The console is available to pre-order now, and you can actually get the console and controller for free throughout this month, but it’ll cost $99 if you order one after May (although the final price hasn’t been finalized yet). The console requires an $83.88-per-year subscription fee as well, which comes out to $6.99 per month. This will get you an all-you-can-play buffet of games to play on your TV without needing to pay for the games individually.

BlueStacks has already managed to get a handful of popular mobile game developers to partner up, including Glu, Halfbrick, Gameloft, Intellijoy, and Deemedya. It’s not said exactly how many games will be available at launch, as the team is still working on getting a final count, but it should give OUYA a run for its money.

Plus, the monthly subscription fee is also an interesting concept, as its essentially the Netflix for games. However, you have to pay by the year (sort of like a contract), but $6.99 per month doesn’t seem that bad at all, especially considering that you can play as many games as you want, which could be a bargain for those who are heavy gamers. As of right now, there’s no word on a ship date for the GamePop console.

[via The Next Web]

The company has announced a couple of important details recently including the fact that the launch for the console has been delayed to June 25. The new launch date of June 25 is delayed three weeks from the previous estimate. Joystiq reports that the delay is also intended to allow the company to fix a nagging issue with the controllers.

Apparently, the buttons of the controller can get stuck under the controller’s faceplate. The official reason according to Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman is to allow the company to “create more units and, basically, have more units on store shelves in June.”

Ouya also announced that it has received a $15 million investment from venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Mayfield Fund. However, some say that even with the additional $15 million and the impressive amount raised during the Kickstarter campaign, the company could still require even more funding to be able to market and launch a new game console.

[via Joystiq and [via VentureBeat]

Inside the iFixit teardown the innards promised by the manufacturers of the OUYA, including – but not limited to – the NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor with 4-PLUS-1 technology (meaning there’s 5 CPU cores, not just 4). Under the hood two Samsung 4Gb DD3 SDRAM modules sit next to one another, these two 4Gb modules together creating 1GB total.

Also inside the OUYA box is a single fan, easily removable and attached with just four standard screws and a wire. As noted by iFixit, this is good – especially since its the only moving part in the whole amalgamation of metal and plastic. The fan is, for those of you looking to stock up, a SUNON MagLev HA40101V4 DC brushless and you’ll be rolling with 12 volts at 0.8 W of power.

Perhaps oddest of all is the addition of weights to this machine. Inside the bottom of the console are five miniature metal plates added to keep the device weighed down and solid on a flat surface. Each of the five plates weighs in at 0.39 ounces, creating nearly 2 ounces of staying weight for the bottom of the box. The gaming pad coming with the OUYA is a similar bit of ease in tear down – only a few screws and you’re in!

Have a peek at SlashGear’s OUYA tag portal to see more information on this machine’s innards as well as its connections to the gaming universe at large. You’ll be able to see this device on the deck of your own TV stand later this year, if all goes as planned, and for right around a hundred bucks, too!

[via iFixit]

The game stars afro-and-hatchet-wielding viking Magnus Jones, who is sent by Oden to kick butt and bring about some “righteous” judgment, if you get the joke. The game has just about every type of opponent you can imagine such a protagonist would face: dragons with slicked-back hair and earrings sipping martinis and belching flames, disco wizards, giants, and more.

If you didn’t check out the trailer, stop where you’re at and watch it – it’s worth 60-seconds of your time and has a funky beat. Back? The game was created by Airtight Games specifically for the OUYA as a free-to-play offering. Although the game isn’t done yet, it’s getting there and as a result OUYA has also published a video showing some behind-the-scenes action into what goes into making the game.

In case you missed it, OUYA began shipping out to the Kickstarter backers and top tier partners earlier this month, and has been moving ahead full steam since then, with the console hitting the FCC back on April 19th and boasting more than 10,000 global developers on the same day. Stay tuned, and we’ll update you as more info is dropped!

[via Ouya]

Up top of this particular unit you’ll see a cool transparent power button while the sides are a toned-down silver with black accents. This version is ever-so-slightly different from the funder-friendly version being sent to users on the whole right this minute and is expected to be slightly closer to the edition that’ll be sent to final purchasers after the funded edition is up and running.

You’ll be working with this device soon if you’ve worked with the creators of OUYA through Kickstarter, while those looking to buy the device after the first edition is shipped will be picking one up just a bit later this year. This second edition – the standard edition – will be priced starting at $99 USD and will come with an 8GB drive capacity while it outputs video via full-sized HDMI.

You’ll be powering this device up with a standard power jack (included in the box) while you’ll have both microUSB and full-sized USB ports to work with your other mobile devices and peripherals. This device connects with Bluetooth as well, and will be rolling with wireless internet and ethernet – make it work for you!

Have a peek at the timeline below for other recent news surrounding the OUYA console and stick around SlashGear as the final units are shipped from the first edition!

[via Engadget]

OUYA’s head of developer relations, Kellee Santiago, revealed the new statistic today, and says that it’s quite an accomplishment for the company, especially considering that the console is still in its early stages. She also notes that the number of developers signing on “continues to grow at such a rapid pace.”

Santiago notes that partnerships with larger developers and publishers will be coming up in the next few months, which means we could be seeing some triple-A titles make their way to the OUYA console at some point. However, Santiago says that the competition between triple-A games and indie games is dying, and gamers will simply play games that have quality, whether it’s a triple-A title or an indie title.

The OUYA has been hit with some criticism as of late, when review of the portable gaming console began pouring out, most of which rated the new console bad or mediocre. However, OUYA has reiterated that the console is still in its early stages and isn’t ready for prime time quite yet, but Santiago assures us that the team is working on improving the console.

[via Gamesindustry.biz]

But there’s more to it than that. A Kickstarter-funded company is selling a device known as Ouya that promises to combine the benefits of mobile and console gaming into one device that connects to the television. Steam is working on a console that will bring PC titles to the living room. There have even been rumors that Apple is planning a gaming push.

The Apple rumors are arguably the most interesting. They seem to indicate that Apple is going to bring iOS gaming to the console market and all of its developers will come along with it. And since the iPhone maker has become such a force in the gaming space in such a short amount of time with iOS, there’s no reason to suggest it wouldn’t make a similar splash in the console space.

Although I’d agree with that sentiment, I think we might all be missing the obvious here: Google might just sweep into the console space and win the war.

Now, I know that we’ve heard no indication that Google actually has plans to get into the console market, but is it such a stretch to say that it could? First off, the company has tried to make inroads into the console space with Google TV. And although that hasn’t been the most successful launch, it’s proven that Google is at least thinking about branching out into the living room.

At the same time, we mustn’t forget that Google has been taking some changes lately in the hardware market. The company now has smartphones and tablets that it’s selling and its acquisition of Motorola was a not-so-subtle attempt by the search giant to break into the hardware side.

