With more people interested in checking status updates over getting driving directions, Facebook’s mobile application rose to the top by the end of the year.

Detailed within an analysis conducted by comScore, Facebook’s mobile application beat out Google Maps to finish out as the most popular mobile app of 2012. Attracting approximately 85 million unique monthly visitors during December 2012, the Facebook mobile application for iOS and Android smartphones and tablets is also ranked number one in mobile app engagement. Specific to users within the United States, nearly one fourth of all time spent using mobile applications on smartphones or tablets is dedicated to checking up on that popular social network.

Ranking in the number two position, Google Maps attracted approximately 75 million unique monthly visitors during December 2012. Previously attracting a high of 82 million users during September 2012, Google lost a significant portion of the user base after the iPhone 5 was released without Google Maps as the default mapping program.

Even after the release of the standalone version of Google Maps for iOS smartphones and tablets, usage growth of the Google Maps application isn’t rising as rapidly in comparison to the growth rate during mid-2012.  

Other apps on the top ten list of mobile applications attracting unique monthly visitors during 2012 include Google Play, Google search, Gmail, YouTube, Pandora Radio, Apple’s iTunes, photo application Cooliris and communication app Yahoo! Messenger. In regards to mobile app engagement, applications that attracted extended periods of use include Instagram, Gmail, YouTube, Google Maps, Google Play and Google search. In fact, time spent on all Google applications accounts for ten percent of all time spent using apps on any smartphone or tablet.

Based off the constant rate of growth during 2012, it’s unlikely that Facebook will give up the top spot over the next twelve months in both total unique monthly visitors as well as mobile application engagement. During 2013, it’s possible that more mobile users will become more comfortable using streaming video applications on smartphones as data speeds increase when upgrading to recently released 4G LTE smartphones and applications such as Netflix could make the list next year.

DigiTimes retracted its report that Apple was releasing a 5-inch iPhone this year, but that doesn’t mean it may not ever come.

DigiTimes broke the news about two weeks ago that their sources indicated Apple was building an iPhone with a bigger 5-inch screen, and lower price for 2013. The device, intended for emerging markets, seemed a little bizarre based on Apple’s trends, and it looks like DigiTimes has retracted its previous report, saying instead that a bigger iPhone is on the way, but not for 2013.

The latest report from the Taiwan-based publication predicts two, not three, iPhone devices to be released in 2013. The two iPhones, both 4-inches in size, are expected to be the iPhone 5S, and a rehashed iPhone 5 with a plastic shell and possibly even a lower price too. This report originally called for three devices, one of which to be a larger “Phablet” to compete against devices like the Samsung Galaxy Note II in the coming year.

As for this 5-inch iPhone “Phablet”, DigiTimes has stated in its updated report that “Apple is indeed developing a larger iPhone, but that it will not be among the devices launched this year.” Despite this, users can still see what some think the new iPhone, named by fans the “iPhone Math”, might look like if Apple were really building it.

At the Q1 earnings report on Wednesday, CEO of Apple Tim Cook dispelled rumors of larger iPhone in the works, saying that Apple “puts a lot of thinking into screen size and we have found the right point.” Cook also defended the iPhone 5, saying it has “the most advanced display in the industry,” and “offers a larger screen size without sacrificing ease of use” with respect to the iPhone 4S and other previous iPhones. As for whether or not the DigiTimes’ rumors for a future iPhone “Math” are true, that is up for you to decide.

Rise of the Hutt Cartel, the first major expansion for Star Wars: The Old Republic, boasts a ton of new content, and we now have word on how much these novel concepts will cost players.

This morning the official website for BioWare’s massively multiplayer roleplaying game Star Wars: The Old Republic was updated to spotlight the upcoming Rise of the Hutt Cartel expansion. The site breathlessly describes it as the game’s first “Digital Expansion” and is quick to point out the list of new features players can look forward to: the level cap of the game will be raised from 50 to 55, a new storyline heavily focused on the criminal machinations of the globular Hutt race is introduced, and both Rebel and Imperial players will soon find themselves battling over whatever dark secret is hidden on Makeb, a new planet introduced by this expansion.

That’s all very nice, but how much is this whole thing going to cost you? According to Star Wars: The Old Republic producer EA, though the Rise of the Hutt Cartel expansion is to be normally priced at $20, those who continue to pay subscription fees for the now free-to-play MMO will be eligible to purchase the expansion for a mere $10. Further, anyone who pre-orders the expansion will receive a handful of exclusive bonuses and in-game items. To wit:

All players that pre-order Rise of the Hutt Cartel will receive an exclusive Title, Holostatue, and Mini-Pet when the Digital Expansion launches.

• The Dr. Oggurobb Hutt Holostatue: Train under the illustrious Hutt scientist Dr. Oggurobb with this portable training device that he created in his own image.
• “Scourge of the Hutts” Title: Republic and Imperial forces that adorn this title will be feared and revered across the galaxy.
• The Makrin Seedling Mini-Pet: Get your very own Makrin Creeper to follow you around and “creep” out your enemies! Possessing bark-like skin and grass-like nerve-rich tissues that blend in perfectly with Makeb’s environment, the Makrin Creeper has a distinguishing and eerie look!

As Apple reports its sales numbers for last quarter, CEO Tim Cook brags that the company sold 10 devices per second.

