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Minecraft hits 20 million registered users
Mojang mastermind Notch has tweeted that Minecraft has reached the 20 million user milestone, and that if each user weighed 154 pounds, that Minecraft's total player base would equal 25 percent of the weight of the Great Pyramid of Giza. It's an interesting statistic, if somewhat of a stretch, only because it got us thinking about other ways to arbitrarily compartmentalize that sort of information. For example: Assuming that every Minecraft player contains the human average of 1.3 gallons of blood, Minecraft's player base equates to 39.9 regulation olympic-sized swimming pools full of vital fluids. Math is neat, isn't it?
SWTOR: When do I get...?
BioWare has created an enormous world with Star Wars: The Old Republic. Over and over again, developers explained that this is absolutely™ the biggest single project BioWare has ever undertaken. This also means that it is the most complex, and not everything you want to know about the game is easy to find. Every week for the last three years, the community team at BioWare has released tidbits of information, and sometimes when the information trickles out over that span of time, it's hard to keep track of it all. Therefore, the crew here at Massively decided it would be a good idea to compile some of the more common questions that have been asked about SWTOR, all in a single place. Catch all the questions and answers after the break, and if you have any other (serious) questions, feel free to ask them in the comments -- we will do our best to get them answered for you!
Android Market reaches ten billionth download, sells Minecraft, Swiftkey X, others for a dime
Happy milestone, Android Market! It's a busy place, full of hustle and bustle -- so much so, in fact, that the applications plaza for Google's mobile OS just had its ten billionth app downloaded. In honor of hitting this mark, it's passing the savings on to you, placing (at least) ten apps on sale for ten cents. The sale will last for ten days (notice a theme?), so procrastinators will have a little extra time to decide which ones are worth a dime. There's a few classics on the list, such as SwiftKey X, Minecraft, Asphalt 6 and SoundHound. Check the source link (or glance at the screenshot above) to see what else is available, as well as a press release straight from SwiftKey below the break. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Ham radio licenses in the US top 700,000, still plenty of call signs to go around
Social networking wasn't always as easy as it is today. Long before Twitter or Facebook (or the internet itself), amateur radio was a popular way for folks to talk to people they may not necessarily know in real life -- although "popular" in this case is something that's always been measured in the hundreds of thousands rather than millions. While it's since been overtaken considerably by more modern technologies, ham radio is still now technically more popular than ever, with a recent count of licensed operators in the US topping 700,000 for the first time. Of course, they aren't necessarily all active users, but there is still a steady stream of folks taking the necessary exam these days -- the FCC has issued 40,000 new licenses in the past five years. [Image courtesy Seattle Municipal Archives / Wikimedia Commons]
Windows Phone Marketplace inches over 40,000 app mark
Windows Phone continues to shore up its app and game selection, hitting 40,000 apps in just over a year since its inception. Granted, there's still plenty of catching up to do before Microsoft's third way can go toe-to-toe with Android and iOS, but it's another (substantial) step in the right direction. According to All About Windows Phone, new content is now being added at the heady rate of around 165 apps per day, although it notes that a chunk of previously released apps are now non-existent, subtracting around 5,000 from the scores we have here. However, app devs have cranked it up a gear, adding around the same amount of new apps in only the last month -- presumably galvanized by Nokia's much-publicized WinPho debut and other Mango-powered delights arriving in stores. Will it crack the 50k mark by the end of the year? We're sure Mr. Ballmer won't be betting against it. [Image credit: Jim Merithew/Wired.com]
College students unveil the Kiira EV, Uganda's first electric car (video)
