Concept smartwatch uses the whole screen as a joystick (video)

It ain't easy using a smartwatch, especially if you have gigantic fingers. So, a team from Carnegie Mellon University developed a concept smartwatch that turns the whole screen into one relatively big input mechanism. By that, we mean you can pan, twist, zoom, tilt and click the screen by physically moving the watchface -- the whole thing (sans the bracelet) is essentially a joystick. As you can see in the video after the break, the team ported a bunch of apps to show how the technology works. Since the device features several ways to interact with software, it's a lot easier to set the time, scroll down a calendar and navigate a map. And, yes, the technology makes it possible to play Doom quite effectively even on a tiny screen. Now we can only hope that someone with serious design chops comes and transforms this fledgling tech into a smartwatch that actually looks good.

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Google no longer mining student Gmail accounts for targeted ads

Google makes no bones about scanning our emails for advertising purposes, but the company has suddenly become a bit more timid when it comes prying into students' messages. According to the WSJ, Google has stopped scanning the 30 million accounts that are registered under its free-of-charge Google Apps for Education program. These users -- including students, teachers and administrators -- were never actually shown ads, but their personal information was still collected so that Google could make use of it for targeted advertising elsewhere on the web. The decision to stop collecting this data could well have something to do with a lawsuit started in California last year, in which students claimed Google's monitoring violated wiretap laws. Even if the search giant isn't too worried about that specific case, it may well fear the bad PR that has started to stem from it.

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Secret's anonymous confession box comes to the UK, Ireland, Australia and NZ

Ever wanted to tell the world that you stuck your genitals into a bowl of jam (or vegemite) without compromising your reputation? Secret, the app that lets you anonymously bare your soul to the world has landed in the UK, the Republic of Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. While you're likely to see the odd eye-rolling confession of sexual misconduct, Secret was also the venue that first broke the story that Google's Vic Gundotra was leaving the company. At least when you're caught using the app, you can say that you're hunting around for more of the latter, not contributing that time you were seen doing something unspeakable to a toasted sandwich.

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BioShock gets an HD remake, sort of

When it launched almost seven years ago, BioShock was quite the looker thanks to its stylized aesthetic and the custom version of Unreal Engine 2 under its hood. The game has held up pretty well in terms of visuals (all that water!), but it's certainly starting to show its age. Don't get us wrong, we love the original. It's just that we wouldn't turn down a new version of the game running with all the bells and whistles that Epic's next-gen development tools offers, either. Well, as Kotaku has spotted, an enterprising indie dev has kindly done something along those lines.

What you see in the fan-made video below is the result of YouTuber noodlespagoodle taking assets from the 2007 release and dropping them into Unreal Engine 4. In doing so, Andrew Ryan's failed paradise somehow feels even more moody and claustrophobic than before, the iconic Big Daddies all the more menacing. Sadly, the clip is pretty short and has us jonesing for a shiny new Eve hypo. With the fate of BioShock up in the air, however, it's anybody's guess if something like this could actually happen.

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MIT students raise cash to give $100 in Bitcoins to every undergrad

Starting this fall, every MIT undergrad will have at least $100 worth of Bitcoins to their name, thanks to a couple of students who've raised half a million to do so. But, they're not just doing it so their schoolmates can eat something other than ramen -- this is actually an official project by the school's Bitcoin Club, so professors and researchers from the institute can study how students spend their virtual money. This initiative, started by computer science sophomore Jeremy Rubin and MIT Bitcoin Club president Dan Elitzer, was funded by MIT alumni and people with vested interest in the currency. The two masterminds believe this move is necessary for MIT to continue being at the "forefront of emerging technologies." Rubin even said:

Giving students access to cryptocurrencies is analogous to providing them with internet access at the dawn of the internet era.

[Image credit: George Frey/Getty Images]

The students can't use their stash (that's 0.2247 BTC, according to current exchange rates) to shop from Amazon, but they're free to spend it on whatever they want. So, here are a few suggestions:

Go to Yelp to find local businesses that accept Bitcoins and hopefully eat something better than canned goods. Access Square Market to buy from and support small businesses, if $100 is chump change to them. Get a Bitcoin debit card, so they can use their Bitcoins to pay in any establishment that accepts Mastercards. Rubin and Elitzer are still working out how to distribute the money to 4,528 undergrads. But once they've accomplished that, MIT might have the biggest concentration of people with access to the cryptocurrency.