Apple CEO Tim Cook had some interesting news to share today during his quarterly earnings conference call. The 52-year-old executive claims that Apple has pushed out half a billion iOS devices to date and “sold 10 devices per second” last quarter.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based firm broke Wall Street records with its quarterly earnings during 2012’s final fiscal period. Today, Apple reported quarterly revenue of $54.5 billion and record quarterly profit of $13.1 billion. This may not be enough to impress some analysts, considering the company’s stock lingered at $488.11 during after-hour trading. This is a decrease from its usual $514.17 value, as VentureBeat reports.

“We’re thrilled with record revenue of over $54 billion and sales of over 75 million iOS devices in a single quarter,” Cook also said on Wednesday. “We’re very confident in our product pipelines as we continue to focus on innovation and making the best products in the world.”

According to the numbers, Apple sold 47.8 million iPhones, 22.9 million iPads, and 12.7 million iPods last quarter, dominating the holiday sales season. Before Cook reported Apple’s official numbers for last quarter, some companies came forward to provide a sneak peek at Apple sales for the tail end of 2012. Verizon alone admitted that it activated 6.2 million iPhones in Q4 2012, and a study from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech indicates that iPhones accounted for 51.2 percent of mobile phone transactions in the United States during that same quarter.

While experts may have predicted that Apple would have seen a more successful fourth quarter, shelling out 10 devices per second is no easy feat. Apple is expected to continue growing its iOS platform over the next year, as KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo acknowledged in his projected Apple roadmap for 2013. The computer design firm is expected to introduce a successor to the iPhone 5 as well as a redesigned version of its flagship smartphone in Q3 2013, Kuo says. Of course, it’s impossible to predict Apple’s next move, but we’ll be waiting to see which rumors turn out to be true over the next 12 months.

Owing to the ongoing collapse of THQ, the upcoming, heavily-anticipated South Park: The Stick of Truth will continue development under French mega-publisher Ubisoft.

Following this morning’s revelation that faltering games publisher THQ had been broken up and auctioned piecemeal, Ubisoft announced that it had agreed to purchased THQ’s Montreal development studio and in turn, the right to continue development on the upcoming, heavily-anticipated South Park: The Stick of Truth.

The game, as you’d expect, is based on the hit Comedy Central cartoon created by Matt Parker and Trey Stone. This duo has been heavily involved with the creation of The Stick of Truth since day one, and as you can see from the above screenshot the game’s developers have so far done a phenomonal job of capturing the trademark South Park aesthetic. Since this is a roleplaying game, it’s also important to mention that the aforementioned developers on this title are Obsidian Entertainment, the extremely capable people responsible for Fallout: New Vegas, Neverwinter Nights 2 and, in a previous incarnation, games like Baldur’s Gate 2 and Planescape: Torment.

Fortunately for those of you waiting anxiously for South Park: The Stick of Truth, Ubisoft has every intention of continuing the game’s development. According to the publisher, developer Obsidian Entertainment will continue to work on the title, and while Ubisoft wouldn’t commit to an official release date for the game, it does claim that South Park: The Stick of Truth will still see retail shelves at some point during 2013.

That’s wonderful news, but we expected as much. More intriguing is word that Ubisoft also acquired an as yet unknown IP with its purchase of THQ Montreal. Sadly, though intriguing, that last sentence is the sum total of what we know about this project. We’ll bring you more information on this mystery game as it emerges.

According to a new study, 4G LTE usage will continue to expand worldwide over the coming years.

In a world where seemingly everyone is using a smartphone, 4G LTE usage is expected to double this year. This prediction comes from a study published by IHS iSuppli this week, which indicates that LTE subscribers worldwide will reach almost 200 million.

To be exact, the number of LTE users around the globe could hit 198.1 million in 2013, which is a significant increase from the 92.3 million users recorded last year. This wireless technology is only about three years old and had 612,000 users when it began in 2010, according to IHS.

LTE usage worldwide surged the following year after its launch, jumping by 22 percent to 13.2 million users in 2011. It saw an unprecedented growth from 13.2 million to nearly 100 million users in 2012, marking an increase of 599 percent. In just another four years, the technology is expecting to surpass one billion subscribers.

“With LTE emerging as a true global technology standard, its ecosystem now faces both challenges and opportunities,” analyst Wayne Lam said in a statement. “Rapid adoption will drive design innovations, particularly in smartphones, but issues like spectrum fragmentation will also remain an overhang for the LTE industry that requires attention.”

The major focus in the next few years will be on making 4G LTE the norm for smartphone users, Lam continued.

“Overall, however, the LTE space will be less worried about rifts or divisions in technology, and more concerned with laying the foundation for sustained growth across the entire LTE landscape,” he said in the report.

To no surprise, LTE expansion is directly related to the evolving smartphone industry. Over the past couple of years, LTE has spread as a result of various upgrades in hardware and software.

“This is because more than any other type of phone, smartphones are able to take further advantage of the faster data connectivity provided by LTE, which leverages the kind of low-latency, always-on mobile broadband service that consumers now demand.”

Most high end smartphones available on the market are 4G LTE enabled, such as Samsung and Apple’s flagship products as well as smart devices from HTC and Motorola among others. It won’t be long before the majority of handsets come with LTE, causing carriers to roll out the high-speed technology across more regions.

Following the recent rejection of its bankruptcy plan, THQ’s assets have been auctioned piecemeal to whomever could offer the flailing games publisher the most cash.

At this point,  we’ve been detailing the ongoing fiscal collapse of once-mighty games publisher THQ for so long that we’re rapidly running out of novel things to say. The last time we covered the situation a bankruptcy Judge had denied the company’s stated plan to bounce back from its financial problems, saying that the scheme seemed designed to take advantage of those who might otherwise opt to place a bid on the beleaguered publisher’s assets. That auction concluded this morning, and while it brings sad news for THQ we’re just happy this whole saga is finally nearing its end.

