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Amazon Kindle Keyboard 3G being discontinued?
Amazon confirmed as early as last September that the Kindle Keyboard would be sticking around, but much like your favorite dessert, nothing is forever. The Kindle Keyboard 3G is now showing as unavailable or out of stock at Amazon's site, as well as at Best Buy and Target. Of course, the last of those has had this here device on sale for what feels like forever, but it's still somewhat sad to see it come to the end of its road. It's entirely possible that the company's Lab126 is cooking up a replacement alongside those mythical smartphones, but it's unclear if such a conceptual piece is on the immediate horizon. We've reached out to Amazon regarding the disappearance, and we'll be sure to update this post as we learn more. [Thanks, John]
EVE Evolved: Ten years of EVE Online
Tomorrow marks a huge milestone in MMO history as sci-fi sandbox EVE Online officially turns ten years old. Released by a tiny icelandic development studio whose only previous release was a board game featuring Reykjavik's favourite cross-dressing mayor, EVE has slowly grown over the past decade to become one of the industry's biggest and most stable subscription titles. Following 2011's monoclegate scandal that led to around 8% of players quitting and CCP Games shedding 20% of its employees, this year saw EVE Online climb to new heights as it regained the playerbase's confidence and smashed the 500,000 subscriber barrier. As a special side-note, the EVE Evolved column also turned five years old last week; it has now officially been running for over half of EVE's lifetime. The past year has been remarkably successful for CCP, with both of the year's EVE expansions being extremely well received and console MMOFPS DUST 514 finally starting to take shape. The Inferno and Retribution expansions fixed a staggering number of small issues that were broken in the game while also making big changes to bounty-hunting, piracy, and PvP across the board. We also saw huge emergent events like the Battle of Asakai, a $6,000 ship kill, and the five trillion ISK faction warfare exploit this year. With DUST 514 officially launching in just over a week on May 14th and players fired up about the upcoming Odyssey expansion, the future's looking bright for EVE Online as it heads into its second decade. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look back at some of year's top EVE stories, stories that touched real life, and what the future holds for EVE's second decade.
WRUP: What would you eliminate?
This week, we asked our writers what "feature" in WoW they'd like to remove. Heck, it seems like everyone has a pet peeve or an annoying game dynamic they're eager to see go away. So let's round it all up in one place and get it over with. Anne Stickney (@Shadesogrey) I'm playing catch-up with writing and other projects, and more raiding on Sunday. And if I have time, maybe I'll squeeze some Mass Effect into there because I miss the sci-fi. As for killing features, I'm pretty sure that lockouts on heroics in TBC and Wrath don't really need to be there anymore.
Hitman Facebook promo killed; must have had 'small tits'
If you logged online early enough today, you could have sent death threats to your friends on Facebook, courtesy of Square Enix and Agent 47 with the "Hire Hitman" app. Not only were these death threats, but they were full-on hits, with the targeted Facebook friend going through a process that flashed pictures from their profiles in front of their eyes before they were killed. To top it off, the hits were identified by awkwardly specific reasons such as "her ginger hair, her muffin top, her hairy legs," or "her small tits."Yes, this was a real thing you could do this morning. Square Enix since removed the app, not long after launching it and just after Rock, Paper, Shotgun wrote about it. We can't imagine why, though Square sent over a statement that cleared it up nicely:"Earlier today we launched an app based around Hitman: Absolution that allowed you to place virtual hits on your Facebook friends. Those hits would only be viewable by the recipient and could only be sent to people who were confirmed friends. We were wide of the mark with the app and following feedback from the community we decided the best thing to do was remove it completely and quickly. This we've now done. We're sorry for any offence caused by this."This attempt at crude viral marketing is reminiscent of other hackneyed ads, such as Resident Evil 6's human butcher, Resident Evil 5's real-world severed-limb hunt, the brass knuckles EA sent us and quickly requested back for Godfather 2, or The Walking Dead FPS' necklace of human ears. Rockstar similarly caved under pressure with Bully in the UK, changing the name to Canis Canem Edit after a maelstrom of hyperbolic public attention labeled the game a "Columbine simulator."If you want to experience the Hire Hitman app – too bad, because it's gone. Take This Lollipop, however, is still live on Facebook and uses the same premise, though it doesn't allow users to engage in name-calling, bigotry, death threats or misogyny.
