Wii Fit on Track to Outsell GTA IV This Year

The market for video games is changing profoundly, and a comparison of two prominent titles’ recent sales figures shows just how much: Wii Fit, a game largely marketed to women, is outpacing the latest installment of one of the industry’s biggest franchises, Grand Theft Auto.

With some 8.7 million units sold worldwide, Nintendo’s Wii Fit has already grossed far more money than Take-Two’s Grand Theft Auto IV. (Roughly 10.6 million copies of GTA IV have been sold for the Xbox 360 and the PS3 combined, but that game retails at about $60 vs. $90 for Wii Fit.) And though both titles went on sale in the U.S. within three weeks of each other last spring, GTA IV has long ceased to be a top seller. Nintendo’s exercise game, meanwhile, continues selling phenomenally well– about 225,000 units a week for the last couple of months.

At that rate, Wii Fit will outsell GTA IV in absolute units before the end of 2008. Since I whipped up the rough forecast chart below with data from VGChartz.com, a valuable but imperfect reference, I double-checked my prediction with Wedbush Morgan’s Michael Pachter, who is considered by many to be the best gaming sector analyst around.

“Wii Fit is attaching at around a 30 percent rate,” he said via e-mail, meaning that nearly one in three owners of Nintendo’s console are buying Wii Fit, “so I suppose if that continues, it will outsell GTA.”

A blockbuster franchise for nearly a decade, Grand Theft Auto’s fantasy world of antisocial behavior has helped solidify a stereotype of gamers as 18-34 males, but the market has expanded far beyond that sector. Wii Fit’s success is the most prominent, emblematic example of that shift. And an ironic one at that: Every edition of GTA has aroused complaints over its portrayal of women. Yet this year, it’s women consumers who will help steal Grand Theft Auto IV’s thunder.

Michael Pachter characterized the notion of Wii Fit outselling GTA IV as “less of a comment on GTA than a comment on the potential for other games to thrive.” In that regard, he’s even more interested in the Wii Fit’s Balance Board peripheral, for which other developers are making new titles. “I consider Wii Fit more of a platform than a game,” he wrote me, “as I think the compelling feature is the potential for other games like Shaun White, Rayman, or even a new Tony Hawk game. And don’t forget Jillian Michaels Fitness.” Most of those titles (sports, family, and fitness games) come out this holiday season, and if Pachter is right, many more will follow. Then Wii Fit won’t just outsell GTA IV– thanks in large part to the women who bought the game in droves, its domination will drive much of the industry’s future development, too.

Resource - GigaOm

More BlackBerry app store details emerge

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--Mike Lazaridis, Research In Motion's co-founder and co-CEO, has just given the 700 registered developers at the first-ever BlackBerry Developer Conference sound but strange advice. The key to successful BlackBerry development isn't just good programming, Lazaridis told the room, it's physics.

Very specific physics, it turns out. Lazaridis pointed to an image of a box with the words Bandwidth, Capacity, Performance, and Battery Life, written in each corner. These are the four principles of BlackBerry's "physics," he said. If developers push too hard to achieve high broadband speeds, for instance, capacity drops. On individual devices, there is a trade-off between battery life and performance.

"This is one box that it's wise not to think outside," Lazaridis joked.

Lazaridis' insight is one reason that scores of developers have gathered at the Silicon Valley conference. Another is meeting with technical experts for hands-on advice to ready their applications for the sleek BlackBerry Bold and touch-screen BlackBerry Storm--slated to hit stores within the next few weeks--and for the BlackBerry application store--anticipated to debut in March 2009.

The on-device BlackBerry Application Center and online BlackBerry Application Storefront will make it easier for the 20 million BlackBerry users on all platforms to find and download add-on applications for their specific phone models.

Applications for AOL, Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, Gmail, and Windows Live Hotmail are among others soon available; developers can also submit their code for inclusion in the store as early as December.

