Gizmodo: Monopoly

Apple Fires Back At Psystar: 'We're Sooo Not A Monopoly'

John Herrman — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 06:10:00 EDT

Remember when Psystar turned their little hardware dalliance with Mac OS X into an ideological crusade against monopolies? Apple isn't having any of it. The company has just filed to dismiss Psystar's antitrust lawsuit, and, as if channeling John McCain from the last debate, seems pretty angry that Psystar just doesn't understand:

"Ignoring fundamental principles of antitrust law, and the realities of the marketplace, Psystar contends that Apple has unlawfully monopolized an alleged market that consists of only one product, the Macintosh® computer."

It's doubtful that Psystar has the grounds to win or even the money to fight this case, but the stated principle here is kind of weird. The whole line of Macintosh computers is one product? Hardware that could run Mac OS comprises an "alleged market?" It's hard to quite make sense of what they mean other than "PLEASE DIE." We'll see what happens in court on November 3rd, when Apple passes that sentiment on to Psystar's face(s). [The Register, with full filing at ZDNet]

EA Announces SimCity and The Sims 3 for the iPhone: Spore Coming on September 7th

Sean Fallon — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 18:16:00 EDT

EA has announced that nine new titles are currently in development for the iPhone: Yahtzee Adventures, EA Mini Golf, Lemonade Tycoon, Mahjong, Monopoly: Here & Now The World Edition, SimCity, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09, Need for Speed Undercover, and The Sims 3. Many of these titles have been mentioned before, but I was pretty pumped to hear about SimCity and the Sims 3 being added to the list. EA has also revealed that they are shooting to release Spore Origins on September 7th—the same day it is released on the Mac and PC. Hit the jump for some new Spore screenshots and the official press release.

LOS ANGELES, Calif., – September 5, 2008 – EA Mobile™, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS), today announced that Spore™ Origins, an original game for the iPhone™ and iPod® touch, will be available this month. The game takes full advantage of the devices’ built-in accelerometer as players tilt, turn and twist their way through a world made of primordial ooze. In conjunction with the launch of Spore Origins, EA Mobile also announces a list of nine games in development for both the iPhone and iPod Touch platforms.

Eat-or-be-eaten in Spore Origins! Designed specifically for the iPhone and iPod touch, Spore Origins uses the platforms’ motion-sensing technology to let gamers navigate a primordial tidepool on a quest to evolve. Feast on the weak and flee from the strong through two exciting modes and 35 challenging levels. Pinch, pull, and poke your creation in the Creature Editor, customizing the texture, shape and body parts to improve your offense, defense, perception and movement as you evolve over millions of years.

““We’re really excited to bring Spore Origins to the iPhone and iPod touch,” said Travis Boatman, Vice President Worldwide Studios at EA Mobile. “By leveraging the unique capabilities of these devices, players can customize their own creatures and shape their destiny in an exciting evolutionary journey. ”

EA Mobile today also announced nine titles in development for the iPhone and iPod touch, pending regional availability. This list includes YAHTZEE Adventures, EA Mini Golf, Lemonade Tycoon™, Mahjong, MONOPOLY: Here & Now The World Edition, SimCity, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09, Need for Speed™ Undercover, and The Sims™ 3.

Spore Origins will be available globally from the Apple App Store on iPhone and iPod touch, or by simply visiting www.eamobile.com from an iPhone. Additional versions of Spore Origins are also available for the iPod, as well as other mobile devices. All iPod games are available for the third-generation iPod nano, iPod classic and fifth-generation iPod and can be sent as a gift using the iTunes gifting feature (www.itunes.com).

EU Antitrust Lands Intel with Three New Charges

Kit Eaton — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 04:56:00 EDT

The EU antitrust investigation into Intel's business practices has just got a little nastier for Intel. Three new charges are being leveled against the chip manufacturer, including charges that Intel paid a leading European retailer to sell only PCs powered by Intel, and also paid a "leading" OEM to delay the launch of an AMD-powered product line. Taken together, the charges indicate a "single overall anticompetitive strategy aimed at excluding AMD" according to the European Commission document. This may come as interesting news to AMD's recently departed CEO. Intel has two weeks to respond. [EU Statement via Ars Technica]

Intel Antitrust Investigation Officially Underway

Brian Lam — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 22:18:13 EDT

In my mind, AMD and VIA comments can be summed up as, "No shit." [NYTimes]

Mac Clone Maker Psystar Says Apple's EULA Violates Monopoly Laws, Wants to Challenge it in Court

Jason Chen — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:41:25 EDT

Psystar, who's just announced that they're going to sell a $399.99 Mac clone called Open Mac, doesn't care that Apple's EULA prohibits using OS X on any machine not made by Apple. In fact, they say that Apple's terms "violate U.S. monopoly laws", posing the example of Microsoft theoretically saying you could only install Windows on Dell machines.

They also told Information Week that they weren't breaking any laws, and that they were going to continue to sell this system no matter what Apple says. Another example the employee gave was this: "What if Honda said that, after you buy their car, you could only drive it on the roads they said you could?" Even if Psystar's machines aren't anything spectacular, if they can set a legal precedent for third-party manufacturers selling OS X-bundled machines, that would be a win for everybody. [InformationWeek - Thanks Achal!]

Afternoon News: Apple's Patent, Cashwrap, and Lawsuit

Christopher Mascari — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 15:05:52 EST

• An Apple Patent that refers to wobbling icons is strikingly similar to the same feature found in the leaked iPhone 1.1.3 firmware, confirmation? [Mobile Mag]
• Apple stores that still have "cashwrap" counters, aka cash register counters, will soon be moving to those portable credit card-transaction computers. But don't worry you cash lovers, the Genius Bar will handle all cash transactions, and the flagship stores are keeping their "cashwrap" counters. [ifo Apple Store]
•An anti-trust lawsuit has been filed against Apple with charges of holding a monopoly on the digital music market. The major complaint in the charge is Apple's inability to support Windows WMA format, which we can't argue with. [Information Week]

Nintendo Monopoly

Jason Chen — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 18:00:27 EST

Not exactly new—we saw this on sale at our local target—this Nintendo themed Monopoly game could be great to get your video game-addicted kids to join in on a fun family activity.

Complete with Donkey Kong's barrel, Link's Shield, Princess Peach's barf bag and Mario's girdle, Nintendo Monopoly is definitely in the top five themed Monopoly editions we've seen. – Jason Chen

Product Page [Amazon via Uncrate via Madewise]

Monopoly Replaces Cash With Debit Card

Jason Chen — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 17:00:51 EDT

By replacing the cash in Monopoly with a Visa debit card in all future editions of Monopoly, Hasbro puts an end to almost a century of "Monopoly money" jokes and wasted minutes waiting for your sister to dole out $50 because she's the chairman of the board. Instead of divvying up paper 500, 100s and 50s, you'll stick your card into the ATM machine in order to add or subtract from your total. The only problem: knowing how much money everyone else has without some kind of visual indicator. – Jason Chen

Mayfair? Put It On The Card [Sky via Geekologie]