For some time now, it has seemed like Foursquare was the only game in town. I mean “game” literally, as of the major location-based services, Foursquare seemed to be the only one really emphasizing gaming elements. But now Gowalla is starting to emphasize it more.

To be fair, Gowalla has had a sort of sub-game based around the dropping and picking up of items (basically, virtual goods) since the beginning. But in the latest build of its iPhone app which hit the App Store today, version 1.3, there are some new gaming aspects. The first is that items now have histories attached to them. This allows you to see who has had an item before you in a city. Looking over some of my items now, it’s actually pretty interesting to see that I know some people who have some of them before me.

While at first the idea behind including items in Gowalla didn’t make sense to me, after meeting with (Gowalla parent) Alamofire CEO Josh Williams, it makes a lot more sense. Aside from this history element, which is interesting, and that different items are of varying scarcities, there is also a plan in place to allow for the items you pick up to be exchanged in real life for actual goods, Williams says. He wasn’t ready to share any specifics just yet, but notes that there are already some interesting proposals on the table to do this. And Gowalla 1.3 is a “bit of a Trojan Horse right now,” for that, he says.

Obviously, the eventual idea behind this is that Gowalla could monetize these transactions. The core concept is similar to what Foursquare is doing with its Mayor Deals, but they too haven’t yet started to monetizing those. With location-based services still in their infancy, all of these services are simply focused on gaining users.

Williams also noted that Gowalla could eventually take a page from Alamofire’s first project, the Facebook app PackRat, and start selling certain items in Gowalla as virtual goods. Williams says they’re just thinking about the idea now, but with the iPhone’s new in-app purchases for free apps, it’s certainly possible.

And there’s another gaming element that Gowalla has added to the latest version of its iPhone app. Now, when you click on a venue, and click on the people tab for it, you can see a list of the top 10 people for that location. This is a list of the users who have checked into that venue the most amount of times over the past 90 days. In Foursquare terms, the top person would be the “mayor,” but again, this is a full top 10 list so more than just the top dog gets recognition.

Perhaps more importantly, with version 1.3, Gowalla has eased some of the GPS restrictions that curbed cheating but made it hard to check-in at certain indoor places. This should be much, much better, Williams tells us. The service is also hard at work on its native Android app, though they recently released a mobile web version that works with Android.

Gowalla is a free download in the App Store, find it here.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

Originally posted here: 
Gowalla Ups Its Game And Hints At Future Business Models

Life goes behind-the-scenes of the 1954 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
Honda makes the ultimate Paperboy gaming system
Now blinking LEDs can transmit information to cell phones via light
Must-have: Illuminated JetBib Feeding System
Ringz: First (free) Android app with in-app purchase

Original post:
Daily Crunch: Deep Sea Edition

Nothing says “functional relationship” like destroying someone’s property rather than talking things out. I’d like to think this is fake, but this girl has a whole bunch of other videos where she’s equally horrible. She’s not worth it, buddy.

Read the original here:
Girl Smashes Her Boyfriend’s Xbox 360, Clearly in a Great Relationship [Bad Ideas]

We’ve had a sneak peak at NewEgg’s Black Friday deals and now we’ve got more on the offers along with a listing of the pre-Black Friday specials (which you can get right now).

Pre-Black Friday (Active Now)

HP MediaSmart LX195 1.6GHz Atom 640GB Home Server $199.99 (list: $399.99)
Microsoft SideWinder X5 Gaming Mouse $24.99 (list: $49.99)
Creative Fatal1ty Gaming USB Headset $34.99 (list: $69.99)
Antec Three Hundred Illusion ATX Mid Tower Case $49.95 (list $69.95)
Seagate 2TB External Hard Drive $149.99 (list: $179.99)
Intel SS4200-E 1.6GHz Network Storage Server $149.99 (list: $219.99)
ViewSonic VFD810-50 8-inch Digital Photo Frame $49.99 (list: $69.99)
Logitech RX1500 3-Button Laser Mouse $12.99 (list $39.99)
Samsung S2 640GB Portable USB 2.0 Hard Drive $99.99 (list: $129.99)
Sparkle GeForce 8400GS PCI-E Low-Profile Video Card $19.99 (list $34.99)
Creative GigaWorks T40 Series II Speakers $69.99 ($149.99)
Logitech G11 Gaming Keyboard $43.99 (list $63.99)
Monster 16ft High Speed HDMI Cable $29.99 (list: $54.99)
Canon DC410 DVD Camcorder $199.99 (list: $279.99)
Seagate Barracuda 2TB ST32000542A 3.5″ Hard Drive $139.99 (list $179.99)