As you may recall, the original idea proposed by THQ and its lawyers was that the company’s holdings would be sold to a group called Clearlake Capital. According to the plan, Clearlake would then hold these assets until  THQ had built itself back up enough within the gaming industry to buy all of its studios and intellectual property rights back from Clearlake. This would have been a choice situation for THQ, as it wouldn’t really lose any of its assets and could avoid laying off  employees. Unfortunately, that deal seemed a bit too sweet to Judge Mary Walrath, who ordered that THQ be divided into small pieces and sold to whichever individual or company ponies up the most cash. Under Judge Walrath’s orders, Clearlake was still eligible to bid on THQ’s assets but it would have to compete openly with the general public.

Unfortunately for THQ’s plan, after an auction process that ran for 22 hours, it was decided that the company could raise much more money by selling its assets individually. THQ CEO Brian Farrel and president Jason Rubin wrote a letter to their employees explaining the situation, and offering a surprisingly candid list of who now owns THQ’s erstwhile assets. Venturebeat published a copy of this missive and you can read the full text there, but the most crucial points are as follows:

While much will be written, here are the facts of the bids and auction that occurred today:

• Yesterday morning, we received a competing bid for the operating business, along with Clearlake’s offer, and numerous offers for separate assets.
• During an auction process that lasted over 22 hours, the final conclusion was that the separate-asset bids would net more than a single buyer for the majority of the company.
• Shortly, we will, present the results to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, which must concur with our assessment.
• The proposed sales of multiple assets is as follows :
  • Sega agreed to purchase Relic
  • Koch Media agreed to purchase Volition and Metro
  • Crytek agreed to purchase Homefront
  • Take 2 agreed purchase Evolve and
  • Ubisoft agreed to purchase Montreal and South Park

We expect these sales to close this week.

Rubin and Farrel then go on to thank their employees for their dedication and hard work. They expect the new owners of THQ’s studios to retain the majority of their employees, though realistically neither Rubin nor Farrel have any true knowledge or control over what these companies plan to do with THQ’s former holdings. Koch Media probably won’t turn Volition’s development studio into a 4,000 square foot executive sauna, but now that it owns the developer there isn’t much to stop the Koch brothers from languidly relaxing in a overly muggy room that once spawned Saints Row The Third.

Capcom’s follow up to the criminally underappreciated Dragon’s Dogma is hardly a sequel, but it certainly offers a ton of content at a very attractive price.

Capcom has made a habit of thinking primarily with its wallet of late. Street Fighter X Tekken’s extra characters, which were on the disc yet required players to pay extra to unlock them, is just one example. A more recent example can be found in an article we published only yesterday on the upcoming home console/PC release of the year-old, formerly-3DS-exclusive Resident Evil: Revelations. Given this trend, it’s quite surprising when the company offers something objectively valuable for little money, as is the case with the upcoming Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen.

Despite the title, Dark Arisen is really closer to an especially large downloadable content addition than a new entry in the nascent Dragon’s Dogma franchise. Unlike most DLC however, Dark Arisen is getting the full retail treatment. When it debuts on April 23, the game will be available for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in retail disc form (though PlayStation 3 owners can also grab the title as a PSN download).

What exactly is included in the new Dark Arisen expansion? Glad you asked. This morning Capcom served up unexpectedly candid details on the expansion in handy list form. Take a look:

• A massive new underground realm to explore featuring over 25 terrifying new enemies
• More skills/equipment/augments:
  • Level 3 Skills
    • [Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen] provides each character class with a new tier of skills, giving players new devastating abilities and skills to master
  • Over 100 pieces of new equipment14 new character/Pawn augments
    • All new high level weapons and armor sets for players venturing into the underground caverns
  • New tiers of equipment enhancement
• And there’s more:
  • Increased character customization options
  • Item appraisal
  • Option to select Japanese voice over

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology wants tech companies to pursue mergers and acquisitions in order to reach Lenovo’s current sales figures within a couple of years.

By the year 2015, some of the biggest electronics companies might be based out of China… if it all goes according to the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s (MIIT) plan, that is. MIIT recently revealed its goal of having five to eight Chinese companies within the next two years with a total sales figure of 100 billion Yuan or $16.1 billion. As of current, only Huawei and Lenovo can boast sales that meet that target. 

The agency is encouraging companies to achieve this goal by acquiring names recognizable in the global market via corporate mergers, alliances, and acquisitions; MIIT has long been pushing Chinese companies to actively pursue deals with companies outside the country. This move is part of China’s plan to streamline several major industries, including automobile and shipping, in order to achieve economic growth by squashing overcapacity. MIIT is also encouraging electronics companies to try their hand on IT services while also working on software and hardware in hopes of coming up with innovative products and services. 

Lenovo, one of the two most aforementioned Chinese companies, has been listed by both Gartner and IDC research firms as one of the top five PC makers for 2012 in the U.S. market, so it doesn’t come as a surprise that MIIT wants to replicate its success. 

(Image credit: Motohiko Tokuriki)

Japanese game connoisseurs Xseed Games may bring a slice of surrealist action to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 this summer. New domain names registered by the company suggest its bringing over Suda 51′s new game, Killer is Dead.

