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DropBox buys selling app Sold, generates linguistically nightmarish headlines
Dropbox has picked up Sold, effectively shuttering the service in its current iteration. For further proof of this, consult the selling app's about page, which has been reconjugated to read in the past tense. Sold isn't accepting new items from sellers at the moment, but the site is happily assuring all interested parties that the team behind the iOS/Android app will become a part of Dropbox's happy family, helping to work on the "exciting new experiences" it's seen dotting the horizons of the sharing service's roadmap.
Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation moves 'close to 600,000' units [Update!]
Assassin's Creed 3's PlayStation Vita companion piece, Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation, has either shipped or sold "close to 600,000" units, Ubisoft announced during a financial investors conference call this morning. We say "or" because, while the word "sold" was used, this terminology was also used to refer to Assassin's Creed 3's 12 million shipped units, and therefore the true nature of the statistic is unknown.It's also unknown what percentage of Liberation's volume is accounted for by its PlayStation Vita bundle. We've reached out to Ubisoft for clarification and further information and will update when either is received.Update: Ubisoft has confirmed with us that Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation has shipped nearly 600,000 units. For clarification, the term "sell-in" refers to units shipped to retailers, while the term "sell-through" refers to units purchased from retailers by customers. Thus, Ubisoft (or anyone else, for that matter) can say units have been "sold" when referring to either statistic.
38 Studios lays off entire staff, sells Big Huge Games [Updated]
The 38 Studios disaster continues to unfold today, as the troubled studio laid off its entire staff and may be selling off its Big Huge Games division in Boston. Boston's Fox 25 News speculates that the studio may close by this weekend. 38 Studios CM Charles Dane confirmed being laid off on Twitter: "Now on the market. I had an awesome run with 38 Studios, but this dream is now ending." Word is that the company is also selling its subsidiary, Big Huge Games. Big Huge Games is the maker of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, 38 Studios' single-player prequel to its Copernicus MMO. This would not be the first time that Big Huge Games was sold by its parent company, as the studio experienced the same event back in 2009. Oh his Facebook page, Curt Schilling stressed that Reckoning did quite well in sales. "I wanted to clear up some misinformation around 38 Studios' first product, Reckoning. Sales of Reckoning outperformed EA's expectations and sold more than 1.2 million units in the game's first 90 days in the market." [Update]: Developer Ryan Shwayder has also confirmed the layoffs via his personal blog.
Confirmed: A million Apple TVs sold
All Things Digital has confirmed that rumor last week that Apple expected to sell a million of the new Apple TV units. One million of those little black boxes have wandered out the doors of Apple Stores everywhere, and have presumably been plugged into televisions to stream content from iTunes, Netflix, and any other videos wandering around out there. Looks like the lower price point of under US$100 combined with that new functionality and the AirPlay tricks have turned this "hobby" into an actual business. The question now will be exactly what that means. When the iPhone took off, Apple transformed itself somewhat into a mobile device company, and many people (including Apple leadership, probably) believe that's where the future, especially the financial one, still lies. Not to say that a million Apple TVs compares to iOS device sales yet, but Apple has a growing hit on its hands here, and it'll be interesting to see how and if the company steps out to support it, or if the TV just remains a relatively cheap and easy way to bring iTunes content to the living room.
Samsung sells 9.3 million Galaxy S devices, within reaching distance of its lofty goal
10 million freaking smartphones. Who thought, when Samsung put that number forward as its 2010 Galaxy S sales goal two months ago, that it was actually going to happen? Well, with just over a week left in the calendar year, the Korean giant has racked up 9.3 million sales of its Android superphone globally and actually expects to sneak past the mythical 10 million mark just before the champagne glasses start clinking. The Galaxy S has also scored a win in its home market of South Korea, where its two million units sold so far leads the 1.8 million iPhones sold since the series debuted in November 2009. Hearty congratulations are due to the crew in Seoul, such success doesn't happen by chance, but let's keep working on those Froyo (and Gingerbread!) software updates as well, eh chaps? Update: This article has been updated to reflect Chosunibo's claim that 1.8 million iPhone series devices were sold -- not just iPhone 4 handsets.