EVE Evolved: Top ten ganks, scams, heists and events
It's been called "boring," "confusing," and "the world's biggest spreadsheet," but every now and then a story emerges from sci-fi MMO EVE Online and grabs the gaming world's attention. Tales of massive thefts, colossal battles, high-value kills, record-breaking scams, political dirty deals, and controversial player-run events never fail to grip us. Perhaps it's the fact that these events have such huge impacts in the EVE sandbox that captures our imaginations, or maybe we just want to watch with morbid curiosity as a virtual society self-destructs. Whether it's innocent interest in quirky stories or a secret sense of schadenfreude that keeps us glued to EVE's most illicit events, the game continues to deliver them with startling regularity. Most scams, thefts, and high-profile battles will never make the news, instead becoming another forgotten part of EVE's history or just a story for a few friends to reminisce about. But those stories that do reach the news always draw in a huge audience that wouldn't play EVE in a million years but can't get enough of its engrossing stories. In this week's EVE Evolved, I run down a list of ten incredible EVE kills, scams, heists, and sandbox events that have made it into the news over the years.
EVE Online $6,000 ship kill may be a hoax
EVE Online player "stewie Zanjoahir" made history yesterday when he reportedly lost a tiny ship with cargo worth over $6,000 US. Now it appears that the value of the kill may not have been accurate or that the kill could even be a hoax. Evidence that the kill may not be authentic surfaced last night as players found that three Hulk blueprints listed on the kill were marked as originals. That would make them priceless items that change hands for over 500 billion ISK each, which would raise the kill's value to a ludicrous 1.71 trillion ISK ($51,685 US). It's believed that many of the original blueprints in the kill were actually cheaper blueprint copies. One possible explanation for the aberration is that there was an error in the EVE API that supplied the original kill data to third-party killboard websites. It's also possible that the kill was marked as API Verified without actually being checked, in which case the kill may have never even happened. An alternative version of the kill valued at only 34 billion ISK ($1,024 US) has also surfaced, but this was manually uploaded and so isn't verified at all. CCP Games posted the kill on its Facebook page and Twitter feed, but didn't officially confirm the kill or its value. We reached CCP for comment, but privacy concerns prevented the company from confirming or denying the kill's authenticity. If this monumental kill turns out to be an error or a hoax, the next-highest value confirmed EVE kill would be Bjoern's Avatar class titan destroyed in March 2011. The titan was kitted out with expensive officer modules and came to a total value of over 128 billion ISK. As the price of PLEX was much lower in 2011, this would have bought 355 PLEX worth a total of $6,212.50 US.
EVE Online player loses tiny ship worth over $6,000 [UPDATED]
EVE Online is well known for its sandbox gameplay and ruthless citizens, with monumental kills and record-breaking scams popping up year after year. In 2010, one player lost over $1,000 US worth of 30-day game time codes (PLEX) when he transported them in the cargo hold of a tiny, fragile frigate. Thinking his ship too fast to be caught, that player lost his entire alliance's budget in a single mishap. That record was thoroughly eradicated today by player "stewie Zanjoahir," who reportedly lost over 213,000,000,000 ISK when he tried to transport a huge cache of valuable blueprints through nullsec in a tiny, unfitted frigate. That much ISK could currently buy around 367 30-day game time codes (PLEX) at around 580 million ISK each, for a combined total of over 30 years of game time. To put that into perspective, 367 PLEX bought with real cash would cost about $6,422.50 US. Some players doubt the authenticity of the kill report, but the killboard it was posted on claims to have verified it with EVE's automated API service, and CCP Games itself posted about the kill on Facebook. Kills of this scale may have happened before, but it was previously impossible to tell whether a destroyed blueprint was a cheap copy or an expensive original. The value of this kill may even be higher than the reported figure, as several of the blueprint copies that weren't counted are actually worth billions of ISK. Today's kill may be the largest confirmed kill of any ship in EVE's history and could even be the most expensive character death in any MMO to date. [UPDATE: Evidence has emerged that the kill might not be authentic. EVE-Kill has since updated its report with a revised value of 5.3 billion ISK]
