A week before its new Surface tablet hits the market, Microsoft has launched its first ad for the device, giving nothing away about its price....or anything else for that matter.

OK here we go, it’s lift-off for Microsoft’s Surface ad campaign, a week before the tablet is due to launch.

Microsoft’s first ad for its new tablet is a stylish 60-second skit, an all-clicking, all-dancing affair featuring, among others, young families, business workers, dancing schoolgirls, smooching senior citizens and a whole lot of colorful Surface tablets. The wide range of participants in the ad is the Redmond-based company saying, “Hey, this tablet’s for you (oh, and you and you and……).”

It’s more of a teaser than anything else – there’s nothing about specs and no pricing information – designed to create awareness and make those who haven’t heard about Microsoft’s first foray into the tablet world look up and say, “What’s that all about then?”

The ad starts in silence – you might think your video player is on mute at first. Then things start to make sense. It’s all about the click – the click the tablet makes when it connects with its magnetic Touch Cover keyboard; the click it makes when the kickstand is put into action. Within seconds, the screen is filled with a mass of dancing people clicking their tablets to the music. And, well, that’s about it. You can check out the new ad below.

Microsoft’s upcoming Surface tablet has a 10.6-inch display with a 16:9 aspect ratio and comes together with the Touch Cover click-on (yes, it clicks on, did we mention that?) keyboard. The tablet comprises two models, one powered by Windows 8 Pro and a more basic version running Windows RT.

The RT model launches next week while the Surface Pro is expected to be available early 2013.

The Surface’s price tag is still a mystery, though last month Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer dashed hopes of a cut-price tablet when he suggested a likely launch price of between $300 and $800. C’mon Steve, you could’ve narrowed the range a little, no?

Next week looks set to be a busy one in the world of tablet computers, with Apple reportedly unveiling (no, really, it might be happening) its iPad Mini on October 23, three days before the launch of the Surface.

Electronic Arts' Origin has played second fiddle to Valve's Steam since it opened last year, with an audience of just 11 million members compared to 35 million. The publisher got an unexpected PR windfall over the weekend when it accidentally gave away unlimited free credit.

Origin, Electronic Arts’ digital distribution service on PC, isn’t the failure some expected it to be when EA opened it for business in 2011. As of May the service had 11 million registered users. It’s not quite up to the standard of its primary competitor, Valve’s Steam, which enjoys a community of more than 35 million users, but it’s growing.

EA did wonders for the service’s public recently, though, when it began giving out unlimited credit to users that participated in simple survey. Of course, it was an accident that Electronic Arts gave away games for free for days in a row.

As reported by Edge, EA ran a promotion wherein users who filled out a survey received a coupon giving $20 in Origin credit. The problem was that the coupon code didn’t expire after it was used in Origin, meaning that many users simply kept downloading as many games as they could. Electronic Arts didn’t shut it down until Sunday. “The coupon code is now expired; we’ll honor all sales made with the coupon code over the weekend,” said EA community manager Sam Houston in the publisher’s official forums.

Valve has lured in thousands of gamers with its short-lived huge discount sales. EA may have bested them at their own game, but aren’t businesses still supposed to make money?

With 2 million paying subscribers, you would think that Acitvision would want to keep Call of Duty Elite a premium service. With the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, it will become totally free. Why? Activision can make more money per player that way.

The era of the video game subscription seems to be closing. Massively multiplayer online role-playing games like Star Wars: The Old Republic are giving up subscriptions after being open for just one year. It’s not just MMOs though. Activision and Electronic Arts were both hoping that subscriptions would open up a new stream of revenue from players of their big first-person shooter games Call of Duty and Battlefield. While both Call of Duty Elite and Battlefield Premium drew in a large number of members, at least Activision is calling it quits. Going forward, all Call of Duty Elite services will be free for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.

Activision announced the change to its Call of Duty network via a press release on Monday morning. Unlike with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Elite members can no longer pay to receive early access to downloadable content. It is replacing this service, at least on Xbox 360, with a $50 season pass for access to the downloadable content packs planned for the next year. Wii U, PlayStation 3, and PC owners will be out of luck though, as Microsoft’s console is the only one mentioned. (Activision did tell Joystiq that it’s “working with Nintendo” to get the DLC and season pass into the Wii U version of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.)

Call of Duty Elite, while a questionable success according to users, was undeniably successful as a business. As of May, Activision has 10 million registered Elite uses, 2 million of which were paying customers. That’s a fraction of the 40 million monthly active users playing Modern Warfare 3 at the time, but a substantial sum of new revenue all the same.

The method for generating that revenue wasn’t smooth enough though, and it created divisions in the Call of Duty community. Michael Olson, a market analyst with investment bank Piper Jaffray, said that by making Call of Duty Elite free, Activision stands to generate more than $80 per Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 player as opposed to the $75 to $80 generated by the average Modern Warfare 3 player.

That’s certainly good news for Activision in the long term. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is expected to be the most successful release in the franchise. GameStop president Tony Bartel told MCV on Monday, “We are seeing the highest pre-orders in history. With its current pace, this Call of Duty is on track to break records and is likely to be our biggest game launch of all time.”

Find the best Samsung Galaxy S3 accessories available in this roundup.

When you’re done gazing lovingly at your new phone you’ll probably want some bits and pieces to integrate it with your life. That’s why we’ve dug around and compiled this list of the best Samsung Galaxy S3 accessories around. Surprisingly for a device that has been selling like hot cakes there aren’t many dedicated accessory options. Let’s take a closer look.

If it’s protection you’re after then check out our best Samsung Galaxy S3 cases roundup.

RND Power Solutions Deluxe Cradle/Desktop Docking Station for Samsung Galaxy S3 ($19)

The official Galaxy S3 dock from Samsung is not great, but this alternative option from RND Power Solutions is cheap and it does the job well. The naked S3 fits perfectly, but you can also remove the insert so the phone will fit in with a case on. Don’t expect it to cope with a really bulky case, though. The dock keeps your phone at a handy angle and you can plug it in to charge with the AC power adaptor or use the USB micro cable to plug it in to your computer. It is simple and effective.

