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White PS3 coming to Europe and Australia this November
If you're currently taking up residence in Europe or Australia and don't already possess a PlayStation 3, you might want to hold off on making the big purchase until the holiday season. According to retailer listings in the two continents, Sony will launch the 320GB Ceramic White PS3 model (which has been available in Japan for almost a year) in November for €300/£250 or AUD$448. Why would you wait? Isn't this particular SKU of the consoles functionally identical to those currently available? Well, sure, but don't you want as many options available to you as is possible? Do you prefer if someone makes all your decisions for you? You've really gotta start thinking outside the box, man.
Bethesda's Todd Howard not interested in an Elder Scrolls MMO
Whenever the subject of untapped RPG franchises that could make the jump to MMOs comes up, Bethesda's Elder Scrolls series is almost always mentioned. After all, if Blizzard and BioWare made the jump, why not the folks behind Oblivion? In talking with our sister site Joystiq at PAX, Bethesda's Todd Howard fields the question with blunt honesty. "I like this kind of game better," he said. "You know, it's what most of us are into. I'm not really an MMO guy. I respect them, I look at them, but I don't play them. It feels more real to me when I'm the hero and it's crafted for that. A community aspect to it, I recognize a lot of people would want that in a game like this, but it changes the flavor for me. Of course, one man's feelings toward the genre aren't always enough to stave off corporate demands, but Howard says that isn't the case: "We can just do our thing, and it's kind of grown with each game. So there was no pressure from anybody above me to say 'Hey, you need to change this.'" That doesn't mean Bethesda will forever abstain from MMOs, however. Bethesda's parent company, ZeniMax Media, built an MMO customer support facility in Ireland earlier this year, an indication that online gaming may very well be in the company's future.
Apple to create 350 jobs in Cork, Ireland
There's good news for Cork, Ireland residents looking for work. The Irish Examiner is reporting that Apple intends to create 350 jobs in the city. Apple has reportedly leased the top two floors of a building on Cork's Half Moon Street (about 25,000 sq ft.), which was completed in 2009. This won't be Apple's first cluster of offices in Ireland or in Cork for that matter. The Irish Examiner notes that Apple has had "a major presence" at Hollyhill on the northside of Cork. Also, the Examiner reports that Apple looked at several locations in Cork before deciding on the Half Moon Street spot. Local retailers hope that Apple's staffers in "the striking glazed building" (that even sounds like a space Apple would occupy) will spend their hard-earned dollars at the city's restaurants, bars, shops and so on. Good luck to Apple in its new space and to the mom-and-pop shops of Cork. May you have a long and lucrative relationship.
Assassin's Creed Revelations 'Animus Edition' tempts Irish fans
A special edition of Assassin's Creed: Revelations found on GameStop in Ireland includes either more stuff than shows up in the American "Signature Edition" or provides additional info about what that edition will hold. Of course, the whole situation is a lot simpler if you're Irish, as the listing just tells you what is in this version you can buy. The €99.99 ($143) "Animus Edition" comes in special packaging, and includes rather a lot of stuff: a soundtrack, the Assassin's Creed Embers short film, and an "in-depth encyclopedia." In addition, it features in-game content including a mission set in the prison of Vlad the Impaler; gun, bullet, bomb, and arrow upgrades; the Armour of Brutus item from Brotherhood; two multiplayer characters, the Crusader and a new "Ottoman" version of the Jester; and "one exclusive customization item." To contrast, the US "Signature Edition" promises only an "extended gameplay mission, enhanced weapon capabilities, bonus multiplayer character, animated short film," and "in-game soundtrack." No big box, no encyclopedia, and no details about what those missions, characters, or upgrades are.
Textbooks swapped for iPads by Irish school
A small secondary school in Ireland is doing something extraordinary -- ditching textbooks for iPads. Starting in September, St Coleman's College in the town of Claremorris in the west of Ireland will give students the option of learning from regular textbooks or specially equipped iPads, according to The Irish Times. The school made the decision after consulting with students, teachers and parents for weeks. In the end, 96 percent of the people consulted supported the switch from books to iPads. Each iPad will be preloaded with a suite of educational apps. Together the iPads and apps will cost €700 each, but the price will be spread across a three-year period. School principal Jimmy Finn told the Times that the value for the money was obvious. "It is a bit of a unique idea, but we have to continue to move with the times," he said. Finn also noted that the switch to the iPad isn't mandatory, and parents can choose to stick with textbooks for their children, though something tells me that if the children have it their way, the choice will clearly be the iPad.