And then there’s Android. The operating system that has worked so well on smartphones, tablets, and other devices, seems perfectly suited for the console market. And with mobile processors getting more powerful by the day, it’s not such a leap for a game company to bring their top titles on Android to a device running that operating system from Google.

Oh, and one more thing: don’t you think that more than anything, Google would love to take Microsoft down in the console market? If there’s anything we know about Google, it’s that the company can’t stand Microsoft. And beating the software giant out on something is its favorite feat. By bringing Android to the console market and delivering its own device, Google might just have a shot at it.

Call me crazy, but I think Google could actually perform quite well in the console market.

The wonderful Google April Fool’s joke – a pink Tesla Batmobile – is rolling around California right now, and EA has responded to the “Worst Company in America” poll with a statement that it can do better. It looks like the folks in Austin, Texas could be seeing super fast Internet thanks to Google Fiber in the future, and the cube-shaped Android gaming console OUYA has started shipping.

Microsoft has been vocal about Facebook Home, and also has new Microsoft Stores opening up this month. Samsung has rolled out the Galaxy Note 8.0 in the United Kingdom, and BlackBerry’s R10 and Q10 handsets will be hitting shelves soon. Alienware unveiled an Ubuntu version of its previously Windows-only X51 laptop. Improved contacts and a passcode lock have been rolled out for Evernote Hello for iPhone, and the ever-popular Minecraft for PC has exceeded 10 million in sales.

Speaking of games, Black Ops II Uprising DLC will be available on April 16, and GameStop has expanded its trade-in program for electronics. Netflix has added 720p HD for Windows Phone 8/7.8, and Arthur Frommer, not willing to see the popular Frommer’s travel guides go out of print, bought them back from Google. On the automotive front, T-Mobile’s data plan for Audi will start at $15 per month, while the science story of the day involves the Hubble telescope finding the most distant supernova to date. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, we hope you enjoy the rest of the night folks!

This week kicks off a weekly update series from OUYA as well. According to OUYA, they’ll be hitting final delivery inside May for those that have already ordered their unit. Pre-shipping alerts will be going off a week before your order is queued up, and OUYA is brining on new vendors as we speak – this means quicker delivery.

Long story short, the OUYA gaming console will be coming to you soon, but not really all that much sooner than you’ve expected before today. You’ll be rolling out with a vast collection of games by the time your unit is in your hands, and more partners appear to be teaming up with the device each week. That’s good news!

Have a peek at a collection of updates and features we’ve got on the OUYA below, and don’e forget to stick around our OUYA tag portal for more information on the device through the future as well!

[via OUYA]

Back in February, Ouya announced that it would start shipping consoles on March 28. The shipments were only for the early backers of the project who purchased the console via Kickstarter. If you missed that Kickstarter campaign or only recently decided that you wanted to get your hands on these little consoles, Ouya has announced that general availability will be June 4.

The game console will launch simultaneously in the US, Canada, and the UK. Ouya says that “tens of thousands” of the consoles were sold in the first month when the device was announced in 2012. The console promises HD graphics, immersive sound, a real game controller, and a unique platform for enjoying all sorts of game genres. If you somehow missed this console and all of the previous coverage we’ve published, it’s a slick little device that looks like a small cube and is designed to plug directly into your TV.

The console uses an integrated Nvidia Tegra 3 chipset and supports full HD resolution graphics. All of the games available for the console will be downloadable and free to try. In addition to games, the little console will also support streaming video and music applications. One of the best things about the console is its low price of only $99.99 for the console and controller. An extra controller will also be available for $49.99.

[via Ouya]

You can download what they’re calling the ” “OUYA MakerBot 3D Printing Development Kit” from MakerBot’s Thingiverse website, and then get started with crafting your very own OUYA shell. This dev kit will allow anyone to print cases, and users can add their own patterns and colors to the cases, making them unique and giving them a little personality.

The custom OUYA cases can be printed using PLA plastic on the MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer, or if you’re a more experience 3D-printing enthusiast, you can use the more-robust ABS plastic on a MakerBot Replicator 2X Experimental 3D Printer. To say the least, this takes open source to a completely new level.

While the OUYA will begin shipping tomorrow, only Kickstarter backers will receive their units. The general public will be able to grab their own OUYA console starting in June, and units will be available at various retail stores, as well as on Amazon and OUYA’s website for $99, which isn’t a bad price considering what the little box can do.

Ouya is the highly anticipated gaming console that runs on Android’s OS. The console is set to ship to its Kickstarter supporters on March 28th, and it’s goal is to take on its console gaming competitors, the PS3 and the Xbox 360. The system runs on an NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage. You are able to increase its storage size by connecting an external USB stick or hard drive to USB port on the system.

Uhrman says that the $99 system is a major draw for gaming developers, because unlike the PlayStation or the Xbox, it won’t cost developers a fortune to release a game for it. There are currently 481 games being developed for the console, and the developers are able to monetize their games by adding in-app purchases, subscriptions, or freemium features, something that Uhrman says is very difficult to achieve with traditional consoles.

Online multiplayer is set to launch by the end of the year, and will include leaderboards and achievements. The addition of online multiplayer will help make MMORPG’s more successful on the Android operating system. Along with online multiplayer, Uhrman says that they’re in the process of hooking up video streaming services, like Hulu or Netflix, onto the system so that the console can double as a replacement TV box (similar to Roku).

[via Forbes]

OUYA has opened up their Developer Portal where OUYA game developers can download the ODK (OUYA Development Kit) and begin uploading their games to the OUYA store ahead of time. Games that are uploaded ahead of the March 28 launch date will see their games available right away on that day. However, the games go through a submission process, so it’s ideal to upload games a few days before the launch date if you want your titles ready to play right away.

Also, OUYA is essentially starting from scratch and implementing the new system all over again, which means that developers who uploaded their games previously will have to upload them again. However, once your game is uploaded, OUYA is allowing full control of your games after that time, meaning that you can update your games whenever you’d like.

Furthermore, as an incentive to get developers to upload their games, OUYA will be selecting the top three games (by popularity), and will be filming documentaries on each of the games, going behind-the-scenes with the development team of each game. However, there was no word on when we can expect these documentaries to be available for viewing.

OUYA says that Kickstarter backers will be receiving shipping information in an email within a few weeks, and assembly lines are “buzzing” with the sound of tens of thousands of OUYA consoles being manufactured — we can smell the Android-powered portable gaming goodness already, and we’re pretty excited to see how the OUYA will shape the gaming industry.

Developer console began shipping back in December, so some people have already been playing around with the OUYA for a couple months now. OUYA mentioned that a load of new indie games will be making their way to the console, as well as games from popular developing studios and individual developers, like Tripwire Interactive and Kim Swift from Portal and Left 4 Dead.

If you didn’t back OUYA on Kickstarter, but want a piece of the pie, Best Buy, Target, and GameStop will sell the OUYA console for $99 starting sometime in June, which is the same price that Kickstarter backers paid for the device during the console’s fundraising campaign. The console wil also be available for purchase on OUYA’s website and Amazon.com.

