viewing, but TED is gearing up for a full launch to be timed with the new school year in September.

Continue reading TED-Ed website launches in beta, lets teachers customize video lessons

TED-Ed website launches in beta, lets teachers customize video lessons originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cambridge becomes UK's first White Space city as trials declared a success

The UK White Space consortium has declared its technology trials a success in Cambridge today. Some of tech's biggest names teamed up to equip Silicon Fen with Neul's "Weightless" broadband gear -- managing to get an 8Mbps data service out to the residents of rural Orwell. While great for those who can't get fixed line services, the consortium's also emphasized the benefits for Governments who could use an internet of things and cellphone networks, which can offload excess traffic in times of need. All that's required is for Ofcom to double-check the claims that it won't interfere with other wireless transmission formats and deliver its official blessing. Let's hope the Government study doesn't turn up anything unwarranted, as we'd hate to see a British version of LightSquared.

Continue reading Cambridge becomes UK's first White Space city as trials declared a success

Cambridge becomes UK's first White Space city as trials declared a success originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Apr 2012 11:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Deal of the Day ? Pre-Order the HTC One X LTE Android Smartphone [AT&T] for $149.99

Tuesday’s LogicBUY Deal lets you pre-order the?HTC One X LTE Android Smartphone [AT&T] for $149.99.? Features: ?1.5GHz Dual-Core S4 processor, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, 4.7″ 1280 x 720 Super LCD 2 display, 8MP rear camera with flash (1.3MP front), 1GB RAM, 16GB built-in storage (non-expandable), 4G LTE speeds, microUSB with MHL, Wireless HDMI, NFC, [...]

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