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Apple Hopes to Cash in With Ringtones, Music Downloads For iPhone
2008-05-24 16:45:00
Apple and music label have high hopes that new music offerings will yield big profits.There's some moving and shaking going on between Apple and the major music labels. Preceding the release of the new 3G iPhone, Apple is looking for new ways to cash in on its growing popularity. And music labels are hoping to get perks of their own, by haggling with Apple to loosen some of its long time policies which have irked the labels.First, Apple and the labels are in talks for possible over-the-air downloads. Previously, the iPhone could not directly download songs via its cellular broadband network. However, thanks to faster speeds from the 3G networks, it should be possible at last to download songs on the go.Standing in the way are the music labels who are arguing that Apple needs to pay a higher price for over-the-air downloads, as opposed to standard downloads. The labels current sell standard downloads wholesale for 70 cents, which Apple in turn resells on its iTunes store for 99...
More About: Music , Hopes , Downloads , Apple , Cell Phones

ASUS Looks to Tame Rivals With Atom-based Eee PC 901
2008-05-24 16:42:00
ASUS readies yet another addition to the Eee PC familyYesterday, DailyTech reported on MSI's new Wind notebook which will do battle with ASUS' Eee PC 900. The MSI Wind has a slightly larger footprint than the Eee PC 900, but adds such features as an 80GB 2.5" SATA HDD, 10" display, and Bluetooth (on the high-end version).These features can all be had for the starting price of $399 according to MSI Director of U.S. Sales, Andy Tung. The pricing puts serious pressure on the 8.9" Eee PC 900 which is priced at $549.99.With all the buzz on the internet turning towards MSI's Wind, it's not too surprising that pictures of a reinvigorated Eee PC 901 have "leaked" to the internet. Blogeee.net posted a number of new images depicting a more rounded and chrome-laden model.As the name suggest, it appears that the Eee PC 901 will still soldier on with an 8.9" display instead of the forthcoming 10" display -- this would continue the precedent set by the Eee PC 701 (7" display) and the Eee PC 9...
More About: Laptops , Gadgets , Asus , Atom , Rivals

Building An "Iron Man" Pt. II: Jet-powered, Winged Flight
2008-05-24 16:35:00
"It's just my job five days a week, A rocket man, a rocket man"; New technology brings superstrength, can more new technology bring exoskeleton based flight to complete the "Iron Man "?The summer's hottest blockbuster is the superhero flick "Iron Man" which stars Robert Downey Jr. as weapons designer turned superhero Tony Stark. In part one of this two part series, we looked at the advances made in building exoskeletons, particularly Sarcos Inc.'s new Sarcos suit which can lift over 500 lbs, is maneuverable enough to handle stairs, and can run 30 minutes untethered.Having a super-powered suit is great, but aside from his power, the comic book character "Iron Man" had two other key attributes -- speed and flight. Without it, Iron Man would go from a superhero, to just plain super slow.Fortunately there are some promising technologies to give the exoskeleton fighting suit of the future super speed and flight. This article, the second part of this two part series, seeks to examine...
More About: Building , Robotic , Flight

Building An "Iron Man" Pt. I: Military Grade Exoskeleton
2008-05-24 16:29:00
Real life technologies mimics the comic books with breakthroughs in human exoskeletons.The summer's hottest blockbuster thus far has been Iron Man -- not even the runaway hit Grand Theft Auto IV could slow it down. The movie centers around a super hero using a high tech suit to perform heroic feats no ordinary man could. What's intriguing is just how close real life technology is to creating a slightly less insanely overpowered "Iron Man" suit.In the first entry of a two part series, this article examines the developments in exoskeleton technology from an enterprising startup recently acquired by a major defense contractor. The exoskeleton starts with a simple concept -- while large war machines like tanks and armored personnel carriers (APCs) are mighty weapons, they lack the maneuverability of ground soldiers and provide a large target. However, ground soldiers lack the strength to carry sufficient stopping power to take on heavy vehicles.Sarcos Inc. has taken this concept a...
More About: Building , Military , Robotic

