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PayPal confirms it isn't trying to acquire Pinterest right now
PayPal has stated that it's "not pursuing an acquisition of Pinterest at this time," effectively denying rumors of an imminent $45 billion acquisition.
Biggest US coal miner bankrolled anti-climate change groups
The wealthy using its money to suppress (or avenge) inconvenient truths is nothing new, even if nobody thought to use a washed-up pro wrestler for cover until now. But there are far worse things for a one-percenter to do than force Gawker into bankruptcy, such as helping to push the planet towards a preventable ecological crisis. The Guardian has found that Peabody Energy, America's biggest coal mining company, used its cash to bankroll an enormous and diverse group of pro-carbon lobby groups and scientists. The now-bankrupt firm is accused of funding what one source described as "the heart and soul of climate denial."
The Daily Grind: Do you tend to believe dev statements?
Lord of the Rings Online community manager Rick Heaton created a stir recently when he said that raiders are few and far between in Middle-earth. After he explained that Turbine's data show raiders, PvPers, and forum posters as tiny fringe groups, he ended his announcement with the following statement. "I fully appreciate and understand you won't believe a word of this. That's perfectly fine. It doesn't change the facts of the matter." Predictably, a slew of comments ensued in which Heaton was accused of lying. Plenty of commenters, both on the Turbine forums and here on Massively, then posited that of course there are no raiders because LotRO's raid content sucks, Turbine's definition of "raider" is different from the commonly accepted definition (whatever that is), and dozens of other reasons. Which leads to an interesting question regarding official dev statements. Do you tend to believe them? Even when they irritate you or don't align with your personal wishes for a given game? 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!
Drama Mamas: 20 signs it's time to leave your guild
Many of the letters the Drama Mamas receive are from players who don't actually have a problem they need or want to solve; they're simply seeking support and permission to move on. Boy, is it tough to let go! People naturally feel trepidation about leaving a known environment, even when it's the very thing making them unhappy. We cling to the familiar, losing sight of the fact that if we change nothing, nothing changes. Sometimes, though, the best thing to do is to calmly pick up, dust off, and move on. While the columns we've linked below don't necessarily represent times the Drama Mamas thought moving on was the best or only solution, they do illustrate the tangle of denial many players find themselves in over circumstances that are right there in black and white. You know it's time to move on when ... Your guild condones or even promotes public drama. Your guild has no firm rules. You're expending emotional energy to tolerate an atmosphere that doesn't fit what you want from a guild. You've made it a rule to refuse to group or speak with a guildmate who plays with you frequently. You don't actually play with the people in your guild -- and you're lonely.
Samsung's spoiler-police reveal how it kept the Galaxy S III a surprise
Samsung has opened up about the measures it took in order to maintain secrecy in the run up to the launch of the Galaxy S III. The project was so top secret that engineer Buyong-Joon Lee even flatly denied what he was doing to his 11-year-old son. Inside the labs, handsets were moved between facilities in locked boxes, while the prototypes were personally delivered by a globetrotting executive to network partners. The company went as far as producing three entirely different models, each one constructed as if it was the final product, so the team had to build and rebuild components to accommodate each design. Spare a thought for the procurement department, which had to rely on written descriptions of the handset in order to set the price and buy components -- enabling that May 3rd launch to go off with its surprises intact.
Microsoft says Office for iPad story is based on 'inaccurate rumors and speculation' (updated)
The Daily got a lot of folks hopes up earlier today with a rumor that Office would soon be making an appearance on the iPad, but Microsoft is now throwing a bit of cold water on that news. While it's not exactly an outright denial that such an app is coming, a Microsoft spokesperson has now told The New York Times' Bits website that "The Daily story is based on inaccurate rumors and speculation," adding only that it has "no further comment" at this time. ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley, however, is further reporting that Microsoft is specifically saying that the screenshot accompanying The Daily's story is not a real picture of a Microsoft product. Update: For its part, The Daily is standing by its story. Editor Peter Ha posted a reply to Foley on Twitter, stating that "we did not fabricate either image. A working version of the app was demoed to us by someone at Microsoft." Update 2: Microsoft has chimed in yet again on the matter, this time in the form of a tweet that reads: "Great respect for The Daily but regrettably someone is giving them bad info, and that'll be clear in the 'coming weeks.'" Yes, they put "coming weeks" in quotes themselves.
