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Amazon bringing plumbers and yoga instructors to new marketplace
On top of car parts and yoga mats, you'll soon be able to find auto mechanics and gurus at Amazon's incoming Home Services marketplace. The new site lets you find and hire experts in categories like home improvement, lawn & garden, lessons and computers. Amazon may have revealed it a bit prematurely, as the amazon.com/services link has since been pulled. However, Techcrunch's inside sources confirmed the plans and say the formal launch will happen next Monday. Home Services will replace Amazon's Local Services, which also connects Amazon users with local contractors.
GAME follows Amazon's lead with launch of its own 'Marketplace'
Third-party sellers have become a huge part of the Amazon experience, offering customers a wide variety of products at knock-down prices. Video games are part of that equation, which is inevitably pulling business away from specialised UK retailers such as GAME. In response, the latter is launching a direct competitor today called GAME Marketplace, which gives independent merchants the chance to sell video games and other related merchandise through the GAME website. At launch, this includes clothes, smartphones, movies, comic books and a ton of other paraphernalia. Video games do feature, but they're mostly older titles and retro classics that aren't going to affect GAME's core business.
John Smedley praises free-to-play on consoles [Updated]
Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley knows a thing or two about running free-to-play MMOs on consoles. The studio already has DC Universe Online as a free-to-play title on PlayStation 4, it's bringing PlanetSide 2 to the console soon, and both titles are already free on the PlayStation 3. And there's good reason for it: Smedley said recently to Gamasutra that players on the PS4 have been monetizing on DCUO at nearly three times the rate of PC players. This isn't unique to the newest console, as DCUO players on the PS3 shell out cash twice as often as PC users. He also notes that it's a challenge to port to the console, as the lack of a mouse has to heavily influence design, plus it requires a method of dropping simultaneous updates across multiple platforms, which in and of itself can be a tricky venture. Read the full article for more insights from Smedley regarding the console market's free-to-play sustainability. [Update: Smed further clarified his statements over Twitter earlier today. "People think we're becoming a console first shop. NO! consoles are a great place for F2P, but we have always been a PC first company because that's our heritage. We aren't dumbing down PC ever."]
Amazon UK glitch sells thousands of products for a penny
Christmas is always an expensive time of year, but for some lucky Brits ordering gifts on Amazon, the festive celebrations may have kicked off a little early. You see, between 7pm and 8pm last Friday, listings on the website were affected by a price glitch, which discounted thousands of marketplace products to the insanely low price of 1p. However, Amazon wasn't directly to blame; the temporary price crash was actually triggered by Repricer Express, a service that third-party sellers use to automatically adjust their prices. The problem was quickly rectified though and Amazon says it cancelled the "vast majority" of purchases that did go through. Now that the dust has settled, the company is reviewing the transactions that were processed and says it'll follow up with disgruntled sellers directly, some of which have taken orders for stock worth tens of thousands of pounds. In other words, if you did manage to snap up an incredible penny bargain, it could soon be overturned, and if you were oblivious to the Friday night frenzy, you can now rest a little easier.
Georgeson reveals monetization plans for EQN Landmark
With free-to-play titles, you have to wonder how exactly the game will stay afloat monetarily. EverQuest Next Landmark's Director of Development, Dave Georgeson, took the guesswork out of figuring out what will be available for sale by revealing the five phases of the upcoming sandbox's proposed business strategy. Players are already familiar with the first phase going on now, Founders Packs, and are expecting the advent of Player Studio, which is slated for early closed beta. The two phases in between, however, might be the most controversial; they involve selling character outfits, resources, and shortcut methods for features. Anticipating player concern, Georgeson explained that the current resource progression in alpha is not planned for the game proper; items will soon only need handfuls of resources to make tools. For feature shortcuts, he gives the example of paying upkeep, renting market stalls, or gaining the effects of a potion without physically crafting the potion first. The final phase at the end of closed beta will involve a large chunk of "bigger-ticket items like cosmetic pets, sound/music packs for your claims, name/gender changes, extra claim flags, and more." As with all announcements, the devs want to hear your feedback so the plan can be adapted accordingly. (Note: Any and all purchased items are considered inventory and will never be wiped in alpha or beta.)
