“We offer unified photo storage across all your devices, for free, at 1,024-pixel quality,” founder Steve Cosman told me a few weeks ago in Toronto. “Or you can pay $5/month for unlimited resolution.”

Tomorrow MyShoeBox is launching version two of its photo backup and sharing service, with a new iPad app, updated mobile apps, and a new shared galleries feature that you use to build grouped sets of photos with people you went on vacation with or family members who shared an event such as a wedding.

The freemium model has helped the company get a quick start.

Source: MyShoeBox

Search and self-quantification

After exiting from Toronto accelerator Extreme Startups in the fall, the service saw 13.4 million photos uploaded in November, its first month. And, Cosman says, MyShoeBox users upload far more photos than Facebook or Flickr users — 3,200 each, compared to Facebook’s 220 and Flickr’s 320.

But the value proposition is much more than photo backup.

Instead, MyShoeBox is a way to enjoy all of your photos, all of the time, on any device you have. Frankly, for most people, their photos are strewn around their main computer (photos from their actual, official, camera), their phone (snapshots from their built-in camera), and their social networks (uploaded from wherever you happened to be at the time). There’s no unified view, no way to see — and search — all your photos at once.

Using MyShoeBox for the first time syncs your photos up to the cloud-based service automatically, in the background, and installing the services’ mobile apps on your Android or iOS-based phone will do the same.

That’s helpful, because we often want to see more of our photos on our mobile devices.

“Our new iPad app is an incredible way of browsing your entire photo collection,” Cosman says. “And it’s one of the only ways you can get your full photo collection on your iPad … most people don’t have enough space.”

What most interested me when I chatted to Cosman is MyShoeBox’ solution to a problem that I think I share with many other digital photographers: enjoying your own work and finding photos. A former program manager for Microsoft’s augmented reality team for Windows Phone, Cosman has placed special emphasis on automated sorting, tagging, and exploring features.

“So many people that have given up the concept of a photo collection,” he says. “Faces, places, and things are important ways to automatically categorize photos. And they keep getting smarter every day.”

So MyShoeBox highlights places you’ve been, photos you took last year at this time, events, cameras you used, and more, creating what the company calls “an interactive infographic” of your life. That includes personal quantification data like the top times you take photos, and your most photographed neighborhoods.

And if you want to search your photo collection, MyShoeBox has just rewritten its search features to be much faster and more powerful as its power users often have more than 15,000 photos each.

“iOS, Android, Windows, Mac … it works pretty much anywhere,” Cosman says. “And once together, it’s automatically organized.”

MyShoeBox is based in Toronto, Canada, and is currently raising a financing round. Its new iPad, iPhone, and Android apps will be live in Google Play and the app store tomorrow.

Image credits: MyShoeBox

This sponsored post is produced by StackSocial.

VentureBeat has a slew of offers available right now, and here are just three that we want to shine a spotlight on:

The Mac Productivity Bundle 4.0

The latest Mac productivity bundle we’re offering is jam-packed full of useful tools that will help you on a daily basis. If there’s one thing your Mac can do, it can boost your efficiency and effectiveness…but you need the right apps to help you do that.

With this exclusive promo you’ll get 9 of the hottest products on the market for only $49.99! (you’re saving $640!) The Mac Productivity Bundle 4.0 has just about something for everyone.

To learn more about this offer, visit the VB Store.

CrazyTalk Pro 7

If you’ve been looking for animation software at its best – and at a price that can’t be beat – then we’ve got a deal for you.

CrazyTalk7 is the most popular facial animation tool that uses sound and text to vividly animate facial images. Whether you’re using it to enhance a video project or for fun with family and friends, it’s an app that’s a nice addition to your Applications folder for those times where you need to add a little pizazz to your creative works of art. And for a limited time, VentureBeat has it for just $99.99!

To learn more about this offer, visit the VB Store.

The Runaway Collection: MEElectronics Headphones

No one wants to deal with wires anymore. That idea has shifted more and more to the world of headphones, and we’re offering a pair of great Bluetooth wireless headphones that are sleek, comfortable, and sound spectacular.

The Runaway Collection series of headphones by MEElectronics is 43% off the regular price here at VentureBeat – but only for a limited time. These headphones are only $57 – and that price includes shipping to customers within the continental USA.

To learn more about this offer, visit the VB Store.

Remember – all of these offers are only available for a limited time, so grab them (as well as all of our offers) while you can over at the VB Store!

I had to smile though when I updated the app.

Not only did the app’s marketing pic showcase Twitter’s current brand messaging around watching, getting, and reading, all of which are higher on the priority list than, God forbid, actually tweeting, but the app itself is designed for consumption, not creation. Watch the world unfold, indeed, while you consume media.

Here’s the Twitter app user interface (at right). Please tell me, at first glance, where you go to tweet.

I’m not a regular Twitter app user, preferring to simply use the web or a mobile app, and it took me a few seconds to find (it’s that tiny little icon at the bottom left corner).

The big, noticeable icons are all at the the top: my account, my home stream, mentions, messages, and more.

In any case the updates add better multimedia integration — you can click and add photos in multiple ways — and support for retina displays. With a presumably straight face, Twitter says with this update, “Tweets will be clearer and sharper, creating a more vivid experience.”

In addition, the app now supports 14 more languages, including Dutch, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Traditional Chinese, and Turkish.

The update is available in the Mac App Store, where the app has to date received 3.5 stars.

This sponsored post is produced by StackSocial.

This VentureBeat offer offers the top voice recognition software out on the market – Dragon Dictate for Mac 3 — and for 50% off the regular price…just $100!

Now that Dictation is part of the latest Mac OS, you can do a lot more with voice-to-text. But you can’t exactly execute commands. At least not without an app like Dragon Dictate that can take dictation to a whole new level.

Here are just some of the features of Dragon Dictate 3:

• Ignite Productivity with Fast, Accurate Dictation: Say words and watch them appear on your computer screen — three times faster than typing — with up to 99% recognition accuracy right out of the box. Correcting or revising your dictated text is simple with a new, more powerful correction interface that lets you quickly edit words or phrases.
• Ignite Convenience Using Your Favorite Mac Applications: Dragon Dictate for Mac 3 goes beyond simple speech-to-text, and gives you control in more applications so that you can simply speak to do more than ever before. You can use it with virtually any Mac application, including Microsoft Word and Excel, TextEdit, Notepad, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, and even Mail.app. Want to post to Facebook or Twitter by voice? You can do that.
• Ignite Proficiency and Ease of Use Right Out of the Box: Thanks to the new interactive tutorial’s simulations, you can learn and practice good dictation, correction and editing habits so that you can create text efficiently within just a few minutes.
• Ignite Freedom and Comfort at Your Mac: Say goodbye to repetitive stress injuries. Use your Mac in a comfortable, ergonomic way without being tied to your keyboard and mouse. Open applications or folders, select menu items, click or move the mouse, press keys, switch from one application to another or create custom voice commands to execute multiple steps by voice. Use your Apple iPhone, iPad or iPod touch (4th gen) or your compatible Android device as a wireless microphone over Wi-Fi for optimal convenience. Wideband Bluetooth support delivers outstanding wireless performance with no training required.
• Ignite Mobility for Productivity On the Go: Dictate into a Nuance-approved digital voice recorder or use the free Dragon Recorder app to capture high-quality audio files using your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch (4th gen). Dragon Dictate will transcribe the recorded audio files when you connect to your Mac. These mobile recording capabilities enable you to capture thoughts from anywhere, at any time while they’re still fresh in your mind to produce detailed, high-quality reports, papers, proposals, meeting minutes, and more.

The digital version of Dragon Dictate allows you to use your Mac’s built-in mic or an external mic to help you deliver demands to your Mac. (Please note: The digital version doesn’t include an external USB headset but the boxed version does. Click here to buy the boxed version – shipping will cost $9.95.)

Tell your computer to open your email and write an email and that’s what it will do. Need to draft up an email for work or write a paper for school? Don’t bother typing it because Dragon Dictate will help you get it done in lightning speed. Just read your text aloud and watch the magic appear before your eyes right on your computer screen.

You’ll get all of this with this great offer for just $100 – but you won’t be able to get it for long! Head over to the VB Store now and take dictation on the Mac to new heights today!

This sponsored post is produced by StackSocial.

It’s not very often you can find a series of apps that has 16 utilities in one bundle, but this VentureBeat Store offer has 16 utilities all in one application! MacKeeper has got you covered in more ways than one. You can get it for just $29 – and use it for two of your Macs to boot!

The feature set that MacKeeper offers is almost limitless!

Security Features

Internet Security: Protect your Mac from all threats coming from online: phishing, identity theft, credit card fraud, spyware, malware etc.
Anti-Theft: Use the most advanced technologies to locate a stolen computer and get it back.

Optimization Features

Update Tracker: Keep the latest versions of all apps in one place and makes the updating process much more convenient.
Login Items: Optimize and speeds up your Mac by setting up the applications to open upon login.
Default Apps: Define which application will open each file type.

Data Control Features

Data Encryptor: Prevent unwanted access to your files by using double password protection and AES encryption standards.
Files Recovery: Restore deleted and trashed files from your Mac’s hard drive. Supports a wide range of file formats both for HFS+ and NTFS systems. Is able to recover files from external storage devices.
Backup: Create and schedules backups of important files on your Mac’s hard drive as well as external devices and online storages.
Shredder: Delete files or folders without any chance to recover them.
ZeoDisk: Share, backup, and sync all your files online.

