Ajax Girl

Most of the browser-based games we see tend to be very simple, aiming to attract casual gamers looking for a quick diversion. The Continuum, a new Flash game that launched last week, is looking to break this trend, featuring an extremely polished interface and deep ranking system that will keep gamers’ attention for hours on end. The game is the first to come from Chicago-based development studio Seven Lights, and has been in production for over 18 months (very long compared to most other Flash games).

The Continuum isn’t meant for casual gamers - rather, it’s aimed at a more hardcore audience, mixing elements from traditional table top card games, RPGs, and turn based strategy. Each player builds up a virtual “deck” of in-game characters, each of which can be customized with various skills and attributes. The game’s monetization model comes from sale of these characters, which are sold in packs (you never know which characters you’ll be getting in each pack). However, company CEO Tim Harris says that buying lots of characters won’t necessarily stack the odds in your favor, it will simply give you more options to choose from when you send your army to battle.

There’s no end to the amount of customization that users can put into the building and fine-tuning of their armies, but this is all just buildup to the game itself, which consists of a turn based one-on-one war. The battle system uses tiles to determine how far each character can move, and each action (be it attack, cast a spell, or any number of special abilities) is activated through an onscreen menu. The graphics are all sprite based (there’s no 3D rendering), and while they don’t hold up well to those found in games like World of Warcraft, they’re more than adequate.

The Continuum certainly isn’t for everyone - the amount of customization, stat-tracking, and strategy involved will alienate a lot of people. But it will have a strong appeal for gamers who’ve enjoyed franchises like Magic: The Gathering or Dungeons and Dragons and are looking for a strategy fix beyond the games they already play. If The Continuum can establish a sizable user base, its combination of addictive gameplay and cheap (but lucrative) virtual goods could well be a recipe for success.

Seven Lights intends to use The Continuum’s engine to produce two more games in the future: A sci-fi wargame aimed at hardcore gamers, and a more laid-back “corporate sendup” for the casual audience. You can watch a trailer for The Continuum here.

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MySpace and Google demonstrated an interesting mashup of the MySpace Data Availability API, oAuth and the iGoogle gadget specification at the oAuth Summit a couple of weeks ago. The application, which pulls the core MySpace feature set into iGoogle, is not yet publicly available, although MySpace has said to expect in in August.

It’s another example of data portability in action (as well as the alliance between MySpace and Google to compete with Facebook). The example application MySpace has built for iGoogle is a gadget that allows MySpace users to check profile updates, their status messages and private messages - all from within the gadget. The gadget is built according to the new gadget spec, meaning that it should also work with other sites (such as Yahoo) that also support the gadget and oAuth.

These are the screen shots that were shown at the conference:

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As of yesterday afternoon, AOL has implemented Vidoop’s visual authentication system as part of its OpenID initiative, which was formally launched in February 2007.

Vidoop, a startup that replaces usernames and passwords with image grids, partnered with AOL to provide its OpenID users with an extra layer of security. This delivers Vidoop a potential user base of about 100 million users.

Unfortunately, AOL is still just an issuer of OpenID accounts - not a relying party. So users can’t actually use the same Vidoop-protected OpenID accounts that AOL has given them to actually sign into AOL services. AOL and other big internet players have yet to step up and become relying parties, a move that will be necessary to push OpenID into the mainstream.

Vidoop offers an alternative to the traditional username/password login system by displaying images in a grid with associated letters. Upon initial registration, users define 3-5 image categories (cars, dogs, flowers, houses, etc). When they sign into a site, a variety of images appear in a randomly-generated grid, and users enter the corresponding letters to their pre-defined categories. Because this visual system requires a higher level of intelligence, it’s harder to steal someone’s login information and use it to access all OpenID-enabled sites with it.

The implementation of authentication security can be cost-prohibitive, but Vidoop actually tries to help its partners make money. Advertisements are randomly dispersed throughout the image grid, and revenue from them is split in two ways.

