Technology

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

'Sharknado' reels in highest ratings yet on third broadcast

The Sharknado machine is showing no signs of slowing down. Since taking over Twitter on its July 11th premiere, the absurd Syfy TV movie has only expanded its audience with each airing, luring millions with chainsaws and airborne killer sharks. The film set another milestone Saturday night when, on its third broadcast, it garnered its highest ratings yet.

According to Syfy, Saturday night's broadcast pulled in a total of 2.1 million viewers, up from the underwhelming 1.4 million who tuned into the premiere and the 1.9 million who watched its encore. It also attracted 791,000 adults in the coveted 18 to 49 age demographic, and ended the evening with a 1.4 household rating between 9 PM and 11 PM ET/PT. That makes Sharknado's third act the...

via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/31/4574062/sharknado-syfy-sees-highest-tv-ratings-yet-on-third-airing

Nintendo sold just 160,000 Wii U systems worldwide last quarter

Nintendo made an operating loss of 4.92 billion yen ($50.19 million) on net sales of 81.5 billion yen ($832.85 million) in the first quarter of its 2013 financial year, the company announced today. Net profit was 8.62 billion yen ($88 million), and the company has made no alteration to its prior forecast of a 100 billion yen operating profit in the current fiscal year.

via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/31/4574032/nintendo-earnings-q1-2013

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Zynga sues 'Bang With Friends' maker for trademark infringement

Zynga is going after hookup app Bang With Friends, suing its maker with trademark infringement over its use of the phrase "with friends" — common to a series of Zynga games including Words With Friends and Chess With Friends. Bloomberg reports that the company is asking for the court to stop the app’s maker from using the mark as well as unspecified damages. In the complaint, Zynga asserts that Bang With Friends "selected the name… with Zynga’s game trademarks fully in mind." Representatives for Bang With Friends have yet to respond about the case.

via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/31/4573982/zynga-sues-bang-with-friends-maker-for-trademark-infringement

Nvidia Shield review

Last summer, I bought an iPad 3. I convinced myself I’d use it for everything: showing off wedding photos, reading all those neglected articles I save to Pocket, and as a second monitor for my laptop.

The only time I actually pick up the iPad, sadly, is to play video games. Perhaps the saddest part is that my iPad isn’t a very good game system. It’s bulky, the touchscreen controls are pretty crappy for navigating 3D worlds, and the graphics are merely okay. But where “real” game systems like the PlayStation Vita are struggling to build a library of game titles, the iTunes App Store continually tempts me with addictive, artsy new games. I wanted the best of both: the physical controls to explore immersive worlds, and a...

via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/31/4573596/nvidia-shield-review

Eye to eye: eTeleporter hopes to fix FaceTime's most glaring problem

In Apple’s TV commercials for FaceTime, long-distance couples laugh, cry, and smile adoringly as they video chat on their iPads and iPhones. They’re carrying on meaningful conversations, but something’s missing. They’re not talking to each other in the conventional, human sense. With FaceTime, you can't look into the camera and make eye contact with the person you're talking to. It ends up as an awkward dance, with your glance darting back and forth between camera and screen. Without any eye contact, there’s a greater sense of distance, and perhaps even some distrust that your chat buddy isn’t focusing entirely on you.

via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/31/4528398/eteleporter-ipad-video-chat-eye-contact-facetime

How Google+ killed Google's company-wide privacy effort

Before Google rolled out its controversial new privacy policy last March — the one that sparked government concerns around the world and could trigger fines in Europe — Google actually considered providing users with a simple privacy slider to let them choose the maximum amount of information to share across every one of its services, according to The Wall Street Journal . Google CEO Larry Page himself reportedly asked for the privacy slider. So why wasn't it adopted? Apparently, Google was worried that people wouldn't share information on its new Google+ social network if they had an easy way to opt out of data collection.

via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/30/4573436/how-google-killed-googles-company-wide-privacy-effort

US carriers' mobile payment service Isis finally going nationwide by year's end

Nearly three years after it was announced, the joint venture in mobile payments between AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon will finally go national by the year's end. The consortium known as Isis said today that it would expand nationally following successful trial runs in Austin, TX, and Salt Lake City, UT. It did not give an exact time frame for the expansion, except to say it would be gradual.

Isis has been delayed as the carriers work to build a digital wallet that consumers will actually use. At stake is the future of the enormous payments market, which has become increasingly fragmented as various players scramble to make their solution the default choice of most consumers. To date, there has been no clear winner in the race to build a...

via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/30/4572906/us-carriers-mobile-payment-service-isis-finally-going-nationwide-this-year