expand
Latest
Dear makers: You have 3 days left to submit your project for a chance to win $20,000!
If you have a sweet pre-crowdfunding hardware project and haven't entered our Insert Coin: New Challengers contest yet, what are you waiting for? You only have until midnight EST this Friday, February 8th to get your entry in! Head on down to our submission form (and be sure to read the full legalese to make sure your project is eligible). You could win $20,000 at Expand, a review on Engadget and a nice promotional boost before you begin a crowdfunding campaign. One additional Reader's Choice Winner will receive $5,000 and an Engadget review. Ten semi-finalists will get exhibit space on our show floor and $1,000 to help them travel to San Francisco this March 16-17, and five finalists will also get a chance to demo their products live on stage to the in-person audience as well as the livestream viewers. If you don't qualify for our Insert Coin contest but still want to get your sweet product in front of the eyes of the Expand audience of early adopters and tech enthusiasts, we have very affordable sponsorship opportunities available. You can sign up for an Indie Corner table right here, and please give us a shout at sponsors [at] engadget [dot] com with any questions about participating in our exhibition hall. Read on for even more reasons to attend Expand...
Engadget Expand speakers, Round Four: Boxee, Samsung, Formlabs and LUNAR, oh my!
Thanks for joining us as we continue our unveil of the speaker lineup for Expand in San Francisco this March 16-17. We've got four more brilliant folks who will be gracing our stage to share with you: Idan Cohen: Co-founder and Chief Product Officer, Boxee Dennis Miloseski: Head of Design Studio, Samsung Design America Maxim Lobovsky: Co-founder, Formlabs Gerard Furbershaw: Co-founder and COO, LUNAR These smart speakers will be joining the action-packed roster we've announced so far: Chris Anderson: CEO, 3D Robotics and former editor-in-chief, Wired Yancey Strickler: Co-founder and Head of Community, Kickstarter Scott Croyle: Vice President of Design, HTC Tom Rivellini: Mars Science Laboratory Entry Descent and Landing Lead Mechanical Engineer at NASA/JPL Julie Uhrman: Founder and CEO, OUYA Ryan Block: Co-founder of gdgt Michael Laine: President, LiftPort Group Avi Reichental: President and CEO, 3D Systems Walter de Brouwer: CEO and Founder, Scanadu Veronica Belmont: Co-host, Tekzilla Gene Munster: Research Analyst – Devices & Internet, Piper Jaffray Steve Cousins: CEO, Willow Garage So what are you waiting for?! Go on with your bad self and get those tickets now! And don't forget... You have until this Friday, February 8 to submit your project for a chance to win $20,000 in our Insert Coin competition! If you're a company that would like to work with us on an exhibition or sponsorship level, please drop us a line at sponsors at engadget dot com (DIYers and small startups, please ask us about our new Indie Corner option!) If you're interested in speaking at the event, please contact expand at engadget dot com to inquire If you're a member of the media interested in covering Expand, please contact engadget at shiftcomm.com for more information.
Engadget Expand speakers, Round Three: Space elevators, 7 Minutes of Terror, and more!
We've been announcing our speakers for Expand in San Francisco this March 16-17, doling out the good news a little bit at a time. Today we have a whole new batch of awesome to unveil: Yancey Strickler: Co-founder and Head of Community, Kickstarter Steve Cousins: CEO, Willow Garage Tom Rivellini: Mars Science Laboratory Entry Descent and Landing Lead Mechanical Engineer at NASA/JPL Michael Laine: President, LiftPort Group In other words, come for the space elevators and crowdfunding, and stay for the 7 Minutes of Terror and sweet robots! And don't forget we'll also have drones, tricorders, Android consoles, founders, CEOs, builders, futurists and cool cats of all stripes in technology, science and beyond. We're working on the holograms and aliens, too. Seriously, you should come to Expand. It will be a good time! And don't forget... If you're a company that would like to work with us on an exhibition or sponsorship level, please drop us a line at sponsors *at* engadget *dot* com (DIYers and small startups, please ask us about our new Indie Corner option) You have until February 8 to submit your project for a chance to win $20,000 in our Insert Coin competition! If you're interested in speaking at the event, please contact expand *at* engadget *dot* com to inquire. If you're a member of the media interested in covering Expand, please contact engadget *at* shiftcomm *dot* com for more information.
Insert Coin: You have two weeks left to submit your project for a chance at $20,000!
