magic

SAN FRANCISCO--When George Lucas talks about the raison d'etre of his award-winning visual effects studio, Industrial Light & Magic, his logic might strike some in the bottom line-obsessed world of Hollywood as heretical.

"I started ILM to help make great movies," Lucas told CNET recently. "That's what we're here for. We're not here as a big moneymaking organization. We're not here as a business. We're here to make great movies."

Of course, any filmmaker would probably want to say something like that, but Lucas may well be the one person … Read more

Catapult Madness is an artillery-based casual arcade game in which you try to fire peasants from a catapult as far as possible.

The side-scrolling interface has three parts: a workshop screen (where you buy upgrades to make your peasants fly further), the catapult screen (where you carefully time your button taps to determine the speed and angle of the catapult shots), and the battlefield that your peasants fly over (according to the game's thin backstory, you're trying to reach a neighboring castle 50,000 feet away to ask for help in a battle). The catapult itself won't … Read more

The 2012 Mercedes SLK's retractable hardtop will offer a new darkening technology for its glass roof called Magic Sky Control, according to an article in The Independent.

Magic Sky Control is an ethereal-sounding name for technology that uses an electrical surge to distribute light-blocking particles across glass. With the touch of a button, the glass changes from transparent to opaque, giving people additional privacy or the ability to block light. In the Mercedes SLK, the application enables occupants to control the amount of light that enters the vehicle through the glass roof of its retractable hardtop on hot days--or … Read more

GE is launching a new residential electric-car charger that promises to be faster and more user-friendly than traditional charging stations.

The new GE WattStation unveiled today is a residential version of the public charger announced in July. The home WattStation will lower the time it takes to charge from 12 to 18 hours for a standard charger to as few as 4 to 8 hours, assuming a full-cycle charge for a 24 kWh battery.

Created by industrial designer Yves Behar, the residential WattStation joins its public counterpart with controls that should be easy to use, according to the company.

"… Read more

If you asked the average moviegoer to name George Lucas' biggest influence on the film industry, they'd probably say "Star Wars." But while there's no arguing with the massive cultural and artistic impact of that film and its five sequels, a better answer might well be Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic.

To be sure, "Star Wars" and ILM are not unrelated--Lucas started ILM to create the visual effects for his groundbreaking movie. But the visual effects house has gone on to do a great deal more, and today is probably responsible for the look … Read more

It may just be a shell, but it's a pretty darn good rendition of a pinball arcade table, down to the plunger, flipper switches, and LED backlit backbox that displays animation when you play. For pinball junkies who find the idea of tapping on an iPhone screen to flip the ball lame, the Pinball Magic ($39.99) should score a hit.

All that's needed is to dock your iPhone or iPod (running on OS 3.0 and higher) into the 30-pin connector accessory, make sure you download the free pinball app (you'll need an iTunes account), and … Read more

A few people who have installed Apple's "Magic Trackpad" update are experiencing problems with the new behaviors. The main issue seems to be that scrolling is jittery instead of smooth, but others have had problems with mouse movement also not working well.

If you experience these problems, the first step is to test the trackpad behavior in another user account, since there may be a faulty settings file in the primary account that is interfering with the software. If everything works properly, then you will need to locate the trackpad's settings file and remove it.

An … Read more

CNET TV's Brian Tong discuss the latest in Apple news, notes, and rumors. This week, Brian takes a look at the newest products released by Apple including the new Magic Trackpad. You'll also learn how to downgrade your older iOS devices if you're having issues with iOS 4.… Read more

With the Apple Magic Trackpad creating ripples regarding the spread of touch across all Apple devices, it's important to regard a product that visited this territory last year, and perhaps even attempted it more ambitiously. The Wacom Bamboo Pen and Touch, a combination multitouch trackpad and pen-based tablet that theoretically offers a killer alternative to the Apple's pad for one reason alone: its versatility.

After reviewing the Magic Trackpad this week, I realized that a Bamboo was still in a drawer in my cube, and I pulled it out to revisit. How did it compare with Apple's sleek square? And, more importantly, are there any areas where it's even better?

First off, the Bamboo is larger than the Magic Trackpad. The extra-wide Bamboo Fun Pen and Touch I have is a lot larger. It's similarly colored to Apple's tiny device, but made of a less sturdy-feeling plastic that's prone to scratching. The Bamboo Pen and Touch is a also a USB-wired device, unlike the wireless Magic Trackpad. It's also more expensive: while a $69 model offers only pen or touch input but not both, the combination pen and touch-pad combo that most users would want costs $99. The extra-large version we reviewed, the Fun, costs $199. The not exactly cheap $69 Magic Trackpad comes off as a relative bargain. … Read more