pop

Looking into the future, concept artists often equip their dream iPhones with built-in pico projectors. That feature probably isn't coming to an iPhone anytime soon, but Micron Technology's upcoming $99 Pop Video pico projector accessory may be the next best thing. … Read more

The latest in the everyone-sue-everyone patent war is an alleged infringement by Samsung and Research In Motion for installing emoticon shortcut menus on their mobile phones, according to tech news site Ars Technica.

A firm called Varia Holdings began the process of suing both cell phone makers on Thursday for using its "emoticon input method and apparatus" patent, reports Ars Technica. The company asserts that it owns the idea of pop-up emoticon menus, which let users easily insert a happy or frowny face without having to type out the characters one at a time.

"It is known … Read more

What the hell is an ultrabook?

That's an excellent question that's been raised by CNET editor Scott Stein, among others, and one Intel is trying to answer, in part, by going out and performing some flash mob-style theatrics.

The Pop-up Theater is an Intel ad campaign where a team of 60 individuals descend upon various spots around Los Angeles to wow passersby and unassuming individuals with messages splayed across a digital wall of ultrabooks.

Such stunts include standing in front of the Grauman's Chinese Theater on Hollywood Blvd. to spell out "I heart Ultrabooks." In another example, the team brings a virtual crowd to a game of 3-on-3 basketball by displaying shots of cheering fans whenever someone scores. … Read more

Update Feb 3, 2012: In early January Samsung told me of a firmware update that addresses the brightness pops in both the D7000 and D8000 plasmas (I was also told that 2012 versions wouldn't suffer this issue), but since that time the company has not given me any additional information despite repeated inquiries. Meanwhile multiple CNET readers have told me how they have contacted Samsung customer service (in one case via chat), described the "pops" and been sent updated firmware on a USB stick (version 1024.8). The effectiveness of the new firmware varies according to reports … Read more

Similar to probably a hundred other games in the Android Market, Marble Blast requires you to shoot monochromatic bubbles at other monochromatic bubbles. Create a cluster of three or more, and all of them pop and disappear. The object, of course, is to clear your screen of all of them.

What makes Marble Blast unique, however, is that the bubbles, or marbles, actually travel around your screen in a single-file line. They aren't stationary targets anchored to the top of your screen as they are in other bubble-based games like Bubble Blast 2. Your job in Marble Blast is … Read more

Launched on August 1, 1981, with the Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star," MTV had a huge impact on 1980s pop culture.

Before MTV arrived, music programming was mostly limited to bands playing a song or two on the late-night talk shows or "Saturday Night Live." Amazingly enough, most big cities' cable providers weren't on board for the MTV launch; NYC and LA didn't offer the network until 1982. MTV's "I want my MTV!" ad campaigns helped rectify the situation, but MTV's initial rise was painfully slow. The network went … Read more

Google Offers continues to expand.

The daily-deals arm of the search giant announced 14 new deal partners and new personalization features making the process of finding and receiving relevant deals in one location more seamless for consumers. Google Offers also branched out to four new cities this week: San Jose, San Diego, Minneapolis and Baltimore.

"If deals aren't relevant or don't match your interests, they're spam," Nitin Mangtani, product manager for Google Offers, told CNET. So to broaden its consumer appeal and make deals more targeted, Google is adding new inventory categories such as luxury … Read more

"Oh, hey there, Skype Home window. I was going to watch this movie but I see you've decided to randomly open a window over it instead. Thanks!" Sound familiar? If you're a Skype user who's updated to version 5.5, you've probably come across this issue (only happens if you use Compact mode). There isn't a way to disable the pop-up in the application (yet), so follow these steps if you'd like to get rid of it:

Step 1: Download and install the Kill Skype Home program from SourceForge.

Step 2: … Read more

While other kids were out selling glasses of lemonade, 7-year-old Connor Zamary was starting his own app company. Toaster Pop, an iPhone game that involves slathering spreads on toast, is his first creation.

Connor isn't just a figurehead with a first-grade education. He's a fully fledged technology entrepreneur. "He pitched investors, made his own PowerPoint, filled out the paperwork for his LLC all by himself, has done conference calls with the West Coast developers," father Craig Zamary tells CNET in an e-mail interview.

Connor vetted and selected a developer to build the app and took feedback from friends and family into account during the development process.

One perk Connor isn't allowed yet is his own e-mail account. He uses his father's to conduct company business. He answered a few questions from CNET, including where his app idea came from.

"My dad was telling me about an old fashion toaster since I never saw one before. Then it just came to me to create an app, where toast would pop out of the toaster, land on a plate and you would have to butter it with butter," Connor writes.

That sums up the 99-cent Toaster Pop app pretty well. It's a family-friendly game designed with kids in mind. It starts with butter, moves up through jams, and then mixes it up with a spread called "The Works." Connor's personal favorite toast condiment is butter.… Read more