Apple's Ping no longer pinging back, leaves memories of white noise in its wake
"I can't remember if I cried when I read about his widowed bride Something touched me deep inside... the day the music died." R.I.P. Ping (09.01.2010 - 09.30.2012)
OnLive officially announces asset acquisition, notes that its newly formed company will keep OnLive name
Amid the rumors, sourced reports and statements, it was easy to lose track of the facts surrounding OnLive's recent restructuring efforts. No surprise then, that the newly formed outfit has issued a press release and FAQ (after the break) in hopes will clear things up. First and foremost, the firm reiterates that the streaming game service will continue operating uninterrupted, and that the "newly formed company" that acquired the firm's assets will continue to do business under the OnLive name. The announcement also mentions the Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors (ABC) process OnLive used to settle its debts, noting that "an affiliate" of Lauder Partners, a technology investment firm, was the new OnLive's first investor. Finally, the firm laments the necessity of laying off its staff, stating that "neither OnLive, Inc. shares nor OnLive staff could transfer under this type of transaction," confirming that nearly half of the previous staff had been offered positions at the new company, and optimistically projecting future hires culled from both previous and new employees. The new OnLive calls the asset acquisition "a heartbreaking transition for everyone involved," but looks optimistically to a future of "transforming the OnLive vision into reality." Check out OnLive's full, official word on the matter below.
OnLive reportedly shutting down, new company forming in its wake (update: OnLive says 'of course not')
Well, here's a bit of a shocker. After a strong showing at E3 and partnerships with companies like OUYA, gaming service OnLive is reportedly closing down, with an entire staff layoff resulting. At a glance, this sure feels a lot like the similar rise and fall of InstantAction, which was attempting to pull off something similar with cloud-based gaming. Polygon is reporting the story as relayed to the site by game developer Brian Fargo. We've reached out to the company and received a non-comment comment, "We don't respond to rumors and have no comment." Our OnLive contact also used the opportunity to plug its Google TV tie-ins and few giveaways -- so, for the moment at least, things seem to be moving along as usual. Update: Joystiq has reached out for comment as well, getting a similar, yet decidedly more blunt response: "We don't respond to rumors, but of course not." Blunt response or no, we're sure this isn't the last we'll be hearing about this one. Update 2: We reached out to OnLive again for clarification on whether the denial pertained to both the shutdown and layoff rumors. The response reads thusly: "I have no comment on the news other than to say the OnLive service is not shutting down. I'm sorry I cannot be more specific." Update 3: Martyn Williams from IDG has reported there are employees leaving the OnLive offices with moving boxes.
PicPlz shutting down permanently on July 3rd, all photos to be deleted pre-fireworks
Already prepping to share oodles of horribly blurry and underexposed Independence Day photos via PicPlz? Go ahead and burst your own bubble, bub. The aforesaid photo sharing app / site has decided to throw in the towel, with a brief blurb posted on its site today describing that July 3rd will be its final day of operation. To quote: "On July 3, 2012, picplz will shut down permanently and all photos and data will be deleted. We have provided download links for existing users to save their photos. Thank you for your support of picplz and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you." Users are encouraged to login prior to that day in order to download their photos, including those ones of you shooting Instagram and Facebook Camera in the face. Violence isn't cool, but who are we judge how your grieve?
Sprint discontinues HTC EVO 3D online, limited quantities remain at retail stores
It's not like we're gonna argue with Sprint's rationale, but the EVO 3D has met its end at the Now Network. Visitors to the carrier's online store will notice that the gee-whiz smartphone is no longer available for sale, and Sprint reps have confirmed to us that it's not coming back. Those who insist on owning an EVO 3D will be glad to know that the handset is still available at Sprint's retail outlets, but according to the carrier, quantities are rather limited. Given a phone that debuted less than a year ago, its abrupt and unceremonious demise comes as a bit of a shock, but with the mighty EVO 4G LTE on the horizon, we can't blame the carrier one bit.
