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Guild Wars 2 dominates European sales
Guild Wars 2 is on a goodwill tour through Europe, and it appears that the crowds love ArenaNet's latest release. The fantasy title has topped the charts in not one, not two, but 10 countries in the region. NCsoft reports that Guild Wars 2 is at the number one sales spot for UK, Germany, France, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, and Belgium. And as the saying goes, when you win over Finland, you've won over the world. ArenaNet President Mike O'Brien is bowled over by the accomplishment: "Our games have always been well-received in Europe, but this level of enthusiasm is both awesome and humbling. It also impresses upon us the responsibility we have to our players and explains why we've taken steps recently to constrain sales of Guild Wars 2 to ensure the highest quality of service. Of course, we hope to remedy this in the near future." Even with ArenaNet temporarily halting sales from its website, Guild Wars 2 is selling strong elsewhere. Amazon currently has it at both the #1 and #2 position on its top video game sales chart.
Google Maps for Android adds turn-by-turn biking navigation, helps pedal-pushers in 10 more countries
Google's cycling directions have been slowly expanding their reach to the mobile world and other countries, but the only option for navigation so far has been to memorize the route. As of today, you won't have to stop every five minutes to get your bearings. Google Maps for Android has received a low-key update that adds spoken, turn-by-turn Google Maps Navigation for riders in every country where biking directions exist -- if you can clamp your phone to your handlebars, you can find your way. Many more riders are just seeing mobile support of any kind in the process. Both navigation and regular directions should now be live in the Android app for 10 more countries, including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. Cyclists just need to swing by Google Play to keep their two-wheeled adventures on track.
HBO and Fox cut a deal to keep the movies flowing through 2022, HBO Nordic launches soon
Just in case you only thought Amazon, Netflix and Redbox were working the studio deals, HBO announced today it's worked out an extension of its agreement with 20th Century Fox. Already the "premium network home" of Fox flicks for more than 30 years, this deal is long enough to keep it going into the next decade. The LA Times reports from its sources the original deal would have expired in 2015, while the extension pushes it out to 2022 at a price of over $200 million per year. One key adjustment that's been made for the digital age gives Fox the ability to continue to sell its movies over digital stores even while they're airing on HBO unlike the previous deal, although we're told this provision does not extend to rentals during that time. That's on top of a previous tweak negotiated months ago that let Fox and other HBO partners provide digital copies of their movies on services like iTunes from the Cloud and Ultraviolet during the HBO pay window. One other note is that on the same day Netflix revealed its service is coming to several Scandinavian locales, HBO announced it's doing the same, launching HBO Nordic in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark.
Netflix Watch Instantly streaming coming to Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland this year
Netflix mentioned during its most recent earnings call that it had identified an attractive European market to launch its streaming video service in during Q4 2012 and now we know where that is: Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. There's no word yet on pricing or which devices the service will be available on, but Nordic viewers can expect the usual assortment of movies and TV shows for a flat rate, with many available in HD and surround sound. Judging by the languages of support personnel Netflix was looking for last year, Asia is next on its world domination map (after Canada, Latin America and UK & Ireland) although how investors will react to the hit expansion makes on its earnings in the short term.