Sony ships 4.1 million PlayStation Move controllers to retailers (updated)
A little press release from none other than Sony informed us this morning that the company has shipped 4.1 million PlayStation Move controllers worldwide. Alas, that number has been widely misreported as the tally of direct end-user sales, which it most definitely is not. What Sony's letting us know is total wands that have left its warehouses on their way to retailers, a number that's one step removed from actual sales results. Still, if you simply must have something to compare against Microsoft's 2.5 million Kinect sales, there you have it. Update: Our brothers at Joystiq have reached out to Sony and confirmed that these numbers represent shipped units, not consumer sales. Here's Joystiq's exact wording on the (seemingly purposefully) confusing situation: A Sony representative explained that the 4.1 million actually represents Move units shipped to stores, adding "While we don't disclose our exact sell-through number, the key is that our retailers continue to ask for more Move units and are taking every unit we can supply them with based on their sales." Which, you know, would have been a cool thing to put in that press release, we think. Update 2: We've also confirmed with Sony that the sales numbers are in reference to retailers, not consumers, and learned that more than 75 percent of the sales in the US are bundles -- meaning new console sales or software groupings.
Apple sells 1.7 million iPhone 4s through Saturday, June 26
There you have it. 600,000 pre-orders have turned into 1.7 million iPhone 4 sales through this Saturday. The Sunday transactions haven't even been tallied up yet, but Steve and company already have another reason to look smug. That total eclipses the 3GS' already phenomenal 1 million units sold over a weekend, and stands pretty much head and shoulders above any other launch the mobile world has yet seen.
Sprint misstated EVO 4G sales, by a lot
Remember when Sprint said this: "The total number of HTC EVO 4G devices sold on launch day was three times the number of Samsung Instinct and Palm Pre devices sold over their first three days on the market combined." Nuh uh, it's wrong. Sprint just issued a correction in the wee hours stating that first day EVO 4G sales were, in reality, "in line with" the number of Instincts and Pres sold over their first three days on the market combined. Still pretty good if that translates to the 150,000 units sold as some analysts are touting; even better if Sprint can restock shelves.
Apple sells two million iPads, international launch likely the main culprit
Apple has just trotted out its latest sales milestone for the iPad: two million devices have now been sold since the slate's launch on April 3. We promise we won't bother you with sales figures every time another million gets rounded, but it's notable that the company has managed to maintain the rapid pace it achieved with its hero tablet during its first month on the market. Of course, that big international launch just a couple of days ago would surely have had something to do with it as well. Ah well, good for them.
Apple sells over 300,000 iPad tablets on US launch day
We heard some pretty ridiculous estimates over the weekend, but these figures are straight out of Cupertino's mouth: over 300,000 iPads were sold on April 3rd. Specifically, that many were moved in the US as of midnight (PT, we're assuming) on Saturday, though this does include deliveries of pre-ordered units to customers, deliveries to channel partners (such as Best Buy) and sales at Apple Retail Stores. We should point out, though, that just because Best Buy purchased a bundle of 'em doesn't mean that end users have (yet), but still, this is a pretty impressive feat for something that not everyone was convinced that they "needed" in January. If you'll recall, Apple only sold 270,000 iPhones during its first 30 hours on the market, yet it moved over a million iPhone 3GS units during that handset's opening weekend. In related news, iPad users also downloaded over a million apps and over 250,000 ebooks from the iBookstore during launch day, with Steve Jobs himself noting that "iPad users, on average, downloaded more than three apps and close to one book within hours of unpacking their new iPad." Now, let's see if these guys can keep pace through the first full week. [Thanks, Tal]
Guildwatch: We're over applications, too
The image above is a little tough to read, but you can probably get the gist: someone posts on the forums that secretly, he's been taking things from the guild bank and selling them off on the AH to make money for himself. He posts on his alt, supposedly, but whoops: he leaves his forum signature up. And the very next post is someone from the guild saying he's been caught red-handed, with a gkick imminent. Moral? Steal if you want, we guess, but never, ever tell. Or at least don't use your forum sig when posting on your alt. Much more drama, downed, and recruiting news in this week's Guildwatch, which starts right after the break. We are super low in the buffer for tips, so please be sure to let us know about your guild's action in Icecrown, any recruiting you're doing, or any drama you see on the forums by sending us a quick email at guildwatch@wow.com. Thanks! Enjoy this week's column.
HTC Advantage X7510 won't be sold in US
Even though we've seen a couple of US e-tailers offering HTC's latest Advantage, the X7510, up for pre-order, it seems that the handheld won't actually be sold here for at least awhile. According to jkOnTheRun, the X7510 possesses one of those hotly-debated Qualcomm chipsets that cannot be sold on American soil -- presumably due to all those legal issues the firm is currently wading through. Of course, folks that just can't fathom living another quarter without one can cough up the requisite dough to snag one from an importer, but otherwise, it looks like you USers are clean out of luck (at least for the moment).