Microsoft cuts Vista prices just a year after its consumer launch
2008-03-06 20:12:00
Microsoft cuts Vista prices just a year after its consumer launchWindows Vista has received a sour reputation in the year it has been on the market. Some users of complained about driver incompatibility and performance issues -- among other things -- compared to the venerable Windows XP operating system the came before it. Microsoft addressed a number of these issues with Service Pack 1, but many consumers and businesses are still sticking with Windows XP.Microsoft is looking to give customers more incentive to upgrade to Windows Vista by cutting the price on some versions of the operating system. Although upgrade versions account for less than 10% of Vista licenses, two upgrade editions will see price cuts.The range-topping Windows Vista Ultimate (full) will fall from $399 to $319. Windows Vista Ultimate (upgrade) drops to $219 from $259. Finally, Windows Vista Home Premium (upgrade) had its price cut from $159 to $129."We anticipate these changed will provide greater opportunities...
More About: Software , Microsoft , Consumer , Launch

ECS Guns for Eee PC 900 With G10IL Notebook
2008-03-06 20:08:00
ECS shows off 11" notebook with HSDPAASUS made headlines around the globe earlier this week with the 8.9" Eee PC 900 at CeBIT. The second generation Eee PC improves upon its predecessor with a higher resolution screen, larger trackpad, more storage/memory and hopefully a faster/more power efficient processor.ASUS-rival ECS is tired of letting the Eee PC hog the spotlight in the sub-$500 price range and today showed off its 11" G10IL sub-notebook. Hard specifications for the device (processor, chipsets, memory, storage capacity/type, etc.) were not revealed, but we do know that the G10IL will come with three USB 2.0 ports, an Ethernet port, VGA connection, 56k modem and built-in HSDPA 7.2.Although it wasn't mentioned, 802.11a/g support is a given and Bluetooth connectivity is likely for the production model. As with the Eee PC 401/Eee PC 900, no optical drive is included with the ECS G10IL.It should be interesting to see what processor platform ECS chooses to power the G10IL. The no...
More About: Laptops , Guns , Gadgets , Notebook

Olympus Launches World's Smallest DSLR Camera
2008-03-06 20:03:00
The Olympus E-420 is sized more like a point-and-shoot camera than a DSLROlympus announced a new digital SLR camera called the E-420 that it bills as the world?s smallest DSLR camera. Despite its small size, Olympus promises a full feature set.Olympus says the E-420 is small enough to fit into a purse or jacket pocket with measurements of 5.1-inches by 3.6-inches by 2.1-inches the E-420 is sized more like a point and shoot camera than a traditional DSLR. The camera is also very lightweight at only 13.4 ounces.Other features of the E-420 include autofocus with a live view LCD that allows users to frame shots with the LCD screen rather than the view finder is desired. The LCD itself is a 2.7-inch HyperCrystal II promising twice the contrast and better viewing in bright conditions. The camera uses a 10-megapixel Live-MOS sensor promising clear images even at high ISO settings.The E-420 is also compatible with wireless flash units form Olympus including the FL-50R and FL-36R. The camera...
More About: Camera , Digital Cameras

Major PC Powers to Form Gaming Alliance at GDC 2008
2008-02-17 12:04:00
Band of Brothers: Microsoft, Intel, NVIDIA, AMDMark Rein of Epic Games recently told the story of the shift in gaming from the PC to consoles.?When Call of Duty 4 came out, I heard some of our guys sitting around talking about the great game they'd had last night and I'm like, 'Hey guys, what server are you playing on? I'd love to come and join you,' and they said, 'Just send us a friends request,'? he said.?It was at that point I realized they were all playing it on console. Plus, the sales of the console versions are something like ten times the sales of the PC versions,? Rein continued. ?I'm a real fan of the PC, but yes, consoles are definitely stealing a lot of hardcore gamers from the PC.?The controlled nature of consoles, along with the multiplayer capabilities of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, are enticing former PC gaming faithful with their relatively hassle-free experience. The open, uncontrolled nature of the PC, is both the platform?s strength and weakness.Acco...
More About: Software , Gaming , Alliance , Form , Major

