Bloomberg reports that Nintendo is facing increasing investor pressure to develop titles for the iPhone and other platforms.
The rift highlights the dilemma President Satoru Iwata faces as consumers shun Nintendo devices to play games on iPhones, iPads and Facebook Inc.’s website. The flop of the 3DS debut prompted the company to slash prices 40 percent in Japan starting today, the first time the games developer has resorted to such a move within six months of a product’s debut.
Nintendo has seen very poor initial sales of its new 3DS platform in the face of slumping DS and Wii sales, resulting in the announcement of a quarterly loss of $328 million late last month. In reaction, Nintendo has slashed prices of its 3DS in order to promote sales, but Bloomberg reports that investors want a more dramatic shift in strategy.
Nintendo's stock, which is currently near a 6 year low, saw a big boost after news last month that an affiliated company of their's, Pokemon Company, announced plans to release a Pokemon-themed iPhone game. Nintendo was quick to deny that they had any involvement and that Nintendo had no plans to bring titles to external platforms. Their stock subsequently saw a corresponding drop. Alternatively, some have suggested that Nintendo should "buy its way into" the smartphone platforms by acquiring companies and technology or developing their own.
Mobile applications and gaming have seen huge growth over the past few years, clearly impacting both Nintendo's and Sony's portable gaming systems. In line with that interest, a number of major acquisitions have taken place with iOS-related gaming companies such as Ngmoco, Open Feint and Chillingo. Despite these trends, according to Bloomberg, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata has said that Nintendo will only make titles for its own products as long as he's in charge.
Tuesday November 19, 2024 12:12 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Barclays analyst Tom O'Malley and his colleagues recently traveled to Asia to meet with various electronics manufacturers and suppliers. In a research note this week, outlining key takeaways from the trip, the analysts said they have "confirmed" that a fourth-generation iPhone SE with an Apple-designed 5G modem is slated to launch towards the end of the first quarter next year. In line with previo...
Sunday November 17, 2024 5:18 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple released the AirTag in April 2021, so it is now three over and a half years old. While the AirTag has not received any hardware updates since then, a new version of the item tracking accessory is rumored to be in development.
Below, we recap rumors about a second-generation AirTag.
Timing
Apple is aiming to release a new AirTag in mid-2025, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman....
Sunday November 17, 2024 3:03 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
While the Logitech MX Master 3 is a terrific mouse for the Mac, reports claiming that Apple CEO Tim Cook prefers that mouse over the Magic Mouse are false.
The Wall Street Journal last month published an interview with Cook, in which he said he uses every Apple product every day. Soon after, The Verge's Wes Davis attempted to replicate using every Apple product in a single day. During that...
Tuesday November 19, 2024 10:10 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today released iOS 18.1.1 and iPadOS 18.1.1, minor updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems that debuted earlier in September. iOS 18.1.1 and iPadOS 18.1.1 come three weeks after the launch of iOS 18.1.
The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. Apple has also released iOS 17.7.2 for...
Wednesday November 20, 2024 3:42 am PST by Tim Hardwick
AT&T has begun displaying "Turbo" in the iPhone carrier label for customers subscribed to its premium network prioritization service, according to reports on Reddit. The new indicator seems to have started appearing after users updated to iOS 18.1.1, but that could be just coincidence.
Image credit: Reddit user No_Highlight7476
The Turbo feature provides enhanced network performance through ...
Monday November 18, 2024 1:07 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
In a research note with Hong Kong-based investment bank Haitong today, obtained by MacRumors, Apple analyst Jeff Pu said he agrees with a recent rumor claiming that the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" will be around 6mm thick.
"We agreed with the recent chatter of an 6mm thickness ultra-slim design of the iPhone 17 Slim model," he wrote.
If that measurement proves to be accurate, there would be ...
Tuesday November 19, 2024 10:52 am PST by Juli Clover
The iOS 18.1.1, iPadOS 18.1.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1.1 updates that Apple released today address JavaScriptCore and WebKit vulnerabilities that Apple says have been actively exploited on some devices.
With the JavaScriptCore vulnerability, processing maliciously crafted web content could lead to arbitrary code execution. The WebKit vulnerability had the same issue with maliciously crafted...
I really think they have to scrap the 3DS and think bigger this time... the iPod Touch has thousands of games... many of them are of great quality... and for: $1.
If they really wanted to print money, all they have to do is port Pokemon to iOS. I think even Mario 64 can run on the current generation of apple gear too.
Bloomberg reports that Nintendo is facing increasing investor pressure to develop titles for the iPhone and other platforms. 
