N Gage -- Engadget

n-gage posts

Nokia announces the end of its N-Gage gaming service

by Laura June posted Oct 30th 2009 at 1:31PM

Nokia has officially announced that it will put an end to its problem-plagued N-Gage gaming service, integrating it into its Ovi Store. The move isn't really a shocker, and while Nokia has confirmed that no further games will be published, it's also said that it will continue to sell currently available games in the Ovi Store (as of today) until the end of September 2010. The N-Gage website, which holds the Arena and community boards, will also continue until that time. Nokia says that any already purchased games will continue to run on the mobile device, but that any connected community features will be non-functional come 2010.

[Via Pocket Lint]

Screen Grabs: Nokia N96 preserves the evidence on Dexter

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Oct 21st 2009 at 12:01PM

Screen Grabs chronicles the uses (and misuses) of real-world gadgets in today's movies and TV. Send in your sightings (with screen grab!) to screengrabs at engadget dt com.

No this isn't the first Nokia-wielding fictional character or celeb that we've seen in this space, but the N96 recently spotted in the hands of our favorite psychopath has us wondering: would Dexter Morgan try N-Gage? And wouldn't he prefer something with a QWERTY keyboard? Come to think of it, we always thought of him as a BlackBerry guy. Then again, times are tough, and as a new father he has to make... sacrifices.

Update: We originally identified this one as the N81. Thanks to all you raving Nokia fanatics who pointed out the error.

Gallery: Screen Grabs: Nokia N96 preserves the evidence on Dexter

Sony investigating PSP phone?

by Paul Miller posted Jun 28th 2009 at 4:03AM

As recently as May Sony has itself stated that a PSP phone "could happen," and now a report from Nikkei business daily states that Sony is planning on putting together a team as early as next month to build product that would act as a combination of a PSP and a Sony Ericsson handset. It makes plenty of sense, both as a differentiation from Nintendo and as a confrontation of the looming iPhone threat -- and hey, it might also act as a decent salve over the lukewarm reception of the pricey PSPgo. Unfortunately, if Sony is just about to get started on this, we likely wouldn't be looking at any resulting product for a while to come. Sony declined comment according to Reuters, which doesn't mean a whole lot, but it's worth keeping in mind that we've been hearing this sort of rumoring since back when the N-Gage (as a product) was still almost relevant.

[Via Mac Rumors]

N-Gage trials make the leap to the Ovi Store

by Chris Ziegler posted Jun 19th 2009 at 6:32AM

Nokia's Ovi Store duplicates one of N-Gage's main lots in life -- to serve as an over-the-air distribution channel of paid and trial apps -- and in the long term, it certainly seems to make sense that Espoo would be looking to merge the two initiatives into one. The company hasn't announced anything to the effect just yet (and even if it did, it'd have to find some creative way to duplicate N-Gage's social aspect), but it's now taken one small step by porting game trials over to the Ovi Store. If you want the full game you'll still need to buy it using the N-Gage app, so the maddening duality of Nokia's software strategy still basically continues as-is for the time being -- let's just hope this is a promising sign of things to come.

[Via Phone Arena and ZOMG its CJ]

Engadget's NYC reader meetup / holiday party is tonight!

by Joshua Topolsky posted Dec 19th 2008 at 12:00PM

This is it! The Engadget reader meetup / holiday party is happening tonight in New York City! All of the information you need is below, but we'd like to stress a few points:

The venue capacity has a limit, so make sure you get there early, and plan to wait in a bit of a line.
It is snowing like crazy in New York -- so please bundle up and come prepared for the elements! We'll do everything we can to move people inside as quickly as possible, and there's a coat check at the venue for your heavier gear.
Bring your ID! Without it, you can't get in!

And the rest of the details about the event:

We're giving away tens of thousands of dollars in gear! Including...
SanDisk 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB microSD cards for the first 200 people through the door!
Free food, and free drink tickets for the first 500 people
Live Q&A session with Engadget editors
Music for the evening will be provided by Justin VanDerVolgen (of !!! and Outhud)
The event is 18 TO ENTER / 21 TO DRINK, AND YOU MUST BRING AN ID. ADMISSION IS FREE. Sorry younger readers, but we'll do a follow-up all ages event soon!
The venue capacity tops out at a tiny bit over 1000, so you if you're coming, be sure to get there early!

When: Friday, December 19th, 7:00PM to 12:00AM
Where: Hiro Ballroom, 371 W. 16th St., New York, NY. 10011

You can discuss plans for the event on Facebook here.

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For media interested in attending, please ping us at: nycreadermeetup [at] gmail [dot] com
Note: space for media is very limited as this is a reader event. Readers, you're all set -- no need to email us.