Nexon believes that its Robotoki investment will bring a new future of multi-screen, cross-platform games to the company. Seungwoo Choi, President and Chief Executive Officer of Nexon, stated that he looks forward to working with Robert Bowling as well as the rest of the Robotoki team in order to “deliver inventive, multi-dimensional gaming experiences to consumers in North American and all around the world.”

Robert Bowling commented on his excitement to be working with a company as big as Nexon. He stated that working with such a big gaming company “will allow us invaluable access to their expertise and world-class resources”. Robotoki will be working together with Nexon to launch its highly anticipated game, Human Element. The game is set to be released in Q4 2015, and will be available on the PlayStation 4, Xbox 720, the PC, and various mobile platforms including iOS and Android.

Human Element will be a first-person survival game set in a world torn apart by a zombie apocalypse. Robotoki has stated that it will release an exclusive prequel to Human Element for the OUYA. It will be the first game launch from the independent game developer, and should do wonders for both the company as well as OUYA. The prequel will set the stage for Human Element, and will have gamers anticipating its launch in 2015.

[via Reuters]

After several weeks, both Kill Screen and OUYA finally have a king to crown in their contest. The game, Strange Happenings on Murder Island, developed by FreeLives, has been crowned the Grand Prize winner of the entire event, scoring them the coveted prize of $20,000. Strange Happenings is an odd, Minecraft-esque game, packed with gun violence, dinosaurs, and possibly drug-induced levels. We can definitely see the entertainment aspect of the game.

There were also 6 special categories in which the winners won the $5000 each. The winner for the “Most Surprising” award was ‘Television’ by Laboratory Games LLC. The winner of the “Four Bright Buttons and Two Joysticks” award was ‘Bombball’ by E McNeill. The winner of the “Most Immersive” award was ‘Whispering Willows’ by Night Light Interactive. The winner of the “Pop Your Eyes Out” award was ‘Pipnis’ by Santa Ragione. The winner of the “Best Couch with Friends” award was ’2D Cube Zombie Platformer’ by Molinware. And finally, the “Best Game Created Using the Unity Engine” award went to ‘Stikbold’ by Team Stikbold.

So congratulations to all of the winners. It was also a huge win for OUYA as well. Not only will the winners of each category be included in the OUYA gaming system, but every other game that competed should be available for the system too. These games are optimized to be played on the OUYA system, and they should make the Kickstarter product that much more appealing when it finally hits the stores in June.

[via Kill Screen]

The most recent news bit to hit the OUYA-sphere has been word from the creators of the console that they’ve already seen such a great response, they’re planning on releasing a new model every year. That’s a schedule only a smartphone or tablet generally keeps. It’s also been claimed by the company that the first retail sales window will be June of 2013 – coming up quick!

Partners have been stacking up with intentions of getting games onto the OUYA platform since before the hardware was finalized. In fact we’ll not really know exactly what the console looks like in its end-form until the public has their hands on the retail version of the device, but still, the innards are enticing! Have a peek at this brief list of contributors and games promised to be attached to the system thus far:

• Words with Friends creator Paul Bettner
• Double Fine Productions’ Tim Schafer
• Firefox creators Mozilla
• CodeZombieGames who brought on a first-impressions look at the hardware
• Namco Bandai
• Plex
• HAWKEN!
• Twitch TV
• Minecraft
• XBMC
• Vevo
• Square Enix who’ll bring Final Fantasy III
• Onlive for game streaming of all kinds
• Human Element in a prequel format
• And the OUYA team has also revealed lists of games promised for the console

There are already Developer Consoles out there in the wild and they’ve been shipping since December to a full list known only to the company itself.

have a peek at the timeline below to see more recent OUYA action and stay tuned to SlashGear for the upcoming launch – and any oddities that occur between here and there!

Uhrman said that the updated yearly consoles will “take advantage of faster, better processors,” thanks to the decline of component prices every year. However, it seems that the yearly console will get a naming scheme instead of simply remaining the “OUYA.” Uhrman says that each new console will be the “OUYA 2,” OUYA 3,” and so on.

However, Uhrman assures gamers that all games will be compatible with all the consoles, meaning that you don’t have to worry about an older game not working on a newer console. This is certainly great news for gamers, but since the OUYA won’t see a release cycle like all the other gaming consoles, one may worry about futureproofing, and the minute they buy an OUYA, it’ll be obsolete within a year, something that other console gamers don’t need to worry about.

In any case, the OUYA should be a huge it when it release to the public in a few months. In fact, it’s already been a huge hit. The Kickstarter campaign collected almost $8.6 million, absolutely shattering its original goal. This first OUYA comes with a quad-core A9 Tegra 3 clocked at 1.6GHz, so if the company sticks with NVIDIA for future consoles, we could see them move to the Tegra 4 chip that we’ve been hearing a lot about recently.

[via Engadget]

For its part, Double Fine will be providing two game titles to OUYA – Reds and The Cave. Paul Bettner’s Verse studio will also be bringing two titles to the console, but they are currently unannounced. No other details about the partnerships have been announced, and release dates for the titles won’t be available until a future date.

Said Paul Bettner: “OUYA and Verse are nothing less than The Return Of Console Gaming. The last big wave was mobile … And yet I believe we’re about to see another disruption even bigger than this last. Gamers want the App Store in their living room. OUYA will be the first to deliver it, and it’s going to change everything. Again.”

OUYA is a $99 game console that was a running success on Kickstarter, and that is now available for pre-order. The device is currently expected to ship in the beginning of March to Kickstarter backers, and will then roll out to others, with those who order before February 4 getting theirs in April.

We heard a rumor that claimed Nokia will bring 41 megapixel sensors to standard smartphones, and learned that Jelly Bean is now running on 13.6% of devices. Huawei has a press event coming up at MWC 2013 and its invitation suggests we’ll see the Ascend P2, while AT&T added new markets to its 4G LTE network today. Redbox Instant will soon be rolling out of beta on Xbox 360 soon, and Jawbone UP will now connect you to Facebook Open Graph after today’s update.

Apple has launched Breakout Books to highlight indie authors, and BlackBerry 10 Android Jelly Bean integration was confirmed today. Dead Space 3 launched today with Electronic Arts announcing the first DLC for March, and the iOS 6.1 Jailbreak has seen some massive traffic since releasing. We learned that some lucky BlackBerry 10 developers are receiving a limited edition red BlackBerry Z10 handset for free, while at the same time hearing that the BlackBerry Q10 may not launch in the US until sometime early this summer.

The Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook is looking to take on the Macbook Air, and NASA announced that it will broadcast the Progress 48 resupply ship launch. Skeletal remains discovered under a UK parking lot have been confirmed to be King Richard III’s, and The Witcher III: Wild Hunt has been announced. Twitter is reportedly looking at two-factor authorization after a security breach, while Take-Two reported some strong financials for its fiscal Q3 2013. Finally tonight, we go hands-on with the new web-based Instagram feed, and Chris Burns tells us why HTC’s “new sound and camera experience” may simply be deja-vu. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, we hope you enjoy the rest of the night folks!