Roskva electric motorcycle revealed in Norway with carbon fiber chassis and clothes
The choices in the electric motorcycle market just keep getting juicier, and while you'll still have to stick with the more established brands like Brammo, Zero or BRD if you're looking to make a purchase, a hot new prototype has just been unveiled that threatens to make them all look a little bit... pedestrian. It's called the Roskva from a team of five students at the University of Life Sciences (UMB) in Oslo, Norway. Like a MotoGP bike it has an all carbon fiber unified frame and bodywork that weighs less than 25kg and even rolls on carbon wheels. A 94HP motor provides the oomph and delivers a top speed of about 112MPH, with a maximum range of 62 miles. No word on when or if the thing might make it into actual production, but we can say for sure that there's a second picture of the thing just waiting for you right after the break, still in that same garage that is far, far neater than ours. [Image credit: Henrik Holmberg]
The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Oliver&Spike
Indie developers are the starving artists of the video-game world, often brilliant and innovative, but also misunderstood, underfunded and more prone to writing free-form poetry on their LiveJournals. We believe they deserve a wider audience with the Joystiq Indie Pitch: This week, Norway's Rock Pocket Games explores the universe in different dimensions through the eyes of a boy and his dog, with Oliver&Spike: Dimension Jumpers. What's your game called and what's it about?The game is called Oliver&Spike: Dimension Jumpers and it's, well, about Oliver and Spike (who is Oliver's loyal companion, a little British bull terrier) and dimension jumping. I can't really go into too much detail story wise, because the main objective is to help Oliver and Spike uncover the actual storyline, what happened in the past, what's going on right now and trying to influence the future. Describing it as a blend between old-school adventure and platform gameplay is probably the easiest way to answer your question.What inspired you to make Oliver&Spike?A documentary called Parallel Universes created in 2001 by BBC. The documentary has to do with parallel universes, string theory, super gravity and other theoretical physics concepts. It featured Michio Kaku, Paul Steinhardt and other physicists talking about gravity and physical laws and how gravity might not have originated on our planet, but might in fact be something that "leaked" through from another universe. This whole idea just lends itself perfectly to an exploration game with creative dimension-jumping gameplay mechanics.%Gallery-159711%
Microsoft and Nokia bring enhanced traffic data to Windows Phone, announce international plans
Cross-pollination is a beautiful thing. In the natural world, it brings bountiful harvests and pretty flowers. In the mobile world, we benefit from the sharing of ideas and technologies. Case in point is Windows Phone, as Microsoft has just announced that it's adopted traffic information from Nokia into the Maps app of its mobile OS. In addition to providing Windows Phone users in the US with more detailed overviews of traffic flows and congestion, the functionality will soon become available for many cities across the globe. Perhaps the move shouldn't come as a total surprise, as just last month, Microsoft revealed the inclusion of Nokia's "Where" platform within Bing Maps. As for future availability, citizens of Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom will benefit from the sharing of technologies within the next few weeks. For the moment, however, just hop the break, where you can see the before / after traffic data that's now available to Los Angeles residents.
Voddler's Lumia-exclusive video streaming app debuts for European Windows Phone users
Need an extra reason to give a Nokia Lumia some serious consideration? Today, Voddler has announced the official debut of its Windows Phone app for citizens of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Spain. Designed in conjunction with Nokia, the app is exclusive to Lumia owners and provides access to thousands of movies on demand. While many selections are available only as rentals, penny-pinchers will also find a wealth of free, ad-supported videos. Unique to this version, users may partake in a social feature known as Movie Night, which allows like-minded friends to schedule and coordinate movie viewing, chat and then review the flicks. Lumia users will also be treated to four months of Voddler Plus, a subscription service that eschews the ads of free titles and allows individuals to download movies for offline playback. Voddler Plus typically costs 79 SEK (€7.90) per month, so it's not a bad way to dip your toes into the water. Properly situated Lumia owners may download the app today in the Marketplace. For everyone else, feel free to dream of a life more Scandinavian in the PR after the break.
CloudOn launching its iOS, Android tablet apps in 16 more countries, Office hounds rejoice
Surprise, surprise, CloudOn has just opened a fresh can of tablet-friendly Office and is getting ready to deliver it outside of the US, UK and Canada for the first time in its relatively short history. The cloud-based service announced it's now launching its iOS and Android applications in 16 more countries, making it a total of 19 with the addition of the aforementioned trio. Some of the lucky nations include: Spain, Germany, France, Ireland, Italy, Israel as well as the Netherlands -- and, in case you had any concerns, the app is keeping its free-of-charge status, so no need to worry. In addition to the beefy global expansion, CloudOn also released a few productivity-focused tidbits, giving users the ability to open links straight from the browser, copy and paste between the different built-in apps, plus a drag-and-drop feature to move around files and folders within the application -- unfortunately, this last one's only available to those with a Cupertino device (at least for the time being). All that's left to do now is grab yourself a copy from one of the links below, and be sure to check the presser after the break to see if your country made the cut.
