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You Actually Have to Own iPhone Apps to Slam Them Now
Posted by Matt Buchanan at 11:40 PM on September 29, 2008
Unlike their usual tack lately, Apple is doing something at the App Store that actually helps developers. Before, you could review—and slam—any app you wanted willy-nilly, even if you didn't own it. That changed over the weekend—now you have to own an app before you can review it, preventing an onslaught of one-star reviews for Tetris simply because EA is charging eight bucks for it. Now if Apple could apply some of that logic and fairness on their end and stop jerking developers around. [Alley Insider]
When they're not designing 
The 'WowPod' might not the be first 
After Japan's mainstream newspaper Nikkei announced a new DS with a camera, music player and enhanced wireless functionality, Nintendo had to say something in response. To gaming magazine Famiitsu:
Undoubtedly reopening the emotional wounds of millions of bereaved Millennials across the world, Tamagotchi has come back from the dead (they always do!) with a familiar line of life support simulators. This time, though, they come in colour, presumably to make the short, hungry, futile lives of those unfortunate little mutants that much more real to impressionable children. It remains to be seen if, 12 years later, today's young children, many of whom already (and inexplicably) have a mobile phone and/or iPod, will take to the 'Gotch. Japan only for now, but if and when they arrive in the US expect a price of around $US50. Enjoy some exciting, action-packed screenshots after the jump. [
TechCrunch is 
Just over a week ago 
Meizu's iPhone copycatting M8 mobile phone is to be vaporware no longer thanks to GeekITstores, who will be launching it in China then India from December onwards. The 8GB model is apparently due to cost somewhere between $US380 and $US470, and will be launched with "complete fanfare"...presumably because it's the "iPhone killer," or so says the press release. In fact, GeekITStores really seem to love the device, saying it was looking for a "better, cheaper alternative" to the iPhone for Indian customers. Read on for the press release.
TiVo is 
Here's a cool collection from a 
After three failed attempts, one 
This is not your father's college class. Hell, it isn't even mine, and I've only been out of the system for five years. What I'm talking about is this 
If you're the type of father who was listening to Steppenwolf's Born to be Wild at the birth of your firstborn, have unleaded petrol for blood and love nothing more than the vibrant throb of your Harley Davidson between your legs, chances are you're going to prefer your child get into slightly more manly activities than riding a rocking horse.
Most of our childhoods have already been ruined by needles at the doctor's office, but one Japanese inventor thinks he's come up with the perfect pain-free, needle-free injection to sooth tomorrow's lucky kids. Called Mother's Kiss, the device would theoretically eliminate the need for needles and even existing needle-free devices, which use gas or air pressure to deliver drugs (think primitive Dr. Crusher). Instead, the seemingly simple device uses tiny plastic ampules to deliver life saving meds to the needle-averse. National Geographic has a video, but it doesn't embed, so check the link for more on inventor Yoshoi Oyama and Mother's Kiss. [
If you think parts of your face are out of proportion, like some Japanese people apparently do, there are tools available today that can help correct your ugliness. No, not plastic surgery. Too messy. Too obvious. I'm talking about tools like Kogao Meiku Beruto (small face make belt), which wrap your misshapen melon in gentle fabric, and bind those unsightly bulges and that caveman forehead into oblivion. The Tex Mex men's mouth narrower, on the other hand, is straight out of a Saw movie.
Ever get so pissed at your mobile phone that you just want to chuck it into the trash? If Sony Ericsson's GreenHeart phone ever sees the light of day, you'll be able to do it, and nature will take care of the rest. For now, the phone is a concept (aren't they always?), but the designers are hoping to inspire other manufacturers with its environmentally-friendly feature set. Since you're asking, that entails bio-plastic, recycled plastic, HTML docs instead of printed ones, and a zero charger with 3.5mW of standby power. It ain't too sexy, sure, but this puppy decomposes with the best of them. [
Artist Evan Roth is today hard at work on a series of collector's plates with messages that show up best on an airport screener's X-ray monitor. 
We've seen 
Like two dogs meeting for the first time, it may soon be the case that Apple wireless devices need only have catch a whiff of each others' rear ends before they know everything they need to know about the other. All joking aside, Apple really did file