Grasshopper Manufacture and Goichi “Suda 51” Suda’s new action game Killer is Dead looks mighty fetching based on early screenshots and the first trailer released of the game. Its beauty is potentially more than skin deep, as well, since Suda says that this game is a successor to his smartest and provocative games, Killer 7 and No More Heroes. Who will bring this game to the masses, though? Its Japanese publisher is Kadokawa Games, a subsidiary of the massive Kadokawa Holdings Group the owns multiple video game imprints including Enterbrain, ASCII Media Works, and Media Factory, all of whom have no significant publishing presence outside Japan. Enter Xseed Games, the US’ premiere publisher of Japanese games.

Industry patent, job listing, and web domain sleuth Superannuation spotted a number of new web domains filed by Xseed that strongly suggest it’s bringing the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 game over to America. These domain names include killerisdead-game.com, killandlove.com, and loveandkill.com.

Xseed is a natural fit for Killer is Dead, both because of its history publishing unusual Japanese games abroad—Corpse Party is just one recent example of the sort of deeply regional gaming cuisine Xseed trades in—but because of the history between Xseed’s parent company and Grasshopper Manufacture. Marvelous AQL is the owner of Xseed. That publisher is responsible for the Japanese distribution of the No More Heroes series, Killer is Dead’s direct predecessor.

While the evidence is strong, Xseed wasn’t willing to fully commit to the game just yet. Speaking with Siliconera, Xseed exeuctive vice-president Ken Berry was coy about his imprint’s relationship with the game. “Xseed Games cannot confirm that they are publishing Killer is Dead in North America.”

Much can happen between the time a game is announced for publication and when it actually comes out. For example: Xseed announced it would publish the Vanillaware PSP RPG Grand Knights History in the United States. Grand Knights History was also published by Marvelous AQL in Japan, but while Xseed announced a localization in September 2011, it cancelled those plans in May 2012.

Killer is Dead is a much easier sell than Grand Knights History, though. A PS3/360 action game will always sell better than a whimsical PSP RPG, no matter what.

For more on Xseed’s future plans, check back on Digital Trends this Saturday for an interview with Ken Berry.

Pebble has started mass manufacturing its watches, and the first batch of 500 has left the factor to arrive on backer’s doorsteps.

Its been eight months and users have poured more than $10 million in crowdsourced funding on Kickstarter, but the folks behind Pebble are finally shipping their critically acclaimed smartwatch, following through with a CES promise they made earlier this month.

Pebble’s team posted its 30th update to its Kickstarter page, and noted that while some kinks need to be ironed out before additional units are shipped, the first watches should be arriving on 500 of it backer’s doorsteps in the next week or two. If you ordered a black Pebble watch, you’ll probably be among the first recipients of the watch since the team is manufacturing one color at a time – black was the most popular color of the five offered colors. Despite setting expectations high, the Pebble team has found out that it’s actually impossible to manufacture all the colors at once.

The team does still have a long road ahead with fulfilling a total order of 89,000 Pebble watches. Its manufacturing center is able to pump out between 800 and 1,000 watches on a daily basis. Assuming that the manufacturer runs at its full production capacity, it may take up to four months before the final promised Pebble leaves the factory, technically speaking. But it’s more complicated than that.

Assembled Pebble watches are flown to distribution centers based out of the United States for U.S. orders, and Hong Kong for orders outside of the U.S. so there’s a five to seven day delay. Even if Pebble’s manufacturer encounters a major hiccup during the manufacturing process you’ll eventually get your watch. The team is somewhat hopeful it may be able to bump up the production capacity to to 2,400 watches a day.

There’s additional Pebble news to be had alongside news of the first batch of watches. The anticipated Android app will be available to download tomorrow, January 24, and the iOS app is still in the notorious Apple App Store review process. So if you happen to get your hands on a Pebble before the iOS app goes live, the team writes in the blog post that you “will be able to do notifications/Music control but will not be able to install watchfaces or upgrade to the latest PebbleOS until the app appears in the App Store.” Apple app reviewers are known for being extremely fickle about the details in an app before it’s pushed to the App Store, so there’s no telling when the app will be available. We’ll just have to keep our eyes open for that announcement.

While we haven’t reviewed the Pebble watch, we were impressed when we tried it out at CES earlier this month. The wait may be excruciating, but it should be worth it.

The rumored Samsung Galaxy S4 could be coming in mid-April if the latest rumors are believed, but may not be called the Galaxy S4 when it does arrive, due to the number four being unlucky in parts of Asia.

Rumors of a ridiculously named Apple iPhone have taken a backseat today, as the Samsung Galaxy S4 is back, and it’s back with a vengeance. Samsung-focused blog SamMobile claims to have the scoop on a few features and the release date of the highly-anticipated follow-up to the Galaxy S3.

The phone will have the model number of GT-i9500, but is currently known by its codename of Altius. The Galaxy S4 name, although widely used in the press, hasn’t been confirmed, supposedly due to the number four being bad luck in Korea. The battery is said to have a capacity of 2600mAh and a wireless charging dock will be sold separately, while the phone will come in either black or white. SamMobile says this information is, “100-percent confirmed.”

We’re also expecting the Galaxy S4 to have a 4.99-inch, 1080p touchscreen, just like the one pictured during CES, plus the Exynos 5 Octa processor which also made its first appearance at the Las Vegas show. Previous rumors have added the phone will have a 13-megapixel camera, 2GB of RAM and a version of Android Jelly Bean.

Mid-April launch?

Apparently, the Galaxy S4 will go on sale during week 16 of 2013, which equates to being somewhere between April 15 and April 19. An Unpacked event will be held to reveal the phone, which would logically come about a month before the phone goes on sale; so around March. The Galaxy S3’s Unpacked event was held on May 3 2012 in London and the phone subsequently went on sale across Europe on May 29. The Galaxy S2 was 13-months old when its successor was unveiled.

