EA Apologizes For SimCity Snafu

EA Apologizes For SimCity SnafuYes, we are quite sure that many of us out there are more than aware of the uproar that has surrounded EA for some time already, especially with the botched release of SimCity 2013, a title that has plenty of potential to be a blockbuster, but unfortunately, issues with its server has not endeared the game to most folks. What made the situation worse is EA not responding to a refund request where digital copies of the game were purchased, and Maxis (the company behind SimCity) GM, Lucy Bradshaw, mentioned that their programmers have been working hard to add new servers, although capacity alone is not their main concern.

Brandshaw said, ”We have teams producing new servers, but we’ve identified that many of our issues were related to how [SimCity’s] GlassBox [engine] managed the vast amount of simulation data through its database. We’ve addressed that and we’ve seen an 80% decrease in connectivity or responsiveness issues.” Hopefully things will look up for all you Sim-loving folks in the week ahead!

Not only that, EA has plans to offer one free game from its catalog to those who are affected. Hopefully it will be something updated and not from the past.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: TeleSound Kickstarter Project , Samsung Galaxy Camera Wi-Fi Announced,

TeleSound Kickstarter Project

TeleSound Kickstarter Project Designers Olivier Mével and Marc Chareyron have come up with what they call the TeleSound, which is a speaker that will clearly bring back memories of the classic 1960s rotary phone. What makes the TeleSound up to date with the current 21st century is its ability to play back the sound equivalent that it received from emoticon messages that were sent from a smartphone or a tablet. This is a cute idea, but whether it will be able to take off in a big way remains to be seen, of course.

TeleSound has worked with Emoji so that they are able to offer more than a thousand different sounds, ensuring that it does not get old (that fast). For instance, the birthday cake icon will result in a clip from “Happy Birthday” being played, while the lips icon will send a kissing sound, et al. Just choose a friend, type one or a series of icons, and send them, where the receiving party with the TeleSound will then be able to enjoy whatever you sent. [Kickstarter Page]

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Samsung Galaxy Camera Wi-Fi Announced, Blackberry Files Patent For A 180-Degree Hinge,

Samsung Galaxy Camera Wi-Fi Announced

Samsung Galaxy Camera Wi Fi AnnouncedWe are rather avid fans of the Samsung Galaxy Camera, as that is one sharpshooter that captures decent enough images during road shows and press conferences, and has the ability to upload captured photos to a particular destination online automatically without requiring you to perform a manual drag-and-drop operation. Having said that, Samsung must’ve smelled an opportunity to release a gimped version of this digital camera in the form of the Samsung Galaxy Camera Wi-Fi. Needless to say, it has everything the original Samsung Galaxy Camera carries, sans 3G connectivity, meaning, you only get Wi-Fi support with this puppy.

I guess the Samsung Galaxy Camera Wi-Fi will target those who do not mind having an Android-powered digital camera in tow, except that it will not be able to deliver all your captured photos to the cloud immediately, but at least there are no pesky memory card readers for you to dabble with, either, as it can wirelessly transfer the stored images to a computer or onto the cloud. There is no word on pricing, but slap me silly and call me Sally if the Samsung Galaxy Camera Wi-Fi were to be priced higher than the 3G-capable Galaxy Camera itself. [Press Release]

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By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Blackberry Files Patent For A 180-Degree Hinge, Slacker Music Application Rebranded,

Blackberry Files Patent For A 180-Degree Hinge

Blackberry Files Patent For A 180 Degree Hinge

Blackberry in a bid to redesign their phones has applied for a 180-degree hinge patent. The patent comes at a time when flip phone form factor has taken a back seat with designers.  Blackberry has been known to experiment with their smartphone designs, and have come up with phones like the Storm, which came with a touchscreen or the Torch, which has a sliding keypad.  The hinge patent is pointing to a new experiment.

However, do keep in mind certain things about mobile companies filing for patents. With patent wars and costly lawsuits being very common, companies file patents all the time, even if the actual design might never be added to a device. Also this specific patent deals only with the hinge, and it is uncertain at this time if the hinge will be a part of a new smartphone or maybe it will be utilized in a tablet.

Blackberry has been aggressively tackling the smartphone market, first with the company name re-branding and then with the launch of the Z10 and Blackberry 10 OS. The hinge design might just prove to be the next amazing breakthrough from Blackberry. Would you like to see this feature in your next smartphone ? Read up on the Patent at the official US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) website.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Slacker Music Application Rebranded, DIY Circuit Board Wedding Invitation Is The Bomb,

Slacker Music Application Rebranded

Slacker Music Application Rebranded
Yesterday I attended Slacker launch event in San Francisco where Jim Cady, the CEO, introduced the new Slacker Music Service with its new branding and revamped website and mobile application.

Founded in 2006 as a satellite radio company, Slacker became a free digital music radio service just like Pandora, and finally delivered a complete premium music service such as Spotify, Mog or Rhapsody in 2011. The redesigned application now offers over 13 millions songs across 200 music genre stations, news and sports via ABC and ESPN, new customization features and exclusive content from expert curators.

