Review: 'Kid Icarus: Uprising' burns its wings

(CNN) -- When the Nintendo 3DS was introduced at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in 2010, one of the announced games that drew the most favorable reaction was "Kid Icarus: Uprising."

A follow-up to the original "Kid Icarus" title that came out 25 years ago, this new version offers updated graphics, classic boss battles and humorous dialogue that, unfortunately, quickly becomes cheesy and trite.

The story harkens back to the original as the forces of Light battle the forces of Darkness with the player acting as the champion for Light. The angel hero, Pit, must set out once again with the help of the goddess of Light, Palutena, to defeat Medusa and end the threat to the human race.

Players control Pit with the device's circle pad and use its stylus to aim and turn him. Firing his weapon is done with the left shoulder button on the 3DS. Fortunately, the game comes packed with a nifty stand, because trying to hold and maneuver gameplay was quite the contortion.

Even using the stylus after a while became painful in my wrist. The game does remind you from time to time to take a break, so perhaps the developers thought there might be a problem.

Combat is broken down into three sections for each chapter: flight battle, ground battle and boss battle. In the air, Pit attempts to shoot enemies while continuously flying forward. He is able to dodge around the screen but his motion is always moving ahead.

On the ground (because apparently this angel has a limit on how much he can fly), Pit navigates through a series of rooms and pathways, defeating enemies and collecting hearts. Hearts are the currency by which players can obtain new weapons and skills.

The boss battles close each chapter, involving classic characters and a combination of nimble dodging and intense firepower. The bosses are returning enemies from the original title, but offer new challenges for fans of the franchise.

The intensity of each chapter can change as well, ramping up the enemies and the loot. A device called the Fiend's Caldron allows players to spend hearts to adjust the difficulty. Want to make it easier? That'll cost you. If you want more, you bet hearts that you can complete the chapter, winning you more hearts.

Pit has nine weapon types at his disposal and can equip one before each chapter. Ranging from rifles to clubs, each offers special advantages. One nice feature is that some weapons can be fused with other weapons to create even more powerful attacks. Plus, some of the names are really quite charming.

If there is a downside to the game, it is the dialogue. It starts off being funny and cute, but I get the feeling the writers were trying too hard in the later stages of the game. There are plenty of silly pop-culture references that don't quite work in this mythological setting: "Happy meal of pain"? Really?

The talk also clashes with the action. Many times, the dialogue ran on so long that I completed the fight before the characters were done trash-talking each other. It ended up almost ruining the entire experience.

Overall, "Kid Icarus: Uprising" does offer some solid combat, some great visuals and a good soundtrack. The gameplay is good, and the story does move along at a brisk pace.

However, it's hobbled by an uncomfortable playing configuration that cries out for a second circle pad (Circle Pad Pro, anyone?) instead of the stylus pointer..

"Kid Icarus: Uprising" is available now and only for the Nintendo 3DS. It is rated E 10+ for everyone 10 years old and older due to comic mischief, fantasy violence, and mild suggestive themes. This review was done using the Nintendo 3DS with no extra hardware attachments.

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The future of gaming: It's now

(CNN) -- The future of video gaming is bright, according to four industry visionaries who spoke at a recent gaming event.

Kellee Santiago, Ken Levine, Paul Barrett and Mark DeLoura were part of a panel discussion at the opening of a new Smithsonian exhibit, The Art of Video Games. Each has been successful in the gaming business and has great hope for what's to come.

Barrett, the senior creative director for BioWare-Mythic, said people who are going to make games in the future are playing them right now. He describes this time in those gaming lives as their Golden Age.

"What's interesting about my Golden Age is it is where I learned my prejudices about what games I liked and I don't like," Barrett said. "That period defined my understanding of games so that when I had the chance to make games, those are the kinds of game I wanted to make."

For the gamers of today, he said, "The current Golden Age is pretty bloody good."

Others on the panel said they were also driven to create games that reflected or expressed something they wanted to share with others. For Levine, the creative director of the "BioShock" franchise, it is about creating worlds and telling stories that mean something in those worlds.

