2009
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Changes in rules come to the Guild Wars tournament series
Those of you who are highly interested in the competitive tournaments of Guild Wars might like to know that ArenaNet has recently posted a new version of the tournament series rules on their website.The tournament series are the monthly tournaments that take place in Guild Wars between eight member guild teams as well as one versus one battles. The tournaments not only pay out with recognition as being one of the best players or being a member of one of the best guilds in the game, but also with tangible rewards from the Zaishen faction. Some of the rewards include titles as well as special emotes and potions.The full list of rules can be found on the main Guild Wars site, under the competitive section. It's a long read, but a necessary one for anyone interested in participating in this year's tournament series.
DTV call center successfully handles influx of confused callers
Given that the expectation was for hordes of confused TV viewers to phone in over the past two days in order to ask why their local OTA station was suddenly unavailable, it's no shock to see a big deal made of successfully managing through it. For those unaware, 421 stations decided to go ahead with their originally planned DTV transition date of February 17th, and we're told that over 28,000 perplexed Americans dialed 1-888-CALL-FCC on Tuesday for assistance in getting their sets working. The call center was setup to handle around 100,000 calls on the day that US broadcasters were previously scheduled to go from analog to digital, but obviously, far fewer people either a) cared or b) needed help. See, that wasn't so bad, was it?
The original DTV transition: what could've been
Exactly one year ago today, we sat as prepared as ever to embrace the forthcoming world of digital TV. After February 17th, no longer would Americans have to suffer through yet another poor analog broadcast, and no longer would we have to wait for all that spectrum to be freed up for much more spectacular things. With just a year to go, we laid out a simple six-step program that would help confused TV watchers ensure that they would be ready on the seventeenth day of February, the year two-thousand and nine. Fast forward to this very moment, and confusion about the cutover is still rampant. In fact, the cutover hasn't even happened. Well, it sort of has. Ahh... see what we mean? Come along after the break, it gets crazier.
President Obama signs DTV delay bill into law
No way Obama was going to veto this after driving it all the way through Congress, but technically, the digital TV delay wasn't actually official until now. Late today, America's President signed his name onto the bill which will delay the digital TV transition from February 17th to June 12th, though a provision allows stations to switch over beforehand should they choose. In fact, hundreds of stations still plan to kill analog later this month, as they've been planning towards that date for years now. Honestly, we can't figure out what the purpose of this is. Unless there's more cash for the currently dry voucher program tucked away somewhere in that mind-bogglingly large "stimulus package," delaying the pain won't solve a thing. Though it will confuse the hell out of people, so there's that.
Verizon's LTE vendor partners to be revealed at MWC
Looks like Verizon's LTE (Long Term Evolution) service might be on track to launch this year, after all. Speaking at a Digital Broadband Migration event at the University of Colorado at Boulder, executive VP and CTO Richard Lynch said the company's in the final stages of selecting vendor partners, and they'll be announced at next week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. He also reiterated that service, which they've been trialing in conjunction with Vodafone, will co-exist with its current 3G platform. He said all vendors have been told that the they need to be and running this year. Hey fellas, let's not let Lynch down here.
Zip Express charges small fortune for DTV rescue service
We've long since known that professional installation services were, at least in large part, another form of highway robbery, but this is just absurd. Zip Express is looking to prey on the confused, unsuspecting geriatric set by promising to completely save one's TV from death and destruction by taking care of all of their DTV cutover needs. The price? Just $199, which includes a presumably well dressed individual connecting two wires on a $50 DTV converter box and promptly leaving. Oh, and for another Benjamin, you can get an undisclosed (but likely low-end) Logitech Harmony universal remote "installed and programmed." Shameful, yet clever. But mostly just shameful.
Poll: Do you agree with the DTV transition delay?
