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After launching to public alpha back in June of this year, BlueStacks for Mac today advances to beta. This means that Mac users are one step closer to accessing a chunk of Google Play's Android-apps catalog on their Apple-made desktops and laptops.

Earlier this year, BlueStacks made headlines when it won the Best of CES software award for bringing its powers to Windows 8. The program successfully showcased a swathe of Android apps on Microsoft's newest OS and was even announced to come preinstalled on select Windows 8 machines.

BlueStacks Beta for Mac is available now for free download.

By way of a new staff-curated page on Google Play, Google lists its picks for best apps of 2012. Titles include big-name hits like Pinterest and Evernote, as well as more-obscure choices like Ancestry and Grimm's Show White. Overall, I find the list a bit underwhelming, but since it is composed solely of staff recommendations (and not best sellers), there's certainly room for differing opinions. See the full list of Google's recommendations below.

• Zappos
• Evernote
• Pinterest
• Grimm's Snow White
• Pocket
• ... [Read more]
  
  

When I first read Rafe Needleman's tweet where he encouraged his iPhone to dance, I shrugged it off. Then I clicked on the cycloramic.com link in the tweet and watched one of the videos posted on the site. I shook my head in disbelief as I watched an iPhone 5 spin in a circle -- hands-free -- while standing on end. I was convinced there had to be some sort of special effects or movie magic going on. Obviously this was a prank. Right?

Boy was I wrong. So I followed the link to the App Store, forked over the 99 cents for the app, and ran it on my iPhone 5. I couldn't believe it. My iPhone 5 was spinning in a circle on my end table, without me even touching it. While it was spinning it was also recording a video of my surroundings. Don't believe me? Watch the video above.

This app is a great way to impress your friends and family members, maybe even win a bet or two. Just make sure you're using an iPhone 5, as the iPhone 4 and 4S will struggle with turning itself around. I tested the developers warning about it not working on older models and I can confirm, an iPhone 4 will not spin around at all.

What a great idea. If you want to join in on the fun, download Cycloramic from the App Store.

(Via ... [Read more]