Returning to the Galaxy S4’s naming issue for a moment, the number four is considered unlucky in Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan and other Asian countries primarily because it’s pronounced in a similar way to the word death. So, do those suffering from tetraphobia at Samsung wield enough power to veto the S4’s name?

A look back at Samsung’s model numbers from the past does reveal a distinct lack of any starting with the number four, despite many starting with a three, five, six, seven, eight and nine. So what will it be instead? According to a post made on a blog about the Chinese language, the number four isn’t as regularly skipped in Korea as it is in China, and is often replaced by the letter F. So perhaps we could be welcoming the Galaxy SF rather than the S4 later this year?

This leaves us with the mid-April release date. We’re still expecting Samsung to stick to an annual update schedule, and doubt it’ll hold an Unpacked event so soon after Mobile World Congress closes. If anything, that mid-April date sounds about right for the launch event rather than the phone going on sale. Despite SamMobile’s confidence, we’re still putting all this down as speculation.

When you begin your new Nintendo Wii U fitness regime with Wii Fit U this spring, you’re going to be able to chat about your progress on Miiverse from the comfort of your smartphone touch screen. That and more is coming with the next Wii U update.

Nintendo Wii U owners rejoice: The Christmas purchase of a brand new Nintendo console was not made in vane. The Kyoto company is bringing all kinds of games your way over the next eighteen months. There’s new Mario, Mario Kart, and Super Smash Bros. waiting for you at E3, but there’s also all kinds of peculiar new stuff to satisfy the serious gamer. There’s a new Yoshi inspired by Kirby’s Epic Yarn and a Fire Emblem crossover with Shin Megami Tensei. If that doesn’t tickle your fancy, Nintendo’s trying its hand at HD remakes with The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.

New games are all well and good, you say, but what about the Wii U itself? Even after the massive mandatory update that needs to be installed after plugging the box in, that console chugs, with long wait times for loading up a game and even navigating the menu. Nintendo says that it’s got major fixes and new functionality coming to the console this spring in addition to all those shiny new games.

Two firmware updates are coming to Wii U between now and the end of summer. The first update will add the Wii U’s new Virtual Console to the eShop, bringing NES, Super Nintendo, and Game Boy Advance games to the machine, but that’s not all. Nintendo preisdent Satoru Iwata promised on Wednesday that this spring update will greatly improve loading times as well as navigation back to the console’s home screen. No more waiting for two minutes after selecting an Amazon Prime movie through Nintendo TVii. The following update in the summer promises to bring more new features to the system, but Nintendo won’t detail those until closer to release.

Nintendo is also introducing another piece of major functionality this spring. Miiverse, Nintendo’s social network that so far is Wii U only, is going to be available as an app for smartphones come spring. This will also introduce private communities to new games like Wii Fit U.

This new app is arguably the most exciting thing about all of Nintendo’s announcements. It’s a show of growth on the part of company, a tangible example of how it’s changing the way its games interact with people’s lives. Being able to track fitness progress on a mobile device is just the sort of thing that could make Wii Fit relevant again.

The times they are a-changin’ at the Intel headquarters. But this isn’t the death knell for desktops; there’s still plenty to be excited about.

Intel announced that it will phase out its operations in making desktop motherboards, with no new products in that field planned for this year. The Haswell-based 4th generation Core i launch will be the last new project in that area for Intel. According to Xbit Laboratories, the company will shut down its desktop motherboard division over the course of three years. Instead, Intel will focus its energy on other emerging desktop solutions. “We are ramping up critical areas of the desktop space including integration of innovative solutions for the PC ecosystem such as reference design development, NUC and other areas to be discussed later,” company spokesman Daniel Snyder said. He added that Intel would continue to offer support for all products sold through their specified warranty period.

Intel has been in the field of desktop motherboards for about two decades, and developed a strong reputation among computer buyers. However, the company has faced competition from other businesses and mostly has not been able to surpass the performance or features offered by its motherboard rivals. The shift away from that unit is a sign that mobile options as well as desktops will probably be a part of Intel’s new strategy. 

But that new focus doesn’t mean that the gut response to this news should be that Intel is abandoning the desktop or that desktops are dead. The field for these machines has changed rapidly since Intel was first powering them, and it’s clear that there is still plenty of interest among computer companies in making PCs cooler. Our lineup of the best desktop computers shows just how much range there is today in designs, style, and performance. And on the other end of the spectrum, Raspberry Pi and others are making machines cheaper and smaller, to the point where you could fit them in your pocket. 

(Image via pat7047)

In addition to a cavalcade of new Wii U games, Nintendo also announced how it plans to preserve its old games on its first HD console. The answer: A new Virtual Console and remakes like The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD.

Nintendo owes its success as much to savvy marketing as it does to creative, accessible game design. Super Mario Bros. is a great game even after a quarter of a century, but that’s only part of the reason why we’re still playing it. The other is that Nintendo is very cunning about re-releasing its games. Super Mario Bros. has appeared on almost every Nintendo console, from the Game Boy Color remake Super Mario Bros. DX to the 16-bit remake in Super Mario All-Stars, a version that went on to be a Wii bestseller in 2010. With the Wii U being Nintendo’s first HD console, though, people have been curious to find out how Nintendo would repackage the past for a machine with more advanced capabilities. The answer is with a new and improved Virtual Console and complete HD remakes, not just remasters, of games like The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.

Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma spoke in Wednesday’s Nintendo Direct video presentation and explained that since it will take quite awhile to finish the new HD Zelda, Nintendo will release an HD remake of The Wind Waker in time for the game’s tenth anniversary. As pictured above, the remake features the same clean cartoon look of the original while upping the resolution to an impressive degree. The video presentation contrasted the old Wind Waker graphics to the new and the difference is striking, a markedly different sort of improvement than the resolution shift in HD remaster sets like Devil May Cry HD, and arguably a step above more concerted efforts like the Ico and Shadow of the Colossus HD Collection.

Graphics aren’t the only improvements coming to the game, though. Nintendo will have Miiverse functionality for the remake, so people can look at hints to help get through sticky puzzles, and the game can also be played on the Wii U GamePad screen. Aonuma also said that the team will “tune up the overall game experience.” What this means is unclear. Many people complained that it took too long to traverse the Wind Waker’s ocean world, so play aspects like that may be tweaked. Wind Waker was also famously unfinished, with incomplete dungeons discovered in the data of the original. Will Nintendo finish these?

The Wii U’s Virtual Console meanwhile will be a step up from the Wii version. Out this spring, the new Virtual Console will allow Wii owners to repurchase games at a discount—$1 for previously purchased NES games, $1.50 for Super Nintendo games. This is even after those games have been transferred from a previously owned Wii. While that consumer unfriendly pricing is par for the course with Nintendo, the fact that Game Boy Advance games will be available through the Wii U Virtual Console is not. Nintendo has in the past drawn a line between its portable and home console software, only releasing a scant few NES games on Nintendo 3DS. The availability of GBA games on Wii U is a promising start towards breaking that habit.

T-Mobile’s new Chief Marketing Officer Mike Sievert tells us how they will change the wireless market through its “Uncarrier” philosophy and disruptive style

When it comes to shaking up the mobile market, T-Mobile thinks it has “a real opportunity to be disrupters.” 

Reminding us of the bombastic style of CEO John Legere, T-Mobile’s new Chief Marketing Officer, Mike Sievert, spoke with us about T-Mobile’s plan to become the “Uncarrier.” As a veteran of Microsoft and Qualcomm, it was surprising to hear someone with decades in the industry be so quick to criticize it. But according to Sievert, T-Mobile is “about putting the consumer first,” and wants to change everything we know about carriers. The question is, how does T-Mobile intend to pull it off?

An Uncarrier way of thinking

“We call it the Uncarrier strategy,” Sievert told us, as he explained T-Mobile’s new initiative to win back customers by rewriting the rules of the wireless carrier game. It’s the new, hip way of thinking T-Mobile has in store for us, and a look into how it thinks carrier should work. “We don’t think the consumer is best served by a mentality of an industry that has, for a long time, been dominated by utility companies that have utility company thinking.”

Bashing the competition is something the new executive team at T-Mobile seems to encourage, especially after CEO John Legere’s own comments about the other big three carriers at his CES press event two weeks ago. But bashing aside, the new Uncarrier philosophy of T-Mobile appears to be about more than just cheaper cellular service. For T-Mobile, it’s also about getting rid of contracts, being “fair and simple,” and working with customers, not against them. 

The entire Uncarrier ideology sounds like something a carrier would never say or think, but Sievert remained stern to the philosophy. T-Mobile, he says, wants to “focus on what consumers want: a low, fair, simple price you really do understand; great access to the most amazing devices on the market; the ability to trade up and be treated fairly when its time to upgrade; and the ability to enjoy the services we sell, like an unlimited network offering that doesn’t require a contract.” This was not your average elevator pitch. While it seems like a long shot, Sievert remains confident in not only T-Mobile’s new philosophy, but its ability to execute it, too.

The challenges of LTE & unlimited data

Execution is going to be the biggest hurdle for T-Mobile. The ideas are great in their own right, but between contract-free plans, subsidy-free phones, unlimited data, and a huge LTE roll-out, T-Mobile has a lot on its plate. “We’re now in the process of going to do the doing,” said Sievert, adding that T-Mobile has “a clear vision for what we want to accomplish.”

Sievert also made clear the road map for LTE with T-Mobile, reiterating its plan to reach 100 million people by mid-2013, and “probably 200 million” by the end of the year. Sievert expressed to us his trust in T-Mobile’s infrastructure and backhaul, which will serve as the backbone for this LTE initiative.

When it comes to data, Sievert not only supports the idea of unlimited data, but criticizes AT&T and Verizon for capping its customers. “Both of these big competitors of ours have fantastic margins. Man they are making money hand over fist, and these shared data plans are contributing to that.” He was, of course, referring to AT&T and Verizon’s shared data plans which save them bandwidth and maximize revenue.

“People don’t want to feel like they are on the clock,” Sievert said. “Data is everything.” Data plans, he claims, will be a game changer for T-Mobile; customers want unmetered data. “We believe the vast majority of consumers want unmetered and unlimited voice and text, and you will see us moving toward that.”

T-Mobile will design its plans so that they are simpler, and only differ in the amount of high speed data you receive. This setup will allow the carrier to offer truly unlimited high speed data to those who want it. Users who go over their high-speed limit will be able to add on more data for the same rate without a overage fee. T-Mobile’s future plans will be centered around these data plans, and they won’t necessarily come with two-year contracts.

“The shackles of onerous one-way contracts” that most wireless carriers use won’t be a factor on T-Mobile. The carrier has new plans for the way contracts work. “Contracts should be something consumers sign when they get a benefit, not when they’re forced to. It’s just a philosophy of ours,” said Sievert. While nothing specific was hinted, we wouldn’t be surprised to see some sort of offer or promotion tied in for those willing to make one or two year agreements.

