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In 'No Time to Die,' Bond's gadgets matter less
No Time to Die isn't your usual Bond movie: the focus is more on characters than gadgets.
After Math: Gaming the system
With Gamescom 2018 now wrapping up and IFA 2018 just getting started, there's more than enough video game news to go around. But the latest salvos in the console wars weren't the only things going on in the tech industry this week. VW announced that it's investing $4 billion in a proprietary connected car architecture, Facebook phased out 5,000 ad options in an effort to fight discrimination on its platform and the CBP actually did something right for once. I know, I'm shocked too.
Radiohead released a 'Spectre' theme tune for Christmas
It's the season for giving, and Radiohead just gave us a real treat. The British band was apparently invited to write a theme tune for the Bond movie Spectre last year. Ultimately, "it didn't work out," and Sam Smith ended up recording "Writing's On The Wall" for the film. Radiohead's track became something the band "love very much," though, so much so that it's just released it to the world via SoundCloud.
Recommended Reading: The gadgets and cocktails of James Bond
Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read. The (James) Bond Index Bloomberg Business With the latest installment in the Bond collection debuting this weekend, Bloomberg Business offers a guide to the drinks, gadgets, clothes and one-liners of the secret agent. The interactive piece is not only a handy reference tool, but it's rather fun to scroll through, too. It's certainly a must-read for the Bond trivia nerds.
UK cinema staff will wear night-vision goggles to fight Bond (piracy)
Night vision is slowly working its way into mainstream use. An example of this comes with a report from the Telegraph that says cinema staff in the UK will use military-grade night vision headsets to combat piracy during the UK's early run of the new Bond romp Spectre. Like something lifted straight out of a Bond film, staff will don these goggles in auditoriums across the country to catch those who are trying to record the movie for illegal distribution. A manager at a UK cinema told Engadget that for high-risk titles such as this, extra measures against piracy are fairly standard -- but we wager not quite so apt for the movies as in this case.
How RMT is changing RuneScape's economy for the better
RMT has a bad reputation for promoting the seedy underbelly of online gaming, but some MMOs are trying to turn that effect around, like RuneScape. According to developer Jagex, a pair of RuneScape players recently took advantage of their game's Bond system (akin to PLEX or CREDD) to fund their trip to the RuneFest fan convention in October. The studio detailed other positive effects of the Bond system in a press release this morning, explaining that the system has improved the game's economy: Since their September 2013 debut, around 2.3 million Bonds have been purchased; more than 80 percent of those Bonds have been redeemed for membership, with 27.6 million membership days obtained to date. The introduction of Bonds also had a swift and dramatic effect on the levels of gold-farming in the game, which plummeted by 81 percent within weeks, and also helped bring a more stable in-game economy for players. Over the past year, more than 316.5 billion in-game gold pieces have been sunk into Bond trades by the community. RuneScape VP Phil Mansell said that over the last year, "nearly 20% of RuneScape players [paid] for their membership subscription through their in-game efforts and half of the premium RuneCoin currency comes from bond redemptions." [Source: Jagex press release]
Bond for iPhone sends gift notes hand-written by robots
Remember when domineering relatives would sneer at both your wrapping and penmanship when you gave them a gift? Thanks to moveable type, such humiliations are a thing of the past, but perhaps there's a better way to win your pedantic folks' love. Bond, for instance, is launching an iOS app that sends gifts with beautifully handwritten notes in the package. The only difference is that Giles the Bond Robot is doing the hard work for you. The company hopes that Giles will bring some of the real warmth and human contact back into choosing nice items for your loved ones, just in the same way that we expect our robotic bartenders to listen to our every problem and offer sage advice.
