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Clearwire's TDD-LTE rolling out in 'early 2013,' coming to NYC, SF, LA, Chicago, Seattle and more
Clearwire's hardly throwing in the towel after that whole "WiMAX" thing; instead, the outfit has its sights firmly set on bringing TDD-LTE to the masses here in America, starting with an initial rollout in early 2013. A release put out today confirms that New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle will be among the 31 cities where the company will launch the aforesaid network, though there's no breakdown on which of those metro markets will be forced to wait until "mid-2013" to get served. Speaking of, Clearwire's making no bones about the fact that "high demand hot zones" will be the ones targeted initially, and in a bid to outshine those LTE networks already live, President and CEO Erik Prusch is suggesting that his firm's 4G network "will show that not all LTE networks are created equal." Bold words, sir.
Nissan adopts 15 EV chargers, is first on nappy duty (video)
Nissan's concerned that Leaf owners aren't getting around enough. So, until IBM's super-batteries arrive or Exxon starts installing charging points in its gas stations, the car maker's got to do it itself. In partnership with charity Adopt-A-Charger, it's paying for 15 charging points in California, three at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and twelve at the Music Concourse in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Customers will have totally free access, with Nissan pledging to pay for the upkeep and electricity that the public uses. After the break we've got a video whose narrator probably makes Chris Hansen jealous of his voice.
Where's Steve Wozniak? He's doing his regular waiting-in-line thing
Sure it's marketing, but it's also a nice little ritual. Speaking to an interviewer from What's Trending, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak acknowledged he doesn't have to wait in line for his new iPad, but said he'd "rather be genuine, like the real people". They're the ones you can see pretending to sleep / read in the background.
Halo co-creator Alex Seropian founds Industrial Toys, focused on mobile
Halo co-creator and Bungie co-founder Alex Seropian has embarked on yet another new venture. After founding Wideload Games almost ten years ago and then joining Disney Interactive as head of game development for a few years, Seropian has now started up a company named Industrial Toys. Along with "some kickass art talent from ex-Marvel and DC guys," as president Tim Harris (formerly of Seven Lights) puts it, Seropian and the rest of the company plan to make hardcore games for mobile platforms. "We're going deep on story and community and all sorts of nerdy goodness," says Harris.While we have a while yet to wait on actual game products, the company has already jumped onto Twitter in a big way. It's also posting updates on Facebook, sharing some pictures of the HQ under construction in Los Angeles (those are network wires hanging from the ceiling). It all sounds exciting, and Seropian and friends certainly have pedigree enough to make something really interesting.
Nintendo launches Rhythm Heaven Fever with a party at iam8bit
Los Angeles' iam8bit gallery played host to Nintendo last night, as the two companies launched Rhythm Heaven Fever with a full scale party. There were plenty of demos of the game on display, live painting by artists Yoskay Yamamoto and Mari Inukai, a live DJ spinning tunes, and a few photo booths where players could dress up and pose, or even dance for a video running on Nintendo's own site.The event was a lot of fun, and you can pretend you were able to be there by browsing through the gallery below. iam8bit always does a great job with these events, and co-founder Jon Gibson promised us there's lots more on the way: He's currently working hard on the leetUP event that iam8bit is co-hosting at the beginning of next month, and says VIP tickets for that one have sold out already. We'll be in attendance, so stay tuned for more.%Gallery-147121%
Play Rhythm Heaven Fever early in LA Feb. 10
If you're near Los Angeles on February 10, and you're eager to celebrate the upcoming release of Rhythm Heaven Fever, you can party with other like-minded people at the iam8bit gallery.Nintendo, Giant Robot, and iam8bit are teaming up for a launch event, at which attendees will be able to play the game (with headphones, hopefully!) and pick up custom swag. Go find out who else in the world dares to play a rhythm game about interviewing wrestlers and playing airplane badminton!
AT&T expands LTE coverage to eleven new markets, including NYC, San Francisco and Los Angeles
In one announcement, AT&T has nearly doubled its LTE coverage by officially flipping the switch on eleven new markets. The list of cities includes New York City metro, San Francisco / Oakland / San Jose, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego, Raleigh and Austin. We've seen the service flicker on and off in most of these cities as real-life tests were conducted, and the high-speed connection's also been available in certain parts of New York, but it's great to see these become official. AT&T also declared that LTE expansion should be complete by the end of 2013, though we expect most major cities to be hit far earlier. Check out the full press release for more details.
Google's Android 'These Go To Eleven' liveblog from Los Angeles!