Cleaning Features

Fast Cleanup: A set of cleaning utilities that completely removes all kinds of junk from your Mac.
Smart Uninstaller: Completely removes unneeded applications leaving no junk behind.
Disk Usage: Scans data on your Mac and shows the largest files on the hard drive.
Duplicates Finder: Look for file copies that take up space on your Mac’s hard drive and delete them with the click of a button.
Files Finder: Scan your Mac to find any file you’re looking for.

We’ve also got different coverage options for you to choose from. Click here to get MacKeeper Basic ($20 – license covers 1 Mac) or click here to get MacKeeper Premium ($35 – license covers 3 Macs).No matter which of the options you choose, there’s no denying that there is so much packed into this one application that it is really a bundle unto itself.

But this self-contained bundle called MacKeeper won’t be around for long – at least not at 51% off the regular price – so head over to the VB Store and get it while you can!

Ecco the Dolphin was a spectacularly innovative, nonviolent video game when it debuted on Sega’s game consoles starting in 1992. In that classic, a generation of gamers discovered the visual wonders of the ocean while playing as a jumping, spinning dolphin who battled sharks and sang to sea life.

Now the creators of Ecco have launched a Kickstarter campaign to create a new game about life in the ocean after humans become extinct: The Big Blue. Ed Annunziata and Spencer Nilsen, the creators of Ecco the Dolphin, have pulled together a veteran team in a company called Playchemy to make the next-generation undersea adventure game. Their latest collaboration isn’t based on the Ecco property itself, but they consider it to be the “next evolutionary step in undersea adventure games,” Annunziata said in a video promoting the project. In other words, it’s a spiritual successor, without the Ecco name.

“We want to make something epic,” Annunziata said. “Something with smooth game controls, a deep back story, and emphasis on exploration and artificial life.”

Source: Ed Annunziata

Ed Annunziata and his cohorts have put The Big Blue on Kickstarter. It’s the so-called spiritual successor to Ecco the Dolphin, a beloved game from the days of the Sega Genesis.

The Burlingame, Calif.-based Playchemy wants to raise $665,000 in the next 30 days to fund the project. Annunziata has had talks with Sega about doing another Ecco the Dolphin game, but so far nothing has come from that. So his team is forging ahead on Kickstarter, where they hope to bring out another title that will help people appreciate games as an art form.

Ecco the Dolphin has become a classic with a big following, and it has been republished on downloadable platforms, bringing the title to new audiences. But we haven’t seen a big undersea exploration title with state-of-the-art visuals for a while.

Nilsen is composing new music and sound for the game that will tie into the larger story. The music will be dynamic and run continuously through the game. Composer Bear McCreary (Battlestar Galactica, The Walking Dead) is contributing to the soundtrack.

In The Big Blue, human life has become extinct. Dolphin, porpoise, and whale (cetacean) sounds become the only form of communication, and a kind of undersea Internet comes to life. Players will be able to “sing” new creatures to life and control how they evolve.

The Big Blue deals with themes such as climate change, mass extinction, evolution, and biogenesis. It suggests that the Earth itself is a living organism, à la the Gaia theory.

The player can create new life forms based on the information carried in “life songs.” The graphics feature special effects like volumetric water, surface deformation, sun rays, refraction, and reflection lighting. It meshes puzzle gameplay with science, nature, and science fiction. It is not about humans and it sports a lot of nonviolent story and emotion.

It will have hyper-realistic creature animation with flocking, swarming, and procedural animations. Creatures can evolve, and players can share their creatures via collectible cards and codes.

Annunziata still gets e-mail and fan letters more than two decades after the introduction of Ecco the Dolphin. (I played it with my oldest daughter and enjoyed it immensely). He worked at Sega from 1989 to 1997, and then he moved on to Nokia Games, AndNow, TwoFish, SmartyAnts, and now Playchemy, which was founded in October 2011 with angel-invester money. The company has 12 employees and seed funding from Rick Thompson’s Signia Ventures.

The challenge is to get people to “care” about a game that doesn’t include human interactions. It is also difficult to instill the right balance of “fun” in an expansive environment and gameplay style where it is easy to get lost or not clearly know how to proceed.

The Big Blue uses the Unity 3D game engine. It’s going to be for the PC, Mac, iOS, and Android. If it hits its stretch goals, the team will work on multiplayer cooperative gameplay and possibly add massively multiplayer online capability.

Annunziata and his team created Ecco the Dolphin and Ecco: Tides of Time as well as a number of other titles. Jon Berg, who created the “Hammerhead” alien in the original Star Wars (this iconic space race are now known as “Ithorians), is the creature designer for The Big Blue. He is creating creatures in an “unlimited canvas” to create sea life. Laszio Szenttornyai is a programmer from the original Ecco team.

“We hope that you’ll support us and we’ll see you in the ocean,” said Annunziata.

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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This sponsored post is produced by StackSocial.

The Mac has long been considered the computing device that is more intuitive than the rest – but even then it can be tough to get the most out of it on a regular basis. Thanks to our latest VB Store offer, we’re going to make that challenge a little less daunting.

We’ve brought together 9 apps that can take your productivity on the Mac to new heights…and we’re offering it at a fraction of the regular price. You can get The Mac Essentials Bundle for only $49.99 – that’s 84% off the price you’d pay for all of these extraordinary apps on their own.

Here’s what you’ll get in The Mac Essentials Bundle (regular price is in parentheses):

• TechTool Pro 6 ($100.00): With TechTool Pro 6, everything is easily accessible from a single interface. One-click diagnostics will scan critical CPU, memory, video hardware and more to identify impending problems to help you prevent costly repairs. So while it’s easy-to-use, TechTool Pro provides comprehensive testing that also delivers for the Mac professional.
• Path Finder 6 ($40.00): Get the app that John Siracusa calls “It’s a file browsing tour de force.” With a multitude of features on both the basic and advanced end, ranging from tabbed browsing and a dual-pane interface, to an ACL and Hex editor, Path Finder 6 has limitless ways to increase your productivity! While making file management easy and refined, Path Finder 6 allows you to interact with your files on your own terms.
• TextExpander 4 ($35.00): This app is a must for anyone wanting to level up their productivity on the Mac. Whether it’s a simple email signature or several paragraphs of a standard response, you’ll love how easy it is to use TextExpander to avoid typing the same thing over and over. TextExpander saves your fingers and your keyboard, expanding custom keyboard shortcuts into frequently-used text and pictures.
• MacHider ($10.00): You can put your Mac on lockdown so when you’re not around to protect it MacHider will make sure all of your documents and files are safe and sound. Its main algorithm makes sure all your personal data will be hidden in password-protected folders and stored in a safe place. That means you’ll never worry intruders accessing your private files ever again – thanks to MacHider.
• Dropzone 2 ($10.00): Dropzone 2 has been called “The Swiss Army Knife of Productivity Apps” – and for good reason. Dropzone 2 lets you drag a file onto the menu item and your fully customizable grid of destinations flies smoothly out using core animation – simply place the file onto a destination and Dropzone 2 will take care of the rest, whether you’re installing an app, uploading a file to an FTP server or sharing your photos on Flickr. It’s a powerful app– and one worth having close at hand to keep you – and your Mac – moving.
• AirServer ($15.00): Ever wished you could stream content from your iPhone right to your Mac? Now you can…thanks to AirServer. It allows you to receive AirPlay feeds, similar to an Apple TV, so you can stream content or Mirror your display from your iOS devices or Mountain Lion. AirServer now delivers full 1080p HD mirroring and is faster and more powerful than ever.
• CameraBag 2 ($20.00): Redesigned from the ground up, CameraBag 2’s Analog Engine pairs a full suite of photographic tools with the high quality filters and vintage simulations Nevercenter is known for. Its key innovation is a stunningly straightforward approach to layering, rearranging, and endlessly tweaking all of these effects in realtime. The 100+ fully-adjustable filters and 25+ professional controls are only the beginning, forming the palette from which you can find, and create, your own styles.
• MacPilot 5 ($20.00): Scared of the terminal or can’t be bothered to remember those commands to customize your system the way you want? MacPilot 5 is your digital saviour. Now you can easily enable and disable hidden features in Mac OS X, optimize and repair your system, and perform numerous routine maintenance operations with the click of a button!
• IPNetMonitorX ($60.00): IPNetMonitorX combines an intuitive Macintosh user interface with deep Mac OS X knowledge to provide essential problem solving details from a single convenient application. If you’ve ever struggled with why some Internet feature isn’t working, or just want to explore and understand better, IPNetMonitorX is here to help. The built-in description for each tool clarifies underlying network concepts as it guides you to answer real world questions about how your internet is working.

We’ve got more information about all the apps in this bundle over at the VB Store page.

So what are you waiting for? For just $49.99 you can get this amazing deal from VentureBeat – so don’t delay. Time stops for no one – but the savings on these great apps will. Grab this deal before it is gone for good!

This sponsored post is produced by StackSocial.

Your Mac has a ton of useful capabilities – as well as hidden features. So don’t let those features go to waste. – especially when the ability to work faster on your Mac is there. The potential is right at your fingertips.