Take a good look at that lime green hornet pictured above, because it may just herald the dawn of a new era in Ugandan transportation. Known as the Kiira EV, this plug-in was designed by students at Makerere University in Uganda, where electric cars, as you might imagine, are something of a rare commodity. In fact, local media outlets are heralding the Kiira as the first EV ever produced within the central African country, and it's not too shabby, either. On Tuesday, after nearly three years of development, the two-seater successfully completed its first test run, reaching a top speed of 65 kilometers per hour and nimbly making its way up a 55-degree incline. According to Paul Isaac Musasizi, who oversaw the project, the Kiira is capable of maxing out at a speed of 150 kilometers per hour, and can run for up to 80 kilometers on a single charge. Aside from its steering wheel and other accessories, every other component was designed and constructed domestically. Perhaps more important than the Kiira EV's specs, however, is what it symbolizes for Uganda. "When we started the project, we wanted to demonstrate that Uganda has as good talent as that in the US or Germany," Musasizi told Uganda's Daily Monitor. "Now that this is over, we expect and want it to be taken up." It remains to be seen whether the Kiira actually enters production anytime soon, but Musasizi says his team is already working on a 28-seat EV for public transportation, underscoring their commitment to bringing green technology to their country. Hum past the break to see video of the momentous occasion, along with coverage from Uganda's NTV. [Thanks, Roger]
Novatel celebrates sale of 3 millionth MiFi Intelligent Mobile Hotspot with an intelligent rager
Today marks a momentous occasion for Novatel Wireless, because shipments of its MiFi Intelligent Mobile Hotspot have now surpassed the 3 million mark. The company confirmed the milestone in an announcement yesterday, and took a moment to look back on how far their router has come since it was first introduced in 2009. Since then, Novatel has launched its family of MiFi devices with 25 operators across the world and is looking to build upon its record. For now, though, just grab a bottle of bubbly and join the PR party, after the break.
EU to launch first two Galileo satellites today, as sat-nav system lurches forward
The EU's Galileo satellite navigation system has been beset by delays and budget overruns in recent months, but its future is looking slightly brighter, now that its first two satellites are primed for launch. The European Space Agency is expected to send the satellites into space today, as part of a long-term project that will cost an estimated €7 billion (around $9.6 billion). Slated to take off from Kourou, French Guiana, the pair of satellites will ride on the back of a Russian rocket to an altitude of nearly 15,000 miles, where they'll test system functions both in space and on Earth. If all goes according to plan, they'll also become Galileo's first operational satellites, paving the way, officials hope, for many more to follow. In fact, the European Commission is looking to complete the 30-satellite constellation by the year 2019, with two scheduled to launch during every quarter, beginning in 2012. The idea, of course, is to offer Europeans an alternative to US-operated GPS, with a free consumer service scheduled to launch in 2014, followed by a more precise, paid service in 2020. Nevertheless, budgetary concerns loom large over the project, which, according to the EC, has already racked up a development and deployment bill of over €5 billion ($6.8 billion), since 2003. The commission will present a finalized proposal to EU member governments by the end of the year, in the hopes of obtaining that extra €7 billion, though it may face more acute criticism, considering today's dour economic climate. It remains unlikely, however, that Galileo will be totally shut down, as the EU says it could bring in an extra €90 billion over the next 20 years.
Samsung moves ten million Galaxy S II smartphones, pats itself on the back
Since its debut in April, Samsung claims to have moved 10 million Galaxy S IIs -- not quite iPhone numbers (which sold 20 million units in Q2 alone), but still quite impressive. It's especially noteworthy since, at the end of July, only five million had passed into customers' hands. In just eight weeks the number of Galaxy S IIs sold has doubled, and Sammy's flagship device has yet to even make a dent here in the US. At this rate the S II is set to far eclipse its ubiquitous predecessor's sales figures, which took over seven months to hit the same milestone. Check out the self-congratulatory PR after the break.