Engadget NYC reader meetup, December 19th: new giveaways, more info

by Joshua Topolsky posted Dec 18th 2008 at 12:00PM

By now you should have heard about the Engadget NYC reader meetup / holiday party taking place TOMORROW, Friday, December 19th. If you're not clued in to all the happenings, this should bring you up to speed. We'll have participation (and giveaways) from the following companies: Nokia, Microsoft (Zune and Xbox), T-Mobile, Palm, HP, SanDisk, Peek, VIA, Sling, Bug Labs, Neat Receipts, Panasonic, Livescribe, Rhapsody, and Make.

Some new additions (to the already large stack of items): VIA has just handed over an Artigo A2000, Peek is going to be flooding the event with a whopping 12 handhelds to give out (celebrating its 12 days of Peekmas), Bug Labs is offering a BUGBundle, and Livescribe has provided us with a Pulse (courtesy of Target)! And remember, those are just a few of the goods on offer.

Remember, feel free to bring any hacks, mods, or other generally awesome tech you want to show off to us and other Engadget readers -- you don't get the chance too often!

Here are some super-important details about the event:

We're giving away tens of thousands of dollars in gear! Including...
SanDisk 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB microSD cards for the first 200 people through the door!
Free food, and free drink tickets for the first 500 people
Live Q&A session with Engadget editors
Music for the evening will be provided by Justin VanDerVolgen (of !!! and Outhud)
The event is 18 TO ENTER / 21 TO DRINK, AND YOU MUST BRING AN ID. ADMISSION IS FREE. Sorry younger readers, but we'll do a follow-up all ages event soon!
The venue capacity tops out at a tiny bit over 1000, so you if you're coming, be sure to get there early!

When: Friday, December 19th, 7:00PM to 12:00AM
Where: Hiro Ballroom, 371 W. 16th St., New York, NY. 10011

You can discuss plans for the event on Facebook here.

View Larger Map

Reader meetup update: 'Fallout 3' bundles, Nokia N-Gage / Ovi, Make, and more!

by Joshua Topolsky posted Dec 11th 2008 at 3:00PM

Say there, perhaps you've heard about that little Engadget NYC reader meetup / holiday party happening on December 19th? Well we've got a little more info for you (and some important details) that might be of note. First we wanted to show off some of the stuff we're going to be giving away, and we thought there would be no better illustration than these amazing Fallout 3 "Nuclear Winter Survival Kit" bundles from Microsoft (pictured above). Some details:

PC bundle

Alienware Area 51 m15x laptop
Fallout 3 Collector's Edition (PC)
Fallout 3 Token (redeemable for Operation: Anchorage premium downloadable content in January '09)
SideWinder mouse
Wenger Impulse Notebook Case by SwissGear
Emergency blanket

Xbox 360 bundle

Xbox 360 Elite console
Fallout 3 Collector's Edition (Xbox 360)
Fallout 3 Token (redeemable for Operation: Anchorage premium downloadable content in January '09)
1-yr Xbox LIVE Gold Subscription
Emergency blanket

These are just two of many, many succulent giveaways you could walk away with if you attend. Nokia has also graciously offered up some free N-Gage content. If you're an N-Gage user, you can bring your device to the meetup and they'll hook you up with a free game! The company is also outfitting a handful of readers with Ovi-equipped devices during the event so they can stream live content. Five (5) readers will be selected -- if you'd like to be one of the chosen few, leave a comment on this post, and we'll contact you with more info!

Additionally, our main homeboys from Make are going to be in attendance with some projects and magazines, as well as a pretty cool surprise to show off that we're awfully excited about.

Just added: LIvescribe will be giving away a Pulse (courtesy of Target), Palm is handing out a Treo Pro, and Neat Receipts has graciously offered up 3 Neat Desks!

Read on after the break for more details about the meetup!

Continue reading Reader meetup update: 'Fallout 3' bundles, Nokia N-Gage / Ovi, Make, and more!

Nokia promises to let N-Gage users transfer games

by Donald Melanson posted May 23rd 2008 at 1:01PM

Well, that didn't take long. Just as the mini-brouhaha over N-Gage games being tied to handsets was starting to percolate, Nokia has now come out and said that users will be able to take their games with them to a new handset after all, eventually. According to Nokia communications manager Oskar Södergren, some "miscommunication" on Nokia's part is apparently to blame for users being left up in the air on the matter, something that apparently led to some "mixed messages" being passed around inside Nokia as well. He went on to add that Nokia has in fact "been working on a way for this to work since the relaunch, but it is taking some time for everything to fall into place."

N-Gage users N-Raged by Nokia handset lock-in

by Thomas Ricker posted May 22nd 2008 at 6:06AM

N-Raged... see what we did there? Sigh. Anyway, Nokia's strategy of handset lock-in has its N-Gage subscribers in a fit. Seems somebody didn't read the EULA and now is upset that they must re-purchase N-Gage titles when they switch Nokia handsets. The terms and conditions do state that, "Content shall be... limited to one private installation on one N-Gage compatible Nokia device only." Forever. Come on Nokia, we're all for reading, but purchased games should at least be transferrable to newly purchased, substitute Nokia devices. After all, that's what you claim for music downloaded from your forthcoming Comes with Music service. Don't turn N-Gage v2 into another sidetalkin' fiasco.