What’s in store for the future

When it comes to just what new treats T-Mobile has in store for us, Sievert only hinted at a few things. For one, he admitted that T-Mobile has had “arguably one hand tied behind its back,” for some time now, hinting at the trouble in getting devices like the iPhone for its customers.”We’re very excited to be partnered [with Apple] and to be launching products with them in 2013,” and that’s the best evidence we have of Apple’s intention for the iPhone 5, or perhaps iPhone 5S, to be available on T-Mobile. It’s going to happen, and may be soon.

VoLTE is also in the works, something MetroPCS has been busy testing up until it was bought by T-Mobile. “We don’t have any announcements to make, but I will say it’s exciting technology … it’s turning out to be a nice consumer experience, and has some great network utilization benefits.” It certainly seems T-Mobile is planning to move forward with VoLTE sooner, rather than later.  Given it’s potential for better voice quality and lower power consumption, it seems like a logical move for the carrier in the near future, and we won’t be surprised if Sievert’s hinting at VoLTE is more than just that.

As awesome as this Uncarrier philosophy sounds, T-Mobile has a lot to prove before it truly can be what it claims. It’s easy to say it has what it takes to be the new favorite carrier among consumers everywhere, but T-Mobile has done that before. There are many hurdles ahead for the company. While Mr. Sievert emphasized the idea of T-Mobile “putting the customer first,” it faces innumerable challenges before it comes even close to fruition. What matters at this point is T-Mobile’s ability to stick to its word, accomplish its LTE expansion, and start selling the iPhone.

Though it seems to be eyeing VoLTE, and claims it has new opportunities in the future in options such as contracts, T-Mobile still has a lot to accomplish before either of these plans will be worth considering. T-Mobile is promising robust growth, but still in many ways is the same T-Mobile that has been stuck in limbo for years. We may like what T-Mobile says it can be, but it’s going to take a lot before it can prove itself worthy.

Amazon’s new in-app billing service makes it super easy for you to make impulse virtual purchases.

Starting today, you’ll be able to buy in-app add-ons and virtual currencies if you play games downloaded from the Amazon Digital Games Store. The feature, previously only available for Android and Kindle Fire apps from the Amazon Appstore, is now also available for Mac and PC applications. 

Amazon announced the new service – and its new source of revenue – via press release today, citing the company’s desire to make monetization easier as the reason to expand to platforms other than Android. “Game developers build games that are used across multiple platforms and mediums. In-App Purchasing for Mac, PC and Web-based games is our latest service that helps game developers grow their business and increase their customer-base,” said Amazon Games Director, Mike Frazzini. 

 So what does this new development mean for you? It means Amazon made it easier for you to spend cash on in-app purchases and virtual merchandise or currency for Mac and PC. You can use your credit card, an Amazon gift card you might have received during the holidays, or Amazon promotional credits you might have amassed from past purchases. The Amazon Digital Games Store has roughly 3,000 games ready for download.

Nintendo Wii U owners starting to wonder when they’ll get to play something new got a piping hot plate of new game announcements on Wednesday’s Nintendo Direct, with new Yoshi, Fire Emblem, and Xenoblade games announced alongside plenty more.

Nintendo is nothing if not unpredictable. Everyone from its most diehard fans to financial analysts know that when a new Nintendo console comes out, Nintendo is going to release new entries in its core series even if it hasn’t announced them. There will be a new Legend of Zelda, a new 3D Mario, a Super Smash Bros., a Mario Kart. When the company will announce those games and when they’ll actually come out in the life cycle of a console is always up in the air. Will Nintendo put out all the new major franchise entries within a year of each other as it did on GameCube? Will it space them out over five years as on Wii?

With Nintendo Wii U, the company seems to want it all up front. Nintendo announced a veritable torrent of first-party games for the Wii U on Wednesday morning during a new Nintendo Direct event, with brand new games, remakes, and teases for more on the horizon.

First, the wholly new: Developer Good-Feel is making a brand new Yoshi platformer for Nintendo Wii U, scheduled for release this year. Unlike the painterly Yoshi’s Island, this new untitled game borrows the crafts-store presentation of Good-Feel’s Wii hit Kirby’s Epic Yarn. The soothing pastel look of Kirby’s Epic Yarn is maintained here, but the HD model of Nintendo’s little green dinosaur looks surprisingly physical, like it was just sewn up.

Yoshi wasn’t the only untitled game on display. Nintendo also teased a new sequel to 2012’s surprise RPG hit Xenoblade Chronicles. A brief trailer for the game of a character running though a field, flying with a jetpack, and fighting scads of giant monsters was shown followed by a large painted “X” on the screen that looks similar to the one used in Xenoblade. Tetsuya Takahashi, creator of Xenoblade, Xenosaga and Xenogears, will be the executive director while Kunihiko Tanaka, his long time collaborator, will direct alongside him.

Nintendo also announced a new entry in its long-running strategy RPG series Fire Emblem, which isn’t too shocking as studio Intelligent Systems typically makes home console entries in the series. This one will be very different, though. Intelligent Systems is collaborating with Atlus on a Shin Megami Tensei and Fire Emblem crossover game. A brief teaser trailer showing characters from Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne and the upcoming Shin Megami Tensei IV alongside characters from February’s Fire Emblem: Awakening was shown. Hardcore Atlus fans will be disappointed to hear that characters from SMT spinoff Persona weren’t featured.