The service is free and for $3.99 per month, listeners can get a commercial free experience and unlimited song skips (Slacker Radio Plus). The Slacker Premium service with music on-demand and custom playlists costs $9.99 a month, a similar price to competitive services.



Slacker Music Application Rebranded


Slacker Music Application Rebranded


Slacker Music Application Rebranded


Slacker Music Application Rebranded


Slacker Music Application Rebranded


Launch event photos
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By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Quik.io media sharing app comes out of beta , Nexus 4 and Nexus 10 Get Android Update Before Availability,

DIY Circuit Board Wedding Invitation Is The Bomb

Getting married can be quite a stressful affair if you want to have all the bells and whistles come together, but here we are with Bill Porter and his fiancee Mara who have a thing for technology, plenty of technical know-how, patience to do it themselves, and ultimately, love for each other. Their wedding theme is “Circuits and Swirls,” which is why a regular paper invitation is not going to cut the mustard, hence they decided to create their own custom wedding invitations that will come complete with embedded circuit boards which will light up when opened.

Microcontroller-powered blinking LEDs that are strategically placed within will be powered by a tiny battery and a light sensor. His old school Xerox Phaser laser printer managed to print out around 50 flexible PCBs with the help of some copper-clad kapton tape. Not only that, there has been an Easter Egg built-in, where each card will flash a secret Morse code message whenever the light sensor detects far less light than normal. This is definitely a wedding invitation card which is worth treasuring, especially when you consider how much work and effort went into it.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Dropbox Goes Beyond Managing Files, Announces Document Previews And Photo Sharing, Nokia Begins To See Progress,

Dropbox Goes Beyond Managing Files, Announces Document Previews And Photo Sharing

dropbox Dropbox Goes Beyond Managing Files, Announces Document Previews And Photo SharingSteve Ballmer might be dissing Dropbox as a “little startup,” but the company is at least making efforts, giant steps if I may call it, to improvement. Dropbox announced a new feature called Dropbox Documents Preview today at its headquarters in San Francisco. The new feature will basically allow users to browse or preview files in various formats (.doc, .docx, PDFs, PowerPoint files), saving you the worry of having to download the wrong file. Unfortunately, Microsoft Excel files are not supported for now. Users will be able to view a pop-up window to preview documents. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: DIY Circuit Board Wedding Invitation Is The Bomb, Nokia Begins To See Progress,

8 More Samsung Devices Coming Our Way

11 Samsung logo 8 More Samsung Devices Coming Our WaySamsung might have made an announcement concerning the Samsung Galaxy Express earlier today, but this does not mean that apart from that, Samsung has no more “aces” up its sleeve, so to speak. We have reliable information that there is a bunch of other smartphones coming from Samsung later this year, although these do not seem to touch the high end side of the market as the Samsung Galaxy S4 is definitely missing from the list.

Other entry level and mid-range devices from Samsung that have yet to be announced officially include the Galaxy Frame, Galaxy Pocket 2, Galaxy Young, Galaxy Star, Galaxy Core, Galaxy Fonblet 5.8, Galaxy Fonblet 6.3 alongside an unconfirmed device that carries the code name HomeSync which sports model number GT-B9150. Who knows, this unconfirmed device could very well be the special device that Samsung will unveil at next month’s Mobile World Congress. We will be at MWC on the ground to cover the showfloor, so we hope to bring you hands-on details of what’s to come then!

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Nokia Begins To See Progress, WTconference 2013, Munich/ Europe,

Nokia Begins To See Progress

Nokia Nokia Begins To See ProgressIt looks like Nokia’s hard work is beginning to pay off. Nokia has released its full year 2012 and Q4 financial report today. In its report, Nokia said that it was able to sell 4.4 million Lumia smartphones, 9.3 million Asha full touch smartphones, and 2.2 million Symbian smartphones. The sales also caused an uptick, reaching $10.73 billion in overall profit for the previous quarter. But when balanced with Nokia’s restructuring costs and other expenses, the remaining profit was reduced to $585 million. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: WTconference 2013, Munich/ Europe, Google+ For iPhone And iPad Launches In 48 More Countries,

WTconference 2013, Munich/ Europe

WT Banner 640 WTconference 2013, Munich/ EuropeThe WTconference is back in Munich on February 4, 2013. Learn what’s next in the realm of Wearable Technologies and meet all key players in this field of technology.

Our famous conference is the biggest networking event within the Wearable Technologies market place. We expect delegates from all over the world to the European version of our conference. You will meet stakeholders from almost all areas of Wearable Technologies – this unique mix of people makes the event very special!

You will hear interesting talks from companies, researchers, developers and artists in the following areas: Sports & Fitness, Health Technology & Products and Consumer & Lifestyle.

Ubergizmo is a media partner of  WTconference and our readers get a 100 euros discount on the registration fee: write the word Ubergizmo in the comment field on the registration page to get it.
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By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Venture Summit Silicon Valley by AlwaysOn – Live Video Streaming, InsideAR Augmented Reality Conference: Munich, Oct 1-2,