The console will also be available online at the company’s website and on Amazon. Of course, though, Kickstarter backers will be the first to get their units. Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman says that Kickstarter backers will receive their consoles in March, while orders from the OUYA website will go out in April, and retail stores will begin selling them in June. You can pre-order the console now through Amazon, Best Buy, or Target.

The console will sell for $99.99, and it’ll come with one controller. An extra controller will cost you $49.99 in retail stores, while getting one on OUYA’s website will only cost $40 shipped. Paying $50 for a controller certainly isn’t outrageous, but it raises some concerns when a controller costs half the price of the console itself. Uhrman says that $49.99 is a “premium price” for a controller, indeed, but she says that the touchpad built into the controller makes up for the cost.

The OUYA console raised more than $8.5 million on Kickstarter and has been taking pre-orders for the consoles on its website. There are over 68,000 consoles that need to be shipped out so far, with potentially even more orders to come no doubt. The tiny Android-powered gaming console is already a huge hit, and we’re pretty excited to see how the OUYA community will grow once the consoles start selling.

[via WSJ]

It seems that Microsoft is working on a new, cheaper lineup of Surface tablets to add to the current Surface family, while Verizon has sold $1.9 billion worth of its spectrum to competitor AT&T. Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer said today that since her company doesn’t make mobile hardware, software, or run social networks, that puts Yahoo in a position for “strong partnerships,” while Best Buy is offering MacBook Airs at a $200 discount in a promotion that only lasts through tomorrow.

It appears that Twitter’s new video service Vine is having some issues importing Facebook contacts, while Google has placed a rather strict non-disclosure agreement on those attending its Glass Foundry events at the end of the month. Samsung has announced the new rough and tumble Galaxy Xcover 2, and we heard that the new Super Smash Bros. titles for Wii U and 3DS will be on display at E3 2013 later this year. Anonymous hackers have been jailed for their involvement in the Visa, MasterCard, and PayPal attacks, and the recently-released YouTube Capture has been updated with support for 1080p.

The French government has replaced the famous Twitter hashtag with what it’s calling “sharp-words,” while the Alcatel One Touch Evo 7 has appeared in a new FCC filing. Rockstar reportedly threatened to sue over a show called L.A. Noir – a claim publisher Take-Two denies – while RIM announced that it will air a BlackBerry 10 ad during the Super Bowl. Google reassured users today, saying it won’t give the government access to your Gmail account without a court order, and Sony announced that its Red and Blue PS3s will be coming to the UK next month. THQ’s corporate offices shut down today, and the Halo Zero LED messenger bag is netting some attention on Kickstarter. Finally tonight, Vincent Nguyen delivers his review of the Drobo Mini. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, we hope you enjoy the weekend folks!

So, gone is the disc D-pad, replaced by a more traditional cross-style that’s easier to thumb accurately, while the sticks get a rubberized hat since developers were complaining of undue slipperiness. The triggers are more streamlined into the housing, as well as being mechanically altered for improved feel, while the battery bay has also been reworked to ensure the power pack fits securely without shifting around during more frantic play.

Unlike most controllers, OUYA’s has a touchpad for menu navigation, and that’s in line for a new finish and more responsiveness. For the moment, OUYA recommends developers set the cursor speed to its maximum for the most immediacy in use.

Controller finessing might sound like an odd thing for OUYA to be spending a disproportionate amount of its time on, but there’s good reason for it. Android gaming isn’t new, but a common complaint is that the experience of actually playing on an Android games system – whether it be a phone, a tablet, or something else – is distinctly subpar compared to what players are used to from their Xbox, PS3, or something else.

If OUYA wants to be taken seriously, it needs to tick all the right boxes with the one part of the system that players’ will come into contact with most often, and that’s the controller. If it doesn’t feel right, or doesn’t work as it should, then gamers simply won’t bother picking it up and playing, and that could mean death to the platform.

Speaking of quarterly results, AMD posted its report for Q4 2012 as well today, but the company’s earnings ultimately left something to be desired. Microsoft might help Dell become a private company with an investment in the billions, while Surface RT is getting a new 64GB variant and a bunch of different accessories. ZeniMax Online Studios opened up beta registration for The Elder Scrolls Online today, and the 2014 Corvette has been spotted in the wild.

ASUS quietly introduced the VivoBook S330 notebook today, and we learned that Mozilla is working on a version of Firefox for the upcoming OUYA Android console. Synaptics has given its ClearPad touch technology to the all new Razer Edge Pro, and JVC has announced its new MirrorLink receiver, which plays nice with your smartphone. We heard that Zombieland is destined to become a web series after plans for a TV have been left behind, and Orchestra has opened up a reservation system for the soon-to-be-released Mailbox email client for iOS.

We saw a pair of new prototype glasses that protect you from facial recognition today, while Tasker for Android was given an all new user interface. Twitter was seen rolling out an update for embedded tweets, and Nintendo announced that it will be revealing new Wii U games during tomorrow’s Nintendo Direct livestream. Google said that Motorola had “12 to 18 months” of products in the pipeline when it was purchased by the search giant, AT&T seems to be experiencing some U-Verse outages, and we heard that a 5-inch iPhone may not launch until 2014. Finally tonight, Chris Burns delivers his review of the Wicked Audio Solus headphones and tells us why the Galaxy Note 8 is challenging the iPad Mini before its even announced. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, we hope you enjoy the rest of the night folks!

According to a post on the OUYAForum by administrator Ed Krassenstein, a Mozilla developer spoke with Krassenstein on the progress that the team is making bringing Firefox over to the new console. The developer mentioned that there is still a lot of work to do, but he was nice enough to show us a quick photo of the progress so far (pictured above).

The photo was tweeted by mobile platform engineer Chris Lord, and he says that the browser is currently “kinda usable”, but it isn’t anything to look at really. However, it shows that the Mozilla team is serious about bringing their web browser to the open-source gaming masses, and hopefully we’ll hear some updates on the project within the next couple of weeks.

“We’re investigating what we need to do to make Firefox usable on Ouya. It already works and we have some preliminary patches for gamepad support, but there’s still quite a bit of work to be done to make it really usable. Part of this work will be making sure that WebGL and Canvas support performs well on the device, and making sure that the relevant APIs (such as Gamepad API) are also supported.”

The OUYA gaming console is an open-source Android-based console that not only has full access to the Google Play store, but will also have proprietary games specifically meant for the OUYA. Developer consoles have already been shipped out, so while Mozilla has a long way to go, they still have several months before the official OUYA launch to ship a final version of the web browser.

