IPADD And Prosper

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The PADD from Star Trek: The Next Generation is credited with predicting the existence of the iPad 20 years before it hit the market. Now, you can turn your iPad into the all purpose computing device the crew of the Enterprise carried around by downloading the official app. Imitating the look of the LCARS (Library Computer Access and Retrieval System) user interface that all of the computers on the TNG Enterprise used, complete with appropriate sound effects and voice prompts from a soundalike of the original computer voice (the late Majel Barret Roddenberry), the app also includes a database of ST:TNG information including alien races, ship models, locations, tech and a detailed episode guide. Connect with other Trekkers via Facebook and Twitter integration that link with official pages and accounts. And if you want to use it for desk candy, there are two self-running diagnostic modes with a schematic of the Enterprise NCC-1701-D. For true nerds, interface designer of the Starship Enterprise and the author Michael Okuda, along with his wife, Denise, of the Star Trek Encyclopedia were involved with the project. Back when the PADD first appeared on ST:TNG, none of us imagined that today we d be able to hold the real thing in our hands. But the Star Trek PADD app, running on your iPad, is an actual miniature, handheld, touch-sensitive, 24th-century-style computer screen, says Okuda.

Google+: Work In Progress

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Plenty of people are using Google+ right now, and some have reported it’s something of a mixed bag. Vic Gundotra, a senior vice president of engineering at Google, has confirmed that the company has gotten plenty of feedback and they’re actively looking to respond to some of the issues.

“Lots of criticism for Google+,” wrote Gundotra. “We are listening and working to address. Stay tuned for changes this week.”

“It’s like the Domino’s [Pizza] ads, ” said Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with Technology Business Research. “Domino’s new ads admit that Domino’s pizza used to be lousy. They’re acknowledging a negative and claiming an improvement. They buy credibility. It gives them another shot at people who had a problem.”

Right now, the site has a landslide of updates, from being added to a circle to being referred, and most users would like to see that corrected. Site set up, private messages and Google+’s circle social system are also asked about

“It would also be great if I could put circles within circles,” wrote one user, with another saying, “Sometimes you just want to merge circles. No easy way to do that.”

Source: computerworld.com

Spil To Carry Bigpoint Games

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Bigpoint and Spil Games have announced a new social-gaming collaboration. Starting in late July, ZooMumba will appear on Spil Games social-gaming platforms, with more Bigpoint titles to follow.

This global collaboration will bring one of Bigpoint s best social games to the largest and most effectively targeted community of like-minded social gamers available today, said Peter Driessen, Spil Games CEO. This is a real meeting of minds I ve long admired Bigpoint s innovation within the browser-based gaming world, and I m delighted to welcome them to Spil s expanding social-gaming platforms.

We re thrilled to bring our already hugely successful game ZooMumba to Spil s platform, said Heiko Hubertz, CEO of Bigpoint. Spil s audience of like-minded gamers is unique in the industry. Plus, their global reach, localized approach and easy-to-use API will bring us scalability in efficiently rolling out our games in multiple languages, as well as leveraging Spil s social features. We re certain this collaboration will ensure high amounts of exposure to ZooMumba and more of our games in the future.

Connected TV’s Reach 500 Million By 2015, Says Study

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According to a study by DisplaySearch, a quarter of all flat-panel TVs will have Internet connectivity of some sort. That percentage will nearly double by 2015, with 138 million units sold that year and bringing the total number of connected TVs to a half billion.

“The adoption of connected TV is not just taking place in developed regions” said Paul Gray, DisplaySearch Director of TV Electronics Research. “Emerging markets often have good broadband services, and there is a thirst from consumers to get the best content available.”

“WiFi technologies are the foundation of smart TVs,” added Gray. “We expect that in 2015, 35 percent of 46 inch or larger TVs in North America will be smart TVs, defined as having the following capabilities: able to retrieve content from the internet without the restrictions of a portal; intelligent search and recommendations; upgradeable by its owner; and able to network seamlessly with other devices in the home.”

Source: DisplaySearch.com

Games Still Most Popular App Category, Says Nielsen

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According to a study by Nielsen, games are the most popular category of mobile apps, with nearly two-thirds of of app downloaders saying they have played a downloaded game. Furthermore, 93 percent of app downloaders say they are willing to pay for the games they want, again more than any other category.

“Among smartphone consumers who have played mobile games in the past 30 days, those with iPhones, Windows 7 phones or Android phones are the most likely to have downloaded the games they played, while those with Blackberry phones or feature phones tend to play pre-loaded games,” writes Nielsen. “The average mobile gamer plays an average of 7.8 hours a month. Those with iPhones tend to play around 14.7 hours each month while those with Android smartphones play around 9.3 hours per month.”

Source: blog.nielsen.com

Twitter Town Hall Might Set Up 2012 Debates

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President Obama recently made history with the first-of-its-kind Twitter Town Hall. While this was a major PR moment for the President in reaching out to his constituency, it also benefited the Twitter brand, since it saw major media coverage and was carried live on both CNN and MSNBC.

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey clearly has ambitions to make this more than a one off event. How can we make Twitter @TownHall better in the future he Tweeted. And not just for the U.S. government, but any government.

2012 will be a major election cycle, not only in the U.S. but around the world, added Twitter rep Matt Graves. We believe Twitter can be a valuable platform for anyone running for office, and look forward to seeing the creative ways campaigns will use the service over the next year.

Twitter is an appealing format for town hall style meetings in the digital age. It created excitement for the Twitter user base and might lead the way for things like #AskGingrich or #AskBachmann events in the future.

Of course, Dorsey leading the town hall might not be optimum in the future, but if there’s enough interest, an old media hand will certainly come in to press the candidate on the most telling questions.

Source: AdWeek.com

HTC Scoops Up Graphical Specialist

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HTC has purchased S3 Graphics for $300 million. S3 creates graphical chipsets for Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo along with smartphones and tablets, having patents and pending applications related to Blu-ray movie playback, 3D acceleration and texture compression.

“S3 Graphics has a long history of designing graphics processor chips and technologies,” said S3 CEO Dr. Ken Weng. “S3 Graphics’ technology has been implemented in more than one billion computers, game consoles and mobile devices worldwide.”

“As a leading mobile innovator, HTC is committed to continually enhancing its IP portfolio,” added HTC CEO Peter Chou. “S3 Graphics patents are highly complementary to HTC s existing innovations and multimedia capabilities.”

Dust 514 Will Have Mandatory Fee To Sign Up

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While Dust 514 is being billed as a free-to-play shooter on the PS3, it won’t be available as a free download, at least at first. There will be a fee associated with the game, but it will be refunded as in-game currency.

“In the beginning you have to pre-buy credits, so you pay something like $10-$20 to enter the game and you get the equivalent number of credits in the game once you do that. We call this the ‘cover charge’,” said CCP’s CEO Hilmar Veigar Petursson. “You’re really getting the game for free but you have to pre-buy credits in the beginning. We might go fully free-to-play down the line, but in the beginning we have a cover charge just to manage the initial launch of it.

As for what that currency would be spent on, Petursson was very coy as to whether the items would be cosmetic or game affecting. “It’s not like in shooters where you’ve seen virtual goods sales. Whether that’s some of the games you’ve seen in Asia, whether that’s Battlefield, or other games,” he said. “We don t really have a set of things we’re communicating on now because a lot of this comes out in the private trials that we’re starting at the end of this year, where we’re just starting to tune and test and see what works. That’s how we’ll define it. We have some initial assumptions but we’ll put it out there and see how the player base during the trials reacts to it.”

Source: GamesIndustry.biz