Posts Tagged "android"

• Order and Chaos Online developer discusses server-linking and more

  Hots Games
  

  Filed under: Fantasy, Interviews, News items, Mobile, Community Q&A

  In honor of the game’s paper anniversary, Order & Chaos: Online producer Arnaud Bonnard took the time to do some Q&A with user-submitted questions about what is one of the biggest mobile MMOs available.

  Arnaud shared some of the toughest parts of development, which were the pressure of creating a world vast enough to entertain players for months (and now years) and ensuring that everything was as stable and functional as possible from a technical point. He followed up by reliving the joy of a successful launch and the success that the game met with over time. He talked a bit about updates and DLC, which come out every one or two months and are generally still drawn from the original design document for Order & Chaos: Online, given that the world design was much bigger than could possibly fit into the game originally.

  Bonnard also addressed the server separation between Android, iOS, and Mac devices: Not only would it be time-consuming to link all the operating systems, but such a system would mean that patches could only be deployed once every device was supported, which would be tricky and cause too many extra delays. As far as Order and Chaos’ future is concerned, he’s optimistic. There are new graphic features coming down the pipe as well as “lots of ideas for the game” as the company looks forward to another fantastic year thanks to fan support.

  Catch all the intricacies of Bonnard’s answers for yourself over at Gameloft.

  Order and Chaos Online developer discusses server-linking and more originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 19 May 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Verizon to kill off grandfathered unlimited 3G data plans

  Hots News
  

  Verizon Wireless will soon get rid of its unlimited data plans held by customers who were grandfathered in before the company launched tiered data pricing, according to a report from FierceWireless.

  Verizon CFO Fran Shammo reportedly told an audience at the JPMorgan Technology, Media, and Telecom conference today that 3G unlimited data plan holders will eventually have switch to a “data-share” plan. The company’s data-share plans will launch this summer and effectively end single device/single data plan polices. But data-share plans are tiered and anyone upgrading to use a 4G-enabled device must have one.

  It’s unclear if Verizon will force all of its users with unlimited 3G data to switch plans if they aren’t switching to a 4G-enabled phone. Apple iPhone 4S customers right now, for example, only use 3G data and have quite some time before their two-year contracts are up. Will they be allowed to use unlimited data until they switch to a 4G-enabled iPhone 5 or Android superphone?

  Verizon ditched unlimited data plans last summer, in line with what AT&T has done. Sprint, notably, still offers unlimited 3G and 4G data plans and might even offer unlimited 4G LTE data when its second 4G network launches. T-Mobile still has some unlimited data offers as well, but does not have the iPhone.

  We’ve contacted Verizon for clarification on its upcoming data plan options, and we will update this post if it gets back.

  Filed under: mobile

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• Ask Engadget: best smartphone for the over fifties?

  Hots Technology
  

  We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget inquiry is from is from Daniel (no relation), who wants to upgrade his parents cellphones. If you’re looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

  “My parents (aged 52 and 57) are long-time Nokia (dumbphone) users who aren’t savvy at all. I told them about how me and my girlfriend’s Android phones automatically sync calendars and they want something similar. My father’s eyes aren’t the best and he’s a carpenter, so I thought about a dust-proof handset like the Lumia 800 or the Galaxy Xcover, but I’m worried Android’s too technical for them. We’re in Europe, so carriers are no problem, but any help you can give would be great. Thanks!”

  We’re all getting older, so let’s try to work out a great handset for those who need a little help. We speak from personal experience when we say it’s probably not going to be the Samsung Galaxy Y — trust us. If you think you’ve got a better idea, throw it down in the comments below.

  Ask Engadget: best smartphone for the over fifties? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 12 May 2012 22:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• The Engadget interview: Mozilla Chief of Innovation Todd Simpson at CTIA 2012 (video)

  Hots Technology
  

  Today at CTIA Wireless in New Orleans we got the chance to spend a few minutes with Todd Simpson, Chief of Innovation at Mozilla. We talked about the company’s “pivot into mobile” — more specifically Firefox for Android and Boot to Gecko — and what it means for Mozilla’s future. Is there a Firefox for Windows Phone in the works? Will boot to Gecko migrate to other platforms, like laptops? We’re not going to spoil the fun for you — just watch our video interview.

