| French preorder hints at lofty Ion pricing
August 5, 2009 at 10:00 pm
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|   NVIDIA's Ion platform, which combines an Intel Atom processor with an NVIDIA 9400M GPU, will begin shipping soon in a variety of products, but precise figures on pricing and power consumption have been hard to come by. Now, the first available Ion netbook is available for preorder at a French e-tailer, giving us some hard info on the economics of Ion and an early peek at battery life.
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| Post-launch WipeOut HD ads a scary look at possible future
August 5, 2009 at 8:27 pm
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|   Sony had quite a bit of bad PR on its hands when an update added advertising to WipeOut HD on the PS3, with both the gaming press and those playing the game complaining bitterly about the addition. Sony quickly yanked the offending advertisement. "The ads have been removed to further investigate the situation and ensure that any in-game advertising does not affect the gameplay experience," the company said in a statement. Why were these ads so offensive, and is this something we're going to be seeing more of?
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| Possible logo for Microsoft retail stores revealed
August 5, 2009 at 6:35 pm
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|   On July 28, Microsoft filed for the logo of its upcoming retail stores (pictured on the side) in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, as first reported by istartedsomething. As of publishing time, the status of the filing was "Newly filed application, not yet assigned to an examining attorney."
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| Relax, Windows 7 preorders in Europe will be full versions
August 5, 2009 at 6:20 pm
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|   Redmond has put to rest a big question for those who have preordered copies of Windows 7 E in Europe: despite the whole Windows 7 E fiasco, they will still be getting full version copies. "While Microsoft will now have upgrade, full packaged product SKUs of Windows 7 available in Europe, we will continue to honor the pricing offers made in Europe before this change is implemented," a Microsoft spokesperson told Ars. "Users who have preordered a full license to Windows 7 will be able to receive that license."
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| Comcast adopts DNS hijacking, imposes irritating opt-out
August 5, 2009 at 6:20 pm
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|   DNS redirection (or DNS hijacking, depending on who you ask) is now officially "Comcastic!" after the cable company yesterday began a nationwide deployment of its "Domain Helper" service. The new product, which has been tested in trial markets since July 9, redirects nonexistent URLs like www.clinteckergoatbonedbyhisnewbicycle.com to a search page slathered in advertising instead of returning the proper DNS error to the browser. Readers began reporting the change to us yesterday. Comcast says that the new service is "here to help you," but critics have made their own feelings clear—"this is a piece of CRAP," wrote one. While purists object to Comcast messing with "proper" DNS behaviors, others don't appreciate what feels like nothing more than an attempt to make money off users misspelling domains.
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| 90% of Bing's online drug ads lead to rogue pharmacies
August 5, 2009 at 5:29 pm
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|   A new report by KnujOn, an antispam company, and LegitScript, which verifies the legitimacy of particular online pharmacies, titled "No Prescription Required: Bing.com Prescription Drug ads" (PDF) claims that 89.7 percent of the prescription drug and online pharmacy search ads reviewed on Microsoft's adCenter led to rogue Internet pharmacies. The analysis of Microsoft's paid search results started in June 2008, when Microsoft's search engine was still Live Search (it became Bing in June 2009). The report claims that the rogue Internet pharmacies approved by Microsoft fell into four categories:
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| RTS misery: StarCraft 2 officially pushed into 2010
August 5, 2009 at 5:08 pm
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|   Activision Blizzard has sent around a quick blast of news detailing its second quarter financial results. The short of it is that the company is doing well. The expected huge franchises continuing to perform well, with big-name games still on the way. Then the bad news: StarCraft 2 won't make it this year. "As we prepare for next year, we have moved the expected release dates for two games, Activision Publishing's Singularity and Blizzard Entertainment's StarCraft II, into 2010," Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick stated. "However, we are increasing our calendar year earnings-per-share GAAP outlook and reaffirming our calendar year earnings-per-share non-GAAP outlook and still expect to deliver record non-GAAP operating margins." In other words, the company expects the games it will be releasing in the coming months to see it through. StarCraft 2 will be released in the first half of the year, to coincide with the re-launch of the new and improved Battle.net, a process that's proving rockier than first anticipated. The announcement goes on to crow about the success of Guitar Hero, the movie tie-ins for Wolverine and Transformers, and the expected success of Modern Warfare 2. If you ask me, that's like someone telling you your parents died, but you still get a cookie. It's not that this is shocking news, it's just a bummer to have it confirmed. 
