Google Wave is still a new phenomenon in the social media world. There is no Google Wave App Store yet and the API is relatively new, which means that Google Wave Gadgets are hard to find.

The crux of Google Wave is the extensions/apps or what Google Wave is calling “Gadgets”. Embeds and robots will have their place, but most likely not for the common user. Google was kind enough to provide us with the basic gadgets: Google Search Box, Google Maps, Yes/No, and a few others (Google Wave API sample gallery).

Are there any productive gadgets out there you are using yet? Do you have any suggestions? I’m definitely a fan of the “Collaborative Sudoku” gadget (direct gadget url), but what’s your favorite Google Wave Gadget?

Tags: gadgets, Google, Google Wave, google wave gadgets

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About a week ago, geohot released an update to his iPhone jailbreaking software dubbed Blackra1n RC2, and while that was all well and good for all you AT&T guys, it did leave those of us who need a baseband unlock on our iPieces wanting more. Enter blacksn0w. Demoed on YouTube, the blacksn0w exploit will provide a baseband unlock of the 3.1.x firmware allowing your iPhone to run on your preferred GSM carrier. Blacksn0w will be released to the jailbreaking baseband unlocking masses on November 4th and can be loaded onto your device directly from Blackra1n. Boo ya. We’re curious, how many of you iPhone fanatics rely on a baseband unlock to have a functional iPhone? We’ve got the video all queued up for you after the bounce.

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As a young child one of my favorite, and yet most feared things, about Halloween trick-or-treating was the house down the street. The family always struck me as other-worldly and every year, without fail, they would decorate their home with spooky decor, flickering lights, realistic cobwebs, and even a few eerie characters hiding out waiting to scare unsuspecting young children such as myself.

While it’s probably a little too late for you to add as much spook, gore, and creepiness to your own home this Halloween, we thought it would be fun to look at some of the best decorated homes as seen on Flickr. Each of these 10 photos highlights what we love most about this time of year: creativity, imagination, and fantasy.

Of course you probably have a few worthy competitors in your neighborhood, so we encourage you to snap a photo and share it with us in the comments. Plus, if you still need inspiration for your pumpkin carvings, try your hand at these social media options. And if you’re still scrambling for a costume, we happen to love these hallow-memes, but good luck trying to pull off anything remotely as cool as the the real life iPhone costume.

Spookiest

Image from fetusflusher on Flickr

Pumpkinrot Scarecrow image from ScareFX on Flickr

Front yard cemetery from piratejohnny on Flickr

Gravedigger scene from ScareFX on Flickr

Most Elaborate

Bridal group image from DrgnMstr on Flickr

Tom’s Haunted House image from Josh Sommers on Flickr

Do come in image from Zombie37 on Flickr

Pure Fantasy

Halloween on Browning Avenue image from sniderscion on Flickr

Your ride is here image from Zombie37 on Flickr

Image from texas lady bug29

Header image courtesy of iStockphoto, 3Djml.

Tags: flickr, Halloween, haunted house, Lists, Photos

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A couple days ago, HTC tweeted the Hero would be anointed with Android 2.0, just like the DROID, and now, HTC’s website is showing us that the Hero will be offered on Telus’ network in GSM/HSDPA goodness. No specification surprises in the GSM variant: Telus’ Hero will have the same Qualcomm MSM7200A 528MHz processor, WiFi b/g, BlueTooth 2.0, and 5 megapixel camera as its CDMA cousin. There has been no indication from HTC as to whether the GSM Hero will ship with Android 1.5 or 2.0 in tow, but we’re sure it will make its way onto the handset eventually. Think HTC has developed a bit of a complex from all the Motorola DROID hoopla?

Thanks, Juicy47!

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On October 7th, 2003, Nokia made a splash as it attempted to challenge Nintendo’s dominance of the handheld gaming market. Its entry was the N-Gage, a dual mobile phone and gaming system. However, the funny look it had when you used it as a phone (”taco phone” was a popular comparison), as well a weaker game library doomed it from the start.

Today, Nokia announced that it is ending the N-Gage line of phones and games, instead opting to push forward its gaming agenda via the Ovi app store.

The move was inevitable, especially as Apple has turned the iPhone into a gaming powerhouse, but we’re still going to miss making fun of Nokia’s Taco Phone. This is our farewell to the N-Gage, which had the right idea but the wrong execution.

Image credit: Mushroom and Rooster via Flickr

Tags: apple, gaming, N-Gage, Nokia, ovi

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Last week, war erupted between tech giants Microsoft and Apple as the Windows maker celebrated the launched of its newest baby: Windows 7. But while Windows 7 seems to have been a hit, Apple fired back with its own ad campaign.

With Microsoft and Apple making the headlines, we thought it was appropriate to make them the subject of this week’s Web Faceoff, our weekly series where we pit two popular web or tech apps and letting you, the readers, choose the victor. This week’s battle-for-the-ages was between none other than the two hottest OSes on the market: Microsoft Windows 7 and Mac OS X Snow Leopard.

The voting and the comments were heated. Over 7000 votes were cast with less than 400 votes separating to the two operating systems. But in the end, Microsoft was able to outlast the Apple assault. With 3632 votes (50%), Windows 7 defeated Snow Leopard’s 3278 votes (45%). 357 of you (5%) voted that the battle was dead even.

While Microsoft can declare victory in this battle, the war clearly isn’t over. There will be more skirmishes between Apple and Microsoft, and we’ll bring them to you in future web faceoffs. Don’t forget to tune in next Monday for the next epic web battle.

