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Wrath of the Lich King maps
Wrath of the Lich King information is really flooding in. For the latest bit, let's take a look at some of the new maps in the game. These were obtained through a variety of sources and are 100% real, all right from the beta. Click through our gallery to see them all – including nice high res versions. You'll notice three maps missing - The Storm Peaks, Icecrown Glacier, and Dalaran. Those maps are not done yet. There are some composites that other sites have put together via the mini-map from the data files, but they're neither finished nor "normal" maps.I like the Stormwind Harbor one the best, if only because the Stormwind map hasn't changed in all these years and it's odd to suddenly see it different. The one I enjoy the least is the Borean Tundra, the color scheme doesn't sit well with me. It looks like...well...I'll let you all draw your own conclusions.Enjoy the maps! And stay tuned to WoW Insider all weekend, we've got some great content lined up for you. %Gallery-28087%
Ron Paul march in Azeroth
Here's video via Gamepolitics.com of the march that took place last night in Azeroth (a.k.a. the World of Warcraft) to support Ron Paul, a Republican candidate for the president of the United States. We originally reported on this topic over at WoW Insider (which, if I may say so, was one of the reasons so many people showed up), and we'll have more coverage of the march last night there soon.But while Gamepolitics gives a good man-on-the-scene writeup, they also avoid the real question here: does real-world politics belong in a world like Azeroth at all? No one questions it when politicians show up in Second Life-- in fact, the few Second Lifers I know take it as a badge of honor that their world is important enough to host those folks. And certainly there are places where politics don't belong-- on WoW's roleplaying servers, discussion of the real-world is a no-no.But let's not forget that we players aren't just avatars in a game- we're real people with opinions of our own to express, whether they be political or otherwise. Whether they should have or not (and many players on Whisperwind, where the rally took place, where extremely unhappy with the queues and congestion on their server last night), they expressed those opinons last night.Update: Looks like Paul also wins the presidential naming race.
Rhapsody users experiencing login issues?
Though not what we'd deem "common," outages extending beyond a few hours have been known to happen to the services we love so dearly, and it seems that some Rhapsody users have become the latest to fall victim to an inexplicable lapse in service. Over at the Real forums, a number of customers have been unable to sign into their accounts for up to two days, and no amount of chicanery has solved the quandary. To make matters even more frightening, many are getting a message that their account simply is nowhere to be found, and customer service doesn't seem to be getting anyone very far. Also curious is the fact that new accounts (as in, ones created while current customers are unable to login) seem to be working just fine, but we here haven't personally experienced any of the login difficulties. What gives? Any of you out there pulling your hair out over this? Got a secret for getting logged in that you'd like to share?[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]Update: This in from Real: "Our engineer and support staff became aware of a login issue affecting a small number of users yesterday. They're hard at work to fix the problem for the folks being affected." No ETA for the fix though, and it definitely sounds like more than just a few users, but your mileage may vary.
