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Amazon Appstore for Android goes live, welcomes newcomers with free Angry Birds Rio
In spite of Apple's grumbling, Amazon's proceeding full steam ahead with the rollout of its Appstore for Android. The switch has just been flipped and early adopters will be welcomed with a free copy of Angry Birds Rio, whose Android launch Amazon scooped all to itself. Beyond day one, Rio will be a $0.99 app, but others will take its place as the online retailer is aiming to serve one usually-paid app for free each day. A total of around 3,800 applications are available at launch and you'll be able to get on board via either a dedicated Appstore app on Android (sideload link available below) or Amazon's web interface. The latter offers you a 30-minute Test Drive facility, where you can try out a program you might fancy for your phone before purchasing. Service looks to be US-only for now -- sorry, international users. Update: The web Appstore has gone down. Don't panic, we're sure it's just teething troubles and not a smiting by the Cupertino ninja collective. In the mean time, the app still looks to be working okay.
AT&T finally selling 3G iPads at online store
They may be somewhat late to their own party, but AT&T is now selling Wi-Fi + 3G iPads in its own online store. Priced the same as in the Apple store, the AT&T store sells the 16 GB model for $629, the 32 GB for $729, and the 64 GB for $829, and ships them all for free. Data plans for all three models are also still the same, at 250 MB for $15 and 2 GB for $25. While the iPad is available from at least seven retail vendors and maybe even from T.J. Maxx & Marshalls, AT&T is the latest to start selling the iPad direct to customers online along with Best Buy and, of course, the Apple Store itself. And don't forget that if you ran out of time to have an iPad shipped for Christmas or your local store has run out of them, you can always head to an Apple retail store and pick up an iPad gift card for that special someone on your holiday list! [via 9to5Mac]
Apple Store Holiday Gift Guide now live
Apple has launched a 2010 Holiday Gift Guide in their US online store. The guide this year is designed to spotlight three segments: buying entertaining gifts, buying gifts for creative minds, and buying gifts for yourself. Entertainment gifts include the Apple TV and Civilization V, while creative gifts include iLife '11, the Magic Trackpad, and Microsoft Office 2011. Gifts for yourself include a $400 Cole Haan Messenger Bag and a number of iPod docking speakers. While all the items are marked at regular price, Apple typically offers Black Friday and Cyber Monday discounts at the end of November.
Amazon's Kindle Store opens digital doors in UK
Amazon has just announced the launch of its UK Kindle Store, furnishing UK netizens with a localized storefront from which to browse and purchase their ebooks. It starts life with an imposing 400,000 book collection, and is claimed by Amazon to offer the lowest prices "of any e-bookstore in the UK." Guess that gives price comparison sites a new avenue to branch out into. More than 170 magazines and newspapers are also available, for one-off purchases or on a subscription basis, while the new lighter, better, cheaper Kindle is up for pre-order and set to ship at the end of the month. Good to see that Amazon isn't neglecting its extra-American markets.
Apple Store goes down, get your credit cards ready
It's looking very much like yesterday's hypotheticals about Apple refreshing its hardware are about to bear fruit. The online store has been put on temporary hiatus -- presumably to get all those delicious new specs and pictures in -- and we can probably expect it to churn back into action around the company's typical 8.30AM timeslot.
Droid X available to buy now
Yes, the Droid X has joined the Kin... in being available to buy on Verizon's online Wireless store. No shock or awe here, it's a cent under two Benjamins with a two-year deal and you can give it the shopping basket treatment right now. Either that or wait in line overnight like a lovesick puppy, it's up to you. [Thanks, Nick]
Apple Store goes down as iPhone 4 pre-order prep enters final stages
The Apple Store has just gone into maintenance mode globally in preparation for the launch of iPhone 4 pre-orders, and our readers seem intent on bringing down our tip inbox as well. Steady yourselves, chaps (and ladies), the fun starts when the Store goes back up so let's pace ourselves with all the excitement. We'll alert you as soon as that happens, but for now, let's go easy on the old tip jar, eh? It's not made of Gorilla Glass, you know. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Update: AT&T's online portal is showing an iPhone 4 pre-order front end, but is yet to offer users the actual option to order the phone up. See a screenshot of it after the break.
