Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion (for 3DS)

Disney's Epic Mickey: The Power of Illusion tries to be a call back to a Sega Genesis classic, but it loses its appeal with its limited environments and unnecessary touch screen mechanics.

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Samsung Galaxy Note II (Verizon Wireless)

With a fast quad-core processor, a big, gorgeous display, and features galore, the Samsung Galaxy Note II delivers almost everything a huge-screen smartphone should—just make sure you look at the HTC Droid DNA first.

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YouTube (for iPad)

YouTube returns to the Apple iPad with an app that closely replicates the online YouTube experience.

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Kingston DataTraveler Workspace (32GB)

The Kingston DataTraveler Workspace USB Flash drive puts Windows To Go in your pocket, letting you roam without losing secure access to your corporate workspace.

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Gmail (for iPhone)

The standalone Gmail app for iOS searches your entire email so much easier and faster than the pre-installed Mail app, it's definitely a recommended download, and could very easily become your primary app for Gmail.

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Samsung Entro (Virgin Mobile)

The Samsung Entro for Virgin Mobile is a bare bones flip phone that does a fine job of the absolute minimum.

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Lenovo ThinkPad Twist (3347-4HU)

The Lenovo ThinkPad Twist (3347-4HU) ultrabook convertible is a natural evolution of the convertible tablet.

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Apple iMac 21.5-Inch (Late 2012)

The slimmer Apple iMac 21.5-Inch (Late 2012) still has it where it counts. It looks better, sounds better, and gets your work done quicker.

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Google Maps (for iPhone)

Google Maps brings free, accurate GPS-enabled maps back to the iPhone, and even throws in free voice navigation on iOS for the first time.

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Wi-Fi Finder (for iPad)

If you are on a hunt for a wireless connection, JiWire's Wi-Fi Finder app will help you find all Wi-Fi hotspots, both paid and free, anywhere in the world. Unlike other competitors, you don't need to be online to view the list.

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Sony Wonderbook: Book of Spells Move Bundle (PS3)

Aimed at the younger set, the Sony Wonderbook: Book of Spells Move Bundle makes the most of augmented reality gameplay.

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The Elements: A Visual Exploration

The Elements: A Visual Exploration is a compelling and visually stunning guide to those basic chemical substances, combining informative (and well interlinked) text, cool, spinning VR images, and even an animation set to a theme song.

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Did Twitter's founder reveal its would-be Instagram killer?

Photos tweeted today by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey may have been generated using the service's rumored photo filters.

(Credit:Jack Dorsey)

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey may have dropped the first public proof that Twitter is getting ready to release its own photo filtering feature, a tool it hopes could help in its increasingly tense battle with Instagram.

A report published today by All Things D suggested that informed sources have said that Twitter plans to launch its photo filtering tool before year's end. A series of black-and-white photos tweeted by Dorsey today appear to have been created using Twitter's own photo hosting service, pic.twitter.com. That would mean that Dorsey, who has largely relinquished his operational role at Twitter, and who is the founder and CEO of mobile payments startup Square, may well have been using the rumored new tool.

As All Things D wrote:

Twitter is making a big push to release a series of photo filters to be used inside the official Twitter app before the end of the year, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The goal is to release the camera filters in an application update in time for the holiday season, these sources say. The new version of the app is currently in testing, which may be why we're seeing Twitter chairman Jack Dorsey post so many black-and-white filtered photos of his Square employees (not to mention the wing of his plane at takeoff, posted just this Saturday morning).

The New York Times first reported the rumors of Twitter's photo-filtering initiative last month.

If the All Things D and New York Times reports are correct, it would be the latest salvo in the escalating war between Twitter and Instagram. Earlier this week, Instagram deactivated Twitter Card integration, a step that resulted in Instagram photos showing up poorly cropped in tweets. The goal, Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom said, was to get more of his company's users utilizing the service on the Web. But it was also clear Instagram wants to wean its users off of Twitter.

Twitter did not respond to a request for comment this evening.

It appears that executives at Twitter are eager to push out major new features by year's end. In several speeches, CEO Dick Costolo has said that he is intent on making users' entire tweet histories available by the end of the year. And if the All Things D report is true, the company also wants its photo filtering tools in users' hands by New Year's. "Why push it out before the new year? Perhaps Twitter wants a cut of the inevitable jump in photos we'll see as everyone goes home for the holidays," All Things D wrote. "Instagram, for instance, saw more than 200 Thanksgiving-related photos posted to its service every second on Thanksgiving Day alone, and ten million Thanksgiving photos posted overall that day."