He related a story about the creation of "BioShock," where players can save or sacrifice young girls, known as Little Sisters, to gain power. In the beginning of the creative process, the little girls were sea slugs.

"In order for the story to be meaningful, we had to create empathy between the player and the thing they were making a decision about," Levine said. "That took a while for that to come about. The actual choice became simple -- what do you want to do with this little girl?"

Santiago and DeLoura hope future game designers go beyond what games are about today and challenge themselves and the industry about what gaming could be.

DeLoura, the vice president of technology at THQ, wants the constraints of today's design to seem archaic to those who are just getting started and hopes for more diversity.

"The games that break down (the conventional) mentality is what does it for me," he said. "For us pioneers up here, one of the things I would like to challenge us to do is to reach out into communities you don't expect games to come from and really pull those out and get them shared with the broader community."

Santiago, co-founder and president of thatgamecompany, echoed that sentiment of opening up new ideas for games of the future. She is also a partner in IndieFund, which helps independent game developers reach and maintain financial independence.

"My biggest hope is that the people who will be making games, what those people look like, completely changes," she said. "We're going to see new types of stories and new types of experiences. With greater technology and distribution channels, it has flipped a switch for people and they say, 'Oh, I could do that too!'"

Levine added that with additional venues for gaming like app stores and Kickstarter, future game designers don't have to be driven to find funding to produce games anymore. He said that without that financial pressure, creativity goes up.

"Games were my companion as a kid," Levine said. "It didn't shut my world down. It opened my world up."

Barrett said there is a whole new wave of people who want to make games that are fearless, expect success and have wide ranging views. He said those future designers have one goal in mind.

"They don't want to make games that are art. They want to make games that are awesome."

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Super-mayor Cory Booker gets memed

(Mashable) -- Cory Booker, the mayor of Newark, New Jersey, saved a woman from a burning house late Thursday night.

The mayor is a highly active Twitter user, and commonly uses the social network to find and help Newark residents who are in need.

Predictably, the Internet caught onto the story and it took on a life of its own.

A new Tumblr blog, SuperCoryBooker is actively creating memes about the mayor. The hashtag #CoryBookerStories, which is giving the Newark mayor the Chuck Norris treatment, is also trending in the United States.

Mayor Cory Booker's 'superhero' moment Mayor Booker downplays 'hero' label

Here's some of our favorites from the hashtag:

@StephenSteglik: Corey Booker can win a game of "Connect Four" with only three moves #CoryBookerStories

@SayethSimon: Cory Booker isn't afraid of the dark. The dark is afraid of Cory Booker. #CoryBookerStories

@ChloeAngyal: Superheroes dress up as Cory Booker on Halloween #CoryBookerStories

@SayethSimon: Ann Romney's life was filled with struggles, until she met Cory Booker. #CoryBookerStories

@jimgeraghty: Billy Joel didn't start the fire. But Cory Booker put it out. #CoryBookerStories

@sethdmichaels: The honey badger cares about @CoryBooker. #corybookerstories

See the original article on Mashable.com

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Virus found in fake Android version of 'Angry Birds: Space'

(CNN) -- Android users beware. Download the wrong version of your favorite pig-killing game and the birds won't be the only ones who are angry.

"Angry Birds: Space," the latest installment of the insanely popular mobile game, is being used to mask some fairly nasty malware, according to security experts and Rovio, the maker of "Angry Birds."

Graham Cluley, an analyst with Web security firm Sophos, wrote on the company's blog Thursday that they had discovered fake versions of the game on unofficial app stores. The fake games contain a "Trojan horse" virus.

A post on Rovio's blog on Thursday also warned fans to watch out for fake versions of the game, urging them to download the new title from their official store.

According to Sophos, the Trojan horse, which it identified in a file called Andr/KongFu-L, appears to be a fully functional version of the game, but instead installs a virus on the user's smartphone or tablet.

From there, the code tries to install more malware that essentially puts the phone or tablet computer under the control of the cybercriminals behind it, Cluley wrote.

"It feels like we have to keep reminding Android users to be on their guard against malware risks, and to be very careful, especially when downloading applications from unofficial Android markets," he said.