Samsung Galaxy S3 C Pen ($30)

That big screen is one of the main selling points for the Galaxy S3 so you might find a stylus useful. Samsung manufactures the C Pen, which allows you to sketch and make notes more easily. It obviously offers a lot more precision than your fingertip and it won’t leave any smudges behind either.

Jabra Stone 2 Bluetooth Headset ($130)

One of the most useful Galaxy S3 accessories you can pick up is a hands-free Bluetooth headset. Whether you like to talk in the car or while you pace up and down your office, a headset from Jabra is a great move. The Stone 2 is expensive but it comes with a stylish recharging station and a fantastic range of features. It is really lightweight and comfortable to wear and you can answer or reject calls with voice commands. The sound quality is also excellent thanks to the dual microphone.

Arkon Running & Working Armband ($18)

Stretchable, sweat resistant neoprene is ideal for a workout armband. You can slot your Galaxy S3 into the Arkon Running & Workout Armband and there’s a clear plastic cover for easy access. There is also an all-important cutout for the audio jack so you can listen to music while you jog or workout. The Arkon armband even has reflective strips to improve your visibility and increase your safety.

Samsung TecTiles ($15)

These are pretty gimmicky but they also allow you to take advantage of your NFC feature. Samsung’s TecTiles are basically NFC tags that you can program via the related app. You can then hold your phone next to the tag and it will automatically update your device or do whatever you wish. You could set one to put your phone into silent mode and set an alarm for the morning. Leave it on your bedside table and when you place your S3 there at night, you’re all set for a good night’s sleep and a wake up alarm.

The possibilities with these are endless and you get five in a pack. You have the option of locking them so they can’t be changed or you can leave them unlocked and reprogram them whenever you like.

Jawbone Jambox ($200)

If you want a wireless Bluetooth speaker for music or to use as a speakerphone then the Jawbone Jambox is your best bet. It is stylish, portable, and it packs a real punch. You can get about 10 hours out of it between charges so it’s a handy option for anyone on the go. It’s ideal for jacking up the sound on a movie or listening to music, whether you’re lounging around the house or out and about.

AllShare Cast Dongle ($100)

This handy device allows you to stream content wirelessly from your Galaxy S3 to your HDTV. If you don’t have a smart TV, but you do have an HDTV with a spare HDMI port then this is the perfect solution for mirroring your S3 screen on your big screen. You can watch videos, photo slideshows, and movies, play games, or even set up a presentation with this portable device.

Arkon SM410 Universal Windshield with Dashboard and Vent Mount ($15)

The official Samsung car mount is not cheap. This option from Arkon is not specifically designed for the Samsung Galaxy S3 but it will work fine because it’s fully adjustable and there’s room to plug in the charger with the phone in the mount. With this great value pack you have the choice of using the suction cup or the vent mount. The suction option works better.

Phiaton PS 210 BTNC Bluetooth Earphones ($160)

Standard earphones that ship with phones are rarely ideal for true audiophiles so our recommendation for you is these earphones from Phiaton. These wireless Bluetooth earphones feature active noise cancellation and great quality sound without breaking the bank. Read our full Phiaton PS 210 BTNC earphones review for more information.

Got any other Galaxy S3 accessories you’d like to recommend? The official dock from Samsung is not ideal and we’ve yet to find a really attractive option, so let us know about it if you’ve found one you really like.

Developer Giant Sparrow is following the trail left by Thatgamecompany’s, and has created a digitally distributed game for the PS3 that will entertain and amuse gamers with a story that is filled with charm and heart, and is over all too soon.

There is a very good chance that someday in the future we will look back at 2012 as the year when the traditional business model for gaming began to change. Later this year, we will see the release of the Wii U, and there are certainly several major games still due out to join the catalog of excellent titles from this year, but one of the biggest trends in gaming this year has been the increase in exceptional digitally distributed games, like Journey, The Walking Dead, and Papo & Yo. You can go ahead and throw The Unfinished Swan on that list.

The last year has seen the release of several incredible games that have been released via digital distribution, and that is a trend that shows no signs of ebbing. More and more developers are looking at the format as a way to release inventive and creative games that may not fit anywhere else, including on the expanding mobile platforms. Journey is a 3-4 hour game without a single word of dialogue, and yet it is one of the best multiplayer experiences of the year. Quantum Conundrum is a bit too short to compete with the full AAA release of Portal 2, but it is an admirable addition to the library of any puzzle fan. Neither, however, would fit on a mobile device, and neither would survive as a full retail release. The medium is growing, and an increasing number of games like The Unfinished Swan, games with an original slant and a heartfelt narrative, are going to be what drives it.

As an ambassador to the medium, The Unfinished Swan did its job admirably. The game is beautiful, the design is engaging, the story is charming. And even if you don’t enjoy any of those aspects, most will agree that it is a work of art. 

The Unfinished Swan is the story of a lonely orphan boy named Monroe who notices that his mother’s unfinished painting of a swan is suddenly missing the swan. He investigates and finds himself in a world dominated by color — or the absence of it. Using a paintball like projectile, he begins to uncover the hidden environment around him, and in doing so learns about the king of the realm, a ruler that created his kingdom through drawings.

The story is told through several hidden narrative blocks you come across, each of which plays out like a page from a fairy tale being read to you by a soothing, maternal sounding narrator. Each of the game’s four chapters reveals more about the King and his kingdom, eventually leading to a revelation that will change Monroe’s life as well as your understanding of the game.

If you have been following the game, then you may have seen a portion of the opening, which is an entirely white world that you uncover and define with black paint. The setting borders on ominous as you see the outline of a monster swim by you in a stream, and the lack of pigment (with the exception of a few blotches of color that mark some significant moment or offer you direction) can be a tad unsettling.

But soon enough, the monochromatic canvas yields to a castle seen through defining shadows, complete with a maze and a bizarre geometry that is dominated by growing vines that you feed to help you through otherwise impassable sections. That then propels you to a world of night, with color accentuating and creating the form, and protecting you from the unknown. Color is a fundamental part of this game, and it is one that is used to brilliant effect, even just through its absence.  

While adding paint to the world is the primary mechanic you use, it is just one of several gameplay offerings. The game is never complex. There is very little in the way of problem solving, at least until later in the game, when you create blocks that then are mirrored in another world, but that is usually just a matter of filling in the blocks rather than making any decisions. Along the way you will hunt balloons which you cash in for upgrades that offer a few new gameplay elements, but you can complete the entire game easily without unlocking anything.