Firefox 3.0 Beta 3 Turns Up The Heat On The Competition
2008-02-17 12:02:00
The new Beta release of Firefox 3.0 is drawing glowing reviews, is shaping up by some's estimates to be an "IE slayer"With months left for Mozilla to fulfill its promise of releasing Firefox 3 .0 to the public in the first half of 2008, the company just launched its third beta candidate of the browser, leaving only one beta left. This indicates that Mozilla is well on its way to meeting its intend release timeframe. And if initial reviews of Firefox 3.0 beta 3 are to believed, Mozilla might be able to release the browser today with little worries if it had too.While Mozilla obviously will take its time, and stick to perfecting the fourth beta candidate, the third beta looks much more like a finished candidate than its prior brethren. The first beta focused on speed and leanness, and surprised testers with visibly faster page loads than the current generation Mozilla, Opera, Apple, and Microsoft browsers. The next beta maintained this new speed while beefing up security with a nu...
More About: Internet , Competition

Woman Sues Best Buy For $54M Over Lost Laptop
2008-02-17 11:59:00
Frustrated with what she sees as incompetence of Best Buy "Geek Squad" staffers who admittedly lost her computer, one woman files a whopper of a suitThe saga of one crazy suit began with Best Buy customer Raelyn Campbell's purchase of a laptop computer from a local Best Buy store in the D.C. area. A Best Buy staffer talked her into buying a $300 extended warranty. The warranty includes coverage by Best Buy's service technicians -- "Geek Squad" -- for three years, and replacements of defective hardware free of charge.Her laptop indeed experienced hardware malfunctions within a year when her on/off switch broke. At that point, Campbell breathed a sigh of relief that she purchased the warranty and took her laptop in to Best Buy. She turned in her laptop in May and was told that it would be up and running within two to six weeks. This was a major inconvenience to her, as she was a frequent business traveler, but she figured she just should stay optimistic that it came as soon as ...
More About: Lost , Laptop , Woman

Scientists Combine 3 People's DNA Into Single Embryo
2008-02-17 11:57:00
Scientists promise a cure for mitochondrial disorders by fusing three people's genetic material into single embryoSome people expected controversy over genetic science to die down with the announcement of stem cells created from decidedly uncontroversial skin cells -- they were wrong. A new research study conducted in Britain is creating a firestorm of debate over the ethics of gene manipulation.British scientists reported last week that they successfully created human embryos from the DNA of not two, but three people -- two women and a man. Researchers tried to downplay concerns of ethics with genetic modification, citing that the embryos chiefly consist of the DNA from one man and one women, but contain select segments from the other women. The goal of the research is to one day be able to eliminate hereditary disease and defects, via gene splicing from healthy individuals. Patrick Chinnery, a professor of neurogenetics at Newcastle University, states, "We are not trying to alt...
More About: Scientists , Single

Microsoft Calls Yahoo Rejection "Unfortunate," Pursues Hostile Takeover
2008-02-17 11:51:00
Microsoft plans to take its bid for Yahoo directly to shareholdersIn the world of mergers, there are numerous levels of "hostility" which characterize bids. There are unilateral talks, mutually agreed upon, which are typically labeled as more germane, even if one company ends up absorbing the other. Then there are unsolicited bids, such as Microsoft's initial offer to Yahoo, which are often labeled as "partially hostile". On the far end of the spectrum are "fully hostile" bids, in which one company tries to bypass another company?s executive and board leadership by offering a buyout directly to shareholders. Among the famous examples of takeovers considered "hostile" was the HP and Compaq merger, which passed by a meager 51% margin in a shareholder vote.Having been rejected by Yahoo's board, Microsoft commented that it was "unfair" that Yahoo did not embrace its "full and fair proposal to combine" the companies. Now, Microsoft indicates it is planning to bypass the board and t...
More About: Internet , Microsoft , Takeover , Calls

Samsung 64GB SATA II SSD In Mass Production
2008-02-16 13:39:00
Samsung refreshes 64GB SSD with faster SATA II interfaceSolid-state drives (SSDs) are the new hype in high-speed storage solutions and with each new launch comes improvements over the last. Currently, storage space is what many manufacturers are focusing on due to the demand by consumers.There are still a few details that certain manufacturers are bringing up to speed. Many of the key players in the SSD game are still implementing a PATA interface on their solid-state products which is holding these devices back from performing at the highest levels. This is the reason for Samsung Electronics' most recent launch announcement.Samsung announced in a press release that its 1.8-inch and 2.5-inch 64GB SSD with a SATA II interface is now in the mass production stage. The new SATA II version of the drive was announced in Q4 2007 and is said to remove the bottlenecks of the PATA interface used in the previous version of the drive.According to the director of Samsung Semiconductor's flash ...
More About: Samsung , Production , Mass

