retiring
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EA is shutting down its mobile 'Tetris' games
EA is giving up on its mobile Tetris games. Tetris 2011 and Tetris Blitz have disappeared from the Play Store, and in the App Store, EA left a note for fans explaining that it will retire its Tetris app on April 21st, that includes Tetris 2011, Tetris Blitz and Tetris Premium.
Alphabet’s David Drummond is leaving months after allegations surfaced
Alphabet's chief legal officer David Drummond is leaving the company. Drummond claims he's retiring "to make way for the next generation of leaders," but allegations that he had affairs with employees could cast some doubt on his motives.
Spotify ditches its Android homescreen widget
Spotify's latest Android update has riled some of its loyal users. The update removes the homescreen widget from Spotify's Android app. Now, to control functions like play, pause and skip, users must drag down the notification shade. While this may seem like a minor change to some, widgets are a prized Android feature, and nearly 2,000 users have petitioned the widget removal.
Parrot plans to retire its Mambo and Swing drones
Drone company Parrot, maker of the Anafi 4K folding drone, is reportedly leaving the mini-drone market. This week, Wirecutter confirmed that Parrot is retiring its Mambo and Swing drones, and supposedly, websites like Amazon have been slowly running out of stock.
Google Reader to shut down with other services in another 'spring cleaning'
Last spring, Page and Co. retired iGoogle, Google Mini and other services as part of a 'spring cleaning' initiative to help it better focus its efforts, and another clean-up round has just begun. This time around, Google Reader and seven other services are getting the axe, bringing the firm's total of features closed since 2011 to 70. Mountain View says it's sunsetting the feed reader because it has "declined," and that turning it off will allow it to pour its energy into fewer products. Reader will keep the lights on until July 1st, and diehard users will be able to keep their data and subscriptions by using the outfit's Takeout tool. Other products being put out to pasture include the company's Building Maker, Cloud Connect, Apps Script's GUI builder and five UiApp widgets, Search API for shopping and the CalDAV API (for developers who aren't whitelisted, that is). The internet giant also announced -- and confirmed our fears -- that it'll no longer sell or provide updates for Snapseed Desktop for Mac and Windows. Blackberry's Google Voice app is being shelved as well, but the company suggests its HTML 5 experience is a nice alternative. By the sounds of it, CEO Larry Page is still making good on his promise to keep Google focused on fewer things. Hit the bordering source links for more details. Update: Apps Script is sticking around, but its GUI Builder and a quintet of UiApp widgets are being deprecated.
BioWare co-founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk retire, to exit the game industry
BioWare co-founders Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka collectively announced their retirement today from the studio they founded nearly 20 years ago, as well as from their positions at parent company Electronic Arts. Each is leaving the game industry altogether, with Muzyka heading into philanthropy, and Zeschuk into the world of craft brewing. Muzyka reflected on his years in game development and management in a blog post. "It's not often that you can truly say you were able to pursue and achieve your dream job; I know how lucky I am to be able to say that now, in my early 40s," he said. Zeschuk was similarly reflective. "Building BioWare over the years with Ray and the many other people involved was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I'll cherish it always," he wrote. The two former doctors founded Bioware in 1995, and developed iconic titles like Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and most recently, Star Wars: The Old Republic (an MMO). BioWare was purchased by Electronic Arts in 2007, and its name has since spread to a variety of EA's other studios.
BioWare co-founders Greg Zeschuk, Ray Muzyka retiring from industry
Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka, co-founders of BioWare in 1995, are leaving the studio to pursue careers outside of the video game industry. Zeschuk and Muzyka have written blogs explaining the situation.Muzyka intends to enter the entrepreneurship field, writing, "I believe strongly in the power of free enterprise to enable sustainable change, so my next 'chapter' will likely focus on an entirely new industry, something exciting, different and frankly downright scary – investing in and mentoring new entrepreneurs, and more specifically, the field of social/impact investing."Zeschuk describes his fading passion for the video game industry, noting that the people he's worked with over the years still inspire him. "After nearly twenty years working at BioWare I've decided it's time to move on and pursue something new. This decision isn't without significant pain and regret, but it's also something I know I need to do, for myself and my family. I've reached an unexpected point in my life where I no longer have the passion that I once did for the company, for the games, and for the challenge of creation."That "something new" may be brewing craft beer, Zeschuk says."After my departure I'm going to be spending significant time with family and friends, as well as pursuing some personal passion-driven projects related to craft beer. The main project I will be working on is a web-based interview show called The Beer Diaries where I interview notable brewers and showcase their beers. If things go well, I'll work on other beer-related shows, apps and projects. If not, I'll have drunk a lot of tasty beers and may be back in games or even something else completely different. Ultimately time will tell."Contacted for further comment, EA corporate communications simply pointed us to the blog post by the two doctors. All EA would say is that both are retiring form the gaming industry and both execs offer heartfelt thanks to their BioWare teams and EA.
Incoming, outgoing Apple employees
A few Apple employees played some musical chairs this week. Executive Pablo Calamera, who was in charge of MobileMe while at Apple, is off to work as the CTO of Thumbplay, a company that peddles ringtones and music to mobile devices. HR shouldn't have to change the big "35,000 employed worldwide" sign, though: former Mozilla security chief Window Snyder was picked up by Apple this week. She'll jump in as a senior security product manager, a job that will take advantage of her work both at Mozilla and previously at Microsoft, where she worked on both Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Sure, she's got the experience, but has she ever worked for a company that does this for its incoming employees? Didn't think so.
Officers' Quarters: The raid leader retirement plan
Every Monday Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership.Every raid leader has this moment. You're trying to get the raid ready for a boss attempt, but you just can't get people to focus. Someone's taking a quick bio. Two people are still arguing over the loot from three bosses ago. Another person is whispering you ill-conceived advice for changing your strategy. People seem to be more interested in listening to your healing lead talk in Vent about a movie she just saw than they are in buffing or putting on resist gear. Then someone that you can't replace DC's for the eighth time that night and you just snap.You wonder if it's worth it. You wonder what it would be like to be a grunt rather than a general. Someone who just follows orders and doesn't have to worry about anyone but themselves. Sprinkle in some real-life stress in your life and retiring from raid leading suddenly seems very appealing. This week, one officer wonders how to give up his general's stripes without causing too much fuss. 'Lo there,I've been a huge fan of your column for quite some time, and it's one of the few that I read immediately rather than saving for downtime during the game. I first got hooked during the 4-part casual raiding columns, which came at the time my guild was first venturing into Kara.Anyway, I'm the executive officer in charge of raiding (supreme raid leader) for a successful casual/social guild on a server infamous for its lack of progression. It's a position that I've held since we started into Kara in Feb of '08, and since we first started raiding I've gained a couple of assistants that do an excellent job helping coordinate things.The issue, in part, is that RL has started rearing its ugly head, and my work hours have been slowly increasing. [. . .]
