Hasta La Gadget!

A wave of confusion surrounded OnLive over the weekend, with employees reportedly being let go from the company. Soon after it was announced that OnLive had been acquired by another company, with details now emerging that the company will trade using OnLive’s name, with all assets having been transferred over except shares and staff. Some employees will be hired back, but over half will be left without a job as a result of the transaction.

OnLive services will reportedly continue to work without any issues for users, but those employees who have been left without a job will be offered consulting roles with the company in exchange for options in the new company. When the company secures more funding, it plans to hire back more of its former employees. In a statement, the company says that “asset acquisition, although a heartbreaking transition for everyone involved with OnLive, allows the company’s core innovation and ongoing offerings to survive and continue to evolve.”

Employees aren’t the only ones affected by the changes: HTC estimates that it will lose out on its $40 million investment in the company that it made in February 2011. HTC cites the troubles that OnLive has been facing, saying in a note to investors that the company faced difficulties due to a “lack of operating cash and an inability to raise new capital.” It’s yet another blow for HTC, which has been seeing financial trouble itself in recent months.

The company recently had to pull out of South Korea and Brazil due to lack of sales in both markets, and posted a troubling second quarter financial results. Profits were down 57% compared to the same period in 2011, with HTC posting a net profit of ~$248 million overall. Revenues for July 2012 were also down 45% compared to the same time last year.

[via TechCrunch/PCWorld]

OnLive details restructure as HTC loses $40m investment is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

OnLive has changed a lot since last Friday when the company was “restructured” into a new company according to a recent official announcement. To do so, all the assets of OnLive Inc were sold to the new company. The good news for customers is that Lauder Partners is injecting enough money to allow OnLive to continue its service without any interruption.

After laying off half of its employees, the company says that the new legal entity will re-hire many of them at the same position/salary, although not everyone seems to be coming back. Employees who are not asked to re-join will be given an opportunity to “consult” with the new company.

According to the official statement, this was a necessary step for OnLive although a “heartbreaking” transition. The company has issues a FAQ that addresses many questions people may have. My understanding is that the shares of the former OnLive Inc company did not retain any value during the transition. We’ve pasted the whole statement and Q&A in the full post. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: OnLive Game Streaming Company Goes Under, iPhone, iPad and Macs could be banned on Aug 24,

OnLive, the most prominent game streaming company is no more. The Company has apparently been experiencing financial difficulties, and had to lay off about half of its staff. People left the company with boxes late on Friday. The company says that its assets have been purchased by a “newly formed company with substantial funding”.

I’ve discussed the challenges of the cloud gaming business back in 2008, but the news came as a shock to the web industry as OnLive was seen has the “natural evolution” of traditional video games, and many were expecting high end game consoles to to be eventually replaced by cheap boxes connected to the network. That explains the recent noise about Ouya, a $99 Android console, which has raised 6 million of dollars in funding. OnLive was announced for Ouya recently.

The demise of OnLive is a stark reminder that the video game streaming business is an extremely difficult one, and that it is still very much “experimental”. That said, OnLive deserves some credit for pushing the model as far as they did. So… what happened? (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: OnLive to continue operations under new management [official], iPhone, iPad and Macs could be banned on Aug 24,

Have you come up with a new way to stack your shoes, line up your tools, or bunk your junk? Karl Champley,
the home improvement guru, is looking for new space saving products
that help folks organize their stuff and give them more room in their
own homes. So through Edison Nation, he’s asking you to submit your ideas.

It appears that more than just the tip-addicted iOS fans out there are getting their fair share of iPhone 5 madness as Apple stock this week hits an all-time high. This is a big change compared to the week surrounding Apple’s recent quarterly earnings call where their slightly less-than-projected device sales numbers had investors “disappointed.” Now that we’re edging ever closer to what several independent sources have tipped as the announcement date for the new iPhone, investors are prepping for the biggest launch the company has ever seen with ever-increasing prices on Apple’s public offering.

One of the most indicative factors here is the move by Jefferies & Co. in raising their price target for the stock from $800 to $900 USD, while Apple’s valuation hits $600 billion in all. With Apple’s notoriously secret ways denying the public a perfect vision for the next-generation handheld smart device, the iPhone 5′s new cycle dominance is somewhat of a phenomenon. It’s no new hat though to Apple.

The Jeffries analyst responsible for the price upgrade earlier today, Peter Misek, described the product launch coming up quick as “the biggest handset launch in history.” With the supposed actual product launch landing before the end of September and each and every single rumor, tip, and supposed leak post here on SlashGear getting massive attention from readers, we can’t say we disagree. No matter what Apple reveals in the next-generation iPhone, it’s bound to make waves.

Apple analyst Gene Munster contributed to the fervor earlier this week with a projection that should Apple release a new iPhone 10 days before the end of September, they’d see sales to the tune of 26 million to 28 million devices sold by the end of the month. At the moment, Apple sits at the current numbers that are sure to make those who are currently holding stock in the company rather joyous:

• Profit margin: 26.97 percent
• Operating margin: 35.62 percent
• Return on equity: 44.32 percent
• Quarterly revenue growth (year-to-year): 22.6 percent
• Gross profit: $43.82 billion

Check the timeline below to see more information on the iPhone 5 – or whatever Apple ends up calling it – and also check out our portals for the iPad and the Apple TV to see what other rumors on Apple devices have been cropping up. With massive cults of rumor spreaders like Apple has now, it’s no wonder they need such heavy defenses, and no wonder why there’s such great anticipation for final product launches, too!

[via CNET]

iPhone 5 rumors trigger highest Apple stock price ever is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.