Vidoop has also partnered with Charles Schwab Retirement and hopes more financial organizations will follow suit. Clickpass, a popular OpenID initiative covered here, partnered with Vidoop this past March. The Seattle-based startup brought Scott Kveton, the Chairman of the OpenID foundation, onboard in February.

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There’s nothing like scarcity to make you want something more. Apple understands this, which is why it tightly controls how many iPhones are available at any given time. Some anecdotal evidence is coming in that its partner AT&T is selling out of iPhones in some of its own stores before Apple stores.

By noon ET today, for instance, at least ten AT&T stores in New York City were sold out of iPhones. Our own CrunchGear editor John Biggs, was turned away from an AT&T store in Brooklyn after waiting in line for hours and was devastated (see his bitter-sweet video where he asks, “Am I a person, AT&T and Apple? What if I was pregnant?”).

None of this is too surprising since Apple stores are bigger and can carry more phones in stock. But is Apple artificially limiting how many phones each AT&T store can sell today? One angry reader, Mark Feldman, suggests as much, detailing his ordeal today at an AT&T store in Waltham, Massachusetts. Excerpt:

The manager got up in front of everybody and asked who was here for an iPhone. He then went on to explain that the store was only able to take orders for iPhones that would be delivered to the store in the next 5-7 days. They would take our money and when the iPhones came in we would get a call to come in and pick them up. If they were not picked up in a week, they would be shipped back and the charges reversed. He also said — and this was the kicker – that he had more iPhones in stock but he could not start selling them until Saturday morning due to his contract with Apple! And those would be on a first come, first served basis. In other words, Apple had manufactured a sell out of iPhones for the first day so as to generate “every store sold out of iPhones” [hype].

It’s one thing to actually sell out of your product. It’s another thing to manufacture a sell out of your product.

I am pissed at Apple for taking me for granted! I loved my iPhone and was willing to shell out several hundred dollars for a 3G on Day 1. I feel used. Like a chump who was turned away so Apple could get a nice sound byte on the news and the Blogs. I am so angry that I am planning to vote with my wallet… I am going to wait and buy the BlackBerry Bold which is coming out next month.

(You can read Feldman’s entire e-mail at CrunchGear).

The artificial shortage theory would hold more water if Apple’s own stores started “running out” of iPhones as well. An alternative theory, assuming that this hold-back policy is effective in other AT&T stores besides the one in Waltham, is that Apple wanted to drive more first-day customers to its own stores where it could control the launch better. The problem, though, wasn’t in the stores, it was when everyone tried to update their iPhone software at once, and found themselves holding a brick instead.

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Nielsen Online is publishing stats about the mobile industry in general and the iPhone in particular today. They note that Apple still trails HTC, RIM and Palm in the smartphone market (that’s likely to change rather suddenly over the next few months), but leads the pack when it comes to user satisfaction (they clearly didn’t poll users today).

2/3 of the 2.3 million US iPhone users are men, say Nielsen. 55% are under 35, whereas only 34% of all mobile users are under that age. Most iPhone users make over $75k per year. Most iPhones are also used with email, wifi and as a MP3 player, too. Basically, the typical iPhone user is a young, wealthy, male tech geek type.

More stats below.

What’s in store for the iPhone 3G?
- Nielsen Mobile reports that 3G networks can improve data transfer rates by about six times over 2G and 2.5G networks, on average
- Although some consumers may be frustrated at the mandatory in-store activation of the new iPhone, just 15% of current iPhone owners say they bought their phone online, compared to 68% who said they bought theirs in a store.
- 30% of smartphone users are likely to upgrade their device in the coming year

How many iPhones are already out there?
- Nielsen Mobile estimates that there are 2.3 million US mobile subscribers using an iPhone
- The iPhone accounts for 1% of all embedded mobile phone users in the US

How is the iPhone faring?
- HTC (25.2%), Research in Motion (23.4%), and Palm (19.3%) continue to lead the smartphone industry in market share, with Apple (11.6%) trailing in fourth place.
- Apple iPhone users report the highest overall satisfaction scores among major smartphone manufacturers
- 8% of recently acquired devices by AT&T subscribers were Apple iPhones