Unlike Apple, which screens all its apps and requires iPhone and iPad owners to download software from its official App Store, Google maintains less control over what people can install on devices that run its Android operating system. The company allows Android owners to download programs from official and unofficial sources.

Security experts say Android device owners should use the official Android Market if they want to avoid downloading fake apps and potentially harmful programs, although there have been instances of malicious software showing up in that official venue, too.

From Harry Potter to Ana Kournikova, it's not unusual for malicious hackers to use popular topics, often from the entertainment and celebrity world, to lure potential victims.

"Angry Birds: Space" was released March 22 for the iPhone, iPad and Android devices, as well as Macs and PCs. It soared to a mind-blowing 10 million downloads in just three days, three times faster than the franchise's last outing, "Angry Birds: Rio."

Released in 2009, "Angry Birds" is the No.1 paid mobile app of all time, crossing 300 million downloads, across multiple platforms, last year.

Based in Finland, Rovio parlayed the game's success into a virtual empire, offering everything from comic books and animated videos to plush dolls and cookbooks based on the game.

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Hey Bravo, Silicon Valley is too boring for TV

Editor's note: Pete Cashmore is founder and CEO of Mashable, a popular blog about tech news and digital culture. He writes regular columns about social media and tech for CNN.com.

(CNN) -- The tech world has been up in arms this past week about "Silicon Valley," an upcoming Bravo reality show documenting the lives of five aspiring entrepreneurs making their way in the world of Bay Area startups.

The TV show is co-produced by Randi Zuckerberg, former marketing director of Facebook and sister of its founder, Mark Zuckerberg. Its brief preview showcases the glamorous life of a tech startup founder: Lots of parties, alcohol, attractive women and a social scene that is like "high school, but it's only the smart kids."

The problem: The tech industry isn't like that at all.

Here's how tech-company founders usually succeed in Silicon Valley: They spend endless hours in front of a computer building products people want to use. Alas, this doesn't make for interesting TV.

Hence all the Hollywood cliches. Computers on TV shows and in movies beep when a button is pressed. Characters seem able to type at a frenetic pace. Passwords can always be guessed within three attempts -- and always just in time to prevent a disaster.

These cliches once existed only in fictional shows and movies. Alas, as Silicon Valley continues to power a digital revolution that's changing the world at a rapid pace, camera crews are increasingly trying to capture startup reality and bottle it as entertainment. And they're finding it converts to film about as well as paint drying.

Mark Zuckerberg built Facebook through thousands of hours spent in front of a dimly glowing screen. His motive? He "likes to build things." And yet in 2010's "The Social Network," the Zuckerberg onscreen is more concerned with girls, parties and getting into Harvard's most exclusive social circles.

Therein lies the second issue with bringing startups to the big or small screen: Startup founders rarely have interesting social lives. Building a company takes almost every minute of the day, leaving little time for a personal life.

TV viewers demand drama: If it can't be found, it's manufactured. The small screen loves a performer, too. A celebrity. An exhibitionist. Can you dance? Sing? Act? Even once the show is over, these outgoing stars convert well to a world of tabloids and celebrity magazines.

Startup founders, however, do not.

So now comes the time to pick a side. Is representing Silicon Valley as a party haven doing a disservice to those who work countless hours to build products we'll all love? Or is there nobility in Randi Zuckerberg's mission to "make accessible and to humanize the increasingly important tech community for the average consumer"?

Perhaps it's both. Translating tech for those not living in its epicenter is a noble effort that will surely bring more new people -- and more diversity -- to Silicon Valley. And yet this can't be done in a literal way: Bringing technologists' stories to TV and movies requires a little creativity to make the subject matter fit the medium.

My science teacher didn't get our class interested in a science career by telling us that most chemists work long hours on repetitive tasks. No, he showed us explosions. And crazy, color-changing reactions. And non-Newtonian fluids dancing on speaker cones.

It's unfortunate that the story of tech revolution doesn't convert well to the dominant medium of the day. And it's regrettable that some viewers will wildly misinterpret what entrepreneurship is all about. But after grabbing the attention of viewers with dramatic exothermic reactions -- or scenes of wild parties -- perhaps we'll be able to teach them what it really takes to build a company.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Pete Cashmore.