Hitachi and Matsushita LCD Pact Finalized, Details Revealed
2008-02-16 13:37:00
Matsushita grabs a 24.9% stake in Hitachi DisplaysThe LCD industry is set to boom in 2008 pushed by the transition to digital TV broadcasts in the U.S. in 2009 and the upcoming Olympic games. This boom in 2008 could lead to a downturn in the coming years according to some experts after LCD makers scramble to ramp up production capacity to meet the current demand for LCD TVs.Hitachi and Matsushita announced today that the formal contract regarding an alliance has been completed (PDF). A basic agreement between Hitachi and Matsushita was reached in December of 2007.The final terms of the agreement between the companies was announced today and under the agreement Matsushita will take a 24.9% stake in Hitachi Displays Ltd. Matsushita?s stake will be acquired form Hitachi on March 21, 2008 pending regulatory approvals. A second step of the agreement will have Matsushita purchasing the total shares of IPS Alpha Technology, Ltd. for 66 billion yen along with all IPS LCD panel-related busin...
More About: Gadgets , Details , Matsushita

Google Extends to Chinese Music Market
2008-02-16 13:36:00
Google plans to make a move in order to bring free legitimate music to ChinaGoogle will announce its plans for a joint venture with Top100.cn that will give users free downloads of licensed music in China. The collaboration between the two companies will use online advertisement in order to generate revenue, according to Reuters.Top 100 was launched using the capital of Yao Ming, the Chinese basketball star, and industry professional Ge Chen at an initial sum of $2.78 million. Google?s plans to move into the Chinese music market will come as tough competition for other music sites such as Baidu. Baidu.com has developed its stance as the leading music search service China by offering pirated versions of MP3s.Just last week , IFPI, Warner, Universal and Sony filed suit against Baidu, Sohu.com and Yahoo China for giving users access to infringed copyrighted materials. IFPI's report indicated ?more than 99 percent of all music distributed in China are pirated?. China?s legitimate m...
More About: Google , Internet , Music , Market

Google Android's Java SDK Hopes To Leave iPhone In The Dust
2008-02-16 13:33:00
While the iPhone continues to snub Java , Google looks to step up to the plateWhen Google announced that it was working on a phone project, many fantasized that it was making a "GPhone", similar to Apple Inc.'s iPhone. Google surprised many when it was revealed that it was instead creating a Linux-driven OS and development environment to compete with Symbian and Microsoft's mobile phone operating systems. Google is taking the project very seriously and is offering $10M to developers and startups to develop creative software for the platform.Google released the Android SDK with much aplomb in November, confident it would rock the industry -- it did for some extent. The platform gained strong support from T-Mobile, HTC, Motorola, and other key industry players. It has been opposed by Verizon and AT&T, though, who were concerned that it would undercut their proprietary.Now a new version of the SDK is out and with it is some new improvements. The programming interfaces and develop...
More About: Hopes , Gadgets , Iphone

South Korean Firm Will Clone Your Pet
2008-02-16 13:32:00
Clone your beloved Snookums for a mere $150kCloning is a subject of much debate here in the United States, therefore, we don?t hear of the cloning of animals by American scientists much. However, the process of cloning animals is done in other countries.A Korean company called RNL Bio is working with the scientists who cloned the first canine named Snuppy. The company is offering to clone deceased pets for the tidy sum of $150,000. A company spokeswoman says that the first customer, Bernann McKunney from California, has already signed up to have her dead pit bull cloned.McKunney says she is particularly attached to the dead animal because it saved her life during an attack by another animal. RNL Bio says that ear tissue from the dog was preserved at a U.S. biotech lab before the animal?s death and that there is about a 25% chance of being able to clone a new animal from this tissue.The actual cloning of the animal will be done by Seoul National University and led by veterinary prof...
More About: Clone , South

