Nintendo Not Responsible for ‘Flappy Bird’ Removal [iOS Blog]
Flappy Bird fans upset the game has been pulled from the App Store by its developer should not blame Nintendo for the removal, despite similarities to Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. game. Nintendo spokesman Yasuhiro Minagawa confirmed to The Wall Street Journal that the game maker had not complained about the title.
In an email to The Wall Street Journal, Nintendo spokesman Yasuhiro Minagawa on Monday reiterated previous company statements that the Japanese videogame giant hasn’t complained at all about Flappy Bird’s similarities to Nintendo’s original “Super Mario Bros.”
“While we usually do not comment on the rumors and speculations, we have already denied the speculation” last week, he [Yasuhiro Minagawa] said.
Reports suggest Nguyen could face a copyright lawsuit and other legal issues in his home country of Vietnam, but the developer has denied those claims. He instead expressed frustration at the attention his game has brought him, pleading on Twitter for the media to “Please give me peace.”
Press people are overrating the success of my games. It is something I never want. Please give me peace.
— Dong Nguyen (@dongatory) February 4, 2014
Flappy Bird no longer appears in the App Store and is only available to those who downloaded the app before it was removed. Nguyen said he is not interested in selling the game, so it won’t return unless he changes his mind. Before it was removed, Flappy Bird was generating $50,000 a day in ad revenue and had been downloaded over 50 million times, according to The Verge.
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Russian authorities only accept real money
Now that the good people of Russia have been robbed of untold billions to fund corruption at the Sochi Olympics, their government would like to warn them of a much more serious danger: Bitcoin. The crypto-currency could easily lose its value, according to a statement from the country’s central bank, and could draw citizens into unintentionally supporting illegal activity and “financing terrorism.” In keeping with the tough stance adopted by China and India, but in contrast to the more laid back attitude taken in some other parts of the world, Russia’s General Prosecutor’s Office has also chimed in to describe Bitcoin as a prohibited “money substitute.” It has reiterated that the country’s only officially accepted currency is the rouble, preferably in a plain brown envelope.
Filed under: Internet
Via: SlashGear
Source: Reuters
Court rules AT&T’s Aio brand must change marketing colors
Lest customers confuse it with T-Mobile’s branding, pre-paid carrier Aio Wireless must stop using the plum colors in marketing. A federal court believes that AT&T’s pre-praid subsidiary Aio’s shade of purple is a bit too close to T-Mobile’s magenta. While some laughed at T-Mobile’s lawsuit against Aio when it was first filed last fall, it’s Legere and Co. having the last laugh today. Aio must stop using the plum color in marketing, its website, social media, and anywhere else a customer might look.
The post Court rules AT&T’s Aio brand must change marketing colors appeared first on AndroidGuys.
HTC to offer wider range of products in 2014
In addition to the flagship, look for mid-range and entry-level models from HTC
A new report out of Reauters today tells us that HTC will employ a different strategy for 2014, namely more phones.
The problem with us last year was we only concentrated on our flagship. We missed a huge chunk of the mid-tier market.
Whereas last year saw HTC focusing almost solely on the flagship line HTC One, this year should bring them back into the mainstream. HTC co-founder/chairwoman Cher Wang is optimistic about the future, particularly around the HTC One.
It’s worth pointing out that HTC is reversing a course it already reversed in the last two years. Remember all the various HTC models in 2010-2011? Remember all those versions of the Sensation? HTC said that was too much for them and they stripped down to one key model in 2013. Perhaps there’s a happy medium in there somewhere.
The post HTC to offer wider range of products in 2014 appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Broadcom’s new chips could put fast LTE in your budget smartphone
While entry-level smartphones are getting to be quite good these days, few of them have fast LTE; many have to make do with either basic LTE or 3G. If Broadcom is successful with its just-revealed M320 and M340 system-on-chip designs, though, advanced 4G could soon be very affordable. The new chips respectively bundle dual- and quad-core processors with 150Mbps LTE radios, making it easier for small firms to ship cheap handsets (Broadcom expects sub-$300 pricing) with speedy internet access. They’re already integrated with Android 4.4 KitKat, too, so companies don’t always have to fuss over software support. Broadcom isn’t saying when phones with the new chips will reach the market, but it’s currently delivering sample units to “leading” manufacturers.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile
Source: Broadcom
‘Fish on Wheels’ frees your guppy from the tyranny of the tank (video)
A company called Studio Diip has created a motorized go-cart. For fish. Though “why” is the first question that comes to mind, at this point we’re only able to give you the “how.” When Little Dory starts to swim in a particular direction, her movement is captured by a top-mounted web cam, processed by a Beagleboard and used to steer the Arduino-controlled carriage under her bowl. As seen in the video after the fold, that lets her follow her muse outside the aquarium’s confines. We’re hoping this experiment makes it beyond the lab one day, as we’re pretty damned curious to see where a fish wants to go. (“Away from the cat” or “towards the ocean” seem like safe bets.)