Application authors will get to keep 80 percent of the proceeds, RIM said in a statement, while the other 20 percent goes, presumably, to RIM and to the carriers, when users download applications from the carrier-controlled store on their phone.

RIM also announced an in-progress partnership with PayPal that makes the online bill pay company likely as the prevailing payment system for purchases made on the online Blackberry Application Storefront.

BlackBerry's browser forms another part of the application story. The version 4.6 browser packaged in the BlackBerry Bold, for instance, will operate much more like a desktop browser, with greater support for CSS, Ajax, HTML, XHTML, and DOM L2 code. This is a move that RIM hopes will attract even more application developers to populate the online and on-device stores, particularly those more experienced in programming to Web standards.

Resource - CNET

Motorola intros avant-garde $2,000 AURA, markets it like a Rolex

We can't remember the last time we purchased a phone because it possessed 700+ individual components, a stainless steel housing or a front plate that takes a fortnight to create, but Motorola's hoping you start to care about that kind of minutiae right about now. The admittedly gorgeous AURA (previously coined V70) is the world's first handset with a 16-million color circular display, and aside from making / receiving calls with the utmost clarity, it also boasts a Swiss-made main bearing, 62-carat sapphire crystal lens, a 2-megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, microUSB port, quad-band GSM connectivity, a microSD card slot, multimedia player and up to 7.3-hours of talk time (400-hours in standby). The 4.97-ounce handset is available exclusively from the MOTO STORE for $1,999.99, with pre-orders shipping out beginning December 4th. Who's in?

[Thanks, Paulo and Jake]

Read - Dedicated AURA website
Read - Motorola AURA press release
Resource - Engadget

Apple Stops Mac Mini Shipments to Retailers, Says to Expect No More

The Mac mini may be pronounced dead as soon as today's Apple earnings conference call, as two major retailers in Europe have confirmed to me that they can't order any more of the little computers. While this could signal an updated model coming in, they have been told by Apple to expect no more of it. Their impression is that—once again—the Mac Mini may be dead dead DEAD for real, even while you can still order it at the Apple Store.

It would be weird to see it go in this time of crisis, but being their worst-selling computer, I'm not surprised.

The Mac mini was first introduced in January 2005 at the Macworld Conference & Expo. Labeled by Steve Jobs as the "most affordable Mac ever" it was well received by the critic and public. Apple positioned it as a cheap alternative to the Mac Pro for every PC user who wanted to switch to the Mac without having to buy new peripherals.

However, the son of the Apple Cube failed to grab traction, just like its predecesor. As the iMac and MacBooks kept being the number one sellers for the Cupertino company, the Mac mini kept receding into the background, even while receiving six hardware updates since its introduction. The last one was in November 2007, and it's quite outdated compared to the current hardware: Unlike the rest of the Mac hardware, it lacks 802.11n support, uses the older 667 MHz front side bus and 945GM chipset, which is two generations behind everything else.

If the termination of the Mac mini is finally confirmed, it will be sad to see it go. Hopefully, this may mean that a new update is in the works or that it will get replaced by something else, but seeing how most people don't seem to give a damn about the Apple Tax, judging from the MacBooks selling like hot cakes at the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue, I won't count on it. [Thanks Conito]

Resource - Gizmodo

Panasonic unveils new ToughBooks

update Panasonic has updated its ToughBook range with the release of four notebooks, and a new rugged ultra-mobile PC.

The new mobile computers range from semi-rugged to fully rugged, and are aimed primarily at utilities, telecom companies and government agencies with a mobile workforce. The five new computers unveiled include two semi-rugged business notebooks, two fully rugged notebooks and one UPMC.

Panasonic's two new semi-rugged notebooks are the CF-52, a 15.4-inch desktop replacement, and the CF-W7, a 12.1-inch lightweight business notebook. The CF-52 features Intel's new Centrino 2 platform along with "ShirleyPeak" (a/b/g/n) Wi-Fi technology. It is available locally for a recommended retail price of $3,000. Panasonic's CF-W7 is based on Intel's first Centrino platform, and is available for $3,600.