  Brad Molen contributed to this report.

  The Engadget interview: Mozilla Chief of Innovation Todd Simpson at CTIA 2012 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 May 2012 21:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Hands on with the Kyocera Rise, a rare phone w/ Android 4.0 and a physical keyboard

  Hots News
  

  Japanese phone maker Kyocera has a long way to go before it can really penetrate the U.S. market in the smartphone realm, but its just-announced Rise smartphone — with Android 4.0 and a pleasant physical keyboard — might help.

  Kyocera introduced the new phone at the CTIA Wireless conference and we had a chance to get test the device out to see what it has to offer. While the phone is not impressive in any one way, it’s solid all-around package that will likely appeal to those on pre-paid carriers like Boost and MetroPCS.

  For specs, the Kyocera Rise offers a 3.5-inch screen with 480 x 320 resolution, a 1-GHz processor, a 3.2-megapixel camera with LED flash, and a 1,500 mAh battery. Frankly this isn’t that impressive and looking closely at the device, the screen looked terrible with dull colors and a cheap-feeling plastic case. But on the plus side, the device is lightweight, the keyboard offers a nice typing experience, and its basic performance was fluid thanks to its Ice Cream Sandwich software.

  The pre-paid market doesn’t get the sexy hyped phones like the Samsung Galaxy S III or HTC Droid Incredible 4G, but those who prefer more reasonable plans on the pre-paid carriers still want power and versatility out of their devices. That’s a completely fair expectation, and it’s admirable Kyocera is tackling that. In the same category as the Rise is the Kyocera Hydro, a waterproof smartphone with Ice Cream Sandwich that was also announced at CTIA.

  A Kyocera spokesperson told me on the floor of the convention that Kyocera doesn’t even register in the top 10 manufacturers by smartphone market share in the U.S. But its strategy of putting cheap Android phones on carriers like Cricket, MetroPCS, U.S. Cellular, and Boost Mobile seems a smart way to gain more traction since the post-paid market is overcrowded with Android phones.

  Pricing and availability for the Rise are both up in the air, but Kyocera said the device will arrive on pre-paid and post-paid carriers. We expect the device to be free with a 2-year contract or less than $200 upfront on a pre-paid carrier.

  Check out our slideshow below of the Rise:

  Filed under: mobile

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• Facebook buys Glancee, another app to beef up its mobile side

  Hots News
  

  We’re guessing the pricetag on this deal was slightly less than the $1 billion it paid for Instagram, but Facebook has indeed bought up Italian startup Glancee.

  Glancee is an iPhone and Android app that “helps you discover and connect with new interesting people around you.” The concept may sound like the sea of sameness that mobile/social apps are these days, but the app itself was quite pretty, as you can see below.

  Unfortunately for the app’s users, this was a talent grab. It looks like Facebook is shutting Glancee down; users are being offered the chance to download their data, and the app has been yanked from the App Store and Google Play’s Android apps section.

  The app hadn’t seen too much traction but had garnered some favorable mentions from Silicon Valley early adopter types such as Robert Scoble.

  On its website, the Glancee team writes:

  We started Glancee in 2010 with the goal of bringing together the best of your physical and digital worlds. We wanted to make it easy to discover the hidden connections around you, and to meet interesting people. Since then Glancee has connected thousands of people, empowering serendipity and pioneering social discovery.

  We are therefore very excited to announce that Facebook has acquired Glancee and that we have joined the team in Menlo Park to build great products for over 900 million Facebook users. We’ve had such a blast connecting people through Glancee, and we truly thank our users for being a part of the Glancee community.

  “We can’t wait for co-founders Andrea, Alberto, and Gabriel to join the Facebook team to work on products that help people discover new places and share them with friends,” said Facebook reps in a statement.

  Filed under: deals

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• Google Cube: Because you’re dying to play a game about Google Maps

  Hots News
  

  Ever wanted to lead a ball through a maze and learn about Google Maps at the same time? Me too. Google has released its Google Cube game, to be played once and forgotten.

