Game streaming service OnLive acquired by Sony, will shut down on April 30

OnLive, a service that allowed users to stream games to their computers, mobile devices, and various set-top boxes, announced today that it will shut down on April 30.

In an email sent out to users of the service, OnLive said that Sony is acquiring key parts of OnLive and has no plans to continue the service in its current form:

After five years of uninterrupted service, the OnLive Game Service will be coming to an end. Sony is acquiring important parts of OnLive, and their plans don't include a continuation of the game service in its current form. Your service should continue uninterrupted until April 30, 2015. No further subscription fees will be charged, and you can continue to play all of your games until that date.

OnLive, which originally launched its cloud gaming service in 2010, has faced a number of financial challenges over the years. In August of 2012, the company went through a restructuring and was sold to investment firm Lauder Partners after financial difficulties.

Sony's purchase of the company is likely driven by OnLive's patent portfolio. The company recently launched a cloud gaming service called PS Now for its Playstation 4 console, which gives players access to a large back-catalog of games from the Playstation 3 and is based off of technology from former OnLive rival Gaikai, which Sony acquired in 2012.

Hangouts phone calls to pick up faster connection speeds on desktop

Making calls in Google Hangouts from the desktop is about to get faster thanks to an updates that will improve connection speed from Gmail and Inbox.

The changes, which will apply to Hangouts call connections on Gmail and Inbox from the desktop, and call answering for incoming Google Voice calls, were announced by Google Google Product Manager Mark Chang on Google+ earlier today:

Calling from desktop just got better. We're excited to announce:

• Faster call connections right inside of Gmail and Inbox
• Quicker call answering for incoming Google Voice calls

Chang goes on to note that the increased call connection speed also applies to the Hangouts Chrome app as well.

If you aren't yet noticing any speed improvements, just sit tight, as Chang notes that the updates will be rolling out over the next few days.

Source: Mark Chang (Google+)