Nokia outs HSDPA 5320 and 5220 XpressMusic candybars, wake us when it's the Tube

by Thomas Ricker posted Apr 22nd 2008 at 3:18AM

While we patiently wait for Nokia's current, "no major new products" fiscal quarter to expire, we'll have to trudge through releases like these 5320 (left) and 5220 (your other left) candybars. As members of the XpressMusic range the devices themselves are fine. Unfortunately, fine isn't going to win back that 1% lost market share. The 3G HSDPA 5320 (€220 / $351) features dedicated music and N-Gage gaming keys, a 3.5-mm headphone jack, up to 24-hours of play time, up to 8GB of expandable storage, and a "Say and Play" voice controlled playlist; speak the name of the artist or song you want and the phone will play it. The (€160 / $255) 5220 removes the HSDPA but adds a lanyard... hoorah!? Expect both to land in Europe sometime in Q3 2008.

Gallery: Nokia outs HSDPA 5320 and 5220 XpressMusic candybars, wake us when it's the Tube

Nokia's new N-Gage gaming service goes live

by Donald Melanson posted Apr 3rd 2008 at 2:37PM

It's apparently saving the full, official announcement until Monday, but Nokia just dropped word on its N-Gage blog that the final version of its new N-Gage gaming service / application is now live and ready for your taking. To take advantage of that right now, however, you'll need an N81, N81 8GB, N82, N95, or N95 8GB handset, although Nokia says that support for additional N-Gage compatible devices is "coming soon," including the N73, N93, and N93i. If that doesn't preclude you, you can download the application straight to your device from Nokia's mobile site (n-gage.mobi/d), or you can hit up the link below to download it the old fashioned way.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Nokia bringing N-Gage beta testing to an end, dishes out free game

by Donald Melanson posted Mar 20th 2008 at 12:28PM

Well, it looks like we're now one step closer to a full-fledged launch of Nokia's N-Gage First Access service, with the company announcing today that the beta testing phase will end on March 27th. As was announced before, that means all your scores and other data will be reset and, while you won't have to repurchase any games you've bought during the beta test, you will have to reinstall them when the final version launches. As a bonus for beta testers, however, Nokia is giving away a free copy of the upcoming Mile High Pinball game to anyone that completes a survey, along with 1,000 "community points." There's still no firm word on the rollout of the final version of the service, however, with Nokia only going so far as to say that it's coming in the "next few weeks."

[Via All About Symbian]

Future N-Gage titles could utilize integrated GPS, camera

by Darren Murph posted Mar 3rd 2008 at 4:38PM

Truth be told, we could sort of see this one coming -- after all, why wouldn't N-Gage developers seek to use a handset's built-in functions to enhance gameplay? Nevertheless, the folks at Nok Nok were able to pick the brain of Will Shen, N-Gage Head of Production in North America, and found out quite a few tidbits about the future of the platform. Reportedly, Mr. Shen went so far as to confirm that it is "looking at creating games that harness the power of [a mobile's] built-in camera, GPS receiver and any relevant skill [that it] may possess that could help inspire and execute innovative games." Granted, location-based titles aren't anything new in the grand scheme of things, but Shen also noted that his team is looking to "focus on innovation" rather than "gimmick gaming." Marvelous -- now let's get this stuff rolled out en masse, shall we?

Nokia launches user created "Yamake" games on N-Gage -- bye bye Gizmondo v2

by Thomas Ricker posted Feb 14th 2008 at 3:46AM

Sorry Gizmondo, your dreams of a resurrected user generated gaming platform were just usurped by Nokia. Straight outta Espoo comes Nokia's Yamake (a mashup for "you make the game") for their N-Gage platform. With it, Nokia says players can "create their own games" from a range of "mini games" by adding user generated text, pictures, sound clips and movies. Games can then be shared via the N-Gage Arena and via MMS between N-Gage compatible S60 devices. The press release specifically mentions the creation of mini games "such as" pictures puzzles and quizzes -- so no, we're not looking at user generated, 3D first person shooters upon initial release. In fact, without any images or video to accompany the press release, Yamake sounds more like a user customization platform than game creation platform. Still, we'll cut them some slack as they get this off the ground. One thing seems pretty clear though, this ain't your mama's sidetalkin' N-Gage; Nokia is playing for keeps this time around.

N-Gage First Access hacked for N95 8GB, others

by Paul Miller posted Feb 6th 2008 at 8:29AM

That didn't take long. A mere day after the release of Nokia's N-Gage First Access gaming preview exclusively to N81 users, the app has been cracked open to work with any N-series device with enough horsepower. The hack was performed by Nokia regular P@sco, and comes in a convenient downloadable form, or an only slightly involved guide to hacking the app yourself. No rocket science here, and while we're sure Nokia could easily fight back, what we've really got to ask ourselves is why didn't Nokia just open it to everyone in the first place?

[Thanks, Michael J.]