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Twitter seeks to soar despite slowing adoption

When Twitter released its first earnings report earlier this year, one of the more distressing trends was that the company's user growth is slowing, and has been for the better part of a year. That's certainly not the kind of results you'd want from a firm that just filed its IPO a couple of months prior.

Fast forward a few months however, and it seems Twitter has recovered. In its first quarter earnings report for 2014, the social media firm says it's grown its monthly active user count to 255 million, which is a 5.8% growth from last quarter. Earnings are also up -- it made $250 million in Q1 this year, which is a whopping 119% growth from this time in 2013. Twitter is leveraging its TV partnerships as well, stating that 92 percent of users have taken action like tuning into a TV show after seeing a related tweet, and even Nielsen has found a causal relationship between TV watching and Twitter activity. So everything seems pretty rosy, right?

Well, not quite. The company is still operating at a loss (around $132 million) and that 5.8% user growth number is still really low -- far lower than expected, and not as high as the 10% growth Twitter enjoyed just a year ago (Contrast that to Facebook, which just surpassed over a billion monthly users recently). To investors, that's a worrying number, which explains why Twitter's shares dropped by as much as 10% in after hours trading.

But it's not as if the website isn't popular. CEO Dick Costolo made a case in its earnings call earlier today that Twitter is actually incredibly mainstream. "We had 3.3 billion views of tweets just about the Oscars in the 48 hours after the show," he said. He continued that if you put that number in the context of a popular YouTube network which gets about 3 billion views in a month, it's a huge success. Twitter also saw a 26% increase of retweets and faves this last quarter, which Costolo said is a sign that new users are just as engaged as existing ones. There was also strong advertiser demand during live events like the Winter Olympics and the Super Bowl, which indicate that users flock to the social media site in those momentous occasions.

Therein, however, lies the rub. The company needs more than just the occasional event or television show to attract users to its flock. The Oscars don't happen every day, and the Olympics and World Cup only come every four years. Twitter needs to be a place where people can just, well, chat about everyday things, much like how Facebook is for a lot of people. For that to happen, Twitter needs to be friendlier and more accessible. The company is already taking steps towards this with redesigned user profiles, reducing steps in sign-up and enhancing push notifications to encourage discussion and conversations. In the earnings call, CFO Mike Gupta said that user experience is still the guiding factor for the company, which we applaud, if only because that's one of the key ways to get more users.

"We think of Twitter as this companion experience as to what's happening in the world," said Costolo. Now it's time to encourage everyone else in the world to think the same.

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Your fingerprint unlocks LastPass on the Galaxy S5

On any other phone, you'd have to type in the master password to access all your other passwords stored on LastPass -- including the iPhone, where Touch ID gets you into your phone and iTunes account, but stops there. But on Samsung's Galaxy S5, all you need to do is swipe your finger across the home button, now that the password manager's Android app has been updated to work with the device's biometric scanner. To set that up, you'll first need to type in your credentials like everyone else, and then activate fingerprint authentication for future use. It'll be a lot faster to add or change entries with the feature in place, and in some ways, fingerprint authentication is more secure than using a complex master password. We just hope you have no bitter enemies that'll go as far as to make a fake finger to sabotage your digital life.

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You can now use Chromecast to share your Google Drive Presentation

Google's inexpensive dongle can do a lot of things. Whether it be streaming music or a variety of video programming, the Chromecast is capable of handling it all -- and don't forget live TV is coming soon, too. But while having these entertainment options is nice, sometimes you have to be, you know, productive. Thankfully, it looks like you can start using the $35 dongle to send some of your work to a separate screen near you.

As spotted by Android Police, Google has quietly added an option within Drive that lets you push your Presentation to Chromecast. We looked into it ourselves and can confirm that said feature is indeed there, via the "Present on another device" menu. Technically, you could already do something similar by simply casting the entire browser, but this gives you an alternative that's actually optimized for Presentations. And don't be surprised by the fact there hasn't been a formal announcement, since Google's been known to do things unexpectedly from time to time. Either way, you can give it a try now -- just be sure to have the Cast extension installed, as you'll need that in order for this to work.

