[Reddit]

You may have heard by now that Apple no longer has claim to the name Mighty Mouse, since small-volume mouse maker Man & Machine, who had labeled its own pointer "Mighty Mouse," managed to wiggle its way through all the red tape to a successful trademark application. There's a lot of messiness involved, but the truth of the matter is a) it was dumb for Apple to borrow a name from a cartoon character in the first place, and b) the Mighty Mouse was one of Apple's worst products to date. In the end, I'm thinking there's a hint of karma in this reversal of fortune. Hopefully Apple's next mouse will be mightier in deed than in name. [Engadget]

Even though movie-poster regulars such as Owen Gleiberman and Peter Travers have labeled it "freaky and terrifying" and "a potent frightfest" respectively, studio execs seem skittish about releasing Paramount's Paranormal Activity. Instead of manning up and giving it a nationwide release, the studio has asked potential ticket buyers to declare their intentions here. I'm all for crowdsourcing experiments, but this just seems like studio cowardice at its most yeller. They call it "the first-ever major film release decided by you"—it sure won't be the last. [Movie Site]

iPhone owners love to crap all over AT&T customer service whenever they get near a JD Power & Associates survey, but apparently, for the 1.5 million who get TV programming from the T, service couldn't be sweeter. Good ole JD released the results, naming AT&T best in the west and south, Verizon tops in the east, and WOW! numero uno in the north central region. (No, World of Warcraft didn't start a cable company... or did it?) It might not startle you to learn that none of the cable and satellite carriers who actually provide TV service to the majority of the nation appear in the (positive) results. Just wait till you serve as many people with TV as you serve with cellphones, AT&T. Then let's see where you stand. [JD Power]

Danny Sullivan, king of the search engine watchers, pinned down Sergey Brin after a Google event and showed him some bad results. Like if you type "car rental," all the major agencies are there, but when you type "california car rental," many companies disappear (including my personal favorite, Hertz). He also asked why searching "search engines" brought up discussion of search engines, but "search engine" just brought up many older search sites—notably excluding Google itself. Brin said people probably don't search for Google on Google, but Sullivan disagreed. I was actually under the impression that if you go to Google and type "google," you break the internet, so in either case, I'm just glad to be enlightened. [Search Engine Land]

The headset will actually feature customizable ear cup "Glyphs" to identify your faction along with programmable LEDs so your mom can better appreciate the Horde's power as it burns a bright red into her eyes.

With a promised focus on comfort, the Mac and PC wireless headset will stream uncompressed audio while a (surely cheaper) wired headset will manage the same feat with a cord. And while the specs sound nice (pun intended), the headsets seem to lack true surround sound capabilities. So hopefully they'll be priced accordingly. [Creative via Fareastgizmos]

Not only can you program macros to Naga's 17 buttons however you want, but the mouse works with custom software extensions, called Add Ons, that actually add new interfaces to the game and allow you have to unlimited character profiles. Update: Oh boo, they're actually in-game, so you can't program 'em outside of WoW or Warhammer for now:

Otherwise, it uses Razer's now standard laser engine—5600dpi, 1ms response time—and goes for $80. Oh, and if you're in the market for a $50 glowing mousepad, they've got you covered there too with the Megasoma mat. [Razer, Razer]

Priceless Picks: Don't let the advertising-crap-app appearance of Priceless Picks turn you off—this free download, branded all over with Mastercard, is great. It combines loads of data collected from a number of sources, including user submissions and Amazon's Mechanical Turk army, to give wide-ranging recommendations for things to do, eat, drink or experience wherever you happen to be. There are other apps that do similar things, yes, but the dataset on this one already seems strong, the scope—not just restaurants, not just a particular company's establishments—is healthy, and the 3D map presentation is fantastically cool, and surprisingly smooth.

Griffin iFM Radio Browser: A lot of people will download this assuming it's a streaming radio app—it's something else entirely, and actually quite exciting: iFM polls your location to come up with a list of local terrestrial radio stations, providing you with access to song titles, album art, artist info and purchase links for whatever's playing on your FM station of choice. Think of it as augmented radio.