Google Sync for BlackBerry swept away in spring cleaning
It's springtime, and you know what that means for Google: out with the old and in with the new. Unfortunately, many BlackBerry fans might not like how Google's rearranging the furniture. During its routine tradition, the company announced that Google Sync for the BlackBerry will no longer be available for download as of June 1st. Put simply, the company identified its app as redundant, as RIM provides the same contact and calendar sync services to its customers with native software. Also in the spirit of spring cleaning, Google is encouraging users to uninstall the Sync app and properly configure their BlackBerry handsets to take advantage of these services. Fortunately, those content to keep with the status quo will be glad to know that Google Sync will continue to function properly -- so even if you're feeling lazy on this fine day, it's all good. Those with motivation, however, will find instructions of how to make the switch in the source below. [Spring cleaning photo via Shutterstock]
Chumby halts hardware sales, long-term support looking mighty unlikely
"The site is closed temporarily." Never a good sign, indeed, and particularly not when it's plastered across Chumby's own webstore. For over two days now, that's the message given to anyone attempting to buy hardware from the company, and it looks as if the Chumby we knew may be counting down its final days. A scrappy upstart attempting to bring its Chumby OS to the masses via injections into larger OEMs, the outfit saw little to no uptake across a wide variety of products; Sony nixed the Dash earlier this year, and Insignia turned its back quite some time ago. To be fair, Chumby had stopped manufacturing its own branded hardware in 2011, with the outfit's Duane Maxwell confirming the outright death of Chumby's store in a forum posting today. According to him, there was "no point in keeping the store around once inventory was exhausted," though hardcore loyalists can still snag a NeTV from adafruit. Other forum members have noted that all support emails now seem to be headed into the Great Beyond, and while the actual network that Chumby OS relies on remains alive at the moment, there's no guarantee it'll last. Interestingly, at least two individuals instrumental in the building of Chumby are now working at Media Navi -- both Alison Fay and Michael Coleman have moved Chumby-related job listings to "Past" in their LinkedIn profiles. We'll be reporting more as we get it, but in the meanwhile, we'd recommend giving your favorite Chum a warm hug. His / her heart may not be beating for too much longer. [Thanks, Jonathan]
Jagex pauses Stellar Dawn's development
Word to the wise: Don't put "dawn" into any part of your MMO's name, or else it will get hit by the curse of breaking dawn. Just ask Dawntide, DAWN, and now, Stellar Dawn. Yes, unfortunately it's true. Jagex announced that it's suspending development on Stellar Dawn to make sure the company is in the best position possible by concentrating on Transformers Universe and RuneScape. While the studio was able to shuffle most of Stellar Dawn's team around to new positions, the decision still resulted in the loss of 12 jobs. In a prepared statement, CEO Mark Gerhard was highly complimentary of Stellar Dawn's team and progress. "Jagex has always been committed to developing the highest quality games and services. This is not a decision we have taken lightly; the Stellar Dawn team has achieved a great deal developing the game and should rightly be proud of their achievements so far." Stellar Dawn fans might find hope in the language being used by the team in the forum announcement, as the title's development is described as being "paused" and a "temporary move" instead of being outright cancelled.
Fusion Garage sinks into liquidation, owes creditors some $40 million
Fusion Garage website goes dark The Engadget Interview: Fusion Garage's Chandra Rathakrishnan... post-fallout Court rules Fusion Garage and TechCrunch were business partners, tosses most everything else If ever there was a time to exit the technology universe while everyone else is paying attention to... well, everything else, it's now. Chandresekar Rathakrishnan has seemingly signed off on liquidation paperwork this week, effectively putting an end to Fusion Garage as we know it. It's hardly a shock to anyone paying attention; the JooJoo was a letdown, the Grid10 was even more so, and the Grid4 never even had a chance to breath. We spent plenty of time talking to its founder over the years, but the execution and timing was never good enough to gain significant traction in the market. We'd bother asking you to pour one out, but we're guessing the majority of you have done so already.
The Daily Grind: Which MMOs would you marry, kiss or kill?