  It’s fun to play for novice gamers (see: me) or someone looking to kill some time, but at its core, it’s a promotional vehicle. You go through eight different levels: Manhattan, San Francisco, Paris, London, Tokyo, Las Vegas, the Mall of America, and a mix-match of all the different cities combined. You must use your cursor to guide a little blue ball through a maze of city streets and mall hallways to reach predetermined locations. After you complete one of these levels, a box will pop up and tell you how long it took you to finish the level and a little fact about how Google Maps can make your life better. It drops a couple mentions of Google Maps for Android in there as well.

  You can access the game through playmapscube.com. There is currently no mention of it on the Google Maps or Google+ Games websites. The “playmapscube.com” site is probably a tester until Google decides to dump it, or integrate it with its products. I can’t imagine there will many return-players to this, one, though.

  The game was originally suspected to be for Google’s social network, Google+. After launching Google+ in June, the company quickly added games to its social features in August. It’s direct competitor, Facebook, has allowed games for a while now and makes a significant amount of money from those games (particularly from Zynga). Obviously, this puts a lot of pressure on Google to compete, but it doesn’t look like Cube is intended to be for the Google+ audience. Indeed, you can Facebook Like and Tweet your scores.

  Though the game itself is fairly lackluster, the promo video for it is actually pretty cool and involves a real, large cube turned by people in white gloves. Check it out:

  hat tip Fusible

  Filed under: games

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• Tablet sales to top 760 million worldwide by 2016, and a third will be iPads

  Hots News
  

  According to Forrester Research, tablets are rapidly becoming the primary device of choice for millions of people around the world. Sales of tablet computers in 2016 are predicted to hit 375 million, and 760 million tablets could be in use worldwide. Compared to the 56 million tablets purchased worldwide in 2011, that’s a compound annual-growth rate of 46 percent.

  According to the report, Apple’s iPad, which notably created the tablet market just two years ago, will represent one-third of all tablet purchases by 2016. Meanwhile, Google’s Android operating system will actually see a net decline in market share due to the launch of Microsoft Windows 8. However, according to Forrester, Microsoft’s new tablet OS won’t really start taking off until 2014 because Microsoft will need time to create a fully captivating Windows Metro experience for its users.

  So what will happen to all those PCs? Frank Gillett from Forrester had the following to say about desktops and laptops:

  Our casual estimate is that there will be 2 billion PCs in use by 2016, despite growing tablet sales. That’s because tablets only partially cannibalize PCs. Eventually tablets will slow laptop sales but increase sales of desktop PCs. That’s because many people, especially information workers, will still need conventional PCs for any intensely creative work at a desk that requires a large display or significant processing power.

  In order to address the lack of processing power in tablets, Forrester predicts a new consumer electronics device its calling a “Frame,” which is essentially a docking station for your tablet. These frames will give tablets increased power and more features, such as the ability to link up to TVs and other devices around the house.

  Forrester also predicts that the majority of tablets have a three-year lifespan for most consumers, which will help fuel tablet sales starting in 2014. Of the 760 million tablets in use globally by 2016, one-third of them will be purchased by businesses, and 40 percent of sales will come from emerging markets.

  Top image via dcmetroblogger/Flickr

  Filed under: enterprise, VentureBeat

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• LogMeIn Prepares To Take On Dropbox & Box With Launch Of Cloud Storage Service Cubby

  Hots News
  

  LogMeIn, the company known best for its remote access tools, is today launching its own cloud storage service, as an alternative to those from Dropbox or Box, for example. With “Cubby,” as it’s called, users can share files across Macs, PCs, iPads, iPhones, or Android devices.

  The difference between some of the other cloud offerings and the new service is how it works: instead of having to copy files over to a different folder, Cubby lets you keep your existing file structure, allowing you to “cloud-enable” the folders you want synced.

  In addition – and this may be one of Cubby’s better selling points – all peer-to-peer syncing is free. That is, it doesn’t count against the service’s storage limits (currently 5 GB during beta, with more options to come in the public release). So if you just want your files to be available across all your devices, without saving an extra copy in the cloud, that costs nothing. It sounds sort of like a cross-platform iCloud.

  Actually, scratch that. iCloud doesn’t require you install a separate app to access your synced files. No, Cubby sounds more like Microsoft’s Live Mesh, an innovative file-syncing service that sadly (though not surprisingly) never went anywhere.

  For those needing more control over the syncing, Cubby also lets you configure which files or folders are synced where. So, for instance, if you don’t want some of your personal files showing up on your work computer, you can stop that from happening, while still having them show up on your mobile phone.