Who is using the iPhone already?
- Two-thirds (67%) of US iPhone users are male (compared to 48% of all mobile subscribers)
- 55% of iPhone owners are under the age of 35 (compared to 34% of all mobile subscribers)
- iPhone users tend to be more affluent with 63% earning above $75k (compared to 38% of all mobile subscribers)
- 24% of iPhone owners are Hispanic
- 9.7% of streaming video users and 4.9% of mobile internet users own an iPhone

What features do they use?
- 75% use the phones MP3 player
- 68% use the Wi-Fi functionality of the phone
- 76% send e-mail over their phone

How do iPhone users consume mobile media differently?
- 37% of iPhone users watch video on their phone (making them 10 times as likely as the average mobile consumer)
- 82% access the internet over their phone (making them 5 times as likely as the average mobile consumer)
- 17% stream music over their phone (making them 7 times as likely as the average mobile consumer)
- 20% play online games on their phone (making them 9 times as likely as the average mobile consumer)

Business or Pleasure?
- 15% say their company foots the bill
- 24% say they use their phone for business, but pay the bill themselves
- 61% say they are a personal user

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Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/333016584/

Beginning at 1:15 PST (in about five minutes), Ustream will give eight iPhone app developers a chance to demo their apps in a live broadcast. Ustream is a live video broadcasting site that launched in March 2007 and has been compared to justin.tv.

Here’s the planned schedule:

1:15 - Enigmo and Cro-Mag Rally
1:30 - Modality
1:45 - Twitterrific
2:00 - Trism
2:15 - MLB
2:30 - Typepad
2:45 - Tsheet
3:00 - eBay

Apple’s App Store offers a brief synopsis and screenshots of each of its 552 offered apps through iTunes, but it’s hard to get a feel for all of the features each one has to offer. These video demos should help give us a better idea of what each one can do, and hopefully a peek at what is planned in the future.

.TV online : provided by Ustream

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Our third annual August Capital Meet-Up is going a little crazy and we’re getting crushed with ticket requests. We’re releasing 100 more tickets today through EventBrite. Our ticket releases have been selling out in 5 minutes or less, so we recommend you register now if you plan on attending.

The August Capital Meet-Up takes place on Friday, July 25, 2008, in Menlo Park, California. This Meet-Up is one of our most popular events attended by startup founders, the venture community and dozens and dozens of members of the media (our press turn out this year is the most significant it has been for this event).

We continue to have tickets available for event sponsors. If you are interested in supporting the August Capital Meet-Up, please contact Jeanne Logozzo or Heather Harde. If you are a member of the press wanting to cover the event, please contact Sarah Ross.

Since we have limited capacity for the August Capital Meet-Up, we are asking a $10 cover charge to help manage the attendee list and minimize no-shows. We will donate 100% of the ticket proceeds to Malaria No More, an inclusive, grassroots movement to control malaria, a preventable and treatable disease that kills more than one million people each year.

We, also, are giving away TWO tickets to the August Capital Meet-Up to the person leaves the best comment about why they should attend this year’s party. The TechCrunch interns will choose the winning entry over the next few days. Video comments are encouraged. Good Luck!!

Attendee identification will be checked at the door. Due to the strong demand for tickets, we regret tickets are not transferable and not refundable. If you use your name to purchase multiple tickets, your guests must arrive with you to check in at the door.

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While most iPhone users are stuck with an iBrick this morning as Apple’ servers can’t complete the last step of the upgrade process, those of us smart enough to take the unofficial upgrade route 24 hours ago are happily trying out new App Store Apps. This morning I turned my iPhone into a VoIP phone by installing the new Truphone iPhone app (Truphone company profile).

One of the iPhone 2.0 restrictions that is unfortunate is the fact that VoIP applications aren’t allowed to use the cell/data connection - all that 3G bandwidth could be put to great use. But VoIP apps are allowed on the phone and can use Wifi when it’s available.