With this VB Store online course (featuring over 18 lectures and 1.5 hrs of content), you’ll be on the road to unparalleled Mac efficiency and effectiveness – and for just $29!

Here’s what you’ll learn in this course:

• Desktop-centric philosophy
• Window navigation training
• How to master Finder
• Ninja Chrome techniques
• Super Evernote shortcuts
• Key system-wide shortcuts
• Super booster programs
• …and much more!

With this course you’ll start to take advantage of your Mac’s hidden powers, and learn all of the instant OS X shortcuts to get more done in less time. And you’ve got one of the top trainers out there to help you on your way.

Your instructor is Tharyn Taylor. Taylor works at Mindvalley, the world’s most innovative digital media company. He’s worked in a special computer lab for his university where he trained hundreds of students how to use various desktop programs, like Word, Excel, Dreamweaver, iMovie, and much more – and he’s here to make sure you learn everything you need to know about your Mac.

So grab this VentureBeat offer for only $29 before it passes you by. Isn’t your time worth it?

This sponsored post is produced by StackSocial.

The Mac has long been considered the computing device that is more intuitive than the rest – but even then it can be tough to get the most out of it on a regular basis. Thanks to our latest VB Store offer, we’re going to make that challenge a little less daunting.

We’ve brought together 9 apps that can take your productivity on the Mac to new heights…and we’re offering it at a fraction of the regular price. You can get The Mac Essentials Bundle for only $49.99 for a limited time – that’s 84% off the price you’d pay for all of these extraordinary apps on their own.

Here’s what you’ll get in The Mac Essentials Bundle (regular price is in parentheses):

• TechTool Pro 6 ($100.00): With TechTool Pro 6, everything is easily accessible from a single interface. One-click diagnostics will scan critical CPU, memory, video hardware and more to identify impending problems to help you prevent costly repairs. So while it’s easy-to-use, TechTool Pro provides comprehensive testing that also delivers for the Mac professional.
• Path Finder 6 ($40.00): Get the app that John Siracusa calls “It’s a file browsing tour de force.” With a multitude of features on both the basic and advanced end, ranging from tabbed browsing and a dual-pane interface, to an ACL and Hex editor, Path Finder 6 has limitless ways to increase your productivity! While making file management easy and refined, Path Finder 6 allows you to interact with your files on your own terms.
• TextExpander 4 ($35.00): This app is a must for anyone wanting to level up their productivity on the Mac. Whether it’s a simple email signature or several paragraphs of a standard response, you’ll love how easy it is to use TextExpander to avoid typing the same thing over and over. TextExpander saves your fingers and your keyboard, expanding custom keyboard shortcuts into frequently-used text and pictures.
• MacHider ($10.00): You can put your Mac on lockdown so when you’re not around to protect it MacHider will make sure all of your documents and files are safe and sound. Its main algorithm makes sure all your personal data will be hidden in password-protected folders and stored in a safe place. That means you’ll never worry intruders accessing your private files ever again – thanks to MacHider.
• Dropzone 2 ($10.00): Dropzone 2 has been called “The Swiss Army Knife of Productivity Apps” – and for good reason. Dropzone 2 lets you drag a file onto the menu item and your fully customizable grid of destinations flies smoothly out using core animation – simply place the file onto a destination and Dropzone 2 will take care of the rest, whether you’re installing an app, uploading a file to an FTP server or sharing your photos on Flickr. It’s a powerful app– and one worth having close at hand to keep you – and your Mac – moving.
• AirServer ($15.00): Ever wished you could stream content from your iPhone right to your Mac? Now you can…thanks to AirServer. It allows you to receive AirPlay feeds, similar to an Apple TV, so you can stream content or Mirror your display from your iOS devices or Mountain Lion. AirServer now delivers full 1080p HD mirroring and is faster and more powerful than ever.
• CameraBag 2 ($20.00): Redesigned from the ground up, CameraBag 2’s Analog Engine pairs a full suite of photographic tools with the high quality filters and vintage simulations Nevercenter is known for. Its key innovation is a stunningly straightforward approach to layering, rearranging, and endlessly tweaking all of these effects in realtime. The 100+ fully-adjustable filters and 25+ professional controls are only the beginning, forming the palette from which you can find, and create, your own styles.
• MacPilot 5 ($20.00): Scared of the terminal or can’t be bothered to remember those commands to customize your system the way you want? MacPilot 5 is your digital saviour. Now you can easily enable and disable hidden features in Mac OS X, optimize and repair your system, and perform numerous routine maintenance operations with the click of a button!
• IPNetMonitorX ($60.00): IPNetMonitorX combines an intuitive Macintosh user interface with deep Mac OS X knowledge to provide essential problem solving details from a single convenient application. If you’ve ever struggled with why some Internet feature isn’t working, or just want to explore and understand better, IPNetMonitorX is here to help. The built-in description for each tool clarifies underlying network concepts as it guides you to answer real world questions about how your internet is working.

We’ve got more information about all the apps in this bundle over at the VB Store page.

So what are you waiting for? For just $49.99 you can get this amazing deal from VentureBeat – so don’t delay. Time stops for no one – but the savings on these great apps will. Grab this deal today!

When I spotted Evoland, which Bordeaux, France-based studio Shiro Games is billing as “short story of adventure video games evolution,” two thoughts crossed my mind. First, it looked like an equally clever but more gorgeous version of Silicon Studio’s 3D Dot Game Heroes, a pixel-heavy throwback to the 8-bit era with modern sensibilities. Then I wondered how the developer was planning to encapsulate the entire history of a genre in one title.

It wasn’t until I talked to Sebastien Vidal, chief executive officer of Shiro and former chief operating officer for NCsoft Europe, that I begun to understand what “evolution” really entailed.

Evoland itself isn’t new. Nicolas Cannasse, founder of Flash game company Motion Twin, made Evoland Classic in about 30 hours for the Ludum Dare #24 Online Game Jam event, where people from around the world give up a weekend to make a game. Cannasse participated in the challenge window that took place from August 24-27, 2012. Out of 1,400 entries, his emerged with the highest overall score. The theme that weekend? Evolution.

Evoland Classic obtained over 300,000 players within a couple months. Now, with such a strong interest in the game, Shiro has decided to make a full commercial version of Evoland, which is coming first for PC and Mac in early March (and later iOS and possibly Android) for under $10.

“Most feedback we had [with Evoland Classic] is that people loved the concept rather than any specific part of the game, which is what makes a lot of people hooked to the idea when they first hear about it,” Vidal told GamesBeat. “This is not a game on which we expect comments about the graphics or the music or an event in the storyline — even if [we] had quite a few on the music.” (Audio was the category in which Evoland Classic scored lowest.)

In fact, the new Evoland doesn’t even have a story in the traditional sense. It’s not a narrative per se but rather a “story” of how action-adventure games have changed throughout the years.

“Like in the Classic version, everything in Evoland is based around unlocking chests that give access to some new feature, generally gameplay- or technology-related,” said Vidal. “Players will go back and forth between different styles of gameplay, but the technology used to created the environment [will] always move forward.”

These unlocks include features like a sword or the ability to save your progress — moments or mechanics that came into the genre as it advanced — as well as technological aspects like graphic upgrades and higher quality music.

“The whole point of the game is progressing through these unlocks to unfold the story of action-adventure gaming,” said Vidal.

He also showed us three screenshots (two included here), where the player unlocks (don’t think of “unlocks” as in extra content; rather, these are core parts of the game that drive its progression) 16-color display, music, and the ability to enter houses (and “freely invade people’s privacy,” the game jokes).

I’m now half-expecting to rummage through other people’s drawers and break their pots — two activities Link from The Legend of Zelda is good at — which wouldn’t be too far off base. Vidal mentioned that Zelda, Dragon Quest, and Final Fantasy were all big influences.

“Evoland Classic was clearly inspired by the Zelda series,” said Vidal, “but we wanted to go beyond that and pay a tribute to the action-adventure genre as a whole rather than to specific titles while also keeping the parodic humor of the original game.”

These “tongue-in-cheek comments” and references to gaming culture also include the names of people, places, and different secrets that you can find.

Shiro is moving further along the technical and gameplay evolution of the genre than Evoland Classic did by including different types of combat (like turn-based Active Time Battle and hack-n-slash), allowing players to switch back and forth between gameplay styles, and having the perspective change from 2D to 3D (both prerendered and real-time). Vidal said that items that block your path in 2D might appear flat in 3D.

“Unlike many games, the content in Evoland is there to serve the gameplay and not the other way around,” he said. “The game inverts the roles, and you end up living a story on a background of gameplay rather than playing a game along a storyline.”

It’s a “game about games,” as he calls it.

“In terms of depth, we actually discussed doing a game about the whole of gaming history, starting with Pong up to full 3D action games,” he said. “But the editorial work just to pick what best represents each style and era would have been huge –and the development time even bigger — so we went back to the roots and ‘only’ expanded on the action-adventure styles. That alone could, in theory, cover many genres of role-playing games, and we cut down to a few cult series that worked with each other and had an overlap in their audiences.”

Vidal says the four-person team is happy with the positive feedback they’ve been receiving on Steam Greenlight, YouTube, and other social networks like Facebook.

