Scoreloop is announcing today that it will make it easier than ever for iPhone game makers to put social networking features in their games.
Scoreloop is a small startup that has 20 employees and has raised $3 million in funding so far. The technology they are introducing today is called CoreSocial and it is described as a white label social gaming platform. The software allows iphone game developers to insert features such as leaderboards, achievement medals, cross promotions and virtual currency with ease. The aim of these features is of course to get gamers to always aim for the next level or achievement and remain active on the game for longer.
Scoreloop gets paid through the purchase of virtual currency. For instance, if gamers want to challenge each other to a match, they have to purchase Scoreloop Coins. Then they can engage in a multiplayer match.
Gumpinger said the platform is good for developers who don’t want to reinvent social gaming features and instead want to concentrate on making a game fun. Big brands will probably like this kind of platform because it gives them an easy way to get into the iPhone game market.
Apple (AAPL) will begin selling iPhones in China at the end of this month, company executives said during today’s Q3 earnings call. Apple will be launching with China Unicom and this is going to obviously be a great opportunity for Apple to gain even more market share in the smartphone market.
New details:
Apple will have 1,000 points of sale.
Plans will range in price from $18/month to $100/month.
With higher-priced plans, users will get their iPhones “free.”
Today I came across a very interesting new video news site, which aims to provide news from not just one source but as many as possible. Newsy is the video news service that introduces a topic and then goes through relevant sources to find the best opinions from around the web.
Newsy covers topics such as world news, business news, technology, environment and more. The format of each show is simple, the introduce a basic topic and then search the web for the leading views on that specific topic for the day. Thus, it is kind of a news video aggregator, as it provides the leading sources in one simple place.
Im sure Newsy will become quite a popular site, simply because of how easy it is to see the latest news from multiple sources in one place. However, most users want to see a large number of headings in one simple place and normally the easiest way to do this is text, because there is still a limitation to how much you can fit into a view.
Google has long wanted to make the internet faster and provide internet to everyone in the world. Google has now taken this to the next level as they are going to sponsor free wifi from November 15th to January 2010 for all Virgin Airline customers.
This wifi service normally costs $13 for computers over long haul flights and $8 for smartphones and handheld devices. Google has tried to state that they are just aiming to ease passenger stress during the busy holiday season, but im sure they will be focusing their sponsorship to get customers to use Google products while in flight.
Unfortunately Virgin Airlines only services major airport hubs in the U.S. although that service still means tens of thousands of passengers will have free access during that promotional period.
After the hydraulically controlled Afterburner cockpit, this is the biggest game controller I’ve ever seen. The new Cyberbike is a static cycle such as you might find in your local gym, but instead of zoning out to BBC news or MTV, you get to control a little Eco crusader, cleaning up pollution or some such by collecting packets from around a 3-d map on your cycle powered helicopter, or racing around cartoony looking tracks on a more conventional bike. It sounds a bit like a sweaty version of Pilotwings to me… You can also hook the cycle up to MarioKart on the Wii, although it’s not yet clear whether your pedal speed will reflect how fast your Kart will go.
If you’re one of the millions who bought a Wii fit, then this is probably right up your alley; I know I’d much rather use my own exercise bike at home than deal with the butt-sweat of a hundred unknown strangers on the bike seat down at the gym, but then I don’t like going to the public pool because I know the water I invariably swallow has most likely washed past some pensioner’s genitals before it gets to me. Another bonus is that you don’t have to freeze your butt off outside or dodge traffic on city streets. If only they had rigged the bike to have an electrical output so you could heat your house or power the Wii while you cycled then you could really save the world while you played the saving the world game.
I’m hoping that the Cyberbike will inspire other manufacturers of exercise equipment to produce Wii compatible machines – there was a rowing machine called the super GyRo back in the 90’s that had a stab at doing this (you could play a game where you tried to escape from a shark, a bit like the bleep test where you ran across the gym at school), but it would surely be easy to build a game to plug into your concept II computer – hell, there’s probably an app for it already.
The Hype Machine which is a very influencial music blog aggregator has announced while speaking at the In The City music conference in Manchester, UK, that they are already working on an iPhone application.
The site’s founder Anthony Volodkin discussed his plans for an iPhone app that would provide a “radio-like” experience with royalties for the music paid for by charging for the initial download of the app. There’s no word on when this would be released as of yet.
I know that The Pirate Bay and other such torrent sites has been getting a bit of a lashing of late, but sites like The Hype Machine which lets users listen to files add to the internet, seems to get away with copyright issues. The majority of the files that Hype Machine links to are copyright infringing, but no one really seems to care that much.
The Hype Machine is still in independent site, but the sites owners are always open to acquisition offers. The site currently makes the majority of their revenues from advertising and their audience seems to be growing at a very nice pace, so an iPhone application will only accelerate the growth.
It was just reported by Om Malik that Apple has approved yet another VoIP application. The application in question is Stockholm based Rebtel. Currently, Rebtel is now available to download from the iTunes store, as well as other VoIP applications like Skype.
