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Dave Perry details Gaikai's server plan, teases E3 announcement
Dave Perry is dreaming big with his Gaikai streaming service. He went into a little more detail on just how it will at work at today's LA Games Conference. The company is still planning to kick off its service with 300 data centers, and while he admits it will have "much more traffic than the servers can handle," Gaikai will limit early users to those closest to the centers. If you're close enough to the server to have only about 5-10 milliseconds of lag, you'll get in. If not, Perry told Joystiq, then you won't even see the embedded window -- but your request will be logged anyway. That way, he said, Gaikai will be able to track not just where people are using the service, but where they want to use it. If a bunch of users in Alaska try to play, but can't connect because they're too far away, then "we know we're losing money in Alaska," he says, and Gaikai will set up more datacenters there. Perry says Gaikai will help with security as well -- he suggested that companies might even be able to release their E3 demos to the world just during the week of the event, allowing press or the public to play them online for a limited time, with the code securely held on Gaikai's servers. It's all speculation at this point, though -- a service like that won't be ready to go by this year's E3 in June. But stay tuned anyway: Perry also promised us an announcement about Gaikai at E3. "We got some cool stuff to show off," he confirmed with a knowing nod.
What could your business do with 20 iPads? Box.net & TUAW want to find out
The application period for the Box.net iPad offer has ended. Stay tuned for more on the progress of the experiment soon! There are plenty of cloud storage and collaboration services that sound good in an elevator pitch or seem promising when sketched on the back of a napkin; precious few ever really get working at a scale and sophistication that truly can make a difference for the vast majority of users. One service that has the track record to claim that crown (not to mention a long list of happy customers) is Box.net, which has been pushing bits and making friends since 2005. Beyond the web-centric file storage and laundry list of distributed applications that Box offers, there's an item of keen interest to iPhone and iPad users: the new and improved Box.net app, which gives you easy and rapid access to your entire file library on the go. You can also find Box.net API support in apps like Goodreader, giving you plenty of options when it comes to getting at your stuff. With all this mobile support in place, it's interesting to think about the usage scenarios and new solutions that businesses could devise ... if only they had some iPads, and some help. Wouldn't it be exciting to experiment? And wouldn't it be that much more exciting if, say, the iPads were free? The hunt begins for one fortunate firm that's ready to answer the question "Is the iPad ready for business?" Box.net is offering 20 iPads and a Box business account to the company that comes up with the best fit and workflow for how your business would take advantage of the iPads and the collaboration tools. In 200 words, in the widget below, upload a text or Word file with your rationale, and put your contact info/company name in the description field. If your story resonates, your shop may benefit. The Box account lasts a year, and the iPads are yours to keep. Meanwhile, TUAW will be checking in with the winning firm frequently through the course of the program, sharing the lessons learned and the experience gained with other would-be iPad adopters in the business world. We'll be chatting by video, visiting the office (geography permitting), and helping share your stories during the year to come. Full details and FAQ are here. Give it a shot -- you could find yourself sitting atop a stack of 20 iPads. Disclaimer: Box.net is the sole administrator of the iPads for Business program and will determine all the conditions and requirements of participation. TUAW is not responsible for the iPads for Business program and cannot answer questions or provide support for any device or application on the iPads. No advertising contract or financial relationship exists between TUAW and Box.net.
Super Mario Galaxy 2 introduces 'Cloud' power-up
No, this new power-up won't give Mario spiky blond hair and a giant sword. Instead, the Cloud power-up from Super Mario Galaxy 2 appears to give Mario the magical ability to walk on clouds. Judging by this image from the Official Nintendo Magazine, these are the happiest clouds ever. They love being stepped on! It's clear that Mario's return trip to the stars will have no shortage of new (and returning) gameplay gimmicks. In addition to floating in the sky, it seems Mario can also turn into a boulder, ride dinosaurs, and drill through planets. The only thing he can't seem to do is his job. What happened to that plumbing gig you had, huh? This leaky pipe isn't going to fix itself, you know. [Thanks, Fernando!]
