Word

Animated cat repeats what you say. And that's pretty much it.

You've always wanted to see an animated cat say things in a squeaky voice, haven't you? If so, then Talking Tom Cat is for you! Talking Tom Cat is a free app that shows a cartoon cat onscreen that repeats whatever you say into the device in a funny voice. Talking Tom Cat also responds to pokes and strokes of the screen.

Talking Tom Cat lets you say anything into your microphone, which it then repeats with sound modifications, as well as onscreen animation. You can pet the cat and hear him purr. You can pour him a … Read more

Zynga revs up mobile ads with Honda campaign

Zynga unveiled its first reward-based mobile advertising campaign supported by Honda, a move by the social game provider to generate more money and help alleviate investor concerns.

As part of the "It Starts With You" campaign to promote the 2013 Honda Accord, Words with Friends and Scramble With Friends players can earn in-game currency and tips by playing Honda-related words.

Some of those words include "new," "tech," and "you" -- not quite the first things that come to mind when thinking about a new car but probably words that pop up fairly … Read more

Word games you may not know about for smartphones

Most games on my iPhone keep my interest for awhile, but then they enter a state of sitting on my home screen until I remember to revisit them. If they sit long enough, I'll delete them knowing I can always redownload if the urge strikes me. But there is one category of games I never stop playing.

When I get a moment, I'm always catching up with word games on my iPhone. I constantly have a Scrabble (iOS|Android) game going along with both Scramble with Friends (iOS|Android) and Words with Friends (iOS|Android). When I have … Read more

The 404 1,141: Where we feed the dogs (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Zynga and Hasbro announce board game versions of the most annoying Facebook ones.

- Will.i.am and Simon Cowell considering X-Factor style show, for tech.

- New Ninja Turtles cartoon replaces Cowabunga with....

Bathroom break video: Longboarder attacked by a deer.… Read more

Shining light on new Kindle Paperwhite

Monday's CNET Update has a glow about it:

The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite e-reader is now shipping, and CNET has given it the Editors Choice award. You can read the full review here. The Nook GlowLight dropped its price to $119 to match the Paperwhite.

Apple has released a Wi-Fi bug fix for the iPhone 5 on Verizon. The bug caused the iPhone 5 to use data even when the device was connected to a Wi-Fi network. Verizon won't charge iPhone 5 customers for any excess data as a result of the bug, but customers should download the fix … Read more

Speak Scrabblish and 'thwack your amis' at Scrabble (Q&A)

If you're one of the millions of people who play Scrabble regularly, you surely know that you can't use proper nouns in the hit game. So how is it that words like "Alaska," "Berlin," "Bolivia," and even "Jane" are legal moves?

Anyone who has spent any time reading the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary (OSPD) knows that each of those words has an alternate meaning that satisfies the game's rules. And it was just that kind of information that author David Bukszpan was after when he began working on "… Read more

Top games to play with friends on smartphones

There are several games on both of my iOS devices at any given time from just about every genre. But there are only a few games I go back to on an almost daily basis and that's because they are fun, addictive, and a great way to keep in touch with friends and family.

These "casual" games are turn-based and require you to connect with a friend to start playing -- there is no single-player option with this collection. They have also been around for a while, but that's kind of the point: these are the games I continue to play because it only requires a couple of minutes to take my turn and send it to a friend. While it is sometimes a pain to go in and complete my turns (especially when life gets busy), the overall experience of competing with your friends and family is a good one and acts as a way to stay connected, even in our busy everyday lives.… Read more

WordPress releases major app refresh for iPhone, iPad

The new version of WordPress for iOS, which includes an updated user interface and dozens of additional features, is now available on the App Store.

Version 3.1 of the app, dubbed its "biggest update ever," was released on Wednesday.

The new app has 180 new features and fixes in total, according to the WordPress blog.

Among them are sliding sidebar panels, which have become a common feature in many iOS applications such as Facebook and Twitter, to take advantage of the larger iPad screen. Post formats, which allow the user to set the format and theme of … Read more

Zynga's new Gems With Friends puts spotlight on mobile

Zynga's latest game, Gems With Friends, launches today and it may give some hope for the game-creator's mobile future.

As the series' first arcade-style and first non-word game, Gems -- available in Canada with a worldwide rollout to follow in the coming weeks -- features gemstones of different colors and numbers that can be combined to score points.

"They combine and they create these epic combos," said Paul Bettner, vice president and general manager at Zynga. "It's a thrilling game and very, very addictive."

Zynga is introducing this mobile-only game amid criticism of … Read more

How to extract images from Office documents

Including images in an Office document can ensure that all relevant data is located in one spot for everyone's convenience. Maybe you need to include a schematic or blueprint diagram to help illustrate a point, or feel photos documenting a problem or demonstration could give your work a bit more power. In any case, the easy part is putting the images into the document, but what if you need to pull the images out of a file?

Sure you could use a screen grabber for small files, but what about large, high-quality images that don't fit into one … Read more