Web Faceoff: Overall Results

Week 2:
- Tumblr vs. Posterous
- WINNER: Tumblr, 1809 votes (Posterous: 1496 votes, Tie: 256 votes)

Week 3:
- Pandora vs. Last.fm
- WINNER: Last.fm, 1187 votes (Pandora: 1156 votes, Tie: 122 votes)

Week 4:
- Twitter vs. Facebook
- WINNER: Facebook, 2484 votes (Twitter: 2061 votes, Tie: 588 votes)

Week 5:
- WordPress vs. Typepad
- WINNER: WordPress, 2714 votes (Typepad: 267 votes, Tie: 357 votes)

Week 6:
- Windows 7 vs. Snow Leopard
- WINNER: Windows 7, 3632 votes (Snow Leopard: 3278 votes, Tie: 121 votes)

Tags: apple, microsoft, OS, poll, Snow Leopard, web faceoff, Windows 7

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As Bell and TELUS put the finishing touches on their Canada-wide 21Mbps HSPA network that is set to launch next week, press releases announcing their HSPA handsets are coming across the wire at a feverish pace. The latest to be announced is the Windows Mobile 6.5-powered Omnia II which is to be exclusive to Bell. Featuring a 3.7″ AMOLED WVGA display, 5 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, GPS and 7.2Mbps UMTS/HSPA connectivity, the Omnia II is definitely a nice device that will make many a Canadian happy. And so it should, as Canadian’s patriotism will be tested when they see it in shops as it has been designated the “Official Mobile Device of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.” Why? Because Bell sure earned that right after it spent an insane $200mm for the right to be the official communications sponsor of the games. Pricing and a specific release date have not yet been announced, but the Omnia II will be available starting next month. Oh, and just for the record, no, we did not edit in that photo of the curling rock. Bell actually seems to be under the delusion that people in Canada enjoy curling. Tsk, tsk.

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Today the Bing team announced some new updates to Bing for mobile. Although m.bing.com has always offered a mobile-optimized way to do local searches and view maps, the updates integrate some of Bing’s killer features.

Some of the new features include live NFL stats, flight status searches, and an optimized Bing for touch devices like the iPhone, the Zune HD and the T-Mobile G1.

Bing has always included the ability to do local searches from its mobile site (something Google added last month) and now they are bringing some real-time data to the mobile site as well.

For instance, if you type in an NFL player or team name into the search bar, you’ll get back stats or see upcoming games. If a game is in progress, you can get real-time updates on plays. The NFL feature is only available in the US, but it’s a pretty cool way of getting real-time info quickly. You can also search for an airline and flight number and get the latest departure and landing times.

Perhaps the biggest overhaul is for touch devices — like the iPhone or the ZuneHD. Bing mobile now has an optimized interface that is more graphically enhanced than the standard site and also offers some nice touch features for browsing through content.

What really stood out to me, however, was just how much better Bing’s results for certain content looked when formatted for mobile as compared to Google. For instance, if I search for movie times in both search engines on my iPhone, I’ll get mobile-formatted results from both devices. However, if I want to see upcoming times for specific films, the experience is totally different.

Look at this image to see what I mean:

Google hasn’t optimized its actual time showcase for the mobile browser, meaning I have to zoom and scroll in order to see what’s going on. The Bing interface is much much nicer.

The only real problem with Bing for mobile is that most mobile browsers don’t offer any way to change the default search engine. I might prefer to use Bing rather than Google – but on my iPhone, I have to go to the site every time, rather than having access in the search bar.

Still, by bringing some of its best features to mobile, Bing might be able to carve out a niche by offering a better experience than Google. What do you think of Bing for mobile?

Tags: bing, bing for mobile, Google, iphone

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That’s right, y’all! We’re back. Sorry to keep you waiting but we wanted to make sure this was rock solid, and we really wanted to add in some more features that people have been requesting. TweetGenius v1.1 is now available for purchase and supports practically every BlackBerry. That includes the Storm and Storm2! Here’s some of the new features we added:

• Send tweets
• Automatically fetch new tweets in the background
• Save tweets as favorites
• Delete tweets
• Send your GPS location
• Send photos to numerous online photo services
• Shorten URLs with bit.ly
• View trends in real time
• Search
• Mark messages as read when you’re done reading them
• Customize themes and fonts
• View photos
• View user profiles and timelines
• View users by both username and real name

That’s some of the improvements we’ve made and we’re sure you’re going to love them. So… what are you waiting for? Couple more shots after the jump!

Note: SureType handsets aren’t compatible at this time.

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If you bought your Sprint HTC Hero from Best Buy or are planning on doing so, allow me to give you $50. With an Online Coupon and Price Matching within 30-days, you can get the HTC Hero from Best Buy for only $129.99 whether or not you’ve already purchased it. The deal is only good until November 2nd:

Click on the image to enlarge or open this PDF and scroll to the last page.

The information was shared by ramonini on AndroidForums (thanks pdragon):

There a reward zone from Best Buy today with a coupon to get the Hero for $129.99 good from 10/28 – 11/2. It’s on the last page of this PDF file: http://click.emailinfo2.bestbuy.com/…dd2ffc48771561 . I plan on stopping by the store this weekend to see if they will price match the lower price. Looking on their website, it says they will match any prices from a competetor or Best Buy store within the exchange/return period, which is 30 days for the Hero (store policy here: BestBuy.com Help ). So, for anyone that got their Hero at Best Buy, you might want to print off that coupon and stop by the Customer Service counter to see if you can get an extra $50 back.

thanks to DEMONDAVE for the info …….

Several members of the forums have confirmed this DOES work. So have a ball… and spend those $50 extra bucks you have wisely!

[Via AndroidForums]

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