“We initially thought [Evoland Classic] would mainly appeal to veterans of the genre, but it turns out a lot of people who have tried the game and never played an RPG really enjoyed it,” he said. “For them, the experience of having a game evolve around them as they played completely overshadowed the fact that it was an action-adventure game. It could have been anything. The evolution was what made it fun for them.”

Evoland’s, well, evolution is what ultimately makes it different from the countless other nostalgic, retro throwbacks on the market.

“I guess Evoland only starts as a retro game and ends as a — fairly — modern one,” said Vidal. “We’re not trying to make a game like the ones in the past — in terms of graphics and/or gameplay — but rather to tell the story of these games.”

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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For a company that is supposedly struggling, and whose stock price has shed almost $200 billion from its $700/share high in September, Apple did pretty well in the first quarter of 2013. With the new iPhone 5, the iPad Mini, and the iPad 4 leading the way, Apple had  record quarterly revenue of $54.5 billion and record quarterly profit of $13.1 billion.

The only problem? Wall Street’s consensus numbers were $54.58 billion (Apple just beat that), 50 million iPhones (Apple actually sold 47.8 million), 23 million iPads (Apple just about made it, selling 22.9 million), 12 million iPods (under Street estimates), and 5 million Macs (well under Street estimates).

Still, the numbers compare very nicely to the same quarter a year ago, where Apple recorded $46.33 billion in revenue and a $13.06 billion profit on 37 million iPhones and 15.4 million iPads. Even more impressive: That quarter was 14 weeks long, while this year’s Q1 was only 13 weeks long. So normalized, Apple would have done even better.

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

All those iDevice sales have filled Apple’s full pockets even fuller. The company already had a hundred-billion-dollar cash stash, and this quarter, with $23 billion in total cash flow and average weekly revenue of $4.2 billion, will add to that amount.

The problem is that record revenue and more cash in the back doesn’t seem to be enough. In after-hours trading, Apple stock is down from it’s daily high of $514.17 to $488.11, as investors’ fears about slowing growth and growing vulnerability to cheaper phones and tablets running Android appear to be confirmed.

Source: Google Finance

Apple stock down in after-hours trading

photo credit: Thomas Hawk via photopin cc

The big question, however, is this: Even if Apple has a stellar quarter, will it be enough to pull it out of its stock market doldrums?

Over the past year, Apple has seen its stock lose almost $200 billion in value, from a high of $700 to below $500, before a recent rise just north of the $500 mark. This is in spite of topping 53 percent smartphone market share in the U.S., selling 7.2 million iPhones last quarter through AT&T, over 6 million iPhones with Verizon, and being the phone of choice for 50 percent of smartphone buyers.

Oh, and by the way, on the path to meeting investors’ expectations in the last quarter of 2012, Apple sold 27 million iPhones and 14 million iPads, resulting in revenue of $36 billion and  profit of $8.2 billion — an increase of $1.6 billion from the year-ago quarter.

Not too shabby?

Apparently, shabby enough to shave tens of billions of stock market valuation. The big worry is Google’s Android: Will Apple reprise the past and fade into the sunset again, as it did (temporarily) with the PC market?

The worry is that Android will grab the lion’s share of Apple’s fast-growing and most-profitable mobile market, as it did in the third quarter of 2012, and that Apple will not make the kind of hard decisions it needs to make to retain mobile leadership.

Analysts are predicting anywhere from the low $50 billions to the mid-$60 billions, with 50 million to 55 million iPhones and 22 million to 26 million iPads. Macs and iPods are much less relevant to Apple’s bottom line. Wall Street’s consensus is $54.58 billion, 50 million iPhones, 23 million iPads, 12 million iPods, and 5 million Macs.

My guess is that to make the stock price pop, Apple will have to exceed those numbers by a considerable margin.

Beards, puppies, and dragons: What do these three things have in common? They’re all favorites of independent developer Cleaversoft, which is about to debut its first full-blown video game (due in early 2014) at the Music and Gaming Festival (MAGFest) in Maryland today.

Dragon Runner (iOS, PC, Mac) is a runner-type game like Tiny Wings and Jetpack Joyride, and it has a smart vision for reinvigorating the genre. It’s also a big step up from the studio’s previous releases, BeardWars and PuppyWars, which are only available for iOS. Cleaversoft founder Rich Siegel thinks of them more as “navigatable mobile apps” than true “living, breathing” video games.

What makes it different

The difference shows. Dragon Runner’s premise sounds fun and exciting: you play as a bearded hero named Stanley who slays dragons in space. He runs across their backs as they’re flying, too, which distinguishes the game from other runners where your environment doesn’t move on its own. This one’s actually alive.

“I guess the big thing we’re adding right off the bat that’s different from those games is you’re running on this living, moving surface,” Siegel told GamesBeat in a phone interview. “The dragon flies up; he flies down. He’s moving up and down as you’re running on him. He wiggles. She wiggles.”

Dragon Runner also contains more depth than other runners, which often resort to recycling content. “You kind of go through a couple of areas, and there’s these repeating enemies and repeating situations,” said Siegel. “We don’t have [that]. There are random spawns as far as things being on levels. … You also have things that are triggered by not only the distance [where] you’re on the dragon but also by time.”

The team and its plans

With the small success it’s achieved with PuppyWars, which has reached over 50,000 downloads, Cleaversoft could afford to expand. Joining the former one-man team are talented artist Paul Davey (“Mattahan” on DeviantArt), who worked on Cleaversoft’s previous titles; programmer Mark Bradshaw (Lose Your Marbles); animation specialist Zach Cohen; and chiptune musician Paul Weinstein (aka “Chipocrite”), who created an original soundtrack and sound effects all on his Game Boy.

“We’ve been working on the game for about 10-and-a-half months now,” said Siegel. “We realized that we really love it more — maybe more — on the TV, so we really want to put it out on everything since that’s going to be a possibility.”

Cleaversoft’s early vision for Dragon Runner was much smaller. The developer originally planned to make it a universal app for iOS before deciding to use the Unity 3D engine, which builds codes for virtually any platform. But the painstaking design is what Cleaversoft hopes will make Dragon Runner one of the most stunning games on iOS. The studio handpainted and animated every character, frame by frame. And it’s not every day that you see a DeviantArt member (“Mattahan”) handling it all.

A familiar feeling

The studio is also looking into universal saving across platforms, but that’s only part of what makes Dragon Runner so accessible and deep. Games like Subway Surfers and Monster Dash are controllable with only one or two buttons, so they’re easy to grasp. In Dragon Runner, Stanley’s sole moves are Jump and Anchor, but these have multiple applications depending on how or when you press them. And jumping on enemies’ heads keeps you alive longer.

Dragon Runner is easy to play, but it’s not easy. “Most people will die,” said Siegel. “And it’s more so gaining skill in the game that will get you farther than necessarily upgrading things.”

Siegel referenced Spelunky as an inspiration as far as the feel of the game and how it progresses. And the PlayStation 2 title Shadow of the Colossus is also an influence — once you reach the end of the dragon’s back, you have to take out the head.

“The key thing for advancement in the game is killing at least one type of each dragon,” he said.

So why dragons? It’s just a natural fit, according to Siegel. They wanted players to feel like they had power over something much bigger than them — hence the Shadow of the Colossus vibe.

Cleaversoft even combined its love of dragons with its love of beards. A few bearded dragons appear in the game, and Stanley, the main character, has an “epic beard that’s always flapping in the wind.”

Siegel added, “We haven’t implemented it yet, but we’ve been discussing a power-up where he tosses out chunks of his beard.” Kind of like fireballs in Mario, he joked.

And Super Mario Bros. — a series Siegel has been playing his entire life — has been a huge source of inspiration. Even though the original is largely considered a platformer, Siegel says it’s a “one-runner” like his game: When you die, you start back at the beginning.

Siegel aspired to bring the depth of classic Marios into Dragon Runner. Instead of three golden coins, for example, the team put in three dragon eggs that give Stanley more power when he faces one of the beasts’ heads.

“There’s always new things [in Mario] to learn about and find, and little glitches. We just want to add in even more Easter eggs — even more crazy things to find in Dragon Runner than in a Mario game. And if we can do that in a one-runner, and really do it well … I believe in my heart of hearts that we’ll have something, and people will just love it.”

Check out a sampling of Mattahan’s work in the gallery below. Click on the first image to view its caption.

Screenshots are taken from the Dragon Runner MAGFest promo video.

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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This sponsored post is produced by StackSocial.

If there’s one application that can speed up how you use your Mac, it’s LaunchBar. From quickly opening other applications to quickly searching for things on the web and more, LaunchBar is a must-have app to make you more productive with your Mac.

Right now VentureBeat has an offer that’ll save you 25% on LaunchBar. You can get this time-saving app at a cost of just $26 for a limited time at the VB Store!

Access files, folders, applications, contacts, calendars, your pictures, music, movies, the web, and essentially everything you need on your computer or on the Internet – with just a few keystrokes.

• Browsing: Navigate folders, contacts, bookmarks, recent items, libraries or any other kind of hierarchy with the arrow keys to reveal related information.
• Abbreviation Search: LaunchBar’s powerful, blazing fast adaptive abbreviation search technology allows you to find items just by typing short acronyms of their name.
• Keyboard Shortcuts: Invoke LaunchBar quickly with a system wide hotkey, or just by tapping a modifier key.
• Clipboard History: Preserve the data of your most recent Copy operations, and use the copied objects again later.
• ClipMerge: Combine subsequent Copy operations into one single clipboard object just by pressing ⌘C twice.
• Instant Send: The most efficient way to send files or text selections to LaunchBar, and then hand them over to applications, folders, email contacts, search templates, services and more.

