The iNecklace

They say diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but some girls are geeks. And all geek girls know that diamonds are nothing more than heat-pressurized carbon. Boring. What makes our hearts go all aflutter is jewelry that is technified and unabashedly geeky. And ladies, do I have just the piece for you: the iNecklace by Adafruit.

The iNecklace looks just like the on button on your Macbook, Macbook Pro, or iMac. It’s made of aluminum that feels cold and techy against your chest. It’s strung on a strong sterling silver chain. And, the best part: it lights up. [...]

People with developer accounts have been able to backup music, books, photos, device settings, app data, and a bunch of other stuff to iCloud while they’ve been testing the new iOS release. As always, Apple’s been pretty good about giving developers the tools they need to make sure their apps are working properly with the operating system release prior to it going public.

If the rumors are to be believed, then iOS 5 should be released around the same time as the new iPhone. On September 22nd, Apple is allegedly reseting the iCloud backups you’ve set up with your beta devices. According to 9to5Mac and a posting on the developer forums, iCloud backups will be unavailable between 9am PDT – 5 PM PDT on the 22nd. Users will be sent an alert indicating that backups were unsuccessful should they attempt a restore from a previously conducted backup.

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If Apple’s commercials are any indication, the iPad can pretty much be used for absolutely anything, including studying, which isn’t exactly what most people would assume students would be using their iPads for these days. According to Abilene Christian University, not only are students using their iPads in their studies, but they’re also performing better than their peers.

Say what?

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A lot of people were hoping for an iPad 3 release sometime this year. The rumor made the rounds repeatedly despite Apple’s iPad 2 moniker “2011: Year of iPad 2.” It looks like Apple wasn’t kidding. It’s looking increasingly unlikely that the iPad 3 is going to ship any time this calendar year (2011).

J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz has pointed out that he’s hearing that a prototype is making the rounds of the supply chain circuit; however, there’s no indication that the iPad 3 will be released this year. More importantly, Moskowitz believes that Apple’s in no rush to get the next iPad out of the gates considering the constant stumbling of its competitors up until this point.

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Remember that tiny game? The one by the unknown development studio? I think it was called Valve. They made Full Life or something. There was also Counter Struck. Wait, Counter Strike — that’s the one.

Yes, by now we all know the rags-to-riches story of the world’s favourite competitive shooter. Starting off as a user-developed mod for Half Life, Counter Strike has evolved into a FPS powerhouse. The cream of the crop battle away at LAN tournaments to bring home ear-watering prize pots. Source, the last full release of Counter Strike, accompanied Half Life 2 in 2004. To think it’s been out eight years is a terrifying thought.

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RPG fans with iPhones and iPads will be happy to know that Square Enix announced at the Tokyo Game Show that they’ll be bringing several of their most-loved games to iOS in the near future. Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy Legends and Dragon Quest Monsters as well as a new title called Diffusion Million Arthur (huh?) will all be making the migration to iOS. Details are sketchy as to when these titles will arrive, however, so fans shouldn’t run to the App Store with credit card in hand just yet.

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OpenFeint, the game-matching service for iOS and Android, has hired Naoki Aoyagi as the new CEO while previous CEO Jason Citron heads off to new ventures. The company offers gamers a community in which to connect that is rather like the Xbox Live service: Share friend lists, achievements and ladder rankings between friends and social media channels. If you’re thinking “Big whoop. Game Center already does that,” then you may not be aware that OpenFeint did it first, long before Game Center hit the scene… and some people still say they do it better.

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Batman: Arkham Asylum, the publicly and critically acclaimed game from Feral Interactive, will be arriving on the Macintosh this coming October 13th (and no, it’s not a Friday). Developed originally by Rocksteady Studios and published by Warner, Arkham Asylum puts you in the role of the Dark Knight himself (you’ve heard of Batman, right?), trapped in Gotham City’s famous institution for the criminally insane. While within its walls, the player faces off against Harley Quinn, Bane, Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow and his arch nemesis, the Joker. Batman fans might find it interesting to know that the game brings a noble pedigree of voice talent, as Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy reprise their respective roles as the Joker and Batman.

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