Facebook has acquired Gowalla, which makes a location-based social-networking app for mobile devices, CNN reported tonight.
Some Gowalla employees will move to Facebook's Palo Alto, Calif., offices and work on Facebook's Timeline feature, an unidentified source close to Gowalla said.
Representatives for both Facebook and Gowalla provided statements to CNET via e-mail that said the companies "don't comment on rumors and speculation."
Austin-based Gowalla launched in 2009 but has had difficulty competing against Foursquare in the market for location-sharing apps. The app is available on the iPhone and on Android-based devices and features a large "Sign up with Facebook" button prominently on the front page of itsWeb site.
Gowalla had about 600,000 members a year ago, according to USA Today.
This week I've gathered up some 2D snowboarding games that are not as good as being in the actual snow, but might be the perfect time waster while we wait for winter to settle in.
As we get closer to the winter months in the northern hemisphere, many are gearing up for another great season of winter sports. While there's probably nothing I can offer on the iPhone that will give you the feeling of snowboarding on powder-covered slopes, maybe these time-wasters will make the days slip by a little bit faster.
This week's collection of iOS apps are all 2D snowboarding games. The first uses ragdoll physics as you pull off tricks down the mountain. The second has you playing as a rat on a snowboard going for distance. The third challenges you to master difficult tracks while pulling off big flips as you head to the finish line.
While not a bad game, you can even see in the screenshot how the rider leans to one side.
(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)
Super Trick Snowboarder($1.99) is a 2D snowboarding game that uses ragdoll physics as you jump, flip, and spin down the slope, but it might be a bit too ragdoll for its own good. The game features nice-looking cartoon like graphics as your snowboarder makes his way past obstacles while pulling off big tricks. The control system includes a snowboard on the left with four buttons for grabbing the front, back, and sides of your board in the air, while on the right you have buttons for jumping and rotating either clockwise or counter-clockwise.
The problem with Super Trick Snowboarder is that the ragdoll physics might be a bit overdone. Even when traveling straight down the slope, your snowboarder will lean awkwardly from left to right, forcing you to compensate with the rotation buttons. But what ends up happening is that most of the time, you feel out of control. When you successfully pull off a trick, you end up feeling like you got lucky rather than feeling like it was skill that made it happen. Still, with some practice, I was able to pull off several successful tricks, but it seemed harder than it needed to be.
Super Trick Snowboarder has two game modes and some customization options if you can get past the ragdoll playing style. Normal mode has you traveling down a finite hill with an altitude meter on the right so you know when you're getting close to the bottom. In endless mode, you go for distance trying to pull off tricks to get the highest score. Before you hit the slopes, you can change clothing and boards for a little bit of customization, and as you progress you'll be able to unlock more styles to give your rider a different look. None of these give any type of bonus, so you'll be working to unlock items more for aesthetic purposes than to make your snowboarder better.
Overall, Super Trick Snowboarder is a fairly good 2D snowboarding game, but we think the ragdoll physics make the game harder than it needs to be to have fun. If you like the idea of barreling down the hill out of control (mostly) this game might be right for you.
Race past ramps and other obstacles as you jump and spin your way as far as possible.
(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)
Rat On A Snowboard (99 cents) is primarily a distance/survival game where you play as (you guessed it) a rat on a snowboard. In this game you're not trying to pull off big tricks, instead, your simply trying to get as far as you can while avoiding obstacles.
You have a couple of control systems to choose from. The default layout lets you simply touch the screen for both jumping and spinning (to gain altitude and points while in the air). But I preferred switching to two buttons, one for each jumping and spinning, to feel like I was in more control.
When I initially tried this game I thought it was just a simple distance game and that there was not much to it. But with some practice, I was able to make my way past many obstacles and could see how it would be a good time-waster just to see how far I could get. There are also a couple of added game modes here including a random map distance mode; a mode where you try to avoid exploding meatballs that fall from the sky as you race; and mode where you can master single maps and try to get the highest rating. The simple controls make Rat On A Snowboard extremely easy to pick up and play, and, like most distance games, is perfect for when you just have a moment to play a game to kill some time.
Overall, with cute cartoon graphics, easy controls, and distance style gameplay, Super Trick Snowboarder is a fun diversion. If you like distance games and want to try something different than the usual fare, this is a good option.
This fast-paced racer has you racing through loops and over jumps on your way to the finish.
