Starbucks has spruced up its Android app for U.S. users with a tie-up with PayPal. The new feature lets you top off your electronic Starbucks card with funds from your PayPal account, a facility that iOS users began to enjoy in April this year. Starbucks is also releasing the Android app with PayPal functionality outside the U.S. for the first time--to caffeine lovers in Canada. A version of the Android app without PayPal functionality is also launching in the U.K., where Britons already have access to Starbucks' daily iTunes offers.
Amazon Announces GameCircle With Handy Features For Kindle Fire Gamers
Amazon has just announced GameCircle, a new set of APIs for Kindle Fire game developers. GameCircle's offerings include an achievements feature, so you can keep track of the badges and awards you collect within a game, and a leaderboard system for competing against other gamers. But the most interesting GameCircle feature is a sync option that saves your current game to the cloud if you have to switch Kindle Fire devices or restore a deleted game.
It's an interesting and necessary play on Amazon's part--Apple provides many of the same features in its Game Center for iOS players, and it's another way Amazon can keep hold on its share of the tablet market, especially in the wake of Google's recently launched Nexus 7 tablet, which costs an identical $199. And if the rumors are true that an Amazon smartphone is on the way, it's easy to see why the company is making sure developers have the option to build seamless cross-device game experiences.
Proposed EU Bill Could Boost Digital Music Sales In Europe
The EU is considering changing its regulations on music licensing which could ultimately benefit online music stores owned by Apple, Amazon, Google, and others by unifying the market place versus the complex layers of national rules that exist. The New York Times, which got wind of the proposed bill before its official release today, explains that the new measures could speed up the rate at which royalties are collected across the EU. This means owners of copyright on music may get paid more reliably, and quicker. Michael Barnier, the internal market commissioner and proposer of the new bill, hopes the changes will help dissolve licensing barriers between countries.
Twitter Finds A Feature Phone Partner In MediaTek
Twitter and MediaTek have announced a new partnership that will integrate Twitter with feature phones worldwide. Facebook already has a deal with the Taiwanese chip maker, the alliance being part of the social network’s plan to grow quickly in swelling mobile markets in places like India. For Twitter, it’s the latest in their push to polish up their mobile lineup--just yesterday, Twitter published a substantial update to their iOS and Android apps. The slew of new features include push notifications, an ability to view expanded tweets, easier navigation to Twitter profile pages, all capped off with the new Twitter bird icon.
Nokia Adds Three More Patent Suits To Lineup Against RIM
Nokia has filed three more patent suits against RIM in Munich, Germany. Foss Patents spotted the additional three filings, which adds to Nokia’s existing cases against RIM (and others), which the company filed earlier this year. It’s the latest blow in a rough week for RIM--yesterday, it held its annual investor conference where the company’s executives faced some rough questions from shareholders.
Satellite Launcher LauncherOne Joins Virgin Galactic's Fleet
Virgin Galactic's target passengers aren’t just space tourists anymore, the company is also signing up space-faring satellites.The newest addition to the Virgin Galactic fleet is the LauncherOne, a satellite launcher. Richard Branson announced plans for the new craft at the Farnborough Airshow in the U.K. today, saying that the goal is to make satellite launching (comparatively) affordable for private organizations and laboratories, even universities and schools. Virgin Galactic has been developing the launcher along with a low-cost satellite builder Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) for some time now.
Virgin Galactic already has investment from four companies: Imaging technology builders SkyBox Imaging and GeoOptics, satellite builder Spaceflight Inc., and everyone’s favorite asteroid mining company, Planetary Resources. Together, they’ve paid up for “a total of several dozen launches,” Virgin Galactic noted in a press release. The company anticipates that commercial flights on the LauncherOne will begin in 2016.
Another British spacecraft, the Skylon, also got a bit of the limelight at the Farnborough Airshow, when UK Science minister announced that the government would be looking into using the craft. Reaction Engines, a private company, has been testing a new engine inside the Skylon, which aims to cut down cross-continental flight time and also power the craft’s space adventures.
Android Game Console OUYA Raises $2.5 Million On Kickstarter
Unusual new gaming console OUYA, a tiny peripheral based on Android and targeted at a $99 launch price, has now raised over $2.5 million on Kickstarter at the time of writing and still has 28 days of funding yet. Speaking to VentureBeat, founder Julia Uhrman said that she and her team hadn't anticipated such a runaway success, and now has enough extra development cash to think about enhancing the gaming experience before the product launches in March 2013. OUYA enters a crowded gaming console market, but offers a significantly cheaper price and may be able to leverage the thousands of existing Android apps available for smartphones and tablets. Apple, with a similarly compact $99 TV device that as yet does not play games, has long been rumored to enter the same space.
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