Hasta La Gadget!

The World Wide Web Consortium might just be the United Nations of web development, as it’s bringing together some frequent enemies to fight for a common cause through WebPlatform.org. The collaboration will see Adobe, Apple, Facebook, Google, HP, Microsoft, Mozilla, Nokia and Opera pool educational resources to create a comprehensive, frequently updated guide to creating HTML5 and other content for the open web. The companies’ instructional oversight is just the start, however — visitors will have chats and forums to devise their own solutions, and they’ll even have a better than usual chance at influencing mid-development web standards. It may be some time before we’ll see the first fruits of the organization’s work, but we’re already happy to see technology companies set aside some of their differences.

Continue reading W3C teams with Apple, Google, Mozilla on WebPlatform, a guide to building the open web (video)

Filed under: Internet, Apple, Microsoft, Nokia, Google, HP, Facebook

W3C teams with Apple, Google, Mozilla on WebPlatform, a guide to building the open web (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Oct 2012 03:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink 9 to 5 Google  |  WebPlatform.org  | Email this | Comments

The indie game world has undergone a metamorphosis over the past few years, transforming from an often overlooked niche into as much a staple of the game industry as once-every-year blockbusters like the Call of Duty series. It’s that fast-rising side of gaming that PBS’ Off Book has explored in a succinct documentary. As both developers and game journalists explain, the small and more flexible nature of indie teams lets them delve into game concepts, art and sound that major developers typically avoid — you probably wouldn’t get Bastion, Fez or Super Meat Boy out of a company focused mostly on hitting its quarterly revenue targets. Crowdfunding and internet distribution methods like Steam and Xbox Live Arcade have similarly removed many of the barriers that either kept these games from commercial success or forced uncomfortable deals with large publishers in the past. Accordingly, the indie sphere that PBS sees in 2012 is less about trying to become the next Activision or EA and more about experimentation and personal expression. If you’ve ever wanted an elegant summary of what makes Spelunky feel so special, the whole Off Book episode awaits after the break.

Continue reading PBS mini-documentary explores indie game creation, shows what they do that majors can’t (video)

Filed under: Gaming, Alt

PBS mini-documentary explores indie game creation, shows what they do that majors can’t (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Oct 2012 03:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

MasterCard has been in the cashless payment game for quite a while, and now it’s hoping to get more developers on the PayPass bandwagon with its freshly unveiled user interface software development kit. By leveraging the SDK, programmers will be able to bake the firm’s NFC payment system, which is compatible with over 70 handsets, into their own Android or BlackBerry OS 7 apps. The kit is free to license and includes API code libraries, documentation, a developer guide, sample code, a white-label reference application and a testing suite. Once apps are created with the SDK, they’ll have to go through MasterCard’s approval process before they go live. Yearning to code PayPass-enabled smartphone software? Check out the press release below for more details.

Continue reading MasterCard announces PayPass User Interface SDK, lets devs roll their own NFC payment-enabled apps

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

MasterCard announces PayPass User Interface SDK, lets devs roll their own NFC payment-enabled apps originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Sep 2012 07:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Cashless Conversations Blog (MasterCard)  | Email this | Comments

It’s a day of mixed blessings if you’re a Windows Phone developer. The upside? Microsoft has shelved its old App Hub in favor of the heavily reworked Windows Phone Dev Center: along with being simpler and more reliable, it now lets app designers offer their apps in four times as many countries (three times as many for paid apps), gives them better tracking tools and lets them at last get payment from Microsoft through PayPal. We hope they aren’t making too many grand plans to bring Microsoft’s newly added in-app purchasing support to every title, however. The counterbalance in this story is confirmation in the Dev Center that any in-app commerce will be limited to Windows Phone 8 — even devices running Windows Phone 7.8 will have to turn to all-or-nothing transactions to directly generate cash. While we can’t say we’re surprised, knowing that Microsoft hadn’t mentioned legacy support before, the news no doubt dampens the enthusiasm for developers who now need to wait for a wave of new devices before they can join the freemium app gold rush.

Update: WMPowerUser noticed something in that tiny text on the home page — the artist formerly known as the Windows Phone Marketplace is now the Windows Phone Store. A small (and still unacknowledged) change, but notable for harmonizing the mobile app shop with the Windows Store on the desktop.

Filed under: Cellphones

Microsoft opens Windows Phone Dev Center, limits in-app purchases to Windows Phone 8 (update: store rebrand too) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Aug 2012 11:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Windows Phone Developer Blog, The Verge  |  Windows Phone Dev Center (1), (2)  | Email this | Comments

Microsoft just isn’t getting much Windows 8 love from the game community, full stop. Following Blizzard and Valve anxieties, Minecraft developer Notch (the man on the left) is himself cautious about the shift to the Windows Store and the seeming discouragement of third-party outlets. Despite sharing an affinity with Microsoft for square-shaped worlds, he sees any further lockdown of Windows 8 as potentially “very very bad” for indie game developers and overall competition in the gaming business. Not that Notch is singling out the OS for concern: he’s also maintaining his resistance to Valve’s Steam and doesn’t want the Portal creator to “rent games” instead of selling titles that buyers can keep forever. While Notch isn’t adverse to producing games for closed systems when it’s the only choice, he’s joining a growing chorus of those worried that openness is on the endangered list.

Filed under: Gaming, Software

Minecraft creator warns locked down Windows 8 could be ‘very bad’ for indies, stays wary of Steam too originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Aug 2012 14:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink GamesIndustry  |  Reddit, Twitter (1), (2)  | Email this | Comments