Microsoft CEO Ballmer Bullish For Windows 8 Phone

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Currently, Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS dominate the smartphone market by a significant margin. However, Microsoft is hopeful to become a relevant player with Windows 8 launching this holiday season.

“With the work we have done with Nokia, HTC, Samsung and others . . . there is now an opportunity to create really a strong third participant in the smartphone market,” said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at Windows 8 launch event. “We are still relatively small . . . I expect the volumes on Windows Phone to really ramp quickly.”

Ballmer added that there have been 4 million upgrades to the Windows 8 PC OS. “The initial reaction to these products has been really really phenomenal. And if you look at how people will get Windows 8, the truth of the matter is more people over time will get Windows 8 by buying a new computer than by upgrading old computers,” Ballmer said.

Source: Reuters

Watch Dogs Developer Diary: ‘Heroes Wanted’

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Ubisoft took an interesting tack with this Watch Dogs developer diary, talking about its large studio culture and how that will help realize such an ambitious game. It’s very much a recruitment video, advertising for people to sign up and create games at the company’s several different studios.

Ouya Moving Into Development

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The Ouya project is moving forward as developers continued to be brought on board. The hardware side of things is being described as “full steam ahead.”

“We’ve been refining Ouya’s hardware design (cosmetics, mechanicals, electricals, thermals etc.),” said Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman. “We’ve spent most of this time in the design phase, as getting it right up front saves us a lot of redesign and iteration later. We’ve had some of the best engineers and designers take a look at every design element and fine tune it. Our CAD models and SLAs (plastic prototypes that provide us with a physical look and feel of the product) are finished, and we moved out of the design phase and into development a couple of weeks ago.”

“Last week was a huge milestone for us — we received our first development run of PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards) for the console,” said Uhrman. “This is the heart (and we believe the soul) of the Ouya experience. It’s pretty amazing how our engineers have packed in Quad-Core awesomeness into such an unbelievably small package (any guesses on how small the PCB actually is ). All the hard work in refining the design has paid off in spades — the first boards came to life without any hitches, and we’re now fine tuning software and hardware performance for graphics, wireless, and user experience!”

The console is currently being put through its paces until they get the console and controller they want. The OS will also be upgraded before launch.

“I’m happy to announce Ouya will run on Android Jelly Bean, the newest version of the Android operating system,” noted Uhrman. “We’re making the jump from the old version, Ice Cream Sandwich, to ensure that we’re running on the most up-to-date software available. You asked if it could be done, we looked into it, and we made it happen.”

Source: Ouya.tv

Android on 3 out of 4 Smartphones in Q3 2012: IDC

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International Data Corporation is reporting that Android powered roughly 75 percent of all smartphones that released in Q3 2012. This last quarter saw 136 million Android smartphones shipped, up 91.5 percent year-over-year.

For Apple they saw 26.9 million iOS smartphones shipped in Q3. Thanks to the launch of the iPhone 5, this gave the company 57.3 percent year-over-year growth and roughly 15 percent of the market.

Windows smartphones saw a 140 percent increase in shipped handsets over the third quarter of 2011, though this was only good enough for 3.6 million smartphones total, or 2 percent of the market. BlackBerry and Symbian continue to falter, and software support was the cited reason.

“The share decline of smartphone operating systems not named iOS since Android’s introduction isn’t a coincidence,” said IDC senior research analyst Kevin Restivo. “The smartphone operating system isn’t an isolated product, it’s a crucial part of a larger technology ecosystem. Google has a thriving, multi-faceted product portfolio. Many of its competitors, with weaker tie-ins to the mobile OS, do not. This factor and others have led to loss of share for competitors with few exceptions.”

Massachusetts Shifts To Mobile Development

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According to a survey by the Massachusetts Digital Games Institute, 51 percent of the 2,041 workers with the 112 game development companies in Massachusetts are working in mobile. The article notes that layoffs and closures hit non-mobile studios like ImaginEngine, Zynga Cambridge and Harmonix compared to the growth of mobile companies The Tap Lab and Disruptor Beam.

“All this disruption in the marketplace has created a tremendous amount of opportunity,” said MDGI executive director Timothy Loew. “Mobile has actually brought more players and more demographics into the marketplace.”

“We have all our eggs in this basket, and we think it’s the right basket at the right time,” said Tap Lab CEO Dave Bisceglia. “I hope there’s an even bigger shift. It’s a good time for a company like ours.”

Source: Boston Globe

PlayStation Store Revamp Goes Live

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The PlayStation Store’s revamp has officially launched for the PS3. While it was originally designed to go live October 23, features like the redesigned search function have now been implemented.

The search option has tumbling text that adds suggestions. Related content such as DLC, trailers, and themes, is easily accessible from each game’s “parent page” while The Games page, which can be found upon loading up the store, is made up of categories like “Day 1 Digital” and “PlayStation Plus,” and now has PS3, Vita, and PSP content in their own categories.

GTA V Early Pre-Order Bonuses Announced

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Reports are that pre-order customers of Grand Theft Auto V will receive photo viewer keychains showing off the sights of Los Santos including the Vespucci Canals, Zancudo River, Grapeseed and Vinewood Hills. At GameStop, players also receive a double-sided poster.

Additionally, a new trailer is coming soon, after being delayed due to weather. “We are working on a second trailer – unfortunately Hurricane Sandy has derailed our plans somewhat but we will have something to show soon. It’s hard to be precise as we have no power whatsoever in our New York office. We hope everyone else in affected areas is doing okay.”

Source: IGN.com

IPad Mini Sells Out In New York

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Reports are that the iPad mini sold out at all stores that were open in New York. While many stores were closed in the Manhattan area due to the storm, there were lines around the block where they were open.

Supplies of the iPad mini are sold out at Apple’s flagship Fifth Avenue store, with white and silver models gone within 30 minutes, said Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White. “The iPad mini is off to a strong start and we believe this will be the next star in the Apple portfolio,” White said.

Source: Bloomberg.com