Mozilla aims to socialize app shopping with Marketplace for Firefox OS (video)
Firefox OS has an uphill battle to impress consumers, and Mozilla is hoping that the social app store it's developing will be the thing that sets it apart. Marketplace designer Liu Liu took to Mozilla's blog to discuss the team's decision to focus on "the feed," which appears to share content much like a social media site. In this brave new Marketplace, users would be able to customize their homepages, receive personalized suggestions, like specific apps and view download statistics. To create a friendlier environment, Mozilla has also included profile photos so you can put a face to the name behind the apps. Liu was careful to point out that the Marketplace prototype is, for the time being, a concept, not a product, and it'll certainly undergo several rounds of revisions before it's ready to unleash upon the world. To learn more, read Liu's blog post at the source or check out the video after the break.
Xbox One marketplace won't have separate XBLA, XBLIG channels
Xbox One will not have separate sections for indie or download-only games, such as Xbox Live Indie Games and Xbox Live Arcade on the 360 – instead, Microsoft's new console will feature games, and "just games," Microsoft Corporate Vice President Phil Harrison told Eurogamer. "In the past we had retail games which came on disc, we had Xbox Live Arcade and we had Indie Games, and they had their own discrete channels or discrete silos," Harrison said. "With Xbox One and the new marketplace, they're games. We don't make a distinction between whether a game is a 50-hour RPG epic or whether it is a puzzle game or whether it is something that fits halfway between the two." In this new approach, indie games, AAA games and everything in-between will co-exist in the same "Games" marketplace. Harrison said this will solve discoverability problems that indie games face today, and Microsoft will still be able to highlight titles that it thinks players should pay attention to. "We don't give up the ability to put a spotlight on the products that we think are going to be exciting to our user base, but in addition to that, what your friends are playing, what other people think is hot in your area, your country, your continent, will propagate up the most interesting and exciting games," Harrison said. The Xbox One "Games" tab will feature game recommendations and trends, and will have catalog and search functions. The entire system is a blend of curated and popular games, Harrison said. Microsoft will maintain its current strategy with indie developers, meaning indies won't be able to self-publish their games on Xbox One, as they can on PS3, Vita, Wii U, Steam, and eventually, the PS4.
Osom mashes up Craigslist and Instagram, lets you sell your beautiful things
Perhaps after wading through one too many bleach bypass photos of someone's scooter, a trio of Swedish developers thought an Instagram-like app would be an ideal way to sell such things. To wit, they developed Osom, an iPhone app that pays homage to the social shooter in concept as well as design by letting you create photos with a variety of filters, price them and put them up for sale. Other users can find your artwork by following you, filtering by geography, watching a global feed or seeing it on Facebook via a cross-posting option. To buy a photo, they'll need to contact you directly through the app, as there's no built-in payment option. According to TNW, the team hopes to keep images in the feed beautiful and upscale, though so far the selection isn't curated -- and we saw a fire extinguisher and other run-of-the-mill goods alongside vintage dresses, antiques and the like. Osom will eventually include "featured" and "Osom'd" ads to make money, so if you want to enjoy the unsullied version while it lasts, hit the source to grab it.
WSJ: Apple's App Store climbs towards $25 billion in sales
The Wall Street Journal has posted an article covering the meteoric rise of the App Store, from its inception just a few years ago to its current state of almost $25 billion in annual sales. But while the App Store is growing like crazy, it's also presenting more problems for developers as well: Finding a significant crowd of customers is getting tougher and tougher, and just making a name for yourself in such a huge market isn't always easy. And it doesn't help that customers are flying through apps extremely quickly. Mobile analytics firm Flurry tells the WSJ that while users do now spend about two hours a day on apps, the apps they use don't stick around for very long. About 63 percent of the apps in use today weren't used daily a year ago, and most customers focus on about eight apps at a time, according to the research. That makes sense. In such a huge market, with so many apps to try, why focus on just a few? But it also means that the app market is going to have to mature. The WSJ cites ESPN for shuttering one of its apps while focusing on the more popular ScoreCenter utility, and they also mention Shazam, an app that has found all sorts of functionality (and more revenue streams) as it has matured in the App Store. Apple's App Store marketplace has gone from zero to billions in just the past few years, and no one's got an exact road map for where it's headed next.