The Unfinished Swan is not a game in the traditional sense, but rather an interactive narrative that has moments of gamesmanship. That doesn’t make it any less compelling though, as the story and design of the game have an undeniable charm that will make you want to uncover the next story panel and see the next section. It all leads to a final moment that is skillfully handled, and an ending that should leave you smiling.

The biggest issue with the game is simply its length. You can power through the game in 2-3 hours. If you meticulously search for every collectible balloon you can probably push that by 30 minutes to an hour, maybe, but that is the absolute maximum. With that truncated length also comes underutilized mechanics. A great deal more could have been made of the mechanics if there were additional time to explore them. Judging The Unfinished Swan by that standard, $14.99 might seem a bit steep. But when you consider the price of a movie ticket, paying roughly the same amount for 3 hours of interactive narrative that is emotional and beautiful, isn’t a bad deal at all.

Conclusion

Putting the length aside, the game is a triumph of minimalism. You won’t feel the thrill of completing a difficult puzzle or take pride in defeating a difficult boss – The Unfinished Swan isn’t that type of game. In fact, it isn’t really clear what type of game it is until you complete it and have time to digest it all.

The Unfinished Swan does two things it likely didn’t set out to do, but will certainly be pleased to know: First, it further legitimizes the medium of digitally distributed games, and could encourage even more developers to experiment. Secondly, it adds new ammunition to the cause of games as art. A bit more content that made more use of the gameplay mechanics would have helped push it further into the mainstream, but there is no question: The Unfinished Swan is a work of art.

Score: 8.5 out of 10

(This game was reviewed on a copy provided to us by the publisher)

Even though the TransPhone is only showing up the party now, it is already trumped not only by the older PadFone but by the upcoming PadFone 2. Tomorrow Asus will officially announce the Padfone 2, but that isn’t stopping the net from leaking official photos ahead of schedule.

So what has changed in the latest PadFone? For starters, the docking station no longer has a door latch. Inside, it simply slides and is ready to go. You can even watch a video in tablet mode and pull out the phone without interrupting a thing.

Besides a few cosmetic changes, there is also tons of power underneath the hood in the PadFone 2. The device itself has a larger 4.7-inch screen with a 1280 x 720 pixel display and also upgrades its processor to a quad-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm. There is also 1GB of RAM and 13MP camera. It is also believed that the device will have Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Keep in mind that the specs aren’t yet confirmed, though. In other words, take this with a grain of salt.

We will know more tomorrow when Asus officially unveils the unique smartphone/tablet transforming device. What do you think? Excited for the PadFone 2 or not?

Japan's Softbank, a telecom and Internet giant, is taking a 70 percent stake in Sprint for $20.1 billion. What is it thinking? Can Sprint customers expect anything from the deal?

In a surprise move, Japanese mobile operator Softbank has made a deal to acquire a 70 percent stake in Sprint, the United States’ number-three mobile operator. At $20 billion, the takeover represents Softbank’s largest overseas acquisition to date — and the biggest deal inked by a Japanese company in the United States in something like three decades. Acquiring Sprint gives Softbank a major entry point into the still-growing U.S. mobile market — perhaps a welcome move, since Japan’s mobile market is mostly stagnant.

However, for Sprint customers the takeover brings uncertainty. What will change at Sprint once Softbank is holding the reigns? Given that Sprint has lost money in its last 19 quarters (nearly 5 years) — with a 20th on the way — is Softbank out of its mind to sink $20 billion in cash into the company? And, most importantly, can Sprint customers — and potential customers — expect any benefits from the deal?

How the Softbank takeover will work

Like many other high-profile deals, Softbank’s takeover of Sprint is complicated, but it’s also an example of one of the fundamental axioms of business: cash talks. Softbank is putting a total of $20 billion in cold hard cash into Sprint. Softbank will be spending a total of $12.1 billion on Sprint stock: the bulk will go toward buying up about 55 percent of current Sprint shares for $7.30 each, with some $3.1 billion of that money earmarked for buying shares in a new publicly-traded company dubbed “New Sprint,” for the time being. On top of that, Softbank will be pouring another $8 billion in cash into the new company, providing it with substantial operating capital.

Taken at face value, Softbank putting $20.1 billion into Sprint means it valued Sprint at about $28.6 billion — some two-thirds higher than Sprint’s total market capitalization as of the markets’ close last week.

That operating capital will likely be all about fueling Sprint’s 4G LTE expansion. Right now, Sprint has LTE service up and running in a couple dozen markets, but that pales in comparison to the hundreds of markets where Verizon Wireless currently offers LTE service. The new Sprint will most likely use that $8 billion in cash to not only accelerate its planned rollout of LTE services, but quite possibly to make additional acquisitions to bolster its spectrum holdings and reach. The most likely candidate there is Clearwire, where Sprint already has a 48 percent stake, but MetroPCS may not be out of reach either, even through it’s agreed to a reverse merger with T-Mobile.

Softbank’s cash is coming from its own bank accounts, plus financing from three Japanese banks (Mizuho Corporate Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ), along with Deutsche Bank. The $7.30 in cash Softbank is offering for Sprint shares represents a 27 percent premium over the company’s stock price when the deal was announced. Softbank expects the stock purchases to be completed by mid-2013. Once the deal is complete, Softbank will hold 70 percent of “New Sprint,” while Sprint’s existing shareholders will retain about 30 percent of the new company.

For all these changes, there will be some continuity. Sprint’s current CEO Dan Hesse will stay on as the CEO of the new company, and Sprint’s headquarters will stay in Overland Park, Kansas. “New Sprint” will have a ten-member board of directors, with at least three of those members coming from Sprint’s existing board (and that includes Hesse himself on the board).

What is Softbank thinking?

Softbank’s decision to put $20 billion into Sprint may seem like folly. After all, Sprint has been a money-losing proposition since 2007 and it’s far behind competitors Verizon Wireless and AT&T in rolling out 4G LTE. What’s more, Sprint has been losing subscribers, it’s saddled with $15 billion in debt, and the company is still trying to crawl out from under a near-disastrous merger with Nextel in 2005. Sprint doesn’t seem like a good takeover target.

