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The Weekly Roundup for 05.20.2013
You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past seven days -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Editor's Letter: One more Xbox
In each issue of Distro, editor-in-chief Tim Stevens publishes a wrap-up of the week in news. Can you believe we've had the Xbox 360 since 2005? As a child of the two- or three-year console cycle, a system still going strong after eight seems inconceivable. Finally, it's being put out to pasture -- somewhat unceremoniously. The Xbox One is its successor and, with no backwards compatibility for disc-based or downloaded games, those looking to make the leap to the next generation in the fall will already want to start weaning themselves from Microsoft's current wunderconsole. It'll make it easier for both of you when it comes time to unplug it. And you probably will want to unplug it and make the upgrade, though to be fair there's plenty to be cynical about with the Xbox One. So, I'll get that out of the way first, starting with the name. Microsoft is trying to send the message that the new Xbox is the only device you'll need to control your living room. That may be, but One? HTC, of course, called its latest flagship the One, but that was a case of a company distancing itself from previous, complicated naming schemes and going with something simpler. Here, there have been only two previous generations of the Xbox. Calling the third one the "One" is simply confusing. Still, it beats "Xbox Foo," which is what Microsoft's initial press release mentioned. Someone, it seems, got the memo on the official name a little too late.
The Daily Roundup for 05.20.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Yahoo NYC press event liveblog
News of Yahoo's acquisition of Tumblr is already official, so today's NYC event will likely shed some light on that $1.1 billion deal. CEO Marissa Mayer will be on hand to address the crowd -- and we'll be there to give you the play-by-play. Will we hear exactly what Yahoo means when it says won't "screw it up?" Will Tumblr CEO be there to contribute his take on the merger? Park your browsers here to find out; the liveblog goes down at 5PM EST.
Yahoo's post-Tumblr purchase press event is live tonight, get your liveblog here!
Well, Yahoo! has already officially announced its $1.1 billion cash deal to snatch up social darling and microblogging platform du jour, Tumblr. The question on everyone's mind is, what else could the struggling web pioneer have up it's sleeve? Truth is we have no idea. Could Mayer have another acquisition to announce or a special new product lined up for tonight's event? Or, is she simply going to talk about the finer details of the Tumblr deal for an hour. You'll have to check back in at 5:00pm ET to find out. Yahoo! NYC press event
Tumblr updates iOS app to match redesigned Android interface
Today's definitely a big day for Tumblr: there's a refreshed iOS app in the iTunes Store! And, well, a bit of other news, too. But you'll hear plenty more about that later -- for now, it's all about mobile. The blogging platform just updated its application for iPad and iPhone, adding that "fancy new post type chooser" that recently made its debut on Android. The design tweak enables one-click access to a variety of post tools, letting you submit video, chats, links, quotes, photos and text, with colorful icons to match. It's yours for the downloading at the source link below.
Yahoo confirms acquisition of Tumblr, but will run it as a 'separate business'
Hot on the heels of yesterday's rumors, Yahoo and Tumblr have jointly announced a "definitive agreement" for the former to acquire the latter for $1.1 billion. The agreement makes it clear that Tumblr will be "independently operated as a separate business" with its own branding and line of development. A frankly worded press release says that this arms-length arrangement will help Yahoo "not to screw it up" and promises that the 300 million monthly visitors to the blogging site will continue to experience Tumblr's "irreverence, wit, and commitment to empower creators." If all this is to be believed, those who have allegedly fled to WordPress, for fear of Tumblr being shut down or re-versioned, may have slightly jumped the gun.
WordPress founder claims 72,000 posts defected from Tumblr after Yahoo acquisition news
WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg has spoken out in an attempt to capitalize on Yahoo's rumored $1.1 billion acquisition of rival blogging service Tumblr. He claims that once the news broke on Sunday, blog post transfers from Tumblr to his own site rose from 400 to 600 per hour to over 72,000 -- which presumably included users put off by Yahoo's track record of shutting down its acquisitions (like Del.icio.us, Geocities and Broadcast.com). If that figure is true, then Marissa Mayer's probably going to have to answer some rather awkward questions in a few hours.
WSJ: Yahoo to acquire Tumblr in $1.1 billion cash deal
That cat's out of the bag a day early, it seems. Yahoo's board has approved a $1.1 billion cash deal to purchase the blogging site Tumblr, according to The Wall Street Journal. We were expecting Yahoo to announce the acquisition during tomorrow's NYC media event -- CEO Marissa Mayer may instead use the last-minute gathering to detail the company's plans for integrating the popular platform. It's unclear how Yahoo intends to utilize its latest procurement, but with a 10-figure price tag now public, we can only imagine that Tumblr will be put to good use. We'll be covering tomorrow afternoon's event live, so stay tuned for more details from New York City.
