EA Buys PopCap Games For As Much As $1.3B

As we initially reported a few weeks ago, EA has acquired PopCap Games. The acquisition price is $650 million plus $100 million stock and a multi-year earn-out. The total acquisition price is as much as $1.3 billion. PopCap Games is the company behind such hits as Plants vs Zombies, Zuma and Bejeweled. PopCap games have been installed 150 million times worldwide. Last year, approximately 80% of PopCap?s revenue was on digital platforms.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/gr_TNqz4wSo/

Jason Randow Benjamin Schötz Johannes Liebl Arne Koller

Windows 8 wallpaper available to download, Jupiter and Twin UI spotted

windows 8 wallpaper
With Windows 8 milestone 3 now up for grabs for select Microsoft Connect partners, it's inevitable that leaked bits and pieces will start popping up around the Web. In fact, the first "official" wallpaper image from the still-brewing OS is already making the rounds.

As you can see, it's got a similar feel to the good ol' Windows 7 default background, but features a more subdued smattering of cerulean hues. Those of you who want to use the Windows 8 wallpaper on your current desktop can download it from our file dump.

A few other details have been revealed, too. According to ZDNet's source, the Windows 8 Jupiter libraries and Twin UI are starting to take shape -- though all that's been located thus far are "[various files] scattered throughout the OS" and the aptly-named twinui.dll.

Windows 8 wallpaper available to download, Jupiter and Twin UI spotted originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/31/download-windows-8-wallpaper/

Nicola Kohnen Laura Ungricht Edith Berner Lea Linden

A Mid-Summer Trip To The Apple Rumor Mill

It's almost that time of year again, friends. New movies are terrible, kids are sucking down popsicles and my office is like a moist toaster oven. It's nearly back to school time! That means in our little trivial world that it's time for new gadgets and the Internet rumor mill is lining up quite a big showing from Apple. Of course it's always this way. The rumors state Apple will do no less than reverse the rotation of the Earth and then Steve Jobs simply introduces a new high-speed interface. But let's dance anyway.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/UqZbwwpzT9Y/

Tobias Leinenbach Olga Kreibich Nathalie Donnerhacke Anna-Lena Baumgärtel

Burrito Bison is a simple game for gummy bear lovers

burritobison
Burrito Bison is a pretty simple game, but if you're into gummy bears you might find it addictive.

As you may have guessed from the name, you're a bison (not a burrito, though). In the course of your day-to-day grocery shopping, you're abducted into a bag of gummy bears, and must now fend for yourself.

At the beginning of each round you launch yourself onto the marching gummy (gummi?) bears, while you're being watched by a huge crowd of even more gummy bears. Your goal is to keep bouncing on the bears and earn more and more money while you do it. Every time you hit a gummy bear, you lose some momentum. If you hit the floor, you basically lose all of it.

But don't give up just yet! You have an emergency thrust which you can use to gain some momentum and keep bouncing on those bears. This extra thrust gets refilled as you hit more bears.

There are also special gummy bears that give you extra thrust or extra money. The money comes in handy at the end of each round, when you can shop for cool stuff to make your bison even more effective against those gummy bears.

It's a fun and colorful game that kept my interest for quite some time, and almost sent me running to the closest store to get some gummy bears!

Burrito Bison is a simple game for gummy bear lovers originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 26 Mar 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/26/burrito-bison-is-a-simple-game-for-gummy-bear-lovers/

Robin Jones Ingeburg Otte Moritz Beller Gabriela Prell

Banshee music player now works in Windows, supports Amazon MP3 downloads

A few moments ago, version 2 of the Banshee music player for Linux was released, bringing with it a whole slew of new features, and the addition of an official -- but alpha-quality -- Windows build. The Mac OS X build of version 2 is due later today.

The most notable new feature is support for the Amazon MP3 store -- you can buy and download music from within Banshee -- but unfortunately it's only available in the Linux build at the moment (OS X and Windows support are planned, however). There have also been some significant improvements to artist, album, and queue interactions -- and yes, you can finally right click a track, album or artist and select 'play after' to insert it into the queue.

Beyond actual playback, the user interface has been tidied up -- it now looks a whole lot smarter -- and the Ubuntu One Music Store and SoundMenu extensions have been made official. For a complete list of changes, additions and bug fixes, check the change log.