Panasonic's new fully rugged toughbooks include the 10.4-inch CF-19 and the 13.3-inch CF-30. Both notebooks carry an IP54 rating, which certifies them as protected against water and dust, along with drop protection at up to 90cm. Both notebooks feature Intel Core 2 Duo processors, and run off Intel's first Centrino platform. The CF-30 has an RRP of $7000 while the CF-19 has an RRP of $6000.

Panasonic has also introduced a new model to the ToughBook range with the CF-U1, a UMPC weighing 1.06kg, which shares the IP54 rating of the other fully rugged toughbooks. The CF-U1 includes a 5.4-inch LED touchscreen, hot swappable dual Li-Ion batteries, a solid state drive, Wi-Fi and an Intel Atom processor. The CF-U1 also includes a QWERTY keypad, and is available for an RRP of $3,500.

Local Panasonic ruggedised notebook customers include Telstra, Sydney Water, National Foods, Coca-Cola Amatil, Bluescope steel, Mitsubishi Motors and Ambulance Victoria.

Android Source-Code released: Google keep Open-Source promise

Google have, as promised, released the Android source-code for their mobile platform. Timed to coincide with the launch of the T-Mobile G1, the first commercially released Android device, the source-code will allow developers and OEMs to create software and new devices. In addition, Google are hoping that the software community will feed back into the Android project, adding fresh functionality and driving platform innovation.

Until now, access to the Android SDK was limited to certain developers and testers; from now, however, it will available to anybody who wishes to download it. The move stands in complete contrast to Apple, whose iPhone OS is both a closed environment and a strongly guarded one. Google, however, are actively encouraging coders to manipulate, change and improve the Android source-code; indeed, some functionality, including on on-screen QWERTY keyboard, will not be present in Android v.1 out of the box, and require a third-party to develop.

You can access the Android source-code, together with documentation and support, at http://source.android.com/. Don’t forget, if it’s help with coding, ideas for what new features would be popular, or talk about Android and the G1 that you’re looking for, you’ll find it in the Android Community forums.
Resource -

Laos opens officially 3G Mobile Network

Laos, Oct 21 (KPL) - Lao Telecomunication Company intruduced officially to use its a third generation (3G) mobile phone network last Friday in Vientiane Capital after having a month-delay.

An official opening ceremony of the 3rd generation (3G) mobile phone network was held at Done Chan Palace hotel and attended by Deputy Prime Minister and National Defence Minister, Lieutenant General Duangchai Phichit, Lao Telecom Director General Thansamay Kommasith as well as representatives of private and state organisations.

Opening the service on 3G in Laos is aimed to open more optional opportunties for different customers to access high-speed internet and receive video calls via their mobile phones. Laos is one of 10 ASEAN nations, which brought the 3G mobile phone network to use its country.

Mr Thansamay Kommasith, Director General of Lao Telecom Director said that before the network was originally planned to be launched in August 2008, but was postponed due to unclear-panning works. Later news, our company decided to open official use of 3G mobile phone network last Friday, when our all works completed following setting-plan.

Lao Telecom invested more than US$ 25 million to bring 3G mobile phone network in to Laos, initially it will allow only Vientiane residents to use it before other provinces. By 2009 it will expand to three provinces such as Savannakhet, Luang Prabang and Champassack provinces.

The third generation mobile network system is able to provide the multimedia services and link to the Internet faster than the 2nd generation mobile network so customers can download video clips to their handsets, including sports updates, music files, news headlines, weather forecasts and movie trailers, said Thansamay
“only 2 months of this year, We hope to meet at least 30,000 customers specifically Vientiane Capital and next year its customers will be increased more than 100, 000 people” Thansamay said.(KPL)

Resource - MCOT