• Bungie: The Makers of Halo are Working on iOS MMO Called Crimson?

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, Games, News, Patents, Rants & Raves, Rumors 1 Response

    Bungie, the previously Mac-exclusive game developer who defected to the arms of Microsoft to release the best-selling Halo series, is making a new game… and it’s probably coming to iOS.

    First, some background. Around a year ago, Bungie was tipped to have started a new project, called Bungie Aerospace. Not much was known about it at the time, but it now appears to be a spin-off label of Bungie Studios proper, as the Halo-maker has just incorporated Bungie Aerospace in both Delaware and Washington.

    Even more interesting? Bungie Aerospace has just filed to secure a trademark for mobile devices, filing an application to own “Crimson” as a title of “computer game software for use on mobile and cellular phones.”

    What Crimson actually is anyone’s guess, but rumor has it that it’s a shooter MMO. Whether it’ll take place in the Halo-verse or not is anyone’s guess, but it would seem absolutely nuts for Bungie to make a mobile game and not release it on the most lucrative mobile platform out there.

    My gut says Bungie Aerospace and “Crimson” are connected to the studio’s next project, an original IP set to be published by Activision. Word on the street is that this game is a shooter MMO — an MMO that might just offer increased connectivity via mobile apps.

    In short, here’s what we know. Bungie Aerospace is likely Bungie Studios’ mobile studio. They’re working on a game called Crimson. And it’ll probably be available on the App Store. Let’s just hope this is the triumphant return — if not to Mac, then to Apple — that gamers have been waiting almost a decade for.

    [via cultofmac]

  • Captain America: The First Avenger Plot Details Revealed

    // Gradly // blog, Featured, Movies, News, Rants & Raves, Rumors, Superheroes No Responses

    Some plot details have been revealed for Captain America: The First Avenger. which come directly from this months issue of French magazine L’Ecran Fantastique . It gives some new information about the movie and some other speculations. This excerpt has been roughly translated from French.

    [Possible Spoilers Ahead]

    The film is set at 95% during the Second World War, but it starts today, for extracting a block of ice containing a mysterious figure, block located in the wreckage of a giant bomber. The film also ends in our time.

    – The Shield: It is manufactured by Howard Stark, and the white parts are vibranium an indestructible alloy created by Stark Industries [vibranium it is therefore artificial, different from natural vibranium Wakanda, home of the Black Panther] . In his “discovery” in the present, the shield of Captain America will be alongside the hero in the ice.

    – Skull and Red Cube: The Cosmic Cube is hidden in a church in Norway. Red Skull uses a tank to enter. The Cube is used to power a variety of vehicles, including the famous giant bomber, carrying bombs have targeted major U.S. cities and European capitals.

    – Bucky and the Invaders: Bucky Barnes, and soldiers freed a camp of the HYDRA form a group called the Invaders [But then where are the Howling Commandos? Normally, the Invaders team is composed of superheroes as Namor, the origins Torch, Toro, Union Jack, Spitfire …].

    – An error / a Freudian slip? Stephen Broussard co-producer discusses the meeting of superheroes in 2012 as follows: Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Ant-Man and the Wasp in the Avengers movie. [Until now, the presence of Hank Pym and his wife has always been rejected.]

    – A subject of the movie Iron Man 2 was used in Captain America [???].

    So are we actually gonna see Ant-Man and the Wasp? Or was it just a plain mistake?

    Captain America: The First Avenger Hits Theaters July 22nd In 3D

    [via CBM]

  • Google To Announce Music Cloud Service At Google I/O Conference Today

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, Cloud, Featured, google, Rants & Raves, Rumors 1 Response

    It seems as though Google is going to launch Google Music today at it’s annual Google I/O developer conference. and why Google rushed it out is only to beat Apple and keep up with Amazon Cloud Service.

    Google will be taking the same approach to streaming music as Amazon. This means that they will not have a master copy, but rather they will have the user upload their library. AKA, Google has no licenses with the record labels.

    Google’s service is rumored to be flash only, so no iOS devices or Android devices running anything lower than 2.2. would run it. Google is going to launch this as an invite-only beta for Google I/O attendees, Motorola Xoom owners, as well as people who want to sign up for a beta. remember, No “official” announcement has been made yet.

    We will wait now for Apple to launch their licensed, and more secure, cloud that is rumored to also have video, photos, contacts, calendars, etc. which expected to be shown off at WWDC 2011 on June 6th!

  • Apple’s New Data Center to Run iOS 5 Voice Recognition Powered by Nuance Technologies

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, News, Rumors, Tech. No Responses

    Another view of Apple’s relationship with Nuance Communications offered up tonight by TechCrunch and this time claiming that, having dug into the ties between both companies more deeply, Apple could already be using Nuance technology in its yet-to-officially-open North Carolina data center.

    In digging into the information about the relationship between the two companies, we had heard that Apple might actually already be using Nuance technology in their new (but yet to be officially opened) massive data center in North Carolina. Since then, we’ve gotten multiple independent confirmations that this is indeed the case. And yes, this is said to be the keystone of a partnership that Apple is likely to announce with Nuance at WWDC next month.

    More specifically, we’re hearing that Apple is running Nuance software – and possibly some of their hardware – in this new data center. Why? A few reasons. First, Apple will be able to process this voice information for iOS users faster. Second, it will prevent this data from going through third-party servers. And third, by running it on their own stack, Apple can build on top of the technology, and improve upon it as they see fit.

    Nuance technology, which already used to power personal assistant Siri, is expected to be “a big part” of iOS 5, reportedly set for introduction at Apple’s software-centric Worldwide Developers Conference, which kicks off June 6.