(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)
iStunt 2 (99 cents) is a snowboarding sequel that adds enough extras and unique gameplay to make it a great time-waster and might be one of my favorite pick-up-and-play games this year. Just like in the original, you'll be challenged to snowboard on several complex courses that involve loops, jumps, tricks, and even snowboarding upside down. The control system uses the iPhone accelerometer to control your snowboarder, a couple of onscreen buttons for grab-type tricks, and screen swipes for jumping over gaps.
iStunt 2 is better in almost every way than the original, with better designed tracks, better graphics, and more control options, but it does have some issues. Many of the tracks are so complex and require such precise moves that you'll end up racing tracks over and over to master the route without crashing. It's still enjoyable because there are a number of side challenges as well--finding and collecting all 10 stars in a level gets you the gold medal, and there are routes you can take that change your path to the finish line for variation. In the main game mode there is no time limit, so being a bit more adventurous pays off in getting more stars and more points. If racing for time is your preference, you can play the time trial mode to see just how fast you can complete each track.
iStunt 2 came out in March of this year, and I still play it quite often. The challenge of mastering the many tracks and gathering all 10 stars keeps me coming back for more and it's even fun just to jump in and play a single track while riding the bus to work, for example.
Overall, iStunt 2 is a big improvement with plenty of new content to challenge even the most experienced gamers. If you like 2D racing games, pulling off huge flip tricks over big gaps, and inevitably playing the same level several times to get it just right, you should definitely download this game.
Sarah Stocker's iPhone reminds her--as if she needed to be reminded--that it's launch day for her startup, My Robot Nation.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET)
SAN RAFAEL, Calif.--It's launch day for Sarah Stocker's new company, and though there's still a lot of work to take care of before going live, her iPhone is doing its best to challenge her. "Launch! In 9m," it taunts.
Stocker is co-founder of My Robot Nation, a startup that gives buyers a set of simple Web-based tools for designing their own small, collectible 3D-printed droid figures.
It's a recent Tuesday, and as part of my Day on the Job series, I've arrived at Stocker's hillside home about 30 minutes north of San Francisco to chronicle the last hours before My Robot Nation's launch.
A group of 3D printed robots from My Robot Nation
(Credit: My Robot Nation)
A month ago, Stocker and her co-founder, Mark Danks, soft-launched the company into beta--hoping to both attract a passionate niche audience and demonstrate the broad promise of customized 3D-printed products. A few hundred robots later, the company has attracted a passionate group of customers, and even the support of Google--which first featured My Robot Nation as part of the relaunch of the Chrome Store, and then promoted it to the 7.4 million people who follow Chrome's Facebook page.
But now prep time is over. My Robot Nation has its public relations firm ready to send out press releases, a series of national news sites are already preparing stories timed for the next morning, and Stocker and Danks and their far-flung team have a slate of bug fixes and new features to complete. Yet, no matter how important the launch is, they can't afford tunnel vision. Not even today. There's the whole future of the company to worry about.
Succeed or go home It's likely that inexperienced startup founders would be tearing their hair out at this point, but not Stocker and Danks. They've shipped a ton of products, having worked together for years at giants like Electronic Arts and Sony. Now, though, they've ditched their corporate keycards and they're on their own.
That means the challenge facing Stocker and Danks is clear: Succeed at selling custom 3D-printed robots to a niche market of collectors and enthusiasts and then expand to the mass market with a wide variety of items. Or, go home.The two bootstrapped My Robot Nation, so if launch goes well, and the company flourishes, they and a team helping them out from home offices in Canada, Brazil, Colorado, San Francisco, and New York get all the rewards. If it doesn't, there are no deep pockets to protect them or their investment.
Smudged heads With logs crackling in the fireplace in Stocker's living room, classical music on the stereo, and a gorgeous, crisp Marin County day visible through the trees outside her window, she and Danks are putting the finishing touches on some holiday-themed robot elements that are part of the launch.
Stocker says she put in some new feature requests "in the dead of night last night," and some are ready to test. One is a new "holiday head," but she doesn't like what she's looking at: it's marred by a digital smudge thanks to what she calls "the wrong texile density." It's got to be fixed or it'll come out of the 3D printer looking wrong. So Danks grabs the digital file and sets about solving the problem.
Danks' adoption of the smudged-head issue has freed up Stocker to handle another of her million different remaining tasks--doling out a set of promotional codes for robot reviewers. "I has the power," Stocker says gleefully. I'm going to give away free robots now!"
A digital file showing two versions of the digital robot holiday head that My Robot Nation is making available at launch. The left side is the production version. The right side is the version that will be used to 3D-print the robot's head.
(Credit: My Robot Nation)
Potential partnership Around noon, Stocker and Danks shift gears. The prelaunch checklist is still missing a lot of check marks, but they have to go meet Mike Ludlam, their technical artist, to talk about the art they'd use in a potential new partnership with a major technology company.
Over lunch the three discuss the deal that's on the table, but that's months away. Right now, they need a realistic assessment from Ludlam of what they're capable of doing for the partner, particularly when it comes to the kinds of art details they can offer potential buyers. "We have to leverage and balance the pie in the sky with what's possible," Danks tells me later. Ludlam "often sees ways to look at things we wouldn't have thought of."
