Adobe abandons mobile Flash

The biggest complaint from iPhone owners to date has been the inability to access sites that use Adobe’s Flash player. Adobe spent years appealing Apple’s decision without success. Now the company is throwing in the towel.

Adobe has announced plans to cease developing its Flash Player plug-in for mobile browsers – a move that may well signal the end of Flash. The company instead plans to focus on HTML5.

Read more at Variety’s Technotaiment blog

Modern Warfare 3 launch: By the numbers

There’s little doubt that today’s launch of “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3” will set new entertainment industry records for first week revenues. But to put things in perspective, here are a few numbers – some hard, some estimated by analysts –showing how big of a monster this franchise has turned into.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

Call of Duty rolls out celebrities for Modern Warfare 3 launch

Activision turned heads last year with its eye-popping “There’s a Soldier in All of Us” campaign for “Call of Duty: Black Ops”. Now it’s upping the ante.

Jonah Hill (“Superbad”) and Sam Worthington (“Avatar”) headline the campaign’s new installment – with a quick cameo from Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard. And it’s just as heart pounding as the original.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

CBS chief talks Apple TV

With Steve Jobs first dropping hints about Apple’s plans for a branded TV set in his conversations with biographer Walter Isaacson, others are a bit more comfortable discussing it now.

The latest to reveal details was CBS CEO Les Moonves in an earnings conference call this week.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

 

Spike revs up the VGAs

Today’s revelation that Spike TV has tapped Survivor creator Mark Burnett to exec produce this year’s Video Game Awards was just the tip of the iceberg.

The show, which is the highest profile celebration of the industry each year, has also teased a few of the world premieres it plans to unveil and announced its contenders for Game of the Year.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

Here’s the trailer for Grand Theft Auto V

Eight days after letting the world know “Grand Theft Auto V” was on the way, Rockstar Games has given us our first look at the title – and it looks like fans of the series will be pretty happy with what the studio has been working on.

The game, set in a Los Angeles clone (Santa Monica is dubbed Pleasure Pier and Hollywood becomes Vinewood), seems set in a modern era, with homelessness and foreclosures highlighted.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

2011’s most cinematic game hits stores today

One of the reasons video games and Hollywood have stayed so far apart in the public eye is the gaming world’s casual regard for plot. Games, traditionally, are a series of event moments strung together by a rather threadbare plot (though you could say the same thing about some tentpole summer theatrical releases).

The “Uncharted” series is different – and the release of the game’s third installment today is a good example to non-gamers of what that part of the entertainment industry is capable of when it brings together multiple elements.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

 

First-time gamers are getting younger

As television and other entertainment industries battle video games for people’s free time in today’s environment, they might want to keep their eyes on future generations as well.

A study by Common Sense Media finds that 17 percent of five to eight year olds are already gaming on a daily basis – while 81 percent have played games through their lifetime.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

Google TV tries again

The first iteration of Google TV fell flat. It was, at its core, a good idea that was marred by poor execution and mismanagement. Now the search giant is ready to give it another go.

Starting Sunday, Google will roll out a software update to existing owners that’s meant to serve as a reboot of the service. The update will bring a new interface as well as selected apps from the Android Marketplace – but it will also bring a lot of baggage and hurdles from the existing service (most notably the lack of any support from the major networks).

The latest iTV whispers

The rumor mill is, somewhat predictably, in overdrive about an Apple-built television set these days, following mention of it in Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs. And some of what’s being talked about is pretty fascinating – assuming it’s not just an elaborate game of telephone.

The latest suggestion is that the set, collectively dubbed iTV, will feature extensive voice control that’s run by Siri, the intelligent assistant that’s the star of the iPhone 4S.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog