Take-Two Interactive Software CEO Strauss Zelnick raised eyebrows when he recently told Forbes that games for iOS would eventually hit $40, similar to the price that gamers pay for titles for Nintendo handhelds. Paul O’Connor of Appy Entertainment has a very different … Continued
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∞ iOS 5 Safari faster than IE or Android
Apple’s mobile Safari Web browser may not have always done well against the competition, but the addition of the Nitro JavaScript engine certainly helped speed things up. According to new tests, the version of mobile Safari that will come with … Continued
∞ Best Buy offering students $100 gift card with Mac purchase
Some people weren’t too impressed with Apple’s recently announced back to school promotion because it only offered a $100 gift card to the Mac App Store, instead of a deal on an iPod or other hardware. Best Buy hopes to … Continued
∞ iOS 5 in an iPad classroom
With the announcement of iOS 5 at WWDC earlier this month, people got a view of what they can expect from Apple’s new mobile operating system. Features like AirPlay and iCloud have appealed to many, but Matthew Panzarino looked to … Continued
∞ Apple deal bought Nokia much needed time
The patent infringement settlement between Apple and Nokia did more than stock Nokia’s pockets full of cash, it also gave the company some much needed time to change. Experts peg Apple’s one-time payment to Nokia at $650 million. Apple will … Continued
∞ RIM executive exodus continues
The Wall Street Journal reports that Research In Motion (RIM) has lost another executive: this time it’s Brian Wallace, VP of Digital Marketing and Media. Wallace has left RIM for Samsung, which confirmed he’s joined the company. “Mr. Wallace’s departure … Continued
∞ Apple gets the trademark for AirDrop
One of the new features in Mac OS X Lion is called AirDrop. It allows users to easily transfer files to one another by simply dragging and dropping files on a user’s icon. As of today, Apple now owns the … Continued
∞ Eight Skype execs leave after Microsoft purchase
Skype, Microsoft or the employees themselves have decided to make some changes to the management structure of Skype. While Skype has confirmed the departures, a spokesperson would not say whether they had been laid off or if they resigned. The … Continued
∞ Former Sony boss: 'Apple will be the games industry'
Phil Harrison, the man who launched the original Sony PlayStation console and later because president of Sony Computer Entertainment’s Worldwide Studios, recently offered his vision of the future of gaming to Edge Magazine. And Harrison sees Apple as ground zero … Continued
∞ Sega has 1.3 million customer records hacked
First it was Sony, and now Sega has its online customer database hacked. I guess if there is a positive side to this breach it’s that no credit card information was stolen when the accounts were hacked. According to Sega, … Continued
∞ Apple to bid for Nortel patents
Apple will join Intel, Ericsson and Google in bidding for the patents being sold by bankrupt Canadian company Nortel. The patent sale will be held on June 27, 2011. There are reportedly about 6,000 patents and patent applications on the … Continued
∞ Analysts downgrade RIM, shareholders dissatisfied with co-CEOs
After reporting disappointing results for its fiscal first quarter, four analysts downgraded the company. One analyst said “it appears RIM has slipped into eroding mismanagement.” Large shareholders of the company’s stock are also demanding RIM split the CEO and chairman … Continued
∞ Oracle says Google owes $1.4-$6.1 billion in damages
Nobody really knew the scale of Oracle’s patent lawsuit against Google, but this week the numbers came out, and they are huge. According to Oracle, damages it suffered due to the patent infringement by Google range between $1.4 billion to … Continued
∞ FTC approves Microsoft's purchase of Skype
The Federal Trade Commission on Friday gave the thumbs-up to Microsoft’s bid to purchase Skype. The two companies announced the $8.5 billion cash sale in May. Microsoft said that Skype will support Microsoft devices including Xbox and Kinect, Windows Phone … Continued
∞ Apple adds more Samsung devices to lawsuit
Apple amended its complaint against Samsung, adding new devices it contends are infringing on its patents. Apple called Samsung’s attempt to get access to unreleased iOS devices as an “attempt to harass” and said those devices were irrelevant to this … Continued