Google Cloud Print service aims for unified, universal web printing method
So you've seen how Apple intends to handle printing on its web-centric mobile device, now how about Google? The Mountain View crew has decided to solve one of Chrome OS' significant shortcomings -- namely the lack of a printer stack or drivers -- by interposing itself between apps and the printing hardware. Essentially, when you want to print you'll be sending your request over to a Googlestation up in the clouds, which in turn will translate those instructions and forward them along to the nearest paper tarnisher. We say nearest, presuming that's what you'd want, but the big deal here is that you'll be able to use any device to print on any printer anywhere in the (internet-connected) world. It's quite the brute force approach, but at least it assures you that whether you're using a mobile, desktop or web app, you'll be able to print without fear of compatibility issues. This project is still at a very early stage, but code and dev documentation are available now. Hit the source link to learn more.
UBS analyst praises new MacBook Pros and approaching clouds
The sun had not even set on Tuesday when UBS analyst Maynard Um expressed his pleasure over Apple's new MacBook Pros. "The MacBook Pro refresh positions Apple well heading into the education and back to school spending seasons," said Um, adding that Macs are still a critical part of Apple's growth, and that most financial expectations for the company could prove conservative. Um is expecting something else on top of the hardware, or over it really. In the note he reiterated his firm's view that Apple is working on its very own cloud service or services. His forecast: "We envision a service that allows access to media-focused content of iTunes, user-generated content of MobileMe and social networking integration from any Apple product," meaning Maynard sees Apple-branded clouds on the horizon, and those -- he thinks -- will lead to the sale of more Apple hardware. Um maintained his "Buy" rating on Apple shares and his price target of $280. [via The Mac Observer]
Rumor: Cloud-based iTunes delayed until summer
Ever since Apple bought music-streaming service Lala, rumors of a cloud-based solution for iTunes have been floating around. And unfortunately, we don't have any official news on that yet (I know I'd use it -- I already share my library to all of my computers in-house anyway), but we do have more rumors. "Music industry sources" have informed CNET that there is a cloud service in the works, but that it's been delayed until the summer at least. There's no information about why, but apparently the delay came from Apple -- the company told music industry executives that the service wouldn't be ready until the third quarter of this year. I'll wait -- having an iTunes service that could send my music library to any computer I own (or even my iPhone or iPad -- drool) would be awesome, but of course there must be lots and lots of technical and bandwidth issues to work out at least. So if you are expecting to see a cloud-based service from Apple in the future, you can at least stop frantically refreshing the iTunes page until sometime this summer.
Steamworks adding microtransactions, upped cloud storage limit
As the company itself puts it, "Want to offer your customers a scabbard for their sword? New tires? The latest in night vision goggles? Now you can!" It seems that while we were all up in arms about the added Mac client for Steam and Epic Games giving away its SDK to Steam devs, Valve also slipped out software developer support for microtransactions, not to mention a 100 fold increase in cloud storage limits (from 1MB to 100MB per game). Joystiq's PC-centric sister site Big Download noticed the additions in a PDF that Valve recently released on an overview site, detailing the changes coming to the Steam digital distribution client in 2010. As for the microtransaction update, Valve promises users the ability to "buy and instantly use the items they want –- all without leaving the game," perhaps opening up the gate to free-to-play/microtransaction-based games on the service. And, maybe more interestingly, leaving open the possibility of free-to-play games based in the Source and Unreal game engines. [Via Big Download]
Gaikai's Perry says OnLive pricing is a 'shot in the arm'
Though we weren't particularly thrilled to hear about game streaming service OnLive's $14.95 monthly user fee, there's at least one guy who's totally excited for it: Dave Perry, the frontman for competing service Gaikai. "We were just as surprised as everyone else when we heard the final business model," Perry told GamesIndustry.biz. "That's why it's a shot in the arm to us, because now we're just perfectly positioned." If it sounds like corporate chest-beating, that's because it totally is. But there's a nugget of truth in what Perry says; even though he neglected to discuss the OnLive Game Portal, which seems to more closely mirror his service. Haven't you been a bit less interested in OnLive since you learned you'd have to pay $15 a month for the privilege to buy and retain ownership of games?