Hey makers, tinkerers, and inventors -- have you entered our Insert Coin: New Challengers contest yet? Seriously, you could win $20,000 at Expand this March, a review on Engadget, and a nice promotional boost before you begin a crowdfunding campaign. What are you waiting for? We implore you to help us spread the word, so we can get the very best projects up on our stage for you (yes, you!) to vote on for a chance to win 20 grand. If you know anyone with a cool project in the works, or a friendly local makerspace, college campus or startup accelerator/incubator whose members might want money and exposure, please send them our way! We really want to give new inventors an extra boost on the road to success. The deadline for submissions is Friday, February 8. If you don't qualify for our Insert Coin contest but still want to get your sweet product in front of the eyes of the Expand audience of early adopters and tech enthusiasts, we have very affordable sponsorship opportunities in the Indie Corner section of our exhibition hall. You can sign up for a table right here, and please give us a shout at sponsors [at] engadget [dot] com with any questions about getting onto our show floor. Read on to find out who's speaking at Expand...
Engadget Expand Speakers, Round Two: Four more reasons you need to be there!
If you caught our first speaker announcement last week, you know by now that we're not referring to woofers and tweeters on our Expand stage this March -- nay, we we will have real live humans speaking words of inspiration and insider knowledge about the most interesting trends and topics in the technology world today. Beyond our hands-on exhibition floor and the Insert Coin hardware competition (have you gotten your entry in??), there will be two whole days of stage programming to get you fired up at Expand. We're excited to announce the next batch of speakers in the Expand lineup: Julie Uhrman: Founder and CEO, OUYA Veronica Belmont: Co-host, Tekzilla Walter de Brouwer: CEO and Founder, Scanadu Gene Munster: Research Analyst – Devices & Internet, Piper Jaffray Those fine folks will join Chris Anderson (CEO, 3D Robotics and former EIC, Wired), Ryan Block (co-founder, gdgt), Scott Croyle (VP of Design, HTC), and Avi Reichental (President and CEO, 3D Systems) at San Francisco's Fort Mason on March 16-17 -- and you should be there! You'll still got plenty of time to pick up your Early-bird tickets and join us for the big event. As always, stay tuned for more nuggets of goodness from the upcoming agenda, and be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ to be the first to hear any Expand-related news. Don't Forget... If you're a company that would like to work with us on an exhibition or sponsorship level, please drop us a line at sponsors *at* engadget *dot* com (DIYers and small startups, please ask us about our new Indie Corner option!) If you're interested in speaking at the event, please contact expand *at* engadget *dot* com to inquire If you're a member of the media interested in covering Expand, please contact engadget *at* shiftcomm.com for more information.
Don't miss these incredible speakers at Expand this March!
We've been itching to start telling you about the speaker lineup we have brewing for Expand this coming March (you've bought your tickets, yes?), and now that frabjous day is finally here. We don't want to spill all the proverbial beans at once, so we'll be giving you snack-sized peeks at the agenda as we go along -- there will be a lot to get excited about in the coming weeks as we get closer to the show. We're psyched to present the first batch of speakers in the Expand lineup: Chris Anderson: CEO, 3D Robotics and former editor-in-chief, Wired Scott Croyle: Vice President of Design, HTC Ryan Block: Co-founder of gdgt Avi Reichental: President and CEO, 3D Systems And that's only the beginning -- we've got lots more speakers to announce in the days and weeks ahead, along with fun reveals about what will be on our show floor for you to get your hands on. Be sure to stay tuned to our Expand hub for all the latest news, and of course follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ for insider info and special offers. See you in March! And don't forget... If you're a company that would like to work with us on an exhibition or sponsorship level, please drop us a line at sponsors *at* engadget *dot* com If you're interested in speaking at the event, please contact expand *at* engadget *dot* com to inquire If you're a member of the media interested in covering Expand, please contact engadget *at* shiftcomm.com for more information.
Today is your last day to grab Expand tickets at extra-early bird pricing!