CNET Day on the Job's Daniel Terdiman talks with My Robot Nation's founders
Among other things, the discussion centers on the number of different kinds of content--digital skins and decals and the like--that could be incorporated into the potential partner's 3D-printed items. The goal would be to let users click once and automatically fill a whole body section with, say, a cow-, zebra-, cheetah-, or camouflage-patterned skin. The user should find it extremely simple, but on the production side, it's complicated geometry. Ludlam is the one who knows what the job entails. "He understands the difference between two [content items] and 25," Danks said. "Two you can do by hand, 25, you need a process."
'A betting man' Back at Stocker's house a little after 1 p.m., she and Danks dive right back into their launch day tasks. Danks says that if he were "a betting man," he'd put money down on going live around 5 p.m. He doesn't say how much he'd bet.
That might have something to do with the next agenda item, a Skype video call with Scott Harmon, vice president of business development at Z Corporation, the maker of the 3D printers My Robot Nation uses. The main agenda isn't launch. It's how Z Corp can help My Robot Nation down the line.
My Robot Nation co-founders Mark Danks and Sarah Stocker listen to Z Corporation Vice President of Business Development Scott Harmon during a Skype video call on the startup's launch day.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET)
The takeaway is that My Robot Nation may soon start getting recommended to companies that approach Z Corp about doing customized 3D-printed products. That's big, because Z Corp talks to major entertainment IP holders all the time about bringing 3D-printing projects to market. "We've...already got the solution," said Stocker. "To have [Harmon] at the manufacturing level say [to Z Corp's partners], 'These guys already have the solution'...it's huge for us."
Then she adds, "One of our targets [has been] to see if we could be the go-to people for a platform that lets you customize things. And we seem to have succeeded in that. And that's really exciting."
Making robots Professional 3D printers can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, so few companies that specialize in making products with the machines actually own them. And neither does My Robot Nation. Instead, it contracts with Offload Studios, a small outfit in British Columbia.
For Stocker and Danks, the next meeting is another Skype video call, this time with Bill Henderson, Offload's owner.
With hours before launch, Stocker and Henderson talk about the FAQ Stocker has been trying to finish all day, and she explains that one section seems like it could be confusing to potential buyers--the order-processing time. They want to make sure potential customers don't have unrealistic expectations of how long it will take to get their hands on their newly designed robots, especially not with Christmas approaching. They settle on language that says "from order to hold it in your hands takes about 8-10 business days in the U.S., about 10+ business days internationally, depending on country."
Before ending the call, Stocker, Danks, and Henderson talk big picture for a few minutes, discussing a road map for the kinds of items My Robot Nation might sell in the future. Stocker explains that the company's goal is to pursue a mass market customer base, something that likely means offering simpler products than robots with 9 billion possible permutations. "We want to make a product that is much more personal to people than greeting cards," Stocker says, "but has a greeting card price point and simplicity."
But she also argues that the company needs something in the future that will let its current customers "scratch their itch."
Henderson suggests they should pick the brain of a specific buyer who recently bought one of My Robot Nation's most expensive models, and Stocker loves the idea. "Mark and I were talking about ways to reward him," she says. "Yeah, let's roll him in on how we can extend My Robot Nation."
Bug hunting It's nearly 5 p.m. now, and it's becoming clear that Danks' prediction was a bit optimistic. There's still a number of tasks to complete, including some final bug hunting.
This is the first My Robot Nation robot created after the company launched on Tuesday. It was created by co-founder Sarah Stocker using some of the holiday features the company made available at launch.
(Credit: My Robot Nation)
Yet both Danks and Stocker have to leave soon to pick up their kids, so whatever work is left will be put on hold. Still, each keeps on working right up until the last minute, tackling bugs that remain in the system and crossing them off, one by one. (They finally hit launch at about 10:30 p.m.)
"You can always tell people who have done a product release before from those who haven't," Stocker says, speaking of the bug hunting. "People who have never done it before freak out.... If you haven't done that a bunch of times, it's apparently very unnerving. But I kind of like it, because it's kind of closure. And anytime you catch something, you're like, thank God. You're relieved you found it before you shipped it to the consumer."
Hard disk giant Western Digital said today that it has partially restored production at a facility that had been shut down because of the flooding in Thailand.
The world's largest HDD manufacturer in terms of volume, Western Digital was one of the hardest hit by the flooding. The company has 37,000 workers in Thailand, and production in the country accounts for 60 percent of the company's total capacity, according to IHS-iSuppli.
"This facility had been submerged in some six feet of water since October 15, the estate was pumped dry on November 17, main power was restored on November 26 and production restarted November 30," according to a statement.WD restarted production of hard drives this week in one of its buildings in Bang Pa-in, Thailand, one week ahead of internal schedules, the company said.
