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HTC launches 1.5GHz, 7-inch Flyer into the tablet wars (update: hands-on video!)
Boy oh boy, HTC is entering the tablet arena with quite a bang. The company has just taken the wraps off its brand new 7-inch Flyer Android tablet, which touts a 1.5GHz single-core CPU, 1GB of RAM plus 32GB of flash storage, an aluminum unibody construction, 1024 x 600 resolution, a tablet-optimized version of Sense, and... what's this, a pressure-sensitive stylus! The HTC Scribe trademark we saw floating around in legal waters turned out not to be the branding for a tablet, it's actually the name HTC gives to the technology enabling what it calls a "groundbreaking pen experience." Other details include a 5 megapixel camera on the back paired with a 1.3 megapixel imager up front, a 4000mAh battery rated to last for four hours of continuous video playback, and memory expandability via a microSD card. The Flyer will ship in Q2 2011 with Android Gingerbread 2.4 on board. HTC says it'll be indistinguishable from 2.3 as far as the end user is concerned, though we all know it won't be quite as good as the 3.0 stuff. We're told not to worry, however, since the new version of Sense being introduced with the Flyer will be the focal point of the company's software offering. As far as HTC is concerned, Sense matters more than the underlying platform, and the reason Honeycomb isn't the shipping OS here was explicitly stated as HTC not having enough time with the latest Google code to customize it to the full requirements of Sense. Guess that settles that. There are a couple more software enhancements, both marking the introduction of the fruits of HTC's recent deals: OnLive cloud gaming will be coming with the Flyer in the form of an app you open up to access the web-connected bored-relieving service, while that Saffron Digital acquisition has turned into an HTC Watch app for movie streaming and downloading. We spent a bit of quality time with a Flyer unit recently, although we weren't allowed to turn it on, and our early impressions are rather mixed. On the one hand, we do appreciate the ruggedness and durability that's afforded by the one-piece aluminum shell, but on the other, the Flyer is quite the chunky beast in your hands. We'd imagine strapping in such an extra-speedy processor is the main culprit for its extra girth, though the Flyer is, ironically enough, not terribly light either. We found it heavier and generally a lot less polished from a design perspective than Samsung's Galaxy Tab. Anyhow, HTC should have functional units for us immediately following its MWC presser this morning, and we'll be delving in deeper with this super-specced device. Hang tight! Update: Pictures of the Flyer can now be explored below and we have video awaiting your audience just past the break. Update 2: HTC has tweeted that the Flyer will be updated to Honeycomb in Q2. %Gallery-116694%
HTC investing $40M in OnLive for smartphone gaming
"Yes, OnLive works on cell phones, too," the company's enterprising CEO Steve Perlman assured us all ... fifteen months ago. Did you forget? 'Cause HTC sure didn't. The smartphone manufacturing giant has unannounced plans to buy 5.3 million OnLive shares at $7.50 each -- that's about a $40 million stake in the cloud-based technology outfit -- to better position itself in the gaming segment of the smartphone market, reports The Wall Street Journal. Currently, HTC designs smartphones for both the Android and Windows Phone 7 platforms. HTC's investment would follow the reported $60 million raised by OnLive in 2010 through investments by British Telecommunications and Belgacom Group. During CES last month, OnLive also unveiled a partnership with Vizio to bring its games-on-demand service to a suite of products, including TVs and Blu-ray players.
HTC to invest $40 million into OnLive to help with games on smartphones
Let's be fair, for a company that pulled in NT$14.59 billion (about $500 million in US currency) in net profit last fiscal quarter, $40 million isn't exactly a huge chunk of change. But the recipient of HTC's money this go around is mighty interesting: cloud gaming experts OnLive. Said company spokesperson Maggie Cheng via Wall Street Journal, this will "strengthen its gaming capabilities and help HTC tap into increasing demand for games on smartphones" -- yep, smartphones. HTC also announced it has acquired London-based Saffron Digital for about $48.6 million, although it said the buyout shouldn't affect deals with its current content partners including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, LG, and Samsung. We don't think the OnLive investment will stop the cloud gaming company from pushing its way onto as many platforms as (in)humanly possible, but we'd be lying if we said we didn't expect HTC's versions to be even grander in scale and performance.