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Mt. Gox settles class-action lawsuit by turning customer creditors into owners

More good news for those who entrusted Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox with their cryptocurrency. After filing for bankruptcy earlier this year, Mt. Gox found some 200,000 Bitcoins last month, and today it has tentatively settled its class-action lawsuit in the US. In exchange for dropping the case, customers will become part owners in the new Mt. Gox -- a group of investors is set to purchase and revive the failed exchange -- to the tune of 16.5 percent. Additionally, class members get to split up those rediscovered Bitcoins and another $20 million currently being held by Mt. Gox's bankruptcy administrator. The settlement, naturally, is contingent upon both the US court agreeing to the terms and a Japanese bankruptcy court approving the deal for Mt. Gox's sale. And, bear in mind that US beneficiaries of the settlement don't get priority over anyone else, nor do they get the full ownership stake in the new Mt. Gox. The settlement terms would apply to creditors throughout the world, and the benefits of the deal will be shared equally amongst them.

Mt. Gox is dead. Long live Mt. Gox.

[Image Credit: AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi]

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Spotify for Android welcomes a darker theme in latest redesign

Earlier this month, Spotify let it be know that it would be implementing a redesign across its desktop and mobile properties, which it described as being the most dramatic change since 2008. As part of this, those of you with an Android device can now, finally, see what iOS users have been enjoying for the better part of April. Aside from featuring a darker theme, Spotify's latest redesign is also about putting more content in front of you, meaning that albums and tracks are now better highlighted throughout the application.

Back when it was announced, Spotify said the philosophy behind the cleaner design was about getting it "just right," so it was important to get a consistent (and flat) look on every platform its music service is available. The Android update is said to be rolling out as we speak; if you don't feel like waiting, however, you can grab it directly from the Spotify website. Spotify for Android redesign See all photos

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Play: The simple, mesmerizing Impossible Road

You can now play anything from first-person shooters to role-playing epics on mobile devices, but there's still plenty of love out there for casual time-killers. Impossible Road has recently arrived on Android after a year-long residency in the iOS App Store, and it's one of those games you can splurge an hour on at home, or poke at for five minutes on the bus. Your mission: Guide a ball down a winding track for as long as possible -- kind of like a never-ending Super Monkey Ball level, but set on the Rainbow Road track of Mario Kart legend. Admittedly, there isn't much originality to the gameplay, but Impossible Road does have a quirky and compelling visual style. You're an all-white ball in an all-white world, with the only definition and sense of space given by a ribbon-like track of changing blues that stretches to infinity below. The almost tribal techno soundtrack is a little busier than what's on screen, and it manages to match the pace of the game well, while also being a constant reminder of your inevitable doom.

Like most games with "impossible" in their titles, it's not particularly easy, so if you want a shot at leaderboard fame, you better pull out something spectacular. Apart from blips where the track thins momentarily, your journey is obstacle-free, but the twists and leans of the randomly generated runs are challenging enough. Luckily, the tight and sensitive control scheme helps out as much as it can. Impossible Road made the right choice in opting for touch-based steering, as we couldn't see a game of this speed working well with gyroscopic control. Sticking to the track like glue is key in Impossible Road, not just because you need to pass through checkpoints to improve your score, but because flying off the side is almost certain death. The nicely tuned in-game physics allow you to control the ball with high precision, but get out of the groove on a particularly meandering section and it's easy to plunge into the abyss. You're afforded a generous amount of air control to try and get back on course, but float for a couple of seconds and the run comes to an end with a crescendo of white noise.

While you're always chasing the next high score, truth is you'll probably spend the majority of time racking up mediocre ones. It's good, then, that you can still reap a lot of satisfaction from events like nailing a really hard section, or recovering from a nigh-fatal fall. And, for advanced players, you can make it more interesting by purposefully "jumping" to short-cut sections of the track. Success is improbable, but not..

Impossible road is available on smartphones and tablets now for £1.49 via the Android Play and iOS App Stores.

