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Activision Blizzard has revealed that 1.3 million World of Warcraft subscribers have dumped the game in the past three months.

That drop represents about 14 percent of all WoW users, and is made up mostly of players located in the East where the publisher has made considerable efforts to get and retain players. Activision Blizzard has blamed the rise of free-to-play games for the subscriber loss.

It has told investors to expect subscriber figures to dip even lower.

"It's important to note that the nature of online games has changed, and with the environment becoming far more competitive," said chief executive Bobby Kotick.

"To address this, we're working to release new content more frequently to keep our players engaged longer and make it easier for lapsed players to come back into the game."

Despite the drop, WoW remains the most popular subscriber-based game in the world with 8.3 million players. In 2010, subscribers peaked at 12 million.

Microsoft has noted this week that it will not be following Adobe in killing off packaged software for Web-based subscriptions, at least not yet.

Earlier this week, Adobe ended packaged sales of its Creative Suite software, moving instead to its $50-per-month Creative Cloud and other subscription plans.

Microsoft Office spokesman Clint Patterson says they agree with Adobe that the future is software-as-a-service, "however, unlike Adobe, we think people's shift from packaged software to subscription services will take time." Subscriptions are preferable, says Patterson, because the apps will always remain up to date and subscribers can use the apps across multiple devices.

When asked how much time they think the transition will take, Microsoft says "within a decade" all customers will have been subscribed to the Web-based subscription services. "In the meantime, we are committed to offering choice--premier software sold as a package and powerful services sold as a subscription," Patterson added (via Cnet).

Ouya, the little open-source game console that could, has received very high marks for repairability by iFixit.

iFixit tears down consoles, phone, tablets and other devices to see what hardware is used and grades the devices on how easy they are to repair if something were to go wrong.

The console, which costs just $99 for consumers, is three inches across by three inches high and deep. Under the hood is 1GB SDRAM, a Nvidia Tegra 3 CPU, a Texas Instruments power management tool and comically, five metal weights used to make the console more bottom heavy and not topple over and to keep the cables connected in the back more stable.

Scoring a 9 places the Ouya in rare company, as many current generation devices are almost impossible to repair on your own if something were to happen. For example, the new Microsoft Surface Pro tablet scored a 1/10, with the company calling it impossible to repair.

Additionally, iFixit tore apart the controllers (which cost $50 after the first one) and found they are powered by an ARM Cortex M3 processor. The company says the joysticks are soldered to the circuit board, however, meaning if the joysticks are damaged you will likely have to completely replace the controller.

According to sources, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has met with Hulu executives, with a potential bid on the horizon.

Hulu, the premium streaming site owned by News Corp., Disney and Comcast (NBCU) has been up for sale for a couple of months and has some big time suitors.

Yahoo recently tried to purchase video streaming site DailyMotion, but was blocked by the French government. It appears Yahoo is trying to get into the digital content business but Hulu would certainly be more expensive than DailyMotion would have been.

Mayer is said to have had an "extensive getting-to-know-you meeting" with Hulu COO Henrique De Castro.

Hulu recently announced that the streaming site saw 1 billion videos streamed in the Q1, the first time that milestone has been surpassed in a single quarter. Additionally, the service now has over four million premium Hulu Plus subscribers, each paying $8 per month.

T-Mobile USA released their Q1 earnings this week, showing strong sales of the iPhone since launch on April 12th.

While the iPhone was not part of the quarterly earnings, the carrier proudly boasted the figure. Overall, revenue fell 7 percent year-over-year for the quarter ended March 31st.

Adjusted earnings were $1.2 billion, which was also down a bit over 7 percent year-over-year.

T-Mobile USA was recently spun off from parent Deutsche Telekom after its acquisition of major pre-paid player MetroPCS

"Our first quarter operating metrics and financial results are showing positive impact from the changes we began making in the fourth quarter," CEO John Legere said in a statement. "Things only get more exciting from here, having brought T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS together to create the wireless industry's value leader and premier challenger."

