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Motorola Milestone headed to Telus in early 2010
You heard the rumors now it's official: Telus is getting the Motorola Milestone. The Android device is the same 2.0 QWERTY slider already announced for Europe and set to run exclusively on Telus' new 3G+ network in Canada sometime in early 2010. Unfortunately, that means no Google Navigation unlike those pesky North American neighbors to the south. Hmm, in that case maybe you should just wait for the beefier Sholes Tablet expected in Q1 -- just sayin'.
Some more perspective on the DROID and multitouch
There's been a whirlwind of chatter about Apple's multitouch patents since the Motorola DROID was released to reviewers sans any built-in support for Android 2.0's multitouch APIs -- there's no pinch-to-zoom in the browser or maps app, and the soft keyboard is decidedly a single-touch affair. What's even more curious is that the DROID clearly supports multitouch, as several new apps have demonstrated, and the overseas UMTS variant of the handset, the MILESTONE, has been shown on video with pinch-to-zoom in the browser several times now. That's led to a ton of speculation that Apple's somehow blocking Google from using pinch-to-zoom in the US, so we thought we'd step in with a little refresher on the state of Apple's multitouch patents and some thoughts how they might be affecting the DROID. Read on!
Motorola DROID's built-in apps don't have multitouch support, third-party stuff is another story
Turns out that the DROID does support multitouch after all -- it's just not as baked as the MILESTONE's, and it's certainly not the kind you'll see out of the box. The DROID's European cousin features multitouch right in the phone's core software load (most notably pinch-and-zoom in the browser, which we've seen demoed on video) whereas the DROID itself still features multitouch capability in APIs but doesn't expose it through any built-in app. Translation: the apps you use every day -- Google Maps and the browser, chiefly -- get left out in the cold for some reason that neither Google nor Motorola (nor Verizon) have thus far been willing to adequately justify. Where you can experience the magic of pinch-and-zoom is in third-party apps written to take advantage of Android 2.0's new APIs (Phandroid demos it on a fresh version of Picsay, for instance), but at the end of the day, that's a consolation prize -- we still want a spin-free explanation of why this was all turned off for the base apps. Follow the break for video of Picsay's support for the good stuff in action. [Image via mobile-review]
Motorola MILESTONE does what DROIDon't
We've already seen the MILESTONE showing off multitouch capability, something the DROID clearly lacks in the States despite the fact that Android 2.0 rocks kernel support for it -- and now we've got another smoking gun: the official spec sheet. A quick glance at Motorola's tech specs for the Euro-flavored handset lists "pinch and zoom" as an interface feature, so yeah, it looks like this'll be in the shipping firmware. There's speculation out there that Apple was somehow involved in making sure that multitouch "fell" down a flight of stairs before reaching US-bound Android devices, but really, it's anyone's guess what's going on here -- and Moto's official statement isn't helping much: "We work very closely with our carriers and partners to deliver differentiated consumer experiences on our mobile devices. At times, similar devices come to market with different features, depending on the region, carrier preferences and consumer needs." Nor is Google's: "The Android 2.0 framework includes support for multi-touch. As with other platform technologies, such as the text-to-speech engine, carriers and OEMs can choose to implement it." So let the speculation -- and the firmware hacking -- begin. [Via Gearlog, image via mobile-review]
DROID headed to Germany as Motorola MILESTONE (update: Italy too, no Google Maps Navigation)
O2 Germany has confirmed a GSM version of the DROID for Europe going by the name of the Motorola MILESTONE. The news comes courtesy of a sliver of O2's online store page that left itself exposed to the wiles of Google, complete with the above picture and the new moniker, and follows close on the heels of a leaked business guide which says the MILESTONE will retail for €404.20 to corporate customers, and will be available as of November 9th. Update: It's now official on the Motorola Germany (and english language Western Europe) website where it lists Vodafone and O2 as local carriers. Italy now too, on an unspecified carrier. Oh, and it also lists "pinch and zoom" as a feature not found on the Droid. See for yourself after the break. It's carrying a public price tag of €481. Update 2: As noted by a few readers, Milestone will ship with MOTONAV turn-by-turn directions, not Google's Maps Navigation. [Thanks Vincenzo, Peter B.]