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Acer outs Iconia Tab 7 phone-tablet hybrid, upgrades its 7-inch Android slate

Another day, another tablet launch. Just a few months after announcing the 7-inch B1-720 Android tablet at CES, Acer has decided it can do better. The company just announced the Iconia One 7 (aka the B1-730), another 7-incher, this time with a sharper screen (1,280 x 800 resolution, up from 1,024 x 600). Just as important, perhaps, Acer went with a faster Intel Atom Z2560, which should be an improvement over the bargain-basement MediaTek CPU used in the last edition. Not just faster, mind you, but perhaps more energy-efficient, too: Battery life is now rated at a more respectable seven hours, whereas before it could only last five. As for software, Acer says it will ship with Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean), but will be upgradeable to Android 4.4 (KitKat). Look for in the US and Canada in May, starting at $130.

Meanwhile, speaking of 7-inch slates, the company announced the Iconia Tab 7, a tablet that doubles as a proper phone -- a concept we've seen before. Like the new Iconia One, it rocks a 1,280 x 800 screen on some models (Europe gets the 1,280 x 800 version, while Mexico gets a lower-specced 1,024 x 600 edition). Under the hood, meanwhile, it runs off a quad-core MediaTek CPU, suggesting it won't be quite as robust as the other tablet announced today.

If that weren't evidence enough that this is a budget tablet, get a load of the connectivity options: the tablet tops out at 3G speeds, as opposed to LTE. On the plus side, it ships with Android KitKat and Acer says it coated the screen in a special finish that's supposed to reduce fingerprints (we'll see about that). All told, with specs that skew so far toward the lower end, this is mainly a device for emerging markets. Indeed, Acer says the tablet will be available in Latin America, Asia and parts of Europe, but not the US or Canada. If you happen to live in a qualifying country, though, you'll be able to get it for €149 (around $206) or 1,990 Mexican pesos (about $152).

Image credit: Liliputing

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The new Engadget: It's all about you... except when it's about us

When Engadget started 10 years ago, flip phones were ubiquitous; Firefox was still the new kid on the block; and EDGE was cutting-edge wireless technology. Clearly, things have changed. There's never been a more exciting time in the consumer electronics industry. Innovation occurs at an astonishing pace; crowdfunding gives anyone with a good idea the means to bring it to fruition; and, hell, we can print functional rocket engine parts now. We live in a magical future, and to best tell you all about it, Engadget needs to evolve. How? I'll get to that, but first, let me introduce myself. I'm Michael Gorman (the bearded fellow seen above), your new editor-in-chief, and, along with new Executive Editor Christopher Trout, I'm steering the good ship Engadget on its revised course.

Covering an industry as fast-paced and robust as consumer technology, it's easy to get lost in the minutiae. For 10 years, Engadget has been laser-focused on exhaustive coverage of that industry and in the process, we've become the go-to source for "phone gets update" posts and stories that read like a spec sheet. All at the expense of telling you what it all actually means. Today, that changes.

It's not that we're tossing screen resolutions and processor speeds into the bin, but we are going to focus on telling the stories behind those specs. Technology is changing our world in astonishing and sometimes devastating ways, and it's our mission to tell you how and why with the same wit and insight you've come to expect from Engadget. As always, we still want to be your go-to source for info on all the gadgets (new and old), and if you're interested in the nitty-gritty of gadgetry, our database is there to break it all down for you.

It's time to take a step back and look at the big picture. And if you haven't noticed, we're literally dedicated to that mission with the rollout of much larger article images. Not all of the new photos will be so self-serving (promise), but size-wise at least, there's plenty more where that came from.

We're just getting started.

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LG is making a webOS TV range just for John Lewis stores

John Lewis is a big fan of cornering retail exclusives on gadgets, and it now appears that this love is extending to smart TVs. Pocket-lint has noticed that the department store chain is teasing the JL9000 series, a line of self-branded, LG-designed webOS TVs that should be more than just a rehashes of the sets we saw at CES this year. The 49-, 55- and 60-inch models will all include stands with built-in 2.1-channel soundbars, giving you decent (if likely unremarkable) audio out of the box. There's also promises of support for local streaming services such as BBC iPlayer and Now TV, although we'd frankly be surprised if these didn't appear on a UK-specific set.