Black Friday (starts 11/25 at 3PM PST)

10% Cash Back starts at 3PM PST on all products on NewEgg.com
7″ Digital Photo Frame $29.99
HDMI Cable – 6 FEET $1.99 after MIR
46″ 1080P 120Hz LCD TV $699.99
430W ATX 12V Power Supply $16.99
Acer Aspire One Black Intel Atom N270(1.60GHz) Netbook $189.99 Starts 6AM Friday
LITE-ON Black 4X BD-ROM SATA Internal 4X Blu-ray Disc Reader $49.99
Logitech Black Cordless Ergonomic Desktop Wave Keyboard/Mouse Combo $46.99
Seagate Barracuda 1.5TB 3.5″ Internal Hard Drive $97.99 Starts Tuesday, 11/24
YAMAHA 5.1-Channel Digital Home Theater Receiver plus Energy 5CH Home Theater Speaker System $299.99

Hit up the link to Logic Buy for the direct links to the pre-Black Friday offers. [Logic Buy]

View original here:
NewEgg Black Friday Deal Update [Black Friday]

This is a big one, folks. The new installment of The Engadget Show is jam-packed with goodness. First up, Josh sits down with HTC’s director of user experience Drew Bamford to discuss Android, Sense, Windows Mobile and a whole lot more. Then we’ve got a charming little segment where Paul and Josh go hunting around NYC for KIRFs, and Chris Grant joins the gang on stage for a dissection of the holiday gaming situation… and some demos where the gang gets to show off their totally radical moves. Seriously, Josh and Nilay have a DJ Hero battle, and Paul Miller skates (but doesn’t die) in Tony Hawk: Ride. Don’t miss this one — it might just be the best yet!

Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Paul Miller, Nilay Patel
Special guests: Drew Bamford, Chris Grant
Produced and Directed by: Chad Mumm
Executive Producer: Josh Fruhlinger
Edited by: Michael Slavens
Music by: Glomag
Visuals by: Dan Winckler
Opening titles by: Julien Nantiec

Download the Show: The Engadget Show – 003 (HD) / The Engadget Show – 003 (iPod / iPhone / Zune formatted)

Subscribe to the Show:

[iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V).
[Zune] Subscribe to the Show directly in the Zune Marketplace (M4V).
[RSS M4V] Add the Engadget Show feed (M4V) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically.

The Engadget Show – 003: Drew Bamford, Joystiq’s Chris Grant, Adamo XPS, and lots of game demos originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bicycle safety wasn’t an issue for me growing up. I lived in a quiet suburban subdivision on a cul-de-sac. Plus, my mom is an insurance agent and so she made sure that I always had the latest safety equipment. (E.g. shin pads, wrist pads, elbow pads, helmet, gloves, and a cup) It’s a damn good thing that Honda didn’t make this bicycle simulator back in the Eighties. She would have shipped the thing in from Japan, and I would have never been able to leave the house.

Safety is the purpose of this contraption. Honda expects to install about 500 of these simulators in Japanese schools, public offices, and other locations where they can be used to educate about bicycle safety.

The system itself is somewhat complex. There are a few different modes that simulates different conditions and the bike can even recognize when the rider dismounts and must walk the bike to complete the course. The post-ride mode allows the user to review the simulate from multiple vantage points and evaluate the ride.

Chances are that if you want to ride one of these things, you’re going to have to plan a trip overseas. It probably won’t find its way stateside anytime soon. Who rides a bike in the US anyway? (joking)

The rest is here: 
Honda makes the ultimate Paperboy gaming system

Electronic versions of the classic Etch-a-Sketch aren’t particularly unusual, but so far this is the first time we’ve seen Arduino-controlled knobs with physical resistance and a proper shake-to-clear integrated into such a project.  The Hack-a-Sketch takes a Lenovo ThinkPad laptop and adds the usual two Etch-a-Sketch rotary knobs; this time, though, they’re hooked up to two potentiometers which control the onscreen drawing.

Video demo after the cut

Built into the knob board is a mercury switch used to trigger the screen-clear action.  As with the original toy, shaking the laptop harder clears the screen faster and more completely; of course, in the original there was less chance of hard-drive damage after particularly vigorous shaking.

Project builder Michael has released the source code for the Arduino, and so if you’re tempted you could build one yourself.  Using a Tablet PC or an old UMPC would mean you could create something that looked more like a proper Etch-a-Sketch, too.

[via MAKE]

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Hack-a-Sketch takes classic toy digital [Video]