Category: News

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News

Facebook takes control of FaceSounds dot-com, dot-info domain names

facesounds.com whois

Facebook Inc. has taken control of FaceSounds.com, which at one time offered a free search toolbar add-on to users wanting to change their Facebook chat sounds. 

A quick search on the internet turned up many unhappy users who said FaceSounds spammed their friends.

Previously owned by a resident of Tel Aviv, the Whois information for FaceSounds.com and FaceSounds.info was updated this week and now reflects Facebook, Inc. as the owner of both domains.

It’s unknown how Facebook went about acquiring the names or whether the company has any plans, but at the time of this story, neither domain resolves to a web page. 

My guess is that this is nothing more than Facebook protecting its IP rights.

Discussion: AllFacebook

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News Video Games

Ubisoft Entertainment registers the domain name JustDancePropel.com

Just Dance Propel

Back in mid February, Ubisoft reported its final sales figures for third quarter 2011-12 and its flagship game Just Dance was a “star performer”.  Around the same time, what was purported to be Ubisoft’s official 2012 release schedule was posted to the internet by Gameranx, which included a game titled Just Dance Final Party.  However, Ubisoft quickly shot down rumors saying the lineup was inaccurate to a number of sites that had published the list.

With such a strong franchise, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise that the next Just Dance title is already in the works, but what could it be named?

How about Just Dance Propel?

According to Whois records, Ubisoft Entertainment registered the domain JustDancePropel.com on March 2, 2012.

As for rumored titles like Just Dance Final Party and Just Dance Best Of, Ubisoft doesn’t seem all that interested. 

In fact, at the time of this story going online, neither of the domain names are registered.

Currently, justdancepropel.com resolves to a parked page on Gandi.net.

Discussion: Joystiq, VG247 and N4G

Categories
News Video Games

Mini Ninjas sequel to be called Hiro’s Adventure? Square Enix registers names

Mini Ninjas: Hiro's Adventure

Two recent domain name registrations by Square Enix Limited suggest that a sequel to the action-adventure video game Mini Ninjas may be in the works. 

According to Whois records, the youngest of all the mini ninjas may be embarking on a new quest called Hiro’s Adventure.  On March 2, 2012, Square Enix Limited registered the domains HirosAdventure.com (Whois) and MiniNinjasHirosAdventure.com (Whois).

The original Mini Ninjas, which follows the main character Hiro as he sets out to stop the Evil Samurai Warlord, was first released in 2009 and has been well-received by critics, scoring an 8 out of a possible 10 according to GameRankings.

In December 2011, Square Enix announced it would be releasing Mini Ninjas on the browser using Google’s Chrome.

At the time of this story, Square Enix has not announced anything about a sequel and both domains resolve to a blank web page, not an active website.

Categories
News Video Games

Microsoft looking to future, secretly acquires Halo5.com, Halo9.com

Halo 5

Remember last year when Microsoft acquired Halo4.com for an undisclosed amount from its previous owner?  

Well, it looks like Microsoft is at it again, this time with the domains Halo5.com and Halo9.com.

According to Whois records, Microsoft has secretly acquired Halo5.com (Whois) and Halo9.com (Whois) from their previous owners using brand Corporation Service Company’s shell company Name Rally.  Name Rally is the same intermediary Microsoft used to acquire AnswerDesk.com.

Of course, these acquisitions may be nothing more than Microsoft defending its intellectual property, but it’s also possible the company is looking far ahead to the eventual releases of Halo 5 and even Halo 9.

So, what’s Microsoft’s current report card on Halo domains up through Halo 10, as of today? 

Here’s a look.

Halo.com – registered and active website owned by HALO Brand Solutions, not Microsoft.
Halo1.com – registered and active website owned by HALO ONE, not Microsoft.
Halo2.com – owned by Microsoft Corporation.
Halo3.com – owned by Microsoft Corporation.
Halo4.com – owned by Microsoft Corporation.
Halo6.com – Parked at Network Solutions by Colby Thiesen, not owned by Microsoft.
Halo7.com – privately registered and active website, not owned by Microsoft.
Halo8.com –  registered and active website owned by Halo 8 Productions, not Microsoft.
Halo10.com – owned by Microsoft Corporation.

I’ve reached out to the previous owner of Halo9.com to learn more about the transaction and will update this post if I hear back.

Discussion: This is Xbox and Redmond Pie

Categories
News Technology

Could the Google-branded tablet be called the Google Play? [UPDATED]

Google Play

Google Play

[Update 1 on March 6, 2012:. Google Play isn’t the name of Google’s upcoming tablet.  The company announced that starting today, Android Market, Google Music and the Google eBookstore will become part of Google Play.]

Original story on March 2, 2012:. Rumors have been swirling since late February that Google may launch a Google-branded 7-inch tablet later this year.  So, what might it be called?  How about the ‘Google Play’?

I like to speculate on new domain name registrations and this past week it appears Google registered a slew of domain names like Googleplayapps.com, Googleplaygames.com and Googleplaybooks.com, hinting at a new product or device that sure sounds a lot like a Google-tablet. 

On February 29, well over a dozen domain names were registered through the brand protection company MarkMonitor. 

The full list of names includes:

appsonplay.com
booksonplay.com
gamesonplay.com
googleplayapps.com
googleplaybooks.com
googleplaydownloads.com
googleplaygames.com
googleplaymagazines.com
googleplaymovies.com
googleplaymusic.com
googleplaynewspapers.com
googleplaynewsstand.com
googleplaytv.com
googleplayvideos.com
magazinesonplay.com
moviesonplay.com
newspapersonplay.com
tvonplay.com

Of course, Google hasn’t officially been confirmed as the buyer of the Google Play domains since the registrant is hidden behind Whois privacy, but Google regularly uses MarkMonitor to acquire domain names.  Its own Google.com (Whois) is registered with MarkMonitor.

At the time of this posting, none of the names resolve to a web page.

This is all speculation at this point, but with the tablet expected to arrive in April, I’m guessing whatever the name is, we’ll see more news soon.

As of today, Google does not own GoogleTablet.com or GooglePlay.com.

Discussion: The Next Web, Neowin.net, Geek, RootzWiki, androidandme.com, Tom’s Guide, Ubergizmo, WebProNews, phoneArena.com, MobileSyrup.com, Pocket Gamer, Electronista, Phones Review, Geeky Gadgets, Games.com, Marketing Land, Tablet Community, WinFuture, AndroidOS.in, TechCrunch and SlashGear

(Image of Google tablet concept via Chromium)