The news for Thursday, July 18, 2013
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Game over: NCAA won't renew licensing deal with Electronic Arts | The Verge
Electronic Arts just lost one of its most important licensing deals. The NCAA has publicly announced that it won't be renewing its contract with EA when the current deal lapses in June 2014. That means NCAA '14, released earlier this month, will be the final collaboration between both sides. In a statement, the NCAA said "given the current business climate and costs of litigation, we determined participating in this game is not in the best interests of the NCAA." The association is likely referencing accusations hat EA has inappropriately included athlete likenesses in its games
Tech Companies Unite To Ask Gov't For More Disclosure of NSA Activity
Silicon Valley tech giants have united against a common cause: seeking greater transparency from the US’s National Security Agency and openness when it comes to surveillance activities.According to AllThingsD, an alliance has formed to ask President Obama’s administration and Congress to lift legal restrictions that prevent Internet, telephone, and wireless providers from providing more information about their involvement with the NSA.Joining the cause is Apple, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft, along with dozens of other prominent companies in the industry. Some of those participating in this movement have been named as participating with the NSA following disclosure of the agency’s Prism program, leaked by former Booz Allen Hamilton employee and government contractor Edward Snowden.
Tumblr unlists some porn blogs from search engines, but says it won't police them | The Verge
Tumblr has quietly stopped indexing adult-oriented blogs in search engines and in Tumblr's internal searches, a move that has raised new questions about whether the popular blogging service will crack down on porn in the wake of its acquisition by Yahoo. An FAQ doc for adult-oriented blogs, apparently published in the past couple of months, distinguishes between blogs that have occasional adult content and those that publish it regularly. The former continue to be indexed in search engines
HTC One Mini officially announced | Android Central
HTC has just taken the wraps off the HTC One Mini, its new leading phone for the mid-range space. The One Mini packs a 4.3-inch 720p display and shares much of its design language with the full-sized version of the HTC One. The pack panel is furnished in brushed aluminum, and the phone uses the same "Ultrapixel" image sensor as the larger device (though without optical image stabilization.)On the inside, the One Mini is powered by a dual-core 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 CPU, backed up by 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. And it's running much the same software that was recently pushed to the HTC One — Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and HTC Sense. Like the larger One, it features the BlinkFeed home screen reader and "Zoe" shooting capabilities, as well as automatic video highlights. So essentially, you're getting the full-blooded Sense experience here.The HTC One Mini will launch in select countries in August and globally from September.
'Indie Game: The Movie' special edition coming July 24 | Polygon
A special edition of Indie Game: The Movie will be released July 24 and contain more than 300 minutes of footage that includes a new short film anthology, epilogues of what happened to the developers after the documentary launched and commentary from Team Meat.
Nokia reports improved $151m loss in Q3 2013 after selling a record 7.4m Lumia smartphones - The Next Web
Finnish phone maker Nokia has announced its Q2 2013 financial results, which represent an improvement on the previous quarter of business, despite a slow in sales. The company recorded a loss of €115 million ($150 million) from overall sales of €5.7 billion ($7.48 billion) for the three-month period.That’s an improvement on Q1 2013, when it reported a loss of €150 million (roughly $196 million) on revenue of €5.8 billion ($7.6 billion) in sales, however Q2 2013 revenue is down 24 percent year-on-year — but loss of €824 million ($1.08 billion) has been improved significantly.The company sold a record 7.4 million units from its Lumia range during Q2 2013, that’s up from 5.6 million units sold in the previous quarter.
Ouya wants its users to Kickstart exclusive games | The Verge
After raising more than $8.5 million to fund development of its Android-powered games console, Ouya will use Kickstarter once more to help developers launch exclusive games. According to The Wall Street Journal, Ouya has set aside $1 million for its 'Free The Games Fund', launching on August 9th, and will match pledges between $50,000 and $250,000 from developers that have started their own Kickstarter campaigns.Developers accepting Ouya's money will need to make their games exclusive to Ouya for at least six months. The company says it will award a $100,000 "rock star" bonus to the developer that receives the most pledges.
Netflix receives its first Emmy nominations, nine for 'House of Cards' and three for 'Arrested Development' | The Verge
Netflix's commitment to developing original content for its video streaming service appears to be paying off. After launching House of Cards and a fourth season of Arrested Development earlier this year, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has announced both shows have been nominated in the 65th Emmy Awards — Netflix's first ever.
Political drama House of Cards was nominated for nine Emmys, including one for best drama series. Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright also received acting nominations for their work. Arrested Development received three nominations in total, after Jason Bateman was nominated for best lead actor in a comedy series. Even Hemlock Grove got in on the act with two nominations for music and special effects