Mario on your smartphone won't be what you think
Nintendo finally gave in.
On Monday Nintendo announced a tie-up with Japanese mobile gaming firm DeNA that will place Nintendo characters in all-new games for smartphones.
That distinction is key: Nintendo is not bringing its older, existing games to mobile devices. It is creating all-new games specifically for those devices.
It means you still won't be able to play the original Super Mario Bros. on your smartphone.
You know what? That's a good thing. FULL POST
Is it Pebble's Time to shine?
It's hard to talk about the Pebble Time without mentioning the Apple Watch.
Pebble, the pioneers of the smartwatch, unveiled their latest product just before the world's most valuable company is about to enter the market.
But I feel like there's room for both products. FULL POST
Earth Primer's fun lessons
Steve Jobs wanted the iPad to herald a revolution in textbooks.
In his biography of the late Apple co-founder, author Walter Isaacson said Jobs saw textbooks as another market ripe for disruption by releasing digital versions on the iPad.
Digital textbooks usually include dynamic elements, like pictures or video clips. Chaim Gingold has taken that to the next level with "Earth Primer", an app that teaches you about our planet by letting you play with an interactive model of it.
"Earth Primer" allows you to summon rainclouds to send streams of water cutting through mountains to demonstrate how erosion works instead of just telling you. You can also raise the sea level, create glaciers, even move continental plates around - all to explain the inner workings of the Earth.
Watch Gingold tell Kristie why he created the app in the clip above.
Getting the rest of the world online
For millions of people in developing countries, smartphones represent their chance to experience the Internet for the first time.
But one entrepreneur says the swipes and taps we take for granted on a touchscreen device aren't intuitive for users with no experience.
Watch the video above to see Hassan Baig explain how he's trying to help people use the Internet on mobile devices for the first time.
Game Faces: Cosmo Wright
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is one of my favorite games ever. I feel like I should know everything about the game, since I've finished the roughly 20-hour main storyline several times over the last 16 years.
I realized how little I knew when I saw Cosmo Wright finish the game in under 20 minutes.
FULL POST
20 years of PlayStation
I remember the first Sony PlayStation.
I remember thinking that "PlayStation" was a very silly name.
I remember wondering how Sony could possibly compete with Nintendo and Sega.
I remember looking at the oddly-shaped controller, with weird contoured grips that surprisingly felt good in your hand.
I remember playing Ridge Racer for the first time.
The wonder of Interstellar
Interstellar is a good movie. It's not a great movie. But I still found it an enjoyable ride.
It's an odd thing to say, because in some ways it's my least favorite film by director Christopher Nolan. Objectively speaking, it's flawed. It feels far too long, dragging on to make sure every last loose end is tied up. Dialogue sometimes feels less like normal people talking and more like scripted monologues. And even by a movie's standards, there are more than a few dramatic flourishes that are just too implausible to suspend your disbelief over.
Despite all that, Interstellar works for me.
I think I'm too old for Call of Duty
I am 33 years old. But I think I am too old to play the latest Call of Duty game.
To be clear, this isn't to say I'm too old for video games in general. I love them! I play games all the time, whether it's Grand Theft Auto V or Pokemon X/Y.
Nor am I saying I'm too old for Call of Duty's brand of action, where the U.S. is constantly getting invaded, a double-cross is only ever minutes away, and everything explodes. That's all fine by me.
I feel too old to play Call of Duty because I don't think I have the reflexes to compete online in multiplayer anymore. FULL POST
Did Apple do enough?
September 9th was one of the biggest days for Apple in years. They introduced two larger iPhones, a mobile payments system, and the long-awaited Apple Watch - the first major new product created without the input of the late Steve Jobs.
But are any of them new enough?
After all, the trend for larger phones was pioneered by their arch-rival, Samsung. Mobile payment systems have been around for some time now. And while everyone expected Apple to completely redefine what a smartwatch is... the Apple Watch appears to be just a better version of what's out there; an evolution of current smartwatches instead of a revolution.
So how did Apple do? The New Yorker's Nicholas Thompson gave his take to Kristie Lu Stout.
The end of the iPod Classic
Thirteen years ago, Apple was a small computer maker. It's now the most valuable company in the world.
And that transformation was triggered by the iPod.
Apple has quietly discontinued the iPod Classic, the latest incarnation of the original iPod. While the line lives on in the shape of the Touch, Nano and Shuffle, they aren't as iconic as the original. When you think iPod, you think of the Classic: Shaped like a deck of cards, with a metallic back, and of course, the scrollwheel.
But the original design lives on in one tiny way: The top row of icons on the Apple Store includes the classic iPod silhouette.
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