It's also one of the earliest examples of accessory integration for OS 3.0, featuring a software interface for Griffin's Navigate inline iPod remote, which has a built-in radio. Free. (The app, not the accessory. Sorry.)

Snore Patrol: Leave this app running overnight and it'll provide a decibel readout of whatever weird nostril/sinus/lung business goes down in the duration. The idea is to present a snoring partner with graphical proof of their terrible flaw, which will in turn guilt them into doing something about it. It's funny, but the pink interface and lady-oriented marketing is disheartening. Women snore too! MUST WE MEN SUFFER IN SILENCE? Your gynocentric passive aggressiveness: Free.

Squash the Street : If the economy's got you down, and you're vaguely upset about some fatcats on Wall Street, or at your banks, or something, why not direct a little bit of your pent-up aggression and/or depression into your iPhone? That's what Squash the Street is for: Pure, possibly misguided venting. Neat 3D-ish graphics give this ultra-timely voodoo doll a bit of longevity. A dollar.

Cyclops: Barcode scanning apps are a no-brainer for modern smartphones: just snap a picture of a product's label, and they'll pull down a plethora of information. That's exactly what Cyclops does. It's not the first, but it's the first designed around the iPhone 3GS's new camera, which has good enough macro skills to make such an app truly useful. Free. [Via TUAW]

iMetal: There are many rules by which app developers live, some written, some not. One of the most powerful is the mandate that no hardware feature on any version of the iPhone shall go unused, or perhaps more accurately, unexploited. The iPhone 3GS utilizes a magnetometer for its compass, meaning that it can detect when certain metals are nearby, and that someone could theoretically make an app that acts as a sort of makeshift metal detector. And since nothing stays theoretical for more than a week in the App Store, someone has: it's called iMetal, and it'll tell you when you're iPhone is next to a giant piece or iron, or hovering somewhere near a neodymium magnet. As an actual metal detector, it's basically useless; as a party trick, it's pretty neat. A dollar.

The Typography Manual: To most, this app will seem esoteric, or at worst, plain boring. To type nerds, however, this is like kerned, serifed manna from heaven. As its name implies, it's something of a typography primer and history lesson, but on top of that, it's a visual glossary, a collection of clever type tools, a directory of keyboard combinations for special symbols, and quite a bit more. Five dollars.

World of Warcraft Mobile Armory: Anyone who doesn't play WoW won't know what this is, and doesn't need to. Anyone who does can download it for free.

This Week's App News On Giz:

• Portal Gets Played On an iPhone, Sort Of

• Comcast's iPhone App Does More Than TV Listings

• Google Now Finds Stuff Nearby Using Your Location in Mobile Safari

• Pizza Hut's iPhone App Makes Pizza Ordering Easier, More Gimmicky

• iPhone Server Farm Puts Old Models To Good Use

• TwitVid for iPhone 3GS: Guess What It Does?

• TomTom's GPS-Enhancing Car Adapter Should Work With The iPod Touch

• Worms For iPhone: Same Game, Worse Controls

• TuneWiki for iPhone Is Now Fully Armed and Operational

This list is in no way definitive. If you've spotted a great app that hit the store this week, give us a heads up or, better yet, your firsthand impressions in the comments. And for even more apps: see our previous weekly roundups here, and check out our Favorite iPhone Apps Directory and our original iPhone App Review Marathon. Have a good weekend everybody.

We don't think it's fake; if it is, it's an unbelievably elaborate one and we'd prefer to think nobody is willing to put in that kind of time and effort for such a dumb prank. It's done using Vollee, which is used to stream games over 3G, so the video is actually just a stream and the rendering is done on the PC. But it's much smoother than we'd expect over 3G, and comes with enough features that true WoW addicts will be able to get their fix on the run, buying and selling elves or whatever happens in that game.