GeForce 8 To Get Software PhysX Engine
2008-02-16 13:30:00
NVIDIA's purchase of AGEIA leads to a PhysX-on-CUDA portWith the announcement earlier this month of NVIDIA's acquisition of AGEIA, rumours began to fly immediately surrounding the future of dedicated physics hardware -- and it now appears that the PhysX name will live on as a checkbox beside the capabilities of some current and most future NVIDIA GPUs.During NVIDIA's fourth-quarter financial results conference call, CEO Jen-Hsun Huang responded to several questions about the plans for technology obtained in the AGEIA purchase, revealing that the plan is to port the AGEIA PhysX engine to NVIDIA's CUDA (Compute Unified Device Architecture) C-like programming language."We're working toward the physics-engine-to-CUDA port as we speak. And we intend to throw a lot of resources at it." said Huang. "[PhysX on CUDA] is just going to be a software download. Every single GPU that is CUDA-enabled will be able to run the physics engine when it comes."NVIDIA's choice to run a physics engin...
More About: Software , Engine , Geforce

PS3 Outsells Xbox 360, Bested Only by Wii in January Sales
2008-02-16 13:28:00
PlayStation 3 beats all but the Wii during January hardware salesHoliday sales figures for gaming console hardware were predictable. Nintendo Wii was at the top, Xbox 360 somewhere in the middle and the PlayStation 3 near the bottom. But 2008 is a new year and so far looks nothing at all like 2007 ? except, of course, the Wii is still number one.Nintendo?s console sold the most in North America with 274,000 units, likely still selling out whatever is shipped to retailers.Believe it or not, second place belongs to the PlayStation 3, selling 269,000, just 5,000 fewer units than the Wii. The PS2 wasn?t far behind either, with 264,000.The handheld systems occupied places fourth and fifth, with the Nintendo DS moving 251,000 and the PSP doing 230,000.Surprisingly, the Xbox 360 tied for last place with 230,000 units for the month. Microsoft told the press before the release of NPD data that its console recently experienced shortages."You could say we misjudged demand ... We're literally ...
More About: Gadgets , Sales

Palm Takes Jab at BlackBerry Outages
2008-02-16 13:25:00
Palm has some fun at RIM's expenseOne company's misstep is often a prime opportunity for a competitor to come in and take advantage. Companies like Sony and Microsoft stab each other in the back all the time with regards to consoles. We even saw Nokia take a jab at Apple over the "locked" iPhone.In the case of Palm, Inc., the company saw a great opportunity to go after Research in Motion (RIM) over its service interruption on Monday.Frustrated BlackBerry users were sidelined when they had problems sending emails and documents using the RIM-supplied data service. The outages were later blamed on a system upgrade aimed to boost the overall capacity of the data network.Palm now has an advertisement on its U.S. website that pokes fun at RIM's folly. The ad touts the importance of uptime and notes that Palm smartphones "Connect to your Microsoft Exchange Server. No third-party servers and no nationwide blackouts."It's mildly amusing attack on RIM and its popular BlackBerry mobile dev...
More About: Gadgets , Blackberry , Palm , Ages

Sprint's Xohm WiMAX Service Soft Launch Coming Soon
2008-02-16 13:23:00
Three major U.S. cites to get Xohm this SpringMany ardent mobile phone and laptop users are still waiting for high-speed wireless connections to come to their cities. Many are left utilizing mobile data plans that are on par with dial up connections from the early 1990?s rather than being comparable to today?s broadband speeds.PC World reports that Sprint?s oft-delayed WiMAX service dubbed Xohm has a soft launch coming soon. According to WiMAX Forum president and CEO Ron Resnick, WiMAX products are here and WiMAX is here. That statement will sound hollow to those looking forward to WiMAX in the United States.While there have been 260 commercial deployments of WiMAX in 110 countries according to Resnick, the service has yet to see wide availability in America, and it could be a while yet before that happens.Ali Tabassi, Sprint?s VP for technology development, says that a soft launch of the Xohm service will happen this spring in Baltimore, Chicago, and Washington D.C. Tabassi points ...
More About: Internet , Service , Wimax , Launch , Soft