Mobile Miscellany: week of August 29, 2011
This week, as always, was packed with news on the mobile front, so it was easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of August 15, 2011: More rumors are circulating about the upcoming Sony Ericsson Nozumi, originally leaked two weeks ago. The new specs getting floated around are even better than we previously thought, which include a 1.5GHz dual-core CPU, 1GB of RAM, 4.3-inch display with 1280 x 720 resolution for a PPI of 342, and NFC. (Thanks, David) [via XperiaBlog] The Motorola Milestone 3 -- the GSM twin of the Droid 3, essentially -- was released in Brazil this week and will be available in select Latin American countries later this month. [via AndroidCentral] Just as we're getting used to the idea of a white HTC EVO 3D at Radio Shack, it's now reported that a purple version will soon be available exclusively at Best Buy. [via PocketNow] The BlackBerry Torch 9860 has two new Canadian homes, as it launched this week on Telus for $100 and SaskTel for $130. Both carriers involve setting up a three-year commitment. [via MobileSyrup(1) and (2)] Did someone mention SaskTel? Yes, the carrier is jumping on the 4G bandwagon by announcing its intent to deploy LTE by the fall of 2012. [via MobileSyrup] AT&T's LG Thrill 4G is finally getting released tomorrow after several weeks of delays. While the phone will be offered for $100 by the carrier itself, you'll be able to get it at Costco for $30. [via PhoneArena] Alongside the Kyocera Milano, Sprint will also launch a new feature phone called the Kyocera Brio. The Brio will offer a QWERTY keyboard, a 192MHz CPU and will run Java. [via Electronista and AndroidCentral] At HTC's Windows Phone launch this week, reps confirmed that all of its new Windows Phones will indeed have the mobile hotspot feature included, though it won't be a part of the software update to the company's existing lineup. It's likely to be added with a future refresh, but apparently the feature was added too late in the process to get thrown into the initial rollout. (Thanks, Gilles) [via Pocket-Lint]
Urban Airship delivers 5 billionth push notification
Urban Airship is a company that works with developers to power and send out push notifications through the various applications on your iPhone, and it recently announced that the five billionth push notification left the company's servers. The company has been sending push notifications since June 14, 2009 (when they were first opened up to developers by Apple in iOS), and it's now sending out 19 million push notifications a day. That's notes from games, to-do apps, Twitter apps, and all of the other various reasons that all of your apps have to pop that little window up. Urban Airship isn't the only company sending these things either -- there are many more notifications going out, through various servers and setups. It took Urban Airship just over a year to reach 1 billion notifications sent, and traffic is still climbing, too. And the inclusion of a notification management system in iOS 5 means that we'll see even bigger growth with this feature. And that's not all: Urban Airship also says that in-app purchases have been mushrooming as well, with 4.2 million so far in just its company, and even more through developers directly. iOS is really "pushing" new ways for developers and users to interact. Show full PR text Urban Airship Delivers 5 Billionth Mobile Push Notification Mobile services platform start-up also hires first CFO August 22, 2011-Portland, ORE- A short two years since Urban Airship formally launched, the company has established itself as a leader in its ability to navigate the complex, multifaceted explosive-growth industry of mobile apps. Push notifications-short, real-time alerts sent from within apps direct to users with the app installed on their device-are quickly joining email, social networking and SMS as a critical communications channel. Urban Airship sent the first push notification for any app in the Apple App Store on June 14, 2009. Since then, interest in push notifications has continued to gather steam: the Urban Airship messaging platform powers an average of 520 million push notifications per month, roughly 13,000 messages per minute. Successful brands onmobile are engaging their customers with compelling, relevant information that extends the utility of their app. Several brands, including ESPN, Yahoo, Slate, msnbc.com, dictionary.com, Groupon and LivingSocial use Push to deliver ongoing content such as advertisements, deals and special sales, news stories, podcasts and playlists, weather and traffic alerts, transactional receipts and sports scores. It took the company's thousands of app developers 472 days (1 year, 3 months, 15 days) to hit the 1 billion notification mark. As context, it took Twitter 3 years, 2 months and 1 day to hit 1 billion tweets. "I'm amazed at the growth we've seen in such a short time. Our team has delivered on the vision of a ubiquitous messaging layer for any connected device and we're just getting warmed up over here," says Scott Kveton, CEO of Urban Airship. "The market is rapidly adopting push notifications as a critical communications channel, and it's clear that mobile is changing everything." App Messaging by the Numbers · As of August 21, 2011, Urban Airship has delivered 5 billion push notifications. · Twenty thousand active iOS, BlackBerry and Android apps run on the Urban Airship mobile platform. · Year over year, the number of notifications Urban Airship has delivered increased from 834 