Norway's Zero team crosses Europe in hydrogen cars without a backup
It's not quite a trip around the world, but a trek that Norway's Zero team recently undertook in a pair of hydrogen-fueled cars is certainly an impressive enough feat in its own right. Late last month, they drove two Hyundai Ix35 FCEVs from Oslo to Monte Carlo (admittedly one of the easier ways to technically "cross Europe"), relying solely on the existing hydrogen refueling infrastructure -- that's as opposed to other trips that brought along fuel trucks as backup. As the team explains, the key to the trip was some careful planning at the outset, but they apparently still wound up cutting it close a few times, and were forced to put their hypermiling skills to the test. Not surprisingly, they found that the hydrogen infrastructure still needs to be considerably improved for such trips to become commonplace, but they seem hopeful that things could soon improve.
Refresh Roundup: week of March 26th, 2012
Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!
PSA: Get your new iPad today in Austria, Ireland, Mexico and many other places
If your homeland wasn't part of the initial iPad roll out we've got good news -- today is the day for iOS tabletry. Maybe. The latest slab of Retina display-equipped machinery out of Cupertino is landing in 25 additional countries today, including Liechtenstein and Luxembourg. So, if you haven't been waiting on line since the 16th in anticipation of this day, then go to your local Apple store to score one. Or don't. For the full list of countries check the PR after the break.
Google Maps delivers live traffic updates to Hong Kongers, Kiwis and Norwegians
If you're a Google Maps fan living in Hong Kong, New Zealand or Norway today's your lucky day, as the search specialists from Mountain View, CA have added live traffic condition information to the geographic platform. Those wondering just how dismal their evening commute will be can navigate to maps.google.com, or use the various mobile applications, to see the verdict. Google notes that the information is available for "major cities and highways" and that it is working to expand and improve reach over time. Don't be shy, hit-up your Maps medium of choice, drop the traffic layer into place and feast your eyes on the manifestation of urban sprawl.
The Gathering 2012 to bring world's fastest internet to Norway, leave Swedish laundry out to dry
Dreamhack's record breaking 120Gbps connection was fast enough to replace a certain household appliance, but next to what's Norway's cooking up it looks almost antiquated. The Gathering, Norway's annual week-long LAN party, plans to set a new world record for the "fastest internet access in the universe" with a 200Gbps connection. "No way we would let the Swedes keep the lead on this," says Gathering head of information Simon Eriksen Valvik, "we didn't just raise the bar a little, we moved it a story up." The connection is reportedly faster than the combined bandwidth of Thailand, and will be capable of downloading 5,120 songs a second. Don't bee too envious though, the ludicrously quick network is only temporary. Representatives from Altibox, the Norwegian network that's partnering with The Gathering to break the record, say that Norway simply doesn't have the capacity to support these kinds of speeds on a day to day basis. The gap is being filled with foreign internet capacity, piped in by Level 3. Tickets for the event are already sold out, so speed freaks desperate for the fastest internet in the universe will just have to settle for the fastest internet in the neighborhood. At least until next year.
Lilyhammer (or: 'Silvio in Norway') now streaming on Netflix
Lilyhammer, Netflix's first original series (shortly to be followed by the probably awful remake of House of Cards and Arrested Development season four) commenced streaming today. Little Steven (Van Zandt, of E-Street Band and Sopranos fame) plays wholly against type as a mafioso despatched by the witness protection program to Lillehammer. Unlike the HBOs and AMCs of this world, you'll be able to binge-watch the whole show as soon as you get in from work, just make sure the under-18s are in bed before you begin as freed from the network censors, it's a little coarse. Oh, and if you're wondering, those of us in the know have decided to nickname the show "Paulie Silvio in Norway," in the hopes that it'll catch on before the already confirmed season two begins filming.