OTOY to launch in 'Q2 2010' through AMD partnership
Y'know, OnLive and Gaikai aren't the only game-streaming services on the block. OTOY has been laying low for a minute, but the "other" game streaming service has finally made its big announcement: it's going to release in Q2 2010. In fact, OTOY isn't just a service for streaming games; there are now claims of streaming movies, PC applications and "other graphically-intensive applications" to any mobile device with a web browser. OTOY will employ AMD Fusion Render Cloud technology, a CPU/GPU server platform that will stream games straight into your see pee youz through the company's software suite. And if you have no idea what that means, check out a demo of the service right here, courtesy of TechCrunch -- basically, it's like playing games on your computer. What a novel idea! [Via Big Download]
Google Apps Marketplace opens for business, for business
Google's certainly made some enterprise inroads with Google Apps, and now it's opened the door for other cloud-based service providers to build on that success: it's launching Google Apps Marketplace to sell third-party web apps that integrate with the Apps suite. The apps are sold as a subscription, with both monthly and annual pricing, and the billing is all handled by Google. Since it's all targeted at the enterprise, the apps themselves are pretty dry -- we're talking notables like Intuit Online Payroll, eFax, and TripIt -- but it's pretty easy to see how Google could build a similar consumer-level marketplace into Gmail and Google Calendar sometime in the future. And then? Skynet. Video after the break.
Steve Ballmer emphasizes importance of the cloud, Google pretty much does likewise
Microsoft has had its run-ins with the cloud before, but if CEO Steve Ballmer is being serious (and we're guessing he is), the company is about to get even more connected. Speaking with computer science students this week at the University of Washington, Ballmer was quoted as saying that "a year from now... 90 percent [of Microsoft employees would be working in the cloud]." He went on to say that the cloud base "is the bet, if you will, for our company," and he noted that it'll "create opportunities for all the folks in [the] room to do important research and build important projects." It's not like any of this is an epiphany, though; we've already seen a shift to Google Documents given the ability to access it from any web-connected computer, and with the proliferation of broadband on the up and up, it's only a matter of time before it's more convenient to open a web app than to wait for your taskbar to stop bouncing. In related news, Google Europe boss John Herlihy has essentially mirrored those thoughts, calling the desktop an item that will be "irrelevant" in three years. Why? Largely because most everything you'll need a tower for will be available via a mobile or the web, but we all know that sect of hardcore gamers will keep the beige boxes rolling for at least another score.