RealNetworks lays off a hundred employees
Around a hundred employees at RealNetworks are dealing with the news that their job is no longer available, and about 35 of those positions were in Seattle, Washington while the others were in Asia / Europe. According to company spokesman Bill Hankes, the firm made cuts "across the board to reduce redundancies built up as a result of six acquisitions made over the past two years," and he also added that these were the "first layoffs the company has made since those purchases." As it stands, around 1,700 employees are left, and no further job cuts are "planned."[Via PaidContent]
TiVo picks up Rhapsody support, learns to love music
Yep, TiVo is re-announcing support for Rhapsody today, finally ready to roll out to Real / TiVo crossover customers. Real's hardware integration list, which includes iRiver, Nokia, SanDisk, Sonos, etc., gets finally getting another notch in the bedpost, and you get to thumbs up / down your music selections (thanks, TiVo peanut) couchside. It doesn't sound like you can do much more than stream tracks and Rhapsody radio from the cloud, though, so if you're expecting some crazy TiVo-centered device syncing or portable media integration, think again. And say, while we're on the topic of TiVo updates, not that we want to look a service-supporting gift horse in the mouth or anything, but we're still waiting for TiVoToGo and TiVoToComeBack for our Series3s and HDs, y'hear TiVo?%Gallery-8280%
A few words with Real's Rob Glaser about Rhapsody America
We got a few minutes to chat (once again) with Real's Rob Glaser today, who was kind enough to answer a few lingering questions about Real's freshly announced music alliance with MTV and Verizon called Rhapsody America. On Urge and integrating with Rhapsody, "The Urge brand will be retired... but we wanted to be welcoming and loving to existing Urge subscribers" who are now making the migration to Rhapsody. On Rhapsody and MTV's strange bedfellows partnership: "Philosophically we have very similar views...", Real intends to leverage "MTV's expertise in genres and content curation", but technologically Real's Rhapsody platform will continue to be what the venture builds off. For example, one unannounced iteration of that integration would be with "MTV's Top 20 video countdown -- you'll be able to see the countdown and get music directly in Rhapsody." On PlaysForSure: "PFS is a legacy system that Microsoft abandoned when they went to Zune." With the Clix2 Rhapsody, Real and iRiver "picked up the mantle of innovation that MS chose to abandon." Will real continue to support PFS? "Yes, as long as there is a high volume of devices and we can extend them, we see no reason to stop supporting the legacy architecture." On DRM-free music sales: "We think in the long term DRM-free music delivers the best consumer experience, solves the interoperability problem, and better connects with consumers psychologically." Damn skippy.
MTV and Real flesh out a few Rhapsody America details
Cross-marketing is great and all, but we'd rather know how we factor into this new partnership between MTV, Real and Verizon Wireless. Turns out a few things will be changing from the get go. For one, Urge customers can dive into Rhapsody starting today, using their existing login info to get their feet wet in the #1 subscription service. Rhapsody users will also be enjoying a bit of MTV, VH1 and CMT content, but it's not perfectly clear what or when they'll be getting it. Real also confirmed that it'll be keeping its current partnerships with the likes of Best Buy, SanDisk and TiVo. For Verizon's part of the action, they'll be giving you Rhapsody versions of your over-the-air purchases in a few months. Otherwise, the future is unclear. According to the press release, Rhapsody is "the exclusive digital music service for Real and for MTV Networks' premier music and pop culture brands in the United States." That said, MTV hasn't really said anything too solid on its exit from Microsoft cahoots with its current Urge offering, so we'll just have to wait and see how this all pans out.
Universal and Rhapsody launch DRM-free partnership "test"
Rhapsody America (the new Real / MTV partnership) wasn't the only thing that Real had up its sleeve today. Hot on the heels of the Universal snubbing of iTunes, and consequent announcement that the company would begin selling music via other outlets, comes today's news that the Rhapsody / Universal Music partnership has officially launched, at least in a limited "test" form, with the aim of selling UMG's catalog of thousands of tracks -- sans DRM -- via the Real Rhapsody service, charging $.89 per song for subscribers and $.99 for non-subscribers. Currently, only a select group of artists are up for grabs, including 50 Cent, Amy Winehouse, The Pussycat Dolls, The Police and Johnny Cash, though the plan is to make Universal's entire catalog available in the future. This announcement makes what we all knew was coming now abundantly clear -- the gloves have come off.