We are so confident that LaunchBar will truly level up your productivity, that we are offering a 30 day refund policy – no questions asked.

Words legitimately can’t describe how much this program will increase your productivity. With over 1,000 features the ways in which your productivity can benefit from this app are nearly endless. So save some money today and save time going forward – head over to the VB Store page to pick up LaunchBar for just $25!

This sponsored post is produced by StackSocial.

The Mac is renowned for its graphic design and video editing abilities, and it’s no secret it has plenty to offer those who love their music. With The Ultimate Music Bundle, you’ll get 8 top music applications – including the popular TuneUp – for a price that definitely will strike the right chord. The full retail value of these apps combined is $355, but for a limited time the VB Store offer has it for just $39!

The Ultimate Music Bundle includes the following apps (Note: An app’s regular price is listed in parentheses):

• MegaSeg DJ ($99.00) - An easy to use, advanced DJ music mixer. Mix and match all of the music right from your library to create an awesome DJ experience.
• TuneUp ($50.00) - Tired of scrolling through 200 songs titled “Track 1” while looking for that song someone gave you on a burned CD three years ago? TuneUp works miracles when it comes to organizing your music library by “automagically” cleaning it up.
• Flip4Mac Studio ($49.00) - Watch, edit, and convert Windows Media on your Mac. Flip4Mac Studio includes Flip Player, the new multiformat media player.
• The T-Pain Engine ($30.00) - Produce your own beats and music and share them with your family and friends. Choose from dozens of killer beats or customize your own.
  Ondesoft Audio Recorder ($30.00) - Record audio on your Mac anywhere and at anytime and easily save your files into numerous formats so they stay compatible to your needs.
• Tracks ($10.00) - Tracks is a powerful application that allows you to play and browse iTunes music right from your menubar.
• Boom for Mac ($7.00) - Boom will improve the audio quality from the Mac’s built-in Stereo speakers on the latest MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, MacBook Pro with Retina Display, and the new iMac as well.
• SOS Online Backup ($80.00) - SOS Online Backup lets you simply and securely backup 50GB worth of documents, music files, videos, and more.

You can find out more about all of these apps over at our VB Store page, including testimonials, video demonstrations, and the additional features each of the apps possesses. And once you’ve checked out all this deal has to offer – pick up The Ultimate Music Bundle for the low price of $39 before this deal goes silent.

But to others, it’s just a PR stunt with limited real value.

One of them is SumOfUs, a corporate watchdog group that describes itself as “fighting for people over profits.”

“Apple has a track record of announcing changes in its supply chain as PR stunts,” the organization’s founder and executive director Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman said. “Apple has spent $650 million just on advertising for the iPhone alone since it launched. They’re talking about spending less than 20% of that on this shift. They’re talking about moving 1/10th of 1 percent of their global production costs.”

There’s no question that $100 million worth of manufacturing investment locally is a drop in the bucket. And there’s also no question but that Apple is starting with some of the least profitable segments of its product line-up. iPhone, iPad, and iPod, after all, account for some 76 percent of Apple’s total sales.

But Cook’s statement mentioned that iPhone and iPad processors are manufactured in the U.S. as well. That the glass is made in Kentucky, and that all research and design is done in California.

Still, Stinebrickner-Kauffman isn’t mollified.

“They’re making a small token offering to appease consumers here in the US. Is it a coincidence that Tim Cook is announcing this move just before the holiday shopping season? I think this is a really savvy PR stunt by a corporation that has no actual intentions of cleaning up its supply chain. And I hope consumers aren’t taken in by it, but instead demand evidence of actual change from Apple.”

I don’t buy it.

Manufacturing has moved to Asia for a lot of reasons, many having to do with people like you and me wanting manufactured goods for cheaper and cheaper prices. Taking it back will not and cannot happen immediately, or even quickly. As more automation enters the manufacturing process and wages are less of a factor, more manufacturing can return.

This is at least a start … and one that Apple had no need to do at all.

And, in the spirit of pots, kettles, and people living in glass houses … it wouldn’t be a PR stunt to publicly attack the most valuable corporation in the world for doing something good, would it?

photo credit: Tc Morgan via photopin cc

So you bought the first five Tomb Raider games that recently hit Steam, and your collection is complete. Hang on, treasure hunters. You’re still missing a few.

The early Tomb Raider action-adventure games are available on a variety of modern platforms: PlayStation Network and PC via GOG.com and most recently Steam. But previous Tomb Raider developer Core Design also released a number of add-ons and standalone expansions for PC that are nowhere to be seen. Unless you own the original discs, you can’t play them even if you find a download online.

This extra content is substantial, too. The first of the Tomb Raider Gold games for PC and Mac arrived two years after the release of the original Tomb Raider. This version contained four bonus levels on a second disc: “Shadow of the Cat,” where female lead Lara Croft searches for a tomb devoted to the Egyptian cat goddess Bastet, and “Unfinished Business,” where she ventures back to Atlantis to destroy, well, mutant creatures guarding an alien hatchery.

Tomb Raider II Gold featured five bonus levels (“The Golden Mask”), The Lost Artifact was a brief sequel to Tomb Raider III, British newspaper The Times released an exclusive level for The Last Revelation in collaboration with publisher Eidos, and Chronicles sold with a level editor.

We asked Stellalune (who goes by her pen name online, not her real name), the owner of the popular and long-running Stella’s Tomb Raider fan site, whether it’s possible to play these lost levels another way. She doesn’t think so.

“In a perfect world, all the expansions would be available on all systems,” she said. “But sadly, I don’t make those decisions.”

Are the extras even worth it? “I really enjoyed all the Tomb Raider bonus levels, and I think they’re just as well designed and fun to play as the main games,” she said. “[They're] also just as weak on plot, but I don’t really care about that much. I just like exploring, solving puzzles, et cetera. That said, I don’t think any of them are essential to the Tomb Raider experience.”

She added, “I’m still a little cranky that they never released the Xbox 360 Underworld bonus levels for other systems since those add-ons actually do add to the plot of the main game.

“Meanwhile, there are also tons of amazing user-created games done with the Tomb Raider Level Editor. I haven’t had a chance to play even a tiny fraction of what’s available, but sites like trle.net, skribblerz.com, [and others] are great places to start if you’re interested in tons of free Tomb Raider.”

GOG.com’s Trevor Longino confirmed that the site does offer the extra level in Revelations, at least.

“We signed the rights to the Tomb Raider 1-3 Pack, which is what we released,” he said. “We did not sign the Gold editions of Tomb Raider One and Two, but we’re looking into the possibility of adding them to our catalog in the future.”

We also reached out to Steam but have yet to receive a response.

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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This sponsored post is produced by StackSocial.

Let’s just say you got yourself an early Christmas present this Black Friday. Let’s just say it’s a brand-new Mac. Let’s just say it’s only a little wanting in the applications department.

Well then let’s just say that the VB Store has got a deal for you!

The iStack Mac Bundle has 10 apps that will give you all you really need to take your new Mac and make it more useful than you could imagine for a price this low. This deal is just $49.99 – but it’s only around for limited time.

Here’s what you’ll get in The Stack iMac Bundle (Note: The regular price of each application is in parentheses):

• Camtasia 2 for Mac: With Camtasia 2 you can easily create stunning screen captures and video recordings, with easy capture capabilities and allowing you to focus your videos on what matters. ($99)
• Circus Ponies NoteBook: Take rich notes using powerful outlining, diagramming, and sketching tools with Circus Ponies NoteBook. ($50)
• CrossOver XI: CrossOver XI enables you to run Windows applications and PC games on your Mac without rebooting, without a Windows license, and at native speeds. ($60)
• FX Photo Studio Pro: This app sports one of the best variety of photo effects among photo applications, and has 172 high quality effects and filters at your disposal. ($40)
• LittleSnapper: Capture picture-perfect screenshots with LittleSnapper, which can also do things like automatically categorize and easily add annotations to all of your snapshots. ($40)
• Printopia: Printopia brings wireless printing from your iOS devices to your Mac’s printers easily and instantly. ($20)
• xTeam: An incredibly useful tool to manage the working schedule of people in your team, group, or organization that lets you create daily working schedules, manage days off for each person and track holidays. ($99)
• MoneyBag: This top-notch finance app allows you to interpret and monitor your spending and saving patterns with unprecedented ease and simplicity. ($60)
• Habits: Stay motivated and accountable with this life-changing app that helps you create good habits…and break bad ones. ($20)
• SyncMate Expert: Sync up your calendar, to do/reminders, contacts, mail, stickies, bookmarks, music, and more! ($40)
• Build iPhone & iPad Games without Programming: Featuring over 222 lectures and 10 hours of content, this eCourse will teach you how to build iPhone & iPad games without programming a single line of code. ($250)

You can improve every facet of your Mac’s Applications folder with this offer – and at 93% off the regular price, you’ll never find a better price for such a versatile set of applications. So head over to the VB Store now and grab The iStack Mac Bundle while you can and add more power to your Mac today!

This sponsored post is produced by StackSocial.