When Windows support initially appeared in February, we found it rough around the edges and fraught with stability issues. With version 2, Banshee for Windows is still a bit unstable, but it's shaping up to be a good alternative to Winamp, iTunes, or whatever other music library manager you use. It's almost as attractive as its GNOMEish brother, too!

Download Banshee 2 for Linux and Windows (Mac OS X coming soon)

Banshee music player now works in Windows, supports Amazon MP3 downloads originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 11:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/06/banshee-music-player-now-works-in-windows-supports-amazon-mp3-d/

Ingrid Schur Emily Trautmann Charlotte Kadelbach Hugo Ruß

Xbox 360 pops up in Win 8 code, console game compatibility coming to the PC?

Xbox 360 Reference in Win8 Code
It's no secret that Microsoft is planning on integrating Xbox LIVE into Windows 8, but rumors are now swirling that Xbox 360 games might actually be playable on the next version of Redmond's OS. References to "XBOX_360_SYSTEM_CRASH" have been found in the kernel code -- an odd bit of text to show up in software that's not designed to run on the 360's PowerPC CPU. There are, of course, other, more mundane possibilities -- like the ability to remotely control your console to trigger update and game downloads, or to receive notifications from the machine on your desktop. But, if Microsoft is bringing Xbox titles to the PC, it would only serve to solidify Windows as the platform of choice gamers. Guess we'll just have to wait bated breath to see what Ballmer has to tell us in January.

Xbox 360 pops up in Win 8 code, console game compatibility coming to the PC? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Jul 2011 13:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/jb8I8oUB21E/

Maurice Giese Frederik Faulhaber Svenja Hoferichter Carola Auer

Boomshine is a soothing-yet-frustrating time waster

boomshine
One click; just one single well-aimed click. That's all you get in Boomshine.

That single click triggers a chain reaction; circles start exploding, and other circles colliding with the shockwaves explode as well, creating their own shockwaves, which then catch other circles.

It's been done before, yes, but this one is a great iteration. The soundtrack is mellow, with lots of piano and some nice percussion (not electronic - it sounds like drums).

At each level you need to make a certain number of circles explode to go on to the next level. I got up to level 12, where you get 60 circles and need to make 55 of them explode. And then I kept trying and trying, but simply couldn't get it. I did get to 54 circles a couple of times, but as they say, you don't get points for trying.

There's no time limit, so you can carefully study the pattern of motion and place your click at the exact right place to create the best chain reaction. I've found that clicking near the middle of the screen works quite well, especially if the balls are slowly moving in that direction. By the time the first shockwave dies off, the oncoming balls usually hit it and the chain reaction continues.

What level did you reach? Screenshots please!

Boomshine is a soothing-yet-frustrating time waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/02/16/boomshine-is-a-soothing-yet-frustrating-time-waster/

Michael Vollmar Robin Jones Ingeburg Otte Moritz Beller

Google Latitude check-in deals now available across the US

Recently, Google has been busy beefing up Latitude to make it more competitive with other location apps -- and more fun to use. Location history was added recently, iOS users can post check-ins via Latitude, and now Google has begun rolling out location-based deals which are tied to the service.

If you're in the U.S., you can now score local savings at participating merchants by checking in with Latitude. Google will also be offering "status deals," which users can unlock by visiting a particular merchant on a regular basis. Mashable notes three status levels: regular, VIP, and guru -- though partners can apparently customize those titles if they choose.

Right now deals are available from merchants like American Eagle Outfitters, Arby's, Finish Line, Macy's, Quiznos, and RadioShack.

Google Latitude check-in deals now available across the US originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 08 Apr 2011 08:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/08/google-latitude-check-in-deals-now-available-across-the-us/

Charlotte Kadelbach Hugo Ruß Edith Hupertz Heinrich Peller

Hands-On With the Pinwide Wideangle Pinhole for Micro Four Thirds

Back in April, I wrote about the Pinwide wide-angle pinhole lens for Micro Four Thirds cameras. I liked it so much I ordered one, and I promised to let you know how it worked out. The short answer? Pretty good, for a pinhole. The long answer? Read on. The Pinwide is a plastic disk that clicks [...]

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/07/hands-on-with-the-pinwide-wideangle-pinhole-for-micro-four-thirds/

Maurice Giese Frederik Faulhaber Svenja Hoferichter Carola Auer