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Apple cleverly advertises actual iPhone 6 and 6 Plus sizes in Rolling Stone Magazine
by09.24.2014
Apple's current marketing campaign for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus is focusing on the sizes of the new handsets, which are larger than earlier iPhone models. To help consumers get a feel for the size of the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, Apple is cleverly using a full-page ad in the latest issue of Rolling Stone magazine to display the actual sizes of the two devices, as spotted by The Mac Observer, Shown partially above, the back cover advertisement places the iPhone 6 next to an iPhone 6 Plus with a simple tagline, "Actual Sizes." Underneath the phones is a quick list of the major features offered in Apple's latest iPhone handsets. Not only is the page eye-catching, it also allows Rolling Stone magazine readers to compare their current phone to Apple's latest models to see how they size up. Head over to The Mac Observer to view the full ad, which is pictured along with an iPhone 5s as a size comparison.
Flappy Bird creator wasn't sued, threatened or murdered, you just played too much of his game
by03.11.2014Enigmatic developer of App Store hit Flappy Bird, Dong Nguyen, has fallen out of the limelight in the days since he pulled his most famous creation from mobile marketplaces, and that's exactly why he did it. In a new interview with Rolling Stone, the 28-year-old developer explains his motives for pulling the game, as well as the effect it has had on his life. Despite the ridiculous rumors that suffocated social media in the days following Nguyen's pulling of Flappy Bird -- which ranged from a Nintendo lawsuit to theories that Nguyen had taken his own life -- he is indeed alive and well. Nguyen explains the two main reasons he decided to take down the app: The media circus that had descended upon his "simple life," and the outcry from people who claimed the game was actually making their lives worse. Perhaps the most surprising revelation is that Nguyen hasn't ruled out a Flappy Bird return, though if he ever decides to make it happen he'll include a warning for people who might become addicted.
Flipboard launches user-created magazines, partners with Etsy (video)
by03.26.2013Everybody loves Flipboard, right? If you're a fan like us, rejoice -- your favorite social magazine just got a whole lot better. Today Flipboard for iOS is receiving a major update that will let you create and curate your very own magazines. It also brings a boatload of other improvements to the table including a content partnership with Etsy. An update to the Android version will follow shortly. We were able to take the new version of Flipboard for a spin and get a demo from CTO Eric Feng. Hit the break to dive into the details and watch our hands-on video. %Gallery-183818% %Gallery-183819%
Rolling Stone comes to Newsstand
by01.17.2013Clue's in the title, really. If you're craving Rolling Stone's eclectic mix of reviews and journalism but didn't fancy the trip to your local dead-tree merchant, it's now available on Newsstand. Each critique will come with a button straight to iTunes, so you can instantly download that amazing album that only garnered 3.5 stars. Annual subscriptions will set you back $19.99 a year, while standalone editions are $4.99 -- but be warned, it might try to sell you a Thunderbolt every now and again.
Rolling Stone magazine coming to the iPad
by11.29.2011Unlike its competition, which jumped at the chance to get its magazines on the iPad, Wenner Media has been slow to embrace the tablet and its digital subscriptions. The publisher is finally ready to take the plunge and is preparing to bring Rolling Stone Magazine and US Weekly to the iPad in 2012. These two magazines will be tablet versions of the print magazine and, sadly, won't offer any new or unique content. Before it kicks off Rolling Stone, Wenner will test the waters with a tablet app about the Beatles. The app will be an enhanced version of Rolling Stone's The Beatles: The Ultimate Album-by-Album Guide. The print version of the album guide has little-know facts about every track on every Beatle's album. The digital version will include this treasure trove of information and add both song samples and interviews with the band. It will be available starting December 1st.
