DigitalOutbox Episode 40
In this episode the team discuss Steam on Mac, Facebook vs Daily Mail, MIX10 and more Google news.
Playback
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Shownotes
1:58 – Facebook to Sue Daily Mail
– I posed as a girl of 14 on Facebook. What followed will sicken you
– however the author didn’t use Facebook, and advised Daily Mail not to say facebook
– The following day Daily Mail apologised in print and online and changed the title
– However they didn’t change the URL which is used by search engines….changed later in the day
– Facebook still considering action
– Doubt it
– Scare mongering Daily Mail – they love this type of stuff – Feb 2009 – Using Facebook rasie risk cancer – http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1149207/How-using-Facebook-raise-risk-cancer.html
– Nazi’s!!!!!!!!!
5:23 – Google Apps Marketplace
– App Store for enterprise app’s
– Built your app, not necessary to use app engine
– Sell app in Marketplace
– One time fee of $100, not per app, just a one time fee
– 20% revenue share – one of the lowest in the industry
– Currently, 25 million users, 2 million businesses using google
– Step closer to cloud O/S, especially for corporations
– 50 launch partners including Zoho – very interesting
10:10 – Google Maps Improvements
– US only – 150 cities, 12000 miles of bike routes
– Also, 95% of Britain now available on streetview
13:41 – A Place for Porn
– ICANN are reconsidering the dot.xxx domain for pronography.
– In a move that was previously dropped due to outraged American conservatives, ICANN will once again consider offering up .xxx domains for sites delivering sexual content.
– No news on whether it is going ahead yet and past experience has shown that there will be stumbling blocks.
– Only a voluntary scheme – but sounds like a sensible scheme to me.
15:53 – MIX10
– Some big launch partners – Associated Press, Citrix, EA Mobile, Foursquare, Namco, Pangeonce, Pandora, Seesmic, Shazam, and Sling
– Very iPhone in running
– Seesmic, which is the same Silverlight code that runs on Windows and the Mac. Again, it’s very similar to what you’d expect, just wrapped up in the WP7S UI.
– http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/15/microsoft-tells-its-windows-phone-7-series-developer-story/
– Silverlight and XNA at it’s core
– Microsoft is kicking things off on the right foot by offering a free package of developer tools to would-be WP7S coders that includes both Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone and the Silverlight-focused Expression Blend for Windows Phone, pretty much everything you need to start building apps in preparation for the platform’s anticipated launch toward the latter part of the year.
– Developers are going to be treated to a host of must-have services out of the gate, including accelerometer support, location-based APIs using Microsoft’s own Location Service, a newly-announced Microsoft Notification Service for pushing notifications regardless of whether an app is running (sound familiar?), hardware-accelerated video with integrated DRM and support for Microsoft’s Smooth Streaming tech, multitouch, and camera / microphone access.
– The Marketplace has evolved from an app store to a content “destination,” housing apps, casual and premium Xbox Live games, music, and customized carrier stuff in one spot
22:43 – ITV1 HD
– ITV1 on April 2nd on Virgin, Sky and Freeset on a normal channel instead of red button
– In time for world cup
– Also means Scottish viewers get to see a greater choice of TV – nice one
24:59 – iPhone Gaming
– GDC this week, iphone has it’s own summit separate to mobile gaming
– 16 panel discussions specifically on the iPhone – most important mobile gaming platform?
– Doodle Jump now surpassed 3 million sales
– 1 million in mid-december, now another 2 million in just over 2 months!
– Streetfighter and Tekken soon available on iPhone
28:48 – Steam coming to the Mac
– It’s officially official: Valve will bring its Steam online distribution service and titles from its massive library of hit games to the Mac this April
– Steam is the pre-eminent digital distribution platform for PCs. With more than 1,000 games and 25 million user accounts, Steam is by one estimate responsible for more than 70 percent of digital game purchases. Bringing the service to Macs means wider selection, quicker updates and more episodic content for Apple’s traditionally game-deprived computers.
– If players already own the PC versions of Valve games, they’ll get Mac versions at no extra charge through a feature called Steam Play.
– By using the Steam Cloud feature that the company introduced in 2008, players can save in-progress games online, then call up those saved games no matter which version they’re playing. If you’re playing Half-Life 2 on your home PC but then head out on the road with your MacBook, you can continue your game-in-progress.
– “We looked at a variety of methods to get our games onto the Mac and in the end decided to go with native versions rather than emulation,” said John Cook, director of Steam development, in Monday’s press release.
– “We are treating the Mac as a tier-1 platform so all of our future games will release simultaneously on Windows, Mac and the Xbox 360,” Cook said. “Updates for the Mac will be available simultaneously with the Windows updates. Furthermore, Mac and Windows players will be part of the same multiplayer universe, sharing servers, lobbies and so forth. We fully support a heterogeneous mix of servers and clients. The first Mac Steam client will be the new generation currently in beta testing on Windows.”
– Portal 2 will be Valve’s first simultaneous release for Mac and Windows, the company said.
– Fantastic news
33:01 – On Live Launching
– Launches June 17th
– $14.99 a month, then users will purchase games and rentals on an a la carte model on top of that. You’ll be able to purchase multiple months at a time to get a discount on the service
– Mac, PC only
– TV adaptor later this year
– International announcements….later this year
39:17 – Playstation Move
– Sony announces name of motion controller – Playstation Move
– 20 titles supported by year end
– PS3 console + move bundle will launch plus a starter pack will launch with Playstation Move, Playstation Eye + game for under $100
– There’s also the subcontroller – an additional peripheral for use with more hardcore titles like SOCOM, which benefit from analogue stick input i.e. the nunchuck!
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