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Sony, Panasonic, others to launch cross-platform e-book service, later this year
Don't look now, but there's some major synergy going on in Japan's e-book market, now that Sony, Panasonic, Rakuten and Kinokuniya have all joined forces on a new digital quest. Today, the quartet of companies announced they're working on a system that would allow users to purchase and read content across their respective e-readers, injecting the e-cosmos with a heavy dose of free love and good vibes. Under the new service, customers would be able to manage their downloads and browse bestsellers within a centralized web-based marketplace, regardless of the device they go to bed with every night. Because within this new universe, there would be no "mine," "yours," or "theirs" -- all will be one and one will be all. The chieftains have already held powows with a handful of digital publishers, though they expect to have more friends around the campfire by the time the project launches later this year.
Microsoft releases Android developer poaching package for Windows Phone 7
Microsoft's App Guy has quite a job on his baby-soft hands: to boost Windows Phone 7's numerically-challenged Marketplace by encouraging developers to port apps across from other platforms. The little fellow helped iPhone devs out a couple of months ago with an API mapping tool to make it easier to translate iPhone APIs to WP7 code. Now he's extended the mapping tool to work with Android APIs too, and backed it up with a 90-page white paper and a promise to get more involved in developer forums. Will the App Guy's efforts unleash a flood of new apps for Windows Phone? We don't know, but we dig his shorts.
Marketplace for Windows Mobile website closing shop on July 15th, My Phone following suit
For most phone enthusiasts, hearing that Windows Mobile 6 is winding up operations is much like receiving news that your neighbor is moving -- when all along you'd thought the house was empty. And so it's with some remorse that we announce the Windows Marketplace for Mobile website will cease operations on July 15th -- the very day it will stop accepting app submissions from developers. Those hesitant to go Metro are given a reprieve, however, as the storefront will survive on your mobile device -- ready and willing to accept your impulse purchases. In related sadness, the My Phone sync service will meet a similar fate on August 7th, giving you until that date to migrate to SkyDrive. If you're forgetful, Microsoft plans to automatically save your contacts, calendars, text messages and photos to its Live service -- but it's on you to transition your video, music and documents. We know everybody makes the switch at their own pace, but once you're ready to part with that iPaq perhaps it will find a happy future on the streets of Hong Kong. For the complete communique from Microsoft itself, just follow the break. [Thanks, all]
Microsoft combating bulk publishing in Marketplace, limiting certifications to 20 per day
By a rough estimate, the library at Windows Marketplace now tops 21,000 apps -- nearly twice the amount we reported near the end of May. While some platforms might be envious of this recent flurry, many of the titles are merely variants of single applications -- uploaded by the hundreds -- that flood the Marketplace, while forcing other qualified coders from the spotlight. It's no cakewalk for customers either, who must wade through the deluge when shopping. In attempt to bring sanity to its store, the company is now restricting developers to (a rather lenient) 20 certifications per day and is pulling the worst offenders from the shelves. Not looking to burn bridges, however, Microsoft has promised to teach methods of creating custom, localized apps without the need for submitting dozens of versions. Supporting in-app purchasing would be a fine start, but we'll leave that for Mr. Ballmer to flesh out. Not like he's busy with anything else these days.
SurfCube browser wins Microsoft Innovation Award, latest version packs YouTube punch (video)
If you're feeling too boxed in with Internet Explorer on your Windows Phone, consider checking out SurfCube, which brings your browsing experience outside the box -- literally. Since we last visited the app, an ad-supported version was introduced alongside the $1.99 paid version, allowing users to spin the browser without any commitment. This useful (and entertaining) functionality was enough to help the developer score a Microsoft Innovation Award for smartphone applications -- a feat it has accomplished twice before. Fresh off its win, SurfCube 3.0 debuted with numerous bug fixes, performance improvements, and -- perhaps most importantly -- YouTube support. It also claims to have the best tab support of any WP7 browser, a point you can judge for yourself in the video just past the break.
