Google’s Top-Secret Video Game Revealed

Google’s top-secret Niantic Project has been picking up plenty of buzz lately around all the usual tech blogs. Since November 1st a Google-hosted investigation board has been stoking these fires with cryptic videos featuring ominous voiceovers that drop phrases like “There’s more to the world than you can see.” A poster featuring encoded text superimposed over photos taken near CERN is another early post on this “Sphere of Weirdness.” An independent...

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Motorola offers $100 trade-in for abandoned Android phones

Motorola is offering $100 off the purchase of a new phone to users whose current phones won't get the latest version of Android. The so-called “Trade Up” program is a consolation for Motorola's decision not to upgrade some of its Android phones. Last month, Motorola abandoned its plans to upgrade the Atrix 4G, Photon 4G and Electrify beyond Android 2.3, despite earlier promises. Those phones, along with 10 others that won't receive Android...

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Rumor: Microsoft Prepping 7-Inch 'Xbox Surface' Tablet

Microsoft is reportedly building a 7-inch gaming tablet that may be dubbed the Xbox Surface in a move that ties together the software giant's gaming console with its new line of tablet PCs running Windows 8 and Windows RT. The project is in the initial hardware planning stage, according to The Verge, which cited unnamed sources at Microsoft in a Tuesday report. Rumors...

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10 reasons why Windows 8 is great for traditional PC users

  The big noise around the Windows 8 launch involves touch-enabled devices like Microsoft's own super-slick Surface. But Windows 8 is great news for regular desktop and laptop users. Here's 10 reasons why. 1. It's dirt cheap Well, by Microsoft's standards, at least. If you've got almost any kind of legit Windows installation, from XP onwards, it's yours for £24.99. If you've got Windows 7, it could be as little as £14.99. What a bargain. 2....

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Hard drive recovery tips for disaster-damaged storage

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, it's no surprise that some people are scrambling to recover data from damaged hard drives. Chris Bross, Senior Enterprise Recovery Engineer at DriveSavers, said his company has been busy with an uptick in business, working to reclaim the data on everything from home users' single-disk drives to business-level servers. Some of the hard drives have been damaged by water, he said, but even more...

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Engineered Particles Self-Assemble Like Atoms

Particles engineered to spontaneously self-assemble like atoms forming molecules could give rise to new high-tech materials, leading to better optical displays and faster computer chips, researchers say. Scientists have crafted the new particles, which are 1/100th the diameter of a human hair, by altering the architecture of colloids, tiny particles suspended in liquids, and which can be found dispersed in everyday items like paint, milk,...

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