Australian High Court just says no to Apple appeal, Samsung breathes a sigh of relief
First, Apple got Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 banned from Oz, then Sammy got the temporary injunction lifted. Undaunted, Apple vowed to appeal the Korean company's victory to the High Court of Australia, and today, The Register reports that the court has denied Apple's appeal. Details are sparse as to why Cupertino's arguments were unpersuasive, but one thing's for sure: Samsung's going to have a much more merry Christmas as a result of its latest legal victory. [Thanks, Jeremy]
Samsung pulls controversial Anymode Smart Case, says it never received certification
The Anymode Smart Case for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 may bear a suspicious resemblance to Apple's iPad 2 Smart Cover, but Samsung insists it had absolutely nothing to do with it. In a blog post published today, the company responded to allegations that it tried to market a Cupertino rip-off, claiming that the accessory never received official "Designed for Samsung Mobile" certification. Samsung went on to point out that none of the cases have actually been sold, while confirming that it's "working with Anymode to address this oversight." In the meantime, the contentious Smart Case has been removed from Samsung's Anymode's site, meaning we can finally return to leading healthy, productive lives.
Spring Design denied injunction on sales of Barnes & Noble Nook
This shouldn't be seen as an indicator of future rulings, but Spring Design has been denied its injunction to halt Barnes & Noble from selling the Nook. According to court documents, there is "genuine dispute" over whether the Nook was derived by Spring Design's contributions or was independently developed prior -- in a nutshell, there's no way for the court, or anyone at this point, to know what's really going on here. The creator of Alex, who as we've previously chronicled had many behind-the-scenes meetings on developing the Android-assisted e-book reader before BN pulled out of the deal, can take solace in an expedited pre-trial process to accommodate for an earlier hearing date. So now the only thing stopping Barnes and Noble from selling Nook is... Barnes and Noble itself. Turns out that's a pretty formidable foe. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime squashes Wii HD rumors... again
Oh, brother. Here we go again. Just over a year after Nintendo's own Reggie Fils-Aime denied the existence of a forthcoming Wii HD, the bigwig is having to make that very same denial again. Naturally, a few new rumors of an HD-enabled Wii have surfaced since that fateful day in October of 2008, and with the recent price drop, it made sense to think that the Big N might actually be looking ahead. Instead, it seems that it's perfectly content selling hundreds of thousands of consoles that want nothing to do with modern amenities like "HDMI," "1080i" and "things that the PS3 and Xbox 360 have offered since day one." The man's exact quote? "I don't know how forcefully we can say there is no Wii HD." And Reggie, we don't know how much more forcefully you can continue to break our hearts.
Microsoft: 'We have no plans for Blu-ray on Xbox 360'
A recent Gizmodo sit down with Steve Ballmer led with a headline exclaiming a Blu-ray add-on for Xbox was coming. See, when Ballmer was asked about making the Xbox a home theater companion of choice and where Blu-ray might fit in, the Windows 7 wild man said, "Well I don't know if we need to put Blu-ray in there -- you'll be able to get Blu-ray drives as accessories." He then added that on-demand is the future of movies, not physical media. Now our bud Major Nelson, Director of Programming for Xbox Live, has stepped up to lay the conflation to rest. The Major says that Ballmer was referring to Blu-ray accessories for the PC and reiterated Microsoft's focus of bringing instant-on 1080p streaming movies to the Xbox 360. So... that should end speculation of Blu-ray on Xbox right? Not if history serves, nope.
Plastic Logic deflates dreams, denies Spring 2010 release for color e-reader
We had a sneaking suspicion that it was too good to be true, and now Plastic Logic has stepped forward to officially kill our pipe dreams. Just days ago, the web was set ablaze when a Barnes & Noble representative mistakenly (or deliberately, for all we know) stated that a Plastic Logic-sourced color e-reader was on track for a Spring 2010 release. Today, the aforesaid outfit has stated that the video report was "inaccurate and the individual (who was apparently filmed while attending a trade show was not an authorized Barnes & Noble spokesperson) was misinformed." Continuing on, we're told that while "color is on Plastic Logic's roadmap, it is not on the map for the Spring of 2010." Welp, that settles that... unfortunately.[Thanks, Charlie]
LG denies withdrawing from plasma market... in the UK, anyway
Take this as you will, but George Mead, the Marketing Manager for Digital Displays at LG Electronics UK, has informed T3 that LG Electronics UK has no intention to withdraw from the plasma TV market." To be perfectly clear here, this statement probably is in relation to UK market plans only; after all, those words from company VP Lee Gyu-hong were pretty strong. At any rate, Mead continued by noting that "we have recently implemented a bespoke strategy to promote and market plasma TVs here in the UK," but he failed to specifically touch on LG's worldwide plans (and understandably so). So yeah, it looks like LG PDPs are still safe for the moment across the pond, but we wouldn't be so sure about the rest of the developed world.