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Poll: Google more popular than Apple, Facebook

(CNN) -- America's top technology companies have approval ratings that most politicians can only dream of, according to a new poll.

And Google, not Apple, is the ultimate object of our digital affection.

A robust 82% of Americans have a favorable opinion of Google, and 53% have "strongly favorable" thoughts about the Web titan, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll released last last week.

The reigning king of Web search, Google has expanded its empire in the past few years, adding its Android mobile operating system and Google Plus networking site to already popular features like Google Maps and Gmail.

Only 9% of respondents to the poll, conducted from March 28-April 1, held an unfavorable view of Google, while 10% had no opinion.

Google's results put the company squarely ahead of Apple which tallied an impressive 74% favorable rating in their own right. At 13%, Apple's negatives were slightly higher than Google's.

In an analysis of results, pollsters noted that "the time is ripe for this sort of assessment, given these companies' envied positions in the marketplace."

While phones running Google's Android system represent the majority of the world's smartphones, no single phone has come anywhere near the popularity of Apple's iPhone. And the iPad -- the latest incarnation of which went on sale last month, continues to dominate the tablet computer market.

Both Google and Apple fared best with wealthier respondents. In fact, in households earning more than $100,000 a year, 93% of respondents expressed a favorable opinion of Google, 91% of Apple.

The results suggest that recent public-relations dings that both companies have taken haven't soured large chunks of their audiences.

Over the years, Google's near omnipresence online has prompted privacy concerns. Most recently, critics, including some federal regulators and U.S. Congress members, objected to a revamped Google privacy policy that pulls user-activity data from the company's multiple products together to create a single user profile.

And while Apple raked in a record $46.3 billion last quarter, some have complained that virtually all of its products are manufactured in China. Most notably, Foxconn, the manufacturing partner that makes the iPhone and iPad, has been hit with complaints of harsh working conditions.

In an increasingly tech-centric culture, the poll results suggest consumers may be willing to overlook negative news -- even news that impacts them directly -- if they're happy with their digital experiences.

"The services in question, after all, aren't just services; they are, at this point, everyday and intimate components of people's lives," wrote Megan Garber of The Atlantic. "They are, increasingly, implicit."

Facebook, the near ubiquitous social network, didn't fare as well as the top two companies, although with 58% favorable responses, it still has enough votes to get re-elected. But 28% of respondents had an unfavorable view of Facebook -- twice as many as Apple and nearly three times as many as Google.

And for all its popularity among celebrities and in tech circles, Twitter limped in a distant fourth. Just 34% of respondents viewed Twitter favorably, with 36% holding unfavorable views and 31% having no opinion of the micro-blogging site.

The poll was conducted by landline and cell phone among a random national sample of 1,007 U.S. adults. Results have a margin of error of 3.5 points.

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Instagram now available for Android devices

(CNN) -- After 18 months of waiting, users of Android phones and tablets can finally crash the Instagram party.

On Tuesday the fast-growing, photo-sharing network for the iPhone and iPad finally launched an app for Android devices. The free application works with Android version 2.2 and higher and is available for download at Google Play, Google's new online store for digital media.

"We've been meticulous about translating the Instagram experience to the Android platform," said a post Tuesday on Instagram's blog.

"The Android app offers an extremely familiar Instagram experience when compared to the iOS app. You'll find all the same exact filters and community as our iOS version."

Instagram lets users enhance their mobile photos with filters, share them with their friends or other people and comment on friends' pictures. Like Twitter, Instagram also allows people to follow other users.

Instagram has exploded in popularity since Apple honored it as its 2011 App of the Year. The app now has more than 30 million users, up from 15 million four months ago.

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A telescope that generates more data than the whole internet

(Mashable) -- There's a massive telescope on the drawing board that hasn't even started construction yet, but when it's finished in 2024, it'll generate more data in a single day than the entire Internet.

For scientists to ensure they'll be able to handle all that raw information, they need to start working on new computing technologies now. Fortunately, IBM is on it.