Nintendo selling downloadable games on online store
Nintendo's online store is a great place to get a Game Boy Micro battery door or a copy of Wii Sports, and now you can get a Virtual Console game and a WiiWare game there too. That's right -- one each. For some reason, Nintendo put Pokemon Rumble and Super Mario Bros. 3 up for download through its browser-based online store, for $15 and $5, respectively. Purchasing either will give you a download ticket that you can enter in the Wii Shop to download the game. But why? And why just two games? (Although that's one more game than is available from Amazon's Wii download section.) We're checking with Nintendo about the offering now, and will report back if we hear anything. [Via GoNintendo]
Nook fails to communicate, download purchased ebooks
You didn't think the whole Nook saga was over, did you? After just succeeding in delivering devices to expectant pre-orderers in time for Christmas, Barnes and Noble is today cleaning up yet another mess courtesy of its ill-prepared content servers. Judging by customer feedback on its support forums, it appears a glut of download requests over gift-giving day jammed the B&N net pipes and left a great many disappointed Nook users. All attempts at downloading an ebook yesterday -- even by those who got their Nook a little earlier in the month -- were greeted with a "Queued: Will complete shortly" message, which apparently remained that way until early this morning when downloading finally resumed functioning. The biggest perceived failure here, though, is the book retailer's silence on the issue, which illustrates the importance of communicating with your customers -- most people seemed tolerant of the setback once they realised they didn't have faulty hardware. [Thanks to all who sent this in]
Sony to expand PlayStation Network into Sony Online Service, sell music, books, videos
Sony had a big management meeting in Japan today, where the tech giant announced some extremely vague plans for what's initially being called the Sony Online Service -- a new "iTunes-like" service built on the PlayStation Network that will sell books, music, and movies. That's really all we know for now -- Sony execs didn't set a launch date or provide any specifics -- but the move's been rumored for a while and makes total sense, considering Sony's huge investment in running PSN and vast array of products it could tie into the service, like the Reader e-book line, the PSP, and the various Network Walkmans. Now, whether or not Sony can manage to make good on this massive potential remains to be seen -- we've got high hopes, but this isn't a small challenge.
Snow Leopard box set makes short-lived cameo in Apple's online store
Whether or not Snow Leopard build 10A432 is really the ready-for-shipment "golden master," Apple's own site is giving hope to the masses that its next platform iteration is gearing up for a launch sooner rather than later. MacRumors is reporting that a Mac Box Set containing OS X 10.6 , iLife '09, and iWork '09 popped up on Apple's online store today priced at $169 for single users and shipping within 24 hours. The page itself no longer exists, although not before Google's spiders managed to pick up on it. It's probably wishful thinking to think this is indicative of a release before its projected September launch window -- and really, at this point, that's only a couple of weeks away -- if you were gonna hope for it anyway, here's some fodder for ya. Read - Snow Leopard box set briefly appears in Apple Online Store Read - Google entry for now-defunct page
Mortal Online pre-orders delayed by two weeks
We announced some details about the Mortal Online pre-order which was slated to kick off today in the game's online store. However the Mortal Online developers, Star Vault, announced there will be a two-week delay with the launch of the Mortal Online online store. Star Vault CEO Henrik Nystrom announced: "On the 25th of June we brought you some good stuff, but today we have to bring you bad news. We have been working very hard to get the shop up and for it to accept different methods of payment, however it's not obvious we have been too optimistic this time as we have encountered several last-minute problems.More information and a new schedule will be announced on the Mortal Online game store soon." (Thanks for the tip, Rhys)
A copy of Darkfall: More evasive than a cheetah on speed
Darkfall may have launched, but that doesn't mean you're going to be able to get your hands on it. The team at Aventurine is still holding a tight grip over the game's population and the sale of the game through the online store.Each day, the store is opening at an unannounced time to offer a limited number of copies of Darkfall to the players. Once their goal for the day is met, the store shuts down immediately and the prospective buyers with empty hands have to go home pouting until the next day. This has lead to some players becoming demoralized while others use their expertise to suggest solutions to Aventurine. It is an odd time on the forums indeed.Now, we here at Massively understand that finding the Darkfall shop is like finding a unicorn. If you're having trouble finding where the button to go to the shop is even located, it's on the account page after you sign in. After that, however, you're on your own. Good luck though!
Cheyenne Mountain opens merchandise shop for Stargate Worlds
Ordinarily, the opening of an online merchandise shop for an MMO wouldn't exactly be news, but there are two reasons why the new Stargate Worlds store raised a few eyebrows: The game hasn't been released yet, and the recent rumor of unpaid employees has fans worried (we're at 34 days now!).It has been speculated already that this store may be a "last ditch effort" to fund the Stargate MMO, but we'd hope that's not entirely the case. Regardless of how you would view preliminary funding through the sale of merchandise (even if it is on CafePress), this could actually be seen as a good thing. What's really wrong with helping to support a game you'd really like to see make it to launch, and getting a pretty sweet t-shirt in the process? Well, unless the game never launched...[Via FileFront]
Microsoft debuts Microsoft Store in apparent attempt to sell stuff
Hard to believe that a company the size and stature of Microsoft hasn't had an online store to call its home -- not even a quirky collection of "Bill Gates is my homeboy" CafePress t-shirts and mousepads. The newly launched Microsoft Store solves that, however, with its many store-like properties. Therein you can find all sorts of Microsoft products, like software, peripherals, games and professionally-printed "Bill Gates is my homeboy" t-shirts.* What's particularly notable is that Microsoft is jumping into electronic software distribution here, meaning in addition to traditional physical purchases you can buy a bit of software and download it right there on the spot. Downloaded software can be re-downloaded for as long as Microsoft provides mainstream support -- about 5 years in most cases. We'd prefer forever and always, but we suppose that will have to do. The store is live now, and we'd suggest you head on over before we make some drastically ill-advised enterprise software impulse buys. *This isn't true.[Via ZDnet]
Apple poised to become a mobile gaming force
Welcome to last year, Business Week. Their writer Arik Hesseldahl has a story up about how Apple seems poised to take over the mobile gaming world this holiday. He's been playing with an iPod touch and the games available on the App Store, and he's ready to drink the Kool-aid: what Apple's assembled on their mobile devices rivals some of the experiences on the Nintendo DS or Sony PSP.Not really news to us here at TUAW, of course, but he's right about one thing: this holiday is all-important for Apple in finding a foothold with the iPod touch. Halloween's over, gift shopping is only a few weeks away, and Apple needs to prove why people interested in handheld gaming should pick up a touch before the DSi (and its App Store-style online store) or a new Sony device make their way to our shores.The good news for Apple is that the games are getting better, and that the touch brings a lot more functionality to the mix (iPod, utility apps) than a dedicated gaming device would. But then again, Nintendo and Sony are established brands for gamers, and even kids looking for a game machine from Santa probably won't have an iPod touch first on their list. We'll have to see how it all plays out.
