Gamestop’s Indie Game Challenge Cancelled at DICE 2013

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Culture,

GameStop's Indie Game Challenge is taking a hiatus, and won't be a part of DICE 2013 according to a rep from the company.

"The 2012 - 13 Indie Game Challenge (IGC) will be on hiatus while we take time to analyze ways to promote and celebrate the independent game movement," said Wendy Dominguez to Polygon. "We have been committed and continue to be committed to supporting the independent game developer community.

The last IGC was held in February 2012, where ten finalists competed for $250,000 in prizes. The last winner, Eyebrow Interactive, won $100,000 for Closure, a puzzler, and DigiPen's Nitronic Rush received the Gamer's Choice Award.

It's not clear yet whether there will be an indie presence at all during DICE 2013, but we'll keep you posted as more news develops.

Read More | Polygon

Foxconn rumored to be manufacturing an Amazon smartphone

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Smartphones, Handhelds, Rumors,

According to Taiwan Economic News, Foxconn International Holdings Ltd. has already begun manufacturing a new smartphone exclusively for Amazon.

The Amazon smartphone is rumored to launch sometime in the second or third quarter of 2013, at a price of $100-200 USD. Five million units are expected to ship in the next year.

Amazon is expected to gain ground quickly in the smartphone business, due mostly to its low cost strategy and loyal consumer base. Stay posted for more updates on Amazon's foray into the smartphone buisness. 

Read More | Taiwan Economic News

Google releases YouTube Capture App for iOS

Posted by Jason Diaz Categories: Entertainment, New Apps, Video Apps, Google, Free Apps,

Less than two weeks after Google updated its YouTube app for iOS that added universal binary support for the iPhone 5 and iPad, the company has released YouTube Capture. The app is dedicated to video recording and has the ability of simultaneously sharing via YouTube, Google+, Facebook, and Twitter. The app has some video editing features like color correction, trimming, and the ability to add music tracks. Apparently, there are some reports that the app only uploads in 720p even if some iDevices can shoot in 1080p. Also, some users might be unaware that iOS has the integrated functionality to share/upload videos to YouTube from within the Photos App and in full 1080p glory. Unfortunately, abeit for a few amount of users, the app isn't optimized for the iPad's screen. Here's a list of features with YouTube Capture.

Film and share videos with YouTube Capture:

• Easy, fast recording
• Touch up videos with color correction, stabilization, trimming, and music tracks
• Upload to YouTube, Google+, Facebook, and Twitter simultaneously

YouTube Capture is available for iPhone and iPod touch.

Read More | YouTube Capture

Facebook encouraging employees to switch to Android

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Corporate News, Social Networks,

Facebook wants more of its employees carrying Android devices, employing vaguely propagandistic posters around its Menlo Park campus. The posters outline the growing lead Android has over iOS, projecting that lead to double by 2016. The goal is to get Facebook employees using devices that the majority of their app users use, or "Droidfooding," as the campaign is casually known.

“In the early days we gave employees iPhones primarily”, a Facebook spokesperson said to TechCrunch. This recent shift to a more Android OS orientated workplace is part of an effort to make it as simple as possible to test future Facebook For Android and Facebook Messenger apps.

“We’ve created more awareness that Android devices are available” Facebook says. "There's plenty of people here carrying around both devices, and not just engineers and not just mobile people.”

Read More | TechCrunch

Facebook 4.1 for Windows Phone 8 brings speed improvements

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Smartphones, Microsoft, Software,

A new update for Windows Phone 8's Facebook app doesn't bring new features, but does make the app a lot faster and more responsive. Similar to the recent Facebook app updates on Android and iOS, this one focuses on the general performance of the app, and eliminates the lag from the older version.

Windows Phone 7 devices, however, aren't capable of running the new update. UK users will assuredly find the Facebook version 4.1 update in the UK Windows Phone Marketplace, but its not quite available in all markets yet.

Read More | Windows Phone

Google Trends shows Microsoft’s next Xbox is already beating Playstation 4

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Culture, PlayStation 3, Sony, Xbox, Xbox 360,

We trust Google with a lot of things: we trust that it will be there for us when our memory fails and that it will find the best information for us. Can we trust it to predict the future for us too? Well, the future of consumer electronics at least.

Based on Google Trends searches, Microsoft's next generation system is poised to take down Sony's next Playstation console. Google Trends previously held the data that showed the winner of the high-def DVD race, as Blu-ray yielded more search results than HD DVD films. This time, news site Ludos Mundi used Google Trends to discover whose winning the next-gen popularity contest, and found users search "Xbox 720" about 60 percent of the time, compared to searches for "PS4" that occur 40 percent of the time.

You can use Google Trends yourself to see the data. Simply compare "Xbox 720" and "PS4" using the Forecast feature.

Read More | Ludos Mundi via Venture Beat

Apple releases iOS 6.0.2, zaps Wi-Fi bug

Posted by Jason Diaz Categories: Apple, Handhelds, Software, Wireless / WiFi,

Just like that, Apple has released iOS 6.0.2, which looks to fix a Wi-Fi connection bug that affected some iOS devices. So, if you were one of the lucky ones with that problem, let us know if this update resolves it.

iOS 6.0.2 Software Update
This update contains improvements and bug fixes, including:

• Fixes a bug that could impact Wi-Fi

Read More | Apple

US Cellular readies Jelly Bean update for Samsung Galaxy S III

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Smartphones, Google, Software,

US Cellular is about to begin distributing Android 4.1 to it's variation of Samsung Galaxy S III devices starting this Friday, December 21.

Android 4.1, or Jelly Bean, contains the features Galaxy S III owners on other carriers are used to by now, such as Project Butter, Google Now, camera improvements, notifications, widgets and an improved interface.

US Cellular hasn't released an exact time of day that users can expect the update, as they have to be pretty anxious by now, but what we do know is that the update can be done over the air, or over USB.

Read More | US Cellular

New BlackBerry 10 Screenshots show voice recognition, updated UI

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Smartphones, Corporate News, Software,

BlackBerry 10 is nearing its debut, and more screenshots have come out showing what's new in the BB10 operating system.

From the newest screenshots posted on Tihnte, it appears the BB10 is taking a book out of Apple's playbook and incorporating a smart voice assistant. Voice commands were announced earlier, and the screenshots show you will definitely be able to make dictations, but other functionality, if any at all, is unknown.

The screenshots also showcase BB10's Twitter client, which doesn't stray to far from the iOS and Android comfort zones. There's also some looks at the BlackBerry Hub and new visual stylings of the BB10.

Read More | Tinhte

Twitter allegedly attempted to buy Instagram for $525 million

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Acquisitions, Corporate News, Rumors, Social Networks, Startups,

Way before Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion, Twitter apparently made an offering of its own, to which Instagram initially agreed to.

The offer from Twitter, according to The New York Times, was for $525 million. Instagram's CEO, Kevin Systrom, agreed to the buy-out, but changed his mind before selling Instagram to Facebook without allowing Twitter to make a counter offer.

What's interesting is that Systrom had stated while under oath to the California Corporations Department that Instagram had never received another formal offer. None of the parties have commented on the Times article that brought this information to life, but it could mean we might be in the throes of an intense legal battle shortly.

Read More | NY TImes