Hasta La Gadget!

If you’re an ardent user of Google Chrome and happen to use a Retina MacBook Pro, good news: the latest stable release of Chrome includes support for the high-res display. No longer will you have to use another browser or cause pain to your retinas. Download it here. [Google via Engadget] More »

Despite all of the whining we’ve been hearing about Battlefield Premium, the service is still proving to be quite popular with players. Electronic Arts announced today that Battlefield Premium has reached 1.3 million subscribers after only being available for about a month and a half. The service got an official reveal at E3 2012, with Electronic Arts launching it later that same month.

For those not in the know, Battlefield Premium allows players early and “free” access to all of Battlefield 3‘s DLC for an upfront payment of $50. Provided the user hasn’t purchased any Battlefield 3 DLC when they go to sign up for Premium, the service allows them to save $25 on the cost of all of the game’s currently available and planned DLC. This means that, for hardcore Battlefield fans at least, signing up for Premium isn’t a bad idea.

Of course, Battlefield Premium isn’t the first service to offer all of a game’s DLC for one bulk payment. Publishers have been doing that for quite some time with bundles dubbed “season passes,” and Activision offers a service similar to Premium called Call of Duty Elite, which launched (rather shakily) alongside November’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Both services offer more bonuses beyond early access to DLC, with Premium in particular offering extra cosmetic bonuses and double XP weekends that are exclusive to subscribers.

Battlefield Premium’s success has some implications for future EA games, as the publisher will likely pursue a subscription-based strategy with other games now that it knows the initiative worked with Battlefield 3. Depending on who you ask, this may or may not be a bad thing. If customers find that such offerings are a good value, then it can’t be all that bad, but EA may get a little bit too excited and overdo things, like it has done in the past (Mass Effect 3 DLC anyone?). Still, if nothing else, whatever EA is planning to do should be an interesting experiment in the realm of subscription-based gaming, so stay tuned for that.

Battlefield Premium hits 1.3 million subscribers is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

iPhones. iPads. Android. We’ve updated all of our essential apps lists to include a few forgotten favorites, some long awaited arrivals and, as always, even more amazing apps. Check them out! More »

For those of you looking to get your Nexus Q device in after pre-ordering it inside the last few weeks, you’re in luck – everyone else will have to wait indefinitely. We’re getting messages from Nexus Q pre-order users from all over the USA saying that they’ve got a message from Google with the word FREE on it. Google appears to have decided that they’re not quite ready to release this product out into the world yet in its final form.

Though it’s been a wild ride already, so to speak, feedback to Google on the abilities of the Nexus Q do not appear to have been favorable enough to continue with the device as it stands today. And Google, being the undeniably rich and transformable company that it is today, has decided to take a rather unique set of moves in response. Have a peek at the message being sent out to those who pre-ordered the device prior to its release:

“We have an important update about your Nexus Q pre-order.

When we announced Nexus Q at Google I/O, we gave away devices to attendees for an early preview. The industrial design and hardware were met with great enthusiasm. We also heard initial feedback from users that they want Nexus Q to do even more than it does today. In response, we have decided to postpone the consumer launch of Nexus Q while we work on making it even better.

To thank you for your early interest, we’d like to extend the Nexus Q preview to our pre-order customers and send you a free device. If you had other items in your order, your credit card will be charged for those items only.

Your Nexus Q will be on its way soon and you will receive a notification and tracking number from Google Play when it ships.

The Nexus Q Team”

We’re expecting that this means that not only will the Nexus Q be coming back in the future as a cheaper device, it’ll be back with more abilities as well. Have a peek at our Nexus Q full review to see what this device, now called a “preview device”, can do. Also note that the Nexus Q and all related accessories have been removed from the Google Play store today.

Check out the column called Nexus Q: Google’s big I/O Mistake as well while you’re at it.

Nexus Q pre-orders sent out free while final product halted is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Here’s hoping you weren’t planning on using one of Google’s Nexus Qs any time soon — the company has just revealed to pre-order customers that it has postponed the device’s consumer launch because users wanted more out of the curious little orb.

That said, Google’s tiny media streamer has been unceremoniously yanked from the Google Play store. All interested consumers can do now is give the company their email address for future updates on the situation, as there’s no word yet on when Google expects that full-blown launch to take place.

Thankfully, there’s a silver lining to be found here: anyone who already pre-ordered the Nexus Q will receive a developer unit (a.k.a. the existing device that Google gave out in droves at I/O) for free. Seeing how the developer device is exactly what those customers pre-ordered in the first place, I’d say they’re making out pretty nicely. Still, there are some intriguing new questions at play now — what exactly does Google plan to add to the little guy to make it more of a competitor in a space already crowded with arguably superior hardware?

An actual user interface would be a nice place to start; while the dev model connects to a television just fine, users have to select content for the Nexus Q to play from a wirelessly-connected Android device. Being able to call up YouTube videos and movies from the Google Play Store directly on the television screen (perhaps using those additional Android devices as remotes) could help the Nexus better hold its own against the Apple TV and the Boxee Box. It wouldn’t be a shock to see Google cram support for more media sources into the thing too — Netflix, Hulu, and the like would be great additions to a device that otherwise lives solely within Google’s content ecosystem.

Google is playing its cards close to its metaphorical vest, but for now here’s the email notice in full courtesy of Droid-Life:

We have an important update about your Nexus Q pre-order.

When we announced Nexus Q at Google I/O, we gave away devices to attendees for an early preview. The industrial design and hardware were met with great enthusiasm. We also heard initial feedback from users that they want Nexus Q to do even more than it does today. In response, we have decided to postpone the consumer launch of Nexus Q while we work on making it even better.

To thank you for your early interest, we’d like to extend the Nexus Q preview to our pre-order customers and send you a free device. If you had other items in your order, your credit card will be charged for those items only.

Your Nexus Q will be on its way soon and you will receive a notification and tracking number from Google Play when it ships.