WD went on to say that it expects to begin head slider production (the slider allows the HDD's head to maintain a consistent flying height above the disk) in Bang Pa-in during the March 2012 quarter and also begin production at a new slider fabrication facility in Penang, Malaysia, in the same timeframe.
Other facilities in Thailand, however--at Navanakorn--remain under two feet of water. Those facilities are expected to be pumped dry within 10 days, then decontamination and refurbishment will begin, WD said.
For the industry as a whole, WD expects that hard drive shipments in the December quarter will be limited to approximately 120 million units, including units that were in inventory at the beginning of the quarter. Demand for the December quarter is in the range of 170 million to 180 million units. WD "believes that significant industry supply constraints will continue in the March quarter and beyond."
For the December quarter, the company expects revenue of at least $1.8 billion and gross margins above the high end of its business model range of 18 percent to 23 percent. Unusual charges related to the floods are expected to be in the range of $225 million to $275 million for the December quarter, exclusive of any insurance recovery, the company said.
In just a few days, a startup company named Carrier IQ has been subjected to extraordinary public vilification, with reports accusing it of making a "rootkit keylogger" that "creeps out everyone" or is the "rootkit of all evil."
The only problem, which is always a risk when a public lynching takes place, is that Carrier IQ appears to be not guilty of the charges lodged against it.
The most serious charge against Carrier IQ, a venture capital-funded startup in Mountain View, Calif. that makes diagnostic software for carriers, has been that it records keystrokes and transmits them to carriers. One article on a Mac Web site breathlessly reported that "Carrier IQ Probably Violated Federal Wiretap Laws In Millions Of Cases."
Well, no. There's zero evidence that Carrier IQ captured, recorded, or transmitted any keystrokes. But that didn't stop the self-appointed lynch mob on blogs and on Twitter (#OccupyCarriers, that would be you).
Dan Rosenberg, an exceptionally talented security consultant who has discovered over 100 vulnerabilities in the Linux kernel, FreeBSD, and GNU utilities, extracted a copy of Carrier IQ's software from his own Android phones. He then analyzed the assembly language code with a debugger that allowed him to look under the hood.
"The application does not record and transmit keystroke data back to carriers," Rosenberg told CNET. His reverse-engineering showed that "there is no code in Carrier IQ that actually records keystrokes for data collection purposes."
Carrier IQ has given Rebecca Bace, a well-known security expert who's advised startups including Tripwire and Qualys, access to the company's engineers and internal documents. (Bace says she has no financial relationship with Carrier IQ.)
Bace told CNET that: "I'm comfortable that the designers and implementers expended a great deal of discipline in focusing on the espoused goals of the software -- to serve as a diagnostic aid for assuring quality of service and experience for mobile carriers."
Andrew Coward, Carrier IQ's vice president for marketing, acknowledged last night that the company may not have taken the best approach in responding to public criticism, which started with a blog post by Trevor Eckhart, a 25-year old system administrator in Connecticut who noticed unusual software on HTC EVO devices. He dubbed it a rootkit, leading to legal threats from Carrier IQ, an intervention by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and an embarrassing bit of backtracking a few days later.
Threatening to sue a security researcher, even a newly-minted one, isn't exactly the way to make friends nowadays -- especially after the last decade has seen a parade of ill-received threats from Cisco, HP, voting machine makers, and the Recording Industry Association of America.
That legal threat, not unreasonably, led critics to assume the worst. "That's really been part of our challenge in responding to the allegations," Coward told CNET. The company decided it needed to be more forthcoming after "going back and saying, 'No, we don't, no we don't,' which is where we started, didn't really work." (The company also released a public statementyesterday.)
There's now a "vast misunderstanding of what we do," Coward says.
That Carrier IQ is innocent of the keylogging accusation, the most serious charge, does not, however, mean there are no privacy concerns.
Coward acknowledged that the company's software, which is designed to be installed by carriers, can report back what applications are being used and what URLs are visited. Carrier IQ doesn't make these decisions; rather, they sell configurable software and the carriers decide what options to enable.
"It's up to them whether they do or don't collect that information," Coward says.
The information is used to summarize how the device is working so carriers can improve their networks, he says. It also helps them when they're forced to field calls from outraged customers wondering why their handset keeps crashing or runs out of battery life in a few hours.
Typically the data dump to a carrier is configured to be sent daily, either over Wi-Fi or the carrier's networks, Coward said. "The device ends up storing about 200 kilobytes of data," he says. "That's typical upload size. When it gets to the point that it's full, it'll do an upload or it'll drop data and start wrapping and store summary information." (Customers aren't charged for the upload, and it's disabled when the phone is roaming.)