That's right folks -- tonight, at 11:55PM PT, the special discount on Expand tickets is set to expire. Don't fret just yet, because you still have time to order tickets at the rock bottom price of $75, before they climb into the more expensive $100 price range. There, now our conscience is clear and we're confident that you'll use this information wisely. The Winners List You've been waiting for the announcement and now it's finally time to reveal the winners of the Expand Celebrates CES Sweepstakes. The grand prize winner of an expenses paid trip to Expand in fabulous San Francisco is none other than (...drum roll...) Rick F. of Minnesota! Our first prize winners of a pair of Expand tickets are Marcy C. of Ohio, Patrick L. of Texas, and Josh M. of Pennsylvania. Congratulations to all of our winners and a huge thank you goes out to everyone who entered. We'll have more giveaways in the weeks ahead, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled! And don't forget... time is ticking. Grab your tickets before the clock strikes midnight!
Expand Celebrates CES Sweepstakes: OFFICIAL RULES
Expand Celebrates CES Sweepstakes OFFICIAL RULES NO PURCHASE REQUIRED TO ENTER OR WIN. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. 1. ELIGIBILITY: Expand Celebrates CES Sweepstakes (the "Sweepstakes") is open only legal residents of the fifty (50) United States (including the District of Columbia) (excluding Puerto Rico, all United States Territories and Possessions and all Overseas Military Installations) who are 18 years of age or older at time of entry ("Entrants"). Employees of AOL Inc., and its advertising or promotion agencies, those involved in the production, development, implementation or handling of Sweepstakes, any agents acting for, or on behalf of the above entities, their respective parent companies, officers, directors, subsidiaries, affiliates, licensees, service providers, prize suppliers any other person or entity associated with Sweepstakes (collectively "Sweepstakes Entities") and/or the immediate family (spouse, parents, siblings and children) and household members (whether related or not) of each such employee, are not eligible. Subject to all federal, state and local laws and regulations. 2. SPONSOR: The Sweepstakes is sponsored by AOL Inc., 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003 (the "Sponsor"). 3. AGREEMENT TO OFFICIAL RULES: Participation in the Sweepstakes constitutes each Entrant's full and unconditional agreement to and acceptance of these Official Rules and the decisions of Sponsor, which are final and binding. Winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein. 4. ENTRY PERIOD: The Sweepstakes begins at 10:00 am PT on January 7, 2013 and ends at 5:00 pm PT on January 11, 2013 (the "Entry Period"). Entries submitted before or after the Entry Period will be disqualified. 5. ENTRY: During the Entry Period, follow @EngadgetExpand on Twitter and retweet the specific @EngadgetExpand Tweet as instructed. Submission will result in one (1) entry. Limit one (1) entry per person. The use of any agencies or automated software to submit entries will void all entries submitted by that person. 6. DRAWING: On or about January 14, 2013, Sponsor will select the name of one (1) Grand Prize Winner and three (3) First Prize Winners in a random drawing of all eligible entries received during the Entry Period. The odds of being selected as a potential winner depend on the number of eligible entries received during the Entry Period. 7. REQUIREMENTS OF THE POTENTIAL WINNERS: A Potential Winner is not a winner until s/he has returned all required documentation and eligibility has been verified by Sponsor. A Potential winner must comply with all terms and conditions of these Official Rules and winning is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements. A potential winner must respond to the notification e-mail within the timeframe stated in the notification e-mail and provide his/her full name, age and mailing address. Failure of a potential winner to provide this information within the stated timeframe will result in forfeiture of the prize. Except where prohibited, a Potential Grand Prize Winner must sign and return to Sponsor, within specified, an affidavit of eligibility, liability/publicity release and IRS W-9 Form in order to claim his/her Prize. The Grand Prize Winner's travel companion will be required to execute and return a Liability Release/Publicity Release within a timeframe to be specified by Sponsor. Failure to return documents as specified, or if prize notification is returned as undeliverable, will result in the Entrant being disqualified, and the prize may be awarded to a potential alternate winner in Sponsor's sole discretion. 