While at first it seems that the fact these apps can’t tap into the 3G stream is a real problem, in fact even the allowed activity, VoIP over Wifi, is extremely useful. For example - AT&T mobile coverage at my house/office is very bad, so I rarely use my iPhone for calls there. Instead I just pick up my landline (which is a Vonage VoIP phone). With VoIP over Wifi I can still use my mobile phone to make calls.

I installed the Truphone app this morning and registered online. Calls to any landline anywhere in the world are just 6 cents per minute, and you get a $4 credit to start when you first download the app. Truphone accesses your contact list to allow for one click calls in the same way as normal calls. The differences you’ll notice v. normal cell calls: you must have a Wifi connection to make calls, you can’t receive calls, if a normal voice call comes in your Truphone call is immediately terminated (this really sucks), you can’t use the speakerphone and your “favorite” numbers aren’t imported.

One really excellent feature is the fact that when you call someone, they see your normal caller id.

The video below shows the call process and I also play a voicemail I left through the app - the sound quality was excellent.

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Source: TechCrunch
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Well this is a fine kettle of fish. iPhone activations have essentially gone down and everyone - from folks updating their old phones to new 3G activators - are stuck with bricks until traffic dies off. Reader Brent reports:

Hey Just a heads up…my iPhone, and looking at their forums, everyone else’s iPhones are bricks because the last step of their update process is to connect to the App store which can’t handle the traffic of people updating…looks like everyone is just in a holding pattern with bricked phones until the traffic goes down…wonder how many users are effected…their are a lot of pissed people, including me and apple says, do not disconnect or try to reboot the phone and keep trying until it works…this means everyone with an iPhone is either out of a phone today or has to sit home and keep trying to connect…fun stuff

What is happening is that users are trying to upgrade to the 2.0 firmware and then when the system tries to activate their phones they go into a reboot or restore more, thereby disabling the phone and forcing another update and, with the current traffic, causing the system to fail again.

Our own Peter’s Ha’s 2G is bricked right now as well. Do not update.

Visit CrunchGear for a possible fix.

UPDATE - You think a bricked iPhone is bad? I stood in line for 5 hours and got bupkus. My reaction:

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The GOP wants you to help it figure out its party platform. Today, the Republican Platform Committee launched a site to gather comments and policy suggestions directly from the party faithful (and anyone else willing to give up their e-mail address). They also launched a corresponding Facebook app. The idea ostensibly is to gather feedback and debate about policy issues such as national security, energy and gas prices, health care reform, judicial nominations, and that old crowd pleaser “Protecting American Values.” Where’s the technology plank? Here are a few resources for them to start thinking about what tech policies we need.

For each issue, there is a synopsis of some of the questions policy makers are grappling with, and registered members are able to respond via either text or video comments. The site will have polls and will be moderated to keep the flame wars down. There is no apparent way to create new topics of debate or suggest detailed policy proposals other than in comments. It kind of screams for a wiki approach to some of this. But that would mean giving up control of the policy discussions on the site. Imagine that.

The site itself has a stodgy charm to it. But at least the GOP is creating an online forum for citizens to engage with policy makers before they make policy. This could just be an empty effort whose real purposes is to collect e-mail addresses from party members to hit them up for donations. And if that’s the case, the site will soon die. But if the GOP can create an active community of people truly interested and informed about different policy options, and feed that into their platform, it could give them a real competitive advantage over the Democrats.

In fact, why aren’t the Democrats doing this as well? They may have something similar, but a quick search this morning didn’t turn up anything other than this Listening to America town hall tour of 50 states. If you want to listen to America, you can listen to a lot more people online than in 50 town halls.

It is important to about extend participation online beyond fund-raising, and soliciting direct policy proposals from voters is a step in the right direction.

Of course, this may go nowhere. But as with any online community, the content that it produces is so often defined by the early, most involved members of that community. In politics that is often members with the most extreme views. For this to work, the GOP needs to get the balance right in terms of who it encourages to participate early on. If serious policy wonks gravitate to the site, and communicate effectively to other members, it could turn out to be a great place to test the waters for new policy initiatives. Or even to generate new ones the GOP never considered.

The Democrats should do the same. They could launch a site like this in a couple weeks.

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