The company saw a boost of 579,000 total subscribers in the quarter, losing 199,000 contract subscribers.

Google Glass early adopters will be receiving an OTA software update this week, if you have not already.

The update patches and fixes a number of annoying glitches and bugs and adds new features. The update is just the first of many before the device's official commercial launch next year.

Changelog (via Phan):

Change to sync policy: require power + wifi for background uploads
Crash reporting
Incoming G+ notifications (direct shares, comments, +mentions), including ability to comment and +1
Incoming Hangout notifications
Transcription of queries & messages is now wicked-fast
Long-press to search from anywhere in the UI (no longer just from off)
International number dialing + SMS
Hop animation on disallowed swipes in the UI
New On-Head Detection calibration flow
Show device Serial Number on Device Info card
More reliable estimation of battery charge remaining
New recipient-list mosaic

Seagate Technology has announced the launch of their first client solid state drive (SSD) and the next generation of their enterprise SSDs.

Dubbed the Seagate 600, the consumer drive will be the centerpiece of the company's new flash strategy.

"We are pleased to announce these new flash memory products. With these new drives, Seagate solidifies its commitment to the flash-based storage market by delivering enterprise SSDs and server-side solutions as well as client solutions," said Gary Gentry, senior vice president and general manager of Seagate's solid state drive business. "By adding more SSDs to our family of hard disk and solid state hybrid drives, we now have the broadest portfolio of storage products in the industry, delivering one-stop shopping for our customers and partners. And we're just getting started. Seagate is committed to becoming a premier supplier of both solid state drives and storage class memory products. We have put in place a winning strategy for developing multiple high value, flash based products and solutions for our customers."

The 600 is being touted as a laptop upgrade, offering faster boot-up speeds and better performance than traditional hard drives. Additionally, the drive "is available in multiple z-heights including an industry-first, diminutive 5mm-high drive making it ideal for most ultra-thin devices as well as standard laptop systems."

Microsoft has announced today that they Windows Phone 8 version of the official YouTube app has been completely redesigned by Google.

The app will now "make the most of WP8 features."

With the update, Windows users can now pin videos, playlists, channels and even a search button to start as a Live Tile. The tile flips and can show either the popular video from your subscriptions, or the latest.

Additionally, the company says: "A new and innovative playlist design gives you easy access to videos using a touch-friendly filmstrip. Just want to listen to a video? It now plays in the background even when the screen is locked."

You also have better integration for sharing to social networks, and sharing via email and text.

Microsoft says an update for older Windows Phone 7.5 devices is coming in the next few weeks.

Bill Gates, during an explanation of his former company's rationale for building the Surface tablet, says iPad users are frustrated by the lack of PC-esque features.

The Surface, however, is the first "post-PC" device to bring the "portability of the tablet but the richness of the PC."

In regards to the iPad, which is far and away the most popular tablet, Gates says, "A lot of those users are frustrated, they can't type, they can't create documents, they don't have Office there."

The Surface has been a tough sell, given that the first version released included a crippled version of Windows and the second version has a price tag higher than most notebooks with better specs and more expensive than the iPad.

In the last quarter, Apple sold almost 20 million iPads. Microsoft sold 900,000 Surface.

Full vid via BI:

Spotify has quickly patched its Web player to block the Chrome extension "Downloadify."

The extension had allowed users to download any song available via the streaming service as an MP3.

Apparently there had been no encryption in Spotify's web player, which was launched about six months in the U.S. and UK. The new patch adds encryption.

Although Google took down the extension, it is still available via GitHub. All users had to do after installing the extension was begin playing the song they wanted and a full, DRM-free file was downloaded.

An Algerian man accused of developing, marketing, distributing and controlling the SpyEye malware has been extradited to the United States.

Hamza Bendelladj - who went by the handle Bx1 - has been charged with one count of conspiring to commit wire and bank fraud, 10 counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit computer fraud and 11 counts of computer fraud.