But that’s not the way Softbank sees it. Softbank’s CEO Masayoshi Son isn’t cut from the risk-averse, conservative cloth of many other Japanese business magnates: he’s a risk-taker who isn’t afraid to do something seemingly crazy he believes will pay off in the long run. And he’s done it before. Back in 2006, Softbank sunk $15.5 billion into acquiring Vodafone’s Japanese unit—and, as with the Sprint deal, most industry watchers thought Softbank overpaid and was utterly out of its head. And, at first, the deal did not seem to go well, costing Softbank a billion a year for the next four years. The 2008 financial crisis also hit Softbank hard: the company had poured ¥75 billion into an investment based on credit-default swaps, some of which defaulted in the financial meltdown. Softbank incurred tremendous debt, but the bet in acquiring Vodafone was sound, and Softbank bolstered its core business by (for a while) being the exclusive Japanese carrier of the Apple iPhone. Son had pledged to retire Softbank’s debt by early 2014, but had recently backpedalled a bit on that, saying that the company only needed to get its debt to manageable levels before looking at new acquisitions.

In Japan, Softbank has been very aggressive about deploying LTE service — and, moreover, Softbank’s flavor of LTE is Time-Division Long-Term Evolution (TD-LTE), which is similar to the LTE technology currently being rolled out by Sprint partner Clearwire. Although some of Softbank’s experience building out LTE in Japan is not directly applicable to the United States — the geographies are radically different, after all — the company’s experience with both network management and offering differentiated services that capture subscribers from other carriers are well-established. In many ways, Softbank’s bet on Sprint is very similar to its bet on Vodafone six years ago. And, on average, Japan’s mobile networks have long offered far more bandwidth than those in the United States. U.S. mobile operators are still learning what it means to offer high-bandwidth services to consumers: Softbank has been doing it for years.

But the Japanese mobile phone market is almost stagnant, and has almost no growth prospects, particularly with Japan’s population growth near zero. That means Softbank’s only way to grow in Japan is through acquisitions. Softbank has just announced a $2.3 billion effort to acquire Japanese mobile provider eAccess in a bid to become Japan’s number-two mobile operator, but Sprint is far more tempting. The United States’ mobile market is still growing, and only about half of the United States’ 320+ million mobile users are carrying a smartphone. That means half are still using feature phones; Softbank sees this as a tremendous growth opportunity.

Moreover, the time is right for Softbank to move. Japanese interest rates are at record low levels and the yen is near all-time highs against other world currencies. There may never be a cheaper time for a Japanese company to make a major play in the U.S. market.

How could things go wrong?

Softbank’s bet on Sprint is not without significant risks. The new company is not going to be able sit back and watch the dollars roll in.

Market experience: Softbank has zero experience in the U.S. market. None. Although Softbank is determined to keep Sprint CEO Dan Hesse on board along with (it seems) a portion of Sprint’s existing management, there’s no telling if Softbank will be able to develop working strategies to differentiate Sprint’s service to consumers and grow its business.

Overextended management: Softbank just bought eAccess in Japan in a bid to become Japan’s second-largest mobile operator: that was ambitious in itself. Taking over the much-larger Sprint may be more than Softbank’s management can handle. Moreover, Sprint already had its hands full: Sprint is in the middle of a $15 billion+ commitment to Apple to carry the iPhone and spending billions to bring LTE to its network as part of its Network Vision plan. The good news is that the $8 billion in cash from Softbank should help Sprint carry through on both those initiatives; the bad news is that Sprint is now adding a corporate restructuring to its already daunting to-do list.

“There’s a huge risk that the deal will not go to plan and could weaken both companies at critical times,” noted Informa Telecoms & Media principal analyst Mike Roberts.

Debt: Softbank’s takeover of Sprint will have Softbank once again swimming in debt: Sprint already has $15 billion in outstanding debt, and Softbank is still carrying about $10 billion in debt. Those numbers push Softbank’s debt-to-capital ratio into dangerous territory, and could place significant pressure on Softbank’s operating cash in the next few years as it’s forced to work on retiring debt rather than growing its business. Softbank may wind up owning Sprint but unable to do much with it — particular if the world economy takes another downturn.

Who could win?

All that said, Softbank’s bet on Sprint may be risky, but many parts of it make sense.

Clearwire: Sprint and Softbank emphasized that their deal does not require Sprint to take any actions with Clearwire. However, the deal could leave Clearwire sitting in a very nice spot. Clearwire has been moving its network away from WiMax 4G service it debuted in 2009 to LTE. (Sprint and other investors had bet that getting out the door first with WiMax 4G services in 2008 or 2009 was a better bet than waiting until 2012 or 2013 for LTE to become a reality, though it doesn’t seem to have helped much.) Clearwire has a substantial portfolio of spectrum licenses in the 2.5GHz range — that’s well above the building-penetrating 700GHz range preferred by AT&T and Verizon Wireless, but would still add significant coverage to Sprint’s LTE efforts. However, Clearwire hasn’t been able to capitalize effectively on those licenses due to a lack of money to invest in its network. The bulk of its users are actually from Sprint, thanks to a wholesale agreement, so the tighter Clearwire becomes with Sprint, the better.

The $8 billion in operating capital Sprint is receiving from Softbank would go a long way toward building out LTE services in Clearwire’s spectrum. Moreover, Softbank’s LTE services in Japan are also built in the similar 2.5GHz spectrum blocks, and use the same TD-LTE service that Clearwire is deploying on its network. Some industry watchers expect Sprint to invest even more heavily in Clearwire, or move to purchase it outright.

Clearwire had no comment on Softbank’s acquisition of Sprint.

Sprint: Being acquired by Softbank makes Sprint more directly competitive with AT&T and Verizon Wireless in one important way: subscriber numbers. In the second quarter of 2012, Verizon and AT&T sported 105 and 102 million subscribers, respectively, accounting for 33 percent and 31 percent of the U.S. mobile market. Sprint is in a distant third place with 56 million subscribers. However, Softbank boasts some 34 million subscribers in Japan, meaning once Softbank acquires Sprint it will have an effective customer base of about 90 million people. That’s not far behind Verizon and AT&T, and should help the new Sprint negotiate more advantageous deals with equipment and handset providers. Softbank ought to be able to pay less for networking gear than Sprint, and have access to a better deals and a broader range of gear and handsets from equipment manufacturers. That may include Apple, since Softbank probably wants to keep Japan’s NTT Docomo from getting the iPhone.

