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<title>Haaze.com / Bonessemn / Published News</title>
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<pubDate>Thu, 31 Mar 2011 07:10:44 +0000</pubDate>
<language>en</language>
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<title><![CDATA[GameSlam takes players deeper than fantasy baseball]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=gameslam-takes-players-deeper-than-fantasy-baseball</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=gameslam-takes-players-deeper-than-fantasy-baseball</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 31 Mar 2011 07:10:44 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Bonessemn</dc:creator>
<category>Gaming</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=gameslam-takes-players-deeper-than-fantasy-baseball</guid>
<description><![CDATA[GameSlam gives baseball fans a deeper way to play along with their favorite team in real time than fantasy sports.(Credit:GameSlam)Baseball is a team sport, but for fans of the major leagues, there's never been a good way to play along in real time.Until now that is, say the creators of GameSlam, a real-time social predictive baseball game that allows fans to get in on the fun even as the balls and strikes are being thrown and the home runs are clearing the fences.For years, baseball aficionados have been able to take part in Major League Baseball by joining a fantasy league. And there are 10 million people in leagues like this, as well as 20 million more playing fantasy football. But to the GameSlam founders, that option lacks one key element of the fun: competing against friends and others while the ballplayers are still on the field. But with GameSlam, which is launching officially today, they say, players can enjoy the statistical ups and downs of fantasy baseball at the same time as they share in the social experience of watching a game with friends. It works like this. Players can get in on the game via GameSlam'siPhone oriPad apps, or on their computers, and start competing with their friends to see who makes better predictions, either about the outcome of a full game, or about individual pitches or plays. Or both. Logging in, players will see the GameSlam interface, which, among other elements, features a gamecast that is synced to whatever real-time game they're watching live on their TV, meaning that as the real-life action progresses on the field, GameSlam is delivering the same action--just digitally. It doesn't work with games saved on a digital video recorder. Being a competitive game, the system starts each player off with 10,000 points, and then adds to, or subtracts from, that number depending on how their predictions turn out. Guess correctly that a player will strike out, you gain more points. Get it wrong, and points are deducted.Casual players may choose to stick to predicting who will win and then grab a beer and sit back with their friends to watch on TV, content to see their point totals rise or fall depending on the way the game turns out. More dedicated players will dive in and make predictions about myriad plays during the game, putting themselves in position to rack up a great deal more points, assuming they're predicting well. While GameSlam works well for friends who may be watching a game together on TV, it also works for those who are remote. And, because it's a competition, players can join leagues--of 100 people--and see how they stack up over the course of a number of games. Winners of the various leagues can end up with small prizes, or credit towards premium features.GameSlam is free to play, and the company behind it hopes to make money through a series of virtual goods and premium options. For example, if players don't want to compete against strangers, they can upgrade to premium and play in leagues only against their friends. Is it fun It's too early to tell. The idea seems compelling, but in order to work, it will have to be simple and easy for the casual users, while giving serious fans enough to keep them occupied. The company clearly thinks that its reliance on a microtransactions business model will make it profitable quickly, but without a critical mass of players, it's hard to see why anyone will pay. Still, that's no different from many other services, so it would seem that the devil is in the details. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[New power line could cool Japanese reactors]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=new-power-line-could-cool-japanese-reactors</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=new-power-line-could-cool-japanese-reactors</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 16 Mar 2011 07:12:12 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Bonessemn</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=new-power-line-could-cool-japanese-reactors</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Japanese authorities tried pouring water on overheated reactors from a helicopter but abandoned the effort because of radiation risks.(Credit:NHK/screenshot by Stephen Shankland)Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of the collection of nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant suffering major problems after an earthquake and tsunami, hopes a new power line will alleviate cooling difficulties.The plant has been without power since Friday's magnitude 9.0 earthquake, and backup generators to keep the nuclear fuel from overheating failed after the tsunamis. But the power company is working to connect new power lines, according to media reports, a move that could restore cooling systems.The power line is almost complete, Canada's Globe and Mail quoted Tokyo Electric Power Co. spokesman Naoki Tsunoda as saying. He didn't predict when it would be finished, though.This illustration, based on a GeoEye satellite photo viewed through Google Earth, shows the locations of the six Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors.(Credit:Photo from Google and GeoEye' graphic by Stephen Shankland/CNET)High radiation levels prevented workers from connecting the lines to the power plant facilities using a &quot;makeshift switchboard,&quot; NHK, Japan's state broadcaster, said Thursday. (NHK broadcasts over Ustream for those who want live updates from Japan.)Wednesday's efforts at cooling reactor buildings included an aborted attempt to drop water from a helicopter. Another plan involves spraying water from a water cannon.Fukushima Daiichi has six reactors. Numbers 1, 2, and 3 were operating when the earthquake struck, while numbers 4, 5, and 6 had been shut down for an inspection. All have cooling requirements, since even when not operating nuclear fuel can be extremely hot. Excess heat, if not removed with circulating water, can cause fuel rods to melt, leading to much greater risks of contamination.Friday's magnitude 9.0 earthquake and its resulting tsunamis have killed thousands, with thousands more missing.Steam rising from a nuclear reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.(Credit:NHK/screenshot by Stephen Shankland)<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[LastPass acquires Xmarks, premium service announced]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=lastpass-acquires-xmarks-premium-service-announced</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=lastpass-acquires-xmarks-premium-service-announced</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 02 Dec 2010 08:10:01 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Bonessemn</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=lastpass-acquires-xmarks-premium-service-announced</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Xmarks&amp;39's survival is now confirmed.(Credit:Xmarks&amp;39's survival is now confirmed.)In late September, Xmarks, the popular browser add-on that syncs bookmarks, saved passwords, open tabs, and so on, took its some 4.5 million fans on a roller-coaster ride. It announced the imminent shutdown of the service because of lack of funding just to retract that a few days later when CEO James Joaquin hinted that a knight-in-shining-armor rescue was likely. Now that rescue has been confirmed. In a blog posted today, Xmarks announced that it has been acquired by LastPass, a cross-platform password management service. This also means that Xmarks is now in transition from a &quot;free&quot; to a &quot;freemium&quot; business model. The new model, which is similar to that of LastPass, allows people to utilize most of Xmarks' existing functions for free. More-savvy users, however, can also opt for Xmarks Premium, which costs $12 per year and includes new enhanced features such as support foriPhone iOS and Android, priority support, and more.Apart from that, according to the blog, together with this merger, users can now opt for both the Xmarks and LastPass Premium services bundled for a reduced subscription rate of $20 per year, $4 less than if you pay for each separately. This bundle, however, doesn't mean the two services will be merged into one. Rather, they will remain as separate browser add-on downloads with their respective management Web pages.This is great news for those who need to keep their browsers in sync. Though there are many bookmark-syncing services, most allow for syncing within a single browser. Xmarks, on the other hand, supports the three most popular browsers: Internet Explorer,Firefox, and Google Chrome. It's likely that it will also supportSafari and Opera in the future.In the days after its shutdown was announced, according to Xmarks, a significant number of users pledged financial support to keep the service alive. If you're one of those people and you want to make good on your promise, the upgrade is available here. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[WeGame launches digital game distribution with a social twist]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=wegame-launches-digital-game-distribution-with-a-social-twist</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=wegame-launches-digital-game-distribution-with-a-social-twist</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Bonessemn</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=wegame-launches-digital-game-distribution-with-a-social-twist</guid>
