Filed under: GAMING | Tags: DFC Intelligence, iPhone, iPod Touch, New Super Mario Bros, Nintendo, Video game, Wall Street Journal, Wii
Nintendo on Nov. 15 is scheduled to launch its latest game for the Wii console, “New Super Mario Bros.” The Japanese company needs a big hit: The heady days when the Wii was a must-have entertainment platform have, at least for now, faded, and sales and profit have gone south in the first half of the year. BusinessWeek(11/1) , The Wall Street Journal (10/30)
Revenue from video games designed for the iPhone and iPod Touch will spike from $46 million last year to more than $2.8 billion by 2014, according to a new study from researcher DFC Intelligence. The report went on to say that the overall market for games will rise just 8%, from $10.9 billion last year to $11.7 billion in 2014. The Wall Street Journal/Digits (10/30)
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Filed under: Feature | Tags: Anthony E. Zuiker, Crime, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Halloween, iPhone, Level 26, Murder, Serial Killer, Video clip
LEVEL 26: SCARY NOVEL TO SCARY DIGI-NOVEL
Being a fan of serial killer dramas like Epitafios and Itchi the Killer, I’m always on the hunt for something new to scare the crap out of me especially around Halloween. Level 26 was written by Anthony E. Zuiker from CSI fame. The book is about a serial killer who fancies a plastic white suit and apparently takes more yoga than I do.
Apart from the story itself, the special sauce is in the interaction of traditional read meets online video interaction. Every 20 pages or so, the reader is directed online to watch a 3 minute piece of content meant to bridge from one portion of the story to the next. Not having the book in hand, I can’t comment on the effectiveness but I can say that the concept is pretty intriguing. Just announced today, an iPhone app has been released which marries the text and video together. Most found the process of entering the codes to access the associated video tedious so this alleviates a bit of that frustration.
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Business, Google, Google Maps Navigation, GoogleMaps, iPhone, Killer application, Moto Droid, Verizon
Verizon just confirmed that the Moto Droid will arrive next week for $199 with a new, 2-year contract and $100 mail-in rebate. Customers will need a voice plan starting at $39 and a web and email plan for $29 per month. (Techcrunch10/28)
If you weren’t sure about switching to an Android phone in the near future, this might put you over the edge. Google Maps Navigation is an absolutely killer app. And it is only available for Android 2.0 phones. (Techcrunch10/28)
The Walt Disney Co. is releasing an iPhone application that rewards users for poking through the Disney.com Web site and could one day offer exclusive bonuses for activities such as shopping at Disney Stores. (AP, 10/28)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Apple, Colbert Report, Comedy Central, iPhone, Ivan Seidenberg, Smartphones, Verizon, Wall Street Journal
A new Colbert Report app means iPhone users never have to be without “The WØrd.” The $1 app, released Monday by Comedy Central, includes every “WØrd” video done by hyper-real talking head Stephen Colbert so far and will be updated weekly. The clips are arranged alphabetically and can be sorted by air date and popularity. (Wired10/26)
As much as I love The Word, I still need something more than video in a mobile app. Give me some utility. Give me something to do with it.
Despite the introduction of new smartphones such as the Android-based Droid and RIM‘s brand new BlackBerry Storm2, Verizon Wireless would like nothing more than to add the iPhone to its network, according to remarks made by Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg during the company’s earnings call with analysts. It’s just not up to them. “This is a decision that is exclusively in Apple‘s court,” he said. Verizon reported net income of 41 cents/share, a 30% drop from a year earlier. The company ended the quarter with 89 million wireless customers, 3.3 million high-speed internet customers and 2.7 million FiOS TV customers. (Cynopsis10/27)
Much of The Wall Street Journal‘s online content is subscription only, but the dogged could find ways around that, notably via its free mobile applications. The Journal has moved to close that loophole, flipping the switch today on a plan to make many articles on its BlackBerry and iPhone applications available only to subscribers. (Mediaweek10/26)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Advertising, Family, Greystripe, Handhelds, iPhone, Parenting, Smartphone, TechCrunch
A few months ago, Techcrunch wrote about mobile ad network Greystripe study that placed “iPhone moms” (mothers of young children who own iPhones) as one of the new and growing mobile advertising demographics on the street. In August, Greystripe claimed that iPhone moms made up 29.5% of all iPhone users. Today, the ad network is releasing a follow-up report which offers detailed behavioral characteristics of moms in their iPhone ad network. (Techcrunch10/26)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Apple, GSM, iPhone, Lawsuit, Nokia, Patent, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System, Wireless LAN
Yesterday we reported on Nokia’s lawsuit against Apple, in which they claim the iPhone is infringing on 10 of the company’s patents relating to GSM, UMTS and WLAN technologies.Analysts have now had a chance to crunch the numbers and estimate that Apple could face shelling out between $200 million and $1 billion to satisfy the suit if successful — and go on to say that Nokia has a pretty good case. (Mashable10/23)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Business, Chief executive officer, Google, iPhone, Microsoft, Mobile device, Smartphone, Steve Ballmer
Microsoft personnel are working around the clock to restore personal data lost during a recent outage of the company’s Sidekick mobile device, and Steve Ballmer, the software giant’s chief executive officer, says his company needs to do more to assure enterprise customers that a similar mistake won’t occur in the future. Ballmer said it was imperative for Microsoft to “explain to customers our method and process and quality approach and what went wrong in that case and how we are making sure that it does not happen again.” Network World (10/19) , InformationWeek (10/19) , CNET/Beyond Binary (10/19)
Google is said to be planning to release its own smartphone directly through retailers, as opposed to through a carrier partnership, in what could be a huge disruption to the industry’s business model. Google’s phone “could be the first credible competitor to the iPhone.” (Iwantmedia 10/21, Internet News10/20)
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