million to 5 billion, a 500% growth rate. · Urban Airship delivers, on average, 520 million push notifications every month, 130 million per week, 19 million per day, roughly 13 thousand messages per minute. · In-App purchase continues to gain momentum. Thus far, Urban Airship has authenticated and enabled more than 4.2 million transactions. The company hits the 5 billion milestone as it embarks on the next phase of its growth. Dylan Anderson is joining the executive team at the company as CFO, VP of Finance and Corporate Secretary. He will oversee strategic growth and help drive capital needs as Urban Airship continues to make traction with significant larger-scale enterprise-scope partners. Anderson, a seasoned start-up veteran, has more than 18 years of financial and operational leadership in early-stage, innovative companies. He brings strong credentials in fund raising, M&A, and both pre- and post-IPO companies. Most recently he was CFO for Max-Viz, Inc., a VC–backed avionics technology company, where he led the finance, legal, HR and administrative teams. "Dylan is joining the team at the perfect time," says Kveton. "As the deals we are doing start to become more and more complex, we need someone intimately familiar with sophisticated revenue models and experience structuring full-service, SLA-level contracts." About Urban Airship Urban Airship powers the world's most successful mobile apps. Providing breakthrough technology, Urban Airship makes mobile marketing far more engaging, effective, and efficient. Top brands depend on Urban Airship to ensure their mobile app initiatives are scalable and profitable. Verizon, Dictionary.com, Groupon, Yahoo, and Warner Bros. are just a few of the thousands of companies that utilize Urban Airship's innovative platform to reach and engage targetaudiences and increase app revenue streams through push notification, rich messaging, in-app purchase, subscriptions and data tracking. The venture-backed company was recently named to Fast Company's list of the most innovative companies and to the Red Herring Top 100 North American Startups. Urban Airship is based in Portland, Oregon.
Instagram hits 150 million uploads in nine months, still won't talk about Android plans
For better or worse, Instagram's taken the iOS-capturing world by storm. And if you're wondering what our qualification for "by storm" is, well... let's just say The Biebs blasted out his first image on the service last month. As the story goes, four young lads with a fistful of dollars and boundless imaginations started up the famed app on October 6th, 2010. Today, there's still only four employees, but the user base has expanded just a wee bit. The outfit just saw its 150 millionth photo uploaded (shown after the break!), with the current rate clocking in at around 15 images per second. Naturally, we took the opportunity to ask one of those four what this meant for a future Android release, and while he confirmed that he had nothing to announce right away, he did mention that the (still free) iOS build is just "the beginning of what's to come." So, how's about dropping a link to your favorite Instagram down in comments below? Best one wins!
Motorola XT860 4G is the Droid 3's curling loving cousin for Bell
Looks like someone took the Droid 3, slapped a new name on it, and shipped it north to our friends in Canada, but added one neat twist -- it's now rocking an extra "G." Officially known as the XT860 4G, Bell's version of Motorola's QWERTY slider comes packed with a HSPA+ radio that can handle the 850MHz, 1900MHz, and 2100MHz bands. That means not only can our ice-sweeping neighbors enjoy blazing fast mobile data, but they can roam the globe without sacrificing their deliciously speedy connection. Otherwise, you're looking at the same 4-inch, dual-core Gingerbread device that just launched here in the states. For the moment though, price and availability are still up in the syrup-scented air.
Motorola Droid 3 up for order, helps to usher in Verizon's new data plans
What better way to open a new era of limited, tiered data plans than to bring it on back to the QWERTY slider that had a huge part in starting the Android revolution? That phone was the original Droid and now its grandchild, the Droid 3, is out of the nursery and up for order on Verizon's page. Full-price is $459.99, but on-contract it'll set you back a quite reasonable $199.99. For that you get a 1GHz, dual-core processor, 16GB of storage, 4-inch qHD display, and an eight megapixel camera around the back. To get it you'll need one of Verizon's new data plans, which start at $10 monthly for 75MB and go on up to $80 for 10GB. Oh, sweet unlimited data, we're missing your soft embrace already. Update: We've added the official PR after the break. Looks like this one won't be making an appearance in stores until July 14th or so. %Gallery-127914% [Thanks, Wyatt and Peter]
Wizard101 to hit 20 million user mark this week
It's a magical occasion for KingsIsle Entertainment, as it announces that its popular MMORPG Wizard101 will reach 20 million registered users this week. The press release is careful to note that the 20 million does not include the European editions of the game. Wizard101, for the uninitiated, is a family-focused MMORPG that puts players in the robes and hats of elemental wizards. Players then engage in tactical combat using decks of magic spells while working together to find loot, complete quests, and learn more magic. If you wanna see what all of the fuss is about, head on over to Wizard101's official site.