I still think there is a distinctive difference between the VoIP service and what Google Voice offers. Google Voice offers free calls with no cost at all with the USA and Canada. However, on the VoIP service there is still a cost associated when calling phone numbers (only online calls are free). Thus, AT&T and other mobile carriers of the iPhone feel that VoIP services dont harm their call costs, because they think users are too lazy to open the VoIP applications then call, instead of just calling using their phone carrier.
Bittorrent is currently a huge market on the internet. Tribler P2P research team at Delft University of Technology has reported the current marketshare numbers between the top bittorrent clients available at the moment.
uTorrent remains the client of choice for over 60% of all BitTorrent users. Vuze is in second place, but its market share has dropped to 14%. Transmission, on the other hand, continues to gain ground, with the client’s market share increasing by 23% in the last two months.
The data is based from over 17,221 unique user in a few dozen public Bittorrent swarms. Bittorrent is still by far the lading file-sharing technology with millions of people using the protocol every day.
Today I came across a great new theme directory which really tries to help users and not just show the basic themes. The directory is called ThemeGrade and instead of just showcasing the themes it also rates them in terms of general quality and seo.
Features include:
User-friendly Theme Search
The themes are grouped into many categories that it would be easy to find the themes of your choice. Are you looking for a 3-column magazine style themes that are free? Simply select “3 columns”, “Magazine Style”, “Free” and click on the search button and the themes will be shown in the result page!
Theme General Test
Each and every one of the Wordpress theme listed on ThemeGrade has undergone comprehensive tests. The general tests of a theme give you an idea of how well the designer coded the theme. When pass, the score will be added to the General test. Taking the passed score and divide it with the total tested score and you’ll get the general test score of the theme.
Theme SEO Test
The SEO tests of a theme give you an idea of how well a theme had been optimized for search engines. When pass, the score will be added to the SEO test. Taking the passed score and divide it with the total tested score and you’ll get the SEO test score of the theme.After you get the general and the SEO test score, the total score of a theme can be calculated. To do that, first, take the general test score and multiply by 0.6 and the SEO test score multiply by 0.4. Sum up the two number and you’ll get the total score of a theme.
Different Ranking Status for Themes
What makes ThemeGrade so special is the ranking system. Quality themes will be awarded either a Gold, Silver or Bronze status. The themes with the highest standard are those which score more than 90% and are awarded with the GOLD status! Ever since I outlined the details of each test, I have found out a few things that I could improve for my themes especially the SEO part.
Two New Themes will be reviewed Daily
Selecting good quality themes and reviewing them in such details take a lot of time.
Sky Songs is the new music streaming and download service from BSkyB which will be launching on Monday. Sky has been developing this music service for the past nine months and the service seems to be shaping up ok, but there isnt really anything to innovative here!
The Sky Songs service is not free to use, but it does have some decent features which might be useful to a certain type of client.
Sky Songs is web based
For most people services list Spotify aren’t able to be used at work, mainly because it is a downloadable application which most corporate IT departments tend to lock down. However, because Sky Songs is web based it should be a lot more accessible at work, unless your miserable IT department blocks the specific URL.
Sky Songs recommends music
Unlike services like Spotify, Sky Songs has the ability to recommend music too you. Once the Sky Songs interface is loaded you will see playlists created by its team of music journalists They range from introductions to new genres to topical playlists, such as memorial collections for recently deceased celebs. Sky Songs also includes a recommendation engine, powered by Gracenote, which will react to the songs you’re hearing with a decent suggestion of other tracks you might like.
You can mark your own favourites
With Sky Songs you have the ability to build playlists and then mark your favourites with a simple heart icon. Once you’ve picked a few favourites, the service will collate them for you, putting all your favourite artists in one place, as well as your most-loved genres and albums. Think of it as an auto-playlist generator, it’s much quicker than building a list of songs by hand, and means all your favourite sounds are just a couple of clicks away.
Sky Songs integrates with iTunes and Windows Media Player
Sky Songs doesn’t just stream music, you can use it to buy tracks to own too. They’re downloaded as DRM-free MP3 files, and will even drop into the correct place on your computer for iTunes and Windows Media Player to find them.
When you first set up your Sky Songs account, you’ll be asked which music management software you use. From then on, all your downloads will automatically appear in your existing music library, ready to be synced to your iPod, iPhone or MP3 player.
It offers more, for less
This is a biggie, and will certainly be the decider for some people: Spotify is already under pressure from cheaper streaming services, and Sky Songs increases the competition even more. It’s offering unlimited streaming from £6.49 a month which also gives you one £6.49 album or 10 tracks to download and keep. Compare that to Spotify’s £9.99 price tag, with no extras included.
It has been reported that Adobe will be releasing CS5 suite on April 10, 2010. Adobe has been working very hard on the follow-up to CS4 and below I have attached a sneak preview which looks amazing.
WaterCar Python is the fastest and highest performing amphibious vehicle in the world. The Python runs a Corvette engine with a dominator jet pump impeller drive.
The Python has been clocked at over 60mph and can go from 0 to 60 in 4.5 seconds. Im sure that if they really worked on the design and made it look less like a Ford Mustang and more like a Porsche, then it could go a lot faster through the air.
Oh, and there’s one more thing: You’d better be really into water sports, because this quick and versatile machine will set you back a cool $200,000.
