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OnLive was deep in debt, running out of cash, and 'had days to live'

Before a major shakeup that resulted in OnLive firing its entire staff last week, the online gaming company was in greater financial trouble than was previously known.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company owed creditors between $30 million and $40 million, with little cash on the books to pay them, and was facing imminent shutdown, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

"It was a company that was in dire straits. It only had days to live in terms of cash flow and the like," Joel Weinberg, CEO of Insolvency Services Group, told the the Merc's Troy … Read more

Game not over yet for OnLive

Any objection to Monday's top tech headlines is overruled:

The Apple vs. Samsung trial is almost at a close. The jury is expected to begin deliberations Tuesday. The two tech giants spent three weeks battling over patents and accusations of copying.

OnLive is facing some rough days ahead. The cloud-based gaming service sold its assets to an investor Friday and laid off employees, but said it will rehire many back as the newly restructured company (which will still be called OnLive). The company says subscribers shouldn't see any problems or interruptions in service during this restructuring.

College students … Read more

HTC to take $40 million loss from OnLive investment

The embattled HTC is facing some bad news, following OnLive's recent acquisition and restructuring.

The handset maker announced today that it'll be forced to recognized a $40 million investment loss in OnLive. HTC didn't provide details on the loss.

Reports surfaced back in February 2011 that HTC had invested $40 million into the cloud-gaming service OnLive. In that investment, HTC acquired 5.3 million OnLive shares for $7.50 per share.

Since then, however, OnLive has faced some trouble staying afloat in the cloud-gaming space, and last week, announced that its assets had been sold to an … Read more

OnLive explains layoffs, promises uninterrupted service

Financially troubled OnLive said today it plans to continue operating under the OnLive name and promised users that its services will "continue without interruption."

The announcement comes two days after reports of a major corporate shakeup in which the cloud gaming company suddenly fired all of its employees and was allegedly prepping for a bankruptcy filing. The company later confirmed that the company assets had been sold to an unnamed suitor.

The company said in a statement today that all customer purchases would remain intact:

All OnLive Devices and Apps, as well as all OnLive partnerships, are expected … Read more

Infidelity at trade shows? It's a concern, says a survey

Trust never comes easy, even in the strongest of relationships.

Your lover can tell you she loves you and wants to elope with you one minute; then insist you're surplus to requirements the next.

So when you (or your loved one) disappears to CES or some other vast conglomeration of humanity, bad things will likely happen.

To prove this careworn point, might I offer a new survey in which 94 percent of Americans declared that bad things happen at conferences and trade shows?

You might detect a certain potential slant in this research, as it was performed on behalf … Read more

Cloud gaming company OnLive shutting down -- report

Update: Late Friday, OnLive confirmed the sale of its assets to an unnamed suitor, who will continue to offer its cloud gaming service. Read the story, "So OnLive isn't dead -- it just sold all its assets to a new owner," here.

Cloud gaming company OnLive appears to be in turmoil, having possibly fired all of its employees and prepping for a bankruptcy filing, according to rumors reported by Kotaku.

The gaming blog cited a tweet from InXile Entertainment CEO Brian Fargo, who reported getting an email from a just-fired employee who relayed the company was dead. … Read more

HP, Acer, Lenovo eye Windows 8 tablets

Hewlett-Packard, Acer, and Lenovo, among others, are expected to bring out Windows 8 tablets using Intel's latest system-on-a-chip.

HP and Acer are working on designs, a source familiar with the vendors' plans told CNET. In addition, details leaked today about a Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2, which will also use Intel's Clover Trail system-on-a-chip (SoC).

These Intel-based Windows 8 designs are distinctly different from Windows RT tablets that will use ARM chips. Windows RT devices use a version of Windows 8 that does not offer backward-compatibility with the millions of existing Windows software programs. Intel-based systems offer that compatibility. … Read more

Always On gets served -- by a robot sushi waiter

In this week's Always On (Episode 7), host Molly Wood visits robotics research lab Willow Garage in Menlo Park, Calif., to see how its crafty $400,000 PR2 robot fares as a sushi waiter.

PR2 looks like a juiced-up version of Rosie the robotic maid from "The Jetsons." But even with its buff arms, this humanoid robot can set a table with surprising grace. It shows poise on camera too -- impressive considering that the footage below represents robot sushi waiter's first video appearance.

For those unfamiliar with the open-source robot, the PR2's array of … Read more

Episode 7: 3D printing and a new fusion phone

I have to put our Always On supervising producer, Eileen Rivera, on front street a little bit this week: that woman hates the Samsung Galaxy Beam. More accurately, she hates the cheeseball YouTube videos that promote the Beam's signature feature: its built-in pico projector. And I agree ... those ads are bad. Like, bad, bad.

But after spending some time playing with the Beam, I have to confess, I was kind of taken with its little parlor trick! I can't imagine using it often, unless it was for work, but it would certainly thrill the grandparents as a better … Read more