Stocking your Mac app up with apps that add value to your experience is something many of us – ot not all of us – do. But how many of us stock up on apps that maintain that level of experience? I’d wager to guess that the number is far, far lower.

The VB Store is giving those who are part of the few to become part of the many, as we unveil The Mac Utility Bundle, which will supercharge your Mac with 5 stellar Mac apps – including Parallels Desktop 8. And you’ll get it for 75% off the regular price…just $59.99!

Here’s what you’ll get in this power-packed bundle:

• Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac: This is the #1 rated utility to run Windows on your Mac, and with Parellels Desktop 8 you can run Windows on your Mac without rebooting. The easy-to-use interface allows for a seamless experience on both the Mac and Windows side of things, and this version sports over 90 new features. (You can even run Linux side-by-side with Mac OS X.) If you’ve wanted to run another OS on your Mac, then this application is the one for you.
• Snagit for Mac: With Snagit’s easy-to-use tools, you can quickly create images and videos to give feedback, solve a problem, or simply show off something cool. There are so many features built-in to Snagit, such as the ability to enhance images with stamps, text, and effects, the ability to organize your screen captures with easy auto-storing and tagging features, and much more. It really is the ultimate screen capture app!
• VirusBarrier X6: Want protection from viruses, Trojan Horses, and all other known Mac malware? ViruxBarrier X6 has got you covered. It’s also the only antivirus for Mac that provides solid protection against network threats, with a two-way firewall, network protection, anti-phishing, anti-spyware features, and more.
• MacOptimizer: MacOptimizer does a whole lot of optimizing. It gets your Mac back in shape by cleaning your system caches, optimizing your Mac’s speed, speeding up Mail client, freeing up inactive memory, and so much more!

But htere’s more to this VB Store offer. The first 3000 buyers will get a copy of Rubbernet, an app that keeps an eye on all network-enabled apps running on your Mac so you can take the necessary actions to resolve the problem. Rubbernet provides real-time monitoring so you can keep an eye on the exact state of your live network connections. It’s a $36 value…and if you get in on this deal early then you’ll get it for absolutely free.

But we’re not done yet…

Even if you decide to take ap ass on this bundle – although we have no idea why you’d do that – you can score yourself another free app: MacX iPad Video Converter. Thanks to our friends over at Digiarty we’re able to hook you up with a killer Mac app that allows you to convert all of your videos to play on your iPad at no cost to you. That’s a price anyone can get behind.

The Mac Utility Bundle is a rock-solid deal that won’t last for long. Save 75% off for a limited time and get this VB Store offer while you can!

The biggest puzzle-platformers of recent years — like Limbo and Super Meat Boy — are punishing in their difficulty. Take even a single hit and it’s game over. They’re also endlessly creative, constantly testing players with new angles on previous challenges and surprises in gameplay. Now, Might and Delight’s debut title Pid, or Planet in Distress (out today for Xbox Live Arcade and Steam), seeks to reproduce that winning formula as it leaves the fate of a world with a young boy.

What you’ll like

Otherworldly colors and sounds
All Kurt wants to do is go home. When the bus drops him off at a remote planet by accident, he learns the return trip will take a little longer — traffic to and from the planet has completely stopped, save for its newest little visitor. The boy proceeds to explore his surroundings only to become embroiled in a conflict that concerns the welfare of the planet and its robot inhabitants, who are helpless to the changes and evil-doings going on around them.

Life on the planet might be tragic, but the sights and sounds are wonderful. The game begins (and ends) with a wordless series of illustrations set to sound, which gives the story its context and mood. From there, Kurt journeys to locations like an old castle, an opera house, and an eerie cave and underground maze. The colors are gorgeous, especially in areas outdoors; the hazy palette blends together beautifully even as each part of the environment stands out from the rest. This effect gives Pid a sense of childlike wonder, like we’re viewing these scenes through a veil of starlight. It helps to emphasize how brave one small boy can be to take on a mission this big. Kurt has amazing spirit, and his determination to find a way home brings hope and aid to a desperate people.

His adventure unfolds to the beat of an excellent soundtrack, which seems to reinvent itself each time Kurt discovers a new region of the planet. The drums, bass, guitar, and saxophone come together in an easygoing and energetic way — it’s not intrusive, but it’s as hard to ignore as the ever-changing, gorgeous environments.

Challenge for one player or two
Pid is tough even on Normal, the only available difficulty setting at the start (the other is Hard, which you unlock upon completion). Luckily, the game lets you power through its stressful scenarios with a friend, a preferable way to play any puzzle-platformer of this caliber.

And this one has plenty of challenges and content. I clocked in just shy of 15 hours, but only after dying 648 times, according to the end-of-game stats. Puzzles require the use of your growing inventory of weapons and items — the beam, which bounces off walls and can float you in any direction; bombs and timed bombs; the slingshot, for when you need to trigger a beam on a distant surface; and more — but the tasks always differ. Pid even introduces new enemies and traps toward the end (like the flying black domino-shaped foes pictured above, which cling to your light beams), a rarity for some puzzle-platformers.

What you won’t like

Unforgiving gameplay
While Pid can be fun at times, be prepared for it to wear heavily on your patience and tolerance for frustration. As hard as the puzzles are, the bosses are even tougher. You’ll face six of them, and each is more aggravating than the last. You can spend most of your time during these fights just surviving and only whittle away at the boss’s health before dying. The mechanics are imprecise — one showdown, for example, involves climbing your opponent’s shoulder while avoiding missiles, but Kurt can get stuck on his anatomy. More than one confrontation turns into a chase scene, and another requires you to make a perfect landing or else spend minutes doing little more than avoiding enemies and their fire. The chances of dying are great, and they’re too slim for success.

It wouldn’t be as much of a problem if the game stocked you up on health at the start of a fight, but too often you have little to no armor by the time you reach the boss. You can buy life vests at vending machines, trading in the star constellations you collect (which play a greater role in the story), but it’s easy to lose them as you take damage. Considering the duration of these battles, a little extra health could go a long way.

Occasional drops in quality
As hard as Pid works to keep play fresh and interesting, it’s not immune to repeating the same tricks. A good handful of scenes could have been cut, and it’s here that players will notice the repetition — too many laser-based or missile-based obstacle courses set back to back, for instance, with no scenic view.

Pid also resorts to a few fetch quests, but it’s better off without them. They only feel misplaced in a game that’s largely about pressing forward, not running around in circles, lost. If players have to repeat rooms they already died on just to gather X number of batteries, that’s when they abandon the game.

In addition, while Pid has a strong checkpoint system — crucial for puzzle-platformers where the player death count is in the hundreds — half the time it never works the way you need it to. It might, for instance, reload the game at a previous scene or start the player off at a point they’ve long passed.

Conclusion

Pid is just as atmospheric as Fez and as grueling as Braid, but it’s the little details of its execution that keep it from flawlessness. An Easy mode would be a huge boon if only the developer had added one; the boss fights are unnecessarily tedious and slow; and the health and item system is too unreliable (why spend stars when you’re just going to lose your new power-ups before the real trouble hits?).

But it is a quality puzzle-platformer, and one with excellent narrative, graphics, and music. Most of the mistakes you make belong to you, not Pid — no matter how much you swear at it.

Score: 75/100

Pid was released for Xbox Live Arcade and Steam on Oct. 31. The publisher provided GamesBeat with an XBLA code of the game for the purpose of this review.

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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It all has to do with skeuomorphic design.

I’m guessing most of us didn’t have a clue what that was yesterday, but very likely many of us have encountered it and wondered about it in Apple products.

Skeuomorphic design is design that connects the new to the old with decorative but unnecessary elements. An example is Apple’s iCal app, which includes a faux-leather header with vestiges of ripped-off paper immediately below, as if we were all ripping paper pages off our computer monitors:

A similar example is Apple’s Notes app, with a little less leather but a little more rip:

One problem with skeuomorphic design is that it doesn’t fit Apple’s design aesthetic in so many other apps. For instance, Safari or Mail don’t have any leather or ripped off pages. For Safari, that could be understood, as there are no pre-technological antecedents: no-one had a web browser before the personal computer became ubiquitous. But mail had been invented … and yet Apple’s Mail app showed no design cues of parchment or inkwells and the like.

The overall experience led to a strange dichotomy of design, where sleek, functional apps such as Safari and QuickTime were matched side-by-side with frankly old-fashioned-looking apps. That was confusing from Apple, supposedly the high priest of design.

iPhoto, for instance, bears no resemblance to a old-fashioned photo album:

The other, more philosophical, and arguably bigger issue is that skeuomorphic design is inherently distasteful to many designers. It is decorative, not functional. It is excess, bigger in size and heavier in cognitive load than a user interface that is slimmed down to its bare essentials. And yes, if that sounds like a certain Apple design guru, Jony Ive hated it.

Of course, Scott Forstall didn’t oversee all design at Apple. However, he was in charge of iOS, and iOS is by far Apple’s most popular operating system, and the operating system of its cash cow (OS X is found in products accounting for under 20 percent of Apple’s revenue). Forstall was a fan of skeuomorphic design — as, it must be admitted, was Steve Jobs to a degree — and the results can be found in Apple apps.

iBooks, Find My Friends, and Newstand are only a few of the examples. Wood and leather show up in copious quantities on the high-res glass screen of one of the most modern digital artifacts ever created:

Again, the effect is inconsistent with other Apple apps such as Mail and is oddly jarring as the user is taken from a super-modern, clean, simple user interface into one with a lot of extra weight, detail, and effect.

