bats!

iPad apps for kids: Bats! like a furry museum field trip

What is a "book" on an iPad? It's a question that bears some consideration, because the very nature of a tablet redefines the book experience.

According to Apple, iBooks 2 is the answer. However, plenty of booklike apps on the iPad also redefine the territory; the newly released Bats!: Furry Fliers of the Night doesn't live in iBooks, but this app feels as next-gen as Apple's iBooks offerings, or more so.… Read more

The 404 950: Where we hang it on our dongle (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 Podcast Episode

Wolfram Alpha Travel Assistant app answers the question, " Where's that plane going?" Who knew Rotten Tomatoes is owned by Warner Brothers? Canada unveils new plastic $100 bills with high-tech security features: changing colors, hidden text, and backward numbers. Tomorrow the world will join Singapore to celebrate the 10th annual World Toilet Day, as decreed by the World Toilet Organization (WTO), the World Toilet Summit, and the World Toilet College.… Read more

The 404 879: Where we remember, remember (podcast)

Today we're exploring the trend of digital vigilantes (aka digilantes) taking to the Internet for crowdsourced criminal identification and cyberjustice. The most recent example is the hacker collective known as Anonymous' YouTube video threatening to take down Facebook on November 5, otherwise known as Guy Fawkes Day.

We'll also fill you in on the London police toying with facial recognition technology on Facebook to identify looters caught on camera, yesterday's 5,000 percent spike in blunt weapons sales on Amazon.co.uk, and a woman who used an airplane to wag a giant finger at Wall Street.

The 404 Digest for Episode 879

Anonymous: Facebook's going down November 5. Will London's police officials turn to Facebook's facial recognition technology to fight crime? Sales of aluminum bats are up more than 5,000 percent on Amazon.co.uk. The USB toothbrush: Philips' device is the "iPod of toothbrushes." Angry Birds makes it onto the cover of Mad Magazine. Airplane banner circles Wall Street: "Thanks For The Downgrade. You Should All Be Fired"

Episode 879 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

The Dark Knight rises in Lego form

A skilled Lego hobbyist has pieced together a detailed monument to The Dark Knight in time for Comic-Con in San Diego.

Flickr member "Orion Pax" (Alex Schranz) gave CNET and Crave permission to share his Batcave creation. Schranz reports that he "terminated" between 8,000 and 9,000 parts to build the cave.

In other words, the bricks in question are committed to this one-of-a-kind build. Lego Batman's lair stands on a 40-studs square base, 68 standard bricks high. If you don't know the size of a standard Lego brick, what in Gotham did you spend your childhood doing?

Schranz installed a neon lamp behind the scene for its moody lighting, and he took these photos with a Canon EOS 1000D. The entire project took about one week to finish.

"I always felt like doing something with all the collected Batman (Lego pieces)," Schranz said. "I'm working on a new piece now, and it should be done in a week or so."

For a more thorough tour of the Caped Crusader's plastic home, check out our gallery. … Read more

Ig Nobels honor research on cursing, bat sex, socks

The next time you get injured, go ahead and swear.

Researchers who found that cursing actually relieves pain were among the winners of Ig Nobel prizes today. Also honored were projects on whale snot and certain things fruit bats do while copulating.

Sponsored by the science humor magazine "Annals of Improbable Research," the annual awards were presented tonight in a ceremony at Harvard University to projects that "cannot and should not be reproduced."

The Ig Nobel peace prize was awarded to research from Keele University in the U.K. that confirmed that swearing can lessen pain. … Read more

Teen iPad destruction--'what was the point of that?'

A video of teenagers using a brand new iPad for batting practice is white-hot on YouTube.

The video, which as of early Monday morning had more than 257,400 views, is sort of a send up of the traditional "stress tests" that reviewers sometimes do on gadgets. The teens bought the brand-new device at a Best Buy store and went out to the parking lot to film their demolition. First, they dropped the device on the cement. Then, out came the aluminum baseball bat.