Microsoft denies Xbox 360 Blu-ray reports yet again
We're beginning to lose count of how many times we've been around this carousel, but just in case you thought yet another rumor would bring the Blu-ray-infused Xbox 360 any closer to reality, Microsoft's out to put the kibosh on your wildest hopes and dreams. Following up on the latest round of whispers that surfaced last Friday, Redmond proclaimed to GamePro: "As we have stated, we have no plans to introduce a Blu-ray drive for Xbox 360." The statement also noted that "games are what drive consumers to purchase game consoles, and we remain focused on providing the largest library of blockbuster games available." Right -- which totally explains your prior relationship with HD DVD.
Palm says Foleo still on schedule... for Summer
It seems possible that Palm took our advice when we asked the company to "stop keeping us in the dark," because the last few days have been filled with transparency. The latest bit of see-through from the PDA-maker comes today in the form of a denial concerning the recent Barron's news that the company's sorta-kinda-laptop, the Foleo, would be delayed due to syncing problems. According to Palm's director of communications, Jim Christensen, "As stated on May 30, U.S. availability for the Palm Foleo mobile companion will begin this summer. We will let you know if this changes," which runs contrary to rumored street dates for the laptop, and to what Deutsche Bank analyst Jonanthan Goldman reported on Wednesday. The company has had its share of activity over the past two weeks, including solid news on the tiny new Centro (AKA the Gandolf), rumored delays for the Foleo, and of course our gentle prodding. We can only hope all this movement, good or bad, is working as a wake-up to Colligan and co.
Sony skirts around PSP redesign issue
There seem to be some lines getting crossed out there in game news reporting land about the redesign of Sony's PSP. Sony isn't "denying" the PSP remodel at all. They are merely saying they haven't "announced" anything and that the reports fall under "rumors/speculation" territory. Just because Sony has a blog now and journalists don't have to call Sony spokesman Dave Karraker every five seconds -- which we're sure he's thrilled about -- it doesn't mean reading comprehension should be turned off while checking Sony's blog. Just because it's written doesn't mean it isn't exactly the same thing we'd listen to by calling and hearing, "We don't comment on rumor and speculation." Maybe it was because Sony labeled the post "MythBusters," which imparts the idea of a declarative and final statement on the matter. The simple fact of the matter is the actual statement is the same spin we get every time a company isn't ready to "announce" something. The Sony post could also be translated as saying, "We still have hardware on the shelves that we'd love to sell."The guys over at PSPFanboy have a Sony tech video that just adds a little bit more fuel to the possibility of a PSP redesign. Look, it's great that Sony finally got on the blogging bandwagon and is releasing information that way, but they're obviously still learning. It's hard for a company to play loose like a blog without becoming dodgy or outright lying when an issue like this arises. Is a PSP redesign in the works? Could be yes, could be no. Was that statement in any way a denial of a PSP redesign despite its "MythBuster" headline? That's a definite no.
FCC denies Comcast's CableCARD appeal
Chalk another one up for the FCC, as its chairman Kevin Martin slapped down Comcast's waiver to continue deploying specific Motorola, Scientific Atlanta, and Pace Micro Technology set-top boxes right on through the July 1 deadline. Contrary to the wishes of the cable provider, the FCC showed no mercy, and continued to insist that customers should be issued a new digital STB with CableCARD slots as scheduled. The cable provider stated that it would "seek full Commission review," and if that didn't work out, it just might clash with the Federal Communications Commission in court. Comcast claims that the costs to implement such a change, in addition to eventually phasing out all analog transmissions, places an unfair burden on the consumer (of all people), and even proclaimed that the rejection of the waiver would mean that "millions of American consumers won't have the opportunity to enter the age of digital television easily and affordably." Although the ruling has been made, the FCC will very likely be hearing from Comcast again regarding the issue, and also has eight other cable / telecommunications providers to deal with that have filed similar requests, which it probably doesn't think is very Comcastic at all.