Cablevision's Rainbow Media snaps up Sundance Channel for $496 million
Don't peek -- which would you think is cheaper? A fiber-to-the-premises network touching 36,000 residents and businesses, or a 12-year old television channel? If you guessed the latter, you'd be badly mistaken. While iProvo was sold for a mere $40.6 million, Rainbow Media, the cable programming subsidiary of Cablevision, had to cough up nearly half a billion dollars ($496 million, to be precise) in order to claim the Sundance Channel as its own. Yes, the Sundance Channel. Richard Greenfield, an analyst with Pali Research, seems to think that Cablevision may try to combine its newest acquisition with Independent Film Channel, which just so happens to have a high-def counterpart. Of course, it's hard to say what will happen with it so soon after the buy, but if the sale ends up creating another (or more widespread) HD channel, we're all for it.
Optimus Maximus sold on eBay at terrifically inflated cost
You may remember seeing an eBay auction for a NIB Optimus Maximus keyboard a few weeks ago on Engadget. As you can imagine, the news generated a lot of excitement -- particularly from the folks at eBay, who decided it would be a sweet item to feature on their homepage. Thus the auction was ended quickly and relisted in accordance with special rules and regulations, and now some poor, poor soul (or wealthy, as it were) is the proud owner of an auctioned Optimus Maximus. Hey, it only cost $2,750... or just a little bit less than double the list price ($1564.72). Oh you crazy eBayers.[Via TG Daily]
First Nokia E90 Communicator auctioned off for $5000
If you'd been combing through all the hands-on pictures of Nokia's E90 Communicator hoping you'd be the first one on the planet to receive shipment, we're sorry to spoil your dreams. Apparently, Nokia has already auctioned off the very first E90 to be commercially sold in the world at a charity auction in Jakarta, Indonesia. Hartono Gunawan (center) took home the device after throwing down nearly $5,000 to be first on the worldwide block, and considering that the proceeds are going to UNICEF, we're sure that gaping hole in his wallet can now be filled with warm, fuzzy feelings. Of course, judging by the look on his face, we're wondering if this guy was already experiencing buyer's remorse.[Via Slashphone]
BenQ Mobile to divide, be sold in pieces
'Tis a sad day for those at BenQ Mobile, as the Munich-based company will reportedly be split up and sold after failing to turn around the struggling unit it acquired from Siemens AG. Honestly though, this shouldn't come as any major surprise, as the endeavor has already had its plug pulled and suffered through an investigation into its bankruptcy filing, so it's simply following the unfortunately necessary series of events as its dwindles into oblivion. The outfit's insolvency administrator announced that there would be "no realistic chance" of it being sold off as a whole, but didn't elaborate on exactly which portions would be segmented for bidding. Furthermore, it's suggested that "nearly all of the 3,000 jobs" at the division would vanish, but at least 550 have purportedly already found employment in other areas. I guess we should now cue the sappy background music as we sneak a peek at BenQ mobiles that could have been, but sadly never were never will be.
Three million units sold?
VGCharts, the "premier source for videogame sales charts on the internet", has totaled worldwide Wii sales now in excess of three million units. The same list has Xbox 360 at 7.74 million, and the PS3 at a rather stunted 1.18 million. By comparison, other-unofficial-internet-tallying site NexGenWars has the three consoles at 9.18 million for the 360, only 2 million for the Wii, and 800,000 for the PS3.Which should you believe? We're inclined to roll with VGCharts, which seems to have a very meticulous method of gathering numerical data. The competition uses an arbitrary "unit sold every x seconds" formula until the site owner can alter the data manually after press releases and official data; in the first week of sales, the Wii inexplicably went from 700,000 to 400,000 in the blink of an eye.We all know that Nintendo promised four million worldwide by year's end, but over 75% delivered isn't such a terrible let-down. And hey! There are still five days left! C'mon, Nintendo, you can do it![Thanks, Richard!]
The mecca of used game stores
You know that old game you loved but can't seem to find anymore? The one you think you may have lent to a friend, but your memory isn't clear enough to accuse them of anything? Well don't yell at your best mate just yet. We think we may have found your lost game, along with every other person's lost game ever.A used game store in Japan has such an insanely large collection of used video games on sale that I can only assume that the owner has a super-large magnet in his basement that can pick up loosely place NES carts by the thin metal connection strip and transport them from as far away as Brazil. You're thinking, "but CDs are made out of plastic, how does he manage to collect them with a magnet?" He doesn't. Two words: Oompa loompas. Trillions of them.[Via Insert Credit; thanks linus]