The upshot could be a wider range of handsets, tablets, and other mobile gear available on Sprint at the same time they launch on other major U.S. carriers.

Upshot

Bringing the iPhone on board has helped Sprint gain subscribers and revenue. (Just ask T-Mobile how it feels to not have the iPhone.) Unfortunately, it hasn’t swung the company back to profitability. After 19 straight quarters of losses, Sprint needs a turnaround.

Sprint’s kind of turnaround seems to be Masayoshi Son’s specialty. The Japanese mobile market is dominated by KDDI and NTT Docomo, and Son was able to buy Vodafone, revamp it, and make it a solid competitor against a duopoly. In the United States, the mobile market is dominated by the duopoly of Verizon Wireless and AT&T. With Sprint, Son sees an opportunity to bring his successful turnaround model to the United States.

“I think we can provide much better competitive technology and services that U.S. citizens have never experienced,” Softbank’s Masayoshi Son said in a conference call with analysts today.

Sprint customers certainly hope he’s right. But changes won’t come overnight: Softbank’s acquisition of Sprint won’t be complete until the middle of next year, and still needs regulatory approval. In the meantime, AT&T and Verizon won’t be sitting on their hands. Verizon Wireless plans to light up its 400th LTE market this week.

Don Norbury and Clint Bundrick have both left Irrational Games, leaving BioShock Infinite lacking a combat design director and an artificial intelligence lead.

A new discovery by gaming industry sleuth Superannuation points out that Clint Bundrick and Don Norbury have left Irrational Games for positions at Microsoft. Normally that wouldn’t be news, but during Bundrick’s time at Irrational he served as the combat design director for BioShock Infinite. Norbury was the game’s artificial intelligence lead. 

It’s not just the massive amount of anticipation surrounding the upcoming release of BioShock Infinite that makes this news notable, it’s also that, to date, the game has had a very rocky development. Superannuation also discovered that the game’s producer Joel Faulstick left for Microsoft in May.

Then there’s the list of problems Kotaku points out:

… Irrational has seen a string of high-profile departures, including art director Nate Wells and director of product development Tim Gerritsen. At the same time, Irrational recently hired Rod Fergusson away from Epic Games to help get Infinite out the door. The team at Irrational had reportedly been wrestling with ambitious but eventually axed multiplayer modes as well as difficulties with Elizabeth, the game’s much-vaunted A.I. companion.

Hoping to discover how these hurdles might affect the development of BioShock Infinite, we sent a message to Irrational. Unfortunately, the company replied with a standard “no comment.”

As for what this means for the game, that’s anyone’s guess. Obviously it isn’t a good sign when key developers leave a game prior to its completion, but we’re unwilling to call this thing a catastrophe until after we’ve played it.

Almost more intriguing than what this means for Irrational and its latest game is what this might mean for Microsoft. You’ll notice that all the names mentioned above departed Irrational for the console giant, so what does that suggest about Microsoft’s future plans? Maybe Microsoft wants to bolster its ranks in anticipation of increased first-party game development in the next console generation. Microsoft has always relied heavily on third-party companies to bolster its Xbox sales, but maybe now it wants to bring all those scattered development projects under one roof.

Regardless of what happens, we probably won’t have a clear idea of things until at least February of next year. BioShock Infinite is scheduled to hit shelves on February 26, so keep your fingers crossed that the stressful development cycle had no impact on the game’s quality.

The popular consensus in the video game publishing business is that the era of the single player video game is over. The only way to succeed, especially with smaller properties, is to go multiplayer. Metro: Last Light publisher 4A Games disagrees, and cancels its multiplayer plans.

It’s been more than two and a half years since Metro 2033 quietly took players into the rotting underworld of post-nuclear war Moscow, and fans of that game’s brutal world have been patiently waiting for its sequel, Metro: Last Light, to come out. The likelihood of an on-time release in 2013 was increased when developer 4A Games announced that it would no longer ship Metro: Last Light with a multiplayer component.

In a post on its official blog, 4A clarified why it was returning the series’ focus to single player content.

“Throughout the development of Metro: Last Light, a small, dedicated team had been working on a number of multiplayer prototypes. After E3, we decided to fold this multiplayer team back into the main group and focus 100 percent of the studio’s resources on the single player campaign. As a result, Metro: Last Light will not ship with a multiplayer component. Your response to our E3 demo made it very clear that although there was a lot of interest and intrigue around Metro’s multiplayer, the single player campaign is what the fanbase cares about the most.”

4A Games is making a bold choice to abandon a multiplayer mode in its game, as is publisher THQ for supporting them. Popular opinion in the video game publishing business is that video games need some kind of multiplayer component, even if it’s not campaign based, to succeed. Electronic Arts and developer Insomniac have both said recently that they will no longer pursue game development that doesn’t have some kind of social feature.

4A is making the right choice though. For all of Metro 2033’s failures, its greatest success was in the private world it created in its campaign, and its best that the series foster and preserve that signature style. Single player-only games can still succeed in the market. Look no further than Skyrim’s spectacular sales over the past year for evidence.

Last Light has only made sporadic public appearances since it was announced in 2010 as Metro 2034. It was at E3 2011 under its current name, but it was delayed in February of this year, pushed in to 2013. It was at E3 2012—and we were dually impressed by it—but the game was in extremely rough shape. Now that we know 4A has devoted all its resources to working on that campaign, we can have more faith in the project.

What will happen to those prototypes though? “Right now we’re 100% focused on the single player campaign and not thinking beyond that,” reads the studio’s statement, “We don’t like throwing away work though, it’s a project we could potentially return to after Metro: Last Light ships.”

Though we still know almost nothing about it, we do finally have an official release date for Edgar Wright's superhero movie based on Marvel Comics' Ant-Man.

Edgar Wright, director of Shaun Of The Dead and Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, is making a movie based on Marvel Comics’ Ant-Man character. Got that? Good, now you officially know as much about the project as the rest of us. However, as you might have gathered from the headline, we do now have an official release date for this flick: November 6, 2015.