To a designer like Jony Ive, who has spent his life and career removing excess, trimming away unneeded detail, and simplifying, there is something inherently dishonest about skeuomorphic design. It’s something of a lie … there is no wood in your iPhone, no dead animal skin, and there’s no paper on your laptop screen to be torn off.

As such, we can expect big visual changes in the next versions of Apple apps in iOS and OS X. And, if all goes well, we can thank Scott Forstall’s departure for the simplification or, perhaps, consolidation of Apple’s design language.

Image credits: Top, Wikipedia, all others, John Koetsier

Big changes are happening in Apple’s executive roster: It announced today that Scott Forstall (above), the vice president in charge of iOS, and head of retail John Browett are leaving.

Meanwhile, design guru Jony Ive, senior vice president Bob Mansfield, SVP of Internet software Eddy Cue, and VP of Mac software Craig Federighi are all taking on more responsibilities.

As iOS head, Forstall was responsible for controversial new releases like Apple’s Maps app and the virtual assistant Siri. Consumers seem to have gotten used to Siri not living up to its cute TV commercials, but Apple chief executive Tim Cook had to issue a full-on apology for its Maps software, which has been criticized for being hilariously (and sometimes dangerously) inaccurate. Cook went as far as to recommend alternative map applications until Apple’s Maps app is updated.

Given just how much of a mess the Maps fiasco has been for Apple, it’s not too surprising to see Forstall stepping away. He’ll be advising Tim Cook until he officially leaves Apple next year, according to the news release today. Cue will be taking over work on Siri and Apple Maps.

As for Browett, Apple says that it’s currently seeking out a replacement executive. For now, Apple’s retail team will report to Tim Cook directly.

Ive, often considered one of the most obvious successors to late Apple CEO Steve Jobs, will step in to lead human interface design across the company. It’s a big step up for Ive, and it means that his minimalist design sensibility will soon appear in software, on top of the hardware design he’s already in charge of. Federighi will now lead iOS development, in addition to OS X.

Mansfield is getting the most intriguing promotion today: He’s heading up a new group called “Technologies,” which will bring together all of Apple’s wireless and semiconductor teams, the latter of which have “ambitious plans for the future” according to the news release.

Being part of an independent studio doesn’t mean letting go of big ideas. One team is challenging the distinctions between indie and triple-A game quality in its approach to development.

“Compared to other indie devs, I’d say that, mentality-wise, we find ourselves more like a larger indie studio. But in execution, we’re very much a small team,” Refract Studios’ chief executive officer Jordan Hemenway told GamesBeat.

The 11-person Refract team got its start when three DigiPen Institute of Technology graduates worked on one hit game: Nitronic Rush, an “experimental survival driving game” available for PC as a free download online. The three founders — Jason Nollan, the physics/gameplay programmer on Nitronic Rush; Kyle Holdwick, the producer and gameplay programmer; and Hemenway, the composer, sound designer, and public relations person — are now collaborating with a new team on a new project, a spiritual successor called Distance.

“One of our biggest goals at Refract is to push the boundaries of what it means to be game,” said Hemenway. “Most of the games we’ve done in the past were a lot more abstract and experimental, and when starting the company, we were planning on doing something much more along those lines. What made us turn around back toward another racing game was the chance to innovate on atmosphere and the world design within an action-driven context.”

To understand what inspires Distance, you have to look at its predecessor. Nitronic Rush has achieved over 700,000 downloads and 1.1 million play sessions thanks to the team’s efforts to push press coverage and foster a community around the game. But what exactly makes it so popular with players? The team has given that question a lot of thought, and Hemenway admits that the catchy design probably helped, among other factors.

“I think that vehicles by their very nature are pretty universally understood, and we tried our best to not have the game rely on any certain cultural bias or understanding,” he said. “According to our analytics, the U.S. only comprises about a third of our players, which really showed us that the work we put into marketing the game was nothing compared to power of people sharing it via word of mouth.”

Nitronic Rush originated as the group’s junior year project at DigiPen. Hemenway says they conducted a playtest almost every week and were able to use academic licenses for the software needed to create the game, which eliminated cost as a potential obstacle. After 17 months of development, they shipped the first version on Nov. 11, 2011. Since then, they’ve released four huge content updates for free.

But just because it was a class assignment doesn’t mean Nitronic Rush is the work of amateurs. “All of us graduated with a ‘B.S. in Computer Science in Real-Time Interactive Simulation’ degree, which is about intense as it sounds,” said Hemenway. “The majority of our projects at DigiPen were required to be built from scratch, so we’ve had incredible practice building everything from low-level graphics engines to various high-level tools.” Now, they’re learning to use powerful tools like Unity’s premade engine.

Hemenway said the teachers at DigiPen encourage students to keep working on a game and submit it to the Indie Game Challenge and Independent Games Festival competitions. The team’s five full-time members contributed 30 hours to 40 hours a week to the project on top of their 15 credits of classes. Their dedication shows: Nitronic Rush is this year’s Indie Game Challenge Winner for the Gamer’s Choice Award, an Independent Games Festival Honorable Mention for both Technical Excellence and Student Showcase, and an Independent Propeller Awards Finalist in three categories, among other acknowledgments.

The result is what the team calls an experimental survival driving game — a label designed to get people playing without seeing the words “racing game” and automatically thinking triple-A. “We ended up using that terminology because we wanted to properly set expectations for players before they played the game,” said Hemenway. “We were concerned that calling it specifically a racing game could be troublesome since many people would expect a full-fledged triple-A racing game instead of our smaller but more experimental game. We also used the term ‘survival driving’ instead of ‘racing,’ since there technically isn’t any racing between you and other opponents. The real focus is using your car’s capabilities to outmaneuver obstacles placed in your path.”

Nitronic Rush is similar to arcade racers like Wipeout and Rush 2049, but Refract Studios wants Distance to be that and more — combining elements of games like Limbo, Half-Life 2, and Halo. “From the beginning of Distance’s development, we [wanted] to draw on those inspirations to develop a world with a more mysterious purpose and function. It’s something we don’t often see in the racing genre, and we’ve had so much fun creating atmosphere-focused games like Solace and Solstice [as DigiPen students]. It’s a great chance to finally bring those undertones into a new context.”

Since Distance is the team’s first outing as Refract Studios, they want to build a strong audience before people even start playing. That means turning to Kickstarter. They’re aiming for a $125,000 funding goal.

“In many ways, I feel like we’re releasing the game since we’re putting together so much content from the beginning,” said Hemenway. “We’ve been developing a prototype for the past few months to see how much fun the game would be with multiplayer — as well as test the waters of using a premade engine — so we’re excited to finally show some of that gameplay.”

Refract also sought out other teams in their local Seattle area that had used Kickstarter and tried to learn from their successes — and failures. “Overall, there are lots of little things we’re doing to help, but we’re putting a lot of focus on being as transparent with consumers as possible while reaching out to those who’ve been so supportive in the past,” said Hemenway.

Rewards for backers include the standard fare — digital copies of the game, the soundtrack, posters, T-shirts, and in-game rewards like an exclusive car — as well as more distinct bonuses, like the chance to have a personal billboard or monument in the game world, own a completely custom vehicle of your choosing, or design a stunt for the car.

“Distance, in many ways, is taking what people loved in Nitronic Rush and cranking it up to the next level,” said Hemenway. “We’re keeping most of the core mechanics from Nitronic Rush intact, with the ability to boost, jump, rotate, and fly throughout the city. Several fan-requested features are now in place, such as LAN/online multiplayer, a powerful in-game level editor, several new game modes, and support for both PC and Mac.”

Working on Distance full time — as opposed to finding time for development in between classes, as they did with Nitronic Rush — means the team can ensure early on that different gameplay aspects work well together. This should lead to a more polished experience overall.

“We ended up doing some interesting experimentation in Nitronic Rush, where the music actually changed in accordance with how you used your abilities,” said Hemenway. “We also tied visuals to the audio in many parts of the level, where elements would pulse and move to the music to help connect [it] with the visuals of the world. Distance is very similar in that we’re dynamically mixing the musical and visual elements throughout the entire experience. Most of what we did with music experimentation in Nitronic Rush was done very near to the end of development, so this time we’re developing audio analysis tech early to push this part of the game even further.”

He added, “We’re also taking modes from the original game and rebuilding them in the new world. One of the most popular modes from Nitronic Rush was Hardcore mode, where you survive the track by traversing it parkour-style. It was something that we stumbled upon halfway through development of Nitronic Rush, but now we’re designing tracks and vehicles from the beginning to use it properly.”

Refract is currently targeting releases on PC and Mac, with the possibility of other platforms later on. Hemenway is looking optimistically toward the future, especially where indie games are concerned — and his studio seems to fit right in to that vision.

“A lot of changes are the on the horizon,” he said. “The void between $15 indie games and $60 triple-A games can’t last for long now that many indie teams are blurring the lines quality-wise. I’d imagine more teams will find themselves aiming for that gap and creating more innovative content on a grander scale. … Perhaps more [triple-A] studios will look at these small teams and start to incorporate their mentalities into their workflow.”

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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Name your price here!