The catalogue only promises that the JL9000 range will be available "next month," so it's not clear exactly when you'll get to swing by the local shop for a look. However, these models will certainly be pricier than garden variety webOS sets. The 49-inch variant will start things off at £1,499, while the 55- and 60-inch editions will respectively cost £1,899 and £2,299 -- apparently, those speakers command quite a premium.

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Apple's MacBook Air is now $100 cheaper and has a marginally faster processor

Been waiting for a MacBook Air refresh? Breathe easy, friend, because one has arrived -- well, sort of. Cupertino has quietly updated its online store with a familiar looking ultraportable, matching last year's model almost spec for spec: 4GB of RAM, 128 or 256GB of flash storage, a 1,440 x 900 resolution display, Intel HD 5000 graphics and a slim wedge frame with all the trimmings -- Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 ports and a SDXC card reader. The laptop's processor, on the other hand, has been upgraded: We're still talking about Intel's Haswell architecture, but the standard 2014 MacBook Air now boasts a 1.4GHz Core i5 CPU. That's only a hair faster than last year's 1.3GHz processor while idling, but it also has a higher Turbo Boost speed (2.7GHz compared to 2.6GHz) and could well have better efficiency too, by virtue of the fact that it represents the best of what Intel's fabs are currently capable of. The other big change is in the price, as these new units are $100 cheaper than the ones you could pick up yesterday. If you were looking for some Retina action, however, or a major step-change in battery life, then that's probably still some way off.

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Microsoft donates $1 billion to help US schools buy PCs

Microsoft isn't just supporting White House's ConnectED education program by lowering the cost of Windows -- it's also giving schools the cash they'll need to buy Windows PCs. The company is donating $1 billion to make sure that students have the tech they'll need for both getting online and learning technology skills. The funding comes alongside a new device pricing program that should make the PCs more affordable -- to start with, it's offering sub-$300 systems from Acer, ASUS, Dell, Fujitsu, HP, Lenovo, Panasonic and Toshiba.

The company isn't shy about having a commercial incentive behind its generosity; its Education CTO, Cameron Evans, tells CNET that there's a hope that kids will become loyal Windows fans down the road. However, he adds that any eventual sales are secondary to the more immediate focus on improving education. The influx of cash should reduce the technology gap for less fortunate students, many of whom could miss out on digital learning without a little help.

[Image credit: Getty Images]

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Nokia moves on without its phones under new CEO Rajeev Suri

Where ever the future of Nokia lies, starting on May 1st it will get there under the leadership of new CEO Rajeev Suri. Known to be on the short list of candidates, he's been with the company for over 20 years and took over as CEO of Nokia Solutions & Networks (aka Nokia Siemens, now renamed just "Networks") in 2009 -- experience that will prove relevant to the first of three focus points for Nokia going forward. Besides expanding its Networks business, Nokia is also investing in its Here services for location and mapping, and Technologies, which will license out its existing patents and develop new tech. Nokia is forming a whole new executive structure with other executive moves, as interim CEO Risto Siilasmaa goes back to his role as solely Chairman of the Board of Directors and Michael Halbherr takes over as CEO of Here. In a video address (embedded after the break), Suri says he anticipates that coming changes in tech "will be as profound as the creation of the internet," and sees opportunities in front of Nokia that are "as great as I have ever seen."

Now that the sale of "substantially all" of its Devices & Services business to Microsoft is complete, the remaining portions of Nokia will focus on broader problems for the telecom industry.

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Yahoo's airing two comedy web shows in 2015 and daily concerts this summer

Yahoo has big plans to serve up original shows, just like Amazon, Hulu and Netflix, which have already invested serious money in original programming. In fact, the company just announced that it has two new comedies in the works, which are only the first ones in its brand new lineup of long-form shows. if you haven't heard yet, this comes hot on the heels of Microsoft's revelation that it's also working on a dozen original titles for the Xbox. Yahoo's series entitled Other Space (a sci-fi comedy) and Sin City Saints (about a Silicon Valley tycoon who bought a pro-basketball team), were created by folks with big TV shows under their belt. They sadly won't be airing till next year, but when they start, viewers can watch eight thirty-minutes episodes per title on Yahoo's Screen apps for desktop, mobile, Apple TV and Roku.

