LaptopMemo | Tech & Then Some » Did You Know?

World’s First PC Game Now Available On iOS, Co-Written By Bill Gates

Stefan Etienne — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:32:32 +0000

This is the world’s first PC game, DONKEY.BAS, co-written by Bill Gates and former Microsoft employee Neil Konzen. The objective is simple: there’s 8-bit sounds, graphics, and the idea that you have to dodge donkeys while switching lanes in a car. However, this game was shipped pre-installed on PC-DOS and the original IBM PC, but in 2012 you’ll have to pay developer XVision a small $0.99 for the universal iOS remake on the App Store. Via: iTunes App Store

Google unveils “Solve for X” think-tank operation

Stefan Etienne — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:24:36 +0000

This is Google’s “Solve for X”, a think-tank, TED-like operation that for the past few months has been very covert, and that by next Monday will have all of its new “shoot-for-the-stars” ideas posted on YouTube. Some of these ideas include: transforming education, improvements in agriculture, synthetic biology, and carbon-negative biofuels. There is even evidence of being able to pitch and idea for Solve for X and have a talk. And with that, we shall see what potentially innovative and groundbreaking ideas Solve for X by Google has in store.

Via: Solve for X

Saturday Feature: Amazing Gaming Screenshots

Stefan Etienne — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:05:22 +0000

After discovering this site in the latter part of this week, I am very, very amazed by it. Essentially everything on photoblog Deadendthrills is a screenshot of a video game, but completely unedited and looks absolutely, amazingly, awesome *insert different synonyms for aforementioned vocabulary here*. Check it out, and come back here when you’ve had enough screenshots for one day.

Image credit: Deadendthrills

Windows Phone 8 “Apollo” Details Leaked: NFC, Dual-Core, Skype, And microSD Support

Stefan Etienne — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:18:27 +0000

Apparently a leaked dev video for Windows Phone 8 “Apollo” has detailed all if not most of the upcoming features for the operating system. New features include dual-core processor support, NFC, Skype integration, official microSD card support, four new screen resolutions, and tons of new security tweaks for business integration. There is also a great deal of additional features, like Windows 8 desktop integration. Full details of the leak available at Pocketnow.

Google intent on killing Android menu button, urges dev to do the same

Stefan Etienne — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:56:56 +0000

It has come and gone: the menu button. Apparently, just a few months ago it was all the rage at Google, but now as part of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, Google is urging developers and designers to try and not use the menu buttons at all, to a point where it would not exist in the hardware. What the big G wants is devs to make use of the Action Bar, first seen in Android 3.0 Honeycomb. While in some apps this may prove troublesome, most of them will have to update to work on the newer software (properly, that is), so improvements can easily be made so that actions that rely on the menu buttons are switched to vertical or horizontal positions. Whatever floats your boat, I guess.

At the very least Google is making Android more uniform. Via: Android Developers