That news comes courtesy of Disney and Marvel Studios, who unfortunately offer no other info on the film. Superhero Hype points out that this release date means Ant-Man will be joining The Avengers in 2015′s crop of superhero movies. Likewise, that Wright co-wrote the script with Joe Cornish, writer of critical-favorite Attack The Block.

While our collective knowledge of the film is rather lacking, we do know quite a bit about the Ant-Man character, so let’s use that as a jumping off point for discussion.

The key issue Wright faces in creating this film is that he has three distinct versions of Ant-Man to choose from. Hank Pym, the original, is a brilliant scientist with the ability to grow and shrink objects at will thanks to the miraculous “Pym Particles” he discovered. Giving Marvel’s propensity for character crossovers it’s also notable that Pym was a founding member of The Avengers. Given that this is the version of Ant-Man that most people know, it seems reasonable to expect Wright’s film to center on Pym, but we’re having a hard time imagining an Edgar Wright film that tackles the topic of spousal abuse. Pym could be an interesting character, but it seems like it would be incredibly difficult to create a film around him without covering all those times he’s slapped his wife around.

Following Pym, a man named Scott Lang adopted the Ant-Man identity. He swiped the Pym Particle technology from Pym in an effort to help his sick daughter. Though Lang’s adventures had him interacting with a number of other notable Marvel heroes, this version of Ant-Man didn’t ever really do anything terribly interesting, at least as far as a mainstream audience might be concerned. As a result, we see Lang as the least likely to appear in Wright’s film.

The final iteration of the Ant-Man character is less notable than the original, but seems the mostly likely to fit well in an Edgar Wright movie. The Eric O’Grady version of Ant-Man was created by Robert Kirkman, a comic book author you’d best know as the creator and writer of The Walking Dead. Instead of using the Pym Particles for good, O’Grady decides to use his new-found super powers to seduce his recently deceased best friend’s girlfriend. Yes, we realize how terrible that sounds, but Kirkman wrote the book as a dark comedy. It serves as a satirical example of the ways in which having superpowers can corrupt a person. This kind of genre deconstruction has been a favorite among comic book fans for decades, so it only makes sense that the Marvel Cinematic Universe would eventually produce a film that dissects the popular superhero tropes shown in the films that came before it.

Regardless of which concept you prefer, we likely won’t know any more about this movie for quite some time. Wright is notoriously secretive about his films, and with the release date being over three years away we doubt Ant-Man has even entered real production.

Not even one month after Sony announced that it would actually raise the retail price of the PlayStation 3 this fall, Microsoft finally lowers the price of its Xbox 360 line to $250. What does the price drop say about Microsoft's future?

How will the Xbox 360 compete with Nintendo’s Wii U for attention this fall? Not with a line up of blockbuster exclusives, and but with a price drop.

The Xbox 360 is quietly enjoying its retail dotage. November will mark the system’s seventh year on shelves, making it positively ancient by video game technology standards. It’s getting just two major exclusive release this fall in Forza Horizon, which will appeal primarily to a niche audience, and Halo 4, a game that isn’t attended by the manic hype that surrounded its predecessor in 2007. Microsoft is opening new services associated with the box, like Xbox Music, and laying the groundwork for the brand’s future with Windows 8, but the Xbox 360 is largely staying quiet going into the always-competitive holidays.

The Xbox 360 is getting a price drop this holiday though. Microsoft isn’t announcing a line wide price drop for all Xbox 360 packages, but its retail partners are. Best Buy, Kmart, GameStop, Amazon, and Target are all selling brand new Xbox 360 bundles that are $50 cheaper than usual. GameStop, for example, is selling a $250 box that comes with a 250GB Xbox 360, a copy of Forza Motorsport 4, and a download voucher for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, alongside another $250 package with a 4GB Xbox 360 and a Kinect. Other retailers are offering similar packages at the same price.

Microsoft is making a number of silent statements with this price drop. The first is that this holiday will be one of the last for the Xbox 360 as Microsoft’s marquee piece of consumer entertainment technology. The $250 price point doesn’t bring the Xbox 360 into the impulse buy, budget region of $199, a price that Microsoft will likely drop to at the beginning of the next fiscal year. That timing may pave the way for Microsoft to release its next console, the Xbox 720 or Durango as it may be called, to control the next fall.

The other statement: We are taking advantage of Sony’s weakness. These are console bundles with significant value to consumers (two games, both of which are recognizable best-sellers from the past few seasons), and they are priced just below Sony’s confusingly priced new PlayStation 3 bundles, which start at $270. Sony also doesn’t have a Halo 4 to move its machine, and the next major PS3 exclusive, God of War: Ascension, won’t be released until March 12.

With this price cut, Microsoft has casually put itself in the best position in the US market for Christmas, and will put its its seasoned console head-to-head with Nintendo’s newest offering. An impressive close to seven years.

The first Borderlands 2 DLC campaign, Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate's Booty, gives players a host of new allies, enemies and quests to enjoy in the shooting dungeon crawler, but a demo made it feel more like a Borderlands B-side than a must play.

Borderlands 2 is not an exciting game. That’s not a slight. It has some tense shoot-outs, certainly, and there are passages when the action gets frantic especially with a team of 4 raiding a bandit camp, but it is not a fast-paced, surprise-a-minute affair. This is a game where you habitually stop in the middle of a gun-fight to see if a Port-o-john is hiding a superior shield while your friends take potshots at psychotic freaks dressed like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Gearbox Software’s game is comfortable, a pair of well-worn sweatpants, and each new environment, each new enemy, gun, and caricature character is something smooth to slip into and while away a few hours of gaming pleasure. Hence why the game’s first downloadable content, Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty, is so instantly likable in a sample size: It’s another serving of comfort food.

I settled into Oasis, the DLC pack’s desert setting in the same demo session as when I got to take the new Mechromancer, Gaige, for a spin. After an hour in the new region—Gearbox told me the DLC campaign will last around 8 hours—I found that I could have happily spent the rest of the afternoon devouring the setting.