Gift-giving with a personal touch via BOND for iPhone
The rapid growth of the app-centric ecosystem means that it's possible to do almost anything with a few taps on your iPhone. Unfortunately, one of the things that's gotten harder is building and maintaining a personal connection with clients, friends and family -- particularly for on-the-go professionals for whom the idea of sitting down and writing a stack of thank-you notes is probably as remote a concept as skipping the day's third cup of coffee. The folks behind BOND, a new gift-giving app hitting the iOS App Store today, think they have a way to change that. By pairing the power of e-commerce with the power of a hand-written note, BOND founders Sandeep "Sonny" Caberwal, Angelo Bruno and Andy Ellwood are trying to put some of the person-to-person contact back into our daily digital experience. If you were to visit a typical mobile/ecommerce startup with a few days to go until the product launches, you'd probably take away an impression of frantic activity and last-minute load testing. When I stopped by BOND's offices last week, rather than being greeted with whiteboards full of feature lists and assets to be located, I was greeted instead by the office dog, Rivington. After a brief detente, he proceeded to curl up on the couch next to his master Sonny Caberwal while I chatted with both co-founders about BOND. The experience of the BOND app is straightforward but luxe; users, who are reminded of upcoming special events and birthdays via their calendars (and optionally from Facebook's friend info), select from a curated list of intriguing gifts sorted by cost. Some gifts, it should be noted, are a trifle risqué; shop like a grownup. If you only want to send a note, that's in there too, for US$5 (but read on for a limited-time deal). Select the recipient, type out your note -- you can send a note without a gift, but not a gift without a note -- and check out. If you don't know the gift recipient's mailing address, BOND will ask on your behalf with an email or SMS. The whole process only takes a few moments, but on the receiving end the package includes a handwritten note (robot-written, technically, but with lovely penmanship), a beautiful box and a great opening experience. The gift offerings are curated by co-founder Bruno, former merchandising lead at designer shopping site One Kings Lane. The overall vibe at the BOND office was far more high-end boutique than far-out startup, and that's the way Caberwal and Ellwood want it; both have been through the crazy times of entrepreneurship (Caberwal at India's Exclusively.in fashion site; Ellwood at Gowalla and Waze) and both are looking for at least a measure of balance in this latest venture. "We want a sustainable organization, where we like what we're doing," said Caberwal. "We don't want to sacrifice our relationships on the altar of a company about relationships ... We have not quite figured that out yet," he admitted somewhat ruefully. "Launching a startup is like having a child," he notes. "You try your hardest, but you never have everything completely figured out." Ellwood and Caberwal are a visual odd couple -- the taller Ellwood sporting a jacket and pocket square, the bearded and lean Caberwal in a traditional Sikh turban -- but they're aligned on the value of relationships and on effective messages of thanks. "I started my career cold-calling billionaires," Ellwood says, referring to his days as a sales rep for Warren Buffett's business jet venture. "I had to distinguish myself somehow." He developed what turned into a lifelong habit of sending handwritten thank-you notes to prospects and clients, and always uses a Mont Blanc pen he received as a gift from a manager in his early days. "I use that pen for two things: signing contracts and writing notes." Caberwal believes that the underlying anthropology of giving, the "why" of the gesture, is part of what brings us satisfaction and pleasure as a giver. "Everyone loves to get gifts, but everyone also loves to give them. True happiness comes from making others happy," he says. "As busy professionals, we want to send notes to follow up and gifts to show we care, but we often don't have time" to get all the ducks in a row. Giving a great gift that makes sense for the recipient is awesome, but the fallback position for harried givers is... well, not. "Gift cards are not awesome," Caberwal jokes. "Step up your game a little bit." Cracking into the $300 billion global gifting market may not be easy for BOND, or for other mobile-first gifting plays like Sincerely's Sesame and Ink apps, or Cleverbug's Facebook-centric photo greeting card app. But the opportunity is too big to ignore. "There should be a user-friendly destination focused on the gifting space, and that's what BOND is," says Caberwal. Want to try out the BOND app for yourself? For a limited time, you can download BOND and send a handwritten note for free! Just use the code FREENOTE when checking out, and the normal $5 price for the card will be waived.
Apple's $17 billion bond deal is the largest in history
The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple made the largest corporate-bond deal in history on Tuesday, when it raised US$17 billion in bonds -- the first time the company has offered bonds in 20 years. In response, The New York Times asks, why would cash-rich Apple do this in the first place? Analysts tell the NYT that the debt actually can boost returns to shareholders, something Apple has already taken steps to do when it announced its dividend and share-repurchase program last week and in March 2012. In the process, Apple was using historically low rates to its advantage. The company can step around the taxes it would need to pay by repatriating some of its overseas cash stockpile, buying the company more time to lobby Congress to its advantage. We reported shortly before the deal took place that Apple was filing the required SEC paperwork. The company plans to return $100 billion to stockholders by the end of 2015. Its next dividend payout is May 16.
Google Zeitgeist reveals the UK's biggest search terms of 2012
As Brits look back on a year that included a Royal Wedding, the London Olympics and other things, what were they hammering into Google this year? A British Isles-centric Zeitgeist has revealed all the biggest search terms for the UK, one that's topped by Euro 2012, shortly followed by Olympic tickets. The royal bride was knocked to fourth place by Whitney Houston, while Gangnam Style searches rounded out the top 10. Bond's latest release grabbed the top place for trending movies, and PSY's shark-jumping global hit was (unsurprisingly) the top trending song. We've crammed all the curated top tens into the press release after the break -- and we're sure Google's checking its numbers on the US version as we speak. Trending Searches UK 2012 Euro 2012 Olympic tickets Whitney Houston Kate Middleton April Jones Netflix Natwest online ipad 3 Gary Barlow Gangnam Style
Sony Xperia TL comes to AT&T on November 2 for $99 with a two-year contract
We've already gotten our collective mitts on Sony's Xperia TL, and come November 2nd, you'll be able to do the same by plunking down $99.99 and inking a two-year contract with AT&T. In case you need a refresher, the LTE handset runs a skinned build of Ice Cream Sandwich, packs a 1.5GHz dual-core S4 processor, 13-megapixel rear-facing camera, NFC and a 4.6-inch 720p display powered by the firm's Mobile BRAVIA Engine. Since Sony's smartphone flagship is lucky enough to call itself the official James Bond phone, it'll come stuffed with behind the scenes footage of the upcoming film Skyfall and Bond-themed ringtones, wallpapers and more. For the full lowdown on the Xperia TL's arrival on Big Blue, hit the jump for the press release.
