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Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Philips hue announces fancy new 3D-printed Wi-Fi-connected lamps

Philips announced a batch of new Wi-Fi connected lighting products today, including this handsome number made through 3D printing. There are both hanging and table 3D luminaries with Philips' signature color LED bulb inside, which, like usual, you can control and program with your iPad or iPhone. The Entity pendant lamp designed by WertelOberfell is going for a whopping 2,999€ (a little over $4100 USD) and the Tempest table lamp designed by Strand + Hvass costs 2,499€ ($3400 USD) with pre-orders starting March 31.

On the more affordable side of things, Philips also announced a new bulb called the lux, which is a white-only version of their current bulb, and the hue tap which is a programmable four-button touch switch. You can snag a lux bulb for $40 on its own, or get a starter kit with two bulbs and a bridge for $100.

Those 3D-printed lamps are outside of my price range for sure, but the hue tap could be handy; more than once, it's been a hassle finding my phone to turn off my hue lights before heading out the door. The new lux bulbs are also a nice, cheaper alternative for those that don't need the full range of colors in their lights (which, let's be fair, is more of a novelty than anything else). Hit up the Philips hue site for more info on the new products and the rest of their stuff.

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Angry Birds Go!: Top 10 tips, tricks, and cheats!

From upgrading your kart to flying through challenges, this is the definitive tip and trick guide to Angry Birds Go!

In Angry Birds Go! you can race as your favorite characters from the popular Angry Birds franchise. From timed challenges to smashing fruit, there's a lot of fun to be had. But what if you get stuck on a specific challenge or don't understand where to find Angry Birds Go! codes? That's where iMore comes in! Follow along for our top tips, tricks, and cheats to mastering Angry Birds Go!

1. If you're going to buy anything, get the coin doubler

Angry Birds Go! is one of those games that makes it very easy to spend a lot of money on in-app purchases if you aren't careful. If you decide you're willing to shell out some cash, do it on something that you continuously get rewarded from. The coin doubler is $6.99 but you keep it forever and every single coin you collect counts as two. That means you rack up your total twice as fast.

2. Drive on the inside of the track whenever possible

Obviously the best route is always the shortest ones. Taking tight turns and staying on the inside of the track can shave off distance and overall time. Obviously if there's a gem on the outside of the track and you have enough of a lead or enough time to pick it up, by all means do so. But if you're racing against the clock or having a hard time passing an opponent, staying on the inside helps you gain some ground.

3. Time your power ups right

You're limited on power ups and using them at the right time makes the most sense. That means don't use a speed boost right before you're going to go around a corner. The odds of you slamming into a wall and wasting it are high. Instead, use it in a wide open space. Also look for cues on power ups like bubbles that elevate you. If you see a stream of coins in the air, that's probably a good time to use it.

4. Aim matters when you're launching off

When you launch off from the starting block, make sure you aim well. Normally I aim for the inside of the track whenever possible. Depending on how you aim, it could be the difference between starting off in the lead or getting stuck on an opponent and not being able to make up the time.

5. Upgrade acceleration and top speed before anything else

When you're upgrading your kart, spend your coins on acceleration and top speed first. These are what can give you the edge in harder challenges. I've found focusing on these two boosts to allow you to level up and advance faster as opposed to upgrading evenly and possibly losing challenges due to faster opponents.

6. Don't waste gems on skipping challenges

Unless you absolutely can't beat a specific challenge, don't waste your gems on skipping it. Typically it costs you at least 10 gems and it's just not worth it. Try a few more times or put the game down and come back to it later. Gems are super hard to come by so use them sparingly and only when you have to.

7. Don't energize birds using gems, change the time instead!

Each time your bird runs out of energy you'll need to wait for 20 minutes to use it again. There's a known glitch though that'll let you trick the system. Just put your iPhone or iPad in Airplane mode and then change the time ahead at least an hour. Your bird should then be ready to go when you hop back in the game.

8. Use Facebook for double rewards

Signing into your Facebook account gives you double rewards in Angry Birds Go! so if you've got a Facebook account, make sure you sign into it. Who doesn't want to earn rewards faster?

