PSA: Astrid task management service shuts down on August 5th

Astrid for Android

When Astrid was acquired by Yahoo in May, it warned us that its task management service would close within 90 days. Today, it has a more specific date: customers have until August 5th to export any data they can’t afford to lose. Astrid suggests alternative services like Any.DO, Sandglaz, Wrike and Wunderlist for those who want to import their tasks and pick up where they left off. The firmer schedule won’t ease the pain for Astrid loyalists, but it should prevent any rude surprises in the weeks ahead. Check out Astrid’s email to users after the break.

[Thanks, Alex]

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Source: Astrid, Sandglaz, Wrike

Boxee Cloud DVR to shut down following Samsung deal, goes dark July 10th

Boxee Cloud DVR, RIP

If you’re like us, you were wondering what impact Samsung’s acquisition of Boxee would have on Boxee’s Cloud DVR service. Unfortunately, we don’t have good news. Boxee is shutting down the service on July 10th, and customers will lose access to their TV recordings at the same time. We’re not surprised by the move, but it effectively shuts the company down within the space of a week. When Boxee’s apps, the Boxee Box and the Live TV add-on are either gone or on their way out, there aren’t really products left to offer — it’s all Samsung from here.

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Via: The Verge

Source: Boxee

Snapjoy photo sharing service shut down following Dropbox aquisition

Snapjoy photo sharing service shut down following Dropbox aquisition

Snapjoy has announced that it’ll be shuttering all of its services a mere six months after being acquired by cloud colossus Dropbox. In a blog post, the company said photos can no longer be imported into Snapjoy and the iPhone app is henceforth unavailable. If you’ve got images stored on the site, you’ll have exactly a month to get them downloaded, since after July 24th, “all photos and data will be permanently deleted.” The same thing happened to Audiogalaxy shortly after its acquisition by Dropbox, and of course other big fish like Google and Twitter are well known for similar behavior after eating smaller fish — though at least we saw the #Music fruits of Twitter’s buyout shortly after it happened. On the other hand, we’ve yet to see Dropbox do anything with Audiogalaxy, so we hope the defunct apps will be resurrected in some form soon.

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Via: CNET

Source: Snapjoy (Blog)

TuneWiki social music player to shut down on June 28th

TuneWiki social music player shutting down on June 28th

If you’ve been interested in social music listening, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of TuneWiki’s lyric syncing and discovery services. Unfortunately, you won’t be hearing about them for much longer — the company is shutting down on June 28th. The firm hasn’t explained its decision, but we wouldn’t count on any content working after the cutoff date. We’ve reached out for more details; for now, the only certainty is that lyric lovers will have to scramble for alternatives.

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Via: The Next Web

Source: TuneWiki

ESPN 3D to shut down citing ‘limited viewer adoption’, makes room for 4K sports

A lack of interest in 3D viewing at home has claimed one of its first major victims today, as ESPN announced its 3D channel is going to shut down. ESPN 3D launched back in 2010 with coverage of the FIFA World Cup, but it will not make it to the next one, or to see ESPN’s new Monday Night Football deal. In between it’s broadcast everything from golf to the X Games to the NBA Finals, along with college football national championship games and and a one-off news spot on E:60. AT&T’s U-verse dropped the channel in August 2011 after being one of the launch partners, but said it would come back due to a new agreement signed earlier this year. ESPN overcame many technology and cost hurdles to broadcasting 3D over the years, but in the end the chilly reception from the marketplace for 3D at home appears to have been too much to overcome. Another element that likely affected it were recent layoffs by parent company Disney, that Multichannel News reports included some jobs associated with ESPN 3D.

So what’s next for ESPN? According to a statement, “committing our 3D resources to other products and services that will better serve fans and affiliates.” That should include the 4K capabilities planned for its new facility in Bristol, but we’ll have to wait until it opens next year to find out. For now ESPN says it will be ready to provide 3D content again “if or when” the viewing format takes off — the release of another Avatar flick or TVs that don’t need glasses for 3D might help — now the question is if / when other early efforts like n3D and 3net could also be shelved.

[Thanks, @defiance]

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Source: ESPN 3D (Twitter)

Google Reader to shut down with other services in another ‘spring cleaning’

Google Reader to shut down with other services in another 'spring cleaning'

Last spring, Page and Co. retired iGoogle, Google Mini and other services as part of a ‘spring cleaning’ initiative to help it better focus its efforts, and another clean-up round has just begun. This time around, Google Reader and seven other services are getting the axe, bringing the firm’s total of features closed since 2011 to 70. Mountain View says it’s sunsetting the feed reader because it has “declined,” and that turning it off will allow it to pour its energy into fewer products. Reader will keep the lights on until July 1st, and diehard users will be able to keep their data and subscriptions by using the outfit’s Takeout tool.