According to the comments left by the video's uploader, the game is completed but waiting for the rights issues to be ironed out between Blizzard and Apple (and, presumably, Vollee), so we have no idea when or for how much this might show up on iPhones near you. [Touch Arcade]

Built by Cati Vaucelle & Shada/Jahn, the WoW Pod is an "immersive architectural solution for the advanced WOW (World of Warcraft) player that provides and anticipates all life needs." Practically, this equates to a WoWish hut including an integrated PC with surround sound, water supply, hot plate (synced to heat when your avatar cooks) and, of course, a porcelain throne.

Seriously though, MIT, I have my WoW Pod right here. It's called a bathroom, laptop and one jumbo family pack of Hostess cupcakes. See you guys in a few days. [MIT via Kotaku]

The virtual city, or "Virtual Decatur" as the fine elected officials of Decatur are calling it, would be a networking hub for the city as part of a greater overall effort to boost the economy.

Virtual Decatur is only in the planning stages, but designers have already listed a number of MMO-type qualities they'd like to see implemented. There would be custom avatars and chatting, like there is in any number of MMOs today, but in Virtual Decatur the residents, non-residents and government officials would bear certain marks, so that they'd be easily distinguishable from one another. Business owners would have the option of a virtual storefront if they donated to the city.

The virtual world would also boast achievements (GovBlago2213, You've unlocked a senate seat!). Back in the real world, these achievement points could be turned into coupons or discounts for participating businesses.

Other Virtual Decatur features could include:

• Opportunities to gather citizen input on policies, topics of interest, city services, and happenings
• A Virtual City Hall Tour with multimedia capabilities.
• Streaming video of public meetings, ideally with a chat room feature that allows viewers to comment.
• Access to visitors information (store hours, directions, weather, etc.)

We eagerly await the first griefer-induced lawsuit. [Decatur, Georgia via Game Politics]

He doesn't half-ass the WoW-themed décor either. The entrance is a real-life recreation of the opening animation from the game. The dining area, called the Hall of Snow Storms, features large plasma screens showing in-game action, as well as a towering World Tree in the middle of the room.

The owner said he'd created the restaurant in hopes that "people who share his enthusiasm for The World of Warcraft would find a comfortable gathering place." Well, my account hasn't been active for over a year, but rest assured, I. Will. Be. There. You know, for the Horde and all. [CCTV]

We want to use the massively multi-player online game as an experimental laboratory to see if they’re good enough to convince humans that they’re actually human, that can think on their own, have emotions and talk in local slang. I actually interact with virtual humans in terms of asking them questions and they’re responding.

Once they have them perfected, they want to "deploy" these soldiers using something called "quantum ghost imaging". This will allow to create photorealistic, non-cheesy-fake-CNN-looking holograms out of thin air by "pairing photons that do no reflect or bounce off an object, but off other photons," whatever that means. Parmentola explains it as "“like having a tracing tool … that goes over the image and that’s connected to another one on a piece of paper that exactly imitates what it is that you are tracing with the other pen" which leaves me scratching my head as well. He hinted that this is closer than we can imagine.

The rest of their projects are equally mindblowing. Although this used to be the subject of much rumorology and speculation, the Parmentola confirmed that they are working in:

• A project to erase bad memories, which will be critical in helping soldiers with psychological damage.
• Devices that will translate one solider's thoughts into electrical signals that can be beamed to other soliders, to help in stealth operations.
• Growing back body parts, both internal organs and limbs (Parmentola said researchers are not far away from this), using molecular-sized particles that act as nano-scaffolding for the human cells to grow, dissolving after the organ has regenerated.

Let's hope it's no all smoke and mirrors, because this research has the potential to benefit countless others outside the battlefield. [DoD Buzz]

I've never played World of Warcraft. I'm not sure if the abbreviation is pronounced by spelling out the letters W-O-W or if you just saw "wow." It seems like the kind of thing where you have to know the difference between an elf and an orc, and I gotta be honest, I just don't care. But this is so over-the-top that I'm almost interested in finding the one true ring or banging lady-dwarves or whatever you do in that game. Prepared's setup features a whopping seven separate laptops, four desktops hidden away under the desk, and an array of screens that's disorienting even in a static image. He might be the only person on earth who's capable of using the 15-button mouse. Prepared claims that $5700 a year is reasonable for a hobby, and he's totally right. I can think of at least three hard drugs that would be more expensive.

