live

OnLive was deep in debt, running out of cash, and 'had days to live'

Before a major shakeup that resulted in OnLive firing its entire staff last week, the online gaming company was in greater financial trouble than was previously known.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company owed creditors between $30 million and $40 million, with little cash on the books to pay them, and was facing imminent shutdown, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

"It was a company that was in dire straits. It only had days to live in terms of cash flow and the like," Joel Weinberg, CEO of Insolvency Services Group, told the the Merc's Troy … Read more

Game not over yet for OnLive

Any objection to Monday's top tech headlines is overruled:

The Apple vs. Samsung trial is almost at a close. The jury is expected to begin deliberations Tuesday. The two tech giants spent three weeks battling over patents and accusations of copying.

OnLive is facing some rough days ahead. The cloud-based gaming service sold its assets to an investor Friday and laid off employees, but said it will rehire many back as the newly restructured company (which will still be called OnLive). The company says subscribers shouldn't see any problems or interruptions in service during this restructuring.

College students … Read more

HTC to take $40 million loss from OnLive investment

The embattled HTC is facing some bad news, following OnLive's recent acquisition and restructuring.

The handset maker announced today that it'll be forced to recognized a $40 million investment loss in OnLive. HTC didn't provide details on the loss.

Reports surfaced back in February 2011 that HTC had invested $40 million into the cloud-gaming service OnLive. In that investment, HTC acquired 5.3 million OnLive shares for $7.50 per share.

Since then, however, OnLive has faced some trouble staying afloat in the cloud-gaming space, and last week, announced that its assets had been sold to an … Read more

OnLive explains layoffs, promises uninterrupted service

Financially troubled OnLive said today it plans to continue operating under the OnLive name and promised users that its services will "continue without interruption."

The announcement comes two days after reports of a major corporate shakeup in which the cloud gaming company suddenly fired all of its employees and was allegedly prepping for a bankruptcy filing. The company later confirmed that the company assets had been sold to an unnamed suitor.

The company said in a statement today that all customer purchases would remain intact:

All OnLive Devices and Apps, as well as all OnLive partnerships, are expected … Read more

Cloud gaming company OnLive shutting down -- report

Update: Late Friday, OnLive confirmed the sale of its assets to an unnamed suitor, who will continue to offer its cloud gaming service. Read the story, "So OnLive isn't dead -- it just sold all its assets to a new owner," here.

Cloud gaming company OnLive appears to be in turmoil, having possibly fired all of its employees and prepping for a bankruptcy filing, according to rumors reported by Kotaku.

The gaming blog cited a tweet from InXile Entertainment CEO Brian Fargo, who reported getting an email from a just-fired employee who relayed the company was dead. … Read more

Ustream's BFF app live broadcasts to Facebook

Streaming company Ustream announced today that it is bringing live video to Facebook's news feed, according to The Verge.

The streaming will come via a new mobile app called BFF. No, it doesn't stand for Best Friends Forever, it means Broadcast For Friends. The idea is for people to simultaneously record and broadcast on Facebook without having to upload the video first. Apparently, Ustream's goal is that it be simple.

The way the app works is after loading it up, users can choose who in the Facebook world they want to view it, pick a camera filter, … Read more

The 404 1,111: Where we don't make a deal (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- This is the burger that ended Ariel's six-year vegetarian streak

- Groupon turns a profit, but sales fall short

- Groupon salespeople disgruntled, ready to jump ship, report says

- Groupon shares down 22 percent, despite increased sales, profit

- Facedeals lets you check in for coupons with your face

- Chinese Iron Man spends eight years building himself bionic hands after DIY accident

Bathroom break video: The Red Bull F1 running showcar plays the Star-Spangled Banner.

Microsoft replaces Live Mesh with SkyDrive in Windows bundle

Microsoft yesterday released a new bundle of free services meant to complement Windows 7 and Windows 8. Now known as "Windows Essentials" rather than "Windows Live Essentials," it adds some new capabilities, but also removes Live Mesh from the PCs of those who install it.

Microsoft has used the "Windows Live Essentials" name to refer to the bundle of services that has included Windows Live Mail, Messenger, Movie Maker, Photo Gallery, Family Safety (parental controls), Writer (its blogging tool) and Mesh (its PC sync service). Microsoft released the 2011 version of its Windows Live Essentials bundle … Read more

The 404 1,103: Where our crime is that of Curiosity (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Sol Republic introduces headphones for cats.

- Digipacking: what to put on your emergency flash drive.

- Literally the worst word on the planet.

- How to use psychological tactics to avoid strangers on the bus.

- eBay testing same-day delivery service for iOS called eBay now.

- One percenter turns home theater into Nolan's Batcave.… Read more

Apple Glasses and the OUYA/OnLive deal

Does Apple have some glasses of its own? We're about to find out:

Is Apple finally readying a game controller? The company released the patent information for one it filed back in March that shows what looks exactly like a PlayStation 3 DualShock controller communicating with an iPhone. The controller will work with iPads and Apple TV as well using NFC communication. Now don't go throwing out your PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 just yet. There's no way to know if this will actually ever see the light of day because there have been plenty of Apple … Read more