Other products being put out to pasture include the company’s Building Maker, Cloud Connect, Apps Script’s GUI builder and five UiApp widgets, Search API for shopping and the CalDAV API (for developers who aren’t whitelisted, that is). The internet giant also announced — and confirmed our fears — that it’ll no longer sell or provide updates for Snapseed Desktop for Mac and Windows. Blackberry’s Google Voice app is being shelved as well, but the company suggests its HTML 5 experience is a nice alternative. By the sounds of it, CEO Larry Page is still making good on his promise to keep Google focused on fewer things. Hit the bordering source links for more details.

Update: Apps Script is sticking around, but its GUI Builder and a quintet of UiApp widgets are being deprecated.

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Source: Google Blog, Google Reader Blog

Large Hadron Collider stops for two years of tune-ups, goes out on a high note (video)

Large Hadron Collider goes silent for two years of repairs and retrofits

We’ve long known that the Large Hadron Collider would need to take a break, but that doesn’t take the edge off of the moment itself: as of Valentine’s Day, the particle accelerator has conducted its last test for the next two years. The giant research ring will undergo sweeping repairs and upgrades that should should give it the superconducting connectors needed to hit the originally planned 14TeV of combined collision energy, versus the 8TeV it’s been limited to almost since the beginning. CERN’s machine arguably earned the downtime. After a rough start, it went on to produce rafts of collision data and healthy evidence of the elusive Higgs boson. If you’re still down, think of the hiatus as doing us a favor — it postpones any world-ending disasters until around 2015.

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Via: Ars Technica

Source: CERN

Posterous closing on April 30th to focus on Twitter

Posterous closing on April 30th to focus on Twitter

It’s almost inevitable as breathing: a tech powerhouse acquires a clever yet small startup solely for its talent or technology, and lets any leftover services wither away. Posterous’ decision to shut down following its 2012 acquisition by Twitter is very nearly a textbook example. The 4-year-old firm will close its Posterous Spaces service on April 30th to shift all of its attention to Twitter, giving customers just over two months to back up their content. There is an unusual twist to this seemingly predictable story, however. Those still using Spaces will have a place to go — along with Squarespace and WordPress import tools, Posterous founders Brett Gibson and Garry Tan are planning to launch Posthaven as a (not entirely intentional) refuge. Diehards will still have reason to mourn the end of an era, but the closure at least won’t be the end to their creations.

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Via: TechCrunch

Source: Posterous

More OnLive management moves: Perlman out, as investor Lauder settles for Chairman

More OnLive management moves, Perlman out as investor Lauder settles for Chairman

As the OnLive storm continues to ride itself out, details of who the winners and losers are (mainly losers) keep washing up on the shore. Today’s casualty seems to be CEO Steve Perlman himself, who — just days after the firm reinventing itself — is “departing to work on his myriad of other projects.” In his place the former COO, Charlie Jablonski, is temporarily taking the reins, as well as continuing his role as head of operations in the new organization. Finally, completing this wave of announcements, is the news that chief investor, Gary lauder, will officially take the title of Chairman. So, as the new incarnation settles into its new structure, we’ll just have to sit tight, waiting to see what the next chapter in the OnLive story is.

Continue reading More OnLive management moves: Perlman out, as investor Lauder settles for Chairman

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More OnLive management moves: Perlman out, as investor Lauder settles for Chairman originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Aug 2012 08:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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OnLive officially announces asset acquisition, notes that its newly formed company will keep OnLive name

OnLive officially announces asset transfer, notes that its newly formed company will keep OnLive name

Amid the rumors, sourced reports and statements, it was easy to lose track of the facts surrounding OnLive’s recent restructuring efforts. No surprise then, that the newly formed outfit has issued a press release and FAQ (after the break) in hopes will clear things up. First and foremost, the firm reiterates that the streaming game service will continue operating uninterrupted, and that the “newly formed company” that acquired the firm’s assets will continue to do business under the OnLive name. The announcement also mentions the Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors (ABC) process OnLive used to settle its debts, noting that “an affiliate” of Lauder Partners, a technology investment firm, was the new OnLive’s first investor. Finally, the firm laments the necessity of laying off its staff, stating that “neither OnLive, Inc. shares nor OnLive staff could transfer under this type of transaction,” confirming that nearly half of the previous staff had been offered positions at the new company, and optimistically projecting future hires culled from both previous and new employees. The new OnLive calls the asset acquisition “a heartbreaking transition for everyone involved,” but looks optimistically to a future of “transforming the OnLive vision into reality.” Check out OnLive’s full, official word on the matter below.

Continue reading OnLive officially announces asset acquisition, notes that its newly formed company will keep OnLive name

OnLive officially announces asset acquisition, notes that its newly formed company will keep OnLive name originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Aug 2012 22:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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