Electronic Arts’ new baby, EA-Land, is apparently not going ahead, with news coming down a few hours ago that this replacement for The Sims Online is going to be closing.
The Sims Online closed and merged into the new EA-Land world in February this year, but it appears that whatever targets EA management might have set for the project weren’t met, and it is now going to go away, closing around Midnight on the last day of July, this year.
Subscription billing for EA-Land terminates immediately. EA-Land will be free-to-play until closure. Currency purchases with Paypal are likewise closed.
Support will continue until closure (or until further notice, whichever comes first) and your EA-Land account/subscription may be terminated at any time.
EA is offering $15 off any game at the EA Store or three months of Club POGO subscription time (your choice) to paying subscribers. Those eligible subscribers will be emailed with the offer information within 30 days.
Luc, the prominent figure behind EA-Land, has posted a heartfelt and sorrowful message to EA-Land users. Reactions range from supportive to bitter, and all points in between.
On a number of occasions in the over the last couple of years, Second Life has seen influxes of new users from The Sims Online, and it is expected that it will receive more as a result of the pending closure. However, while Second Life is one of the best-fit virtual worlds for The Sims Online users, it isn’t a very close fit at all, and not many TSO refugees feel comfortable in Second Life’s open and unstructured environment.
Love EA-Land or hate it, it is sad to see it pass into history.
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Australian singer Kylie Minogue capped her comeback from breast cancer on Monday with a new single and the launch of a mobile phone social networking site that its designers said was a first for a major pop act.
Minogue’s spokesman also confirmed she had discussed the possibility of a world tour in 2008, when she will be 40, but that no decision had been made.
The Daily Mail newspaper reported on Monday that Minogue had cancelled a forthcoming tour due to concerns over her health.
“Kylie has not been told by her doctors that touring ‘could seriously harm her health’,” Murray Chalmers of record label EMI said in a statement.
“Touring is something that she is still considering for the future. Her health remains excellent,” he said, adding that Minogue’s representatives had demanded a “prominent apology for today’s highly damaging story” from the Mail.
Minogue, one of the most successful female artists in Britain with hits from “I Should Be So Lucky” to “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head,” released her new single “2 Hearts” digitally on Monday. It will be in shops a week later.
Her album “X” appears on November 26.
“2 Hearts” has already been branded a “surefire No.1″ by the Sun tabloid, reflecting Minogue’s popularity in Britain. Her worldwide album sales are estimated at around 40 million.
SOAP ACTRESS TO POP FAME
Having transformed herself from a 1980s soap actress into an international fashion icon and top-selling pop star, her appeal was further enhanced by her battle with cancer.
“If Kylie won admiration for her pop success, her courage and dignity in the face of her 2005 battle against breast cancer earned the public’s enduring respect,” Hello magazine wrote.
Minogue was forced to suspend her “Showgirl Tour” when she underwent surgery in Melbourne, followed by chemotherapy in Paris where her then boyfriend had a home.
“When you are stripped of everything and you have to grow your eyelashes back, grow your hair back, it’s astonishing,” Minogue told Glamour magazine in a recent interview.
“It’s hard to express what I’ve learnt from that, but a deep psychological and emotional shift has obviously taken place.”
During her recovery, Minogue penned a children’s book and made occasional public appearances before returning to the stage in Sydney a year ago to resume her tour.
To coincide with the new single, Minogue has launched her own social networking Web site www.KylieKonnect.com allowing fans to register on their mobile phones, blog, communicate with other users and upload images and video.
Its designers, New Visions Mobile, believe it is a more mobile and flexible model than social network sites like MySpace and Facebook, already important marketing tools for pop stars. It also allows Minogue to sell music online.
“The whole thing is set up so that Kylie can update her blog and have a closer connection with fans,” said Julia McNally, business development director at New Visions Mobile.
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Now you don’t have to dance to your favorite tunes — your audio player can dance for you.
Rolly, a unique new “audio entertainment player” from Sony, is capable of twisting and turning while playing music. The player, which Sony has been teasing for the last couple of weeks, is egg-shaped and can fit into a hand.
It has speakers on each end that are normally hidden by dish-like covers, but the covers move to reveal the speakers and reflect their sound when the Rolly is switched on.
There’s just one button on the player — an on/off switch — with the other functions being controlled by a pair of rings that circle its body.
One ring is used to move from track to track or album to album while the other controls the volume. The same two rings are connected to motors that enable the Rolly to scoot around a table-top in time to the music being played. Alternatively it can be set to sit motionless. In that case it’s possible to control the Rolly by moving it back and forth to switch tracks, or in a circular motion to increase or decrease the volume.
Rolly has 1GB of flash memory built-in and can playback MP3, Atrac, or AAC songs (AAC songs with copy protection from iTunes Music Store aren’t supported). In addition to playing back music from its internal memory the Rolly can also receive music streamed via a Bluetooth connection.
Sony demonstrated the device running with its “Sonic Stage” software but Rolly will accept streams from other software and devices capable of Bluetooth streaming, the company said.
Rolly’s movements need to be preprogrammed into the device for each track. There are six that are possible. The dish-like speaker covers can flap in and out, the ends of the device to which the speaker covers are attached can twist around and the wheels can turn. With just these six motions is possible to program a surprisingly complicated sequence of moves.
Sony will supply a software application called “Motion Editor” for move-by-move choreography or a rough set of moves can be automatically generated. The latter won’t necessarily match in detail the music being played but it’s a much quicker way of setting the Rolly in motion that programming by hand.
Sony also plans to launch an online community where the company and users can share movement files.
Users should get about five hours of audio playback from Rolly. This drops to four hours when the device is in motion and three and a half hours when Bluetooth streaming is also enabled.
The Rolly isn’t an iPod-killer nor is it meant to be. At a relatively heavy 300 grams and measuring 104 millimeters long and 65 millimeters in circumference the player is not very practical for those wanting a portable audio player. But it is certainly unique and likely to be a talking point whenever people see it.
It will go on sale in Japan on Sept. 29 and cost about ¥40,000 ($353). Sony has yet to decide plans for an international launch.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu37TSfKx2A]
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