Nokia acquires mobile OS outfit Smarterphone: because clearly, Windows Phone just isn't enough
Nah, neither MeeGo nor Symbian were robust enough to keep Nokia interested, but for whatever reason, a Norwegian mobile OS outfit by the name of Smarterphone has something that Elop and co. just can't resist. As the story goes, Ferd Capital has sold Smarterphone AS to Espoo's finest, and actually, the deal went down (all too quietly) back in November of last year. The company claims that it makes ultra-smart mobile operating system software for featurephones, enabling users to get a smartphone-like experience on "affordable hardware." Of course, we've all seen how well that kind of thing goes over in mature markets. Granted, Nokia's playing its hand in a great many locales, and there's certainly the possibility that this OS will gain traction in markets that were previously ruled by Symbian. Moreover, there's the possibility that Nokia simply wanted the talent that came with the company, and that it'll scrap the actual code as soon as it gets the new crew onboard. Neither company's coming right out and saying what their plans are, and no financial details have been disclosed, but something tells us you won't see the fruits of Smarterphone's labor on a Lumia device anytime soon.
The Game Archaeologist's excellent EverQuest Online Adventures: The memories
It's been a good month looking back at EverQuest Online Adventures, wouldn't you agree? Educational, almost. While this title is just about as far from the mainstream MMO eye as can be these days, it's heartening to know it's still out there, still running, and still capable of evoking fond memories from current and former players. While we did attempt to contact SOE for an interview to see if we could find out anything new -- or even old -- about EQOA, it failed to materialize. As a wonderful consolation prize, however, this week we'll hear from three players who have extensive experience in the game. So let's hit this column running and equip our +2 Ears of Paying Attention!
Norwegian bookseller begins selling e-books on memory cards, for some reason (video)
Literary changes may be afoot in Norway, where one bookstore is looking to drastically revamp the e-book medium. Last week, Norwegian retailer Norli Libris announced that it would begin selling books on small plastic memory cards that can be inserted into the backs of e-readers. Each card, known as the Digi Short, would contain a single file, allowing users to devour one publication at a time on their customized, Android 2.1-laced Kibano Digi Readers. Doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose of an e-reader? It certainly seems like it, though Norli Libris' Caroline Heitmann says the idea is to simply convert e-books into physical commodities, like their ancestors. Because of this, these one-hitters would be exempt from VAT duties within Norway, though Norli Libris says they'll likely be priced on par with their downloadable counterparts, which won't help the consumer much. The company hopes that this system will be adopted as an industry standard, though it's only available at Norli Libris for the moment. Head past the break for a rather obvious demo video.
Apple TV coming to seven more countries next week
Apple's little black set-top box is due to arrive in seven more countries next week, according to a release from Apple sent to MacRumors. Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland are all on the list of those receiving the device for sale, so if you're in one of those places and need more content on your TV, there you go. In Finland, the price will be set at €119 including the VAT charges, which is pretty standard for that region of the world. AppleCare for the units will also be available, for an extra €29. The Apple TV is a pretty popular device worldwide at this point, and adding these countries into the mix should make for even more growth for the unit. Not to mention that since Apple TV is rumored to get some form of iOS apps in the future, now's an excellent time to get in on the action.
Norwegian shops pull Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and other games after tragedy
Following the tragic attacks last month in Norway by Anders Behring Breivik, several retailers have removed games cited by the attacker from their stores. "In light of Friday's horrific events, and out of respect for those affected, we have chosen to remove selected items from our range," a spokesperson for Coop Norway told Danish site Gamer's Globe. Local Norwegian paper Rogalands Avis reported that while the removals are "temporary," Coop Norway will "think twice" about restocking the games, adding, "Others are better qualified than us to point to the repercussions these games have." UK site Thinq also reports that Norwegian store Platekompaniet has removed "certain games" from sale. The Coop-removed games include just about anything with the words "Call of Duty" in the title, including Black Ops, Modern Warfare 2, and World at War, along with other titles like Sniper: Ghost Warrior, Counter-Strike: Source, and World of Warcraft. This isn't a Coop-wide removal though; the chain in Denmark told Gamer's Globe that it hasn't removed any games and believed "that terrorism has been guided by motives other than computer game universes." Brevik's 1500+ page manifesto references many of the above games, notably calling Modern Warfare 2 part of his "training-simulation." [image credit: Flickr user potomo]