Cloud Strife hacked (and slashed) into Smash Bros. Brawl
Up until today, our biggest problem with Super Smash Bros. Brawl has been that it doesn't have enough introspective, spiky-haired RPG protagonists. That's all changed, thanks to a group of modders known as DasDonkey Team and Kitty Corp: Meow Mix. Final Fantasy VII protagonist Cloud Strife -- along with his trusty Buster sword -- has been faithfully recreated in surprising detail here in Nintendo's franchise fight-em-up with custom animations and attacks. We won't pretend to understand the motivation behind the implementation (with these mods, we so seldom do), but hey, we're not complaining. The more, the merrier! Head past the break to check out some video of Cloud in action. [Via GameVideos]
Apple rumor roundup: pipe dreams, Lala's role and Verizon's iPhone 4G
In case you haven't noticed, things are getting out of hand in the world of Apple rumors. Frankly, it's all we can do to read another one and trudge onward, but hey -- we've no problem with folks putting their reputations on the line here. Let's dig in to the latest pair, shall we? The rumor: Apple's acquisition of Lala will actually lead to customers having access to an "online locker" for multimedia. This could be a cloud storage location for one's iTunes library, enabling them to have access to their jams and vids even when away from their at-home storage. The trick is that the cloud would only hold the metadata, and streaming would originate from somewhere else on Apple's end. Our take: Okay, so we want to believe. Just imagine if your next Apple tablet or iPhone knew exactly what songs you owned in iTunes, and at a moment's notice, you could tap into the iTunes store and stream full, unedited versions of those songs from anywhere. Amazing, no? Problem is, the bulk of iTunes libraries aren't made up of content that was purchased in iTunes (or purchased at all). It seems that the best Apple could do would be to negotiate streaming deals for content you've actually purchased within iTunes, which results in a half-baked user experience. Last we checked, Stevie J wasn't much on half-baked user experiences. The rumor: Astoundingly, the mythical Apple tablet won't be the company's "one more thing" next week; instead, it'll be a refreshed iPhone... that works on Verizon Wireless. Oh, and iPhone OS 4.0. So says Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek, anyway. Our take: Ha! Apple has never been one to showcase too much at one time, and we're guessing that the outfit would be smart enough to withhold a new iPhone introduction for a separate press event. We don't doubt that a Verizon iPhone is in the works (though an LTE version will be at least a year or two out), but there's no way Jobs steals the tablet's thunder by giving every rabid iPhone user hot sweats when considering the switch to Big Red. Bottom line? Don't bank on it. At this point, we reckon everyone would be best served by taking a huge step back, a deep breath and one of those so-called "chill pills." Next Wednesday ain't so far away, now is it?
OnLive Beta gets a preview, lukewarm approval
We've now pretty much reached saturation point with OnLive demos, so it's good to finally see an independent set of eyes poring over the service and giving us the lowdown on the actual user experience. Whether you call it on demand, streamed, or cloud gaming, the concept is remarkably simple -- OnLive pumps games via a web browser onto your machine and gives you the full gaming experience without the need for all that pretty, but expensive hardware. PC Perspective's Ryan Shrout "found" a login to the Beta program and has put together a very thorough comparison between OnLive and playing the games locally on the same computer. His conclusion is that latency issues at present make an FPS like Unreal Tournament unplayable, but slower input games like Burnout Paradise or Mass Effect give pleasingly close renditions of the real thing. We encourage you to hit the source link to see side-by-side video comparisons and more in-depth analysis. Update: We had a feeling this one would be kinda controversial and sure enough OnLive and Pc Per have gotten into a bit of a sparring match. Steve Perlman has noted the paramount importance of latency in a blog post, subtly hinting that Ryan was too far out to have a valid experience, while Ryan has responded that he'd be happy to test it on servers local to him if OnLive were up for it, and again reiterated his purpose was to stimulate discussion more than it was to give a definitive judgment on what is still a Beta service.
MyDitto is the cloud-accessible NAS for people who don't know what NAS stands for
There are plenty of ways to get your datas online, more coming online by the moment, but if you're the type who doesn't know your WAN port from a MAC address you're probably looking for the most straightforward solution. As of now the myDitto from Dane-Elec looks about the simplest. It's a dual-bay device that can manage RAID 0 or 1, also sporting a pair of USB ports for when internal storage just won't cut it and DLNA and iTunes support for media accessibility. If you don't know what any of that means here's the important bit: to access that storage all you need to do is connect it into your network and then plug a myDitto USB key into any internet-attached machine. Then, hey-presto, your storage will be accessible and you won't have to configure a thing. In practice these fire-and-forget sort of implementations can often create more headaches than they solve, but if this one works it could be an ideal way for non-networkers to get networked. Mind you, at $249 for a 1TB model that simplicity will come at a premium when it launches in March.