<description><![CDATA[In digital game distribution, big companies are starting to dominate the market. But Jared Kim, chief executive of WeGame, believes there is room in the market for his startup.Today, WeGame is launching its business for distributing games via online broadband connections. These aren&amp;'t casual games for non-serious gamers. We&amp;'re talking about games that have such good graphics they take a while to download. Kim says the new business is a natural outgrowth of what WeGame already does: sharing game videos and screen shots. Hardcore gamers eat that up.If WeGame succeeds, it will test the idea as to whether a small fish can succeed in a digital distribution market, where amassing a lot of firepower is usually the way to succeed. WeGame hopes to survive by serving gamers better than the other guys do.WeGame is a small player in the space with just four employees, and it&amp;'s late to the party. But Kim says the company has built a reputation for paying close attention to gamers&amp;' needs. Gamers love to record video of their exploits in multiplayer online games and take screenshots of their best moments. It ordinarily takes a lot of tech savvy and expense to set up a computer so it can do that.But WeGame has been working on that problem since 2007. By solving that particular problem well, it has amassed an audience of 1.7 million registered users. Now it&amp;'s a simple matter of a click to begin recording a game video or screenshot. Then the assets can be automatically uploaded to sites such as YouTube or Facebook, for all of your friends to see. To date, WeGame&amp;'s client has been installed more than 1 million times on desktops. More than 2.2 million user-generated videos have been uploaded to its site, and users have posted screenshots from thousands of games.Now WeGame will add the ability to download games. It will start with partners such as Shanda/Mochi Media and Bigpoint. Mochi Media will provide 250 browser-based games, while Bigpoint will offer four titles: Dark Orbit, Sea Fight, Deepolis, and War of Titans. Eventually, Bigpoint will add the rest of its titles. Perfect World will provide its free-to-play massively multiplayer online game, Perfect World International. Suba Games will provide two MMOs: ACE Online and Mission Against Terror. Cmune will provide UberStrike, and Trion Worlds will give out beta keys for its upcoming MMO, Rift.By 2011, Kim says WeGame will start distributing games from more companies, including the big ones. To date, the company has raised $3.5 million from True Ventures and a group of angels: Jeff Clavier, Aydin Senkut, Ariel Poler, Naval Ravikant, and Ryan Scott. Advisors include Jameson Hsu of Mochi Media, Dennis Fong of Raptr, and Matt Mullenweg of Wordpress.Those are good friends to have. But WeGame is a tiny company among giants. Valve&amp;'s Steam has 70 percent of the hardcore digital game distribution market. Direct2Drive also has a sizable chunk and there are other rivals too. OnLive is trying to leapfrog everyone, doing away with the need to download games by streaming games from servers to users in real-time, as the games are being played.But Kim says that the game publishers need another digital distribution source besides Steam, if only to counterbalance Valve&amp;'s growing power. While Valve takes a 20 to 30 percent fee of every game download, WeGame will take a smaller fee. WeGame will also have a social element, where users can discover the games their friends are downloading and try them out. Steam, by contrast, has very little by way of social networking. As for OnLive, Kim doesn&amp;'t think server-based games will be mainstream for a while.If anything, Kim is feisty. He started two companies in high school and college. Raised in China, he attended the University of California at Berkeley for three months before dropping out to focus on starting a company.&amp;''My Asian parents were furious,&amp;'' Kim said. &amp;''But I told them I was saving them tuition money.&amp;''In 2007, he started WeGame and moved into the business of providing videos and screen shots. One of the keys to doing video captures was to do it without slowing a game to a crawl. Now, WeGame hopes to serve gamers by building them a good download service, coupled with a good social network.If you&amp;'d like to sign up for the beta, click on this link. The link is good until Dec. 31.Next Story: CardPool lets you cash in gift cards for Facebook Credits Previous Story: Salesforce picks up Ruby on Rails web-app provider Heroku for $212MPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: digital distributionCompanies: Direct2Drive, Valve, We GamePeople: Jared Kim          Tags: digital distributionCompanies: Direct2Drive, Valve, We GamePeople: Jared KimDean is lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He covers video games, security, chips and a variety of other subjects. Dean previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News, the Wall Street Journal, the Red Herring, the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register and the Dallas Times Herald. He is the author of two books, Opening the Xbox and the Xbox 360 Uncloaked. Follow him on Twitter at @deantak, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Viacom won&'t get fooled again, drops Rock Band developer as music game sales falter]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=viacom-wonrsquot-get-fooled-again-drops-rock-band-developer-as-music-game-sales-falter</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=viacom-wonrsquot-get-fooled-again-drops-rock-band-developer-as-music-game-sales-falter</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Bonessemn</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=viacom-wonrsquot-get-fooled-again-drops-rock-band-developer-as-music-game-sales-falter</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Music game developer Harmonix might have started the fire for the music game industry. But it&amp;'s stopped burning, leading Viacom to sell the critically acclaimed developer, the company announced today.After taking off like a rocket in 2005 with the launch of Harmonix&amp;'s first title, Guitar Hero, music games have been disappointing lately. The games let players pick up plastic controllers that look and feel remotely like instrumentsand rock out