balls

The Netflix video streaming player finally gets an overhaul, but most of the upgrades to the navigation and video thumbnail layouts feel vaguely reminiscent to us, but we can't put a finger on it.

Speaking of streaming video, we'll also made a plea to HBO to broadcast episodes of "Game of Thrones" to non-subscribers. The show has quickly become the most pirated show of 2012 so far, and although we understand HBO's rights to keep the episodes in-house, we can't help but wonder why the network isn't taking advantage of this opportunity to get more money. Related: this week's Low Latency comic.… Read more

Flick Home Run is an arcade home-run-hitting game that only requires a flick of your finger to send the ball over the fence, but it definitely takes practice. Unlike 3D home run games like Home Run Battle, in Flick Home Run you have a 2D view of the playing field, with pitches coming from the right and you timing your flick to send the ball as far as you can. The game instructs you to touch a Pitch button in the lower left corner, and when the ball comes into play, your job is flick the ball at just the … Read more

If you're a fan of Dyson's bagless vacuums but always wished that the company made a canister model that was powered by its Ball technology, that day has arrived: Dyson has introduced the DC39 Multi-floor and DC39 Animal canister vacs.

Dyson vacuums have never been cheap, and the new models, due out in mid-March, cost $449.99 and $499.99, respectively. Aside from its color and higher price, what distinguishes the Animal from the Multi-floor is the inclusion of an accessory that's specially designed for picking up pet hair. Both models are being marketed as "smooth … Read more

Arcade Hoops Basketball mimics the arcade quickshot basketball machines you might find at a pizza place or a fair, but with this app it's all about swiping your shots to the basket. Once you start the game, your job is to swipe upwards toward the basket and sink as many shots as you can in 45 seconds. The power of your shot is affected by how much you swipe so it takes a little bit of practice before you'll be hitting shots consistently.

Arcade Hoops Basketball comes with three game modes. The classic 45 second contest mentioned above, … Read more

It's such a fine line between stupid and clever.

That's a quote from the movie "This is Spinal Tap," but it could just as well apply to the Sphero, a new high-tech, $130 robotic ball that's well, either pretty stupid or pretty clever, depending on how you look at it. (We first encountered Sphero at CES 2011.)

Let's start with the clever. The concept of wirelessly controlling a ball and steering it around with your smartphone is certainly intriguing, and people's initial reaction to seeing Sphero in action is usually a mix of curiosity and a bit of awe. "Wow, that's cool," is a frequent observation. … Read more

Buying gifts for geeks can be expensive. They are likely to have things like iPads, Microsoft Surface tables, and working replicas of the TARDIS on their wish lists.

You don't have to drop a bundle to show you care about your geek's nerdy pursuits. For $7.99, you can cross that egghead off your holiday shopping list with a Magic Geek Ball from ThinkGeek.

The Magic Geek Ball is the techie, meme-loving cousin of the Magic 8 Ball. Ask it a yes or no question and it will spit back a response like "404 error," "Fail," or "Can Has."… Read more

Google loves Lucy.

In order to demonstrate that love, the company's doodlers have created something special for Lucille Ball's 100th birthday.

Well, it would have been her 100th birthday today, but Lucy is sadly no longer with us.

Still, in a blog post, Google doodler Jennifer Hom explained: "Lucy's creativity, absurdity, and ever-changing facial expressions (especially when she was scarfing down candy, stomping on grapes, or touting a new energy drink) have brought joy and laughter to generations of viewers."

Google's doodle offers a click and play feature, through which you can watch clips … Read more

Nintendo just announced disappointing sales of its 3DS hand-held gaming device, and a discounted sticker price to go along with it. Is an $80 drop and 20 free games enough to build momentum for the tepid gaming device?

Check out today's show to find out, and to also hear about an AirBnB user's home getting completely thrashed, the hubris of Domino's 7x7x7 deal, and our tips for Colin Farrell in the remake of the movie "Total Recall."

Augmented reality, which brings together the physical and digital worlds, holds much promise for gaming. So why do most augmented-reality games suck? Here's the key: Most aren't true augmented reality. They're little more than animations overlaid on a video feed.

Enter Ball Invasion, a game from Swedish software developer 13th Lab. The iPad 2 game is a leap forward. It's also simple: Shoot a stream of round black bullets at the colorful balls that emerge on your screen. Unlike other augmented-reality games, however, you can bounce your animated bullets off the real walls around you. Check out the video below.

Here's what goes on under the hood. Ball Invasion uses Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) to build and continuously update a 3D digital representation of the physical space in the iPad camera's field of view. This is the technology many robots, including NASA planetary rovers, use to get a sense of where they are.… Read more