Airstash brings wireless storage to iPhone
In 2007 I thought that my 8GB iPhone was as large as I would ever need. Two and a half years later and I've already filled up the 16GB storage of my iPhone 3GS. Enter AirStash, an expandable flash drive (via SD memory) that you will be able to access from your iPhone. Simply plug AirStash into your Mac, drag and drop some files to the mounted volume, and head then out the door with AirStash and iPhone in your pocket. How the technology works is currently unclear (expect to see a demo at CES 2010), but a logical solution would be that AirStash automatically syncs its contents with an off-site server -- similar to what Dropbox does today. If it truly is as portable as that, it will obviate Dropbox's (and MobileMe's) need to install any client software if you are, for instance, using a friend's computer. Personally, I'd like to see Apple purchase Dropbox and turn MobileMe's cloud storage into something usable; but in the interim, I'm excited by the prospect that AirStash provides. [via Engadget]
Apple allows Google to use Lala
We're not sure how Apple plans to utilize its recent acquisition of Lala, but BusinessWeek reports today that Apple does plan to let Google keep utilizing the service. Google unveiled its own music search service in late October, which is backed by Lala. "We have enjoyed a good relationship with Apple for many years, and that continues to be the case," R.J. Pittman, Google director of product management, told BusinessWeek. "We are agreeing to continue to leave the service as it is." An Apple spokesman declined to comment to BusinessWeek regarding the issue. There is already speculation that Apple's Lala purchase could lead to a web-streaming model for iTunes, which would directly compete with Google's service.
Palm and Sprint issue statement acknowledging Profile backup issue
Even in a world full of racket, it seems that the squeaky wheel still gets the grease. In yet another blow to this whole "cloud" agenda, a vocal segment of Palm users began to notice that information transferred from their online Palm Profile was only a fraction of what it should have been. Today, both Palm and Sprint have issued a joint statement acknowledging the issue and promising to work much, much harder in order to avoid having something like this ruin your life once again. To quote: "We are seeing a small number of customers who have experienced issues transferring their Palm Profile information to another Palm webOS device. Palm and Sprint are working closely together to support these customers to successfully transfer their information to the new device." Between this mess and the T-Mobile fiasco, we're pretty certain we're being forced to stay on the manual backup bandwagon for the foreseeable future. [Thanks, Mike]
Live from Google's Chrome OS project announcement
We're sitting in a very small, very colorful meeting room where Google's just minutes of away from giving us a glimpse at Chrome OS and announcing some launch details. Stay tuned! Update: It's over! Thanks for hanging out with us, and be sure to check out Google's videos in our summary post.
OnLive claims to run gaming service on iPhone
OnLive is a company that has been claiming to do the seemingly impossible -- they plan to set up a sort of "cloud gaming" console, where instead of hardware in individual houses (like we have now; you buy a console for your home), they'll have hardware over the Internet, and stream your game to you like watching television. All of the processing and coding will be done on a remote server, but with signals flowing from your controller, it'll seem like you're just playing Xbox at home. It all works in theory, but in practice, Internet connections aren't solid or stable enough to send commands and full HD video back and forth without enough lag to make things unplayable. Still, without actually releasing a product so far, OnLive claims they can do it, and now they're claiming to do it on the iPhone as well. AppleInsider reports that at a recent event in New York, OnLive showed off the same game service running on "2 iPhones, a tv, and a computer" simultaneously, with gamers on all the devices able to communicate and watch each others' gameplay. CEO Steve Perlman admits it's a "tech demo," but doesn't go into detail on what that means (it could simply be a demo running separately on the devices, to show what it would be like, or I've heard of OnLive events where the server is sitting in the room next door). And of course, there's no date or information on an actual release yet. OnLive's service definitely sounds possible someday -- as Internet connections get faster and hardware gets even cheaper, it's not a stretch to think we'll eventually move the heavy processor lifting to another location, leaving much tinier consoles and PCs taking up space on our desks and TV stands at home. But so far all it seems they've got is an idea (and the money that excited financiers have put into the project). We'll have to believe it works when we see it.
