The week in gadgets


12 Mar 2012

A look at gadget happenings, as Gowalla shuts down after Facebook acquisition, Apple is set to close iWork.com and 56pc of US households own at least one current-generation games console.

Location-based website Gowalla shuts down

Location-based start-up Gowalla has officially shut down more than three months after it announced it had been acquired by Facebook.

Its website now displays a message thanking its users and tells them they can download their check-ins, photos and lists from the site soon.

The website allowed users to check into locations through a mobile app and website, offering virtual gifts from certain check-ins.

Facebook acquired Gowalla to focus on the development of the social network’s Timeline layout and Gowalla’s staff relocated to Facebook’s Silicon Valley headquarters.

Gowalla

Apple to shut down iWork.com

Consumer tech giant Apple will shut down iWork.com on 31 July 2012 in order to let its users share documents through iCloud instead.

According to an Apple support page, users should log into iWork.com before this date to save a copy of documents shared on this service. The company also recommends that links to documents on iWork.com should also be removed before it closes.

iWork.com lets users publish documents online from their iWork app on their Mac and iOS devices. This has now been replaced with iCloud, which stores all documents in the cloud to sync them up to each Mac or iOS device.

56pc of US households own a current-gen console – research

More than half of US households (56pc) own at least one current-generation gaming console (since January 2012), according to new research.

A report from Nielsen says this figure is up from 50pc last year. Out of this 56pc, 17pc own at least two current-generation consoles and 4pc own three current-generation consoles.

The research says there is overlap between the handheld and mobile gaming market, as 66pc of households with children aged 6-12 with a Nintendo DS or PSP also have an iOS device.

Meanwhile, Android gaming is highest among adults aged 25-34, while iPhone gaming is distributed more evenly across all age segments.

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