Filed under: Misc, Transportation
Source: Studio Diip
Apple Celebrates The Beatles’ American Debut with New Apple TV Channel
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of The Beatles’ American debut, Apple today has expanded the lineup for its Apple TV set-top box by adding a channel dedicated to the legendary rock group.
The channel allows users to view The Beatles’ groundbreaking performance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” for a limited time, and also offers download links to The Beatles’ U.S. releases, which are available digitally for the first time on iTunes.
The Beatles’ music originally debuted on iTunes in November 2010 after years of speculation and prolonged negotiation between record label EMI and Apple. The group’s music went on to sell 2 million songs and 450,000 albums in its first week on the iTunes Store, and eventually reached overall sales of 5 million songs and 1 million albums within in two months. Exclusive ringtones by The Beatles were made available on iTunes in February 2012, and a digital compilation of 59 rare and unheard recordings by the group also launched last December.
Thanks, Mike!
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Japanese smart diaper is destined to have a lot of crappy days
The current move towards wearables is surely good news for us, but unremittingly bad news for them. A flexible sensor developed at the University of Tokyo is about to discover just how bad when it’s put to work as a sort of early warning system inside diapers. It’s constructed from a printable organic circuit that detects changes in wetness, temperature and pressure, but apparently not smell (small mercies). It can charge wirelessly and transmit data wirelessly too, so that a caregiver holding a receiver can tell whether a baby or incontinent elderly person needs changing without having to unclothe them first. The device is expected to come to market as soon as its power efficiency has been improved, and we bet it can’t wait.
Filed under: Wearables, Science, Alt
Via: Japan Daily Press
Source: New Straits Times
Blackmagic now shipping its Production Camera 4K for $1,000 less than expected
So far, all of Blackmagic Design’s cinema cameras have suffered through various shipping delays, and the new RAW-capable Production Camera 4K is no exception. But if you plunked four grand down to order one quite awhile ago, there’s a double-shot of good news: it’s finally shipping out and you’ll be getting $1,000 back for your troubles. The 4K super-35 sensor, global-shutter equipped model is now priced (permanently) at $2,995 instead of $3,995, making it the cheapest 4K pro cameras on the market right now. That may change when Panasonic’s 4K Lumix GH4 starts shipping for (likely) less money and with footage that, while not RAW, also looks very promising. Considering that there were exactly zero sub-$3,000 4K cinema cameras on the market a week ago, though, it’s nice to now have the dilemma of which to pick.
Filed under: Cameras
Via: No Film School
Source: Blackmagic Design
[RUMOUR] Chromecast is coming to Australia soon with additional Telstra Content
For some time now, the rest of the world has looked on as America enjoys its exclusive look at the Google Chromecast streaming device, and unless you have been particularly diligent or optimistic with your wallet, it is actually quite difficult to get one wherever you might be; I myself had to go to the U.S of A itself to get one. We heard earlier this week that the U.K. will be getting the Chromecast, and today, we get the rumour that the Chromecast is coming to Australia soon too.
The rumour comes to us courtesy of the newspaper, The Australian, who alleges that Google and Australia‘s largest telecommunications provider, Telstra, are in talks to bring the streaming device to the land Down Under. Telstra plans to bring the Chromecast to Australia as a different means of accessing its collection of online content which includes movies and sports programs. While I can’t personally speak for the quality and cost of Telstra’s services, I can say that it would definitely be a good thing if the Chromecast arrived over here, particularly since the SDK has opened the floodgates for all manner of apps to start adding Chromecast support.
This is for all the Australian folks: would you get a Chromecast if it were released in Australia? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Source: The Australian via The Next Web
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