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StarCraft II Sells 1.5 Million Copies In 48 Hours
Aug 4th
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty has barely hit the shelves and already Blizzard has sold 1.5 million of its latest product. This makes it the fastest selling strategy game of all time and the best selling PC game of 2010 in under 24 hours of availability. “We’re pleased that so many people around the world have already picked up a copy of the game, and we look forward to welcoming even more players to Battle.net in the weeks and months ahead,” says Blizzard co-founder and CEO Mike Morhaime.
Starcraft II looks set to outsell the original version, released in 1998, which has sold 11 million copies in 12 the last years.
released on five different continents and in 11 different languages, Starcraft II was one of the most anticipated games in recent years. Mike Morhaime said “we wanted to make sure as many players as possible were able to log on and play on day one.”
The first version of StarCraft has a large player base with fans who have been playing for many years. There was a lot of pressure on Blizzard to get this game just right in order to keep the player base happy. The game was released in over 8,000 stores worldwide on July 27th.
Amazon Slashes Price On Kindle To Increase market Share
Jul 31st
The all new, smaller, lighter and faster third generation Kindle was announced by Amazon on July 28. Amazon again focused on readability with improved contrast using the E-Ink display. The Kindle DX Graphite has a lighter background making the black stand out more than its predecessors.
The latest generation Kindle still boasts a 6″ screen while reducing the overall size and weight. They have managed to shave half an inch off the length and width compared to the second generation model while reducing the weight by 17%.
Storage has doubled meaning the Kindle can now hold up to 3,500 books and battery life, with wireless turned off, lasts up to one month.
The latest version of the Kindle sells for $139 which is a price reduction of over 60% from the original Kindle. It’s also a remarkable reduction given the second generation Kindle was selling for $259 just five weeks ago.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is trying to make the Kindle as attractive as possible to potential buyers, and that means cutting costs to improve market share.
Apple and Barnes & Noble are both in competition with Amazon for eBook readers. Barnes & Noble have been cutting the price of their Barnes & Noble Nook and are thought to be selling the device at break even. Apple has sold 3.3 million iPads in the fiscal third quarter of 2010. While the iPad is more expensive it offers much more functionality than the Kindle.
BlackBerry Maker RIM To Release BlackPad
Jul 30th
Apple iPad
It has been rumored that BlackBerry maker Research In Motion is planning on bringing out a tablet device called the BlackPad. RIM has reportedly purchased the domain name BlackPad.com in preparation for its release although no information is available on the site at this time.
The Wall Street journal was the first to report that RIM was planning the release of a tablet device but the company has not responded to any requests for comments.
The BlackPad, if that is what RIM are planning to call the device, would be in direct competition to the highly successful Apple iPad. Apple sold 3.27 million iPads and brought in revenues of $15.7 billion during the third fiscal quarter of 2010.
Lenovo and Hewlett-Packard also plan to launch their own devices with the LePad and PalmPad already in the works.
New iPad Sports App By Sports Media
Jul 27th
Score Media has launched a new application for sports fans called ‘theScore’. Specifically for the iPad, theScore is free to download and allows users to view real time player stats and scores from most of the major sports categories such as major league baseball, basketball, hockey, football or soccer.
Score Media not only provide live scores and stats but videos, top stories and league standings and articles from all kinds of sports.
Being a free download theScore has risen up the rankings of popular iPad applications, second only to Sports Illustrated in the sports category.
The iPads large screen make it ideal for viewing sports related news and results. Watch baseball scores scroll across the top or search for your favorite player or team to see the headlines and current game schedule.
Score Media aren’t the only ones to provide live scores and information to sports fans across the world. ESPN also have a similiar application with ScoreCenter XL which can be downloaded for a one time fee of $5.
TheScore is the latest in a line of applications from Score Media who have previously branched out into providing apps for other devices like the BlackBerry and iPhone.