"Batter up, bro," says one teen. "Give it a swing." … Read more

MLB's Android, BlackBerry apps step up to the plate

After getting a taste of the big leagues during the playoffs last year, MLB At Bat is officially entering its rookie season on Android and BlackBerry phones.

MLB released the app Wednesday to their respective app stores, Android Marketplace and BlackBerry App World. At Bat was previously only available for Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch. At Bat for Android and At Bat for BlackBerry includes live streaming audio--both home and away feed choice--scoreboards, box scores, and pitch-by-pitch or play-by-play updates, along with updated video highlight reels. The biggest difference between the version of At Bat available for Android and BlackBerry and the one for the iPhone is that there's no option for live streaming video. iPhone and iPod Touch users get one free live streaming video per week.

The iPhone and iPod Touch At Bat app also got a pre-season tune-up. MLB released an updated version Tuesday, to coincide with the first day of spring training. The price for all three versions of the application is $14.99. That's $5 more than last year, when At Bat for iPhone cost $9.99.

The price hike is due to more content and features being available for the 2010 season; it was released before the regular season begins and includes all news and scores from spring training. New features for the iPhone version of At Bat include a whole season of MLB.TV access for subscribers (last year that feature wasn't rolled out in the mobile app until July), the choice between home and away broadcasts, a video highlight library that's searchable by player or team, push notifications, and favorite team shortcuts. The iPhone version also has the option to do background audio streaming this season. Since the iPhone doesn't run multiple apps simultaneously, if you want to continue listening to a game in the background while checking e-mail or browsing the Web, the audio will automatically be switched to stream through Safari.

During the World Series last year, MLB counted 1.2 million downloads of its At Bat app. And this year the league says it's off to a fast start. After debuting the At Bat 2010 on the App Store Tuesday, MLB says it was the No. 1 paid sports app and No. 3 top paid app overall after just 24 hours.

More screenshots after the jump:… Read more

On the drive

With all eyes in the auto world this week focused on the LA Auto Show, I thought I would take a look at what else was going on. Here's a car shaped like a cricket bat. It was built by the man who brought the world the soccer ball car and the toilet car.

MLB uses World Series to warm up Android app

Alex Rodriguez won't be the only big baseball name making its World Series debut Wednesday night.

When the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies take the field for the first game of the World Series, Major League Baseball will also introduce its popular At Bat mobile application for Android phones.

Previously only available for Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch, the application can be downloaded from MLB.com's mobile site but not the Android Marketplace, since the league is still testing the app in advance of next season. For that reason, the Android version will be free.

At Bat for Android delivers live scoreboards, box scores, and pitch-by-pitch or play-by-play updates, along with updated video highlight reels. The big difference between the free beta Android version the full paid version now for iPhone is that there's no option for live streaming video. There will, however, be live streaming audio for the remainder of the baseball postseason.

MLB says for now it's testing the waters, and it doesn't mean there will definitely be an Android app for next season.

"We were intrigued by the adoption of Android and the recent announcements by carriers releasing devices in the coming weeks and months, and we wanted to take this opportunity during World Series" to test it out, said Adam Ritter, vice president of wireless at MLB Advanced Media. "The beta Android app will give us the feedback we need from a product and technical perspective to see what's possible for next season."

It's been a big day for Android, Google's free Linux-based mobile operating system, and MLB's embrace of the OS shows its technology savvy. While iPhone and iPod Touch sales have exploded, Android is also gaining momentum, as seen with Wednesday's high-profile launch of the Motorola Droid series. There are at least 10 Android phones available now or within the next week, and at least 10 more rumored models on the way for the holidays or next year.

MLB At Bat 2009 and MLB At Bat Lite (the free version) is currently on 1.2 million devices, according to MLB.

Going to be away from your TV and don't have an iPhone or Android phone? Check out a handful of other ways to keep track of every pitch of the series here.

More screenshots of the app after the jump.

… Read more