Sky adds Bond Channel to its movie offering, will screen entire back catalog in high-definition
Fresh from his appearance at this year's Olympic opening ceremony, James Bond is getting his own dedicated channel on Sky. The UK broadcaster will start showing all 22 movies in high-definition from October 5th, gearing up to the British spy's latest adventure, Skyfall, which launches a month later. Android, iOS and PC platforms will be able to stream the collection through Sky Go, while its new on-demand service will also be showing the full gamut of Bond adventures in a few months. For England, James.
'Bond 50' 22 movie Blu-ray collection details revealed, ships in September (video)
MGM and 20th Century Fox revealed during CES that all 22 of the James Bond movies would be released together for the first time in the Bond 50 Blu-ray disc collection this fall, and now ahead of the Cannes International Film Festival there's additional details to share. The Bond 50 set will include 23 discs -- one for each movie and its bonus content, plus an extra containing two Bond featurettes digging into the world of James Bond and the six actors who have played him, plus videoblogs from the upcoming flick Skyfall (there's an open slot in the specially designed case for it as well). The set ships September 24th in the UK and September 25th in the US with other countries getting it the same week. While no price is mentioned in the press release, Amazon currently is taking preorders for $199. That's a hefty price but if you absolutely must have all of Connery, Lazenby, Moore, Dalton, Brosnan and Craig in one box this is it. The release with all the details follows after the break, plus the same trailer for the boxed set, a video reveal of the box itself, and the just revealed trailer for Skyfall, which is due to hit theaters October 26th in the UK and November 9th in the US.
Activision registers domains for 'GoldenEye 007 Reloaded'
Internet sleuth @supererogatory discovered some recent domain name registrations made by Activision, which point at a potential re-release of 2010's Wii exclusive, GoldenEye 007. "GoldenEyeReloadedGame.com," "GoldenEye007GameReloaded.com," "GoldenEyeReloaded007.com" and "GoldenEye007Reloaded.com" were the four URLs the Santa Monica-based publisher snagged. Now, while the possibility of a new and improved Wii game isn't out of the question, we're inclined to think that Activision is thinking about consoles other than the Wii -- specifically, PlayStation Move functionality. Of course, fans have been clamoring for a remake of the original GoldenEye 007 on N64 since they looked up the word clamor and realized it was what they were doing; unfortunately, with original developer Rare now owned by Microsoft, that path is legally perilous. Activision has not made any announcements concerning these domain names.
James Bond: Blood Stone review: Sonic the James Bond
In a month where, after almost a two-year hiatus, we see two new Bond games thrown at us, PS3 and Xbox owners can't help but feel a little jaded when they see the re-vamped GoldenEye headed solely to the Wii. "They got the new GoldenEye with a fancy new controller and all we got was another rip-off 3rd person shooter!" the masses say, clutching their well-worn N64 controller, wracked with guilt over not playing Quantum of Solace in 2008 or, worse, having played GoldenEye: Rogue Agent in 2004. Allow me to squelch your rage with four simple words, angry mob: Blood Stone is fun. %Gallery-100384%
Ejector seat-equipped B.O.N.D. bicycle doesn't expect thieves to talk, it expects them to fly (video)
Having anything stolen is a drag, but having your pride and joy bicycle go missing is a real kick in the pants. Maybe that wouldn't happen if you had the B.O.N.D. -- "Built of Notorious Deterrents." That's something of an acronym stretch, but we'll let it slide after getting a load of this cycle's ample assets. The most striking additions are of course the caterpillar tread on the back and ski on the front, in theory enabling this thing to manage a man-powered escape across land or snow. It's the ejector seat, however, that will really catch would-be thieves attention, self-armed and rigged to go off if unapproved cheeks make contact (as shown in the video below). Also of note is the bar-mounted flamethrower, designed for singeing the mirrors of commuters who don't make room. Or of SPECTRE operatives who get too close. You know, whichever. This is sadly not a model you can buy, a one-off created by UK bicycle insurer ETA, who we're hoping also offers premium discounts for frame-mounted miniguns and baskets full of grenades.