8. PRIZES: One (1) Grand Prize Winner will receive a trip for two (2) to San Francisco, CA to attend the Engadget Expand event. Prize includes round-trip coach air transportation for two (2) from the major airport nearest the winner's residence to San Francisco, three (3) nights hotel accommodations (one room/double occupancy), ground transportation between the airport and hotel, two (2) tickets to the Engadget Expand event, and one (1) digital camera. Dates of travel are March 15-18, 2013 and are subject to change. Exact dates of travel to be determined by Sponsor. Grand Prize winner's travel companion must be 18 years of age or older. Any other costs and expenses associated with Grand Prize acceptance and use not listed herein as part of the Grand Prize including, without limitation, ground transportation not specified above, meals, beverages, luggage fees and gratuities, are the sole responsibility of Grand Prize winner. Approximate Retail Value ("ARV") of the Grand Prize is $2,600. Actual retail value of prize may vary depending on point of departure, travel dates and fare/rate fluctuations. All travel arrangements must be made through the Sponsor or Sponsor's designee. The winner must be able to travel when designated by Sponsor or the prize may be forfeited and an alternate randomly selected winner may be chosen. The winner is responsible for any federal, state and local taxes and fees associated with receipt or use of a prize. The winner and his or her travel companion must travel together on the same itinerary and possess all required travel documents, if and as applicable. It is the responsibility of the winner and his/her companion to provide proper documentation (including government issued picture identification). All aspects of the travel portion of the prize must be conducted on such dates as determined by Sponsor in its sole and absolute discretion. The dates of departure and return are subject to change at Sponsor's sole and absolute discretion. Airline tickets are non-refundable/non-transferable and are not valid for upgrades and/or frequent flyer miles. All airline tickets are subject to flight variation, work stoppages, and schedule or route changes. Sponsor reserves the right to structure travel route and select hotels in their sole and absolute discretion. The winner will not receive cash or any other form of compensation if actual travel costs are less than the estimate made in these Official Rules. The round trip air transportation element for the prize begins and ends at the point of departure. The prize is subject to seat and hotel availability, as well as Sponsor's terms and conditions generally applicable thereto. If in the judgment of Sponsor air travel is not required due to winner's proximity to prize location, ground transportation will be substituted for roundtrip air travel at Sponsor's sole and absolute discretion. The difference in value will not be awarded to the prize winner. Sweepstakes Entities shall not be responsible for any cancellations, delays, diversions or substitution or any act or omissions whatsoever by the air carriers, hotels, venue operators, transportation companies, prize providers or any other persons providing any prize-related services or accommodations. Sweepstakes Entities are not liable for any missed prize events, opportunities or expenses incurred as a consequence of flight cancellation/delay or ground transportation delay. No refund or compensation will be made in the event of the cancellation or delay of any transportation or other prize element except at the sole and absolute discretion of the Sweepstakes Entities. Winner and companion are also responsible for obtaining travel insurance (and all other forms of insurance) at their option and hereby acknowledge that Sweepstakes Entities has not and will not obtain or provide travel insurance or any other form of insurance. The winner may be required to provide a credit card at the time of hotel check-in. Travel companion must execute liability/publicity releases prior to issuance of travel documents, within a timeframe to be determined by Sponsor. Once travel companion is selected, they may not be substituted, except in Sponsor's sole and absolute discretion. Travel is subject to the terms and conditions set forth in this Sweepstakes, and those set forth by Sponsor's transportation carrier(s) of choice. Lost, stolen or damaged airline tickets, travel vouchers or certificates will not be replaced or exchanged. Transportation carrier and hotel regulations and conditions apply. Travel and lodging are subject to availability, and any changes made to either of these will be at the expense of the winner. If, for whatever reason, the event is cancelled or rescheduled after the tickets are ticketed, no compensation will be paid in lieu of any cancelled or rescheduled event. No responsibility is assumed by Sponsor if event is cancelled, rescheduled, delayed or postponed, in whole or in part. Unused tickets cannot be refunded or exchanged. In the event a prize winner (and/or his or her companion if applicable) engage in behavior that (as determined by Sponsor in its sole and absolute discretion) is obnoxious, inappropriate, or threatening, illegal or that is intended to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other person, Sponsor reserves the right to terminate the trip or other applicable experience early. Three (3) First Prize Winners will each receive a pair of tickets to the Engadget Expand event. ARV: $150. Specifics of all prizes are in Sponsor's sole discretion. No cash or other substitution may be made, except by the Sponsor, who reserve the right to substitute a prize with another prize of equal or greater value if the prize, or a portion of the prize, is not available for any reason as determined by Sponsor in Sponsor's sole discretion. Winner is responsible for any taxes and fees associated with receipt or use of a prize. 