[via TechCrunch]

The first details for Black Ops II‘s incoming DLC have leaked out, while the Project Paperless patent trolls are at it again with new unnamed subsidiaries to help them do their dirty work. Apple has a rumored relationship with Broadcom for 802.11ac WiFi in 2013 Macs, we learned today that CTIA will consolidate its 2013 shows into one massive mobile event, and the GameStick portable gaming console is looking to do battle with OUYA for Android console supremacy.

Apple is said to be testing out its new 28nm A6X chips while preparing to cut Samsung out of the loop, and in a very surprising turn of events, Ubuntu mobile OS was announced today and should be hitting phones starting in 2014. A US district judge has ruled that Amazon’s Appstore is very different from Apple’s own App Store, while the Samsung Galaxy M Pro has been leaked, complete with a full QWERTY keyboard. Installious has been shut down (so no, you aren’t just experiencing an outage), and we learned that the Do Not Disturb bug in iOS 6 will be fixed come January 7.

We have a couple Xbox-related stories today, as a countdown timer on Major Nelson’s website seems to suggest that the next generation Xbox will be announced at E3, while new rumors said that production on the console’s processor has gotten underway, with a potential launch coming late this year or early in 2014. Elite: Dangerous reached its Kickstarter goal today, with California and Illinois both enacting laws that prevent employers from demanding their potential employees’ social media passwords. Google executive Eric Schmidt might be taking a trip to North Korea soon, Zynga has shut down its Japan studio, and finally tonight, Chris Burns delivers his review of AT&T MiFi Liberate mobile hotspot. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, we hope you enjoy the rest of your night everyone!

The console uses Android as the basis for the software, so the console boasts an open platform that more game developers can join in on easily, and the team behind GameStick has made it really easy to play the console. You simply plug it into the HDMI port of your HDTV, grab the controller, and start playing games.

So far, GameStick works on roughly 200 titles that are in the Google Play store, but the team is working with over 250 developers, including Madfinger, Hutch, and Disney to bring GameStick gamers an even greater selection of games. The company boasts that since most of the games come from Google Play, you won’t be spending any more money on games than what you have to in order to play them on the big screen.

The company only has a working prototype of the GameStick so far, but they’re 90% of the way to getting the final pre-production samples made, and expect them to be done in 5-6 weeks. The team expects to have final units shipped out to customers starting in April at a cost $79 each — that includes the dongle and the gaming controller.

First and foremost, we have the obvious question about new hardware. With Nintendo releasing the Wii U back in November, it’s now up to Sony and Microsoft to really get the next generation of gaming underway. While I’ve been convinced for a while that Microsoft is plotting to reveal the next Xbox sometime this year, to be honest with you, I couldn’t figure out whether Sony was going to announce the next PlayStation this year or wait for 2014. Then Sony started sending out press invites to an event it’s holding at the end of February.

The immediate thought is that Sony will officially pull the veil off the next PlayStation at this event, and that could very well happen. I think Sony wants to get the jump on Microsoft in the next generation, and I also think neither company wants to leave Nintendo alone as the only company with a “next-gen” console on the market for very long. Sony as a whole has been struggling a bit lately, but its games division has been performing relatively well – getting a new console on the market before Microsoft does could mean great things for Sony’s pocketbook. Does this mean that Sony will reveal the PlayStation 4 (or whatever it’ll be called) at this event? I’m not willing to call it either way. Here’s what I am willing to say, though: by the end of the year, both Sony and Microsoft will have revealed their next consoles, and we’ll have one (maybe both) available by the time 2014 rolls around.

While a new PlayStation reveal seems likely for this event, there’s something almost certain to happen there. I think Sony will use this event to announce a price drop on the PlayStation Vita. The Vita hasn’t been performing well at all, and Sony needs to do something if it wants to have any hope of competing against the 3DS. If no one is buying the handheld, no one will want to develop games for it, which in turn means that there’s only one thing to do: cut the price. A Vita price cut has to come this year if Sony wants to stay relevant in the handheld space, the earlier the better. So, it makes sense that Sony will announce such a price cut at an event where its bound to get a lot of press attention.

If announcements of new hardware are coming this year, then it stands to reason that we’ll see a bunch of new properties revealed as well. Of course, 2013 will be chock-full of sequels just like 2012, 2011, and 2010 were, but I think a lot of the big studios are going to step up to bring us exciting new games to play on the new hardware. If you’re suffering from sequel fatigue like so many of us are, just hold on, because once those consoles are revealed, we’ll more than likely see a whole bunch of new IP that we can really sink our teeth into.

Now for game-specific predictions: I think Nintendo isn’t going to waste any time introducing the world to a brand new 3D Mario game for the Wii U. New Super Mario Bros. U is great and all, but it doesn’t exactly serve as a worthy replacement to the likes of Mario 64, Sunshine, and Galaxy. The Wii U has been performing well, but if Nintendo really wants to see consoles flying off the shelves, it will use 2013 to reveal a new HD Mario adventure, preferably before Microsoft and Sony can get their next consoles to retail. I’m hoping that we’ll see the reveal of a new Zelda game for the Wii U, but with Skyward Sword only hitting at the end of 2011, that may be nothing more than a fool’s hope.

Just as well, I have a feeling that 2013 will be the year that Bethesda reveals Fallout 4, complete with the Creation Engine it used in Skyrim. This one is actually a pretty tough prediction, as I think the reveal of Fallout 4 relies heavily on when Sony and Microsoft’s next-gen consoles launch. If we see a new Xbox or PlayStation this year, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Fallout 4 following closely behind. Bethesda put Oblivion on the Xbox 360 early in the console’s life, and by doing so, Bethesda became a much more common name in the gaming community. If it can use Fallout 4 to show off the tech behind these new consoles, I have a feeling it will.

Sadly, 2013 isn’t going to be an all-around great year for Bethesda. The Elder Scrolls Online is scheduled to launch early this year, but I have no problem predicting that it’ll be dead on arrival. Don’t get me wrong, the game looks great and it’s finally giving us a multiplayer Elder Scrolls experience, but I don’t think it’s the multiplayer experience many players wanted. It’ll also come with a subscription fee at launch, which we know now is only something a select few MMOs can pull off. If Star Wars: The Old Republic can’t make it as a subscription MMO, I sadly don’t think The Elder Scrolls Online can either. I hope I’m wrong, because it does look beautiful and I’m excited to finally have a chance to explore all of Tamriel in one game, but I think history shows that it’s going to be an uphill for the battle for the title, and one that’s going to be nigh impossible to win.

Even though I’m beyond excited for the return of SimCity, I don’t think that’s going to be a success either. EA’s insistence on using always-on DRM will be what ultimately kills SimCity, as I have a feeling many SimCity players will experience launch problems very similar to the issues Diablo III had. Fans didn’t like Diablo III for many other reasons, but Blizzard’s use of always-on DRM got things off to a very rough start. I just don’t think a game can survive if it sports always-on DRM, so sadly, players might lose interest in the game only a few short months after its release.