Bizarre-developed Bond opts for EastEnder over Daniel Craig
Activision's plan to annualize the Bond franchise -- regardless of the status of a movie to tie into -- has already come unraveled, with the decision to pull Mr. Bond out of Modern Warfare 2's line of sight this holiday. So, Bizarre Creations' "racing and driving focused" crack at Bond is now due in 2010, unattached to the Daniel Craig-powered, as-yet-untitled 2011 Bond movie. This poses an obvious question: With no theatrical attachment, will confessed gamer Daniel Craig reprise the interactive Bond role or will Bizarre's seemingly unique take on the license also have a unique actor in the role of 007? According to Adam Croasdell, the EastEnders star (it's a long-running BBC soap opera, for the non-British amongst us) has wrapped up voice work on the game. "Oddly enough I have just played James Bond in the new James Bond video game -- how weird is that?" Croasdell told BBC Asian Network, as reported by the Press Association. "I think video games and the making of that type of technology, being in a funny one-piece suit and being shot with 60 cameras, I think that's sort of the future." We're right there with you, Croasdell! Oh, and you better get used to that one-piece suit ... Activision has plans to milk that Bond license before it expires in 2014. [Via Digital Spy]
Activision talks 2010: Bond is back, joined by Tony Hawk, Spider-Man, and 'innovative' action game
On this afternoon's earnings call, Activision Publishing CEO Mike Griffith dropped some details on what we can expect out of Activision in 2010. Of course, there's "a strong lineup behind the Guitar Hero franchise" and some Call of Duty "new releases" as well as "online monetization" of the franchise (not this again!) and strong Modern Warfare 2 sales, but that's not all it has in store for 2010. "We'll launch also new games based on James Bond, Tony Hawk, and Spider-Man, along with games supporting the theatrical releases for Dreamworks' Shrek 4 and How to Train Your Dragon," Griffith said. "In addition, as previously announced, we're planning to release an innovative property in the $4b action genre." Here's Activision CEO Bobby Kotick discussing the aforementioned $4b opportunity; could this be what former Dead Space producer Glen Schofield dumped EA and went to Activision for? Regardless, it's been nearly half a year since we got an update on Activision's first stab at the Bond franchise, after acquiring the rights from EA over three years ago. So it looks we'll be seeing more of Bond in '10 ... two-thousand and ten.
HD movies on the way in iTunes
Got $20US and a hankering for lots and lots of pixels? iTunes has a deal for you: Apple announced earlier today that it is launching HD movie sales and rentals in the iTunes Store, beginning with a small selection of titles (Transporter 3, W. and more) and with a couple of big-ticket films up for pre-order: vamp-rom-teen thriller Twilight drops on 3/21 and James Bond in Quantum of Solace on 3/24. Sales will be $19.99US and rentals will cost $4.99.Up until now, HD movies had to be purchased rented directly on the Apple TV, although HD television content has been in iTunes since late last year. This is a big step forward for iTunes users and a big 'pptthhbbttt' to the Blu-Ray business model. Keep in mind a few caveats: you'll need iTunes 8.1, and you may want to test your video output path if you've got a DisplayPort-equipped machine and a large external screen (these files are going to be HDCP-enabled, bet on it). Playback quality may not be what you've come to expect from HD media, as the files will still be 720p with H.264 compression -- but be sure to keep plenty of open hard drive space and a clean ISP connection, since they'll weigh in at four GB or more per movie. No word yet on whether the movies will include Dolby Surround audio instead of simple stereo. Looks like Twilight and Quantum will carry the Dolby audio option, though other HD movies may not -- check the rental page for individual titles to be certain.I'm continually impressed with the quality of streamed and purchased HD video that I play back from my previous-generation MacBook Pro over VGA to a flat-panel 720p TV -- it's not dramatically different from satellite or broadcast HD, at least to my verging-on-middle-aged eyes. The opportunity to buy or rent HD movies might make the Mac mini media center even more appealing.Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
Activision: COD 6, Tony Hawk, Guitar Hero 5 talk 'speculative'
Following reports taken directly from an upfront with Massive Inc. that sequels were on the way for Tony Hawk, Call of Duty -- specifically, a follow-up to Modern Warfare -- and Guitar Hero, and that a new Bond game is in the works, Activision informed VideoGamer.com that such reports are "speculative." In other words, Activision declined to confirm the projects it confirmed only yesterday. In other news, when asked whether or not it intended to poop in the woods, a bear told us that such reports were "speculative." The Pope also declined to confirm whether or not he wears a funny hat.[Via Joystiq]