Mozilla to bring marketplace to Firefox OS later this year, allow payment through operators
Mozilla has just announced live at its MWC 2013 event that it'll launch its marketplace for Firefox OS "later this year," and that you'll be able to pay for apps directly through your mobile operator. That's obviously different from Google and Apple's approach, perhaps to entice carriers to jump on board with devices packing the new mobile OS. You'll be able to grab apps in categories like games, news and media from outfits like EA, Disney, Facebook and Twitter. Mozilla's also touting "one-time use and downloadable apps" to let users test out apps before they buy them. The organization said that developers will be able to use "web technologies at the core," to create HTML5-based apps, in order to populate the new ecosystem quickly. The marketplace won't arrive to Firefox OS until later this year, but you can get a preview on Firefox for Android Aurora. For more info, check the PR after the break.
Windows Phone users unable to download apps, receiving error code 805a0193
Thumbs twitching, in an attempt to get on that new Spotify beta? You might have had a frustrating morning. Multiple users are reporting that when trying to purchase or download apps on their Windows Phone they are instead receiving error code 805a0193. As handy as the code is, there's no further information about what is causing the problem. Unlike previous issues that seemed more localized, this current instance appears pretty widespread with reports coming from the US, and France amongst others. Are you affected? Let us know in the comments. In the meantime we've contacted Microsoft to see what's up. [Thanks to all who sent this in]
iOS, Android grab 92% of smartphone shipments
The smartphone market is quickly boiling down into a two-party system, so to speak, with both iOS and Android picking up a whopping 92 percent of smartphone shipments over the last quarter of 2012. In 2011, 32 percent of smartphone shipments consisted of other operating systems, like Windows Phone, RIM's Blackberry or Symbian. But in the last year that number has shrunk, to the point where only 7 percent of smartphones shipping are not iOS or Android, and it seems unlikely to rise again. In the same time period, about 20 percent of smartphones shipped were iOS devices, as compared to 70 percent of devices shipped being Android. That may make it seem like Apple is losing a lot of market share, to Google's operating system. And that may be true, but let's not forget why: not only do Android phones tend to be cheaper (which means device makers can make and sell more), but there are also dozens of Android devices available from nearly as many companies, as opposed to Apple's relatively small (and, of course, exclusive) product line. As a platform, Android is shipping more smartphones than Apple is. But comparing the two isn't necessarily the best comparison, especially as a factor of Apple's success in the smartphone market. Regardless, this report shows that the smartphone market in general is more mature than ever: there are currently two big players in terms of smartphone operating systems, and it's going to be harder and harder for anyone else to gain a foothold in the future. [via TMO]
Gaming company derides Microsoft Store: 'We've made the princely sum of £52' (update: retracted)
UK gaming outfit Rubicon has castigated Microsoft after claiming a Windows RT port of its Great Big War Game made a meager £52 ($83) in its first week in the store. The company was particularly incensed at Redmond's lack of promotional features to help the title's visibility, claiming that "if you're familiar with (its) new store, this means our app is forever consigned to the garbage bin." The company added that the iOS, Android "and even RIM" stores have promoted the app, which it said was widely lauded, and felt that after investing £10,000 on the port, "we got spat on" by the software giant. The developer punctuated its blog statement by saying it won't work with Microsoft again, and "that store is going to look mighty bleak for a long time to come" if it doesn't change its policy. No doubt there's some sour grapes getting squeezed here, but it's fair to say that RT is much in need of some sweeter news. Update: Having a good ol' moan sometimes does the trick. Rubicon has deleted its original blog post, saying that Microsoft has "graciously decided work with us to iron out the problems and get us past this incident."
Vanguard expands F2P perks, introduces lockboxes
Vanguard has become even more accommodating to free players as today's update lifted the restriction against such players using uncommon items. SOE says that this now opens the door for free players to equip almost 20,000 additional items and weapons. It seems that Vanguard isn't able to escape all the trends of free-to-play, however. As the Festival of Gloriann rolls in next month, so do new lockboxes to the game. These lockboxes have a chance of containing a rare item like festive horses and cool pets, but are only openable by using cash shop-purchased keys. The patch also contains tweaks to the newly opened City of Brass, a resurrection gem in the marketplace, and performance tweaks.
Amazon rejects Apple's false advertising claim in App Store suit
Amazon.com has filed a statement in Apple's ongoing claim against the online retail giant, saying that the generic use of the term "app store" is not a violation of Apple's "App Store" trademark. Amazon also asked for judgment regarding the suggestion that its use of "Appstore" to describe its own Android marketplace would be considered false advertising, in an attempt to somehow convince customers that the marketplace was related to Apple's own iOS App Store. Amazon also cites Steve Jobs and other Apple executives as calling competitors' markets "app stores" as well. Apple has trademarked the phrase "App Store," in reference to its own very popular iOS apps marketplace. But Amazon says this isn't even a question of trademark just yet -- it's simply trying to get a judge to agree that using the phrase "appstore" isn't false advertising. We should hear a decision on this filing coming up sometime soon.