We've already expressed our feelings on the matter, but now we're tossing the question out for you readers to debate: are you kosher with the DTV transition delay? Even if it ends up costing taxpayers millions more dollars? We've heard very convincing arguments from both sides of the table, and while we'd prefer you all put partisanship aside and debate the matter based on principle alone, we aren't holding our breath. So, should we delay this thing in order to get more people prepared? Or should things have continued as planned in order to teach lollygaggers a lesson? %Poll-26020%
Stations can still yank analog plug this month, though many won't
Wow, this isn't confusing. At all. The on-again / off-again digital TV transition date -- which is now formally set for June 12th -- may or may not be honored by the hundreds upon hundreds of local broadcasters across America. You see, when Congress postponed the mandatory cutover date from its original place on the calender (February 17th), it also gave stations the option of sticking to that original date. Thus, what could end up happening is that half a city's local OTA stations would go all-digital in under two weeks, while the others delayed things until June. The good news is that most of the major US television networks (that's CBS, ABC, FOX and NBC) have reportedly decided to hold off until the new June date in order to prevent a chaotic series of events, but it's hard to say if each individual station will indeed abide. The bottom line? Get your converter box now if you need one, and if you're waiting around for one of those $40 vouchers, hats off to you and your patience.Read - Optional cutoverRead - Broadcaster intent
Senate okays another digital TV transition delay
Just to make sure that the digital TV transition gets delayed, the US Senate has approved another measure to postpone the transition date until June 12 and sent it on its way to the House of Representatives. If the House's mere indication that the delay would go through didn't dash our hopes of analog-free airwaves next month, the quick-fire nature of this second bill certainly did. Essentially the same as the first proposal, this version with minor edits cleared the Senate unanimously. With the House in recess until next week, we'll have to wait for any movement, but it's looking like we'll be stuck with analog for a while longer. Hopefully, this whole mess will be resolved, because the longer it goes on, the more people will become confused, and maybe join the 22-percent of Americans who are planning to give up on TV altogether.
Qualcomm could suffer from digital TV transition delay
We're honestly beginning to wonder: can Qualcomm catch a break? Between the years of fighting with Nokia and the absolutely abysmal MediaFLO adoption rate, we're seriously beginning to consider that a Qualcomm curse isn't too far from the realm of possibility. With the announcement this week that the impending digital TV transition could be pushed from late February to June 12th (though it looks as if the House has halted those plans for now), Qualcomm has begun to wail. In essence, this delay -- should it still go down -- will force the firm to continue paying fees to broadcasters in order for it to have almost immediate access to vacated analog waves as soon as the cutover takes place. The tab? COO Len Lauer says it'll be in the "tens of millions of dollars," and that's not counting lost revenue that it was surely expecting to pick up between March and June. Here's hoping one of those "breaks" finally catches up with it here.
Digital TV transition delay bill fails to pass in House
In an absolutely shocking move, the United States House of Representatives has failed to pass the digital TV transition delay bill that was all but certain to fly through just days ago. The bill needed two-thirds of the votes of the House under "special rules adopted for the vote," and reportedly, the vote was just 258 to 168 in favor of changing the date. As it stands, an estimated 6.5 million Americans are not yet prepared for the switch -- which is now back on track for February 17th -- and the money well for government-issued vouchers has ran dry. Honestly, we're elated to hear the news. The February date has been blasted from the rooftops for years now, and changing it this late in the game would wreak all kinds of havoc in the industry, not to mention instill even more confusion. Soon-to-be-vacated airwaves, we're ready for you. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Senate okays digital TV transition delay to June 12th
We knew it was bound to happen, and sure enough, it's happening. For the millions of Americans still waiting for their $40 voucher before buying one of those newfangled DTV converter boxes, the US Senate has just given its stamp of approval on providing them a four month reprieve as it attempts to get its act together. Oddly, there's no mention of Congress looking for new sources of funding, though we are told that consumers holding expired coupons can now request new ones. We suspect more details will flow out on all of this soon, but for now, you can bank on the digital TV transition -- originally scheduled to go down on February 17th -- now occurring on June 12th. Until it changes again, of course.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Digital TV transition postponement all but certain
We're actually having a hard time believing this ourselves, but word on the street has it that the Senate is "on the verge of passing a bill that would delay until June the date when TV stations must broadcast in all-digital format." Without Congressional action, all TV stations will switch off their analog signals on February 17th -- a date that has been blasted out to the general populace for years now. The issue is that millions of Americans are currently on a waiting list for one of those $40 vouchers, and evidently it'll take a few more months to get additional funding and clear the backlog. It's expected that the new switchover date will soon become June 12th, and you can find all the fine print just down there in the read link.[Via TVWeek, thanks Vanbrothers]
Reminder: Q1-2009 conference call liveblog, today at 5 p.m. ET
Just a reminder: Be sure to come back today at 5 p.m. Eastern (that's 2 p.m. Pacific) for Apple's First Quarter 2009 Results Conference Call. We'll be liveblogging the occasion, with contributions from your favorite TUAW bloggers, and yours truly. Apple is streaming audio from the call here. A recording of the call will be available at that page for a few weeks afterward. Fortune's Apple 2.0 blog has its roundup of projected Q1 sales numbers from Bernstein Research's Toni Sacconaghi and Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster: Mac sales. Munster: 2.5 million to 2.6 million. Sacconaghi: 2.57 million. iPod sales. Munster: 18.6 million. Sacconaghi: 18.1 million. iPhone sales: Munster: 6.4 million. Sacconaghi: 3.5 million to 4 million. In related news, AAPL hit a two-year low yesterday, closing at its nadir of $78.20 per share. Also, Bloomberg is reporting that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will review Apple's 10-K filing from last year. Apple hasn't been accused of any wrongdoing, but Bloomberg says the SEC wants to make sure investors weren't being misled about Steve Jobs' health. (Via Macworld.) More coverage of the earnings report is available at our sister site Blogging Stocks.
