News and Analysis

The Kindle Fire is out and . . uh . . . wait . .

Kindle That Fire:
Oh, look – The Kindle Fire and relatives are shipping early. Very simply it's big news.

There are reviews all over for the Fire Wired, Engadget, and Gizmodo). What I'm hearing is that it's not bad, not spectacular, basically a media portal, but a decent if limited creation.

Comics:
Frank Miller shoots his mouth off about OWS – and people fire back verbally. To be brutally honest, Miller seems to have gotten increasingly weird over the years (I think 9/11 seriously affected him), and this could indicate a problem for him, or indeed become one. This may affect other projects, and is a good reminder that the public eye is a lot more public (this is why I'm expecting "Ender's Game" to start having some problems).

Things That Make You Wonder:
Apparently there is a Doctor Who film, and David Yates is tapped to produce apparently. It sounds disconnected from the series, so I'm wondering 'WTF' myself here.

Video Games:
Zynga launches 'Castleville' and plush toys. They're keeping up the 'ville' franchise (with what appears to be a touch of Disney and RPG). The mercy though intrigues me since it's a reminder of how their games are a cultural phenomena.

Minecraft is going gold. So you have something to do when taking a break from Skyrim.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: So, any surprises at the Kindle Fire review?

– Steven Savage

OK this is a big day for tech news. So let's launch into it.

Flash/Adobe/Wow:
Adobe is no longer working on Flash for mobile, but instead on enabling HTML5 delivery (via Adobe AIR). Well, we knew this was coming in one form or another, but with Adobe behind HTML5, there you go – the future.

Meanwhile Adobe cut 7% of it's staff.

Amazon:
The Kindle Fire will launch with a lot of apps. They've also got some big names lined up for their story like EA and Zynga. Sounds like they've got all their bases covered for must-have apps.

it bought voice-to-text startup Yap. The article speculates that this is to create a Siri, but there's many reasons to have good voice-rec (like, say, taking dictation).

Economics/Geekonomics:
Infograph on the Occupy Wall Street (and more) movement.

A report on the impact of the recession on this generation. Long, but may be worth it.

Technology:
Why America has a cybersecurity problem. May give you some career ideas – and give you pause.  Technology can't be treated as separate from culture and other issues.

Google stops supporting RIM Gmail app – Look, it's over, just recongize it . . .

Video:
The young are less interested in for-pay TV. We're probably witnessing a cultural shift.

Video Games:
Game Of Thrones to become a ton of games. I probably should check it out, but anyway look at this as an example of what companies want to try. That also suggests the next big adaption is going to pretty much be this level of insanity (unless this level of insanity fails).

World of Warcraft lost 800,000 subscribers over last quarter. Wow. Well, I don't think it's time to start a deathwatch, but it certainly makes one think they'll be doing some massive retention strategy.

QUESTION OF THE DAY:So how far can WoW subscription fall – and what can bring it back?

– Steven Savage

Banks in trouble, lots of news in games, and more Eva merchandising!

Economics/Geekonomics:
Absolutely savory chart porn: A look at the 2011 IPO market. Plenty of gems here, so enjoy with a nice white wine and some chips.

The Financial Stability Board calls out 29 Systemically DANGEROUS banks. Note this is a lot of big names – hope your money isn't in any of them.

Anime and Manga:
Evangelion energy Drinks? Yes, you can get the rush of Shinji Ikari in a bottle! It just doesn't end . . .

Publishing:
Kindle Cloud Reader comes to Firefox. That's an HTML5 app that is basically a portable Kindle (er, you know what I mean). It's both good placement and an end-run around Apple.

Technology:
Amazon is unsubscribing people from some of its email lists. They cite people may have "deal fatigue." Unsubscribing people deliberately as you may be overdoing it? An honest and interesting move – and it shows savvy on Amazon's part.

Two interesting startups get some sweet funding. Might want to check these guys out.

Video Games:
Just curious: Ubisoft releases a kind of drawing tablet for the Wii. I wonder what this means next for them – Ubisoft innovates in a lot of areas, some not always obvious.

Nexon plans to go public, and let me say first that I'm pretty bullish on them in a gut level. They deliver a lot of good stuff. Now tempering my enthusiasm, I figure they'll be overvalued no matter what – but this could give them a lot of cash to go farther, and that may put the competition (I'm looking at you Gree) on notice.

DC Universe's Free To Play meant huge growth, of 1000%. Now if they can monetize this is the other question, but it may be a good lesson in the short-term advantage of F2P.

I also have to agree the Phoenix Wright movie looks good.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Do you trust your bank?

– Steven Savage