Those a lot more fond of rocking out to concerts than watching comedies, however, might want to brush the digital cobwebs off their Yahoo Screen app and tune in to its new Live Nation Channel instead. Starting this summer, that channel will livestream one concert everyday, weekends and holidays included, thanks to a new initiative called Yahoo Live. As a plus, Live also has a feature called NFL Now that shows the highlights of a current football game, as well as player stats and game analyses. Neither of these announcements appeal to you? Well, Yahoo's got one last thing to offer: red carpet events and trailers of The Amazing Spiderman 2, Mockingjay Part 1 and X-Men: Days of Future Past.

[Image credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images]

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Daily Roundup: Raspberry Pi cellphone, HP's Android laptop, and more!

You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

Raspberry Pi modded into a $160 cellphone

Combine a Raspberry Pi with a little know-how and you can build almost anything, including a phone. Programming savant David Hunt used $158 worth of off-the-shelf-parts to whip up his own touchscreen cellphone, and he'll teach you how to do it too.

Leaked HP video hints at a 14-inch laptop running... Android

A leaked clip found by Notebook Italia teases a new HP Slatebook 14 with a 1080p display and quad-core NVIDIA chip. What's so special about it? The laptop appears to be running a recent build of Android, not Chrome OS.

Xbox Entertainment Studios has at least 12 projects in production, committed to half

Xbox Entertainment Studio's future plans remain ambiguous, but today, its push into original programming became a bit more clear. According to XES president Nancy Tellem, the studio has 12 projects in the works and Microsoft is "committed" to at least six of them.

E.T. unearthed: The dig for legendary Atari cartridges in pictures

A documentary crew recently traveled to a landfill in Alamogordo, New Mexico hoping to prove the existence of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, a legendary Atari game. And to the excitement of sci-fi enthusiasts everywhere, it appears the team was successful.

You also might like: Google's self-driving cars can now understand cyclists' gestures Mosquitoes bred with suicide genes to combat disease Angry Birds' falling profits show the perils of being a one-hit wonder

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Harper Lee okays 'To Kill a Mockingbird' e-book on her 88th birthday

An important piece of American literary history, and one of the few missing selections in digital libraries, is finally becoming an e-book. On her 88th birthday, Harper Lee agreed to let her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird to be released in electronic form. Lee notes that this is "'Mockingbird' for a new generation," and the title still sells a million copies a year thanks in large part to its popularity in classrooms across the US of A. Here's to hoping we'll get the e-book version of J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye soon too.

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Visualized: omg hi, Phil Parsons Racing's Dogecoin-sponsored entry, is much amaze

Josh Wise's NASCAR entry in the Aaron's 499 at the Talladega Superspeedway is wrapped and ready to race after raising more than $55,000 in Dogecoin, a Doge meme-inspired virtual currency. The NASCAR Ford Fusion started the season as a plain, black, sponsorless car, but some kindness from the subreddit /r/Dogecoin, miraculously transformed the car into Shiba Inu-bedecked masterpiece. Oh and don't worry if you miss the running of the race May 4th, Lionel Racing apparently makes official die-cast replicas in two different scales of every NASCAR entry.

Here it is! Thanks to all that made it happen. See you in 'Dega! #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/gk0YlRrnBJ

- Phil Parsons Racing (@PPR98) April 27, 2014

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AOL Mail breach includes mailing addresses, employee info and more

Earlier today, AOL posted an update on last week's spoofing incident with its email service. In case you hadn't heard, AOL Mail was hacked a few days ago and accounts were spoofed, sending out spam messages to the affected users' contact list. In a blog post, the company says that the breach only hit "roughly 2 percent" of its 20+ million accounts. The bad news? AOL says that the unauthorized access allowed the hackers to peek at mailing addresses, contact lists, encrypted passwords, encrypted answers to security questions and "certain employee information." While that's pretty awful, the outfit claims that "there is no indication" that the encryption had been broken or that any financial info was nabbed. As you might expect, AOL recomments all users and employed reset their passwords and security queries for any of its services while it continues the investigation.

