Chrome's Native Client powers new games (screenshots)

1-2 of 4 Scroll Left Scroll Right

SAN FRANCISCO--You think porn drives technology? Think again. Games are what's driving online innovation--just ask Google, which is embracing them as fast as it can.

At the Game Developers Conference (GDC) held in San Francisco's Moscone Center today, Google showed off advances in its Native Client (NaCl) and Pepper technology for Chrome that it hopes will drive more interest from developers and gamers alike in browser-based gaming. Google is also integrating NaCl games with Google+ to give the nascent social network something to play with.

The company unveiled a handful of NaCl-powered games last December, and now it's ready to kick off several more big names to showcase Chrome's latest improvements. Colt McAnlis, Devel... [Read more]

Apple has released a supplemental update to OS X 10.7.3 that addresses problems some people have had when trying to use Time Machine to restore their Macs.

The update is a 24.55MB download that is available via Software Update, but can also be downloaded at the update's Web page and manually installed.

The update is available in Software Update.

(Credit: Screenshot by Josh Lowensohn/CNET)

The update requires OS X 10.7.3 to install, so if you are running prior versions and are thinking about updating, you'll need to first update and then check Software Update again or manually apply this patch to ensure your system is fully updated (applying the patch a second time will not hurt your system).

If you have upgraded to OS X 10.7.3 and plan on doing any restorations with Time Machine, such as migrating to a new system or wiping your hard drive and restoring from a backup, then be sure to first install this update.

Related stories

• LaCie releases Lion-friendly NAS firmware
• QNAP to release Lion-friendly NAS firmware
• ... [Read more]

Like many of the "With Friends" games, your game list lets you know the current status.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)

Draw Something (iOS | Android) offers turn-based gameplay that brings friends together as teammates to draw basic items (and sometimes more-complex ones) to see how long they can continue to guess each others' drawings correctly.

Once you've created a game with a friend through Facebook, Twitter, or by registering within the game, you're given three choices (easy, medium, or hard) of objects to draw that your friend will need to identify. Once your friend receives the drawing, he or she is given only a handful of available letters to use for the word (probably to make it a little easier to guess). You also have a Bomb button that blows away some of the letters in your collection, making it even easier to find the word.

When you successfully identify your friend's drawing, you're both given coins based on the difficulty of the word. You get one coin for easy words, two coins for medium, and three coins for hard words. So instead of competing against each other, you're teaming up to try to get as far as possible while earning coins. The coins can be used to buy more colors (for ... [Read more]

It can be a challenge to keep that bookmark bar trim and handy, but Bookmark Bar Switcher gives you the power to create different sets of bookmarks for work or entertainment. Here's how to use it:

1. Install Bookmark Bar Switcher here. 
2. Click the Bookmark Bar Switcher icon in the upper right to create one or more new bars. 
3. Click the icon again to manage which bookmarks appear in each bar. Your bookmark bars appear near the bottom of the left sidebar. Just drag and drop bookmarks into the proper bar. 

   Step 3: Arrange bookmarks in bars.

   (Credit: Rob Lightner/CNET)
4. If you want a bookmark to appear in multiple bars, just right-click it and select Copy, then paste into the right bars. 
5. Any time you want to switch between bookmark bars, just click the icon and select your new bar. It becomes intuitive fairly quickly!

[Read more]

Pin It

An iOS app, Fast Camera, aims to help people never miss an important photo again. When the user launches Fast Camera, your device will instantly start taking pictures.

Fast Camera, which is usually $0.99, is free in the App Store today, and today only.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET)
• Upon launching the app, you will begin to hear a camera shutter sound almost instantly. Fast Camera is already taking pictures, and it won't stop until you press the stop button. You can see the number of pictures that have been taken in the lower-left corner of the screen.
(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET)
• Once you press Stop, you can tap on the photo count to review your photos, or Start to resume taking pictures.
(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET)
• When reviewing the photos, you'll b... [Read more]

Pin It

The "pull to refresh" feature that is now a staple of any great iOS app has found its way to your desktop via a Chrome and Safari extension. There is one caveat, however: you will need to be using OS X Lion in order for it to work.

Originally covered by Lifehacker, but brought to my attention by Twitter follower @StephToThe, the pull to refresh browser extension only takes a few seconds to install and set up.

• Head on over to the developer's GitHub page.
• Download the ZIP file containing the Chrome and Safari extension.
• If you are using Chrome, simply drag-and-drop the Chrome version into your browser. Follow the prompts to complete the installation.
• If you are using Safari, you will need to download the compiled version of the ext... [Read more]

Pin It (Credit: Screenshot by Ed Rhee/CNET)

If the Windows 8 Consumer Preview is the first time you've had a chance to use Windows 8, you might feel a little lost at first. The best way to learn how to get around the new Metro design and settings, may be to use the new keyboard shortcuts.

