Gwabbit is a Microsoft Outlook add-on, and now a BlackBerry application, that helps business professionals who get the names, numbers, and e-mail addresses from a contact’s e-mail into their address book without all the tedious typing.

(Credit: Technicopia)

Gwabbit works its trade by automatically searching the signature block at the end of an e-mail and comparing that to the entries in your Outlook or BlackBerry address book. If there are discrepancies or omissions between the two, Gwabbit will launch and ask if you’d like to create a new address book entry or overwrite an existing one. Gwabbit’s edge over Outlook and BlackBerry’s native contact management systems is its proficiency in almost instantly grabbing e-mail, phone numbers, and title to create more information-rich entries than either technology’s contact-builder does alone.

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Originally posted at The Download Blog

At this weekend’s Maker Faire, do-it-yourself robots will be one of the biggest attractions. The hobby has grown into the mainstream.

EA Sports confirms connected cooperative play will debut in this year’s professional gridiron sim; senior designer hints at Internet-enabled Dynasty mode.

At the tail end of March, EA Sports made its customary announcement for the latest season of Madden NFL football, saying this year’s edition will arrive on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PSP, and Wii on August 14. Today, EA unveiled one of the headline features that will be introduced with Madden NFL 10, saying that for the first time, the football simulator will include online co-op play.

Fact: The Bengals will be good this year.

Even more intriguing, however, were statements made by senior designer Ian Cummings in a developer diary introducing the online co-op functionality. In talking about the new feature, Cummings notes that an even more requested online feature may also be in route with this year’s edition of the game. “[Online co-op] might attract a lot of different people to try out online who maybe they’ll go try out online franchise after that,” Cummings said. (Emphasis added.)

An online franchise mode was a notable omission from Madden NFL 10, especially considering the feature’s high-profile inclusion in NCAA Football 09. Responding to requests for comment, an EA Sports representative wasn’t willing to explicitly confirm online franchise mode in Madden NFL 10, saying only, “We’ll be making another major announcement regarding our online plans for Madden NFL 10 at our [Electronic Entertainment Expo] press conference on June 1.”

GameSpot will be on hand in Los Angeles to deliver news from EA’s E3 press event, which is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. PDT on Monday. For more on Madden NFL 10, check out GameSpot’s previous coverage.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

Raven Software revamp of shooter franchise gets dated for PC, Xbox 360, PS3; original Wolfenstein 3D gets XBLA, PSN release next week.

Nazis, beware. Activision today announced that the revamp of Wolfenstein is set for an August 4 release on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

Developed by Raven Software (X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Singularity), Wolfenstein drops players into the army boots of B.J. Blazkowicz, once again sent behind enemy lines to thwart Hitler’s occult ambitions. For this go-around, players will be able to fight fire with fire, using the power of a sought-after artifact to combat Hitler’s own freakish army of evil.

With the newest installment in the series still months away, eager gamers will be able to pass the time by brushing up on the franchise’s 3D roots. Activision will release a downloadable console edition of the original PC shooter Wolfenstein 3D next week.

Wolfenstein 3D sees players blasting their way through 60 levels of carnage on their way to a face-to-face encounter with Mecha-Hitler. The game will be available June 3 on the Xbox 360 and June 4 on the PS3. Wolfenstein 3D will be available for $5 (400 Microsoft points).

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

[UPDATE] E3 2009: With the PSP Go prematurely revealed and a Slimline PS3 rumored, the House of PlayStation takes the stage with its newest games and technology.

Surprise?

LOS ANGELES–Of the Big Three press conferences at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, Sony’s could be the most newsworthy if even half of the announcements rumored to take place actually happen. Whether it’s a UMD-less version of the PSP, a new motion-sensing controller, a redesigned PlayStation 3 (perhaps with a price cut), or, say, actual games, the scuttlebutt and speculation surrounding the press conference has been building for months.

[UPDATE] As it turns out, one large cat was let out of the bag days before Sony executives could flip on their stage teleprompters. On Saturday, leaked video from Sony’s in-house, PlayStation-focused magazine Qore revealed the PSP Go, the long-rumored fourth version of the handheld. In the clip, Sony Computer Entertainment America hardware marketing chief John Koller described the handheld’s feature, which include 16GB of flash memory, a sliding control panel, a smaller 3.8-inch screen, and no UMD drive. Koller also mentioned the PSP edition of Gran Turismo–first shown off in 2004–would be formally “announced” at E3, and appeared to confirm reports of a new PSP Metal Gear Solid game.

Kratos has been tasked with hunting down the PSP Go leaks.

While much of the anticipation for Sony’s conference is built around whispers of what might be, there are some safer bets about titles that might be featured. Sony already has a lineup of heavy hitters confirmed for the show, including God of War III, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, MAG, Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, Heavy Rain: The Origami Killer, and Pixeljunk Shooter, all of which will be featured during GameSpot’s live stage show direct from the E3 show floor.

To find out just which rumors are true (or even partly true), bookmark this page and come back at 11 a.m. Pacific on Tuesday, June 2, for a live blog of the event. GameSpot will also be streaming live video of the event–as well as those of Microsoft and Nintendo–alongside the blog as part of its wide-ranging E3 coverage.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

President Obama unveils plans for a US cyber security tsar, saying digital infrastructure is a “strategic national asset”.

Worldwide server sales fell 24.5% in the first quarter of 2009, according to a report from market research firm IDC

Sky has struck a deal with Microsoft that will see its live TV and film content brought to the Xbox 360 console.

The British economy is losing tens of billions of pounds to illegal file-sharing, government advisers say.

Camcording stereo vs. surround and photo contestants go for the gold.

Listen now:

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Episode 50

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Originally posted at Indecent Exposure Podcast