The computing giant is collaborating with ASTRON (the Netherlands Institute of Radio Astronomy) to develop the next-generation computer tech needed to handle the colossal amount of data captured by the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), a new radio telescope that will spread sensing equipment over a span 3,000 kilometers wide, or about the width of the continental U.S.A.

"One of the goals is to search what happened at the time of the Big Bang, 13 billion years ago," IBM researcher Ronanld Luijten told Mashable. "We need to figure out what technology needs to be chosen in order to build this large antenna."

The project is called DOME, and it's challenged to find a way to capture and process approximately one exabyte every day, which works out to about twice the amount of data that's generated every day by the World Wide Web, IBM says.

To do that in a way that doesn't consume a massive amount of energy, IBM will need to develop some entirely new processing architectures before construction on the telescope begins in 2017.

"We need to be very creative," says Luijten. "If we were to use standard servers of today, we'd need millions of them. They would use so much space and use so much energy that we couldn't afford to build the machines let alone operate them."

While the project has only just been announced, IBM already has some ideas in the hopper. Specifically, it'll be looking at novel ways of stacking chips (today's chips are flat, though stacking or "3D" tech is around the corner) and using optical technology for interconnects, something the company has already had some success with.

The promising new conductive material graphene, however, probably won't play a part.

"Graphene will not be available in time to build something we start in 2017," says Luijten. "But it might be available for a later generation. The expectation is that we will go with the traditional CMOS process."

See also: IBM: Mind-reading machines will change our lives

Even though the new computing tech hasn't even been invented yet, it'll ironically still rely on one of the oldest storage technologies in existence: magnetic tape. Luijten says tape simply can't be matched by newer storage mediums since it's so cost-, space- and power-efficient.

The project won't exclusively use tape for storage, though, also relying on phase-change media and solid-state drives.

"We're looking at new memory technologies," says Luijten, "but at the end of the day most of the data likely will remain on tape because it's still the most cost-effective storage medium. Tape will be around for a long time."

The SKA isn't planned to be completed until 2024, but the technologies that IBM creates to service it will have the potential to change entire industries in the meantime, dealing with big-data problems that the world is just now encountering.

It's possible the social networks and search engines of the future will be powered by IBM's coming tech or something like it, enabling them to process an entire Internet's worth of data for anyone and everyone.

What problems would you like to see the supercomputers of tomorrow take on? Share your ideas in the comments.

See the original article on Mashable.com

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Google launches monthly user-activity feature

(CNN) -- Weeks after a policy change that sparked privacy concerns, Google has rolled out a new feature that will give users a monthly update to help them keep track of their activity across Google's multiple sites and tools.

It's called Account Activity, and users can receive it via e-mail with a link to a password-protected personal page. The feature was announced Wednesday in a post on Google's official blog.

"Every day, we aim to make technology so simple and intuitive that you stop thinking about it -- we want Google to work so well it just blends into your life," Andreas Tuerk, a product manager for Google, wrote in the post. "But sometimes it's helpful to step back and take stock of what you're doing online."

The report is not automatic, meaning users will have to sign up to receive it.

Based on a sample report, information such as your number of Google searches, your most popular search topics and the number of e-mails sent and received will be included.

It also will show locations where your account was used and the devices that were used to sign into it, which Tuerk called an extra layer of security.

"Knowing more about your own account activity also can help you take steps to protect your Google Account," he wrote. "For example, if you notice sign-ins from countries where you haven't been or devices you've never owned, you can change your password immediately and sign up for the extra level of security provided by two-step verification."

On March 1, Google instigated a new privacy policy in which it creates a single profile of each user based on their activity across all of its many products -- from search to Gmail to mobile devices that run on Google's Android operating system.

Privacy advocates, including some in Congress, fear that puts too much personal information in the company's hands. But Google said it wouldn't be collecting any new information -- just collating what data it already had in a way that would be more clear and help create new products and features for its users.

Wednesday's blog post from Google made no mention of the new privacy policy. But many tech observers were quick to make the connection, saying it looks like a way to make users more comfortable.

"If you're confused about what Google does and doesn't know about your online activity, take heart: Google is letting you in on the secret," Network World writer Brad Reed wrote.