GSM DROID with multitouch pinch-to-zoom demoed on video hating America
The GSM flavor of Motorola's DROID, or Milestone as it will be known in Europe, has multitouch built-in to the UI. For reasons we can only assume have something to do with an unspoken intellectual property agreement between Google and Apple, the US version of the user interface lacks multi-touch features like pinch-to-zoom even though the underlying 2.0 OS supports multitouch events. However, the video of a GSM DROID headed to Europe clearly shows this feature at the 3 minute mark. No really, see for yourselves after the break. [Via SlashGear]
Peek manages to survive a whole year, promises more features for year two
We actually first caught wind of the Peek email-only handheld around 13 months ago, but today Peek is celebrating its first year as a company with a shipping product. During the past year, it has managed to ship two distinct devices and a good bit of functionality, but most importantly, it has managed to survive. Not sure if you've noticed, but the past dozen months have been twelve of the most tumultuous (financially, anyway) in American history, yet this startup is still going strong and looking forward to a second year full of "new features and services" and even a few international launches. Generally we don't stop to wish companies a happy first birthday, but seriously -- how many of you expected this firm to be around in late 2009?Read - First Peek birthdayRead - Tales of survival
Sega's Dreamcast turns 10, inspires us to find that VMU and finish Shenmue
In at least a few time zones, today is 09/09/09. Aside from being the same day that Apple holds a keynote on the left coast, Leica launches something and The Beatles: Rock Band encourages gamers everywhere to call in sick, today also marks the ten year anniversary of Sega's iconic Dreamcast. Looking back, it's hard to believe that the always-Thinking console was only in production for two years, but even today it holds an oh-so-special place in our hearts. We still maintain that the defunct VMU could eventually be the next coming of the Tamagotchi, and there's still zero doubt that the designer of Seaman was on copious quantities of LSD during the conception process. Any particularly touching stories as we celebrate a solid decade of The Swirl? Share 'em below -- tissues are on us.
Toyota moves its two millionth hybrid vehicle, Ma Earth tips her hat
It's incredibly hard to believe that the original Prius went on sale a full dozen years ago, but as the debatable face of the hybrid reaches its third generation, Toyota as a whole is celebrating the sale of its two millionth hybrid. As of August 31st, global sales of the automaker's hybrid fleet has surpassed 2.01 million, and as of now, there are 13 hybrids in the company's lineup. Later this year, Lexus (the outfit's luxury brand) is set to see its fourth hybrid hit the streets, and it's been said that Toyota could have a hybrid version of every motorcar it sells by the end of the next decade. Not like it'll matter -- we'll all be cruising around in Jetson-mobiles or Tesla Roadsters by then, anyway.
Mobile MMO TibiaME hits 10,000 subscribers
This isn't one of those "Wow, this game has only been out for X days and already has Y subscribers!" posts. TibiaME (the ME means Micro Edition) is certainly not a new title. In fact, the mobile MMO was released all the way back in 2003. What makes its latest milestone of 10,000 premium subscribers more notable is the rate at which the game's playerbase has been growing in recent times. 2008 saw the number of subscribers double, and 2009 has been extremely strong so far too. Off the top of our heads, we would say the rising popularity of smartphones would be a contributing factor, but apparently a collaboration with a large Indonesian mobile phone network has been a huge help as well.TibiaME bills itself as "the first massive multiplayer online role-playing game for mobile phones". After this latest news, Andreas Weikl (marketing manager from the game's German developer CipSoft) thinks it might be time to add another achievement to the list: "Altogether, TibiaME now has an active player base of around 40,000 players. As far as we know, TibiaME is therefore not only the first but by now as well the biggest mobile MMORPG in the world."
HTC reportedly moves a million Magic smartphones, boogies down at midnight
These days, the whole "I shipped a million!" claim is becoming more and more common, but it's still worth pointing out that HTC has managed to move a whole bundle of its Android-based myTouch 3G (or Magic, as it were) since debuting in April. Or, that's the story, anyway. According to a dangerously brief blurb over at Digitimes, the outfit's head honcho quipped that the Magic has "surpassed one million units," and he also noted that it would begin to focus more on the mid-range market as opposed to always dealing devices at the high-end. So, raise your glass high for this one folks, and let the countdown to a million Hero handsets begin while you're at it.[Via InformationWeek]
AMD parties hard after shipping 500 millionth x86 processor
Get on down with your bad self, Mr. Spaceman -- AMD just shipped its 500 millionth x86 processor! Shortly after the company celebrated 40 years of hanging tough and doing its best to overtake Intel, the outfit has now revealed that a half billion x86 CPUs have left its facilities over the past two score. We pinged Intel in order to find out just how that number stacked up, but all we were told is that the 500 million milestone was celebrated awhile back down in Santa Clara. We'll just chalk the vagueness up to Intel not wanting to spoil an otherwise raucous Silicon Valley shindig. Classy.[Via HotHardware]
Microsoft sees first annual sales decline in its history for fiscal 2009
Microsoft's fiscal year 2009 just came to a close, and the new milestones for the company aren't too boast worthy. Year-over-year, the company saw a 3.2 percent decline in sales, its first drop in the company's history -- guess that third quarter report was a pretty good indication of things to come. Net profit, too, fell 17 percent to $14.57 billion. Looking at just the fourth quarter, sales fell 17 percent to $13.1 billion, and profits saw a pretty massive 29 percent drop, to $3.05 billion. Attributing to the decline were legal charges and severance claims from laid off employees, a referral of revenue from the Windows 7 Upgrade program, and of course overall drop in PC and server sales across the industry. So far the stock market has acted as you'd expect, and shares have dropped a notable eight percent. Despite all this gloom, let's not forget that the boys in Redmond are still pulling a profit -- and hey, cheer up Steve, you've got one helluva bright light for fiscal 2010.