to songs from the likes of Billy Joel and The Who.But the music game industry as a whole has started to stagnate. There really wasn&amp;'t anywhere new to go after Rock Band introduced multiple instruments like the microphone and a drum kit. Harmonix&amp;'s most recent game, Rock Band 3, basically took the same theory to another level by adding &amp;''pro&amp;'' instruments designed to teach players how to play and simulate an actual guitar with multiple strings and frets and larger drum kits. Aside from that, music game developers have been releasing special editions that feature individual bands like The Beatles and Green Day.Music games generated $152 million so far this year in the U.S. That&amp;'s down 50 percent from a year ago, according to Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter. In 2009, music games generated $875 million in sales, but this year the category will be lucky to generate $500 million, Pachter said. Music games have been the biggest drag on game sales, down 8 percent from a year ago, according to market research data from NPD.Harmonix&amp;'s most recent game, Rock Band 3, was a huge hit with critics (and it made our list of top ten games for the holiday season.) The game garnered a score of 93 out of 100 across 46 reviews on Metacritic, a website that aggregates review scores for games, music and movies. Its Rock Band series has been one of the bright points of the genre and regularly receives praise from critics.There still aren&amp;'t many new directions for the music game genre. Introducing new instruments and the like can be extremely expensive, and the large price tags can turn off gamers (the pro guitar for Rock Band 3 costs a whopping $150). So Rock Band 3 may very well be Harmonix&amp;'s a4&quot; and the industry&amp;'s a4&quot; swan song if they can&amp;'t find a new direction to take the series. Viacom probably expects a dim future for the music game industry if it is offloading a developer that regularly sees a lot of success with critics.Next Story: iPad 2 to get new back, better speaker, smaller bezel (rumor) Previous Story: Skype CEO offers update on outage that affected tens of millionsPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: Guitar Hero, music games, Rock BandCompanies: Activision Blizzard, Harmonix, Viacom          Tags: Guitar Hero, music games, Rock BandCompanies: Activision Blizzard, Harmonix, ViacomMatthew Lynley is VentureBeat's enterprise writer. He graduated from University of North Carolina, where he studied math and physics, in May 2010. He has reported for Reuters. He currently lives in San Francsico, Calif. You can reach him at mattl@venturebeat.com (all story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com), and on Twitter at @logicalmoron.VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Verizon temporarily offering $30 unlimited iPhone data plan]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=verizon-temporarily-offering-30-unlimited-iphone-data-plan</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=verizon-temporarily-offering-30-unlimited-iphone-data-plan</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Bonessemn</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=verizon-temporarily-offering-30-unlimited-iphone-data-plan</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Verizon will officially offer buyers of its iPhone a $30 unlimited data plan when it goes on sale next month, Verizon COO Lowell McAdam told the Wall Street Journal.But  during Verizona4a4s investor call today, McAdam also clarified that the  offer would only be temporary. The carrier plans to move to a tiered  pricing model later this year, similar to AT&amp;amp'Ta4a4s shift last year.a4AIa4a4m  not going to shoot myself in the foot,a4 he said. Millions of current  iPhone users on AT&amp;amp'T were grandfathered into unlimited data plans,  so McAdam wanted to offer the same flexibility if they moved to Verizon.  Customers who first moved to AT&amp;amp'T for the iPhone 4 werena4a4t offered  unlimited plans, and ita4a4s likely that come the iPhone 5, Verizon will  also drop the unlimited option.Ita4a4s  a wise offer, because iPhone users moving to Verizon will also be  losing the ability to use voice and data functionality simultaneously due to limitations of its CDMA 3G network. Verizon needs as few barriers  to entry as possible for new iPhone customers, as the carrier has a lot  of ground to make up for when it comes to smartphone users. Verizon  announced today that only 26 percent of its mobile subscribers have  smartphones, up from around 15 percent last year.Next Story: Google snags Twitter movie recommender Fflick for $10M Previous Story: Solar Universe nabs $7M to install your panels, poaches SolarCity execPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: data plans, iOS, iPhone, iPhone 4Companies: Apple, VerizonPeople: Lowell McAdam          Tags: data plans, iOS, iPhone, iPhone 4Companies: Apple, VerizonPeople: Lowell McAdamDevindra Hardawar is VentureBeat's lead mobile writer and East Coast correspondent. He studied philosophy at Amherst College, worked in IT support for several years, and has been writing about technology since 2004. He now lives in Brooklyn, New York. You can reach him at devindra@venturebeat.com (all story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com), and on Twitter at @Devindra. Have news to share Launching a startup Email: tips@venturebeat.comVentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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