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bounce

April Fools: Apple 'bounce back' campaign for Mac users

Update 4:57 a.m. PT: We were fooled by April Fools' Day. We have corrected and recast the story accordingly.

Wouldn't it be nice if Apple planned a "bounce back" campaign to win back customers who defected to Windows machines? It would dovetail with the expected reawakening of the company's dormant high-end Mac Pro line -- but the idea is just a joke.

Video producer Lou Borella, the creator of the "We want a new Macpro" Facebook group, had said yesterday -- April Fools' Day -- that Apple itself contacted him about the … Read more

Apple hammers 'copycat' theme with more internal docs

Note: This story was originally published at 11:52 a.m. PT. It was republished at 8:17 p.m. PT with embedded documents, which were released in the evening.

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Additional internal Samsung documents suggesting that the company looked to Apple for examples of how to enhance the features of its mobile devices were made public today.

During the testimony of Ravin Balakrishnan, a professor in the department of computer science at the University of Toronto, Apple brought out two of Samsung's internal usability studies -- one for a smartphone (see the first embedded document … Read more

Q&A: MacFixIt Answers

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which we answer questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week people wrote in with questions about the PCI Express Expansion Slot Utility not working on some Mac Pro systems, the option to bounce e-mail messages not being present in Mail, how to install OS X Lion on an external hard drive, and an explanation for the "ACLs found but not expected" error in Disk Utility. We welcome alternative approaches and views from readers, so post your own suggestions in the comments!

Question: PCIe expansion slot utility not working MacFixIt reader Frank … Read more

Got any cheese?

Pull back, aim for the cheese, then hit the cat. That's pretty much all you have to remember to play this unique, addictive, and whimsical platform game.

In Bouncy Mouse, you are the colorful, cheese-loving protagonist. Your special power? An elastic, prehensile tail. With it, you can sling yourself to and from the small knobs strategically placed throughout each level, and earn points by picking up as many pieces of cheese as you can along the way. Also, thanks to your round, rubbery exterior, you can bounce your way to hard-to-reach pieces of cheese and even bounce yourself out … Read more

Tilt your screen and travel as far as you can in Swing! Frog

Swing! Frog is like a side-scrolling version of the popular iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry game, Doodle Jump. In it, your objective is to take your frog as far as you can through the infinitely scrolling level to increase your score. Also, you must pick up coins and other goodies to help you earn points and get you on the leaderboard.

The interface is simple: while your frog jumps non-stop, tilt your device left and right to direct him onto the stable candy platforms without falling, and be sure to avoid colliding with anything along the way. To make things even … Read more

Inside CNET Labs 58: 3.5 bounces faster!

This week, we take a look at advertising and discuss what makes people identify with certain products. For example, some people consider themselves Macs and other PCs. The way I see it, people just want to feel that they are a part of something. I wish I would have thought to say that during the podcast...

Then we go in-depth with Snow Leopard(Mac OS X 10.6) and attempt to calculate how many bounces faster it is than 10.5.

Finally, in e-mails Dong gets some questions about Vietnamese restaurants he attempts to dodge, but I catch him in … Read more

Basic ball game

Bouncing Balls is a basic game in which users eliminate groups of balls by shooting balls of the same color at them. It's a fun game, although we've seen similar games that are a little more interesting.

The program's interface is basic. A wall of different colored balls moves toward the bottom of the screen, while a shooter provides users with a supply of balls to fire at it. Shoot a red ball at a group of two or more red balls, for example, and they fall, taking with them any balls that are attached. The object … Read more

Qtrax faces more financial, legal problems

Update: 8:30 a.m.: To include iLike news.

The financial troubles dogging Qtrax, a peer-to-peer music service that has spent years trying to get off the ground, appear to be deepening.

Last month, CNET News reported that enterprise software giant Oracle had filed a lawsuit against New York-based Qtrax, alleging that the service owed it $1.9 million and had violated its copyright. Now, records show that at least two other companies have filed suit in New York against the music service in efforts to collect allegedly unpaid bills from the music start-up.

In addition, Qtrax is behind in … Read more

Get your bounce on

Bounce On Lite is a fun, free, one-level preview of Bounce On, a cartoony platformer game in which you help a rolling, bouncing red ball navigate through a variety of obstacles on 2D levels. Bounce On makes intuitive use of the iPhone and iPod Touch's accelerometer, as you tilt your device left and right to roll. You tap the screen to jump--over gaps, up to platforms, and onto enemies--and the longer you hold your tap the higher you'll jump. You try to complete each level as quickly as possible, while collecting diamonds, extra lives, and power ups, and … Read more