OnLive's all-you-can-eat PlayPack now available for $9.99 per month
OnLive, meet subscription services. It's not the January 15th date we had initially marked, but that's no matter now, the time has come. The company has introduced PlayPack, which for $9.99 each month gets you unlimited access to a selection of titles. There's no long-term commitment required and your saved games will stay on servers for at least a year after cancellation, should you change your mind and decide to come back. There's 38 games to choose from at first, including BioShock, Prince of Persia, and Alien Shooter, with more titles promised "on a regular basis." The previous plans -- free demos, multi-day rentals, and purchases à la carte -- are also still around. It's not inaccurate to think of this as early-day Netflix Instant Watch, but drawing from the same analogy, it's gonna take an ever-expanding library of strong titles (both big and small) to keep the momentum going. And make no mistake, we're really rooting for ya. Press release and list of titles after the break.
OnLive's flat-rate PlayPack plan is live for all, debuts with 38 games
After a couple of months in beta, OnLive's PlayPack plan, which offers unlimited access to a selection of titles on the service for $10 a month, has officially launched. Saying that "the meteoric growth of Netflix reflects the enormous consumer demand for flat-rate instant-play media," company CEO and founder Steve Perlman made no secret of the company's inspiration for PlayPack when commenting on its official debut. OnLive hopes to grow the PlayPack selection with "premium, indie and classic games" on "a regular basis," with new additions being selected in part based on feedback from subscribers to the plan. The day one lineup of 38 games can be found after the break, and includes some titles that are entirely new to the service, most notably the original BioShock.
OnLive Playback game catalog free to all users through Jan. 31
When OnLive began testing its flat-rate $10 per month back catalog game offering, Playback, at the beginning of December, the company said that it would officially launch January 15, aka tomorrow. That's not happening -- instead, the Playback beta is being opened up to all users free-of-charge through the end of the month. Initially, the Playback beta was accessible only to those users accessing the service via the OnLive MicroConsole system; it will now be available to everyone, on every platform, during this extended period. OnLive has promised that the catalog will include around 40 titles when it's out of beta (and people are being charged for it). Right now, it features about a dozen.
EA's Riccitiello says game discs aren't going away
While Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello thinks digital distribution will finally outstrip its physical counterpart in 2011, he stops short of predicting the demise of retail packaging. In the second part of an interview conducted by Industry Gamers, the EA bossman sings the praises of the disc and debunks trendy cloud computing-based notions of gaming's near future. "Sometimes you're not going to play because your internet connection is down and sometimes delivering a game by streaming is a really inefficient way to do it," Riccitiello says, in what might be music to the ears of gaming luddites dismayed at the thought of renouncing actual ownership of their collections. Riccitiello goes on to posit that services like OnLive will struggle with latency-dependent titles (your average first person shooter, for example) and ultimately concludes that the days of 100% digital delivery are pretty far into the future.
Impressions of OnLive, live on Vizio VIA Plus TV
When OnLive announced its particular brand of cloud-based gaming was making its way to Vizio's VIA Plus line of connected products, we were eager to get some more details. We got an opportunity today at Vizio's CES suite. While the Vizio tablet and smartphone were on display, they weren't rocking the OnLive implementation just yet; however, that's hardly surprising since, while it was running on the above television, it won't be available publicly on VIA Plus devices until "late in the year." So what did we learn? That by building the OnLive functionality right into the hardware, they're managing to bypass the input latency associated with an attached device. The television is also able to automatically switch to "game mode" to help ameliorate those delays. And since all of the VIA Plus sets support 3D, OnLive will be working with publishers to support 3D mode directly in the service.
OnLive MicroConsole $66 through Jan. 9, 5.1 audio coming 'early 2011'
Saying it's to celebrate the news of the service being integrated into upcoming VIZIO products, OnLive is offering a CES 2011-centric discount on its MicroConsole hardware through the duration of the show. Up until 11:59 p.m. PST on Sunday, January 9, you'll be able to order the hardware -- which includes a voucher good for the game of your choice -- for $66, plus shipping, directly from OnLive. Company CEO Steve Perlman also announced in his blog post that SRS 5.1 audio will be coming to the cloud gaming platform (on the MicroConsole, PC and Mac) as an update in "early 2011," as will promised 3D support. Now, in what we hope doesn't become customary fashion, we'll say: That's great, but how about some more games?
