New ‘Splinter Cell’ title will include Ubisoft ‘always connected’ DRM, as well
Last month we reported that Ubisoft had begun implementing a new DRM scheme into their PC games, making it so gamers must be always connected to the Internet, or not be able to play the game. If you are ever disconnected from the Internet, you are forced back to the main menu, losing any progress you made between save points.
Today, Softpedia is reporting that the DRM scheme has been confirmed for Splinter Cell: Conviction, Silent Hunter 5: Battle of the Atlantic, Assassin’s Creed 2, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands and the all new Ghost Recon games.
Says an Ubisoft rep: “It’s hard for us to say, yes, from now until the day that we all die all of our games are going to include this but most will.”
I can only imagine how many would-be buyers are going to be pushed to the cracked, pirated versions that Ubisoft is so desperately trying to curb.
Chrome takes more browser market share from IE, FF
BusinessInsider has posted their latest “Chart of the day,” and today’s shows how quickly Google’s Chrome browser is taking market share from rivals Internet Explorer and Firefox.
The fast, popular browser, which has been out for 18 months and has no marketing campaign, has taken about 7 percent of the market, according to new StatCounter figures, taking share from its rivals.
In terms of growth, Chrome has grown from 4 percent in September to its current figure, while IE fell from 58 percent to 55 percent and FF fell from 31 and fractions to 31.
Safari continues to grow as well (slowly), at the expense of Opera and IE.
Apple store employees to start iPad sales training on March 10th
The Examiner has reported today, and confirmed that Apple store employees will receive the iPad tablet for sales training starting March 10th.
The report says the date is confirmed by a manager in SoCal that wishes to remain anonymous.
Although the rest of the facts are not confirmed, the anticipated release date is set for March 26th, with 3G versions not available until mid-April at the least.
Commercials for the device will begin airing nationwide on March 15th, with e-reader capabilities being “emphasized.”
Additionally, anyone who camps outside Apple Stores for the launch with receive “a special gift,” although it is unclear whether that will be a gift card, a free e-book or something else.
Judge tosses out Windows XP downgrading suit
In February 2009, LA resident Emma Alvarado filed a lawsuit against Microsoft accusing the software giant of profiting from consumers downgrading from Windows Vista back to XP.
Alvarado’s complaint says Microsoft forced customers to first purchase the new operating system, before they could downgrade to the operating system they really wanted, XP.
The case was tossed out this week.
Writes U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman: “Nowhere does she allege that she paid to downgrade or that she did not receive a copy of Vista when she freely chose to purchase her new computer with that software. That she chose to downgrade to XP without extra cost does not demonstrate that Microsoft retained a benefit without giving value. Nor does the fact that she chooses to use only one version nullify the fact that Microsoft gave her value for the bargain.” If anything, “it appears that Plaintiff obtained two versions of Microsoft’s operating software for the price of one,” Pechman continued.
“We’re pleased the Court agreed that Plaintiff’s complaint failed to state a viable claim and dismissed it in its entirety,” Microsoft spokesman Kevin Kutz responded.
Alvarado claimed she had to pay a $59.25 fee to downgrade from Vista to XP, although Microsoft does not charge such fees. Those fees are imposed by computer makers, such as Lenovo, which charged Alvarado for the downgrade. Lenovo was not named in the suit.
Viacom pulls popular shows from Hulu
Hulu, one of the most popular online video streaming sites in the United States, had some bad news to note today, reporting that Viacom has pulled two of its most popular shows, “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report.”
“The Daily Show” is the third most-watched show on the site, and Colbert’s show usually ranks in the top 7.
Viacom does say that they will not be completely getting out of the streaming business, however.
Reads the press release:
Comedy Central has made “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report” available to consumers through Hulu since June 2008. Although that agreement has concluded, full-length episodes of each show will remain available at TheDailyShow.com and ColbertNation.com, respectively.
Hulu was one of the many digital distribution partners we’ve worked with over the past few years to add new outlets for our valuable and powerful content and to help drive the businesses of our partners. We had a great experience with Hulu, and we hope to work with its team again in the future.
Hulu has around 44 million monthly visitors.
New study breaks down how Americans get their news
A new study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project has revealed that 61 percent of Americans now get their news online, although local TV remains the most popular method of getting the news.