∞ Gruber, Arment and honesty in publishing
Daring Fireball’s John Gruber and Instapaper founder Marco Arment took two prominent Web sites to task for recent articles they wrote. My interpretation of their critiques come down to one thing — honesty in publishing. Having a difference of opinion … Continued
∞ Negative Duke Nukem reviews bring threats from PR firm
The PR firm responsible for Duke Nukem got itself in hot water today as it made veiled threats to Web sites who delivered poor reviews of the game. (From what I’ve seen, that would be all of them). It got … Continued
∞ TUAW's unlocked iPhone FAQ
If you are wondering about the difference between an unlocked phone and a jailbroken phone, you should have a look at TUAW’s unlocked iPhone 4 FAQ. There’s a lot of useful information, from basic explanations to new pricing plans from … Continued
∞ More malware on the Android store
No matter how much Google does to convince consumers it is good and open, continued reports of malware will hurt its reputation. Google already had to remove apps containing malware once and a report in May said malware on the … Continued
∞ Lawyer says Apple may settle iCloud lawsuit
After announcing its iCloud service last week at WWDC, Apple was slapped with a lawsuit from Arizona-based iCloud Communications. Apple bought iCloud.com from Xcerion and has 11 applications registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Apple also owns the … Continued
∞ Only 7% of iOS developers are Mac developers too
Analyst Gene Munster surveyed 45 Apple developers at last week’s WWDC to find out how many developed on other platforms. While the number of developers he spoke with is quite small (considering there were 5,000 registered for the event), there … Continued
∞ NetNewsWire sold to Black Pixel
Brent Simmons sold NetNewsWire, one of the most popular RSS readers in the Mac market, to NewsGator a number of years ago, but that’s not the end of the story. Simmons told Ars Technica on Friday that he was behind … Continued
∞ Gruber, ice water, hell, and Windows 8
Here’s a lesson for people that want to write for a living or even for a hobby — if you are going to quote somebody to make your point, make sure they actually said what you claim they do. Time … Continued
∞ iPads, iPhones make inroads in government
U.S. government agencies have long been bastions of the RIM BlackBerry, thanks to RIM’s secure e-mail service and the government’s need to do careful security and recordkeeping. But that’s changing. Even President Obama has been seen carrying an iPad, and … Continued
∞ Apple close to deal for iTunes cloud music
Talks have progressed because music industry insiders are said to be hopeful that a cloud streaming service, which would allow users to access their music from any Internet-connected device, will boost sagging music sales. This way, users would be able … Continued
∞ Shawn Blanc on why he'll buy a 13-inch MacBook Air
Apple has a lot of good portable computers, but the choice of which one to get is a very personal decision. I like the 17-inch MacBook Pro because of its power that I use for creating music. If that kind … Continued
∞ PS3 gamers selling systems, games
The PlayStation Network has been out for more than three weeks after hackers broke in to the system and made off with personal information about tens of millions of user accounts. Now gamers are taking out their frustration by selling … Continued
∞ Google vs. Apple on fragmentation
Google is unifying its smartphone and tablet operating systems into the ridiculously-named “Ice Cream Sandwich” release, due out late this year. The company is also offering veiled promises of future compatibility for new devices, but that doesn’t erase two years … Continued
∞ Sony delays PSN restart, citing more security problems
Sony’s PlayStation Network still isn’t online, missing Sony’s own deadline to get the service running again. The company admits it underestimated the extent of its security malfunction after discovering almost 25 million more users with exposed information. “Sony discovered that … Continued
∞ Peter Cohen on iGame Radio
Yours truly was the guest of honor on this week’s iGame Radio podcast with Omaha Sternberg. Topics included the ESRB’s announcement to rate games using a computer program; EA’s purchase of Firemint, and what this means for indie iOS gaming; … Continued