9. GENERAL CONDITIONS: In the event that the operation, security, or administration of the Sweepstakes is impaired in any way for any reason, including, but not limited to fraud, virus, or other technical problem, the Sponsor may, in Sponsor's sole discretion, either: (a) suspend the Sweepstakes to address the impairment and then resume the Sweepstakes in a manner that best conforms to the spirit of these Official Rules; or (b) award the prizes at random from among the eligible entries received up to the time of the impairment. Sponsor reserve the right in Sponsor's sole discretion to disqualify any individual it finds to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Sweepstakes or to be acting in violation of these Official Rules or in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner. Any attempt by any person to undermine the legitimate operation of the Sweepstakes may be a violation of criminal and civil law, and, should such an attempt be made, Sponsor reserve the right to seek damages from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law. Sponsor's failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision. In case of a dispute as to the owner of an online entry, online entry will be deemed to have been submitted by the authorized account holder of the e-mail address from which the entry is made. The "authorized account holder" is the natural person assigned an e-mail address by an Internet access provider, online service provider or other organization responsible for assigning e-mail addresses for the domain associated with the submitted address. A potential winner may be required to provide Sponsor with satisfactory proof that s/he is the authorized account holder of the e-mail address associated with the potential winning entry. 10. RELEASE AND LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY: By participating in the Sweepstakes, Entrants agree to release and hold harmless the Sweepstakes Entities from and against any claim or cause of action arising out of participation in the Sweepstakes or receipt or use of any prize, including, but not limited to: (a) unauthorized human intervention in the Sweepstakes; (b) technical errors related to computers, servers, providers, or telephone or network lines; (c) printing errors; (d) lost, late, postage-due, misdirected, or undeliverable mail; (e) errors in the administration of the Sweepstakes or the processing of entries; (f) for failure to supply the prize or any part thereof, by reason of any acts of God, any action(s), regulation(s), order(s) or request(s) by any governmental or quasi-governmental entity (whether or not the action(s), regulation(s), order(s) or request(s) prove(s) to be invalid), equipment failure(s), terrorist acts, threatened terrorist acts, earthquake(s), war(s), fire(s), flood(s), explosion(s), unusually severe weather, hurricane(s), embargo(s), labor dispute(s) or strike(s) (whether legal or illegal), labor or material shortage(s), transportation interruption(s) of any kind, work slow-down(s), civil disturbance(s), insurrection(s), riot(s), or any other cause beyond Sponsor's sole control; or (g) injury or damage to persons or property which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from any Entrants participation in the Sweepstakes or receipt or use of any prize. Sweepstakes Entities shall not be responsible for any cancellations, delays, diversions or substitutions or any act or omissions whatsoever by any performer(s)/event(s), air carrier(s), hotel(s), or other transportation companies or any other persons providing any of these services and accommodations to passengers including any results thereof such as changes in services or accommodations necessitated by same. The passenger contracts in use by the airlines or other transportation companies shall constitute the sole contracts with respect to the Grand Prize Winner's and his/her travel companion's transportation and such contracts shall be solely between the Grand Prize winner, his/her travel companion and such transportation companies. Sweepstakes Entities shall not be parties to such contracts and shall assume no responsibility in this connection. Sweepstakes Entities shall not be liable for any loss or damage to baggage or the loss, theft or damage of cash, cameras, jewelry, securities, heirlooms, negotiable papers or other valuables. Sponsor's failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision; Entrants further agree that in any cause of action, the Sweepstakes Entities' liability will be limited to the cost of entering and participating in the Sweepstakes, and in no event shall the Sweepstakes Entities be liable for attorney's fees and/or experts' fees and costs. Entrants waive the right to claim any damages whatsoever, including, but not limited to, punitive, consequential, direct, or indirect damages. 11. DISPUTES: Except where prohibited, Entrants agree that any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of, or connected with, the Sweepstakes or any prize awarded shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively by the appropriate court located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, Entrants' rights and obligations, or the rights and obligations of Sponsor in connection with the Sweepstakes, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules (whether of the Commonwealth of Virginia or any other jurisdiction), which would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the Commonwealth of Virginia. 12. REQUEST WINNERS' NAMES: To request the names of the winners, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to c/o Engadget Expand CES Winners, 410 Townsend St., Suite 100, San Francisco, CA 94107. Requests must be received by February 28, 2013 © Copyright 2013 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Submissions for Expand's Insert Coin: New Challengers competition now open!
