Hasta La Gadget!

While RIM has already taken to directly rewarding developers who write for BlackBerry 10 in order to stock up its app catalog, it’s about to offer a slightly stronger incentive for the gaming crowd. An upcoming Got Game Port-a-Thon starting November 16th will give producers $100 for every game successfully ported to the upcoming platform, with the perks climbing the more titles make the leap. Three or more ports net a BlackBerry PlayBook, and the first handful who port five or more get a Dev Alpha device to test their creations in a truly native environment; particularly avid developers porting 10 or more games will even score a trip to the Game Developers Conference this March. The catch, as you’d imagine from the telethon-inspired label, comes from the fixed timeframe. There’s just 36 hours open for submissions once the event starts, which will have most developers scrambling to get their code ready in advance. If RIM gets all its developer ducks in a row, however, we’ll have no shortage of fun (or distractions from work) when the first BlackBerry 10 devices hit the shelves.

Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming, Tablets, Mobile, RIM

RIM plans 36-hour event giving away cash, PlayBooks to game developers porting to BlackBerry 10 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 10 Nov 2012 19:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The original Netduino Plus was a welcome alternative for Arduino developers that had its limits — even networking was almost a step too far. Secret Labs doesn’t want any of us to bump our heads on the ceiling with its just-launched Netduino Plus 2. The networkable, .NET-friendly developer board runs a four times faster 168MHz processor with double the RAM (over 100KB) and six times as much code space (384KB) as its two-year-old ancestor. Having so much headroom lets the team build common OneWire and Time Server code into the firmware; Secret Labs reckons that there’s enough space that the Plus 2 can easily grow over time. The ports are just as ready for the future with four serial ports, software control of any add-on shields (including Rev C Arduino shields) and a new header that lets programmers debug both managed and truly native code at once. If the upgrade is sufficiently tempting, project builders just need to spend $60 today to enjoy some newfound freedom.

Continue reading Netduino Plus 2 offers four times the speed, full round of futureproofing (video)

Filed under: Misc

Netduino Plus 2 offers four times the speed, full round of futureproofing (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Nov 2012 20:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Most video walls would be just a tad too large for the average living room, but the Tokyo University of Technology might have a clever technique to make them travel-sized. Its new Pinch interface joins mobile devices (currently iOS hardware) into a single display simply by making the namesake gesture between at least two gadgets: WiFi keeps them in sync and recognizes the relative size and orientation. While we probably wouldn’t resort to a wall of iPads in place of a large TV, there’s clear practical uses like extra-large creative apps, communication and very local multiplayer games. The best news may be that the university isn’t keeping the technology to itself. It wants developers to borrow Pinch for their own apps, which could lead to a legion of smartphones and tablets getting extra-cozy.

Continue reading Tokyo University of Technology’s Pinch interface creates ad hoc video walls from mobile devices (video)

Filed under: Cellphones, Displays, Tablets

Tokyo University of Technology’s Pinch interface creates ad hoc video walls from mobile devices (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Nov 2012 04:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How amped is Microsoft to get developers into the Windows Phone 8 Store? The company announced today at Build that it’s lowering developer registration to $8 — that’s down from $99. Got to get in there quick, however — that price is only good for the next eight days. Seems to be some kind of theme here, no?

Update: Looks like the discount situation is a little more involved than just that. According to Microsoft, “You’ll be charged $99 USD or equivalent in your local currency, and we’ll refund the difference in the next 30 to 45 days.” Ninety-two percent discounts don’t just happen overnight, after all.

Filed under: Mobile, Microsoft

Microsoft drops Windows Phone Store developer registration to $8 for eight days originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Oct 2012 13:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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All Wall Street expectations aside, Google appears to be doing relatively well for itself. And while Android may not be the company’s largest source of income, it is undoubtedly a primed possession to have around — with that, it’s only natural for the Mountain View-based outfit to extend a hand to the abundant amount of folks developing for its open-sourced platform. On this particular occasion, it’s devs in India who are on the receiving end of a grand gesture, with Google announcing it’s now allowing them to cash in on their applications by adding in-app purchases / subscriptions to ones that are currently free, or simply by selling new, paid app creations on the Play store. Google says the valuable move was driven by India now being the fourth-largest market for app downloads, and that this is a great way to “help developers capitalize on this tremendous growth.”

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Mobile, Google

Google announces seller support in India, now allows developers to monetize their apps originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Oct 2012 21:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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