Apple's App Store crosses the 1.5 billion download mark
Yes, it seems like only yesterday (or about 3 months ago) that Apple crossed a landmark -- 1 billion apps downloaded from its App Store -- and here we are again. Apple's just issued a press release stating that it's now seen another half a billion apps downloaded in about three months -- putting them over the 1.5 billion mark. Apple doesn't get all the kudos to themselves, though: after all, someone's been downloading The Moron Test. A lot.
Cable companies miss tru2way deadline, insist it's no big deal
Remember that tru2way-related Memorandum of Understanding that was all the rage about this time last year? It appears the 6 cable companies haven't lived up to at least one part of their agreement, collectively missing the deadline of July 1 to have 100% of their digital cable headends compatible. No word on how close they got, but Comcast, Cox, Time Warner, Charter, Cablevision and Bright House still insist it's "not that far off" though we don't see how missing important milestones is helping move the technology forwards.
Free Realms breaks the 3 million mark
Sony Online Entertainment has just announced today that their kid-friendly free-to-play mega-hit Free Realms has hit the 3 millions registered user mark. This news comes less than seven weeks after the game's launch, and only two weeks after their last milestone of two million registered users."SOE worked diligently over the past four years to ensure that Free Realms would take the online space by storm," said John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment. "We are pleased to be able to provide such a vast, in-depth and, most importantly, fun world to an average of 500,000 new gamers per week."As with the previous milestones, this one is being celebrated with more exclusive in-game items. The 3M Pet Party Pack will be filled with goodies for use on a character's virtual pets, and players have until June 19th to redeem this special offer. Keep reading just after the jump below for the complete press release.
Tetris turns 25 years young, still puzzles the best of us
If you would've told someone back in 1984 that Alexey Pajitnov would become world renowned, they would've likely laughed you right out of Russia. But on June 6th of that very year, said individual created what's easily the planet's most recognizable puzzle game: Tetris. We mean, who didn't have a childhood obsession with playing this very title on a TI-83 calculator while professors figured you were toiling away on classwork? Ah, good times. Feel free to share your best memories in comments below, and remember, there's no shame in tearing up. Or longing for a "T" to come along and fill that one last gap there on the right.
MapleStory announces over 92 million users worldwide, 4 year anniversary
We often marvel at the sheer numbers of subscribers and users some MMOs and virtual worlds are able to reach. You can look at a title like World of Warcraft, with over 11 million subscribers and just picture a massive green tidal wave made of dollar bills sweeping over Blizzard HQ. Every month. But WoW's millions of customers, while impressive, pales in comparison with what Nexon announced this week with MapleStory: 92 million users worldwide, with 6 million users in North America alone. Sure, comparing success stories of a subscription title with a free-to-play game is a bit like comparing apples and oranges. Each of those 92 million "Maplers" probably isn't dropping $15 each month to play, but the fact remains that many of those users are paying real money for their virtual goods. The numbers we ran for MapleStory's virtual items sales in the US, roughly one year ago, had 5.9 million US users spending USD 29.3 million on these goods.
EVE Online turns 6 today, announces over 300k subscribers
EVE Online is the first massively multiplayer online title from CCP Games, one that's redefined what we can expect from a sandbox game. They created the gritty far-future setting of New Eden, a place where EVE's players can do as they choose in a vast galaxy comprised of thousands of solar systems, both mapped and unexplored. Today CCP Games celebrates EVE Online's sixth birthday. They state, "A 6 year persistent history. A living history where truly brilliant strategies have unfolded. Truly terrible betrayals unveiled. We are excited to see what will happen next." CCP also announced their new subscriber milestone: EVE now has over 300,000 active subscriptions (not including trial accounts), up 22% over the past five months alone. Their peak concurrent user record has also climbed to 53,850 players interacting in the same space, a record we've noticed they seem to shatter with increasing frequency. "That is exponential growth," CCP says. "We couldn't think of a better birthday present than having more people play EVE Online than ever before. It is another sweet reminder of EVE's boundless potential."Congratulations to CCP Games from the team at Massively, and here's looking to the next six years.[Via Warp Drive Active]
Apple's App Store hits a billion downloads
Here's to another billion -- and not just from the App Store. Windows Mobile, Symbian, Android, webOS, BlackBerry -- we're expecting every bit as much out of you guys, so let the games (and the productivity apps, utilities, flatulence simulators...) begin.