OnLive turns into Vizio VIA Plus app, destined for TVs, tablets and phones
The OnLive MicroConsole is one way to get your streaming game fix, but here comes Vizio with four more -- the bargain television company just revealed that those brand-new VIA Plus HDTVs and Blu-ray players (as well as that VIA Tablet and VIA Phone) will come with OnLive on board. Despite running as an internet app on top of the existing Vizio hardware, we're told the service will support full 1080p resolution, stereoscopic 3D images, and OnLive's low-latency wireless gamepads too -- as Vizio's units will apparently support IEEE 802.15.4. While the jury's still out on when OnLive will actually be playable on touchscreens, CEO Steve Perlman says some games are being adapted to support touch right now, and that tablets that support external game controllers could also use OnLive normally. We've also got more good news for the home theater crowd, as OnLive's signed a deal with SRS, bringing 5.1 surround sound as a free update to all OnLive users early next year. Because there's nothing quite like having ears bombarded from all directions with digital explosions. PR after the break.
OnLive coming 'built in' to new VIZIO TVs, Blu-ray players
A month after beginning shipments of its Microconsole hardware, cloud gaming service OnLive is announcing a partnership with VIZIO, whereby the electronics company will offer televisions, Blu-ray players, tablet computers and mobile phones that can connect to OnLive right out of the box. According to the announcement made at CES 2011 today, OnLive will be featured as an application on VIZIO's new VIA Plus line of products, which includes the VIA Tablet and VIA Smart Phone, alongside other preinstalled "VIZIO Internet Apps." OnLive founder and CEO, Steve Perlman calls the partnership "a major milestone," while VIZIO's chief technology officer, Matthew McRae, says the inclusion of the OnLive client on its VIA Plus devices will give users "the freedom to switch games much like you change the channel," and is as integral to these products as software for streaming movies and music. VIZIO wil be demoing its VIA Plus products during CES and we'll have a first look at them soon.
Report: Game companies raise record $1.05B in 2010, up 58 percent
VentureBeat estimates game funding by venture capital broke $1.05 billion this year, a 58 percent increase from last. It's also a significant growth from the previously recorded high of $936.8 million in 2008. The video game industry – which is now spread across boxed, digitally distributed, mobile and social (i.e. Facebook) products – has obviously given VC firms plenty of places to gamble, er, strategically invest millions of dollars. Big winners this year (at least, those that revealed investments) were Zynga (Farmville) with $150 million from SoftBank (with, possibly, significantly more from Google). Also, ZeniMax Media (Fallout, Elder Scrolls, id Software), also received $150 million. There were also major investments in Gazillion, OnLive and Playdom. Head on over to VentureBeat to see the millions of dollars going to game companies you'll likely never hear of... ever.
Gaikai, Otoy not worried about OnLive's cloud gaming patent
OnLive's recently acquired patent, which covers "Apparatus and method for wireless video gaming," may seem like a death knell for other players in the cloud gaming space. However, Gaikai's David Perry recently told VentureBeat he's not too concerned with the future of his game-streaming company, saying, "We do not expect the general concept of remote gaming to be patentable, as many of us played remote games in the 70s, 80s and 90s." Should the patent stick, he added that Gaikai's focus on embeddable demos of PC games is far removed from OnLive's set top box business model, which should prevent any potential infringements. Fellow game-streamer Otoy's CEO Jules Urbach also chimed in on the patent, saying, "We respect the valid intellectual property rights of others but we'd be surprised to see a valid patent issue today that would preempt the entire field of server-side rendered gaming." Wait, you can do that? Well, man, we've been wasting so much time. We patent ... um, sandwiches! And gardening! And pet supplies! And candy! We're going to be so super rich.
OnLive Game System review
We're still a little ways away from completely disposable laptops that do everything in the cloud, but if all you want is a completely virtual game console connected to your TV, you can buy one right now. Eight years after the Phantom slowly got laughed off the face of the planet, the OnLive MicroConsole fulfills the same basic promise: it's a box less than an inch tall that streams games from powerful remote servers. We already told you what to expect from the OnLive's Game System, but now that we've given it our all, we can help you find the answer to the only remaining question: is it worth your funds? %Gallery-107700%
OnLive awarded important cloud gaming patent
Would-be cloud gaming entrepreneurs take note: OnLive has secured its own cloud gaming patent. VentureBeat reports that the patent was awarded to OnLive head Steve Perlman, who submitted it way back in 2002. The patent covers "Apparatus and method for wireless video gaming," specifically the transmission of compressed game signals from one location to another. The concept for the set-top-box is also covered in the patent's claims. The patent represents a potential hurdle for other cloud-based gaming startups, should such services use similar methods of delivery. For what it's worth, Perlman stated that he has never sued anyone for patent infringement. Thankfully, Joystiq's foward-thinking cloud gaming service will remain unaffected, as the entire operation runs on tin cans and string.