Yahoo rumors ahead of Monday's event include $1.1 billion Tumblr buy, Flickr updates
Earlier today, Yahoo sent press invites to a "product-related" event in New York City Monday afternoon and there are already two separate rumors about the company's plans. The first, from Bloomberg, concerns the event specifically and cites a "person familiar with the matter" reporting we'll hear about new updates for Yahoo's once-mighty Flickr photo service. The second is from AllThingsD which has upgraded rumors of a Tumblr purchase from possible to possibly imminent, saying the company's board will meet Sunday to decide whether it will make a $1.1 billion all-cash offer for the site. Since new CEO Marissa Mayer took over Yahoo has made a number of acquisitions with a focus on improving its homepage, content and app offerings including Flickr. That announcement is also penciled in for the 20th, but whatever actually goes down you can be sure we'll have the details as they're unveiled around 4PM ET.
Yahoo schedules product-related event for May 20th in NYC, Marissa Mayer expected to speak
Call us crazy, but it sure feels like Yahoo's had one heck of a spring. When it comes to spending, anyway. Just as soon as it can get one check to clear, the search icon is breaking the ink back out to write another. According to a breaking tweet from CNBC, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is scheduled to speak at a "product-related" event in New York City this coming Monday. It's tough to tell what kind of surprise will be in store, but we wouldn't be shocked if it involved the word "Tumblr." We're digging for more as we speak, and will most certainly be on hand to see what comes to fruition. Update: We've just heard back from Yahoo, and the event is indeed going down in order to "share something special." And yes, we'll be there to bring whatever happens to your browser of choice.
Dear Uncle TUAW: What's the best way to blog while backpacking?
Dear Uncle TUAW: Over the next two years my husband and I plan to hike El Camino de Santiago in Spain. I'd love to keep family and friends up to date on our trek by blogging on the trip, but since we want to keep our backpacks at less than 14 lbs. total weight, I'm not sure I want to carry an iPad and I know for sure that a laptop is going to be too heavy. Since weight and space are issues, what would you blog from if you were in my hiking boots? Your loving niece, Susan Dear Susan, I'm glad to hear that you're going to be out walking. Too many of you young whippersnappers spend all of your time on your keisters in front of those fancy HDTVs instead of getting good, clean exercise in the great outdoors. Your Aunt and I used to do a lot of hiking. Remind me to tell you about our experiences in Bhutan in 1958... Anyway, my first choice for lightweight blogging would be to grab an iPad mini and one of those newfangled keyboard cases, but if you're really trying to keep things light, why not just use that iPhone of yours as a small tablet? With that phone, you can not only grab great photos, but use them in your blog. While you're hiking, you can even talk to that Siri lady and she'll take down your notes like my old secretary Mabel used to do back at the munitions plant. Without the backtalk, of course. And the bad breath. But that's another story... When you get to wherever you're setting up camp for the night, you can while away the hours cleaning up her dictation. Yes, I had to clean up Mabel's dictation, too. Frankly, I'd take along a lightweight keyboard of some sort if I were you. Since you won't want to worry about charging batteries on a keyboard, one that's powered by the sun might be handy. Speaking of charging batteries, you can also take one of these crank-powered things with you on your hike to give your hands something to do. Charge up the battery pack by hand-cranking it, then use it to charge your iPhone while you're trying to sleep at night with all of those other pilgrims snoring around you. No need to look for a power outlet or carry along those pesky international power adapters. That's all I'll say about hardware, which referred to nuts and bolts in my earlier days, but what about blogging software? If you don't have a travel blog already, MapQuest's Travel Blog app is free and includes free hosting of your text and photos. Got one of those WordPress blogs? Their free app isn't too bad, either. You can be really smart and take all of your pictures with the iPhone so you don't have to carry a separate camera with all of its weight and bulk, and they'll go right into your blog. I'm rather fond of that Tumblr service for travel blogging myself, although please don't tell your Aunt about my "Tumblr After Dark" adventures in Amsterdam last year... Stay safe; watch out for blisters; and have a good trip! Hugs and kisses, Uncle TUAW
Tumblr for iOS gets new social sharing features, options to save to Instapaper and Pocket
Ever since going native on iOS, the Tumblr app's been on the receiving end of many, many new features and improvements. Now, continuing its ongoing efforts to make the application as good as can be, the microblogging site has released a new version for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad owners. As of today, Tumblr for iOS will now allow posts to be shared via email and a few major social networks -- including, as you'd expect, Facebook and Twitter. In addition, v3.3.1 brings added integration with Pocket and Instapaper, giving users the ability to save content to either service for offline reading at a later time. Busy couple of days, eh, Tumblr?