Because you haven't been living under a rock, by now you know about our big Expand event coming up in San Francisco this March (plus, you're following us on Twitter and Facebook to be the first to get all the news, right?!). Did you also know about our Insert Coin: New Challengers competition to shine the spotlight on the best new crowdfunded hardware projects out there? You do now! The best part is, submissions are now open -- and that means you can submit your project for a chance to win free tickets to Expand, $1,000 to cover your travel costs, and a total of $25,000 in prize money! No, we're not kidding: all this could be yours. Read on to find out more!
Engadget Expand tickets now on sale: the countdown begins!
The inaugural Engadget Expand event is taking place March 16-17, 2013 at San Francisco's historic Fort Mason Center, and we can't wait for you to join us. Expand has been a long time in the making and from the start has been planned as an experience squarely for technology enthusiasts. What can you expect at Expand? Here's a little tease: Exhibition Floor Showcasing the Latest Devices Live Panels and One-on-Ones Consumer Electronics' Greatest Visionaries Insert Coin: New Challengers Competition Your Favorite Engadget Editors Live Music and Special Guests Freebies and Giveaways As you can already tell, Expand will be a memorable event and an experience truly tailored to the Engadget community. This event is for you and it won't disappoint! Tickets Now on Sale! Today, the switch is officially flipped: tickets are now on sale! Individual tickets are being sold through Eventbrite for $75 as an extra early-bird discount. Attendance will be limited by venue capacity, so don't miss out -- be sure to scoop them up soon. Read on for more...
Editor's Letter: Get ready to Expand
In each issue of Distro, editor-in-chief Tim Stevens publishes a wrap-up of the week in news. This turned into a surprisingly busy week in news, and I'm proud to say we made a little of our own this week with the announcement of Expand. The brainchild of our very own Darren Murph, this is something we've been working on for roughly a year now and, with the pieces falling into place, it's finally time to tell you all about it. The concept is pretty simple. It's a gadget event not unlike the best in the world (your CESes, your MWCs) but with one crucial difference: this one's for you.
Announcing Engadget Expand, a live event and expo for gadget fans!
Maybe you've been to one of our reader meetups, or heard about the good gadgety times that roll when Engadget comes to town. Get ready for that effect on steroids. The entire Engadget staff is insanely excited to announce a new two-day experience that kicks our meetup vibe up more than a few notches. Engadget Expand will be a brand new event designed from the ground up especially for you, dear reader. There are plenty of events out there for industry insiders and the tech press -- folks we'll absolutely cater to and invite -- but the crux of this experience is squarely for the consumer who loves, lives, and breathes technology. Our inaugural event will be in San Francisco at the historic Fort Mason Center over two days on March 16-17, 2013, with future events to be announced in the months ahead. Click on for more!
Wizard101 voyaging to China
Never underestimate the power of magic or kids accessing their parents' wallets. That's what we've learned from KingsIsle over the past few years, as its Wizard101 has grown into a powerhouse slugger that knocks down barriers of all types: age, social groups, and most importantly for the accounting department, world regions. Today we've learned that KingsIsle has struck a deal with Taomee Holdings Limited to bring Wizard101 to China, and in so doing greatly expand the game's market. Taomee specializes in online gaming that's angled for children, so this seems like a perfect match. Chinese players should see a localized version of Wizard101 sometime next year. KingsIsle also says that Wizard101's website netted over 13 million unique visitors during the month of July, a strong indication of just how big this game has grown.
TUAW's Daily Mac App: TinyExpander
Every Mac comes with a built-in file compression utility, but its decompression support is limited. We've featured a perennial favorite, the Unarchiver before on the Daily Mac App, but today we'll take a look at a new kid on the Mac App Store block, TinyExpander. Just like the Unarchiver, TinyExpander is ready to expand whatever archive you throw at it. It'll handle over 25 different formats, with the highlights being Zip, 7z, RAR, TAR and XAR. TinyExpander is also able to extract encrypted archives, so it's pretty safe to say that it'll get the job done for almost any archive you're likely to have on a day-to-day basis, save for the really obscure formats. There aren't many preferences to change in TinyExpander (as you can see above), but you can set archives to expand to a custom folder, should you want everything extracted to the same place. You can also change whether it'll trash the archive or not when it's finished extraction, and also whether it'll show you the results in a new Finder window. If you expand an archive to a folder that already exists, TinyExpander will give you the option to overwrite it or cancel your action, which should help make sure you don't accidentally overwrite something important. TinyExpander is a great little utility that gets the job done without a fuss. If you're not enamoured with the Unarchiver, then the free TinyExpander is a worthy replacement.