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| Mac OS X 10.5.8 chock full of security, reliability fixes
August 5, 2009 at 4:39 pm
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|   Apple released another update to Leopard this afternoon, bringing the current version up to Mac OS X 10.5.8. The update comes chock full of improvements to various parts of the OS as well as security fixes, and is available as a 165MB download via Software Update. The support doc attached to the 10.5.8 release says that it upgrades Safari to version 4.0.2 and improves the accuracy of full history search within the browser. It also fixes a problem where some screen resolutions weren't showing up in the Display pane of System prefs, improves "overall Bluetooth reliability," and addresses a mysterious, unnamed issue that "could cause extended startup times." Additionally, iCal reliability with MobileMe Sync and CalDev has been improved as well as AFP and Managed Client reliability, to name a few.
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| Modder arrest a reminder that most console hacks are illegal
August 5, 2009 at 4:34 pm
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|   For anyone with a little bit of technical know-how, modifying video game systems for various purposes is easy... and can even make you a little bit of money. The problem? Modifying the firmware in video game systems to play pirated games or even your own backups is illegal. Twenty-seven-year-old Matthew Lloyd Crippen learned the hard way that Immigration and Customs Enforcement doesn't have a sense of humor about modding systems for profit: the student was arrested after being indicted on two charges of violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act for selling modded systems. The question some gamers are now asking themselves: am I breaking the law? The answer is not comforting.
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| Windows 7 testers get e-mail about tomorrow's free copy
August 5, 2009 at 4:26 pm
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|   Microsoft has sent out an e-mail to members of the invitation-only Windows 7 Technical Beta Program about their free copy of Windows 7 Ultimate. Even though we emphasized that this offer is only for testers that were invited into the beta program (read: it isn't available to those who tested the beta and/or RC builds when they were released to the public), we received many inquiries about who would get a free copy. So again, to clarify, if you don't have an e-mail titled "For Windows 7 Technical Beta participants only - A free copy of RTM" from msftconn@microsoft.com sitting in your inbox, you won't be getting a free copy, at least not as a beta tester. Here is the body of the e-mail in question:
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| Microsoft to hire 400 Yahoo workers, pay Yahoo $150 million
August 5, 2009 at 3:51 pm
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|   As Microsoft takes over search development for Yahoo, at least 400 Yahoo employees will be shifting to Microsoft, and Yahoo will receive $50 million annually for the first three years of the 10-year deal to cover any unexpected costs during the switch to new technology. Transferring 400 workers to Microsoft would cut down Yahoo's current payroll by about three percent. Recently, Microsoft has been hiring former Yahoo executives but it has yet to do an en masse hiring. These details emerged in a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that elaborated on the agreement:
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| Apple dumps app developer and his 900+ apps from App Store
August 5, 2009 at 3:27 pm
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|   Apple has been criticized lately for some of its questionable app rejections, as well as the recent expunging of Google Voice apps from the App Store. Now, it seems as if Apple has seen fit to use its veto power to address one common criticism of the App Store—the flood of apps with questionable content or utility. Developer Khalid Shaikh had his iPhone developer license revoked, and his 900+ apps were summarily removed from the App Store. Shaikh built a business model that took advantage of the worst aspects of the iPhone App Store. His team of 26 engineers—based in India and Pakistan and working 12 hours days, six days a week—churned out nearly 1,000 apps that merely agregated articles and other content from the Web in such cleverly titled apps as "US Army News," "Skin Care Updates," and "WWE Updates." He sold these apps for $4.99 each, with the goal of "less product value" and "more monetization." Shaikh told MobileCrunch that he was making thousands of dollars a day with this technique.