9. Don't forget to do daily events

Each day Angry Birds Go! gives you a daily event that you can participate in to win either coins or gems. Every consecutive day that you complete

10. Angry Birds Go! codes

There are lots of special codes from sponsors you can redeem through Angry Birds Go! that you'll just have to keep your eyes peeled for. The Jenga code reveals a special pirate themed mini game. If you have the Jenga set, just enter the code. If not, you can buy the level for $1.99. Other sponsors such as State Farm run promos and have codes from time to time as well. Just keep your eyes open.

Unfortunately, most of the codes you'll find online are never valid. However, if you manage to find codes that work, be sure to leave them in the comments and we'll check them out and add them if we can verify them.

Your tips, tricks, and cheats?

If you play Angry Birds Go! and have tips and tricks to share, be sure to leave them in the comments!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/iLidu3kr2uY/story01.htm
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This Animated Vanagon Tribute Will Leave You Pining for Open Roads

It takes a special breed of traveler to own a VW Vanagon. These quirky people-movers are far from the most luxurious whips on the road but they always seem to arrive at the most scenic of destinations. Or the garage. Because these things break down—a lot.

iWork for iCloud updated with fresh design, Mac and iOS apps updated with new features

Apple has updated the iWork suite today on both the Mac and iOS. The iCloud versions of Pages, Numbers and Keynote now have Retina display support, a new design in the editor tab, and better sharing that allows for a "view-only" state to keep unwanted changes from happening. Also, documents can be opened directly via iCloud mail.

Other individual app changes, like chart editing in Keynote, better, more informative pop-ups in Numbers, and better page wrapping and chart editing in Pages.

The changes are live for iCloud right now, and updates to the iOS and OS X apps should be coming later today.

Update: The apps are live now, here's your list of changes.

Numbers: What's New in Version 3.2

New "view only" setting lets you share spreadsheets you want others to view but not edit
Set margins in print setup
Create headers and footers in print setup
New printing options: page numbering, page ordering and zoom
Create custom data formats
Create custom table styles
Drag and drop a CSV file directly into a sheet
Automatically update an existing table by dragging in a CSV file
Control the z-order of bubble chart labels
Cell-based import feedback
Improved text box behaviour
Media Browser improvements, including search
Improved Instant Alpha image editing
Improved Microsoft Excel compatibility
Improved AppleScript support
Usability improvements

Keynote: What's New in Version 6.2

New "view only" setting lets you share presentations you want others to view but not edit
Improved Presenter Display layouts and labels
New transitions and builds: Object Revolve, Drift and Scale, and Skid
Improved Magic Move including text morphing
Apply motion blur to animations
Show rulers as a percentage of document size
Improved Instant Alpha image editing
Media Browser improvements, including search
Directly specify start and end points of movies
Create custom data formats
Export to PPTX format
Improved AppleScript support
Control the z-order of bubble chart labels
Support for animated GIFs
Detailed presentation import feedback
Improved animation performance
Improved bi-directional support: switch direction for text, lists and tables
Allow objects on slide to layer with master
Improved text box behaviour
Usability improvements

Pages: What's New in Version 5.2

New "view only" setting lets you share documents you want others to view but not edit
Delete, duplicate and reorder sections using the page navigator
Inline images and shapes in table cells are preserved on import
Copy-paste style improvements
Better placement of inserted and pasted objects
Improved Instant Alpha image editing
Media Browser improvements, including search
Improved AppleScript support
New Arabic and Hebrew templates
Improved support for bi-directional text
Word count for Hebrew
Create custom data formats
Control the z-order of bubble chart labels
Show rulers as a percentage of document size
Improved text box behaviour
Improved EndNote support, including citations in footnotes
Improved ePub export
Usability improvements
$9.99 - Pages for iOS - Download now
$9.99 - Numbers for iOS - Download now
$9.99 - Keynote for iOS - Download now
$19.99 - Pages for Mac - Download now
$19.99 - Numbers for Mac - Download now
$19.99 - Keynote of Mac - Download now

Of course, they are all free for new devices.

Source: iMore Forums

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