Others saw potential for another goal behind the rollout -- reminding folks how ubiquitous the Web giant has become online.

"While the report is something of a data nerds' dream, its timely arrival hints at another purpose," wrote Sarah Perez of TechCrunch. "The new Account Activity report offers a way for users to see exactly what they're doing on Google, and how much of their life involves the use of Google's products."

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'Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City' a disappointing chapter

(CNN) -- Over the course of more than 15 years, "Resident Evil" has established a rich history as one of the video game world's most storied franchises.

Sadly, "Resident Evil: Raccoon City" fails to add to that rich history, serving up ordinary squad-based game play and limited threats from the franchise's iconic zombies.

The latest venture into the zombie-filled world by Capcom is supposed to take place in time between the last two games in the series, "Resident Evil 2" and "Resident Evil: Nemesis."

This time, you play as a member of the Wolfpack squad for the always dubious Umbrella Corporation. You're tasked with retrieving a virus that turns people into the undead creatures before the U.S. military can get it.

Raccoon City is the location where the zombie phenomena first occurred and has been the setting in many of the "Resident Evil" games.

Working for the bad guys in this title was supposed to be a refreshing change from others in the series. And it might have worked, if the largely first-person shooter game didn't feel more like a poorly lit "Call of Duty" than what we've come to expect from the "Resident Evil" franchise.

Each member of your squad specializes in a different field (stealth, explosives, recon, etc.), and you play as one of four soldiers fighting their way through Raccoon City.

Either your friends can fill in the roles of the other three squad members or the game will control the others. You get to choose your special abilities and weapons at the beginning of each mission, but these are all locked down once the game starts.

The weapons are pretty typical for a first-person shooter, and your character can carry one sidearm and one long-barreled weapon. Ammo and other weapons are sprinkled throughout the battleground and very rarely will you find yourself without bullets.

There are a couple of high-powered, single-use weapons (grenade launchers, flamethrower) that can't be replenished with additional ammo. If you use one of these, make sure you can pick up another weapon as soon as you run out of fuel or grenades.

One of the most frustrating aspects of combat is what I call "magnetic cover."

If you're trying to use cover from your enemies while you're moving, you end up essentially plastered to a wall if you get even close to it. Forget about moving stealthily from one covered spot to another. If you want to progress, you have to stand up, exposing yourself to enemy fire, then move to the next safe spot.

The artificial intelligence that runs the game is fair, but its decisions are sometimes hard to understand. Your squadmates will rush into a room with guns blazing at times when the team could have easily sneaked past. At other times, they will arbitrarily fling themselves to the ground for no apparent reason.

At least they are good in a fight and and very effective at taking the heat off your character. Be sure to have a medic in your squad to help heal injured party members.

Most of the opponents are not zombies. You'll spend a lot of time battling the U.S. military in firefights, not that the soldiers you face seem much smarter than the undead.

Character models for the soldiers and the zombies are reused often. You'll see the same zombie police officer, zombie large guy and zombie girl in short-shorts over and over again.

You will kill a lot of living and nonliving enemies in this game. The experience points you gain can be used at the beginning of each mission to upgrade weapons or personal abilities. But, even if you don't use any upgrades at all, you will still be able to succeed.

The passive abilities that help you find items and enemies on your mini-map are probably the most useful. None of the weapon upgrades felt like they were necessary.

"Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City" ultimately comes off as a mundane, average shooter that abandons its heritage in the zombie/horror genre.

There aren't enough zombies and too many living-breathing enemies to truly feel like a worthy outing for this franchise.

The ending flies in the face of "Resident Evil's" history and leaves more questions unanswered. It feels half-done with no real finale.

Obviously, the ending leaves the door open for another shooter in this series. Unfortunately, it doesn't really deserve one.

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New iPad has a smart-cover problem

(Mashable) -- Magnets: How do they work? Differently on the new iPad than on the iPad 2, it has emerged -- and that's bad news for anyone with an old or third-party smart cover.

A number of users who bought new iPads over the weekend (this reporter included) were dismayed to discover that the smart covers they'd bought for the iPad 2 didn't work on the new model.