Edit: I've been informed that our industrious nerd is not Bradster but Prepared. Sorry for the commotion this must have caused Bradster and his family. [Ripten via Crunchgear]

Designed by Blizzard® and SteelSeries specifically for World of Warcraft®, The World of Warcraft® MMO Gaming Mouse provides remarkable benefit to all World of Warcraft® gamers, regardless of level or play style. The mouse can be customized to fit the users personal preferences; the illumination feature allows for up to 16 million colors, programmability of all 15 buttons via an intuitive and easy to use drag and drop interface. The fluid integration of software with hardware will provide the user with an amazing in-game experience featuring superior performance, comfort and control. The World of Warcraft® MMO Gaming Mouse is fully scalable to meet and exceed the requirements of even the most discerning World of Warcraft® gamer.

* 16 million illumination choices * A total of 15 programmable buttons
* Several predefined macros and posibility to create your own
* World’s first gaming mouse designed exclusively for World of Warcraft®

• Cable (braided): 2 m / 6,6 ft.
• 15 buttons
• 800 - 3000 CPI
• 3,6 mm lift distance

November 2008

[SteelSeries]

Holy crap! It's The White House! Never mind that the "dragon fire" is a spell from Everquest. Mount the griffins and arm the bunker busters! And somebody ask Mommy for $14 because my WoW subscription just ran out!! [Danger Room]

This is a funny concept in the first place, because as anyone who has played WoW know, you do a LOT of running. Miles upon virtual miles of terrain can be covered in a short session, usually at a pretty fast clip. The guys over at Manapotions.com went to great lengths to estimate the actual speed of their avatars, then built a surprisingly effective apparatus out of some old treadmills, bikes wheels and optical mice (for speed tracking). The results was kind of like the ultimate expression of the Wii "get involved in the game" ethos, except with 1000% more exertion and 97% less fun. Click through to see the build process and gameplay notes. [Mana Potions]

Getting the shit beat out of you by your uncoordinated friend. Do you guys have any crazier gaming-induced injuries? [PC Mag]

This translates into 5-8 hours of grinding for gold in Warcraft, something you could pay an Asian kid $2 to do for you. Combine this with the Final Fantasy Potion, and you'll get both your HP and MP back—plus a free trip to the hospital. [Mana Potions via Wow Insider via Crunchgear]

Blizzard, like The Pirate Bay, implements a P2P system. Instead of avoiding issues of copyright, the developer utilizes P2P as an inexpensive way to distribute WoW updates and patches. And the last time we played WoW, which was admittedly some time ago, Blizzard's P2P updater was pretty much mandatory to play the game. So if you're thinking what we're thinking, The Pirate Bay may have jumped the gun with their announcement. And Blizzard may actually be the sleeper king of P2P. [slycknews via slashdot]

This widescreen monitor has a 1680x1050 (WSXGA+) rez, not quite the 1920x1200 we favor, but its quoted 2ms response time is respectable. An unusual touch are those four speakers, the first ones to be built into a Dell monitor, with their visible wiring and output for an outboard subwoofer. There's also a tiny webcam mounted top center, and speakers, webcam, DVI, and HDCP-compliant HDMI (no mention of DisplayPort) connectivity are all contained in one cable. Also impressive is its TrueColor Technology with 98 percent color gamut, along with a 2000:1 dynamic contrast ratio.

We're also crazy about its floating 4mm-thin tempered glass design and polished metal tripod stand, but we're slightly disappointed that this style, with its extra wide (albeit crystal clear) bezel is not exactly conducive to dual-monitor configurations.

Appearances must be important to you if you're thinking about snagging one of these jewels, because it'll cost you $1199, a far cry from the $300 price of Dell's other 22" 1680x1050 LCDs, which display lower contrast and fewer colors. But then, buyers of this limited-edition monitor aren't going to be bargain hunters, anyway.

Overall, it's a gorgeous display from Dell, further demonstrating the company's determination to incorporate forward design into its erstwhile staid product line. [Dell Crystal]