Netflix coming to Canada this fall
Netflix has just announced it'll be taking its first tentative step abroad with a rollout of its video streaming service in Canada. Specifics are predictably light at the present moment, but interested Canucks can sign up now to be informed as soon as those details drop. So Canada in the fall... and the UK in winter, perhaps? We can only hope. [Thanks, Chris D.]
Netflix celebrates Q4 success of 1 million new subscribers and eyes bigger growth ahead; Roku too
At our last update after Q1 '09, Netflix had just triumphantly smashed through the 10 million customer barrier, although that's well in the rear view mirror now that the company is celebrating the addition of 1 million customers in the last quarter alone. With a subscriber base of 12.3 million (48% of whom have checked out a movie on Watch Instantly last year) its next step is to expand beyond U.S. borders, with plans to offer a streaming-only package to an unnamed new country in the latter half of this year; Hacking Netflix guesses Canada or even the UK could be potential expansion targets. Even the possibility of a Disney/Starz fallout affecting streaming didn't dampen the mood, during the earnings call CEO Reed Hastings seemed confident it could keep doing deals for compelling movies going forward, with WB, Sony, MGM, Paramount and others either signed up or renewed during Q4 alone. Still, don't expect those dealings to extend to new releases -- Hastings is comfortable sticking with a cable-like viewing window for internet delivered movies in combination with the existing disc rentals, for now. Even Roku, closely tied to Netflix's internet-to-TV efforts since they began, is thinking big. As CEO Anthony Wood tells Bloomberg, we can expect the box itself to reach the low, low price of free sooner rather than later as the company works out revenue sharing deals with various subscription and video on-demand services, bringing it up to "the same kinds of channels that any cable operator can offer." It's set goals of 1 million set-top boxes sold by the end of the year (already over 500,000) and 100 channels, we figure another half-off sale or two should get things done in no time.
Mercury Meltdown pub expands, promises new next-gen IP
As much as we have grown tired of having games developed for this generation of consoles referred to as "next-gen entertainment," that ire is evidently not shared by all. Ignition Entertainment, publisher of Mercury Meltdown and the adolescent undead romp Teenage Zombies, today announced the opening of not one, but two new studios committed to so-called next-gen game development. The new studios will operate out of both Tokyo and Florida, and according to Ignition will focus on creating "new IP specifically for the next generation formats," but which formats exactly remain a mystery. In fact, no details about upcoming projects from either Ignition Tokyo or Florida have been announced, though in looking at the company's subsidiary Digi-Guys, which has been working on WarDevil since well before the launch of the Xbox 360, it's clear that these studios are not in a hurry.
SmileOnMyMac Releases TextExpander 1.3, the Customizable Typing Timesaver Tool
Earlier in May, SmileOnMyMac acquired Textpander, a really handy (and free) text insertion utility. Today, they released their first official version update in which they changed the name to TextExpander, added a few snippet-creation features and are now charging a lump-in-throat inducing price of $29.95. The new features include the ability to create snippets from selected text, snippet nesting and the ability to limit usage to an application list.A 30-day demo is available, but I have to say: I'm really happy I backed up the disk image of the latest version of Textpander. I haven't installed this new retail version of TextExpander yet, but slapping $29.95 (without any warning) on a utility that was previously free donationware stings quite a bit (Fraser Speirs, I would argue, handled this transition a lot better with the FlickrExport 2.0 beta introduction). If any enthusiastic users of Textpander make the leap, feel free to share your impressions with the new features and whether you think it's worth $30.[UPDATE: Peter Maurer makes a really good point: Textpander wasn't free, it was donationware. Unfortunately, the donation system clearly wasn't working, as Hawk Wings points out that many donationware-centric developers lament that only 1-2% of downloaders actually donate anything for the app. Let TextExpander serve as a good lesson for what happens when you don't show some donation love to hard working developers.]
Stuffit 10.1 finally goes Universal, loses installer
Allume Systems has finally cranked out a (beta) Universal Binary of their 'hate it but gotta have it lying around' free Stuffit Expander. It seems they were going for bonus points with this release, as they removed some of the 'hate it' factor by finally doing away with an installer; it is now a DnD .app from a mounted disk image.This version is also localized into Japanese, French and German, and is available from either VersionTracker or Stuffit.com, though as of this writing that page still says the latest release is 10.0.