Disclosure: Engadget is owned by AOL.

[Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]

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Pro gamers to compete for X Games medals in Call of Duty: Ghosts

For the first time in the history ESPN's X Games, pro gamers will compete for medals playing Call of Duty: Ghosts in Austin this June. Major League Gaming (MLG) has partnered with the sports broadcaster for the MLG X Games Invitational where the same hardware will be up for grabs as those athletes competing it skateboard, BMX, Moto X and other extreme sporting events. The top 5 teams based on MLG Pro Points rankings will get an invite, and three more teams from the recent COD Championship will round out the field. Upon arriving in Austin, groups will compete in a three-day tournament on Xbox One to determine the winner. What's more, the gaming event is said to be part of X Games TV coverage that's set for ESPN and ABC.

[Image credit: Washington Post/Getty Images]

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Windows Phone thrives in Europe, but struggles in China and the US

Microsoft's quest for smartphone market share is hitting a few roadblocks, it seems. Kantar estimates that Windows Phone is still gaining ground in Europe, where it's up year-over-year to 8.1 percent of sales in the first quarter of 2014. However, it's taking a bruising in other areas. In the US, Windows swung from increases this fall to a slight dip in the winter; while it's still doing relatively well at 5.3 percent of US share, it's not posing much of a threat to Android or iOS right now. The platform also took a drubbing in China, where its share was nearly cut in half to exactly one percent thanks to the rise of budget Android handsets.

Not that it was all sunshine and roses for the industry heavyweights. Android made strides in China, the US and parts of Europe, but it sank in Australia, Europe and Japan. Some of these losses were due to a recovery from Apple, according to Kantar. The iPhone is still having trouble in China and the US, but it clawed back share in Australia and Europe. It's also dominant in Japan; 57.6 percent of local smartphone buyers chose iOS hardware this quarter.

Whether or not these trends continue through the spring isn't certain. Windows Phone may get a helpful boost from the launches of the Lumia 630 and 930, while Android may get a lift from Samsung's Galaxy S5 flagship. There's also the wildcard of the 8GB iPhone 5c. Although it's not dramatically cheaper than its 16GB counterpart, it could draw a few mid-range buyers to Apple. It's safe to say that Microsoft will be watching very closely -- now that it owns Nokia's device business, it has even more incentives to see Windows Phone succeed.

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Google's self-driving cars can now understand cyclists' gestures

Whenever we see a self-driving car, we're always nervous that it won't see us and steamroller us straight into the tarmac. It's a fear that Google is trying to quell with its latest video, revealing that the vehicles are constantly tweaked to better understand and navigate the obstacles of California. In the clip we learn that the cars can now spot a cyclist's arm-waving, and will wait until they've passed before moving along. The rides can also now spot pedestrians from behind, will slow for on-road construction and won't enter a railroad crossing until the exit is clear. Now all we need is for some bright Googler to get William Daniels to voice the on-board computer and we'll pre-order two.

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Hail HAL 9000: An orchestra of drones plays the 'Space Odyssey' theme

KMel's flying robots have pretty freaky abilities, but luckily they seem more interested in show-biz than terrorizing humanity. Though they've already done a crude James Bond number, this time they're rocking more instruments and playing challenging pieces like Also Sprach Zarathustra (aka the "2001: A Space Odyssey" theme). The piece de resistance is two quads playing a guitar-like string, with one tapping it and the other changing pitch. Actually, the whole thing is pretty great -- be entertained and disturbed all at once by the video below.

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IRL: Three weeks with Philips' Screeneo projector

Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment.

You'd never mistake me for an A/V geek, since I'm far more interested in what's on TV than how it gets to me. That said, I always felt like I was missing out on being able to try out projectors since they required a complex ceiling mounting process and needed me to know about things like lumen counts, aperture correction and blooming. That's why, when I first clamped eyes on Philips' Screeneo, I thought this was my chance to right that wrong.

Unlike projectors (as most of us would imagine them), Screeneo is a short-throw unit, designed to sit at the base of a wall and beam images straight above it. That meant all I had to do was stick this on my TV table, and instantly I'd get a personal cinema. In practice, if you sit it 10 centimeters away from the wall, you'll get a 50-inch screen, and if you pull it back to 45cm, it'll stretch as wide as 100 inches. In short: wow.

