spare

AA battery powers SpareOne emergency cell phone

BARCELONA, Spain--How much would you pay for peace of mind? The $100 price tag on the SpareOne Plus seems mighty steep when you're safe and sound, but if you faced an emergency, or desperately needed to make a call, a Benjamin might start looking like a bargain.

That's the company's pricing gambit, but strip it away and the SpareOne Plus is one of the most simple cell phones I've ever seen, but a unique one at that. For starters, it doesn't have a screen. In its place is a window to a single AA battery, … Read more

SpareOne emergency phone holds a 15-year charge

LAS VEGAS--The SpareOne cell phone from XPAL Power could spell the end to a million horror-movie cliches. The slasher is coming and my cell phone's out of juice. No worries, I have my SpareOne handy.

Only at CES will a company hail powering its device with an AA battery as a technology breakthrough. In this case, it's something to think about. That one battery can keep the phone functional for up to 15 years while providing up to 10 hours of talk time.… Read more

Entertaining, yet unimpressive iPad bowling

Strike Knight is a free, ad-supported pinball-shuffleboard game from the makers of the classic Paper Toss. In terms of gameplay, you pretty much get what you pay for--but the execution is fun and funny, with great attention to detail.

The interface puts you in a bar, complete with the hubbub of background noise. You're looking down the length of a realistic shuffleboard-bowling game, on which you're trying to slide a metal puck to knock down bowling pins. The details of the interface are convincing and entertaining (the crowd and an animated "Strike Knight" on the back-glass … Read more

Entertaining, yet unimpressive shuffleboard bowling

Hand-drawn bowling

Doodle Bowling is a free, ad-supported, one-player bowling game with a cute, scribbled sketchbook aesthetic.

The interface is attractive but fairly limited: you're looking down a bowling alley with a scorecard in the foreground. You touch the ball to pick it up, and then flick to roll it down the lane, with your flick controlling the direction and speed. Once your ball is rolling, you can swipe right or left to spin it (and the more slowly you send your ball rolling, the more time you have to do this). The physics are fairly predictable, but at times the … Read more