On the other hand, I think DmC: Devil May Cry is going to hit a sweet spot with critics, despite the fact that fans have thrown a fit over the changes being made. Change is always a difficult thing to accept when it comes to gaming, but I think that DmC might just offer the shake up the long running series needs. Early impressions have been good, and while I may end up eating my words sooner rather than later (DmC is out in just a couple of weeks, remember), the game could be the start of something great for the franchise.

2013 will also be the year that Kickstarter proves its worth to the gaming world. A lot of the projects that were funded in 2012 will be releasing in 2013, and while there will be some failures, there will also be some smashing successes. Some games will fail to find an audience outside of backers, sure, but that’s okay – the developers get to make the game they wanted without relying on funds from publishers, and those who were truly interested will get to play it. Unless a studio needs to use some of its own funds to further fuel development, a game funded through Kickstarter doesn’t necessarily need to make millions after launch. In any case, 2013 should be a pretty inspiring year for the game projects that found funding success in 2012.

There is one Kickstarter project from 2012 that might struggle a bit after it’s out of the gate: OUYA. The tiny little Android console has a separate problem from simple games that were funded using Kickstarter, in that it needs support after launch. Yes, it’s an inexpensive console, but I’m still having a hard time seeing how there’s going to be any sort of large-scale success outside of the initial Kickstarter campaign. We shall see soon enough, as OUYA is scheduled to launch in just a few months, and while I don’t think it’ll fail outright, I think that 2013 is going to be a much harder year than OUYA’s makers were anticipating.

So there you have it – some of my gaming predictions for 2013. There’s no guarantee that any of this is going to play out as I’ve predicted, but looking at the lead up to 2013, this is where I feel the industry is headed this year. What do you think? Am I completely missing the mark here, or do you think some of these predictions will play out in the year to come? We’ll find out whether I’m right or wrong soon enough as 2013 is already underway, but in the meantime, leave a comment with your own gaming predictions for 2013 below!

OUYA is based on Android, but the team responsible for the box has reskinned Google’s OS with a UI more suited to TV use. The latest previews of that interface were given last week, though OUYA was keen to point out that it’s a work-in-progress and is likely to change from what we see here before the final build is signed off.

OUYA Dev Console interface:

Still, it’s a good preview of the overall owner-experience. The UI is clean, a little like the Metro-style interface on Windows Phone, and there’s an easily-navigable onscreen keyboard for text entry (though external peripherals should be supported). The most obvious thing is adjusting games to suit widescreen TV displays: CodeZombieGames’ choice of title is clearly formatted for a portrait phone orientation.

Those regular buyers who backed the OUYA Kickstarter or who have preordered the console since will have to wait a little longer to get their hand on the Android cube. First shipments are expected in March 2013.

OUYA Dev Console overview:

OUYA Dev Console hooking-it-up:

The OUYA Development Kit is also being released under a free license - Apache 2.0, in fact, just like Android itself – meaning as long as coders steer clear of OUYA’s own trademarks, they’re free to modify the console software at will. However, with an eye on the fragmentation that has become a headache for Android-based phones and tablets, the OUYA team say there’ll still be some control retained, to make sure it’s a safe, welcoming, and productive place for developers and gamers alike:

“It’s worth mentioning that “open” does not mean “anarchy” — and as we continue to build out OUYA’s core services, please know that not every facet of OUYA will be totally open. In order to ensure the best possible experience for our gamers and developers, for example, we will be screening games for copyrighted content and offensive material (which we’ll define under our developer guidelines), and we’ll make sure that OUYA is a secure place to discover great games and conduct business” OUYA

The first developer boxes should be reaching lucky recipients in the next couple of days, though the ODK is available to anybody who wants to sign up. In addition to the frosted casing, it has a microUSB port for connecting to a computer and debugging more straightforward. There’s also a fan, as you can see in the company’s new video:

OUYA Dev Console overview video:

The full package contents include:

• Jet-black OUYA Devs package
• Official Developer Welcome Letter
• One frosted translucent OUYA Dev Console
• Two frosted translucent OUYA Dev Controllers
• HDMI cable
• Micro-USB cable
• Power adapter

Meanwhile, there’s also a sneak peak at the UI which will face gamers; it’s still a work-in-progress, OUYA says, as is the version loaded onto the Dev Consoles, but the final thing should look something like this:

Regular Kickstarter supporters and those who have pre-ordered the console since its funding round finished will have to wait until 2013 to get their unit. Shipping is expected to begin in March.

A new video takes a few guesses as to what the highly anticipated Galaxy S IV will look like and what kind of features it’ll have, and a new concept from Hyundai will have users taking advantage of NFC to lock and unlock their vehicles. Federal regulators are pushing for black boxes in cars made after September 2014, and Toshiba has pulled the veil off a new 20-megapixel sensor for a point-and-shoot camera. We heard today that Game of Thrones and Project X were among the most pirated products in 2012, and Samsung told us how its Galaxy line has been performing in India.

Apple CEO Tim Cook took a 99% pay cut this year, while Samsung was busy dishing new details on its Premium Suite and the Android 4.1 update for the original Galaxy Note. Apple and Intel are rumored to be working on iWatch and targeting a 2013 release, and Mercedes-Benz released promotional images for the 2014 CLA-class early. We were told that crime in New York City is up for the first time in 20 years thanks to iDevice hype, while Microsoft doubled the number of apps on the Windows Phone market in 2012. If you’re in the giving mood, you might want to support Extra Lives’ Pokethon III, but if you’ve got some cash burning a hole in your pocket, Xbox Live’s Borderlands 2 sale isn’t a bad idea either.

OUYA developer consoles started shipping today, the Sony ODIN has been tipped to hit the market as the Xperia X, and Foursquare and NASA have launched a new Curiosity Explorer badge. Microsoft said today it isn’t all that worried about Google stealing its Office thunder, and Windows RT has been ported to the HTC HD2. Finally tonight, Chris Burns delivers his review of the Spigen SGP SGP10091 Armor Slim Case for the iPhone 5. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, we hope you enjoy the rest of your night folks!

Open-source games console start-up OUYA has begun shipping out its first batch of developer hardware, with eager recipients told to expect their new toys before January 10. The first shipping notifications began to hit inboxes today, according to the official OUYA forums, with sample dev kits consisting of the console itself and two controllers.

OUYA was one of the most high-profile Kickstarter successes of 2012, closing its public funding round with more than $8.5m in backing. Consumer units aren’t expected until March or April 2013, but developer kits were promised to begin shipping before 2012 was through, to give coders an opportunity to get their Android apps up to speed ahead of the official launch.

In fact, OUYA is slightly ahead of schedule, having initially said the first batch would go out tomorrow. The SDK is also expected to be released on Friday, allowing even those without a dev console to begin creating games and other software.

Adoption of OUYA hasn’t been slow from existing game studios. The company announced a further ten titles earlier this month, and has previously muttered about ongoing talks with Namco Bandai. Even before the Kickstarter finished, OUYA had announced it would feature Final Fantasy III as well as non-gaming titles.