Let's play a game today! Oh, let's! I'm sure you've heard of the classic "marry/kiss/kill" ranking game (or some not-so-PG version thereof) designed to rank your interest in a trio of human beings. So how about turning that upon MMOs today? Which games would you marry, would you kiss, and would you kill? By which, I mean: Marry: You're in it for the long haul with this title, admiring the devs' past and present efforts, and are confident that the future will hold great things. You plus this game equals "happily ever after." Kiss: You're interested -- or currently involved -- with a brief fling with this game, but you're pretty sure that it's not going to last. This is a title best left to brief flirtations versus long-term relationships. Kill: You are done with this MMO -- or never wanted to get involved with it in the first place. You abhor the studio's practices and products, and wouldn't mind seeing the game thrown into the sun. Metaphorically, of course. So what's your list? Let us know in the comments section! Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Adobe abandoning Flash Player for TVs as well
And the white-flag waving continues. Shortly after announcing the painful death of Flash Player for mobile devices, Adobe is also stepping back from the platform on another major pedestal: television. In a statement to GigaOM, Adobe said that it would "continue to support existing licensees who are planning on supporting Flash Player for web browsing on digital home devices and are using the Flash Player Porting Kit to do so," but that it felt the "right approach to deliver content on televisions is through applications, not a web browsing experience." The broader efforts to bring Flash to connected HDTVs, Blu-ray players etc. were all part of its Open Screen Project -- something the now-defunct Palm joined in 2009 -- which was established in order to allow developers to craft a single Flash app and distribute it across a number of devices. A perfectly acceptable initiative in theory, but it seems that traction has been hard to come by. One has to wonder what this means for products in the Google TV family, which obviously rely on Flash Player to bring a "complete" browsing experience to the tee-vee screen. In related news, HTML5 could not be reached for comment, but close friends have affirmed that "snickering" and "belly laughs" could be heard coming from his Los Angeles hotel room.
Pre 3 for AT&T review
This is a review of a phone that was never actually released to the public on AT&T. Despite the unfortunateness of the prior statement, we felt obligated to run this device through the wringer as a final farewell to Palm, the Pre line and webOS on consumer devices. AT&T, Deutsche Telekom withdraw FCC application for T-Mobile merger, look toward DoJ Microsoft Kin is dead Screen Grabs: Palm Pre-iPhone hybrid appears on Grimm, doesn't look half bad Man, what a weird, labyrinthine life this device has had. European carriers didn't even want the Pre 2, and for whatever reason, those folks were the only ones to even get the Pre 3. Excluding this guy, of course. This guy, as you've probably gleaned, is one of only a handful of AT&T Pre 3 handsets to make it out of the factory unscathed, and we couldn't be happier to be putting it through the paces. Well... we could be happier, but that would require Meg Whitman undoing Leo's departing shot through the webOS heart. All that aside, it's been a strange few days with the final webOS-based phone, and in a sense, the final phone that'll ever have Palm's DNA running through its circuitry. Not even two months ago, HP was telling developers to get their Pre 3 app submissions in for approval, and a mere four weeks ago, the same company affirmed that this very phone wouldn't ever arrive on US shores. You know, despite that whole "being announced for AT&T" thing. Turns out, a few of those units actually did pass the requisite QA tests, and if you've got the right connections (or a quick enough trigger finger on eBay), you too can land yourself what'll undoubtedly go down as one of the most highly sought after pieces of Palm / webOS history. But should you? Find out after the break. %Gallery-134746%
Google Dictionary slams shut forever, world unsurprisingly at a loss for words
close /v. kloʊz; adj., adv. kloʊs or, for 51, kloʊz; n. kloʊz for 59, 60, 63–65, 67, 68, kloʊs for 61, 62, 66/ Show Spelled [v. klohz; adj., adv. klohs or, for 51, klohz; n. klohz for 59, 60, 63–65, 67, 68, klohs for 61, 62, 66] Show IPA verb, closed, clos·ing, adjective, clos·er, clos·est, adverb, noun verb (used with object) to put (something) in a position to obstruct an entrance, opening, etc.; shut. to stop or obstruct (a gap, entrance, aperture, etc.): to close a hole in a wall with plaster. to block or hinder passage across or access to: to close a border to tourists; to close the woods to picnickers. to stop or obstruct the entrances, apertures, or gaps in: He closed the crate and tied it up. (of the mind) to make imperceptive or inaccessible: to close one's mind to the opposite opinion. Something you can no longer 'Google' and hope to find in Google Dictionary. [Thanks, Goog]
