Amazon Kindle Fire Debuts

SEPT. 29, 2011 • Amazon.com introduced its Kindle Fire tablet. The unit is the online retailer’s first color touch-screen model that comes with a seven-inch screen, and wifi connectivity for $199. Fire uses a substantially altered Android system that optimizes access to Amazon’s digital and hard products. Impact: At $199, the Fire is a scary device. HP discovered how well that pric.....
xbox 360 brazil

Flextronics Starts Brazil Production for Xbox 360s

SEPT. 28, 2011 • Microsoft announced that its production partner Flextronics Intl. Ltd. is now producing Xbox 360s in Manaus, regional capital of Brazil’s Amazonas state. The production facility can produce up to 17,000 of the consoles a week.  Sales of these Brazilian-made Xbox 360s are expected to commence in Brazil during October. Such local production is expected to reduce the cost to consumers in the country by 40%. .....

AMD Partners With Happy Cloud

SEPT. 28, 2011 • Chipmaker AMD has partnered with Cambridge, Mass start-up Happy Cloud to sign deals with makers of Internet-connected televisions to bring on-demand online distribution of console quality games to the TVs. No licensing agreements have yet been anno.....

Counter-Strike Still Most Played on Steam

SEPT. 27, 2011 • Valve Corporation told Develop magazine that the most played game on Steam is the original Counter-Strike released 11 years ago, not newer titles such as Call of Duty: Black Ops. The Source-engined update of Counter-Strike is the third most played game on Steam. Valve hopes to transition both communities to a new title, Counter-Strike Global Offensive. Impact: In studying PC g.....

Sony Skimps on 3D Glasses

SEPT. 27, 2011 • The Hollywood Reporter reported that starting May 1 Sony Pictures will no longer pay to supply movie theater owners for the cost of 3D glasses. Estimates are the studio can save between $5 million to $10 million per major motion picture. Sony is encouraging a system where exhibitors sell moviegoers 3D glasses. That system is in place in the U.K., Australia, Italy and Spain. Im.....

Star Wars: The Old Republic Launches Dec. 20

SEPT. 24, 2011 • During a keynote address at the Eurogamer Expo in London, BioWare founders Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk announced Star Wars: The Old Republic will launch in the U.S. on Dec. 20, and in Europe on Dec. 22. The standard subscription fee will be $14.99 per month. Impact: The Star Wars MMOG will be a huge test of whether the mandatory subscription model has any life left.  .....

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