Happy Valentines Day
2008-02-13 21:51:00
I name is THARUSHNU YOODEE webmaster website GIZMOZA concern in Valentines festival day . The this beg for give The every person have happiness in day something love and commit . something love give old prevent and prevent . I still The single as before in year .The this have no lover but I as a result still have love and happiness at commit give with The every person something love be what at depth profoundly at wait for help give world The bright .
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Anti-Scientology Protests Rock Streets Worldwide
2008-02-13 08:08:00
Remember, remember the 10th of...February?It appears that ?Anonymous? ? a loose-knit group of Internet protesters united in their campaign against the Church of Scientology ? kept its promise of worldwide demonstrations. This past Sunday, activists identifying themselves as members of Anonymous appeared in cities around the globe to peacefully demonstrate against the Church and its so-called crimes.Demonstrations occurred in a reported 93 cities worldwide, including Sydney, Los Angeles, New York, London, Dublin, and Stockholm. Donning signs with slogans such as ?Knowledge is Free,? ?Question $cientology,? and ?Enlightenment should not cost £100,000,? Anonymous took a vocal stand against the Church of Scientology?s alleged human rights violations and relentless suppression of dissent. Demonstrations proceeded peacefully, with protesters concealing themselves behind Guy Fawkes masks ? among other things ? as popularized in the movie ?V for Vendetta.?Anonymous seemingly rose out of now...
More About: Rock , Worldwide , Anti

HTC Shift Now Available in Europe
2008-02-13 08:02:00
HTC serves up a Vista UMPC with a side of Windows MobileAfter nearly a year since its initial mention on DailyTech, HTC's vision of the UMPC, the Shift , has finally come to market -- at least in Europe .The HTC Shift sports many of the same features as other popular UMPCs, including an 800MHz Intel A110 processor, 1GB DDR2 memory, 40GB or 60GB 1.8" HDD, 7" 800x480 touch-screen, and Windows Vista Business -- but adds in a 400MHz Qualcomm ARM-based processor with 64MB of RAM and 128MB ROM capable of running Windows Mobile 6. This gives the Shift the ability to run both operating systems simultaneously, and switch between them at the touch of a button, which HTC has dubbed "SnapVUE."Rather than behaving as two individual devices sandwiched together in a common chassis, the two operating modes of the Shift are designed to interact and synchronize with each other using ActiveSync -- emails, calendar appointments, and contacts can be accessed through Outlook in "full computer" mode, or th...
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Microsoft Calls Yahoo Rejection "Unfortunate," Pursues Hostile Takeover
2008-02-13 08:01:00
Microsoft plans to take its bid for Yahoo directly to shareholdersIn the world of mergers, there are numerous levels of "hostility" which characterize bids. There are unilateral talks, mutually agreed upon, which are typically labeled as more germane, even if one company ends up absorbing the other. Then there are unsolicited bids, such as Microsoft's initial offer to Yahoo, which are often labeled as "partially hostile". On the far end of the spectrum are "fully hostile" bids, in which one company tries to bypass another company?s executive and board leadership by offering a buyout directly to shareholders. Among the famous examples of takeovers considered "hostile" was the HP and Compaq merger, which passed by a meager 51% margin in a shareholder vote.Having been rejected by Yahoo's board, Microsoft commented that it was "unfair" that Yahoo did not embrace its "full and fair proposal to combine" the companies. Now, Microsoft indicates it is planning to bypass the board and t...
More About: Internet , Microsoft , Takeover , Calls