Droid 3 leaks reveal manual, confirm July 7th and 14th release dates
The oft-leaked Motorola Droid 3 is dripping information yet again, this time over on Droid-Life where an internal flyer confirms it will be available at retail locations July 14th, with direct fulfillment orders (upgrade in-store, get the phone by mail) starting a week earlier. If that's somehow not enough, there's also a PDF copy of the manual available for download but if you watched the tutorial videos there's probably not much new information to be digested there. The one detail that continues to elude us however, is a confirmed price for Verizon's QWERTY slider w/ 1080p camera and dual core processor, but after all the early reveals we're sure you've had time to scrape together a suitable dowry.
Cincinnati Bell brings Froyo to Milestone XT720, holds your hand through rooting process
Rooting is the dark side of the Android platform. It opens your phone up to a world of unsanctioned opportunities and typically has carriers swatting you back with illegal network usage fees. So you'll understand how bizarre it is that Cincinnati Bell is offering Milestone XT720 users software and an instructional video how-to that boots Eclair out, for its Froyo successor. Making use of the widely-popular SuperOneClick app, intrepid owners will be walked through the usual root, back-up and ROM-flashing steps. But the regional carrier's no dummy as the procedure ends with users unrooting their devices, freeing the network from unwanted congestion and reducing the risk of a bricked phone. Customers of this Ohio-based provider should check the source for a forbidden peek into Android's underbelly.
Windows Phone Marketplace now populated by 25,000 apps, speeding up rate of growth
It's not just Apple's App Store striding past milestones today, Microsoft's Windows Phone Marketplace has also rounded a notable marker in its development. Specifically, it's now reported to have passed 25,000 apps by one site tracking comings and goings within it, though that figure's up for debate as the other WP7 apps tracker still lists the total at just under 25k. The main point is that the WP7 ecosystem is growing, and faster than previously at that -- it took until the end of March to accrue 11,500 apps, a span of five months from its launch, whereas the last 13.5k have come in the brisker period of three months. Provided this acceleration continues, and there's no reason to expect it'll slow down with Mango on the horizon, Microsoft's mobile OS reboot promises to be in pretty competitive shape in time for its first anniversary -- a notable feat considering how far behind WinMo had fallen. Perhaps RIM can use this as an instructive example? [Steve Ballmer image courtesy of Reuters]
iPad passes the 100,000 apps milestone, rest of the tablet world looks on in disbelief
A year and change after its launch, Apple's iPad has established itself as both the progenitor and dominant entity in a new category of device: tablets. A large part of its success has undeniably been down to the enthusiasm shown by developers, who have recently crossed the notable marker of producing 100,000 applications compatible with the device. As is true of the vast app selection on the iPhone, quantity doesn't guarantee quality, but the abundance of software available for the iPad at least offers a better chance of finding some wheat in amongst the chaff. And as to its competitors, here's hoping Ice Cream Sandwich and Windows 8 get here before this Apple juggernaut crosses the million mark, eh?
App Store unofficially hits 100,000 iPad apps
Apple is the leader of the tablet market for many reasons. The hardware is stellar, the OS is smooth and the App Store is packed full of apps. So full, in fact, that the overall count of apps for the iPad has unofficially crossed the 100,000 app milestone. As Macstories points out, a quick look at the App Store on an iPad lists over 100,161 apps -- and that number is climbing. This number dwarfs the offerings found on other tablets like the BlackBerry PlayBook and Android tablets like the Xoom. For many customers, the presence of a robust App Store influences their purchasing decision. I've experienced it myself when I cracked open a shiny new Xoom tablet earlier this year. It's pleasing when you get a new device and can spend an hour trying out new apps, but disappointing when you browse an app store and only find several hundred apps (most of which are junk). Apple has a definitive advantage in this area thanks to a legion of hard-working developers who continue to push out quality apps. Keep up the good work!
