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Pop bubble wrap bubbles...on your iPhone!

Bubble TapTap Free is one of numerous free, ad-supported apps in which you pop virtual bubble wrap, in a game that tries to simulate the visceral thrill of mashing that time-honored packing material.

The interface is simple: 40 bubbles, arrayed realistically in staggered rows, which you tap to audibly pop. The bubbles regenerate after a few seconds, letting you go back and pop as many as you can while a one-minute timer ticks off the seconds. The game also gives you a bonus for popping bubbles in quick succession, briefly showing you the number of bubbles chained together as you … Read more

Mac Trojan Horse poses as Adobe Flash Installer

The latest attempt from digital wrongdoers to infect your Mac has been spotted taking on the look and feel of Adobe's Flash Installer.

Despite your feelings on whether you like Flash on your Mac, this Trojan poses a fairly serious threat to those unsuspecting users who may think they are simply updating Flash Player.

F-Secure has named the Trojan Bash/QHost.WB and have provided some insight as to how it works.

Once installed, the Trojan adds entries to the hosts file to hijack users visiting various Google sites (e.g., Google.com.tw, Google.com.tl, et cetera) … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1523: Global cyber cold war imminent? (Podcast)

On today's show, security researchers report that Anonymous and LulzSec are, if anything, just distracting us with their antics while the true threat is a years-long cyberwarfare campaign that's stolen everything from private intellectual property to high-level government secrets. So, that'll probably lead to some reasoned and logical cyber-security discussions, no? No. Also, is the Amazon App Store screwing developers, and are you finally getting what you pay for, broadband-wise?

This Day in Tech: Obama signs debt limit bill; ZocDoc announces $50M funding round

Too busy to keep up with the tech news? Here are some of the more interesting stories from CNET for Tuesday, August 2.

Finally, President Obama signs debt limit bill after nasty fight to avert economic catastrophe Tuesday. According to CBS News, Obama said the deal to cut spending and increase the nation's $14.3 trillion debt limit marked an "important first step to ensuring that as a nation we live within our means."

Doctor booking site ZocDoc announces $50 million funding round from DST Global, and plans to use the investment to expand its presence to … Read more

Facebook buys digital bookmaker Push Pop Press

Facebook has purchased digital bookmaker Push Pop Press, the companies announced today. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Push Pop Press made a name for itself by developing an iOS app version of former U.S. Vice President Al Gore's book "Our Choice." The application received widespread praise from critics and earned the company an Apple Design Award earlier this year.

But all that doesn't mean that Facebook will be getting into the digital-publishing business. According to Push Pop Press, Facebook is acquiring the company for its technology, which will be used in some way … Read more

Three in one

Firefox, Chrome, and Internet Explorer are the three most popular Web browsers, and each has its own strengths and weaknesses. If you find yourself primarily using one browser but occasionally having to switch back to another for a specific purpose, Lunascape might be just the browser for you. Lunascape combines rendering engines from Firefox, Chrome, and IE and makes it easy to switch between them.

Lunascape has a sleek tabbed interface that doesn't exactly resemble any one browser, but it's familiar-looking enough to be intuitive. It comes with three rendering engines: Trident (from Internet Explorer), Gecko (from Firefox), … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1509: Hey, Windows Phone 7, how much does a polar bear weigh? (Podcast)

Today on the show, we discover that Windows Phone 7 does have a life in the wild -- at least one phone does, anyway. Also, Plants vs. Zombies are taking over the world and BT, Steve, and I are headed for a Tetris showdown. RIM continues to try to defend its co-CEO setup (why!?) and fans rage, rage, against the dying of the cheap Netflix plans. We direct them elsewhere: toward the studios who want so much for streaming content in the first place.

EA acquires PopCap Games for digital push

Electronic Arts has acquired PopCap Games.

EA, which announced the acquisition after the market closed today, said that the two parties agreed to a price of $650 million in cash and $100 million in stock. In addition, PopCap is eligible to receive up to $550 million in earnouts over the next couple years if the company can hit certain revenue milestones.

PopCap shareholders will receive nothing in earnouts if the company generates $91 million or less in earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) through December 2013. The company's shareholders can stand to make $550 million in earnouts if PopCap'… Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1496: Goodbye to the Winklevii (Podcast)

On today's show, why horny Amish guys shouldn't sext while driving their horse and buggies and why somewhere in the world, Martin Short is currently clenching his butt cheeks. Yep, it's a Donald Bell show. Also, ISPs are adopting graduated responses to piracy and Apple gets a patent that may or may not be broad depending on how you define "N."

PopCap Games snares a mystery buyer?

PopCap Games, the company behind the hit titles Bejeweled and Plants vs. Zombies, is reportedly in the process of being acquired for more than $1 billion.

Multiple sources tell TechCrunch that the company is definitely in play. Just one problem--the sources don't know who the buyer is.

The blog reported that game giant Zynga took a look at PopCap, but suggested that with an estimated annual revenue range of $100 million to $150 million and a price of more than $1 billion, the premium might have been too high.

EA's name has also come up, though for a … Read more