Oasis is a dead city, a place that was supposed to be a tourist destination on the planet Pandora, but the desert was a little too powerful and its citizens died of thirst. The only exception is Shade, an unhinged blighter that’ll worship the vault hunter under your control when they roll into town. Shade’s a weird character for Gearbox’s team, insofar as he’s just as wacky as every other character you meet on Pandora, but he’s not a terribly effective pop culture gag. Shade looks identical to gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson in his Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas guise: Giant yellow aviators, cigarette holder, Hawaiian shirt, fishing hat, mild insanity, etc. He’s a lonely coward rather than an aggressive, drugged-up lunatic, though, so there’s some cognitive dissonance in the pop reference, which shows the writing in Pirate’s Booty may not have gotten the same time and attention the main campaign’s did.

That aside, Shade tells you how to find Captain Scarlett out in the desert as well as hints of how she can lead you treasure, the vault hunter’s favorite pursuit. First you have to build the signature vehicle of Oasis, though, a Return of the Jedi-style sand skiff. It’s a fun alternative to the game’s other vehicles. First, it can strafe, useful in shootouts. Second, it fires exploding harpoons rather than rockets. Landing a harpoon in an aggressive sand worm is the very definition of satisfaction. Building the skiff includes the same sort of fetch quest the main game trades in. (Former Oasis residents have been strung up by Shade, and he provides their voices through microphones as you grab the items. Pretty silly.)

Once you’re out in the desert, you meet Scarlett and her crew on her ship. She makes the sort of flippant remarks about your potential death on a quest as well as some token gags about being a pirate. (“I’m trying out catch phrases! Arrr matey!”) Scarlett’s another character that makes the DLC’s writing feel like a collection of Borderlands B-sides rather than A-material, but it’s fine enough. The first mission she sends you, a dungeon raid that has you stealing back a map from her old pirate partner, is more of what you get in the main game spiced up by some tricky new pirate enemy types. The underground lair reveals the desert’s real oasis, a watery paradise of flowers and pools and, naturally, enemies with guns. The most dangerous of the new enemies is a ghost pirate type who will drain your health as he advances on you. Second to him is a boss character that can toss an anchor at you and drag you in for a brutal melee strike.

Outside of the aesthetic and enemies, it’s the same old thing. Push into the dungeon, kill the boss, get the item, return for a new quest. In other words, it’s another familiar serving of Borderlands’ signature comfort food. For anyone that’s maxed out every character class already, the pack is well worth the price of admission. For anyone still luxuriating in the game’s campaign, though, this sample shows that Pirate’s Booty is solid but inessential stuff.

Monday is off to a flying start with a selection of new Apple rumors, including a 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro and an iPad Mini price list.

Monday is off to a flying start with several Apple rumors already “confirmed,” including a 13-inch MacBook Pro with a Retina display, a curvy iMac and an iPad Mini price list for good measure.

Let’s start with the big one. 9to5mac.com has heard from a “consistently reliable source” that Apple will introduced a Retina display-equipped 13-inch MacBook Pro during the iPad Mini’s launch event later this month. It will apparently be thinner and lighter, and offer different combinations of processors and storage options too.

Macrumors.com has found a few potential features for the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro on a Chinese website, which claims the smaller computer will still have two Thunderbolt ports, a USB port, a headphone socket, an HDMI-out and an SD card reader; just like its bigger brother. There’s also talk of an interesting battery design — although it’s not elaborated upon — and the report is accompanied by a couple of pictures that, frankly, could show absolutely anything.

Before we move on, it’s best to clarify that we’re talking about a product that doesn’t exist being launched at an event that hasn’t been announced for another non-existent product. That said, it’s logical for Apple to produce a 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro, but at the moment we don’t know when that will happen.

The curvy iMac rumors seems to originate from the same Chinese website, where it’s said that the new model will have a curved shell that’s something like “a water droplet,” which sounds more like Samsung’s design philosophy than Apple’s. Naturally, it too is going to arrive at the small “intimate” event apparently set for October 23.

iPad Mini prices

Finally, we’re onto the event’s main attraction, the iPad Mini. A picture supposedly showing a list of iPad Minis that will possibly be stocked by German electronics retailer MediaMarkt has been leaked, complete with prices and basic specs. In addition to the usual 16, 32 and 64GB models, an 8GB iPad Mini appears, each with the choice of a black or white finish, and either Wi-Fi only or “cellular” and Wi-Fi.

The most basic 8GB Wi-Fi iPad Mini is priced at 249 euros, and the top 64GB Wi-Fi with 3G or 4G at 649 euros. A quick currency conversion gives us $322 and $840 respectively, the latter of which will probably have seen wallets everywhere twitch nervously.

Just like all the other iPad Mini rumors, there’s no way to know if this is really a screenshot from MediaMarkt’s computer system, and equally we can’t take those prices as final either, as Apple’s US pricing is often lower than it’s European equivalent.

October 23 is one week away tomorrow, which means that if an event is to take place, Apple will start to send invitations out very soon. We really, really hope it does too; if only to put an end to these infernal iPad Mini rumors.

Amazon looks to have discontinued its long-ignored Kindle DX e-reader, and is also rumored to be bidding for Texas Instruments’ processor division, which could give it leverage over competitors Barnes & Noble and Kobo.

Amazon is making headlines today for announcing the death of a product that never quite caught on, the Kindle DX, and for potentially breathing new life into Texas Instruments’ recently abandoned processor division.

Kindle DX dies

First, the Kindle DX. Released in 2009, the combination of an E Ink screen, 9.7-inch screen, free 3G, long battery life, and access to Amazon’s extensive library certainly sounded like a recipe for success. But apart from the big screen, the DX offered little over the smaller, cheaper, and considerably more portable standard Kindle. Couple that with the release of the Apple iPad a year later, and the Kindle DX became another casualty of the tablet revolution. 

Any popularity the DX did have has clearly waned enough for Amazon to admit defeat, as the Kindle DX is no longer directly available on its website, with only third-party companies continuing to gamely advertise the man-sized e-reader. Will it be missed? Like all niche devices, it will always have a hardcore fan base, but it’s difficult to imagine anyone choosing a DX over a Kindle Fire and a standard Kindle e-reader these days.

This is particularly applicable internationally, as Amazon never released the DX outside the United States, preferring to offer an import service instead. Have a guess at how much you’d have to shell out for a DX in the UK back in 2010? A mere $600 or £375. Bargain.