Nokia's online stores go offline in France and Spain (update: Netherlands too)
Nokia's "around breakeven" outlook announced earlier today is discouraging at best, and now it looks like the company has begun shuttering online stores in response to growing competition from resellers, which offer lower prices on the same hardware. So far, online stores in France and Spain have been replaced with a closure notice, so customers in those countries will need to turn to third-party vendors to get their smartphone fix. European online stores in Germany, Ireland, Italy, Russia, Switzerland, and the UK remain open for business, but low online sales figures (and the inevitable death of Symbian) mean we may see more countries falling offline in the near future. "Prices are too subsidized by the carriers and sales were low, so they will keep providing support," a representative from Nokia Spain told us today, so as expected, the shutdown only affects sales operations -- of course, you'll still be able to turn to your local Nokia site for support. Update: The Netherlands store is closed too [Thanks, Reppu]
Microsoft treats kid hacker with kid gloves in wake of PSN debacle
Soon after Sony's aggressive pursuit of hacker George Hotz -- and potentially in an act of retaliation -- other hackers shut the whole PlayStation Network down and made off with millions of users' data. Microsoft seems to have learned a valuable lesson from that ("don't incite hackers"). During a keynote presentation at the Bank of Ireland Business Week, MS's Ireland General Manager Paul Rellis revealed that the company is dealing with a 14-year-old who hacked Modern Warfare 2 not by suing him, but by working with him. According to the Herald, Rellis said that Microsoft was helping the youngster "use his skills for legitimate purposes." It's a happy ending in this case, but we doubt this will work every time. If you get all up in big companies' systems, you're still a lot more likely to end up with police confiscating your computer than with a cool internship.
Infamous 2 hits Europe June 8, coming in so, so many bundles
Infamous 2 is coming out in the UK, Germany and Ireland on June 10, and the rest of Europe on June 8. Yes, we usually make a bigger deal out of release dates than just dropping them all plain-like in the first sentence like that, but we need as much space as we can get to explain the different bundles available to European shoppers. No joke, you guys: There are five different versions of Sucker Punch's dichotomous action title available in Europe's shops. So, there's the basic, vanilla flavored standard edition, the Special Edition (which includes extra powers and an "Original Cole" character skin) and the Hero Edition (which includes a lot of things, including a replica messenger bag). However, Europe also gets a bundle that includes the game and a "good" blue or "evil" red DualShock 3 controller, as well as a 320GB PS3 bundle. No prices have been announced for the bundles, but really, what price is too high for premium crimefighting? Or ... um, crimemaking?
PlayStation Network restoration spreads across the world (update)
Now that North America has been thoroughly blanketed in the beautiful green light of a working PlayStation Network, it's time for other countries to sign on too, and the first out of the gate are the United Kingdom, Ireland and unspecified nations in the Middle East. Sony's official PlayStation Europe Twitter account reports that parts of the EMEA are beginning to light up now, and while there's no convenient map for you to monitor the rollout this time around, you can still get updates straight from the source -- follow the Twitter feed at our source link and Sony should let you know when to get your game on. Update: Looks like it's not just the EMEA, as PSN's spreading across the world -- as of noon PST, it's lighting up the smiles of bereaved gamers and music lovers in Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and South America as well. Update 2: We're hearing that the UK, Ireland and the Middle East actually went dark again for a tad, but now they should be up again. Update 3: Sony's having a bit of difficulty getting millions of passwords reset in such a short time, due to a number of things, including ISPs that are automatically blocking or delaying the huge influx of email password change requests. Give it time, folks.
iPad 2 Ireland launch guide
Guest post by James Britton Ireland: the land of Guinness, shamrocks, leprechauns and soon - Thinner. Lighter. Faster. FaceTime. Smart Covers. 10-hour battery. Well, the Yanks have had their two-week head start, now it's our turn. It's the eve of the international launch of iPad 2 and excitement is building here in Dublin. We've got a quick preview of what to expect in Ireland for Apple's big day today. Compu b, the only Apple Premium Reseller in Ireland and the closest thing to a bonafide Apple Store in the Republic, will have limited stocks of iPad 2 on hand from 5 PM local time today. The stores will close at 4 PM then reopen at 5 PM and there are four locations in Ireland where you can queue up: two in Dublin, one in Limerick and one in Cork. I spoke with one of the staff members in the central Dublin location on Grafton Street and he confirmed they would indeed have them. Unfortunately, he did not have any information about quantity available and was even a bit dismissive of my questions about the launch. I'll chalk that up to the fact that he was probably exhausted from dealing with the 999 other people who had similar questions. Fortunately, their website will be updated with more details as they become available. After checks with all the major mobile phone networks, it appears Compu b is the only reseller in Ireland that will be selling the iPad 2, apart from Victoria Square in Belfast, Northern Ireland. However, it might also be worth checking HMV since they have been selling the first-gen iPad. Pricing Prices will start at €479 (including VAT) for the 16 GB WiFi-only iPad, all the way up to €799 for the 64 GB 3G-enabled model. Following are the current 3G data plans offered by the four major networks: 3 - 30 days, 15 GB allowance for €19.99 Meteor - 30 days, 7.5 GB allowance for €19.99 O2 - 30 days, 5 GB allowance for €20 Vodafone - 30 days, 5 GB allowance for €20 None of the plans require an activation fee, all are pay-as-go, VAT is included and bill-pay plans are available with higher data allowances. These plans are very generous, especially the one from 3. Competition is a good thing. Keep glued to TUAW for more iPad 2 launch coverage from the Emerald Isle.