Overall, 50 percent of Americans read local print newspapers, and 17 percent read national papers. 59 percent of Americans get their news from online and offline sources, with only 2 percent getting their news exclusively from online sources.
Figuring out where users get their news is not as easy, however. 65 percent do not have a favorite site, and 80 percent use 2-5 sites for their daily news. 56 percent use portals such as Google News, Yahoo News or AOL, and younger users follow specific news organizations or journalists via Twitter and Facebook.
18 percent listen to daily podcasts from the news organizations.
What are people searching for when they go online? 81 percent looks for the weather, 73 looks for national events, 66 percent look for health events, 64 percent look up finance or other business. Rounding up the top 5 is international events, at 62 percent.
Pics via RWW:
EU to cap ’shock’ mobile phone bills
The European Commission has put into effect a new EU-wide rule that will cap ’shock’ mobile phone bills built-up when users unsuspectingly surf the Internet for extended periods of time without a data plan or when roaming.
Customers must now tell their carrier at what point to cut them off, and if they do not by July 1st, then the cap will be set at 50 euros. On the carrier side, the companies will have to warn users whenever their bill hits 80 percent of the limit.
Adds European Commissioner for Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes: “Protection against data roaming bill shocks is a useful step towards building customers’ confidence to use mobile networks to surf the internet when travelling around Europe. Such confidence is essential if people and businesses are to use the internet to its full potential.”
Data roaming charges have led to massive bills in the past, with some unlucky users getting hit with $1000+ bills for downloading movies or watching TV while data roaming.
Sony: PS3 bug fix within 24 hours, leave consoles off
Sony is still working on a fix for a suspected bug in the clock functionality of the PlayStation 3 (PS3) console that caused a variety of errors and problems for PS3 and PSN gamers since last night. The bug only appears to affect the “fat” older version of the PS3, but not the newer slim models.
Sony has advised users of the non-slim models to leave their consoles off until a bug fix is available, saying that certain functionality might be affected by errors, and a risk of not being able to restore certain data. The PlayStation-maker listed the following problems are being reported by users.
The date of the PS3 system may be re-set to Jan 1, 2000.
When the user tries to sign in to the PlayStation Network, the following message appears on the screen; “An error has occurred. You have been signed out of PlayStation Network (8001050F)”.
When the user tries to launch a game, the following error message appears on the screen and the trophy data may disappear; “Failed to install trophies. Please exit your game.”
When the user tries to set the time and date of the system via the Internet, the following message appears on the screen; “The current date and time could not be obtained. (8001050F)”
Users are not able to play back certain rental video downloaded from the PlayStation Store before the expiration date.
“We hope to resolve this problem within the next 24 hours. In the meantime, if you have a model other than the new slim PS3, we advise that you do not use your PS3 system, as doing so may result in errors in some functionality, such as recording obtained trophies, and not being able to restore certain data.” said the company.
Wii hits 10 million units sold in Japan
According to research firm Enterbrain, the ever-popular Nintendo Wii has hit the 10 million unit sold milestone in Japan this week, 170 weeks after its initial launch.
The firm says as of yesterday, Nintendo has sold 10,009,736 units in the nation.
The only console to reach the milestone faster in Japan was the PlayStation 2 which hit the figure in 131 weeks, a full 10 months quicker.
Sony’s current generation console, the PlayStation 3 has 4.77 million units sold in Japan, adds the firm, with the Xbox 360 in third at 1.24 million units sold so far.
European Commission clears Orange, T-Mobile merger
The European Commission has cleared the proposed merger of Orange and T-Mobile in the UK, a deal that would create the largest mobile operator in the United Kingdom. The Commission cleared the merger after Orange and T-Mobile agreed to make changes to ensure competition in the market and to give up some of the wireless spectrum that would be allocated to the new company.
“I am happy that we managed to resolve the competition issues in this case quickly in close cooperation with the Member State concerned,” European Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said in a statement. The Commission had raised concerns about the merger, in particular what effect it would have on 3UK, owned by Hong Kong-based conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa.
“With the merger… there will be only four players in the UK, hence the concerns about the fate of 3UK,” it said,” the commission said.
“In order to address the competition concerns… the parties concluded a revised agreement with 3UK which will secure its position as a competitive force on the market. The Commission concluded that the commitments offered by the parties remedy the identified competition concerns.”
