The Electronic Entertainment Expo brought its usual flurry of gamed-related news this year. Sony’s new Wonderbook peripheral for interactive storybooks on the PlayStation 3 looks especially interesting, especially since J.K. Rowling (She of Harry Potter Fame) has created the first title, The Book of Spells, to let Hogwarts wannabes practice heir wizarding lessons on the big screen. Nintendo also announced 23 titles that will ship when its fancy new Wii U game system hits stores later this year, including Batman: Arkham City, Super Mario Brothers U. and Pikmin 3.
Microsoft isn’t just sitting still. Representatives showed off the company’s new SmartGlass technology that links all your screens — Xbox, tablet, computer, smartphone, etc. — together to share movies and games on whatever device you happened to be using at the time. Oh, and Microsoft officially buried the Zune brand (2006-2016) for good with the move to “Xbox Music and Windows Phone Marketplace just passed the 100,000 apps mark.
In non-gaming news, Google bought QuickOffice, the productivity suite of apps that lets users create and edit files in Microsoft Office formats on iOS, Android and Symbian-based mobile devices.
Is Facebook losing its mojo? While it hasn’t slid into AOL Oblivion quite yet, a new online poll out from Reuters and research firm Ipsos has found that four out of five Facebook users surveyed have never brought a product or service because they saw an ad or a comment about it on Facebook. The poll also found that 34 percent of Facebook users surveyed were spending less time on the site than they were six months ago. 20 percent of users, however, were spending more time on the site. A poll from the Associated Press and CNBC last month also found that 57 percent of Facebook users polled said they never click on ads or other sponsored content when they use the site.
And finally, vodka that tastes like glazed donuts? Who knew? I doubt we’ll partake of 360 Glazed Donut, but we’ll definitely be celebrating National Donut Day next year.