This is it! You've arrived! But it's a little early. Fret not, though, as you can bookmark this very page and return at the time shown below in order to join in on the liveblogging mayhem. We'll be bringing you every last point as it's unveiled in Los Angeles this evening (or afternoon, whatever), with Google Music firmly in our heart and T-Mobile looming over everything. It's going to be loony. %Gallery-139636% November 16, 2011 5:00:00 PM EST
T-Mo invites us to 'Experience the World of T-Mobile & Google' with Busta Rhymes as our guide
We're still having fun coming up with reasons why Google decided to have its next "special event" in Los Angeles -- popular choices include "easy access to geothermal power" and "trying to help LA fall into the sea, already" -- but now things are looking a little more clear. A star-studded event happening later that night has been announced, hosted by T-Mobile and featuring Drake, Maroon 5, Busta Rhymes, Dirty South and R3hab. That's nice, but we're more curious about what kind of hardware we'll be seeing. Could this be why Verizon backed down from its "exclusive" stance on the Galaxy Nexus? Does the big boombox up on the billboard mean Google Music will be getting a proper launch, or just that Busta will be rocking it old school? We'll see on Wednesday night.
Google announces Android 'special event' for November 16th in Los Angeles
We just got word from Google of an Android-themed event next week, with little more than the words "These Go to Eleven" right up top -- a reference to a phrase from the 1984 mockumentary This is Spinal Tap. To top things off, the email came from "Nigel Tufnel," Christopher Guest's character from the film. The event kicks off in Los Angeles at 2PM local time (that's 5PM for you folks on the East Coast) on Wednesday, November 16th. We'll be there live, and so will you -- catch the livestream at YouTube.com/Android. There are a few more subtle hints in the invite teaser image, so jump past the break to see if you can pick them out.
Riot Games' close calls with disaster
Riot Games CEO Brandon Beck gave the closing keynote at last week's IGDA Leadership Forum in Los Angeles, California, and during the talk (in which he made the point that "Riot's secret weapon all along" has been its employees), he gave a few interesting examples of how Riot's staff had really gone the extra distance to turn League of Legends into the successful online phenomenon it is today. His first example was about the matchmaking system -- originally, Riot struggled to make sure that players were matched up against each other in an interesting and effective way, and the company ended up bringing in not a game developer, but a programmer with a PhD in computational biology whose "thinking was radically different and compelling," according to Beck. A month after this hire, the company had a whole new matchmaking system, and in the end, it turned out to be "too fair" -- the games were too close. Since "what players remember are the outliers," according to Beck, the team developed "snowball items," which were "risky purchases that rewarded flawless execution." That bit of gameplay mixed up the matches, and came to be the system the game uses today.
BYD opens North American HQ in LA, electric bus headed for LAX
China's BYD Motors has been edging its way into the North American auto market for some time, but it's now firmly planted itself here by opening its new headquarters in Los Angeles. That bit of news also just so happens to coincide with the announcement of a new partnership with Hertz Car Rental, who will be using BYD's all-electric, long-range eBUS to shuttle passengers at Los Angeles International Airport -- BYD's cars will also eventually find their way into Hertz's LA rental fleet. The press release is after the break.
Spotted in Los Angeles: Thank you, Steve
I spotted this great piece of graffiti art on the streets of Hollywood while heading home last night, and thought you TUAW readers would enjoy it. Unfortunately, I have no idea who actually put this up -- there wasn't any tag or signature on it, and it was just on a wall otherwise covered with various other pieces and posters. But in a way, that made it even better -- just one person's anonymous sentiment that echoes what so many of us feel. And I can tell you that the excellent detail and stark spray of the whole thing (if you can't tell, the whole picture was about eight feet tall, and really stood out on the corner) was pretty awesome to see. Thanks, LA artist, and thank you to the late great Steve Jobs as well.
Xcom Global opens LAX service center, the jetset get data without borders
We've sung Xcom Global's praises to the heavens before, and that's because it's made our always-on internet addiction an easy fix abroad. Well, prepare to add the international wireless convenience to your list of last minute carry-ons. Announced today, the company has opened its first satellite service center at Los Angeles' LAX airport, bringing unlimited roaming data to US-based travelers starting at $12.95/day. The rental MiFi Hotspot units, available prior to boarding, come packaged with an Unlimited aXcess plan, and can feed up to five of your data-hungry devices. So, if you're headed out on that next Eurotrip, or just a terminal-bound refugee from Krakozhia, you might want to give this internet lifeline a whirl.
