How Can You Miss Us if We Won’t Go Away? Paczkowski and Swisher Highlights From AllThingsD.

And so it goes in Silicon Valley.

Viral Video: $300 Game Console Blown Up in Fireworks “Teardown” … And Then Again, in Slow Motion

“I guess I gotta go buy a new one.” Smooth!
nvidia explosion feature

News Byte

NPD: Nintendo 3DS Was the Best-Selling Video Game System in the U.S. in June

Nintendo sold 225,000 units of its portable game console, the Nintendo 3DS, in June. That’s according to market research firm NPD, which called the 3DS the best-selling video game system in the U.S. that month. Its main competitor in gaming-specific handhelds is Sony’s PlayStation Vita, which has historically lagged behind the 3DS in sales. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 sold 140,000 units in June, while Sony has not disclosed how many PS3s it moved.

News Byte

Nvidia Lowers Price of Android Gaming Console, Shield, to $300

In advance of its launch one week from today, the Nvidia Shield just got a $50 price drop. The Android-based handheld gaming console features a console-like controller, a five-inch screen and Nvidia’s Tegra 4 chip.

Console Makers at E3 Weigh the Impact of Casual and Mobile Games

Are casual games like Candy Crush gateway games to bigger titles?

Can You Guess the Super-Short Domain Name HP Just Registered for Gram?

A new detail about the stealthy new subsidiary formerly known as Palm.

Voices

Google Tablet Analysis Points to Thin Margins

It’s not surprising that the first tablet to carry Google’s brand would attract attention from hardware analysts. Nor is one of their key conclusions much of a shock — the $199 price tag on the new Nexus 7 doesn’t leave Google much of a profit margin.

From Sony, More Games and More Cross-Platform Play

Sony shows off new games and new ways to play.

News Byte

Sony PlayStation Vita Launches in U.S., Europe

Sony’s new handheld gaming product, the PlayStation Vita, goes on sale today in Europe and the U.S. Following its initial launch in Japan in December, the device was plagued by some reported bugs, including crashes and gameplay lags, but Sony quickly issued a software update to address the issues. As The Wall Street Journal’s Katie Boehret notes in her review of the Vita, the 3G and Wi-Fi capable Vita costs $299; the Wi-Fi-only version costs $249.

News Byte

Peek Kills Email-Centric Handsets

Peek Inc. has killed its T-Mobile-supported, email-and-Twitter-friendly Peek handsets. Engadget reports that CEO Amol Sarva attributed the axing to changing network standards and protocols, and said Peek couldn’t maintain the network forever for just a few users. The Peek devices first launched in 2008 and cost up to $299, which included a promise of “lifelong service.”

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HP Oldsmobiles the Palm Brand

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