The third installment in Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead series lands on PlayStation Network today and PC, Mac, and Xbox Live Marketplace tomorrow.

Those looking to buy the episode on the App Store will have to wait a little longer. But this week, players can purchase Walking Dead: The Game for $4.99, which includes the first episode, A New Day. Buyers also have the option to preorder parts two through five as an in-app purchase for $14.99. Telltale will release those on a rolling basis.

The new Episode 3 — Long Road Ahead will deliver the most heartbreak so far, senior director of marketing Richard Iggo told GamesBeat earlier this month.

A New Day isn’t so easily forgotten, though. Telltale Games announced today that the debut release is a nominee for “Best Downloadable” in this year’s Golden Joystick Awards. The game is contending with the likes of Journey, Skullgirls, and Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition. Voting ends October 22.

Last year, Minecraft won “Best Downloadable,” with Limbo and Dead Nation following close behind.

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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Choosing when to buy a new video game is a delicate balancing act. Story spoilers, fluctuating prices, and technical problems all factor into when we decide is the best time to make a purchase. But the right moment is sometimes difficult to foresee. As consumers, how do we know when to play to enjoy the fullest experience? What conditions make a game more suitable to play earlier or later in its lifetime?

The importance of preserving narrative

Harley Quinn’s Revenge, the downloadable follow-up to Batman: Arkham City, is in some ways a story spoiler that comes straight from the developers — not chatty gamers, discourteous Facebook friends, or rude forum members. So much as glance at screenshots for the extra content, and you can guess what supervillain Harley Quinn is upset about even if you aren’t familiar with the game or comics. It has a lot to do with the fate of a certain clown, and it’s arguably one of the all-time greatest moments involving comic-book characters in years.

“When we sat down to work on Batman: Arkham City, we knew where we wanted it to end,” says Paul Crocker, the lead narrative designer at Rocksteady Studios. “In fact, we were so sure of what the ending would be that we opened the game on a painting that showed exactly how the game would end. DC and Warner Bros. were behind us all the way, and our goal was to reach a conclusion that was right for both characters.”

Crocker says that Harley Quinn’s Revenge provides “more context and relevance” for those who have completed the main game and is still enjoyable for those who haven’t. Unfortunately, basic awareness of the DLC can spoil the ending for anyone who has yet to try either release – a result that contradicts Rocksteady’s goal with Batman: Arkham City.

“We work hard to blend old and new elements to create fresh versions of these characters,” says Crocker, adding that since Batman comes with years of backstory that anyone can easily discover, the studio had to find new ways to surprise players. “We really want players to be desperate to see what the ‘Rocksteady’ Robin or ‘Rocksteady’ Penguin looks or sounds like. But at the same time, [we don’t want to] spoil what will happen to these characters during the game.”

For some games, like Thatgamecompany’s Journey, the crux of the experience is story: the enjoyment of narrative from beginning to end. The sooner gamers can play, the more likely they are to avoid spoilers and other outside elements that would diminish the narrative. All it takes is as few words or screenshots to lessen the emotional resonance of a game. In the case of Mass Effect 3, a deluge of complaints tarnished the efforts and accomplishments of a whole trilogy.

Exposing flaws and strengths with time

Other games, such as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Diablo III, improve with age. Story can still take priority (Skyrim contains so much lore that its devotees grouped its many in-game tomes into a single e-book), but much of the focus is also on gameplay…and how many patches are required to fix it. Postrelease updates add supplemental features like Kinect voice support and address serious issues, such as prevalent bugs. Developers struggle to play catch-up and maintain the massive worlds they’ve built, and before they can launch add-ons or introduce expansions, they have to get their game in working condition.

Bethesda still isn’t happy with Skyrim’s performance on the PlayStation 3, so it’s delayed the release of the Dawnguard DLC on the system. And Blizzard is only now implementing an update for Diablo III (patch 1.04) that will provide a more sustainable end-game experience than item hunting alone. Waiting until a game is stable and reliable can be smarter than slapping down $60 on its release day.

Blockbuster releases aren’t the only games that require time to mature. Polytron Corporation’s indie puzzle-platformer Fez on XBLA was host to a torrent of technical problems, and then its major patch failed, causing more headaches.  The developer pulled the patch on June 22, the same day it went public, and then brought it back on July 19.

Sometimes publishers will abandon problematic games completely, so even the most serious complaints will remain unresolved. Atlus might have promptly fixed the lag issues affecting the Xbox 360 version of its recently released Persona 4 Arena, but Konami disappointed its audience on the same platform by canceling an important patch for Silent Hill HD Collection.

Some genres are fussier than others. Fighting games take time to reveal their inner workings, and a good fighter will remain fun, playable, and well balanced years after its debut. Because these games thrive on player-versus-player dynamics, character matchups, and the depth of move combinations and possibilities, they’re more difficult to parse from the onset. A few rounds with another player won’t assess their real strengths, and these games reach their prime when their communities do. Dedicated players compete in tournaments for years after a game’s release.

Early expiration dates

Of course, sometimes a game’s true experience can erode fast, especially when it offers limited opportunities.

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Today at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany, Electronic Arts announced that SimCity will arrive on Mac early next year via the publisher’s Origin distribution service.

“Whether you owned a Macintosh or a DOS PC, we all have memories of laying down zones and reticulating splines from our youth,” said Lucy Bradshaw, the senior vice president and general manager of EA’s Maxis label, the developers of the upcoming game. “To the millions of SimCity fans out there, we’ve been listening and can proudly say that your calls have been answered.”

Attendees at Gamescom this week, from August 15-19, are among the first to go play the PC version. They’ll also preview SimCity World, a new feature that records players’ progress through CityLog and allows them to compete in global challenges, compare their scores on the leaderboards, and influence the economy in the Global Market.

Gamescom isn’t the only way that prospective players can try the game. EA and Maxis have opened registration for the SimCity closed beta.

The SimCity franchise, which has existed since 1989, has sold 30 million copies in its lifetime. In June, EA unveiled the Facebook game SimCity Social, thought to be a counterattack against Zynga’s CityVille, one of the top games on the platform. More recently, EA filed a lawsuit against the social game giant, claiming Zynga’s TheVille (launched in July of this year) is a clone of its own The Sims Social (from August 2011).

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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Publisher Meridian4 and independent game developer Full Control have announced their upcoming tactical strategy game, Frontline Tactics, for release on PC, Mac, iPhone, and iPad.

The game makes its public debut at Gamescom 2012, Europe’s biggest trade fair for games and interactive entertainment. It’s in Cologne, Germany.

Frontline Tactics is set in the year 2025, when a madman named Akhali Muhamar and his splinter military group threaten to take over the nation of Fahrahn and seize its oil reserves. Players command a modern, elite fighting unit tasked with stopping the uprising and preventing all-out war, as Fahrahn is a major supplier of oil to the Western world. The game features a single-player mode and two multiplayer modes (co-op and versus), which are playable across the different supported platforms.

“Frontline Tactics is the ideal game for today’s player, who often has multiple gaming devices and extremely limited time to play,” said Steve Milburn, the marketing director of Meridian4. “The turn-based nature of the game, coupled with its multiplatform support, lets you play whenever and wherever you want.”

Missions involve defending and controlling a location or asset, eliminating opponents, and simply surviving. Players can outfit their soldiers with modern armor, equipment, and weaponry.

Established in 2004, Meridian4 has published titles such as the strategy game Stellar Impact for PC and the adventure The Secret Legacy for iPad. It plans to release the hotel management game Monster Mansion for iOS soon.

Full Control has developed the zombie survival turn-based strategy game Tactical Soldier – Undead Rising, among others.

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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Expect integrated security to be a much more prominent feature in future iOS devices, Mac computers, and networking hardware. Apple announced today that it has bought AuthenTec, maker of a wide variety of security solutions, for around $356 million.

AuthenTec boasts that it has shipped over 100 million fingerprint sensors, which include sensors in more than 15 million phones. Apple paid $8 a share for AuthenTec, a 58 percent premium over the company’s $5.07 stock price on Thursday.

AuthenTec also offers integrated security chips for smartphones, which can encrypt data and make mobile devices more enterprise-ready, as well as network security solutions.

While Apple’s most likely use of AuthenTec’s technology will be in the iPhone and iPad, its product lines have plenty of room to beef up security. And as more Mac and iOS security vulnerabilities come to light, Apple will need a new way to maintain its security reputation.

“This is a blocking move by Apple in the tablets/notebooks space,” said Jack Gold, principal analyst and founder at J. Gold Associates. “AuthenTec’s major business is fingerprint sensors. Most all of the notebook vendors use their chips for log in/authentication. Looks like Apple wants to sew up that market. I see this less as a phone play, as there is virtually no fingerprint sign in on phones (it was tried in the past by HP and BB, but the users didn’t like it). While AuthenTec does make other chips (like NFC) I see this as much less of an issue for the device manufacturers, as there is ample supply from other vendors on this.”

“I don’t think any long-term contract for AuthenTec products will be affected if the manufacturer already has them in place,” Gold added. “But clearly this will put Apple at the head of the queue for any new products or custom products, and also at the head of the queue for delivery if there is any issue with supply. With all the cash on hand, this is a pretty small purchase for Apple that assures some supply for them — nice insurance policy.”

Via Reuters; Photo via Shutterstock