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| Senate hears royalty debate pitting Big Content vs Big Radio
August 5, 2009 at 2:58 pm
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|   The saga over Internet radio royalties may be behind us (for now), but the royalty debate is far from over. During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday, the record labels and radio stations made their case over the issue of terrestrial radio stations paying royalties to artists, hoping to influence Senators' decisions over the recently proposed Performance Rights Act. Under the current setup, commercial radio stations don't actually pay the performers anything for the use of their songs. Radio stations pay only songwriters for the music they play, while recording artists get nothing (except publicity). When music is delivered via webcasting, cable networks, and satellite radio, however, station owners need to pay both songwriters and recording artists. If this seems inconsistent to you, that's because it is.
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| Turtles in Time Re-Shelled brings nostalgia, outdated play
August 5, 2009 at 1:55 pm
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|   Today you can revisit some of gaming's hack and slash past with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled on the Xbox Live Arcade. The game will run you $10—down from the originally announced $15—and features local and online multiplayer, multiple difficulty levels, and survival modes. The question is, will anyone who didn't grow up with the original care?
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| Sony counters Kindle with new models, better format support
August 5, 2009 at 12:57 pm
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|   Today, Sony officially launched the latest salvos in the increasingly intense e-book wars. Depending on your perspective, this was either a big deal, or a collection of incremental changes: new models, new supported formats, and cheaper e-books, but little that significantly differentiates these products from their predecessors. Still, the effort reveals that, despite the company's extensive cost-cutting measures, it's not giving up on the e-book market. On the hardware front, Sony will be offering two new reader models by the end of August. The larger model, the Reader Touch Edition, aka the PRS-600, will retail for $299. This 6.9 x 4.8 inch device will keep the touchscreen of the PRS-700, but ditch its backlighting. The software will apparently be updated, allowing freehand note taking with the included stylus. It handles both Memory Stick and SD cards for expansion and file transfer.
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| Apple headed to China to hammer out deets with China Unicom
August 5, 2009 at 12:05 pm
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|   Senior executives from Apple reportedly headed to China this week to finalize a deal with China Unicom to distribute the iPhone. According to a new report from Sina Technology Zhiguo, Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice president of iPod and iPhone Product Marketing, is expected to be part of the negotiation team. According to the report, translated by International Business Times, a source in China told Sina that "[t]heir visit aims to visit senior officials of China Unicom and discuss with them how iPhone should enter Chinese market." Apple is also expected to meet with officials at China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
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| Google may take aim at Web video standards with On2 purchase
August 5, 2009 at 11:51 am
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|   Google and On2 Technologies have announced today that they have signed a deal for Google to acquire On2 in an all-stock deal valued at $106.5 million. On the surface, it's a match made in heaven. On2 is one of the leading providers of video codec software and hardware, and Google is one of the leading providers of Web-based video. The deal also has the potential to move the future of Web video codecs in the direction of open standards. Video codecs are a big deal. They fuel the technology behind Video CDs (MPEG-1), DVDs (MPEG-2), and Blu-ray (MPEG-4), and are linked with the history of the Web, as various codecs and formats—QuickTime, Windows Media Video, Theora, H.264, DiVX, Flash, Silverlight, etc.—all compete to deliver video over networks. On2 supplies the codec (VP6) used in Flash video, the current reigning delivery system for online video.
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| Nintendo Mini Classics resurrects Game & Watch titles
August 5, 2009 at 11:46 am
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|   Long before Nintendo hit the goldmine that was the Game Boy console and its various descendants over the past twenty years, the company managed to strike it big with the Game & Watch series. In fact, before handheld consoles like the Game Boy and Game Gear managed to set the standard for portable gaming, the Game & Watch titles were imitated by many other electronics companies; gamers who grew up in the 1980s undoubtedly played one of Nintendo's titles or one of the knock-offs by Tiger Electronics. While these games have been hard to find for a while, it's been revealed that some of the Game & Watch titles are back, thanks to the Nintendo Mini Classics. The Mini Classics are designed to look like smaller versions of the classic Game Boy consoles; coming with a built-in stand for desktop placement and a keychain. Retailing for somewhere between $5-20 on average, the units have one of three games to choose from: Super Mario Bros, Donkey Kong Jr, and Mario's Cement Factory. While there undoubtedly better-made games available on on handheld consoles—and even cell phones—these days, the reincarnation of some of the Game & Watch catalog provides veteran gamers with the opportunity to revisit the memories of their youth. Not only that, but the Mini Classics could make for a great way to introduce a new generation of kids to the world of video games. 
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