Charms

Win+C: All charms Win+Q: Search charm Win+H: Share charm Win: Start charm Win+K: Devices charm Win+I: Settings charm

Search

Win+Q: Search apps (tip: an even easier way to search apps is to just begin typing from the Start screen) Win+W: Search settings Win+F: Search files

Apps (Metro)

Win+Z: Get to app options Win+.: Snap app to the left Win+Shift+.: Snap app to the right Alt+F4: Close an app

Desktop

Win+D: Open Desktop Win+,: Peek at desktop Win+B: Back to desktop

Other

Win+X: Open system utility settings menu Win+PrntScrn: Take screenshot and save to Pictures Win+Tab: Open switch list Win+T: Preview open windows in taskbar Win+U: Open Ease ... [Read more]

(Credit: Screenshot by Lance Whitney/CNET)

Don't have a dedicated PC on which to install Windows 8? No problem. Just install the OS virtually on an existing PC using a free virtual machine utility.

Various VM applications will let you install an operating system in a virtual environment on your Windows desktop or laptop. But not all are free and not all support the latest Windows 8 beta.

A product such as VMWare Workstation 8 supports Windows 8 but costs $200. Microsoft's own Windows Virtual PC is free but won't accept Windows 8 as a guest.

Instead, you can use Oracle's VirtualBox or VMWare's VMWare Player 4.0. Both are free and both support Windows 8.

To get started, you'll first want to download the Windows 8 beta, aka Consumer Preview, as an ISO file.

You can download Windows 8 from here. After selecting the Visit site button, click the button to Get it Now and then choose the option to "download Windows 8 Consumer Preview in ISO format instead." You can download the ISO file as either a 32-bit or 64-bit version. Both VirtualBox and VMWare Player support 64-bit Windows as a guest. Note the Windows 8 serial number as well.

Installing Windows 8 using VirtualBoxYou can download O... [Read more]

Apple's App Store has hit 25 billion downloads.

(Credit: Apple)

With each major milestone in its App Store, Apple hands out some serious cash. And this time is no different.

After announcing that the App Store reached 25 billion downloads over the weekend, Apple today said that it has awarded Chunli Fu of Qingdao, China a $10,000 iTunes Gift Card for downloading the app that put the marketplace over the mark. According to Apple, Fu downloaded Where's My Water? Free, a Disney game.

Apple has given out $10,000 gift cards in the past, including last January when its store hit 10 billion downloads. Although a gift card is nice, the latest prizes haven't come close to matching what Apple handed out for the one billionth download. That time, 13-year-old Connor Mulcahey was given an iPod Touch, a MacBook Pro, and a Time Capsule, in addition to a $10,000 iTunes gift card.

Apple announced that its store hit 25 billion downloads on Saturday.

[Read more]

W3C CEO Jeff Jaffe at Mobile World Congress

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET)

BARCELONA--It's been an action-packed two years since Jeff Jaffe took over as the World Wide Web Consortium's chief executive, but more action is the order of the day at the standards group.

The W3C oversees the standardization of Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), technologies that carry tremendous importance as the Web expands from a medium to publish documents into a foundation for applications that can run on anything from mobile phones and cars to TVs and tablets. These Web standards, combined with the JavaScript programming language and other related technologies, let programmers reach a broader range of electronic devices than any other single technology.

If you're creating these standards, therefore, you don't want to mess anything up. But Jaffe also acutely feels the need for speed.

"The consensus process by its nature moves too slowly. Business moves quickly. We need agile processes to make sure people understand that the standards process has to keep up with the industry," said Jaffe, who sat down with CNET News' Stephen Shankland at the Mobile World Congress show here last week. And that's going to change,... [Read more]

(Credit: Screenshot by Lance Whitney/CNET)

Shutting off Windows used to be a simple matter of clicking the Start button and choosing the "Shut down" option. But the Windows 8 beta has no Start button. So how do you shut it down?

Microsoft has concocted a series of manuevers and keyboard shortcuts to shut down the new OS. Though slower and clumsier than going through the Start button, the new steps at least let you fully turn Windows 8 off.

The most basic way to shut down Windows 8 is through the Charms bar.

In the Metro interface, hover your mouse over the Zoom icon that appears in the lower right corner of the screen. The Charms bar should then pop up displaying several icons. Moving your mouse up the screen will reveal the names of each icon, including Search, Share, Start, Devices, and Settings. Click the Settings icon and then the Power Icon. You should see three options: Sleep, Restart, and Shut down. Clicking Shut down will close Windows 8 and turn off your PC.

You can more quickly reach the settings screen by pressing the Windows key and the i key. From there, clicking the Power button will give you access to the same three options mentioned above.

Another alternative is to sign out of your account and then shut down. You can either click your account photo or image at the top or press Ctrl/Alt/Del. Click the option to sign out. That will bring you to the opening screen for Windows 8 whi... [Read more]