HTC ThunderBolt for Verizon and Inspire 4G for AT&T break cover courtesy of Rolling Stone ad
by01.05.2011So yes, it's looking about as confirmed as can be: thanks to a full-page ad in the latest issue of Rolling Stone, we're finding out that the name of HTC's first LTE phone for Verizon -- and its first LTE phone regardless of carrier, actually -- will definitely be "ThunderBolt." This is the same phone that we've seen rumored and leaked over the last few months as the Mecha and the Droid Incredible HD, but we'll admit -- ThunderBolt seems like a pretty solid name for a phone that's sporting a 4.3-inch display and some of the fastest data around. Behind and to the right of the ThunderBolt, though, is another leak: the Inspire 4G for AT&T, though it's unclear what "4G" means in this context exactly -- AT&T's in the same boat as T-Mobile right now where they're topping out with HSPA+ and don't have any LTE markets live, so it seems they might be borrowing a play from their smaller rival's playbook and labeling the HSPA+ airwaves as straight-up 4G. We're sad to see that trend start to snowball -- but we'll admit, T-Mobile kinda forced their hand on that one. At any rate, we're pretty confident both of these suckers are going to get official here at CES this week, so keep your ear to the ground.
James Bond 007: Blood Stone hurled through holiday release window, courtesy of Bizarre
by07.16.2010Assassinating months of speculation, Activision has finally announced its new James Bond game, helmed by Project Gotham Racing and Blur developer Bizarre Creations. Featuring an original story by Bruce Feirstein (who penned the screenplay for GoldenEye and the script for 2003's Bond game, Everything or Nothing), James Bond 007: Blood Stone features a mix of third-person cover-based shooting, hand-to-hand combat and "adrenaline-fuelled driving sequences" on land and sea -- and air, if there are enough exploding ramps. Daniel Craig will reprise his role as suave spy guy (it's not like they need him for a movie right now) alongside Judi Dench, who once again plays stern boss lady "M." Grammy award-winning singer Joss Stone will be playing Blood Stone's obligatory gun-toting temptress, presumably because Oliver Stone couldn't quite pull off the evening gowns. Stone -- that's Joss -- will also provide the game's original theme song, "I'll Take it All," with the aid of Dave Stewart from the Eurythmics. Bizarre's James Bond 007: Blood Stone is set to launch on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 this holiday season. N-Space is developing a DS version for the same time frame. You can watch the trailer for the console version here. %Gallery-97612%
Sub Pop announces support for Rock Band Network starting this fall
by07.22.2009Riding on the coattails of last Friday's Rock Band Network reveal, indie label Sub Pop is the first record company to officially pledge its support for the new DLC initiative. Rolling Stone spoke with Sub Pop A&R exec Tony Kiewel, who said, "This conceivably could be the opening of the floodgates." Sub Pop intends to convert its "entire catalog" -- which includes Sonic Youth, early Nirvana, and The Postal Service -- to playable tracks.Additionally, Kiewel notes that future artists' releases on his label will automatically get the Rock Band treatment. "This'll be another format alongside vinyl and CD." The only difference between buying the newest Shins album from the Rock Band Network versus at the record store? The disdainful look from the Paramore t-shirt-clad cashier on your way out of the record store.
Guitar Hero: Van Halen is all David Lee Roth
by06.11.2009Dream of playing the upcoming rhythm game Guitar Hero: Van Halen as your favorite Van Halen lead singer Gary Cherone? Well, Rolling Stone is reporting today on the dashing of your dreams, claiming that an Activision/RedOctane representative confirmed to them the game's exclusivity to David Lee Roth as lead singer. This is also to say that the tequila-shilling Sammy Hagar will also be excluded from the band's lineup in the game. We already kind of sort of knew about the exclusion of Cherone and Hagar from Activision's Senior Vice President of Global Brand Management telling us way back when, "Oh this is definitely Van Halen, not Van Hagar." The RS piece posits that the only Van Halen tracks featuring David Lee Roth will be making it into the game, possibly destroying all hopes of the chance to drunkenly belt "Why Can't This Be Love?" and "Fire In the Hole," though, as of press time, Activision had yet to respond to our inquiry. [Image credit]
Rolling stones and cymbals: 505 Games announces Rolling Stone: Drum King
by05.19.2009Well, it's been quite some time since we last touched on 505 Games' We Rock: Drum King. The game seems to have spent a majority of its time in the shadows working toward a deal with Rolling Stone magazine, as the music mag and 505 Games just dropped press releases into our inbox introducing Rolling Stone: Drum King. Looks like somebody's been staying awake in their Synergy 101 class!The game is planned for a spring release, and still tasks players with keeping smooth timing by mimicking drumming through use of the Wiimote and Nunchuk. It will also feature local multiplayer support for you and a friend, and has over 30 "top quality cover tracks" inspired by real bands. Head past the break for the full list and a trailer snagged from the Amazon product page for the game.%Gallery-39772%
Rolling Stone names the 50 best rock & roll games
by11.11.2008The game industry's head-banging love affair with rock and/or roll stretches back as far as we can remember -- sometime around the late '70s. Now Rolling Stone has strummed its keyboard to capture what it calls the Top 50 Rock & Roll Video Games of All Time, laying accolades at the leather boots of Rock Band and Guitar Hero, while giving the likes of Revolution X and Crüe Ball the chance to scream into the mic one last time as if to shout, "Remember me!!?"Lumping together the good (Loom, Frequency) with the awful (Spice World, really?) and just plain odd (are Simon's 'bleeps' and 'boops' really considered music?), the laundry list is something of a mixed bag. Though admittedly we're still reeling from the fact that whoever put together the feature managed to overlook Audiosurf and Gitaroo Man, but managed to give props to Sensible Software's canceled flamebait, Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll.