Setup is ridiculously simple, since all you have to do is plug the thing in, select which way the screen needs to be oriented, and your job is done. All-in, it took about 10 minutes to tweak the picture settings to get my Xbox 360, Roku and Chromecast hooked up. What's brilliant about the Screeneo is that it's Android-powered, with 4GB of on-board storage, WiFi with built-in web browser and even an SD card slot, making it a lot more flexible than your average TV. Even better, there's a beefy pair of 26-watt speakers built into the hardware, so there's no need to hook up an external pair.

Projectors are ideally meant to be used in pitch-dark rooms that compensate for the weak bulb. In fact, I was still able to use it through a long weekend without having to draw my blinds during the day. It was in those moments, with the Xbox hooked up, that the Screeneo really came into its own. Wandering around the streets of Columbia was so much better on a 100-inch screen, and my little team made the Champions League Champions Cup in FIFA 13. In fact, I'm reasonably sure that the bigger picture actually helped improve my ability in both games, since there was a definite upswing in my fortunes after I'd installed the unit. Then there are the space savings: if you don't fancy the idea of a 50-inch TV cluttering up your lounge, this stout box is a compelling proposition indeed.

So, what are the downsides? First up, like all projectors, it's prone to running hot, and after a long Netflix session, might surreptitiously power down in order to rest its burning bulb. Then there's the output quality, which tops out at 720p. Neither of those are deal breakers for the casual users this is is aimed at. What might be non-negotiable, of course, is your budget. Considering you can get a normal projector for less than £500, the fact that the Screeneo is priced at £1,500 ($2,505) in the UK instantly makes it a "fantasy" purchase rather than one you might legitimately splurge on. When it comes time to replace my aging Bravia, I'll remain in the land of HDTVs. Were Philips to knock £500 from the price, though, I'd be back in a heartbeat. In the meantime, I think I'm a bit of an A/V convert -- someone bring me a gold-plated aux cable, I've got a lot of catching up to do.

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E.T. unearthed: The dig for legendary Atari cartridges in pictures

Yesterday marked the climax of a decades-long story that surrounded one of the most poorly received video games in history. A Microsoft-backed documentary crew took to a landfill in the desert town of Alamogordo, New Mexico in an attempt to prove that Atari had in fact buried thousands of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial cartridges there. It appears they succeeded. E.T. unearthed: The dig for legendary Atari cartridges in pictures See all photos

10 Photos

The game was an expensive failure and beckoned the demise of the once-great video game maker. It's still unclear just how many cartridges the team discovered or what other failures treasures are buried in the trash heap, but Microsoft's Xbox Wire says, "We can safely report that those long-buried cartridges are actually, 100 percent there." The excavation will appear in an Xbox-exclusive documentary produced by Fuel Entertainment, tentatively titled Atari: Game Over. The film will debut later this year, but for now, here's a closer look at the historic dig.

Reporters and spectators gather around a pile of trash in hopes of treasure. (John Thien)

A fan shows off a signed version of the game widely considered to be one of the worst in history. (John Thien for Engadget)

Breaking garbage. (John Thien for Engadget)

Film producer Jonathan Chinn and Alamogordo Mayor Susie Galea pose with the joystick that served as a sign of things to come. The crew found an Atari 2600 controller before hitting the jackpot. (AP Photo/Juan Carlos Llorca)

A new generation gets acquainted with the Delorean, because no archeological dig is complete without one. (John Thien for Engadget)

The day's menu, woefully lacking in E.T. fingers and Reese's pieces. (John Thien for Engadget)

The documentary's director, Zak Penn shows off one of the first signs of a mass burial ground. (AP Photo/Juan Carlos Llorca)

Buckets of booty. (Microsoft)

And this is what we've been waiting for. This pile of trash is littered with E.T. packaging and cartridges along with a collection of other Atari artifacts. (Microsoft)

Success! Zak Penn, director of "Atari: Game Over," and Andrew Reinhard, archaeologist, hold up Atari 2600 "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" game cartridges. (Microsoft)

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