  Folders can also be shared with friends, as is typical.

  Mobile support is enabled through apps available now in the iTunes and Android app stores.

  Meanwhile, for desktop users, there’s a downloadable client app to install. To “cloud-enable” a particular folder, you have to load the app then browse to select the folder, or drag-and-drop the folder over. An option that makes Cubby available from the right-click menu was also recently added, but is only available in Windows for now.

  There’s also a default “My Cubby” folder available, for people who prefer a more Dropbox-like experience, and don’t care about file structure.

  As for how the technology actually stacks up in terms of ease-of-use, design, stability, etc., it’s too soon to say. The beta only became available this morning for testing, so it needs more hands-on time before we could give it a “yay” or “nay.” But even if LogMeIn had built something great, Box, Dropbox and even Google Docs, are much further ahead in terms of user adoption, brand awareness and making an inroad in the enterprise market.

  LogMeIn, however, has a good-sized business user base to market Cubby to, given its other product offering, which include tools for remote support, remote access, and remote administration. That at least gives it a fighting chance, more so that some early stage startup trying to take on more established leaders.

  The company also points out that it built Cubby on top of its own cloud, not AWS, which it claims gives it cost advantages and security benefits.

  Sign-ups for Cubby are now being accepted here on the company homepage.

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• The Interesting Part About Amazon’s In-App Payments Beta Is That Developers Have Pricing Control

  Hots News
  

  The most interesting part of Amazon’s move to provide an in-app payments flow is that they’re ceding pricing control to mobile developers.

  Amazon has been testing a new in-app payments system with several top-tier mobile developers for several months. It’s a big deal because there has been a huge shift over the last 18 months toward giving away apps for free instead of selling them for a dollar or more. This move would bring Amazon’s Android appstore closer to parity with Google and Apple’s stores for developers.

  But the part worth noting isn’t that Amazon will offer an in-app purchases flow. It’s obvious that they would do that, given their experience in online payments and commerce and need to compete with Google’s app store. In fact, I have no idea why Bloomberg decided to report this story now, since top-tier game developers have been using Amazon to process in-app purchases since last fall. I even discussed this on-stage with developers at a conference in February. So this story is actually several months old. (Weird.)

  The part worth pointing out is that Amazon is letting developers set their own prices for virtual currency and digital content. Developers set the prices and Amazon takes a 30 percent revenue share, a split that seems benchmarked off the precedent Apple set, according to conversations I’ve had with developers in the beta.

  It’s a departure from the strategy the e-commerce giant tried to pursue last year. The Seattle-based company has historically fought to control the prices at which it sells both physical and digital goods as a way to undercut online and brick-and-mortar rivals.

  When Amazon opened the developer portal about a year ago, it set a very unusual pricing policy for paid apps. Mobile developers couldn’t set the final prices of their apps. They would either earn 70 percent of the sale price (what Amazon actually sold the app for) or 20 percent of the developer’s desired price (whichever was higher).

  Needless to say, this pissed off many developers. The International Game Developers Association lambasted Amazon’s policy a year ago, saying that “Amazon has little incentive not to use a developer’s content as a weapon with which to capture marketshare from competing app stores.”

  Now it looks like Amazon is giving developers a little bit more control.

  So why do in-app purchases get a special exception?

  Because in-game economies are very painstakingly designed and calibrated to make sure there is an even balance between currency sources and sinks. Developers have to make sure a user’s progression through a game seems natural and addictive at the same time.

  Letting someone else discount your in-app purchases at will would destroy this delicate balance. It would basically be unpalatable to game developers, who would forgo Amazon and just stick to Google Play or iTunes. It would mean that Amazon would forfeit the most lucrative part of the app economy — gaming.

  Amazon hasn’t formally confirmed the beta or the revenue share. The store’s terms of service for developers still have no mention of in-app purchases, unlike Apple and Google which both issue restrictions. On iOS, developers have to use Apple for in-app purchases of digital content. Google has a list of “authorized payment processors,” which really means Google Checkout (er, Wallet) although the company hasn’t appeared to start enforcing it until this year.

  The next interesting policy question for Amazon is whether this flat revenue share and pricing control extends to other types of in-app purchases. Like media subscriptions. (Cough.)

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