Developers will begin receiving their consoles anytime from December 31 to January 10.

Before we turn our sights to the future, however, let’s look back at some of what went down in the year that we’re about to leave behind. It’s pretty obvious that we’re at the end of a generation, regardless of if Sony and Microsoft want to admit it. The problem we face at the end of a console cycle is that developers become hesitant to begin a new IP (more on that later). Because of this, we tend to see sequel after sequel, and in the triple-A space at least, 2012 was no different. This isn’t all bad though, as it gave indie developers a chance to shine.

Shine they did. 2012 was an excellent year for indie gaming. Minecraft came to the Xbox 360, thatgamecompany released Journey, a game that has quickly risen to the top of countless favorite lists, and we seemed to have a new Humble Bundle to go nuts over at least once a month. Indie games were in the news constantly too, with games like Hotline Miami, Lone Survivor, Faster Than Light, and Legend of Grimrock being discussed alongside the likes of Black Ops II and Assassin’s Creed III. That in particular is very encouraging, because if we can create an environment where a game developed by a pair of passionate gamers can get recognition just the same as games that cost millions to produce, everyone wins.

Of course, great indie games have been given the attention they deserve for years now, so this isn’t some new phenomenon for 2012. It did seem like there were a really high number of indie games that managed to strike a chord within the gaming community, though. The year brought us some truly amazing indie releases, and there were almost too many to count. Whether you were playing Mark of the Ninja, Fez, Dust: An Elysian Tale, or Spelunky, the list of notable indie releases for 2012 was long and varied, with many of them giving us very unique experiences we couldn’t wait to rave about.

While we saw a lot of sequels this year, we also saw some developers take their chances with introducing a new IP. Some of these, like Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, didn’t work out so well. Others like Dishonored are unquestionably just the beginning of something exciting. Square Enix found a winner in Sleeping Dogs, while Capcom surprised everyone with Dragon’s Dogma. Let’s not forget that 2012 was also the year that Nintendo listened to its fan and released Xenoblade Chronicles and The Last Story in North America. Now all we need is Pandora’s Tower and we’ll be set, so get on it Reggie.

Even though the end of the generation is unsurprisingly accompanied by a large number of sequels, the batch for 2012 impressed. 343 Industries showed us with Halo 4 that the series isn’t doomed to mediocrity just because Bungie is working on new projects. Ubisoft managed to revitalize interest in the release-heavy Assassin’s Creed series with Assassin’s Creed III, while Gearbox released one of the best games of the year in Borderlands 2. One of the biggest surprises of the year involved Far Cry 3 launching to critical acclaim, something many of us didn’t see coming. Oh, and did Sega just school Nintendo in the art of making a kart racer with Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed? I think it did.

Fans got riled up in 2012 too. Project Rainfall, for instance, was a major player in getting Xenoblade and The Last Story to North American shores, while angry fans for better or worse managed to get BioWare to change the ending to Mass Effect 3. That’s pretty big considering that BioWare stuck to its guns for a long time, saying for months that there weren’t any plans to change the highly controversial ending. Disgruntled players also got Ubisoft to back away from always-on DRM, which is something gamers and publishers went back and forth about all year.

We also have to keep in mind how big Kickstarter was for gaming in 2012. When Double Fine kicked off a campaign for an old-school adventure game and asked for $400,000, no one could have guessed that we’d be calling 2012 “The Year of the Kickstarter” by the time everything was said and done. The classic RPG Wasteland is getting a sequel after more than 20 years of waiting thanks to Kickstater, and Obsidian can now return to the computer RPG glory days of the past with $4 million in funding for Project Eternity. The biggest gaming-related Kickstarter of the year was unquestionably OUYA, the little Android console that raised a whopping $8.5 million in funding. Sure, some of the Kickstarters funded this year will ultimately fail, but we also have a number of great games to look forward to thanks to Kickstarter. This is made even sweeter by the fact that many of these games would have never seen the light of the day had it not been for Kickstarter’s very existence.

We also saw the big companies that run the show open up their platforms more in 2012. Microsoft changed around some of its policies so Minecraft players on XBLA could get frequent title updates, and it’s even letting free-to-play titles like Happy Wars on Xbox Live these days. Steam expanded its offerings to include non-software titles and rolled out Big Picture Mode so it can have a stronger presence in the living room. It also opened the floodgates for Linux users, as Steam for Linux is now in open beta. Welcome to the party Linux users – we saved you seats between Team Fortress 2 and Torchlight.

There were some bumps along the way – as there always are – but overall, 2012 was another great year for gaming. Developers can really flex their muscles with the hardware we have available, and Nintendo has already kicked off the next generation with the Wii U. 2013 is bound to be just as, if not more, exciting than 2012 was, due in large part to the expectation that either Sony or Microsoft will unveil their new console. Get excited, because I have a feeling that 2013 isn’t going to disappoint on the heels of 2012.

Ouya announced that there will be ten new games coming to the console, on top of the games that the console will already offer. The company announced via Twitter what the ten games were: Fist of Awesome, MechKnight Chronicles, Syder Arcade, KidElectro, Space Runner, Legend of Dungeon, iMech Online, DustyRevenge, HolyShield!, and Starbound.

Most of these games you’ve probably never heard of, although Fist of Awesome involves punching bears, so we’re assuming that a lot of these games are going to be pretty awesome. The developers of these ten games were also rewarded Ouya dev consoles of their own for free, in order to test out their respective games before it officially launches.

Ouya dev consoles will begin shipping out on December 28, as well as the console’s software development kit, which will be made available for free to anyone. Ouya said that every console they will sell will essentially be a dev console, although they’ve been pointing out that the early dev consoles are “pretty special.”

[via Engadget]

The Ouya folks have posted an update on their Kickstarter page along with a photo of an actual prototype of the console in hand. They announced that developer consoles will ship on December 28. Additionally, the software development kit for the console will be made available to anyone on that date as well.

We’re not sure what the difference is between the developer consoles and the regular consoles, since Ouya ultimately said that “every Ouya will be a dev console.” The only difference we know of is from the update they posted today, calling the dev consoles, “pretty special.” However, they’re mostly just releasing early so developers can get a head start on doing what they do best.

The first batch of regular Ouya consoles are expected to ship sometime in March 2013 for users who purchased the console without developer credentials. The Jelly Bean-based console launched on Kickstarter over the summer and it raised over $8.5 million, thanks to its extremely-low $99 price point and overall hackability.

Today we found out when the Samsung Galaxy S III Mini will be launching in the UK, and Kim Dotcom’s new website was overloaded shortly after “launch,” though at the moment the only thing you see when visiting Mega is a splash page. Apple has released iOS 6.0.1, and it was confirmed today that the iPad mini uses a 5-watt power adapter. Disney said that it will likely focus on Star Wars mobile and social games moving forward, while Sony’s Q2 2012 financial results are better than Q1′s despite the fact that the company still lost money in the quarter.

