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You can now spend China's digital currency at an online store
JD.com has become the first online store to take China's official digital currency, although it's not quite ready for prime time.
US police arrest China shopping giant's CEO over misconduct claims
Richard Liu, the CEO of Chinese internet shopping behemoth JD.com, is facing scrutiny after Minneapolis police arrested and temporarily detained him this weekend over sexual misconduct allegations. Officers took him in late on August 31st and released him without bail on September 1st after determining it could conduct a "fair and thorough investigation" without the executive in custody, according to Minneapolis Police Department information officer John Elder.
Android's official augmented reality toolkit is available to the public
Google's take on a mobile augmented reality framework is no longer limited to a modestly-sized preview. It just released ARCore 1.0, letting anyone publish Android apps that take advantage of the toolkit to meld virtual objects with the real world. To no one's surprise, Google has already lined up apps from big-name brands to take advantage of the new platform. Snapchat has an AR "portal" that takes you inside FC Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium, while Porsche lets you explore the Mission E Concept as if it were parked in front of you. A number of games (such as Ghostbusters World and a range of titles from NetEase) and home furnishing apps (Sotheby's, JD.com, Easyhome and Otto) are also on tap.
Pepsi Phone comes out of the blue in China
We don't exactly know why, but China seems to have a thing for the Pepsi brand. Following the Pepsi edition Oppo N1, another company from the Far East is launching a new device that's simply dubbed the Pepsi Phone. From afar, you may mistake this aluminum device as a rebadged Oppo R7 Plus, but it's actually a variant of the $250 Koobee H7 featuring the same 5.5-inch 1080p display (maybe IPS LCD?) with 2.5D glass, MediaTek MT6592 1.7GHz octa-core processor, 16GB internal storage, 2GB RAM and backside touch fingerprint sensor -- it's likely an older version, though, judging by its thick metallic border like the one on the Huawei Mate 7. It also runs on Koobee's customized Android 5.1 with a Pepsi theme out of the box.
World's first 128GB phone now available from Meizu, but only works in China
You may recall that a little while back we checked out China's Meizu MX3, and in addition to its unique 15:9 1,800 x 1,080 display, one of its other selling points is the 128GB storage option. Well, this version is finally available as of today, except it's only offered to the TD-SCDMA variant of the phone, meaning you can only use it on China Mobile's network or, if you're desperate, any GSM 2G network. If that's no problem and you have an address in China, then you can head over to online store JD.com and hand over CN¥3,999 (about US$660) for the 5.1-inch, Exynos 5 Octa-powered device off contract. As for the rest of us, it's probably just a matter of time before the WCDMA-flavored MX3 gets the same treatment, so stay tuned. Alternatively, the upcoming Vivo Xplay 3S is rumored to have a 128GB option as well, and given that it'll support both TD-LTE and FD-LTE, it might be a better buy for us speed freaks outside China.
Jade Dynasty: Legacy to introduce new classes, dungeon, and more
Perfect World Entertainment announced today that it will be releasing a new expansion for its free-to-play MMORPG, Jade Dynasty. The expansion, known as Jade Dynasty: Legacy, is the largest single update to the game since 2010's Vengeance, and it brings quite a few new features to the martial arts title. For starters, heroes will be able to venture into the mysterious Incense Valley in search of -- what else -- powerful, delicious loot. Players will also be able to step into the shoes of two new classes: the pyromaniacal Incense Valley Mage and the completely uninformatively named Forta. These classes will no doubt be very helpful in the new Crimson Peaks Voidland instance, which will play host to a party of 10 to 25 players as they face its dangers in hopes of securing the treasures hidden within. A number of balance passes have been made as well, which will hopefully ensure a more fair and enjoyable experience. For the full details, head on over to the Jade Dynasty official site. [Source: Perfect World Entertainment press release]
Jade Dynasty unveiling the Path of Glory
Whether you're an old hand in Jade Dynasty or you've been playing for as long as the game has been around, Perfect World Entertainment wants you to start back from the beginning. But not out of malice -- no, it's because the game's new expansion, Path of Glory, is just around the corner. And when one of the centerpieces of the expansion is a completely revamped main storyline, wouldn't you want to give that revamp all of your attention? Maybe not? Well, there are going to be more features in the expansion, too -- features such as gems to socket into equipment for improved stats and a new clan instance to fight for glory. But maybe all you need to see is an impressive trailer for the update -- and look, we've got just that right past the cut here. So jump on past that break and take a look at some of the images associated with the upcoming expansion.