MTV, Real and Verizon Wireless join hands for new music service
According to the Wall Street Journal, Wal-mart's welcome entry into DRM-free MP3 sales isn't the only thing going on in the online music space this morning. Apparently MTV and Real have decided to team up against Apple's juggernaut, and will be announcing a merged online store at 11AM ET today. They've even got Verizon and Vodafone signed up for mobile distribution, says the Journal. At this point it's still unclear how this will impact MTV's Urge partnership with Microsoft, and Real's Rhapsody service, but we just hope they're aware of the fact that things are basically looking DRM-free or bust at the moment, 'cause the market really doesn't need too many more also-rans.Update: We're tuning into the press conference call as we speak, so standby for updates. MTV, Real and Verizon are launching a new integrated music service. MTV and Real are spinning off a new company called Rhapsody America, partnering with Verizon Wireless. V CAST as mobile platform. Rhapsody America will by run by Urge's Michael Bloom. Kicking off marketing at MTV Video Music awards September 9th. Verizon promises 8GB of phone music storage this year, and 16GB in 2008. Most likely refers to removable storage via (micro)SDHC, since they mentioned a current 4GB cap, and don't offer any 4GB phones. Not just songs, the service will also include ringtones, album covers, ringback tones and music videos. Urge is sticking around on Windows Media Player 11 until further notice, they're currently in talks with Microsoft. Over-the-air downloads likely to be "important part of the service going forward." Emphasis is on being able to access your music collection wherever. All of Real's DRM-free efforts (including the Universal DRM-free trial launch today) will be included in Rhapsody America. They think 2008 is when DRM-free will start to go mainstream. Will most likely support subscription and purchase models. No word on price or when the service is going to be available.
iriver and Real team up for clix Rhapsody
It always warms our hearts to see some solid device / service integration on the non-Apple side of things, and now iriver and Real are getting all cozy with the new clix Rhapsody player. Based on the gen 2 clix PMP, the player includes Rhapsody-specific functions such as album art and editorial reviews, along with features to let you to rate songs on the device and discover new music via personalized channels that get loaded each time you hook up to the service -- similar to what can be found on the Sansa Rhapsody. The player costs $190 for 4GB of storage and is available now online, but the best news is a firmware upgrade available at iriver's site that brings all these functions to your current second-gen clix for free.
Found Footage: Possible video taken by iPhone?
Could this possibly be the first video taken by an iPhone? Over at iPhone Matters, Gregory Ng posts that he received a copy of this video from an Apple Store employee in California. In the video, you can see what appears to be an iPhone appearing on the iMac screen as recorded by its iSight. The video is not the highest quality and Ng writes that the sender compressed the video before sending it over email. What do you think? Real or hoax? Thanks to Hadley Stern Real iPhone Video or not? Looks real to me It's a hoax, dudes Not sure Huh? The iPhone does video? pollcode.com free polls
Apple and friends hit with C&D for "actively avoiding" use of DRM tech
Here's a new one on us. Instead of suing companies for infringing on its patents, like all the cool kids are doing, Media Rights Technologies has sent cease and desist letters to Apple, Microsoft, RealNetworks and Adobe for "actively avoiding" the use of its technology. According to MRT, the DMCA's language on copyright protection circumvention -- defined as "to descramble a scrambled work, to decrypt an encrypted work, or otherwise to avoid, bypass, remove, deactivate or impair a technological measure, without the authority of the copyright owner." -- requires those companies to use its product, since its X1 SeCure Recording Control technology has been proven to plug the "digital hole," and therefore allows them to uphold the DMCA. "We've given these four companies 10 days to talk to us and work out a solution, or we will go into federal court and file action and seek an injunction to remove the infringing products from the marketplace," says CEO Hank Risan. RealNetworks spokesman Matt Graves calls the letters "a rather novel approach to business development," and lawyers are calling the effort "out there" and "a play for publicity." We call it a riot, and while it's not likely to go far -- not even the far-reaching and vaguely worded DMCA is likely to hold this one up for long -- we're at least grateful to MRT for mixing things up a bit in the boring old tech lawsuit game.
iTunes to get subscription service by year's end?
