Nintendo to bring 3DS eShop to PCs and mobiles

28.10.2011, 12:21

Nintendo has explained its plans to allow people to browse the Nintendo 3DS’ eShop via PCs and smartphones – although it will use a clumsy QR codes system at first.

Apps giants like Apple and Google Android have shown that people are keen to browse on devices other than the device they are buying for, and Nintendo is keen to open out its eShop to other devices.

Nintendo’s Satoru Iwata explained that the process was underway to allow access to the eShop, although actual purchasing will not be possible.

Finder’s fee

“Even if a software title receives an incredible review [through eShop's user review feature], the majority of people will not know about it unless they access the Nintendo eShop with their Nintendo 3DS system,” explained Iwata.

“We would like to solve this issue by making the Nintendo eShop accessible via PCs and smartphones as well.

“At the beginning, you will not be able to directly purchase software from your PC or smartphone. Instead, you will need to take a photo of a QR code at the Nintendo eShop by using the camera of your Nintendo 3DS.”

“The Nintendo 3DS will then open that specific page of the Nintendo eShop. That function is already included in the upcoming system update for the Nintendo 3DS.

“In the future, we will make it so that you will be able to purchase software by using your PC or smartphone.”

The QR solution is clearly not ideal, so this may well be a feature that only matures when payments can be made from other devices, but it’s another step for Nintendo as it looks to make the 3DS a must-have handheld.

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HP UK boss welcomes company’s PC rethink

28.10.2011, 12:06

HP’s UK chief has responded to the news that the company is not now going to be leaving the PC manufacturing sector – welcoming the decision.

Paul Hunter had been one of the immediate voices of reason in the flurry of activity following a statement that the PC business could be spun off.

HP’s about-turn this week, after the replacement of Leo Apotheker as global CEO, is clearly a relief to Hunter, although he insists that the computer business would have survived a spin-off.

Welcome

“The decision to keep the Personal Systems Group within the whole of HP is a welcome one,” said Hunter in a statement.

“While I was very confident of our ability to thrive and grow should the business be spun out into a separate company – or even sold – I am pleased we will remain closely integrated, for a number of reasons.

“Firstly, we have undergone a robust, and at times very public, audit of the company which can only make us fitter and stronger.

“After a deep data driven analysis, we have decided that HP and the Personal Systems Group (PSG) are stronger together. Our strength comes from being together.

“Finally, looking at the results over the related period for the PSG business, we have performed well.

“Market share has remained remarkably resilient. We are in a strong position and are striving to increase the gap on our competition.”

Soul-searching

Hunter insisted that the soul-searching that the company has gone through in a period of major upheaval wil benefit customers.

“We will get closer to all of our customers; whether that’s deepening the support for our channel partners, providing more consultancy and advice for our enterprise customers or delivering improved customer service and after-sales support for our consumers.

“To achieve this, we are looking to amplify our successes and invest in our successful experiments.

“…we are doing some great work already but we can, and will, do even better. You can expect to hear much more from HP PSG in coming months and as always, I am very keen to hear feedback from our partners, and please contact me or a member of my team if you have any comments or questions.”

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WebOS man jumps ship to Nokia

28.10.2011, 10:50

A senior figure behind HP’s WebOS has defected to Nokia, where he will be involved in the Windows Phone 7 era at the Finnish giant.

Richard Kerris served as VP of public developer relations, and his move to Nokia has been hailed as something of a coup for Nokia.

There he will serve as the head of developer relations – overseeing Nokia’s entire mobile portfolio as it looks to capture back leadership of the smarpthone market.

Great people

“Great people are what makes the difference, always,” Nokia’s Marco Argenti tweeted. “I’m excited to welcome Richard Kerris in my team as global head of developer relations.”

With WebOS apparently up for sale, there had even been talk about Nokia being a potential buyer of the well-received but struggling operating system.

Although HP has reversed the plan to ditch the PC business, it has held off on any further announcements about its plans in mobile devices for the time being.

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Motorola shows smartphone growth

28.10.2011, 10:32

Motorola shipped 4.8 million smartphones worldwide in Q3, according to the company’s latest financial results, but tablet sales were just 100,000.

Motorola Mobility is still waiting for its purchase by Google to be rubber stamped, and its results in the meantime are a bit of a mixed bag.

Smartphone sales were up by 9.1 per cent, taking mobile device sales to 11.6 million, and the company has key phones on the horizon such as the Motorola Atrix 2 and the Motorola Razr.

However, despite a price cut in its home US market, tablet sales for the Xoom were moribund, with just 100,000 units shipped in Q3.

Looking forward

Motorola Mobility reported a $32 million loss – a slight improvement year on year, with revenue up 11 per cent to $3.26 billion, a little short of analysts predictions.

“Our third quarter revenues in Mobile Devices increased by 20 percent, driven by continued strong growth in international markets,” said CEO Sanjay Jha.

“With the recent launch of our iconic Motorola Razr, we now have several 4G LTE devices in our portfolio. Our Home business is creating innovative solutions for our customers, taking leadership in the transition to all-IP networks, and delivering solid levels of profitability.

“We are also excited about the proposed merger with Google and continue to make progress to close this transaction.”

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Report: Siri to power Apple HD TV

28.10.2011, 10:02

Apple’s heavily-rumoured venture into the HD TV market will be powered by the Siri voice control app and will launch in early 2013, according to reports

The New York Times is claiming a massive inside scoop on the display Steve Jobs claimed to have ‘finally cracked’ in his official biography, which was released last Monday.