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Square launches gift cards

Twitter and Square founder Jack Dorsey at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco in September.

(Credit:Daniel Terdiman/CNET)

Square, a leader in mobile payments, today launched a gift card service tied to its Square Wallet program and that could be aimed at attracting some would-be Apple Passbook users.

The new service appears designed to let anyone purchase a gift card for friends or family at any of the more than 250,000 businesses nationwide that accept Square Wallet, an iOS andAndroid app that lets users pay automatically with their mobile device. The recipient would then redeem the value of the gift using Square Wallet on their own device.

The value of a service like this is that it avoids the use of physical gift cards and lets merchants that accept Square Wallet easily set up the transaction with Square Register, a system that lets them take credit cards, track sales and inventory, and generate analytics.

The gift card business is estimated to be worth $100 billion annually, yet tens of millions of dollars of such gifts expire every day, according to CouponTrade.com. Apple has recently attempted to get in on the gift card game by letting iOS 6 users store the cards in Passbook. Square is clearly hoping it can be the digital gift card service of choice for millions of iOS and Android users. The San Francisco startup has been developing more and more ways for users to pay. It started by providing merchants with plug-in dongles for iOS devices that let anyone take credit cards, and then launched Square Wallet and Square Register.

The company, which is already processing more than $10 billion in annualized transactions, also recently launched a partnership that lets customers pay using Square Wallet at more than 7,000 Starbucks outlets in the United States.

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Epson PowerLite S11 Multimedia Projector

The Epson PowerLite S11 Multimedia Projector is a capable, inexpensive projector geared to the classroom.

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Xerox WorkCentre 6605N Color Multifunction Printer

The Xerox WorkCentre 6605N Color Multifunction Printer is a solid workhorse color laser MFP with good output quality when you use its default PostScript driver.

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Xerox WorkCentre 6605DN Color Multifunction Printer

The Xerox WorkCentre 6605DN Color Multifunction Printer is a capable workhorse color laser MFP that provides good-output quality at lackluster speed with its default PostScript driver.

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Viewsonic VX2770Smh-LED

The Viewsonic VX2770Smh-LED is an attractive 27-inch IPS monitor that delivers very good color and off-angle viewing performance.

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Apple iTunes 11

Apple's iTunes media playing software has long offered the most in listening and viewing options. This major overhaul is faster and cleaner than ever.

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Lenovo IdeaCentre K430

With its affordable price tag and good range of features, the Lenovo IdeaCentre K430 gaming desktop is a solid choice.

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Apple iMac 27-Inch (Late 2012)

The Apple iMac 27-inch (Late 2012) all-in-one PC is the pinnacle of desktop design and manufacturing. It's not perfect, or cheap, but it's worth every penny.

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Qooq Tablet

The Qooq cooking-focused tablet is an interesting addition to the high-tech kitchen, but a too-high price renders it a luxury item rather than a must-have. A plain old tablet with a stand and some quality Web recipes makes a much more versatile cooking companion.

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Edifier Exclaim e10

The Edifier Exclaim e10 is a good-looking, simple PC speaker system that delivers high-quality audio performance for its under-$100 price.

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McAfee AntiVirus Plus 2013

McAfee's developers are serious about the "Plus" in McAfee AntiVirus Plus 2013. In addition to basic antivirus functionality, it offers firewall protection, vulnerability scanning, system cleanup, and more. Its SiteAdvisor toolbar beat out all others in phishing protection. However, the core antivirus technology doesn't score as well as many in independent tests and own tests.

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Sony 35mm f/1.8 Prime Lens

The Sony 35mm f/1.8 Prime Lens is a fast standard-angle lens for the NEX system, but is expensive when compared to comparable SLR lenses.

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Pandora Radio (for iPad)

Pandroa Radio, one of the veteran services in the streaming music space, delivers a solid—if limited—iPad app.

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Panasonic Technics RP-DH1250

The Panasonic Technics RP-DH1250 offers powerful, clean audio in a comfortable fit, but is priced too high when compared with some worthy competitors.

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McAfee Internet Security 2013

McAfee Internet Security 2013 includes just about every feature you might imagine in a security suite. Its SiteAdvisor technology earned a new high score in phishing detection, but its antivirus protection is just average. Effectiveness of the other components also varies.

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