Microsoft Prepares to Unveil IE8 Features At MIX08
2008-02-13 07:59:00
With a Firefox 3.0 release impending, Microsoft prepares to reveal its new firepower with a keynote on the status of IE8MIX, an annual Microsoft-hosterd conference for web developers held each spring at the swank Venetian in Las Vegas, has often drawn exciting news. At the first MIX conference, held in '06 Dean Hachamovitch, leader of Microsoft's Internet Explorer team gave an exciting presentation of the future of the browser, which highlight the improvements found in IE7 that would help the browser regain competitiveness against a more full-featured Firefox browser. Internet Explorer 7 released several months later in October, and stayed very true to the form of Hachamovitch's presentation, adding tabbed browsing, antiphishing and more.This year's MIX conference, held on March 5th through 7th, promises a similar preview at what kind of heat Microsoft is planning to unleash on the next generation browser arms race. Hachamovitch will be giving an exclusive look at the state...
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HD DVD Promotional Group Wimpers at Netflix, Best Buy, Blu-ray Alliances
2008-02-13 07:57:00
HD DVD Promotional Group offers little resistance to the latest Blu-ray victoriesThe HD DVD Promotional Group suffered two crippling blows yesterday. Early Monday morning, Netflix announced that it would become Blu-ray exclusive with regards to online high-definition movie rentals.Monday afternoon, Best Buy announced that while it wouldn't drop HD DVD altogether, it would place more emphasis on Blu-ray and heavily promote that standard."Consumers have told us that they want us to help lead the way. We?ve listened to our customers, and we are responding. Best Buy will recommend Blu-ray as the preferred format," said Best Buy President and Chief Financial Officer Brian Dunn.The HD DVD Promotional Group of course was not too happy to hear about the latest losses in the format war and offered up this rather tame response:We have long held the belief that HD DVD is the best format for consumers based on quality and value, and with more than 1 million HD DVD players on the market, it's ...
More About: Alliances

EA to Deliver PC Version of Mass Effect
2008-02-13 07:52:00
Electronic Arts nabs Mass Effect PC publishing rights from MicrosoftNearly all of BioWare?s recent RPG releases have first hit Microsoft?s console, be it the original Xbox or Xbox 360, only later to make it to the PC. It happened with the two Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic games, as well as Jade Empire, and it will happen to Mass Effect .Electronic Arts and BioWare announced today that Mass Effect, originally released on the Xbox 360 late November 2007, will be hitting the PC in May 2008. Unlike the Xbox 360 version, which was published by Microsoft Games Studios, EA will be handing the publishing duties for the PC port.?Mass Effect serves as a powerful example of video games as an art form, delivering new levels of emotional intensity, realistic characters and a gripping storyline ? all set in a compelling new universe,? said Ray Muzyka, General Manager, BioWare and Vice President, Electronic Arts.Mass Effect for the PC also represents the first sign of the split in publishi...
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Microsoft Releases Vista SP1 RTM, XP SP3 RC2 to Testers
2008-02-12 05:00:00
Microsoft spreads Service Pack love to testersMicrosoft announced last week that it completed work on Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) and released it to manufacturing. Unfortunately for consumers, Microsoft also announced that that the update wouldn't be available to consumers until around March.However, current beta testers for SP1 will be glad to know that they can download the service pack right now. Microsoft makes SP1 available for download in a number of ways.Testers can download a single .exe file with the SP1 update in x86 (Windows6.0-KB936330-X86-wave0.exe) or x64 (Windows6.0-KB936330-X64-wave0.exe) flavors. The next option is to download a registry file which gives testers access to SP1 via Windows Update. The third and final way that testers can install SP1 -- x86 and x64 versions -- is via a standalone ISO installer which allows the service pack to easily be installed on multiple machines via a CD.Microsoft lists the build version for SP1 as 6001.18000.080118-1840.In...
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NVIDIA Introduces HD Handheld Computing Platform
2008-02-12 04:56:00
High-definition video and graphics processing coming to a Windows Mobile Smartphone near youIt wasn't too long ago that cell phone LED screen resolutions touted incredible resolutions of 100 pixels. After the switch to LCDs, most mobile phones today carry resolutions in excess of 100,000 pixels, and in full color too. With the convergence of hand-held and mobile devices, it was only a matter of time before the graphics giants jumped headlong into the world of mobile computing.NVIDIA announced today the APX 2500 application processor for mobile devices. The new chip features high-definition computing capabilities such as HD 720p video playback and capture.One of the more significant hurdles of any mobile platform is power consumption. Because mobile devices rely on low power batteries in such small packages, NVIDIA designed the processor to operate with restrictions under an ultra-low-power GeForce core. NVIDIA won't tell just how low yet, but competing processors from Samsung ...
More About: Handheld , Computing , Platform