Smart covers, which attach to the iPad's built-in magnets, are supposed to turn the tablet on automatically when you flip them open. But as dozens of iPad users in this Apple forum concurred, that was no longer the case with many smart covers on the new iPad.

That seemed odd, as the new iPad is physically no different from the iPad 2 -- on the surface, at least. But it turns out Apple has been messing with the polarity of its magnets under the hood.

Photographer Mark Booth uncovered this when he did some experiments with magnets, iPads and a couple of smart covers. You can see the results in a video on Booth's blog.

"The iPad 2′s sleep/wake sensor wasn't polarity specific," Booth explains. And that apparently led to an issue for iPad 2 users who flipped their smart covers around so that they sat flush with the back of the tablet -- an everyday act that could cause the iPad 2 to switch off unintentionally.

So it seems the new iPad's sleep/wake sensor does require a specific polarity. But in fixing one issue, Apple appears to have caused another for users who want to use their old smart covers with their new tablets. (We've asked Apple to comment, and will update you if we hear back.)

Booth theorizes that Apple quietly made the polarity change in their smart covers at some point in 2011, since newer Apple-made smart covers do seem to work with the new iPad. If you got yours for the holidays, there's a good chance you won't see a problem.

If your smart cover hails from early 2011, try taking it back to the Apple store; Booth says he's hearing from users that the store will exchange old smart covers for new ones. Owners of third-party smart covers, however -- such as the beautiful wood covers from Miniot -- appear to be out of luck.

And it may not simply be a case of having to turn the new tablet on manually. In tests using my Miniot as a stand -- the other purpose of the smart cover -- the new iPad's screen was plagued by fuzzy electronic lines and flashing artifacts.

Do you own a smart cover and a new iPad? Have you noticed this issue? Let us know in the comments.

See the original article on Mashable

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Texting is ultimate social tool for teens, study says

Editor's note: Amy Gahran writes about mobile tech for CNN.com. She is a San Francisco Bay Area writer and media consultant whose blog, Contentious.com, explores how people communicate in the online age.

(CNN) -- Mobile devices often get accused of alienating people from the world around them. But for U.S. teens, cell phones (especially text messaging) are a key way to stay connected with friends and other people in their lives, according to new research from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Pew found that 63% of all teens say they exchange text messages every day with people in their lives, including their parents. Also, nearly half of all teens send and receive text messages with friends daily.

In contrast, 28% teens say they never text their friends -- but then, 23% of teens don't have a cell phone at all.

For teens, cell phones appear to correlate with social privilege. Nearly 90% of older teens (aged 14-17) have a cell phone, while just under 60% of 12- to 13-year-olds have a cell phone. White teens are most likely to have a cell phone (81%), vs. 72% of black teens and 63% of Hispanic teens.

More than 90% of teens from households earning $75,000 or more annually have a cell phone, compared with 62% of teens from households earning less than $30,000 per year. Also, teens who live in the suburbs or whose parents graduated from college are most likely to have a cell phone.

Only about one in four U.S. teens currently uses a smartphone, says Pew, in contrast to about 46% of U.S. adults. Interestingly, Pew found that smartphone-using teens are slightly less likely than teens with simpler feature phones to have recently used a computer to access the Internet. However, teens with smartphones also are "substantially more likely than other teens to have used a tablet computer to go online in the last 30 days."

Teen girls (78%) slightly outnumber teen boys (78%) for cell phone ownership. And older teen girls tend to send and receive the most texts: a median of 100 per day. That said, teen boys now send 60% more texts daily than they did in 2009.

Just over one-third of all parents of cell phone-using teens report using parental controls to help them manage their kids' cell phone use. These controls can include limits on which websites they can access, which apps they can download and limits on the amount or hours of texting. If their teens have simpler feature phones (rather than smartphones), parents are more likely to enable these controls.

What aren't teens doing with their cell phones? E-mail and instant messaging, which lag in popularity behind texting.

"Increasingly, teens do not have the capability or the interest in exchanging instant messages or exchanging e-mail," Pew notes. "Nearly two in five teens say they never or cannot exchange instant messaging, and another 39% of teens say they never exchange e-mail."

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