Microsoft outlines new features for Windows Phone Mango's Music and Video Hubs
When Microsoft unveiled Windows Phone Mango last month, the company spent a lot of time walking us through some of the 500-plus changes to the OS -- most notably, conversation threads, people groups, enhanced search functionality, Twitter and LinkedIn integration, IE9, and the instantly responsive Bing Vision. It's no wonder, then, that Redmond didn't have much time to talk multimedia. Well, the company just spilled the beans in a blog post, laying out a raft of new features that run the gamut from podcasts to improved playback controls. We've got a lot to recap, so join us past the break, won't you? %Gallery-125313%
Microsoft to launch web-based Windows Phone Marketplace alongside 'Mango'
We're not quite sure why Microsoft didn't make mention of it during its big event yesterday, but the company has now confirmed that its forthcoming "Mango" update will also bring with it another significant addition to the Windows Phone scene: a web-based Marketplace. That will of course let you browse and buy apps right from your favorite web browser, and then have them installed on your phone over-the-air ("via SMS or email," apparently). You'll also be able to take advantage of various social networking tie-ins to share apps with your friends, and the Marketplace will hang onto your download history so you can easily reinstall all of your apps if you switch phones -- and, yes, you can count on plenty of Bing integration as well. Update: Microsoft got in touch with us to clear up some of the confusion about how apps are actually delivered to the phone. It says it expects the vast majority of customers to install apps OTA in a single step using its regular notification system. SMS would only be used in instances where that service is not already turned on, and in that case there would still be "no links or added engagement on the phone." Customers can also choose to send themselves an email with a link to the app but, again, it expects most folks to simply let apps install in the background.
Army app store advances, tries to break through bureaucracy's defenses
The Army Marketplace may be mired in bureaucratic muck, but the depot for mobile military apps isn't simply stagnating in a stack of paperwork somewhere. Developers and commanders are still pushing forward with the project and hoping for the best. There are already 17 apps for Android and 16 for iPhones, created as part of the Apps for the Army contest last year, and designers have whipped up prototypes for the homepage (above) and personalized user pages (after the break) where soldiers can post ideas for apps, request features from devs, and write reviews. The chief of the Army's Mobile Applications Branch, Lt. Col. Gregory Motes, hopes the Marketplace will make its debut at LandWarNet in August, even if there won't be any approved smartphones to access it for several months after that. At least the military claim one victory, when its app store launches it'll already have more titles than TegraZone.
US Army to launch its own app store
Wired got an early look at an app marketplace designed by the Army for the Army. It will be populated with titles specific to Army operations and will support both desktop computers and mobile devices. The Army Marketplace will launch with 16 iPhone apps and 17 Android apps, most of which were designed as part of the Apps for Army contest. These apps will be available for a nominal fee to Army employees. The marketplace will let soldiers submit ideas for new apps, which can be discussed by fellow soldiers and developed in-house if possible. Apps that require outside help will be put out to bid and developed by a third-party contractor. Unfortunately, the store is limited to Department of Defense employees only and requires a secure login to gain access to the Marketplace website. This need for tight security poses a problem as the Army does not have a solution in place for authenticating applications on a mobile device. Right now, the Army Marketplace is useful for designing cool apps, but they cannot be downloaded to Army handsets. Last week, the Army took steps towards securing a mobile platform by confirming it is testing Android as the OS to power its first smartphone prototype. This military branch may be examining this iOS competitor closely, but it has not chosen Google's mobile OS as its final solution. In fact, no Android handset has started the certification process overseen by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. A phone has to be approved by this board before it can be considered secure enough to contain government data. The iPhone has entered this process, but it is still months away from approval.
The Tattered Notebook: If we all look cool, how do we know who's really cool?
