Duke Nukem Forever is perhaps the iconic vaporware title after being in developmental hell for more than a decade… until now. Take-Two Interactive announced today that Gearbox Studios, the studio responsible for Borderlands, will finally pick up the pieces and finish developing the game. It will be playable at the Penny Arcade Expo this weekend. The original Duke Nukem struck a chord with rebellious young male gamers. The character from the original 1996 game, Duke Nukem 3D, was a studly, cigar-chomping, and highly weaponized badass.
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Duke Nukem Forever rises again from the grave to kick ass, chew bubble gum
Twitter CEO Ev Williams posted a blog entry Thursday with an update on the microblogging service’s usage, which continues to grow sharply. More interesting than the numbers, though, was the message written between the lines: Twitter now has 145 million monthly users, and for the marketers who want to reach them, Twitter is the only way to go. The numbers don’t lie. Third-party developers, who played a large role in Twitter’s early growth and buzz, just don’t matter
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Twitter: 300,000 apps, but none of them matter
YouTube remains one of the big question marks in Google’s finances. Every time the Google-owned video supersite comes up, executives make vague statements about how it’s not profitable yet, but could be soon . But it looks like that could change in 2010. Analysts predict YouTube will earn $450 million and finally turn in a profit this year, according to The New York Times . Of course, those are outside estimates, so take them with a grain of salt. When reporting its earnings, Google doesn’t offer any specifics about YouTube. But given the constant chatter about how the site is a money-loser, we’re guessing Google will probably announce when the site is profitable.
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Analysts: YouTube will finally reach the promised land of profitability
Nice timing. Just a few hours after The New York Times reported that YouTube’s ad revenues have grown to the point that the Google-owned video site will be profitable this year , I spotted a video that demonstrates some of YouTube’s potential as an advertising platform.
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See, YouTube ads can be awesome: A hunter shoots a bear
Facebook confirmed yesterday that it has begun testing a new “subscribe” feature for users and pages.
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Facebook moves in on Twitter’s turf with new follow feature
Earlier this week, Google launched Gmail Priority Inbox , a new feature that will automatically sort your mail to combat email overload. The feature began rolling out to users on Monday, and as of today, it’s available for all Gmail users (including Google Apps accounts)
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Gmail’s Priority Inbox available for all, lives up to hype
Google is apparently in talks with record labels to populate its upcoming music store and streaming service by Christmas, sources familiar with the matter tell Reuters . That Google is working on an iTunes competitor is no big surprise — we saw vague glimpses of it during some demonstrations at its I/O conference in May . What is surprising is that Google is trying to get it up and running by the end of the year, even though it reportedly hasn’t signed any deals with record labels
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Google gearing up for iTunes rival music service by year end
The Internet is continuing its march into TV’s backyard, this time taking charge at live TV broadcasting as use of live streaming sites exploded in 2010, according to data from comScore . Time spent watching live streaming services like Ustream and Justin.tv grew nearly 650 percent in 2010, with users clocking in 1.4 billion minutes of use.
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Live streaming video use jumps about 650 percent
Plex is media center software, from a startup of the same name, which integrates video content from local and online sources. Thus far, Plex has only been available for Mac OS X and iOS (for iPad, iPhone, iPod). But today LG announced that in 2011 it will integrate Plex into its range of Netcast-enabled HDTVs and Blu-ray devices, making Plex a video solution for mobile, PC and TV. LG’s NetCast Entertainment Access System gives direct access to online video and audio content. Many of Plex’s current users attach a Mac Mini to their TV, but this is an expensive solution in comparison to having Plex built into the TV
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Plex and LG bring TV to all your devices
BankSimple , the not-quite-a-bank provider of front-end services for a number of treasury-focused banks, raised $2.9 million in its first round of funding. First Round Capital, IA Ventures and Village Ventures led the round. Again, BankSimple is not a bank. It’s a provider that manages user experiences for banks. Chief executive Joshua Reich likened it to the way gift-card operators work. The company partners with banks that are exclusively interested in the back-end parts of banking — managing treasuries and regulatory compliance — and outsource the consumer interface and customer service out to other companies.
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Bank middle-manager BankSimple raises $2.9M to not be a bank