Having conquered so many aspects of the software world, it's time for Google to take the next logical step in its evolution: becoming that annoying neighbor who always goes a bit overboard each year with the Christmas display. This time out, Google's doodle lets you play five notes of "Jingle Bells" manually, bringing down the lights and finishing up the song with a full-on holiday light show. Check it out, but don't blame us if your computer blows a fuse.Google becomes the Clark Griswold of the internet with 'Jingle Bells' doodle originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 24 Dec 2011 14:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sure it's Christmas Eve and we're more than halfway through Hanukkah, but it's never too late to score some last minute deals -- and heck, why not get a little something for yourself, while you're at it? Best Buy wants to give you a free iPhone 4 for your impressive ability to hold out on holiday shopping for this long. Pick up a 32GB version of the last-gen handset with a two-year AT&T or Verizon plan, and the big box retailer will toss in a second (plus carrier fees, naturally). This is an in-store only sort of deal, and it's only good through close at 5PM tonight -- those folks in the blue polo shirts have families too, you know.
Get drooling, gadget fans, because Day Four of our weeklong Holiday Blues-buster giveaway is upon us -- and if none of the other items get your heart pumping this week, this one will. At stake here is a freshly-minted Verizon Galaxy Nexus LTE, thanks to the folks at Appitalism (the mobile app superstore)! We hear these little pocket calculators are pretty hard to come by right now, and we imagine you won't hesitate to jump at the chance to win one, so jump past the break to see all the rules and leave a comment!
Day two of our week-long contest is upon us, and we're just getting started! Today we'll be giving away an unlocked GSM / HSPA+ iPhone 4S thanks to Wyse, the company behind PocketCloud. The usual rules apply, with one caveat: in the comments below, simply state how you plan on using PocketCloud this holiday season (keep it family friendly, please). Sound good? It's just going to keep getting better and better throughout the week, so keep coming back every day!
The holidays are all about eggnog, ugly sweaters and disconnecting from the internet just long enough to reassure the family you still care. For those of us with web separation anxiety, the folks at MAKE have hooked us up with an easy way to stay hip to incoming emails -- by connecting the holiday fir to the Internets. It works as such: using an Arduino and PHP script, the tree will check for incoming emails and light up if the number has increased. The set-up can be tweaked based on your most valued type of alert like YouTube comments, texts or changes in the weather. To the family, it will look like unparalleled holiday cheer rather than your cue to ditch the sing-a-long and get back to Gmail. Check out the video after the break.
Ready to celebrate the holidays this year? Google has gone and refreshed its free Androidify app with some season-appropriate gear for your avatar. The new virtual wardrobe selections should certainly please a variety of tastes, whether you're itching to fit your robo with an ugly Christmas sweater or just a pair of New Years party specs. You can catch our bot's new winter threads below, and snag the update for yourself by hitting up the Android Market link below.
Our hearts were aflutter with anticipation when the Sphero went up for pre-order last month, but that excitement has since been supplanted by a big knot of disappointment, because the smartphone-controlled robotic ball won't be hitting the market until after the holiday season. In a letter published yesterday, Orbotix CEO Paul Berberian attributed his company's setback to a fundamental economic quandary. "Demand has been greater than expected and our production capabilities are slower than we planned," Berberian wrote. "What that means is only a handful of orders are going to be fulfilled before the holidays and the majority of orders will be fulfilled in January." Writing on behalf of the manufacturer, Berberian went on to accept full blame for the delay, with rather admirable honesty: "We simply underestimated the number of units we'd need to make and, more importantly, we miscalculated how long it would take to bring up the production line." To make up for it, Orbotix is offering free expedited shipping to all customers who pre-ordered the device in time for the holidays, along with a free Sphero t-shirt.
And really, it's no surprise. Considering the wild success it enjoyed with its first Touchpad fire sale, why wouldn't HP try to recreate that magic in time for the holiday shopping rush? According to a release the company sent out to employees this week, the redux will kick off on December 11th at 6 PM, on HP's eBay Store. There, consumers will be able to get their hands on a refurbished 16GB or 32GB model for $99 and $149, respectively. They'll also have the chance to get a case, charging dock and wireless keyboard as part of a $79 bundle, though the sale isn't entirely lawless, with each buyer limited to a maximum of two Touchpads. Interested parties should get their clicking fingers on the ready -- before the British invade.
