Distimo Stat Show 2013 Was a Huge Year for Android Gaming - Eric Johnson - Mobile - AllThingsD

Distimo Stat Show 2013 Was a Huge Year for Android Gaming - Eric Johnson - Mobile - AllThingsD - Google Play as a source of revenue leads in South Korea and Japan, two of the three fastest-growing markets worldwide.

I'm big in Japan.

iPhones Dominate Sales at All Four Major U.S. Carriers - John Paczkowski - Mobile - AllThingsD

iPhones Dominate Sales at All Four Major U.S. Carriers - John Paczkowski - Mobile - AllThingsD - Prior to the launch of the iPhone 5s and 5c, the iPhone 5 was Apple’s sole Top 3 entrant at the big four carriers, and it held the top spot at AT&T alone; it was the second-most-popular handset at Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile, where Samsung’s Galaxy S4 led the pack.

Still, that's a lot of Galaxy there.

Anonymous Internet Poster - Android Apps on Google Play

I was starting to get tired of watching crappy Instagram clones consisting of 5 composited layers of pre-rendered textures and copious amounts of gratuitous UI/UX chrome get featured in the iOS App Store. So I hunkered down with the new Android Studio. I was pleasantly amused at how easy this was:

Anonymous Internet Poster - Android Apps on Google Play



And for reference, here's the iOS App:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/anonymous-internet-poster/id586164292

The great thing was that it ran on Katie's Gingerbread phone without any testing whatsoever. For testing, I have a turkey Android tablet that I got on Black Friday for about the cost of a lightning cable. Which says a lot.

Apple pulls another anti-censorship app from China's iOS App Store

Apple pulls another anti-censorship app from China's iOS App Store - The app, called FreeWeibo, bypasses government restrictions on the Twitter-like Chinese microblogging site Sina Weibo and was pulled from the App Store on Friday, according to a report from Agence France-Presse.

I'm fascinated by the situation in China, which is fast becoming a major factor in geopolitics using a unique system of government. It's just unfortunate that it has to be at the expense of the Tibetan people.

Apple partner ARM acquires graphics software firm Geomerics

Apple partner ARM acquires graphics software firm Geomerics - Geomerics — based, like ARM, in Cambridge, England — is the maker of Enlighten, a product that game companies can integrate into a game's rendering engine to provide dynamic radiosity calculation.

I love real, physical radiosity, I use it all the time when lighting scenes.

Apple's iPad Air, iPad mini take 6 of Japan's top 10 tablet sales spots

Apple's iPad Air, iPad mini take 6 of Japan's top 10 tablet sales spots - During its first month on the market, Apple's iPad Air has taken four of Japan's top ten tablet slots while iPad mini has taken two additional spots, giving Apple 60 percent of the sales charts.

Hai! High! Hai!

How Minecraft Creator Persson Almost Took a Job at Valve - Eric Johnson - General - AllThingsD

How Minecraft Creator Persson Almost Took a Job at Valve - Eric Johnson - General - AllThingsD - This chapter from “Minecraft: The Unlikely Tale of Markus ‘Notch’ Persson and the Game that Changed Everything,” excerpted with permission of the authors, tells the tale.

I think it's pretty clear that none of the "innovative" companies like Apple, Microsoft or whatever would ever green light a project like Minecraft. I mean at Apple, for 20 years, if you were a 3rd party developer and didn't have an icon that looked like a piece of furniture from The Sims you were treated like a leper.

Sony Plans a 4K Fest for CES - Ina Fried - News - AllThingsD

Sony Plans a 4K Fest for CES - Ina Fried - News - AllThingsD - Sony may not use the term “4K” 4,000 times during its CES press conference and keynote. But it will surely come close. The electronics giant is betting heavily on the next big-screen technology to help reestablish Sony’s name as the kind of brand that consumers aspire to buy.

This is super cool. I saw a screening of Beowulf special effects in 4K. Amazing!

Here's a first look at the Tesla statue in Palo Alto | VentureBeat | Business | by J. O'Dell

Here's a first look at the Tesla statue in Palo Alto | VentureBeat | Business | by J. O'Dell - Tesla memorial statues also have been erected in Croatia, the inventor’s birthplace; Long Island, the site of his laboratory; and Niagara Falls. Here’s a slideshow of Tesla monuments around the world:

This is a statue of the historical Tesla, not the electric automobile.