Bendelladj was apprehended at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, while he was in transit from Malaysia to Egypt in January. He was extradited from Thailand to the United States on May 2, 2013.

"Hamza Bendelladj has been extradited to the United States to face charges of controlling and selling a nefarious computer virus designed to pry into computers and extract personal financial information," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman.

"The indictment charges Bendelladj and his co-conspirators with operating servers designed to control the personal computers of unsuspecting individuals and aggressively marketing their virus to other international cybercriminals intent on stealing sensitive information. The extradition of Bendelladj to face charges in the United States demonstrates our steadfast determination to bring cybercriminals to justice, no matter where they operate."

Google has failed in a test case challenging a YouTube video removal under Russian laws on Internet content.

A YouTube video was placed on a Russian blacklist in February, forcing the removal of the content (or blocking via ISPs). The video in question shows a woman using make-up and a razor blade to make it look like she cut her wrist.

Google decided to block the offending clip in Russia, or else it risked having its YouTube service blocked entirely. It then appealing the inclusion of the video on the list, using it as a test case to have the regulations of the blacklist clarified.

A Russian court has decided against Google's challenge.

"We do not believe the goal of the law was to limit access to videos that are clearly intended to entertain viewers," Google said, responding to the decision.

In the second half of 2012, Google said it received 114 requests to take down content in Russia, 107 of which were directly linked to the new law. That compares to just 6 requests in the first half of 2012.

A board member of the U.S. top derivatives regulator has hinted that BitCoin could be subject to the same rules it enforces on derivatives trading.

Bart Chilton of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said he requested staff explore whether consumers need more protection against BitCoin mishaps, following a dramatic and sudden collapse in BitCoin value last month.

"Here's what I know for sure: we could regulate it if we wanted. That is very clear," he told Reuters.

The CFTC's role has been expanded since the 2007-2009 financial crisis, which has been linked by many experts to the lack of adequate regulation on complex derivatives. Since there are no physical "BitCoins", Chilton argues that people investing in the currency are not participating in the cash markets, and are then in the remit of the CFTC's regulatory mandate.

"There is potentially a federal role here, and we have to make sure that we're on guard that whatever is traded is appropriately regulated," Chilton said.

On April 10, the value of a BitCoin plunged from $260 to $130.

Nokia chief executive Stephen Elop has said that the Finnish mobile giant remains dedicated to the Windows Phone platforms for its smartphone devices.

Figures released for Nokia's first quarter showed incremental gains in its smartphone business, which offers Lumia-branded devices running Microsoft's Windows Phone mobile operating systems.

While the figures did show a slight uptick for its smartphone business, concerns were raised about a plunge in sales of Nokia's cheaper feature phones - largely aimed at customers in emerging markets - which have been a traditional strong point of Nokia's strategy.

"We make adjustments as we go. But it's very clear to us that in today's war of ecosystems, we've made a very clear decisions to focus on Windows Phone with our Lumia product line. And it is with that that we will compete with competitors like Samsung and Android," Elop said, according to the Reuters news agency.

Some analysts had speculated that the drop in basic phone sales might require Nokia to make a radical change in strategy, such as dropping Microsoft's mobile operating system in favor of Android.

Electronic Arts and the Walt Disney Co have signed a multi-year licensing deal that will see EA develop video games based on the Star Wars universe.

EA will develop Star Wars video games for games consoles, PCs and mobile devices, though Disney retains rights to develop online and mobile games. The pair did not reveal the financial terms of the agreement.

EA reportedly invested between $100 million and $300 million developing Star Wars: The Old Republic, an MMO that made use over 1,000 voice actors. EA struggled to retain players - who pay a monthly fee - and has since offered 15 game levels for free as well as a free-to-play version of the game.

Disney acquired Lucasfilm Ltd last year for $4.05 billion, and has since shut down the 30-year-old LucasArts games studio that it inherited as part of the deal, preferring to license the Star Wars brand to other publishers.