Last week, we looked at the amazing job that EverQuest II does with providing ways to make your character look unique. EQII is one of the best when it comes to making your character look special, cool, and fitting of who you are. But there's another side of this coin, and as one forum poster has rightfully pointed out, the best-looking items aren't always the best items in the game. As Rayven2 noted recently on the official forums: A good example is the Elemental War Sword. Sure it drops from an easy-mode mob, but it's a 4x raid and takes time and effort to beat (at least the first time you do it). The sword should look somewhat cool, but the graphic is just the same reused sword graphic painted gold. The chillborne sword is the one that has the particle effects for 200SC. So you bust your hump beating a mob that took 24 people to take down only to get a reward that looks worse than an appearance weapon anyone can acquire for little or no effort. None of the scout weapons look anywhere as cool as the SC daggers out there. Senior Producer Dave "SmokeJumper" Georgeson replied, saying, "It's a fair point, although if we're not paying attention to that now, it's by oversight, not by intent. Everyone wants something cool looking (not just cool stats) when they overcome big challenges. That's natural." In this week's Tattered Notebook, we'll take a closer look at "looking cool" and how the rise of cash shops has changed the way we view each other.
GameStop opens digital storefront on Facebook
If you're uncomfortable with GameStop's tenacity as it pursues your reservations and trade-ins, you'll probably be displeased to learn that "pre-order pokes" could be coming in the near future. The gargantuan games retailer recently opened up a Facebook storefront, through which shoppers can purchase and reserve titles, view trailers and screenshot galleries and, in the near future, earn and redeem PowerUp Rewards points. Between this and GameStop's recent acquisition of Impulse and Spawn Labs, it seems the retailer's taking its new digital strategy pretty seriously. We wouldn't be surprised to see if the company adopted a presence on LiveJournal, as well. We'd be curious to learn what its mood is like on a day-to-day basis, as well as what hot bands it's totally into right now.
Zune HD finally gets an e-mail application, still waiting on a future
The future of the Zune as a standalone media player is still a little in doubt, but its future of being able to send crucially important e-mails and, in return, get a boatload of spam is now fully assured. A free e-mail app has been added to the Zune Marketplace supporting Gmail, Windows Live Mail, and of course good 'ol POP3 accounts. Unfortunately all we have to gaze upon is that tiny screenshot over on the right, but it certainly looks familiar enough to fit right into the Zune ecosphere without making any waves. Just make sure you don't go looking for your Steely Dan collection inside the unread folder. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Microsoft removes Imagewind from Marketplace, WP7 gets first bitter taste of rejection
Oh, sure, it was easy to pick on Apple for all those frustrating App Store rejections over the years, but Google's had its own run-ins with apps being pulled under unfortunate circumstances, and now it's time for WP7 users to get a taste. Microsoft has pulled is thinking about pulling Imagewind from the Windows Phone Marketplace, an app that basically pulls random images en masse from the Twitter-stream, splaying them all over your touchscreen. MS indicated that, without some sort of filter to weed out seedy images, the app has to go. Somewhat curiously it's actually been chilling in the Marketplace since March 3rd, and it was only upon reviewing a recent update that someone in Redmond said "Hey, waitaminute!" Imagewind is now gone and honestly we can't say that its rejection is completely arbitrary -- displaying all images the all the time is not necessarily a good thing for sensitive eyes -- but it still stings, doesn't it? Update: We got a note from Roger at Smarty Pants Coding to let us know that he's received a "grace period" for the app. It's still available for download, but it could be a limited time thing... Update 2: Another note from Roger. The stay of execution has been... unstayed. The app is no more. Break out the trumpets.
Blizzard: StarCraft 2 'marketplace' still coming
During BlizzCon 2009, Blizzard revealed plans to put a shopping interface inside StarCraft 2, which would allow players to purchase user-created maps, with revenue shared between Blizzard and the creator. The game came out in July 2010, sans marketplace, and that feature is still missing. During an interview with MTV Multiplayer, Blizzard's Frank Pearce asserted that the feature is still on the way. "But it's not necessarily something we have a specific timeline for," he said, "which is unfortunate because one of the things that we've found is, especially from our learnings from World of WarCraft, is that these audiences that play these games are very, very passionate and want to experience lots and lots of content. With the StarCraft 2 client and the StarCraft 2 map editor and the Battle.net platform, it creates an opportunity for the community to serve itself with content, if the mechanisms are there." To be fair, if it did have a timeline, it would be a Blizzard timeline, and therefore could only be specific to the year. Approximately.