Tumblr for iOS improves sharing, supports Instapaper, Pocket
Everybody's favorite "blogging lite" tool, Tumblr, has a new version out today. Tumblr 3.3.1 has added a selection of sharing tools as well as some changes to make using the mobile app easier and more fun. Posts can now be shared a variety of ways -- the share button on my iPhone 5, for example, showed not only Twitter, Facebook and Message as targets, but also let me send Tumblr posts to other apps like Chrome, TweetBot and NetBot. If you want to read Tumblr posts later, they can be sent to Instapaper and Pocket with a few taps. Emailing a post now encases the content in a nice-looking template (image at right) that can be opened by the recipient either as "just an email" or in the Tumblr app. To close images that you're looking at full-screen, there's no need to search for a close box. Now you just "fling" a photo up or down and it closes. On the search screen, GIFs actually move while you scroll by, making you all that more likely to tap on them. There's also a more mundane change that's been made to the app -- the "following" list is now alphabetized by screen handle and you can actually search it. While it's not the most earthshaking update to a popular app, Tumblr 3.3.1 has made it easier for almost anyone to share and discover new content.
The Daily Roundup for 04.23.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Windows Phone gets an official Tumblr app
You can now scratch one more big name off the list of apps not available on Windows Phone. Tumblr has just released its official app for Microsoft's mobile platform (the latest version of it, at least), offering all the key features found in its iOS and Android counterparts with a distinct Windows Phone flavor. That includes the ability to swipe left and right to switch between the dashboard and "explore" options, and the option to add the latest images from your dashboard to your lock screen or live tiles. You can also rest assured that animated GIFs will remain animated while you scroll.
Daily Update for April 22, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Tumblr launches mobile ads for iOS, Android
Love Tumblr? Well, reality just hit the service, which is under pressure to generate revenues. As a result, you'll start seeing ads (aka "sponsored posts") in your Tumblr stream in the iOS and Android apps starting today. The company started the sponsored posts about a year ago on the web-based service, and is now fitting ads for a handful of sponsors (GE, ABC Entertainment, ABC Family, Pepsi and Warner Bros.) into the mobile apps. That means that the next time you pull up the TUAW Tumblr to see what oddities didn't make it to the website, you might see an animated GIF of a GE jet engine being tested or a plug for the next Warner Bros. film. The ads will be differentiated from normal Tumbl'd content by an animated dollar sign icon in the header, just so you know that you should pay extra-special attention to those posts.
Nintendo debuts 3DS screenshot sharing tool in Japan
Nintendo has released a web tool for use in the 3DS' internet browser, which allows the user to share screenshots from compatible games on Twitter and Tumblr. So far, only Animal Crossing: New Leaf and Tomodachi Collection: New Life work with the service – our friends at Engadget attempted to upload a picture taken with the 3DS' camera and were given an error about "incompatible software."No indication from Nintendo that a westernized version of the utility is in the works, but the Japanese tool still works on this side of the globe, provided you can either read Japanese, or have a lot patience and spare time. Folks interested in investigating should point their 3DS browsers to i.nintendo.net.
Nintendo debuts 3DS image sharing tool in Japan, uploads your screengrabs to Twitter, Tumblr
Still waiting for Miiverse to show its hide on Nintendo's 3DS? Maybe the promise of more conventional social networking will tide you over. Thanks to a new web tool, Japanese 3DS owners can now share screenshots from Animal Crossing: New Leaf and Tomodachi Collection:New Life with their Twitter and Tumblr followers. The setup is pretty simple, giving users access to a basic upload interface through the 3DS' built-in web browser. Just pick an image, add a caption and watch your retweets roll in. Unfortunately, the tool doesn't work with just any image -- attempting to upload a shot taken with the 3DS camera gave us an error, which told us (via a rough translation) that the picture came from "incompatible software." The tool is written entirely in Japanese, but folks with a knack for Kanji can check it out at i.nintendo.net. Looking for a compatible game? We hear there's a bundle for that.