The Motorola Electrify M was announced for US Cellular earlier today, and Sony is apparently shipping out new PS4 developer kits that are based on AMD’s A10 Accelerated Processing Units. Time has named Google Glass the best invention of the year, while Amazon launched its Cloud Drive photos app for Android earlier today. Google Drive has gained support for direct sharing to Google Plus profiles, and Google Play carrier billing has popped up at Verizon Wireless. Our old friend OUYA made a new appearance today sporting Jelly Bean, scientists are currently trying to figure out a mystery surrounding Voyager 1, and leaked Grand Theft Auto V pre-order bonuses give away some of the game’s new locations.

Finally tonight, we have a couple original articles for you to have a look at. Chris Burns compares the photo quality of the Samsung Galaxy S III to that of the Nokia Lumia 920, while I go hands-on with the new Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 and give my first impressions of the intriguing new convertible notebook. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, enjoy the rest of your night folks!

It’s not clear whether that’s Jelly Bean 4.1, as has been out for a while now, or Jelly Bean 4.2 which was made official on Monday; of the features in the latter, it’s the multi-user logins which strike us as being most useful. That could mean different gamers could easily switch between their own highscore profiles, as well as keeping age-inappropriate titles out of the reach of younger players.

As for the hardware, the board shown up in the top photo – looking dwarfed by a Coke can – is from the first development run, and apparently worked with no hardware problems. OUYA is now tinkering with graphics, wireless, and user-experience performance on the quadcore processor.

Next on the roadmap are developer units, which should be ready by December the team re-confirms. They’ll be produced in limited numbers – and have aesthetic differences from the production versions – though won’t have games or the final UI, instead only being intended for developers to bring their apps up to speed.

There’s more for developers keen to get on board here, while those gamers who still want to preorder an OUYA can find more here.

OUYA’s Kickstarter campaign wrapped up early this morning, and if you missed your chance to pledge, you’ll be pleased to know that the Android-based console is available for pre-order starting today. Google was hit with the largest FTC fine in history today over its breach of Apple’s Safari browser, and we tell you why Google’s new Gmail Search feature won’t result in your more private emails being shown to everyone in view of your computer screen. The Google Translate app for Android added image translation functionality today, and the makers of Cyanogenmod 9 have officially released the stable version for the Galaxy Nexus.

Apple Stores will now price match on the iPhone 4 and all models of the iPhone 4S, and a new Microsoft job listing seems to suggest that the next Xbox will be arriving within the next 18 months. The ASUS Transformer Pad TF300TL may be launching with 4G LTE capabilities in Germany and Austria within the month, Samsung has unsurprisingly denied any interest in acquiring RIM once again, and the Sony Xperia tablet suffered yet another leak today. Finally, the international community is considering outlawing cyber-attacks in times of war, the Nikon 1 J2 camera became official (and subsequently became available for pre-order), and HTC may be announcing a Windows Phone 8 device next month, so keep an eye out for more news on that.

As is typically the case, we’ve also got a handful of original articles for you to peruse this evening, with Chris Davies examining the problems with Windows 8 tablets, and providing a warning to those who think that they’re actually purchasing a product when they pledge money to a Kickstarter. Chris Burns has a review of the new Samsung Galaxy Beam, and he also goes hands-on with Google’s official Nexus 7 cover, so be sure to have a look at those. Enjoy the rest of your evening, everyone!

OUYA believes that the Kickstarter consoles will ship it to backers sometime in March 2013, whereas any pre-orders made on its website will come a month later in April 2013. You’ll receive the same package as Kickstarters though: one console and one controller. Naturally, buyers will gain access to the same game and content library as those who gets their hands on the console early.

The team behind OUYA has managed to garner support from several high profile gaming companies and entities, with OnLive pledging that its streaming games service will be available on the console, and Square Enix also promising a port of Final Fantasy III. Several independent developers have expressed interest in the platform too, with OUYA luring backers with the promise of free games and a vast content library.

Media has been taken care of in the past few days as well, with OUYA announcing a partnership with the XBMC team that will see the popular video solution making its way to the console. Development kits will be sent out to the XBMC team so that full compatibility can be worked into the software. OUYA has also promised support for Plex, an alternative media center.

Kickstarter isn’t a regular store: you’re not “pre-ordering” products, you’re backing a project in the hope it will succeed and, since those behind the project itself would like to encourage and thank you, you usually get a free whatever-you-backed if it makes it to production. That’s a differentiator many have forgotten amid the hype, the countdown of limited backer positions, and the glossy renders. Unfortunately, unlike a failed Amazon order, there’s no refund should your Kickstarter project of choice slump before the production lines start churning.

But even with all those risks, Kickstarter remains popular. The handful of backers putting up low-figure pledges with no real freebie in return implies some cohort of people made up in part by those with altruistic “support the little guy” motivations, but for many it seems the allure of getting in at not just ground level but when a project is still practically underground proves irresistible.

Over the past years there’s been a growing appetite for rumors and leaks, to the point where hearing about a product or service before those responsible for it would like you to know is considered arguably more interesting than post-unveil. Magnitude of speculation has become the new metric for defining company success: rather than just raw sales, which we probably won’t hear about in detail until months after launch, it’s a sign of mental stickiness among consumers and early-adopters. Samsung had therefore “made it” when the hype building up to the Galaxy S III began to resemble that in advance of a new iPhone.

Kickstarter plays on that anticipation, and even allows you to buy into it – rather than having to wait for Apple, or Samsung, or whichever mainstream company puts its products onto store shelves. For the cost of a pledge you’re an early-adopter, and you even get a say in the development of the product. It’s like Tim Cook and Jony Ive invited you into the Cupertino backroom and asked for your feedback on the latest iOS gadget; you can’t give Apple a hundred bucks if you like the sound of an iPhone nano and want them to make it, but you can feel that degree of control with a credit card and Kickstarter.

Of course, many Kickstarter projects fail – even if they’re fully funded – often because they’re too ambitious or too naive. Traditional product development filters through dozens of risk-assessments, mangers, and customer research teams, the rough edges (and some of the ingenuous charm) buffed away in the process. On Kickstarter, however, it’s easy to over-promise, either intentionally or accidentally, and under-deliver, especially when outside-the-box thinking is what’s likely to get attention for your project in the first place.

OUYA has $8m and it wanted less than $1m; humble project beginnings gave way to hype and Android enthusiasm. It also has a huge list of people counting on it to be The Next Big Thing in gaming, and 7-8 months to deliver all it promised. Whether it will achieve that is yet to be seen; what’s certain is that the glossy launch has now given way to the mundanities of bringing a product to a fast-paced and difficult marketplace, one where aftersales support and product stability are key. The appeal of the start-up only lasts as long as the Kickstarter pledge payment leaves your account.