This rumor is just about as old as iTunes itself, and while it has remained fairly dormant due to Steve's insistence on maintaining the oh-so-lucrative existing model, the subscription-based iTunes question has somehow surfaced again. According to Les Ottolenghi, CEO of INTENT MediaWorks, Apple could be leaning towards implementing such a service "within the next six months," and even went so far as to suggest we not believe any Apple-based denials that could potentially follow. Interestingly, several analysts even suggested that subscription-based systems haven't garnered much fanfare simply because the head honcho in digital music distribution isn't playing along. Unfortunately, no hints were dropped in regard to future pricing schemes, but you'll only be waiting about half a year to find out, anyway.[Via Digg]
Japanese hardware sales, Mar. 19 - Mar. 25: April Fools edition
Did we say April Fools edition? We meant completely real edition. This weeks numbers, for whatever reason, are slightly unusual, so we've coupled a short explanation for each system in the chart. - Atari Jaguar: 1,989,323 1,989,322 - In a startling turn of events, the Atari Jaguar received an unbelievable resurgence in popularity. Its success can only be attributed to a flash mob, who thought it would be funny for a bunch of people to raid a warehouse and purchase a bunch of systems wholesale.- Wii: 134,257 9,834 - The Wii continues to sell well. In related news, mysterious living-room related deaths are rising rapidly.- PS3: 70,942 20,771 - The PS3, despite continuous bad press, continues to grill burgers with the best of them. George Foreman's stock is rapidly falling.- PSP: 38,211 4,032 - Poospe?- PS2: 37,778 7,110 - While 37,778 units were sold, it turns out that only three were sold to people who weren't replacing a broken one.- Xbox 360: 14,170 3,173 - Has anyone else noticed this heat wave lately? We're looking at you, power bricks.- Gamecube: 666 666 - Oh my God. Run.- GBA SP: pi e - Lawl. Pi + e = Pie.- Xbox: i ... er ... ... dammit! - Remarkably, the Xbox managed to sell an imaginary number of units last week. Whether this is better or worse than zero units, we're not sure.- DS Lite: 0 121,471 - Nintendo has a problem: everyone in Japan already has a DS Lite. Didn't see that one coming ....[Source: Lamar]Check after the break for the totally fake numbers. Yep, not like the ones above at all. Really, really fake.
Ask PSP Fanboy: Volume 12
Every Saturday, PSP Fanboy will answer your burning questions. If you have a question for the team, send an e-mail to andrew @ pspfanboy.com with the subject "Ask PSP Fanboy."Q: Is there any way to watch YouTube (or a similar website) directly on my PSP with the web browser?A: No. Sony hinted that the functionality would arrive in a later firmware upgrade, but that hasn't happened yet. You have two options with YouTube: you can convert the videos and save them to Memory Stick, or you can use Remote Play. If it works for you, the Remote Play internet browser is able to stream Flash video to your system.Q: Are there any free programs which can change Real media files to be played on my PSP?A: People still use RealPlayer? The format, to my knowledge, is pretty much obsolete. You can use Media-Convert to try to use them, but remember: you can't convert DRM-protected files, nor can you convert files that have no video data in them. If your .rm file looks really tiny (just a few bytes), it won't convert.Q: Do you have any suggestions for any good games that utilize my router?A: The big one to get is probably Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops. Other candidates include SOCOM, Medal of Honor, Ratchet & Clank and Killzone: Liberation.
Rhapsody and TiVo team up for good times in the home theater
Those RealNetworks folks are all about sharing these days, with Sonos, Sansa, iriver and now TiVo integration for their Rhapsody music service. TiVo seems like a pretty natural fit, and it sounds like TiVo and Real are doing it right, allowing access to the entire Rhapsody catalog from any broadband connected TiVo in the home. The functionality is based on Real's Rhapsody DNA API, allowing the TiVo to stream songs and flag tracks for playback on the PC. You can also access your PC music library from the TiVo box, but don't get too excited: Rhapsody and TiVo won't be rolling this stuff out until "later this year."
