Tag Archives: CNBC

Gamers: Your man cave is being monitored

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On generic gamersan average day at Electronic Arts, players of the video game publisher’s hit title “Battlefield 3” create over one terabyte (TB) of data. In the course of a month, the company will collect more than 50 TB from its respective titles.

For a long time, that information wasn’t immediately harvested. Certainly, it would be sifted through as planning began on a sequel, but that was about it. Eighteen months ago, however, the company realized it was ignoring valuable data, and launched a program to change that.

Today, that program is quickly becoming one of EA’s most valuable assets.

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Can the Man Behind Xbox Save Zynga?

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Don zynga hqMattrick is the hero of Microsoft’s Xbox team. It was under his leadership that the videogame console rose to the top of the market—and finally became profitable.

Now, he’s hoping to pull of a similar miracle at Zynga—but it’s a move that has left investors, Microsoft and the gaming world baffled.

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Can Design Save the PC? Here are 10 Cool ‘Yesses’

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The trs-80increasing popularity of smartphones and tablets has prompted doomsayers to (once again) begin the deathwatch for laptops and desktops.

The consumer technology market has come a long way since August 1977, when RadioShack introduced the TRS 80, the market’s first complete, preassembled small-computer system. The Level I basic came with 4K of RAM, a monitor, a cassette, and all needed cables and adaptors. It sold for $599.95.

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Cashing Out Without Killing the Company You Built

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Waze’s corporate culturerecent acquisition by Google got a mixed reaction from the site’s community of users. Many were happy to see the company move to the next level, while others feared that the takeover by a corporate giant would destroy the essence of what they have come to love.

Just three weeks before, Tumblr users expressed the same trepidation when Yahoo announced its plans to buy the microblogging site. Popular streaming-video site Hulu is nearing the end a long auction process that has included the exit of top executives. Fears persist that once it is sold, a new corporate owner may amend its core principles.

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Sex-Toy Battle Shows Industry’s Size Matters

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Is sex toysthe sex toy business all grown up?

In a highly watched case for the adult-entertainment crowd, a U.S. trade panel has ruled that several sex toy makers are violating a patent held by a Canadian company for a two-armed vibrator. The U.S. International Trade Commission ordered those competitors to stop making and selling products to Standard Innovation Corp.’s We-Vibe toy.

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Microsoft Bows to Consumer Pressure, Sets Xbox One Free

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Less xboxone-e3than one week after E3, Microsoft has announced a major policy change on the most controversial policies of the Xbox One, bowing to growing negative consumer sentiment.

In a stunning reversal, the company announced that the system would no longer require an Internet connection (beyond an initial period when users first set up their system), dropped all restrictions on trading and loaning games to friends and did away with region-locking restrictions.

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Ten Video Games to Watch This Holiday Season: E3

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Video games to watchgame publishers and developers have spent the better part of this week at E3 trying to wow the often-jaded gamer with new installments of favorite franchises, games they’ve never heard of before and plenty of sizzle reels.

They’ve done a pretty good job, too, judging by feedback on gaming forums.

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Winners and Losers From E3

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While ps4 controllerthe video game industry was optimistic going into E3, the investment community was a bit more skeptical.

Certainly, the introduction of new consoles would give shares of the sector a boost, but would it be enough to bring back the glory days? Analysts were uncertain. But as E3 draws to a close, some of those industry observers have become more optimistic about the next 12 months and beyond.

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Nintendo CEO: ‘We Are to Blame’ for Poor Wii U Sales

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While wii uthe Wii U hasn’t lived up to sales expectations and some important video game publishers have severely pulled back their support of the company, Nintendo’s global CEO isn’t looking to shift blame.

Unlike many executives who might obfuscate the issue with corporate doublespeak or finger-pointing, Satoru Iwata is blunt in his assessment of the company’s recent troubles.

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