The Game Archaeologist goes to Earth & Beyond: The vet
Space: the final frontier... except for 4chan, which is a lot scarier to explore. These are the voyages of the Starship Massively. Its five-year mission: to explore strange, new worlds; to seek out new life and blow it out of the sky; to boldly exploit trade routes like no one has done before! Erp, better stop there before I begin infringing on the Captain's Log's territory! In any event, we at The Game Archaeologist Institute for Fuzzy Nostalgia continue to forge ahead with the Earth & Beyond dig, carefully dusting off memories and screenshots to preserve in a blog-shaped museum. It's one thing to talk of a game, but another to speak with one who was there at the time, so I went on a hunt through the dark recesses of the internet to find seasoned Earth & Beyonders. This search took me about two minutes before one of my associates practically opened the floodgates of fanboy gushing to drown me in his enthusiasm for this title. One interview, hundreds of screenshots and an Electronic Arts dev bible later, and we at the institute knew that we hit the motherlode. Join us for a civilized discussion with an Earth & Beyond vet as he shares with us crumpets and recollections.
Dear Aunt TUAW: Is Ireland's 3 carrier blocking Cydia?
Dear Aunt TUAW, It looks like 3 Ireland, the one of the Irish iPhone carriers, has blocked Cydia's servers from their network. I'm experiencing errors refreshing data from apt.saurik.com and can't get Cydia to work at all. Can you suggest a work-around for those of us on 3? Help a jailbroken Irish iPhone user out! Love, Your Irish Nephew Stevie-boy Dear Stevie-boy, Auntie is happy to report that the Irish Cydia Blackout of 2010 was, in fact, a mistake. 3 spokesperson Chris Jones told TUAW that Cydia was blocked in error. Jones stated that 3 uses third-party company Bluecoat to filter their internet connection for adult content and other objectionable material. "Cydia has been caught in this filter in error," he told TUAW, "and we are working to resolve this." The Irish Times tech team got the same explanation. Auntie doesn't have a specific time as to when 3 will resolve the issue, but is happy to report that 3 is working on the problem. Love & kissies, Auntie T.
PS3, PSP get Music Unlimited service in UK, Ireland
Sony's cloud-based, digital music service, "Music Unlimited" ("powered by Qriocity"), is now available in the UK and Ireland. Similar to Microsoft's Zune Pass, the service is also coming to the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia and New Zealand at some point in 2011. Two available plans are charged monthly, with the "Basic" service being £3.99 in the UK and €3.99 in Ireland; and the "Premium" service £9.99 and €9.99, respectively. The basic service is like radio, with preset playlists, but users can skip songs at will, while the premium option offers customizable lists and "premium Top 100 channels which are regularly updated with the latest hits." Music Unlimited's current catalog is approximately 6 million songs deep, with tracks from leading indie labels, as well as corporate behemoths like Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and EMI Music. The service will be available on a wide range of Sony devices, including PS3, PSP and "Android-based mobile devices."
Two Worlds 2 coming to America Jan. 25, has sold a million in Europe
TopWare and SouthPeak's double-delayed RPG, Two Worlds 2, has finally received a North American release date of January 25, 2011. Later that week, the game will arrive in the U.K. and Ireland, where Topware will take over as sole distributor, allowing SouthPeak to focus on promoting the game in North America. That sounds like a decent strategy, but we're not sure the extra attention is necessary -- it's always been our experience that games with perfectly symmetrical titles practically sell themselves. Two Worlds 2 has already been received with moderate success in Continental Europe, with the Xbox 360 and PC versions selling over one million copies combined since their releases in early November. (The PS3 version, remember, was held up due to a Blu-ray printing delay.) There's no telling how well the game will be received in new regions next month, but if its critical reception remains positive, we're guessing it'll do a great deal better than its predecessor.
Humans wearing radios could form massive wireless networks of the future
Researchers at Queens University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, are studying how to create an infrastructure out of human beings interconnected by wearing sensors, gateways and radios, resulting in a "body-to-body" network. Because human beings are so easy to come by, the networks could potentially be massive as well as high in bandwidth. The team is now studying how human bodies and movement can affect radio signals, and the general operations of body area networks, which aren't new. Concurrent research is being done at Carnegie Mellon to study how thousands of sensors can communicate with each other effectively. Long term, actual functioning body-to-body wireless networks could render cellular base stations unnecessary in heavily populated areas. Of course, that's all well into the future, but hit up the source for more details.
Deltenna's WiBE rural broadband device: swans and geese now free to browse
At last, progress. We've heard whispers of "rural broadband expansion" thrown from halls of politicians for months on end, but it looks like a small company across the pond is cutting through the red tape and getting down to business. Deltenna's WiBE -- described as a device to deliver fast broadband to rural areas that are far from the phone exchange -- is available starting today in the UK and Ireland. It's purpose? It connects to nearby 3G networks and creates a mobile hotspot, not unlike a MiFi. The difference is that it delivers a data throughput around 30 times greater than a 3G USB modem, and the connection range is "typically between three and five-times that of the 3G dongle." The theoretical maximum is 7.2Mbps, with extensive testing demonstrating a typical download rate of 2.8Mbps in rural regions. Cetag Systems in Ireland and Buzz Networks in the UK will be first to offer it, with pricing set at £425 (less with bundles) in England and €299 through Cetag. Wildfowl sold separately, though. %Gallery-105993%
iPad hitting nine more countries this Friday
Apple has just let word out that it'll be bringing its super-selling slate to nine new markets. The Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, New Zealand and Singapore are all getting their hands on the device this Friday, July 23. We were just remarking on how the iPad's sales pace had slowed down recently, but this expansion in markets should move things along toward rounding the next milestone. Local pricing hasn't yet been revealed, but it's not like there's long to wait now. "Many" more countries are promised before the end of the year, so don't despair if your local Apple Store isn't stocking the iPad just yet.
The Daily Grind: What little events do you celebrate?
It's Saint Patrick's Day, and if you're in the US that means a celebration of Irish culture... or at least, it means a celebration of wearing green clothing and drinking an exceptional amount for the middle of the week. And while it's not the biggest holiday, some people look forward to it as much or more than major seasonal events. A few games even celebrate the event, such as Fallen Earth with a pub crawl and Everquest II with its Brewday celebrations. It's a holiday with no real overarching purpose except enjoyment, and that's hardly a bad goal. Every game has little events that keep running long after they're no longer hugely pertinent. Every gamer has anniversaries or dates they remember, or holidays that they feel are important even if the game doesn't have a holiday event. So what small holidays or events do you observe in your favorite games? Do you make a point of memorizing important in-game lore dates and celebrating their anniversaries? Do you take part in no-longer-vital elements, such as the Elemental Invasions in World of Warcraft? Or do you just take the opportunity on days like today to outfit your Star Trek Online crew in green uniforms and hang around drunk?
O2 scores exclusive on HTC Smart
Carrying HTC's very first feature phone exclusively: a blessing or a curse? O2's about to find out the answer to that question as it's hooked up with HTC to be the one and only carrier to offer the Smart in Germany, Ireland, and the UK. Though it's not running Android or WinMo, the Smart's not your average crappy, free-on-contract kind of handset -- it offers its own implementation of Sense, email access, and a browser, just like its bigger brothers, and it runs on Qualcomm's newly-introduced BrewMP platform. Look for it to hit in April, while TIM will grab it in Italy, Netcom in Norway, and the rest of Europe through direct sales.
Vexia Econav GPS nags you about your driving
If the folks at Vexia are to be believed, green transportation is not about fancy electric vehicles or, heaven forbid, riding your bike -- nope, it's about having a GPS that offers advice on your driving. Both the Econav 480 (4.3-inch) and 380 (3.5-inch) can be configured for your specific automobile make and model, after which your usual calm, solitary driving experience is replaced by the cold mechanical voice of a satnav as it admonishes you for excessive acceleration, breaking, driving past the speed limit, and so forth. With other Econav models out in Spain for a while now, these guys are finally available to environmentally conscious Britons at prices starting at £149 (depending on model and map collection). And what about the states? It looks like you'll be stuck taking driving direction from Homer Simpson for the time being.