Watch SUPER iam8bit host more than 1,000 gamers on opening night, be jealous
If you don't already feel completely unhip for not yet attending the SUPER iam8bit exhibition in Los Angeles, this video will help depress you to the appropriate levels of self-loathing. The new SUPER iam8bit gallery in Echo Park looks like a little slice of gamer heaven on the West Coast, and if those lines are anything to judge by, los angeles can't wait to get in. The show runs until September 10, so if you like what you see in the video above and additional artwork below, head down to Cali and check out founder Jon Gibson's gaming gallery. Gibson plans on hosting a myriad of events in his new space, and we'll be on the lookout for news about chiptune concerts and screenings of Super Mario Bros. in the near future.
PSA: iam8bit goes Super this evening in Los Angeles
Just a reminder that video game-inspired art house iam8bit is reinventing itself as Super iam8bit this evening at its HQ in Los Angeles' Echo Park neighborhood. Starting tonight at 7pm and going through the next month, the gallery will host over 100 works of art influenced and inspired by your favorite video games. There will also be a "world's largest arcade cabinet" to celebrate Galaga's 30th anniversary, and developer Drew Skillman of Double Fine will be showing off a brand new Kinect Hack. The gallery is at 2147 W. Sunset Blvd, and tonight's opening extravaganza will start at 7pm and have music by DJ R-Rated and special appearances by chiptune artists Leeni and A_Rival. Even if you're not in LA, Joystiq will be in attendance this evening, so stay tuned for pictures and news from the event tonight.%Gallery-129911%
SUPER iam8bit exhibition and book debut August 11
We told you about SUPER iam8bit in June – it's a years-in-the-making followup to the iam8bit crew's last 2008 art show and 2006 book. It's back this month with not only a new art show, but a new book "documenting this year's event" and it's all being hosted in the group's newly renovated new space in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. Beginning August 11 (that's next Thursday!) and running for one month, SUPER iam8bit includes work from over 100 artists, a "special tribute to Galaga's 30th anniversary will feature the world's largest 'arcade cabinet,'" and Double Fine's Drew Skillman "will be displaying an interactive, retro Kinect hack." We're pretty sure you're going to want to be there. We've got the address, along with a ton of beautiful images, just past the break! Above, "We're Not in Hyrule Anymore" by Colombian artist Luisa Uribe.
Call of Duty XP attendees get free 'Hardened' edition of MW3, teaming with We Can Pretend
Beyond chomping (hopefully) real burgers at the faux fast-food establishment, Burgertown, Call of Duty XP attendees get a "special redemption code" for Modern Warfare 3's Hardened Edition, for use "when it becomes available worldwide on November 8." Included in the price of admission is also the chance to run through "a life-size replica" of MW2's "Scrapyard" level, so bring an extra extra pair of running shoes (one of the extra pairs will already have been used after heading through "The Pit"). And tucked away in a variety of details about a new comedy series for Call of Duty Elite members (being put together by Jason Bateman and Will Arnett's production company "dumbdumb" and Ben Silverman's Electus Studio, no less) was news that Activision is collaborating with We Can Pretend on a "Modern Warfare-inspired live-action short." We Can Pretend are the folks who put together the "Find Makarov" campaign back in March, misleading many game news outlets to believe that it was a Modern Warfare 3-based ARG due to its high production value. If the aforementioned amenities weren't enough, Activision is upping the physicality of things with "Juggernaut Sumo" (just what it sounds like) and "a military-style zip-line plunge across the Call of Duty XP compound." Say it with us now: "HOO-AH!"
T-Mobile looks to go back-to-back, offers Angels fans tablet rentals
Looking to enhance that in-person baseball experience with one more technological distraction? Well, the wait is over, thanks to T-Mobile and its new tablet rental program at Angel Stadium in Anaheim. The company will not only offer the slates to patrons, but it'll also push out customized content to enhance the superfan's game-day stat overload -- something we've seen before over at Safeco Field. Fans get to choose between a T-Mobile G-Slate or a Samsung Galaxy Tab, and the rental will only set you back a cool Hamilton, which is likely easier on the wallet than a decked-out hotdog. In addition to the tablet, you'll also get your game-day program, a library of magazines for browsing between innings, T-Mobile TV and network access. So if you're the casual baseball fan who scored free tickets, you can work on your Cut the Rope skills for a few hours... looking up to catch the home run jacks, of course.
Vitamin Water bus-stop ad lets devices juice-up before the commute
Battery running low during the rush-hour commute? Glacéau's Vitamin Water Energy Bus Shelter by Crispin Porter & Bogusky wants to help you get charged while you're waiting to board. The new billboards feature a bottle of the vitamin / caffeine-packing drink, sporting a triple-USB port, which you can plug your devices into for some extra juice. Apparently, you'll be seeing these if your daily public-transit hustle takes you through the fine cities of Boston, New York, Chicago or Los Angeles -- we'd imagine owners of HTC's Thunderbolt will find them very useful.