Microsoft announces Windows Phone 8 SDK preview program, Windows Phone Store replaces Marketplace
Naturally, there's a good amount of anticipation surrounding the release of Windows Phone 8 handsets, but before that day arrives, developers will need proper software to code apps. Microsoft stopped short of releasing the requisite tools, but today, the company announced the Windows Phone 8 SDK preview program -- essentially a way for developers to get in line for when the software becomes available. As is, all developers must submit an application to the Microsoft Connect website by Monday, September 17th, at which point, they'll be provided instructions "the following week" of how and where to download the SDK. As for why the company has stopped short of an immediate release, Microsoft blames it on the fact that not all Windows Phone 8 features have been announced -- which gives us reason to hope we'll see a full disclosure in the near term. In related news, the Redmond giant has also revealed that the Marketplace will be renamed the Windows Phone Store, which is intended to harmonize the naming scheme with the Windows Store. It'll first rear its head in both Australia and New Zealand, but the company promises to roll out the new storefront to other countries in the weeks ahead. As for what you can expect, a cleaner design and new menu options are said to be in the mix, along with news and reviews from various technology blogs and journalists. Other improvements will include new search functionality to account for typos, along with suggestions for similar apps, regardless of what's in the title. Finally, Microsoft will also introduce new categories such as Best Rated, Top Free and Top Paid. We'll initially see these designations in the online store only, but the company promises to mirror the functionality on its phones later this year.
The Tattered Notebook: Piling up prizes with EQII's Gigglegibber minigames
The EverQuest II team has been regularly checking off game changes from the summer update announcement, and the most recent additions to the world of Norrath are new Gigglegibber minigames. If you've had your eye on a certain armor crate, a particular mount, or a handy consumable, but you haven't wanted to spend a lot of Station Cash to buy it, you can try your luck at winning it through one of three minigames. For 100 SC, you can buy a ticket, play a game, and get a random reward at the end. If you're curious about what the games are like and what the possible prizes are, then you're in luck! In this week's Tattered Notebook, we'll hang out with the Gigglegibbers and explore the new minigames.
EverQuest gets a cosmetic system
It may be late to the costume party, but EverQuest is finally dressing up in its finest duds. SOE announced that the title will be getting its very own cosmetic outfit system come August. Called Hero's Forge, this system allows players to change the appearance of their character's armor without altering the stats. Fashion comes with a price, however: SOE will be charging per character to access this system. Once purchased, players will receive their first set of armor for free. Additional pieces of cosmetic armor will become available as both loot drops and Marketplace goods.
The Secret World's first content update is coming July 31st
Back in the day, avid mystery fans relied on getting monthly doses of case-solving goodness from magazines such as Ellery Queen. Today, the same can be found in The Secret World. Delivering on its recent promise of monthly updates, Funcom has released the details for July's free content update in true mystery magazine style with Issue #1: Unleashed. On July 31st, TSW players will find a number of new missions featuring a best-selling author, a daredevil, and even a crazy cat lady. Another mission will explore a character who may be more than she pretends to be. Two current dungeons are also getting a new nightmare mode; if you thought Ankh and Hell Fallen were challenging before, just wait until you test yourself in this mode. Another upcoming feature is a cross-dimensional marketplace. Not only can players group and play together cross-dimensionally, but soon they will be able to buy, sell, and ship items across dimensions as well. Unleashed is just the first of many updates. Issue #2 for August's update is already in the works and will be revealed soon, so stay tuned! And keep an eye on the ongoing construction in London, Seoul, and New York as new tenants prepare to move in. [Source: Funcom press release]
Microsoft lists 180 countries in Windows Phone 8 Marketplace, says apps can filter by screen size
Now that the dust has settled on the big Windows Phone 8 hoedown, Redmond is filling in the details of all its announcements. To wit, it just released a list of the 180 countries that will get access to its WP marketplace and developer app hub. That number is a big jump from the 63 markets and 38 app hubs of today, and with in-app purchasing coming soon, Microsoft emphasized that point -- along with the 100,000 apps in stock -- to developers. The software giant also added that the marketplace will filter apps by phone screen resolution and "other key characteristics," allowing easier targeting of users. To see if your country made the cut, check the source for the very long list.