OnLive MicroConsole torn down, Marvell Armada found lurking within
When Marvell was still teasing its Armada processor company co-founder Sehat Sutardja said it would be showing up in "a new gaming platform" -- but he kinda left us hanging after that. Four months later it's looking like we might have found it. Reader David Fisher was kind enough to tear his OnLive Microconsole down to its requisite bits, spreading them upon his kitchen countertop and exposing the Marvell Armada lurking within. Other specs include 512MB of RAM, an unknown quantity of Samsung ROM, and networking chips also from Marvell. There you have it: another mystery of the world solved thanks to your friend the screwdriver. %Gallery-110533% [Thanks, David]
OnLive demos Windows 7 on an iPad and Galaxy Tab, launches cloud computing tablet app
Flash on an iPad? No problem, and neither is QuickTime on a Samsung Galaxy Tab -- assuming you're running both from a virtualized Windows 7 PC using OnLive's new app. OnLive may have originally pitched itself as a streaming games service, but founder Steve Perlman revised his ambitions at the D: Dive into Mobile conference today, showing off a host of Windows 7 programs (including 3D modeling software Maya, above) running on the pair of ARM-based tablets. Like always, OnLive requires a nearby server and fast internet connection to function adequately, and the apps themselves would need touch controls, but Perlman said it's actually easier to deliver apps than games since they're less sensitive to lag. OnLive didn't provide a date when we can expect full cloud functionality, but you can get a sneak peek at a pared-down version right now -- the brand-new OnLive Viewer app, which lets you spectate games in progress (and will eventually let you play them) is now available for iPad.
OnLive iPad app now available, but doesn't support gameplay streaming yet
OnLive has finally released an iPad app called OnLive Viewer -- but it probably doesn't do what you want it to quite yet. The cloud gaming service OnLive has been making a name for itself since it went online recently, by streaming live gameplay out to Macs, PCs and the company's official console box. A full iPad app from OnLive would be pretty amazing -- presumably, it would allow you to control and play any PC game directly on your iPad. Unfortunately, the OnLive viewer app isn't that app just yet -- it doesn't support actual gameplay. What it does support is OnLive's social networking features, so you can make and contact your friends on the service from the app, and see what they're up to while online. You can also watch "Brag Clips," which are uploaded videos of other people's gameplay, and you can even stream straight from certain live games on the service. That's pretty cool -- it at least shows that the iPad is capable of receiving OnLive's gameplay streams. But it's too bad we can't yet play games on the iPad. It's possible this is more of a test release, to see what demand is like on Apple's tablet and how it all runs. At least it is free. And eventually, we will hopefully get OnLive's core functionality running on iOS devices. When that finally comes around, it'll definitely be something to see.
OnLive releases iPad app, reveals subscription-based movie streaming coming in 2011
According to a report this morning, OnLive is launching a subscription-based movie streaming service on an undisclosed date in 2011. The news comes from the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), who cites growing concern among media companies that Netflix has grown too large on its own and diversification is desired (read: they want a piece of the large, money-filled pie as well). In other OnLive news, the streaming-only company released its first iPad app today (creatively dubbed "OnLive Viewer"). The application allows user to see what's available for instant streaming (on a computer, not on your iPad), see other players' "brag clips," and watch trailers. Though the app has an official page on Apple.com, we're having some issues downloading it at the moment, but that could just be release hiccups. Then again, you're probably already watching trailers (and reading news, reviews, previews, and so much more!) on your Joystiq iPhone App, right? Good! Glad to hear it! Update: The App is currently only available in New Zealand, which explains our downloading issues. We understand that the App goes live for US residents tonight at 11:00PM EST. Enjoy your temporary exclusivity, Kiwis!
Vizio and OnLive mulling subscription-based video services for next year
As if we didn't already know that video on demand was the hot new ticket, the Wall Street Journal is today reporting that a couple more companies are ready to throw their hats into the ring. OnLive, the cloud gaming upstart, has confirmed its intention to offer up a subscription-based movie streaming service at some point next year, while HDTV vendor Vizio is said to also be looking at its options. What makes these new guys intriguing (aside from the fact that Vizio sells a lot of TVs in the US) is the general feeling among media companies that Netflix is growing uncomfortably big and should be diversified away from. Well, whatever happens, neither we nor content distributors should be strapped for VOD choice come 2011. Hit the source link for a more expansive look at the current situation.