The 'high fidelity' nature of MMOs
by01.02.2008Inspired by a few days of dedicated holiday gaming, veteran MMO designer Raph Koster offered up an opinion on the state of modern game development. Playing titles like Call of Duty 4, Halo 3, and BioShock, he notes the 'intense' nature of most of the best-selling titles this year. He then ties this in to a recent Rolling Stone article about the modern face of music. That article discusses the pervasive role of music in America today, and the resulting requirement to 'amp up' the volume to be heard in public places.He directly relates this to the loss of nuanced sound this results in, making a sly dig at the quality of these single-player experiences. IE: by being 'bold and brassy', these titles pale in the realm of quality compared to quieter, more thoughtful titles (like, say, Portal). Steve Danuser, better known as Moorgard, concurs with his assessment. He notes that Massive games in particular are arguments for broader, more varied experiences. While I'm obviously a fan of Massive titles - and very much agree that the breadth of content you can cram into them is one of their strengths - I can't help but think they're missing the point here a bit. I'm willing to agree, generally, with Raph's argument that truly single-player games will eventually be extinct. There's absolutely no reason that BioShock or Mass Effect couldn't have some sort of shared-world or co-op component (CoD4 and Halo 3 already do).That said, I bristle a bit at the notion that the big releases of 2007 have no nuance. Several of these titles, as with MMOs, have enough breadth to allow for more than just one activity. While 'shoot things' is the marquee entertainment in Mass Effect and 'stab people' is the main draw for Assassin's Creed, both have other activities in them; certainly Raph isn't going to sit there with a straight face and say the storytelling in Mass Effect is completely without nuance? Even BioShock, which is fundamentally a shooter, offers moments of quieter contemplation. I found the storytelling-via-voice-logs extremely effective, and made it a point to search out and listen to as many as I could. Where do you fall here? Are console-oriented single-player titles too much flash for you, or do you see possibilities in Rapture's destroyed beauty?
Rolling Stone interviews a Diebold whistleblower
by09.24.2006In what is perhaps the most astonishing turn of events in the ongoing Diebold fiasco, a new article in the latest issue of Rolling Stone -- with extensive information direct from a named former company consultant -- makes one of the most damning cases against the embattled company. The article weaves an elaborate tale of how Diebold had at the very least some extremely skeezy deals signed in 2002 with the state of Georgia, which allowed Diebold to replace all existing voting equipment, and to speed things up by the fall election: "The company was authorized to put together ballots, program machines and train poll workers across the state - all without any official supervision." As if that weren't enough, days before the primaries, the president of Diebold's election unit, Bob Urosevich, personally distributed a patch to the elections software. The article goes on: "Georgia law mandates that any change made in voting machines be certified by the state. But thanks to Cox's [Georgia's Secretary of State] agreement with Diebold, the company was essentially allowed to certify itself." Before the election, the two Democratic candidates in the two major races (for one Senate seat and the state governorship) had been ahead in the polls, and on Election Day, Republicans won the two races by a slim margin -- and given that no paper trail exists there is no way to prove or disprove that the election wasn't tampered with in some way. And you wonder why we continue to insist on paper ballots for the time being?