Wii Warm Up: Is Sega right?
Sega recently made some opinionated claims toward the Wii and the future to the tune of "it's all about the hardcore" and "casual games are dumb." We're paraphrasing a bit, but you get the idea. When stacked side-by-side, the amount of core titles to casual titles isn't very comparable. But does the Wii need more core games in 2009? Is that the best approach for a third party on the Wii? What do you all think?
HTC has high hopes, expects double-digit growth in '09
HTC had a comfortable year in 2008, thanks to a pretty solid lineup of sets, and, of course, the T-Mobile G1 launch in October. While competitors like Sony Ericsson struggle, Peter Chou, HTC's president predicts that while things will be a bit tough in the short term, he's still confident of double-digit growth this year. With whispers of some more HTC "Android-ness" at Mobile World Congress this year, we expect they're bound to be getting a lot of press, and a lot more interest from people looking for a Windows Mobile alternative. HTC's revenues were up 28.65 percent this year, and with hints of what's to come, if we were betting types, we'd side with Peter.
Verizon CEO joins AT&T in backing digital TV delay -- as long as it's short
After initially opposing the Obama administration / Jay Rockefeller digital TV delay -- pushing the analog TV shutoff date back from February 17 to June 12 -- Verizon CEO Ivan Seiderberg has jumped on board with competitor AT&T in support of the plan. Considering Verizon just dropped $9.63 billion on the soon / not-so-soon to be vacated airwaves for its 4G wireless rollout this is an interesting position to take, but it appears that as long as the delay is a mere 115 days he can join AT&T ($7 billion or so invested) in waiting for the DTV converter coupon program to work itself out. Of course, if anyone wants to take advantage of the extra time to subscribe to FiOS or U-verse, we're sure that wouldn't be problem either.
DS releases for the week of January 19th
For those of us in the United States, this week may be notable for more than video games, despite the debut of the fascinating Big Bang Mini ... and that may not even be limited to us! Well, Big Bang Mini is, but the news goes everywhere.Of course, if you think about it, so do DS games, if you want to pay international shipping. If you want an Obama DS Lite, well, you've gotta do that yourself. Big Bang Mini Jumble Madness SimAnimals Gallery: Big Bang Mini
A look at the MMO coming attractions in 2009
Now that we're comfortably settling in to our new digs at casa de 2009, it seems like the best time to reflect on what we have to look forward to in the coming year. Eurogamer has done the dirty work for us, as they've compiled a handy article detailing the coming attractions.All Points Bulletin tops their list as the star attraction, citing enthusiasm for the GTA-style action and depth of customization. SOE's The Agency and Free Realms, along with Cryptic's Champions Online and NetDevil's Jumpgate Evolution round out the remaining top spots on this list, for varying reasons. Some honorable mentions include Aion, Darkfall, EVE's Walking in Stations expansion, Earthrise, Global Agenda and many more expected to see the light of day this year or next. Will all of these games actually make it to a 2009 release, or will 2010 truly be the year of epic MMO launches?
Obama's administration supports June DTV transition postponement
Well, wouldn't you know it. It seems like West Virginia senator Jay Rockefeller has the same idea as the Home Theater Specialists of America (HTSA), as he introduced legislation on Thursday that would effectively postpone the digital TV transition from its current date of February 17th to June 12th. On top of that, John Podesta -- the co-chairman of Barack Obama's transition team -- has issued a letter to Congress signifying that the president-elect supports the aforementioned proposal. The delay would supposedly give the government more time to find funding for the now 2 million-deep voucher waiting list, and we're told that House lawmakers are "considering similar legislation and may schedule a vote as soon as next week." Here's a thought -- why aren't we spending our time getting the money now and keeping the confusion to a minimum?