That’s just for starters. Nintendo also showed a new trailer for Platinum Games’ The Wonderful 101 and a brief video where the studio discussed making Wii U exclusive Bayonetta 2.

Nintendo teased even more for E3 2013, promising previews of a brand new Mario Kart and a new 3D Mario title to follow up 2010’s Super Mario Galaxy 2 as well as the reveal of Super Smash Bros. 4. Series director Eiji Aonuma also briefly discussed plans for a new The Legend of Zelda that will feature some kind of co-operative play.

The whole Nintendo Direct presentation can be viewed here.

Facebook has proclaimed mobile its priority – so how is that plan panning out?

Mobile is priority number one over at Facebook HQ. Since going public this past summer, the social network has made its intentions to hit mobile hard increasingly clear. While the Web has been kind to Facebook, there have remained some significant hurdles. Mobile, to a point, remains Facebook’s White Whale – and it’s an important one to conquer if the company wants remain, and further become, the ubiquitous social platform for our lives.

To that end, Facebook has introduced a handful of mobile-first, standalone apps – which are, to varying degrees copycats of other successful apps, and have experienced varying degrees of success. Consider this a quick check-up on how Facebook’s mobile product development is faring.

Camera

Facebook introduced Camera last spring during the height of Instagramania (phrase trademark pending). While it was definitely a competitor to the favored photo-sharing platform, the fact that Facebook had recently bought Instagram meant that the threat wasn’t as real. Still, Camera was meant to give users a proprietary option for filtering their photos.

So how’s it doing? According to AppAnnie, Camera’s early popularity was shortlived. After releasing the new version back in September, things got a little better, but it’s been on a slow decline ever since.

The thing is, Camera is a very mediocre app – generally, filter apps that aren’t Instagram have been found wanting, at least when it comes to image quality. Instagram has said very little about the technology behind its filters, but images are cleaner, clearer, less pixelated. In short, they’re better — a lot better. Creating these filters is not an easy process (this Quora question has some great answers, including one from Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom), and Camera is sort of a cop out. The drop in downloads, of course, is probably due in part to the fact that Camera has been woven into the original Facebook app itself.

Messenger

The Facebook chat app was launched nearly two years ago as a better, faster way to message your Facebook friends. It was also largely lauded as a texting workaround, and a means to reaching a person more efficiently – no more guessing about whether you should text, email, instant message … and on and on and on. It kept all private Facebook conversations in one stream instead of scattered.

Messenger was the first standalone Facebook app, and has remained a highly popular download. Facebook continues to improve the product as well, recently introducing free phone calls and voice messages. While apps like Imo.Im and WhatsApp remain popular choices for multi-platform chatting and free texting options, Messenger is certainly a worthwhile, well-managed product – and the stats prove it.

Poke

Enter copycat number two. After the swift rise of Snapchat (whose founders should be thanking middle schoolers everywhere), rumors started swirling that Facebook was set to launch its own version. Within mere days, we were introduced to Poke. The clone functions much like Snapchat, complete with all the scary privacy problems that should make any of you out there taking sexy selfies nervous.

However, not long after the release, Poke ratings began to slip - hard. The drop is partially because Snapchat has manage to create an incredibly loyal user community, one that took to the App Store to hate on Poke and defend their beloved Snapchat.

As you can see, Poke has continued to fall (and fall fast) while Snapchat is still sitting pretty at number 14.

So what does this all mean? While App Annie is more like a sampling of what’s happening on users’ smartphones than a conclusive study, it certainly gives us an idea of what is and isn’t working. And what’s working are original products. Messenger, the proprietary Facebook app itself, and the Pages Manager app are all doing well. They’ve managed to sustain relatively even levels of installations instead of the steady declines Poke and Camera have both experienced.

What we’re witnessing is something of a scattered approach. Facebook has issued a handful of standalone apps, reattaching them to the original app to varying degrees (or not at all), and leaving users with a relatively confusing mobile experience. Only a couple of things remain clear: The Facebook app itself is a more robust, much-improved user experience. Copycatting popular platforms or app trends is a losing battle. And lastly, that there is plenty of work to be done. Truly developing innovative, original, user-friendly products that improve using Facebook via smartphone and tablet is supposed to be the priority for Facebook, but there’s still plenty of work to be done.

Right now, what’s working best for Facebook are apps that, really, just add functionality to Facebook. They aren’t really immersive or interactive or add some new feature to the platform. The attempts Facebook as made in this vein haven’t performed well — and yeah, maybe that’s because they simply tried to clone what other apps had done first and better. It’s time to just stop talking about mobile and make something that captures our attention here, because the Web won’t be enough. 

LG is pointing the finger at Google yet again for shortcomings in the UK Nexus 4 Supply, and really in the supply across the entire Globe.  Google’s reply is it had no idea the demand would be so high.

The bottom-line according to LG, is that  LG built as many phones as Google asked for, and their estimations were way too low.  Google says it simply estimated demand based on previous phone sales such as the Nexus S.  LG advised it would take about six weeks to increase the manufacturing and deliveries.  LG will finally do this mid-February, hopefully putting an end to the proverbial “Sold Out” status.

At the end of last year, the Nexus 4 was put on sale, and since then, it has been sold out with occasional short restocks in some countries like the United States.  As soon as product becomes available, it gets snagged up as fast as it is listed.  The only sure fire way to get the Nexus 4 is to sign into a new contract with a provider that carries the device.  Of course that defeats the purpose: getting a super-powered phone at a killer price without having to deal with contracts.

Should Google have seen the potential for the high demand, or do you think this is their way of controlling the market for the time being?