Microsoft is to open up Microsoft Live’s payments system and allow developers to set their own price bands as well as supporting micropayments within games, according to a report.
This would not only allow developers to better compete over price, but also open up Live to free-to-play/freemium games for the first time.
It’s been a wet week here in the UK. Rather than let the weather get us down, we’re here to help you catch up on the best stories to land on Electricpig this week to help brighten up your day.
This week we have a launch date for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, the latest on a PS3 price drop, reviews of the HTC ChaCha and Sony Ericsson Neo, a video interview with Libertines man Carl Barât and more.
It’s safe to say Symbian innovation failed to compete with either iOS or Android over the past 12 to 18 months. Realizing the downward spiral in its high-end smartphone sales, Nokia made a wise move and began searching for a new software partner. Though the decision has been made, Stephen Elop mentioned Nokia considered Android prior to accepting Microsoft’s offer. Here’s three reasons why Mr. Elop should reconsider.
The pull down notification center is only second to the lock screen as the most useful addition in iOS 5. Though still in beta, iOS 5 looks to have a new hidden feature, “widget creator module”, which allows developers to add third party widgets to the notification center. The drop down never looked so good.
Yesterday we reported on the capacitive multi-touch patent awarded to Apple. Packed within this filing was mention of “user-created widget(s)” and the “widget creator module”. When you consider both of these elements, the logical conclusion is that iOS 5 will allow both the creation and installation of third party widgets in the notification center.
Yesterday when Stephen Elop showed off what looked to be a Nokia N9 running Windows Phone 7 Mango we had our doubts over the authenticity of the video. Today that same device, codenamed “Sea Ray”, is running Android Gingerbread. Is it just me or is the N9 going through a bit of an identity crisis?
First spotted by Vlad Savov from Engadget, the Android-powered N9 “Sea Ray” was confirmed by the same Chinese source who leaked images of Nokia’s first Windows Phone handset in May. As we now know, those images correspond to the N9 “Sea Ray”, leading us to believe today’s leak is also in fact true.
On July 15th when the HP TouchPad launches in the UK, the company will also launch HP webOS Pivot. Described as “an entertaining and informative editorial resource for discovering webOS 3.0 applications”, Pivot promises to be your one-stop shop for finding the latest on TouchPad content. If you’re planning or currently develop for webOS, Pivot is just one of the new ways HP is helping to market your apps.
One of the most popular online action games, Team Fortress 2, is now free on both PC and Mac. The new “free to play” promotion carries a few limitations compared to a premium account, but we’re inclined to download now and ask questions later. Here’s a quick account comparison to get you up to speed.
Team Fortress 2 free accounts feature 50 backpack slots versus 300 slots for premium accounts (expandable to 1000). Items are limited to standard, you’ll have access to limited blueprints, and items and gifts can only be received, not sent.
HTC is still rumoured to be launching a new Android tablet running Honeycomb. Here are five ways it can beat the competition and come out on top in the tablet wars.
