BBC entertainment on smartphones

BBC seeks to exploit its brands for smartphones, with an ambition to develop game apps based on entertainment shows, says the Guardian.

With its conveyor belt game that prompted viewers to shout at their televisions, the Generation Game was one of the most popular shows on BBC1 in the 1970s and 80s.

Now the programme is set to be brought to a new generation of iPhone users. BBC Worldwide, which is charged with creating spinoffs from BBC shows to help support the publicly funded wing of the corporation, has already developed paid-for iPhone apps for the Radio Times and hit car show Top Gear.

Game publisher and digital distribution vanguard Valve just popped the lid off a radically different looking version of its Steam games client, writes PC World.

The company says the new version includes "several major upgrades to the platform's core functionality," and that the interface has been overhauled "to enhance the way [we] already buy and play games, adding info about things that matter."

Touting access as an 'opt-in beta', the company says the beta was available immediately to anyone with a Steam account.

Social network hi5 has acquired social games firm Big Six, strengthening its plans to expand the site's online gaming presence, reports Gamasutra.

There was a need for hi5 to create original, unique games to find success in the social gaming space. They also want to transform the social network into a social gaming and entertainment destination, a goal they should find more achievable with the company's Big Six purchase.

"This acquisition brings both great technology and great talent into our company," says Alex St John, CEO of hi5. "These guys know more than anyone in the online gaming industry about building a highly reliable and scalable payments infrastructure, which we see as crucial to the next stage of social gaming and a key asset to our development partners."