Jade Dynasty's Imperial Citadel update goes live
Perfect World Entertainment has announced that Jade Dynasty's Imperial Citadel content update went live today, and the patch brought a healthy chunk of new features with it. For starters, the update introduces a new dungeon known as the Shura Gauntlet. The Gauntlet is a dungeon made up of an "even more twisted version of Shura," a previous game zone. The only way out of the warped dungeon is to go in further. Hooray, paradoxes! For each wave of the gauntlet that players complete, they'll be rewarded with increasingly powerful items. There's also the Imperial Citadel, which has been reworked for Ascended Vitalized players, and gives them the opportunity to test their mettle through a series of "Imperial Tests." These tests will reward success with Chroma Beads, and they can be completed multiple times per day for players who want to roll around in a never-ending pool of beads. On top of this new content, the update also brings with it a couple of new daily quests and an improved item store. Head on past the cut for a shiny new trailer to commemorate the update.
Jade Dynasty celebrating its two-year anniversary
Jade Dynasty is hitting the two-year mark on Wednesday, and the staff at Perfect World Entertainment wants to celebrate in style. And it starts today, with a doubled experience gain turned on from now until June 22nd. But that's only the smallest portion of the various anniversary events and prizes players can expect, which include special in-game giveaways on the game's various servers along with special quest events that can award items found nowhere else in the game. While most of the special events will be running for the length of the doubled experience event, a special site has been set up for a giveaway that goes live as soon as the clock ticks over to June 15th. There's also a cosplay contest for players and a special audiocast slated for some point during the anniversary week. Jade Dynasty players should take a look at all the festivities planned, which should more than satisfy long-term veterans of the game.
Exclusive screenshots from Jade Dynasty's upcoming "Ascension" expansion
Perfect World Entertainment's Jade Dynasty really is a unique offering on the MMO market. We here at Massively have been covering it and commenting on it since we got to see it at E3, and we're always interested to hear more about the MMO that "plays itself." Well, the team at Jade Dynasty hasn't disappointed us and they've let us here at Massively check out some exclusive screenshots of their upcoming expansion, Ascension.Ascension is opening up the path for players to become veritable gods, but it's also adding two new factions, a brand new race, realm versus realm PvP opportunities, aerial combat, and much more. We've also gotten the opportunity to sit down with Jade Dynasty's product manager, Andrew Brown, and talk with him about all of the gritty details in the next expansion. However, you'll have to wait until Monday to check out that interview.In the meantime, check out these screenshots and concept art of the Divine Realm area, and come back on Monday to check out our exclusive interview about the future direction of Jade Dynasty.%Gallery-77654%
Jade Dynasty goes into open beta, supplies new trailer
Perfect World Entertainment's new flagship game, Jade Dynasty, has pulled itself out of closed beta right on time and has jumped into open beta, swords and magic at the ready.If you're looking to check out this new free-to-play MMO, or at least judge some of the controversial game options for yourself, you can head right on over to the Jade Dynasty website, sign up for Perfect World Entertainment's portal, and jump into the game with no beta key required.With the release of the open beta client comes a new trailer, and we here at Massively have cleverly embedded the video after the break. If you want to see some high flying combat, just hit continue reading and enjoy the video!
E3 2009: Jade Dynasty at a glance
The third game in Perfect World's portfolio, Jade Dynasty, has been riding quietly in closed beta for a while. At this year's E3, however, the Jade Dynasty crew brought out their game and let us here at Massively take it for a test drive. They also hit us with an announcement as well -- Jade Dynasty will be jumping out of closed beta on June 15th, and a European server will be added in on that day as well.Overall, Jade Dynasty pulls much from Perfect World's other games: Perfect World and Ether Saga Online. The click on map to automatically move feature, cosmetic cash shop, and large amount of in-game quests returns, but a few new features have been added in that make this game a very interesting experience.Join us after the break as we break down Jade Dynasty's features, a few of which may be controversial for some gamers.