Amazon ponders TI processor purchase

But, the circle of life continues at Amazon, and a rumor has linked the company with the potential purchase Texas Instruments’ processor division, at least according to a reporter for calcalist.com. TheNextWeb.com shows the author of the piece has form too, having scooped Apple’s $500 million acquisition of flash memory company Anobit in 2011.

Texas Instruments announced it would cease investing in mobile processor development during an investor meeting in September, preferring to concentrate on the “embedded chip” market instead. Amazon uses Texas Instruments OMAP processors in its Kindle Fire tablets, so bringing the whole show in-house could be quite the money-saver.

It could also pave the way for the often rumored Amazon smartphone, as it would be one less component to outsource, plus TI chips are used by other companies — including arch rivals Barnes & Noble and Kobo; potentially opening up another revenue stream for Amazon. 

The article says the deal could be worth “billions of dollars,” and that Amazon is currently holding “advanced negotiations.” If it’s all true, its shows just how serious Amazon is about becoming a hardware company with which to be reckoned.

It's confirmed. Rumors last week that hinted that Japanese telecom and Internet provider Softbank would purchase Sprint were true, mostly. Softbank and Sprint have announced that the company will soon own 70 percent of the third largest U.S. mobile carrier.

Japanese based SoftBank is officially entering the global market. It was announced earlier today that the third largest carrier in Japan is acquiring 70 percent of Sprint, the third largest carrier in the United States, for $20.1 billion (1.57 trillion Yen). The two companies had been rumored to have been in serious discussions late last week. With all the i’s dotted and t’s crossed today, Softbank President Masayoshi Son and Sprint Chief Executive Dan Hesse announced that the deal was completed.

The breakdown of the deal, as announced by both Sprint and SoftBank, will send $12.1 billion to the current Sprint shareholders. The remaining $8 billion of new capital will be used to “strengthen Sprint’s balance sheet.” SoftBank is offering $7.30 a share for existing shares, though Sprint’s stock had closed at $5.73 a share on Friday. Current Sprint stockholders will also receive 30 percent ownership in New Sprint. That’s right, a group of extremely intelligent and wealthy businessmen and investors hashed out a multibillion dollar transaction and the best name they could come up with is “New Sprint.”

The name appears to be the only negative in this deal, though, as both Sprint (old Sprint?) and SoftBank are looking at this acquisition as a win. For Sprint, it provides a sizable influx of cash that allows it to be competitive against Verizon and AT&T. It also gives the company the backing of an extremely successful entity that has built a network in the same way Sprint hopes to. It’s also a win for current Sprint CEO Dan Hesse, who will become CEO of New Sprint and sit as a board member.

For SoftBank, this move is a bit of global market consolidation that plants it firmly in a top spot on the worldwide playing field. Now sitting as the third-largest mobile provider in Japan and in the United States, SoftBank has more than 90 million subscribers. This marks the largest overseas acquisition by a Japanese firm to date. However, any transaction of this size comes with its potential pitfalls. Sprint may be a risky point of entry for SoftBank, taking control of a sputtering company in a market that is dominated by two seemingly immovable giants. The agreed upon merger between Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile and MetroPCS makes the market even more competitive toward the top. The deal has also placed SoftBank as “credit watch negative” by Standard & Poor’s, meaning it could see its credit rating downgraded. Of course, S&P made the same threat to the United States and that sure didn’t stop us.

SoftBank’s rise through Japan’s mobile market came on the back of being the first company in the country that carried the iPhone. It’s growth was only bolstered with acquisition after acquisition that put SoftBank in a position to make its biggest purchase yet with Sprint. Masayoshi Son will likely have to continue his aggressive ways to compete in the U.S. market. That doesn’t seem to be something he’s afraid to do. Leveraging SoftBank’s LTE knowledge will be a major key to the success of this transaction, as Sprint has been attempting to build out its network for some time to little avail thanks mostly to money issues. Sprint hopes to have LTE in 100 markets by the end of the year.

Microsoft's forthcoming Xbox Music "all-in-one" streaming service puts its sights on all the major digital music providers, including Pandora, Spotify, and Apple iTunes.

Microsoft has plans to completely dominate the music streaming with its forthcoming “all-in-one” Xbox Music service.

Set to launch throughout the rest of this month, Xbox Music combines elements of Pandora, Spotify, Rdio, and even iTunes, Microsoft announced Sunday. Xbox Music will be available through Xbox Live starting Tuesday, October 16, and will head to Windows 8 PCs and Windows RT tablets starting October 26. Windows Phone 8 devices will also have access to Xbox Music, though systems running Windows 7 or Windows Phone 7 (or older) operating systems will be excluded from the service.

Globally, Xbox Music users will have access to a total of 30 million songs from all major labels, as well as titles from a number of smaller labels. (However, not all tracks will be available to all users, as some songs are restricted to particular regions.) Microsoft will offer a free, ad-supported streaming option, which gives users unrestricted access to Xbox Music’s formidable library of songs and albums on Windows 8/RT devices. Free users will also be able to mix in their own personal music libraries. The downside to free is that the offering will only last six months, and free users will be restricted to 10 hours of listening time per month.

To turn off the ads and gain unfettered access to all features, Xbox Music users can purchase an Xbox Music Pass, which will cost about $10 per month, or $100 per year. In addition to unlimited play time, paying users will be able to download their music for offline listening across all Xbox Music-compatible devices.

Mimicking Pandora and Spotify Radio, Xbox Music will allows users to listen to automatically generated playlists of music similar to a particular artist or song with its Smart DJ feature. Users can also create their own playlists, which will sync across all applicable devices. And, of course, users will be able to search for individual artists, songs, or albums, and play those directly.

If streaming isn’t enough, Xbox Music will nudge into iTunes territory by allowing users to purchase music through the Xbox Music Store. Each song will cost around $1.

Microsoft says it plans to launch Xbox Music apps for iOS and Android devices at some point in the future, but Xbox 360, Windows 8/RT, and Windows Phone 8 device users will have first dibs.

The free Xbox Music streaming service will be available to users in 15 countries around the world on launch. Xbox Music Pass and the Xbox Music Store will be available in 22 countries.

We’ll have plenty more on Xbox Music as soon as more details become available. In the mean time, tell us: What do you think of Microsoft’s do-everything music service? Let us know your thoughts below.