Rhapsody hits the big 4.0
Along with all that SanDisk and Best Buy fraternizing that Real announced this morning, they've released the new 4.0 version of their Rhapsody music service. Perhaps the biggest change is under the hood: they're basing the player on the new "Rhapsody DNA," which is a technology platform that combines Real's Helix DRM, custom firmware for players (like the Sansa), and a web service API that allows for Sonos integration and other capabilities. What this means for the consumer is that Rhapsody 4.0 operates with the Sansa player in a much more integrated fashion than your average PlaysForSure syncing scheme. The new Rhapsody allows you to subscribe to genre or artist "Channels" which are automatically refreshed on your Sansa; drag and drop tracks into your library or onto the player; and create dynamic playlists that are, again, synced to your player automatically. There are other minor enhancements, mostly based around music recommendations, along with a decent facelift and a library import feature that can pull in stored music files, including files from "other services" -- which we're guessing refers to PlaysForSure files only. Prices are the same as ever: $9.99 for "Unlimited," and $14.99 for "Rhapsody To Go." Real is also promising week-early access to certain "hot new albums," and while all Rhapsody features will be available in the Best Buy Digital Music Store, there's going to be some exclusive content there as well. Real also announced today that they'll be pre-loading 30 hours of Rhapsody music onto all Sansa Rhapsody players sold.
SanDisk partnering with Real on Sansa Rhapsody line
Apple has certainly struck gold with its finely tuned iPod+iTunes system, and Microsoft is seemingly ditching that whole PlaysForSure effort in exchange for the upcoming Zune Marketplace, so RealNetworks has joined the bandwagon by narrowing its focus (and hopefully the scope of incompatibility issues) by teaming with SanDisk to produce the Sansa Rhapsody. While the company already nailed down a partnership with Slim Devices, it's now venturing into the saturated DAP market by co-engineering an e200 with specialized Rhapsody software -- dubbed Rhapsody DNA -- to ensure the device consistently plays nice with Real's services. SanDisk is looking to release 2, 4, and 6GB editions of the Rhapsody-friendly Sansas, as well as offering its expandable 8GB e280 model for those toting the heftiest of subscription playlists. Aside from the (supposedly) guaranteed compatibility, these special units will apparently come stocked with 32 hours of tunes from a plethora of record labels that goes MIA if not synced with a Rhapsody account within 30 days. While there's no hard deets on pricing nor availability, we don't envision SanDisk charging anything extra just for keeping it Real.[Via GigaOM]
Sonos and Rhapsody skip the PC with System Software 2.0
These lovebirds go way back, but now Sonos and Real are sticking it to the man with the new Sonos System Software 2.0 that does away with the PC for a middleman. You can of course do things on the regular with a clunky old beige box serving up your music collection and Rhapsody tunes, but now you've got the option to plug your Sonos system straight into the internets and browse Rhapsody from your Sonos Controller, without any messy peecees getting in the way. Sonos is hoping this'll be a hit with technophobic or overly busy baby boomers, who don't have the time and/or know-how to manage a music library on a normal PC. The 2.0 update also features musical alarm functionality, gapless MP3/Ogg playback, extra internet radio stations and other little tweaks. Another plus to the free update, which is out today, is a free 30-day trial to the Rhapsody service -- so you can get your baby boomer self going on for a whole month without dipping into that nest-egg just yet.
Rest of industry slowly catching on to Apple's music integration approach
RealNetwork's CEO Rob Glaser, always one to fire off a comment when he tricks himself into thinking the industry is listening, might be one of the first major partners of Microsoft to publicly express, erm, 'disappointment' with the Redmond company's all-in-one approach with their Zune music player and service, slated to be delivered... oh I dunno, some day: "We think this a case where our technology competitors, in this case specifically Microsoft, have literally thrown the baby out with the bath water." This might also be the first time Microsoft has been accused of literally throwing out a baby, along with other features and products, such as most of Vista WinFS.But here's the interesting part: Rob then goes on to threaten (hehe, isn't he cute?) that this gives RealNetworks the opportunity to go find other hardware companies who are "open to integrating tightly with our Rhapsody software platform". Discussion as to whether RealNetworks has even 1 full percentage point of the digital music market aside, it sounds like, after four years, supposed competitors to the iPod + iTunes platform (since when was Microsoft a hardware company?*) are catching on to the possibility that the whole 'integration' strategy Apple uses might actually be a good idea. However, time will have to tell whether this 9th inning enlightenment will pay off for any of these companies.[* - Microsoft's mice and keyboards (and possibly other peripherals) don't count. Last I heard, they're designed and built by HP.]