Windows Phone 7 Marketplace hits 10,000 apps, Microsoft WP7 updates still way outnumbered
It's a milestone in the life of any OS: the day you reach that magical 10,000 app number. Windows Phone 7 is the latest kindred soul to achieve the feat, accomplishing the task in just over four and a half months -- that's faster than both the Android Marketplace and iTunes App Store. Microsoft's been adding around 1,000 apps a week since it hit 5k right before the New Year, and as of late that rate's been picking up. Congrats WP7 devs, you've officially issued more software updates than Microsoft itself. Your move Microsoft, we're still waiting for copy & paste.
Zune Insider reminds that Zune isn't dead, announces Zune HD launch in Canada
We still have only an official non-denial from Microsoft about the continued livelihood of the name "Zune" as a brand, but now we have Zune Insider saying "Zune is not dead." Indeed we already knew that, but the question is what's coming in the future with Windows Phone seemingly getting all the company's attention of late. The future we still don't know about, but we do have some news about the present for Canadians: the Zune HD! Yes, our friendly neighbors to the north need no longer look south to purchase Microsoft's latest entry to the Zune series -- though "latest" is a somewhat sad designation for hardware that was released in 2009. However, there's still no Marketplace available: it'll strictly be a BYO tunage affair for now.
EverQuest launches second progression server due to popular demand
Everyone's talking about the new progression server that launched yesterday in EverQuest -- and it seems that so many people are trying to play on it that they've outstripped its capacity. Players have reported that Fippy Darkpaw, a special server that's rolling out EQ's expansions at a measured pace, has been crushed by the crowds trying to log in. As a result, Sony Online Entertainment decided to create a second time-locked progression server named after the game's infamous dragon Vulak'Aerr. According to the company, the server went online today. This should help relieve the stress on poor ol' Fippy. If you're curious about what a progression server entails, SOE's set up a helpful FAQ to clarify the details. Players on EverQuest's other servers shouldn't feel left out of the celebrations, as they'll be enjoying a double XP weekend from February 18th through the 21st. It is important to note that this XP bonus will not apply to the new progression servers. During the same weekend, SOE is marking down a number of items in the Marketplace for a President's Day sale. You can read more on this special weekend over at EverQuest Players.
Nokia and Microsoft enter strategic alliance on Windows Phone, Bing, Xbox Live and more
It's happened. Former Microsoft exec and current Nokia CEO Stephen Elop has married his future and his past in the holy matrimony of a "strategic alliance." Windows Phone is becoming Nokia's "principal smartphone strategy," but there's a lot more to this hookup -- scope out the official press release just after the break. Microsoft's Bing and adCenter will provide search and ad services across Nokia devices, while Nokia will look to innovate "on top of the platform" with things like its traditional strength in imaging. Ovi Maps will be a core part of Microsoft's mapping services and will be integrated with Bing, while Nokia's content store will be integrated into (read: assimilated by) Microsoft's Marketplace. Xbox Live and Office will also, as is to be expected, feature on these brave new Microkia handsets. An open letter on Nokia's Conversations site, penned jointly by Stephen Elop and Steve Ballmer, sets out the foregoing details along with the following statement of intent: "There are other mobile ecosystems. We will disrupt them. There will be challenges. We will overcome them. Success requires speed. We will be swift. Together, we see the opportunity, and we have the will, the resources and the drive to succeed."
Amazon app released for the newest Windows Phone 7 models
It's an important day for Windows Phone 7 users. No, not because the free Amazon app was just launched in the Windows Phone Marketplace. It's because we get to test drive this Photoshop image in preparation for Friday. You feelin' it? [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
The Tattered Notebook: More on flying mounts, public quests, and prestige homes
SOE has been slowly getting new information out about Destiny of Velious. As part of an ongoing promotion to showcase the upcoming expansion, Senior Producer Dave "SmokeJumper" Georgeson and Greg "Rothgar" Spence took part in the second installment of the Destiny of Velious webcast. They took the opportunity to elaborate on topics from the first show and also revealed some exciting new features. In this week's Tattered Notebook, we'll look at the highlights of last Friday's webcast. Read on to hear more about flying mounts, prestige housing, and public quests.