The ‘paper says Apple has known since 2007 that it wanted to build a flatscreen TV, but the arrival of Siri with the iPhone 4S was a final piece in the puzzle.

A Siri-powered TV would almost make the remote control redundant, with viewers simply barking orders like “play Match of the Day” or “record Coronation Street”.

Is this what Steve Jobs thought he had “cracked?”

Just a matter of time

The NYT piece says that Apple is waiting for the price of large LCD panels to fall before it begins building the television sets.

However the company is close enough, according to the report, that the launch may come as early as late 2012, although early 2013 is more likely.

The article closes by saying: “It is coming though. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.”

The New York Times article features some fantastic analysis, with word from unnamed Apple employees “guaranteeing” the launch. It’s definitely worth a read.

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print24 brain teaser

28.10.2011, 9:56

It’s Friday! That means we’re playing our weekly guessing game.

Here’s a short description: We take a picture of an object, which you have to guess right.
With the help of some details you have to find out what we’re searching for and make sure to be the first to tell us to get the weekly prize. You can either choose a 50 bucks print voucher from print24 or an Amazon voucher. Have Fun!

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Google+ gets trends and picture editing features

28.10.2011, 9:54

Google+ has been given a major overhaul, with the search giant using the mass of data it is now capturing via the public setting of its social network to show off trends.

As well as rolling our Google+ for apps customers, Google has introduced new features called What’s hot on Google+, Google+ ripples and Google+ Creative Kit.

The former is a fairly straightforward trending topics display, very similar to Twitter’s offering – and tracking the real-time zeitgeist.

Hot ripples

“…sometimes you want to know what the world is so excited about. Whether it’s breaking news or beautiful photos, you just don’t want to miss anything. With this in mind, we’re launching “What’s Hot” on Google+, a new place to visit for interesting and unexpected content,” explained Google’s Vic Gundrota.

Next up is Google+ Ripples – which is a graphical display of the way in which posts are shared across the Google+ community.

It’s a neat trick, although it’s obviously more handy to those people who have large followings and big communities of commenters.

Picture perfect

Next up is the Google+ Creative Kit – which is simple picture editing functionality allowing you to add various ‘fun’ filters or text to your images.

“We think Google+ should get better every time you use it,” opened Gundotra on the post announcing the new features.

“It’s not enough to obsess over community feedback (which we do); we also need to surprise and delight you with constant improvements (which we also try and do).

“Today’s no different, so we’re rolling out four new features in four different areas.”

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Samsung: Australian Tab ban should be lifted

28.10.2011, 8:37

Samsung has appealed for the Australian ban on its Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablets to be overturned.

Citing errors of law, Samsung’s legal team has insisted that the ban over alleged patent infringement is wrongful, despite a judge agreeing that Apple’s intellectual property had been infringed.

The injunction was a preliminary one, but Samsung’s lawyer Neil Young insisted that it was based on “irrelevant considerations”.

Fight

The ban was handed down on 13 October, to the dismay of Samsung, who immediately indicated that they would fight against it.

Apple believes that Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 infringes on three of its patents, and has already rejected a deal offered by Samsung over the Australian market.

In the US, a judge has ruled that Apple’s patents have been infringed against by Samsung, and there are also legal battles occurring in the European market.

Samsung’s spat with Apple is by no means the only patent dispute going on – with most of the major players involved in some kind of legal proceedings.

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YouTube about to reveal new original content channels?

27.10.2011, 13:17

YouTube could be about to unveil a number of new channels that will be populated with completely original content and video programmes.

A source has revealed to the Wall Street Journal that Google has “a slew” of partnerships now in place, with both media production companies and “well-known personalities” – presumably these will include bona fide celebrities and not just YouTube stars.

A YouTube spokesperson said that it is “always talking to content creators and curators of all kinds about building audiences on YouTube,” but wouldn’t be drawn on any specific new plans, which the WSJ posits will be unveiled as early as next week.

Goggle box

It’s not a game that Google is playing lightly, having apparently laid down more than $100 million to get content creators on board, hoping to make this money back through advertising – income from which will be split with the creative partners.

The site itself may get a bit of an overhaul too, with the sources claiming that YouTube will be “reorganised” to become “channel-centric”, with on-demand video available alongside original programmes.

Sounds a bit like something we once knew as broadcast television.

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Sony coy over Windows Phone and webOS

27.10.2011, 12:46

Sony has refused to rule itself out of a move to alternative smartphone operating systems.

Speaking at the press conference to announce that it is buying Ericsson’s share of the Sony Ericsson smartphone venture, CEO Sir Howard Stringer refused to be drawn on whether the company is looking at an alternative smartphone OS.

When quizzed about the possibility of joining the Windows Phone ecosystem, like many other of Sony Ericsson’s rivals already have and the company itself has previously hinted at, Stringer refused to shut the door on such an opportunity but stated that the company was happy with its relationship with Google:

“We never say never to anything; we have to be adaptable in this industry, but obviously we’re great Google customers.”

Alternative options

When asked about acquiring the webOS platform, Stringer was more direct, stating that although he wouldn’t rule it out, it’s ‘not something we’re thinking about’.

It seems highly likely Sony will stay a loyal customer of Google’s Android OS for the foreseeable future, as it’s this platform that has helped the company finally return to profitability in the last year.

Sony is hoping that the smartphone acquisition will position it as a major player in the connected space, with interoperability between its tablets, TVs, consoles and now smartphones.

The deal should be completed by early 2012, meaning Sony-branded smartphones could start popping up at Mobile World Congress in February.

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