OpenFeint Acquired By Gree
Gaming network OpenFeint announced this week that they been bought out by Japanese company Gree for $104 million.
GREE, Japans leading mobile social gaming platform, today announced its entrance into the global market with the acquisition of OpenFeint’s outstanding securities for US $104 million, plus additional capital for accelerated growth of the OpenFeint platform.
Gree is said to be very big in Asia. It has been regarded as THR largest social gaming network in the area with a user base of 25 million and a market cap of about $5 billion. OpenFeint adds another 75 million users to the company’s gaming communality which exist between iOS and Android platforms.
Portal 2 Out On Mac
Valve Software has launched their highly anticipated video game title Portal 2 this week. Added to that, the company made a simultaneous launch on the Mac to accompany the Windows, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3 launch of the game software.
Portal 2 is the sequel to the widely well reviewed game Portal. The game involves the user manipulating two teleporting portals to solves physics-based puzzles. The sequel picks up where the original game left off. The game has gotten good user reviews with one person from the MacRumors Forums having installed the game on their 2011 15″ MacBook Pro with great performance with maxed out settings.
Apple Adding High Resolution Wallpapers To Lion Indicates Retina Display Macs Coming?
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A very interesting discovery made on the Mac OS X Lion have led some to believe that Cupertino is planning to release Retina Display Macs. The new installment of the Mac OS X Lion beta program included very high resolution wallpapers that equal to a resolution measurement of 3200 x 3200. This has been concluded as the highest resolution images that Apple has bundled in their software. This, in turn, has indicated to some that Retina Display Mac are on the horizon.
Remote iPhone Unlocking Services Halted
Here at MacApper we recently reported that their are groups on the Internet that have been providing a remote unlocking service where customers can pay to have their iPhone unlocked and placed on any carrier of their choice. Apparently, these groups were working with information that granted them access to Apple’s database where they could alter IMEI numbers in order to unlocking the phone with Jail-breaking.
However, our friends over at Cult of Mac have received information that numerous groups providing this service have suddenly shut down and are refunding monies to customers that they have not rendered service yet to, including one of the more popular unlocking mediums who are dubbed CutYourSim.com.
iWork And MobileMe Update Imminent?
There has been some recent moves made by Apple that has many to believe that Cupertino is gearing up to introduce the new versions of iWork and MobileMe. With the iWork and MobileMe software products, Apple has always offered a discount to customers who decide to purchase the software bundled with a Macintosh machine. Back in February, Apple discontinued selling retail boxed version of the MobileMe web software and channeled it strictly for digital distribution. They also halted selling the software at a discounted price with the purchase of a new Mac during that time.
Condé Nast Easing On iPad Adoption.
Condé Nast, one of the first conglomerate publication to invest into digital distribution of their content through the the iOS platform (more specifically the iPad), have decided to take things slower in that direction as the company’s forecasted numbers with this medium have been greatly under-appreciated.
“It’s a shift,” one Conde publisher said. “The official stance was we’re going to get all our magazines on the iPad because this is going to be such an important stream. The new change is maybe we can slow it down. In my opinion it makes Conde look smart because we have the ambition, but we’re not rushing.”
New Footage of Prototype iPhone/iOS Device/Software
Something that is creating a bit of a buzz on the Net is a new YouTube video that displays what appears to be a prototype white iPhone with a corresponding prototype iOS software. Interestingly enough, the software caught the attention of viewers being that it entailed a mobile version of Exposé, managing and switching apps in a nine window grid. What also caught attention of viewers is the iPhone device containing 64GB.
Apple’s Cloud Service Set To Go?
News organization Reuters has reported that Apple’s cloud-based music service is finished stating that company has “completed work” before Google who is working on a project in it’s likeness.
Apple Inc has completed work on an online music storage service and is set to launch it ahead of Google Inc, whose own music efforts have stalled, according to several people familiar with both companies’ plans.
Apple’s plans will allow iTunes customers to store their songs on a remote server, and then access them from wherever they have an Internet connection, said two of these people who asked not to be named as the talks are still confidential.
Apple Biting Down On “Offer Walls” iOS Applications
Apple seems to be putting some enforcement down in the App Store in order to protect the interest of their users. The company is cracking down on the ratings of applications in the App Store as some app developers have taken into adopting incentives, also known as “offer walls” to encourage users to download other applications in return for virtual credits in which the offer wall is embedded. The goal for the developer is to boost downloads in order to be more likely to appear on the App Store’s Top Apps page. It has been said that Apple has indeed made provisions to the Top Apps rankings, this was first noticed by mobile ad firms and offer wall creation groups.
Apple Signs Deal With Warner Music For Cloud-Based Music Service?
It’s already been reported that Apple and their cloud-based iTunes is “ready to go” at this very moment, however, some have pondered about the dealings that Apple was having with the music labels and the status on those deliberations. Now, CNET is reporting that Apple has recently made deal with the Warner Music Group, one of the four major music labels, to support the new cloud-based initiative.
Apple has an agreement with Warner Music Group to offer the record label’s tracks on iTunes’ upcoming cloud-music service, music industry sources said.
