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New Media News Every Morning

Apple to drive mobile gaming sales, says research

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ipodtouch.jpgWind back a few years and no-one would have named Apple as being influential in the gaming sphere. Mind you, no-one would have betted on them having a world class mobile phone, either.

Now, research from DFC Intelligence suggests that it’s Apple that could help to drive the mobile game market to $11.7bn annual sales by 2014.

Though they suggest that the likes of Nintendo and Sony will still lead the market, they say that these companies have peaked, while Apple’s platforms will be responsible for the bulk of market growth over the next five years. [Read more…]

Originally posted on October 23, 2009 @ 8:37 am

Flickr launches People in Photos feature

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flickr-logoI must admit that most of the time I search Flickr it’s for pictures of gadgets or landscapes, but according to the Yahoo!-owned photo service, it’s people that are the real stars.

To this end, they’ve launched a “People in Photos” feature which allows members to link people in photos to their Flickr accounts, in a similar way to how Facebook does it except that I suspect there are fewer people with Flickr than Facebook accounts.

On top of this, there are a range of security options (which the likes of Facebook could learn something from) whereby users have more control over how their image is featured in a photo. [Read more…]

Originally posted on October 22, 2009 @ 6:34 am

GigaTribe launches third version with unlimited secure file transfers

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GigaTribe-v3GigaTribe, which boasts over one million members, has announced the third version of its secure file sharing software.

This version offers unlimited size and number of files, which are still encrypted for secure transfer.

Additionally, recently shared files are displayed in a different colour, shared files can be customised with a photo or comment, there’s a revamped “chat” interface and a private blog which can be seen only by private network members.

GigaTribe version 3 is free. Alternatively, for $4.99 per month or $29.95 per year offers additional features such as faster downloads and remote Internet access.

GigaTribe

Originally posted on October 21, 2009 @ 5:19 pm

Atari launches Photo Sauce Facebook app

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atari-photo-sauce-meerkatI have many fond memories of Atari but they’ve certainly evolved a lot in the last three decades.

The latest news is that Atari has jumped onto the social networking bandwagon, launching something it calls “Photo Sauce” which, unsurprisingly, has a strong focus on digital photographs.

In fact, Atari hasn’t started its own network. Instead, it has created a Facebook app which allows photos to be decorated and personalised through stickers, speech bubbles and accessories.

It’s possible to create a slide show for sharing with friends, and Atari will release new stickers over time.

Check it out here.

Originally posted on October 22, 2009 @ 5:37 am

Is Google trying to maintain its position in the British psyche?

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google_logo.jpgPerhaps you’ll forgive this thought dump as I make a few personal observations about Google and its place in Britain.

Maybe you have your own thoughts about how Google is trying (officially or otherwise) to maintain its position as premier search engine.

Recently I’ve noticed a trend on TV ads where, instead of providing a direct web address, they invite the viewer to “search online for…”. However, they don’t specify which search engine you should use — merely that you should go online.

Obviously, this approach means that they’re fairly confident that the proposed search term will bring up their website. I wonder if they’re also assuming that most people will use Google?

Last week I saw for the first time a direct ad for Google. At the end of an advert for a pet insurance company, a Google page appeared on screen with the voiceover “Search on Google for Pet Plan”. [Read more…]

Originally posted on October 15, 2009 @ 6:52 am