Apple's UK Back to School promo starts, gives away new nanos, touches
Apple has started their Back to School promotion in the UK. It is similar to the Back to School promo that ran in the US, with the exception of people in the UK being able to get one of the new iPods that released at last week's iPod event. This promotion is good on the purchase of any new Mac and iPod nano (or touch). Qualified purchasers are "student[s] at a higher education institution, a teacher or a lecturer." When you purchase your new Mac and an iPod nano, or iPod touch, Apple will give you up to £95 via a rebate check. This deal ends October 31, 2008. You can visit Apple's UK website for more details. Do you plan on purchasing a new Mac in order to get a new iPod nano or touch? Which iPod would you choose? Be sure to take part in our poll! %Poll-19836%Thanks, Dan!
Age of Conan direct download available on Steam
Age of Conan is now available for purchase and download on Steam, the direct download service run by Half-Life 2 publisher/developer Valve Software. It joins EVE Online in representing the genre in the massive digital store. To celebrate the game's launch, Funcom and Valve are selling the game for 10% off -- at $45 instead of $50. We doubt that $5 are the difference between you buying this game and not, but if you've been planning to do it anyway this is a good way to go. Not only is it cheaper, but Steam will let you download it at any time, so you won't have to worry about losing the discs.Then again, a complete installation of AoC is more than 20 gigabytes. Maybe that's more than you want to download. Up to you![Thanks, Ted!] Having fun in Conan's homeland? Make sure to check out all of our previous Age of Conan coverage, and stick with Massively for more news from the Hyborian Age!
BlizzCon ticket lottery details out now
So Blizzard apologized for Failoc and the ticket fiasco, offering up 3,000 more tickets to the massively popular BlizzCon 2008. I'd like to think Mike Schramm's insightful essay on the ticket travesty (along with the public's general uproar, of course) had a bit to do with that, and now Blizzard has announced the method by which fans can purchase a ticket to the hottest show in Anaheim this October.Learning from the experience, Blizzard announced early on that the next batch of 3,000 tickets would be sold via lottery, giving everyone a fair chance at attending the event. There are quite a few limitations, such as having an active Blizzard Account that was created on or before August 12, when the first batch of tickets sold out. Note that a Blizzard Account isn't the same as your World of Warcraft account or an account for other Blizzard games. It's an account made specifically for their online store, so wannabe attendees who haven't created an account are flat out of luck.Also out of luck are residents of countries that aren't the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, or South Korea. So yeah, all you Blizzard fans in Zimbabwe, I'm looking at you. Alright, the Philippines isn't on that list, either, so we're all on the same unwelcome boat. Just like the Wrath Beta, Blizzard will hold an opt-in period for Blizzard Account holders and will pick 1,500 lucky chumps from those who opted in, allowing the purchase of up to 2 tickets each. Learn more about the details on the BlizzCon lottery through their BlizzCon FAQ.
Blizzard says sorry, offers 3000 more BlizzCon tickets
A personal apology given by Mike Morhaime should spark a light of hope in those who missed out on getting any BlizzCon tickets due to large amounts of technical difficulties. In addition to the promise of this whole thing never happening again, there are now going to be an additional 3,000 tickets available for purchase. The news comes in light of the convention hall planning being rearranged to accommodate more attendees. Anyone thinking about picking up one of these tickets should know that the offer is only open to those with an active Blizzard Account as of 9:00 PM PDT on August 12th, which is when the "Sold Out" notice was originally posted.As WoW Insider notes, while 3,000 more tickets are nice, it's probably not going to cover the breadth of everybody who was left out in the cold by technical issues. Can we really ask for any more than this, though? It's not like Blizzard is in a position where they really had to make this choice. They do run the biggest subscription-based MMO on the face of the planet. However you may feel about this whole thing, we can be certain to agree on hoping that it's truly the last time we see such a big technical slip-up from Blizzard. One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs!
