Paragon Partition Manager free for a limited time only

For a limited time only, Giveaway of the Day (GOTD) is offering a free download of the proprietary partition manager designed by Paragon Software Group. Paragon Partition Manager 2009 is the self-proclaimed most reliable and complete drive partitioning tool available on the market today, which originally retails for $39.95.

Its feature-set is parallel to most commercial partitioning software, including the ability to create, format, delete, undelete, hide, unhide, move, resize and merge partitions. Other features include the ability to install an OS via a wizard, convert primary and logical partitions, update your MBR, configure a multi-boot environment, resolve common boot-related issues, and perform a defragmentation. It also guarantees a data-loss-free backup and restore functionality.

The software is compatible with 32 and 64-bit versions of Windows Vista and XP, as well as 2000, and has very low system requirements. As the site’s domain name implies, the deal is expected to expire at the end of the day, but if you’re too late and are in need of a freeware partition software check out the Gnome Partition Editor (GParted).

Acer working on several Android-powered devices

Acer officially jumped into the smartphone market earlier this year with the introduction of four Windows Mobile devices. While each has its own distinctive feature that will appeal to different types of users, many were disappointed that none ran the Google-backed Android operating system. But that’s not to say such a device isn’t in the pipeline. In fact, according to PC World, Acer is already working on several different Android-based devices, and plans to launch a smartphone using the software later this year.

During the firm’s Q1 investor’s conference today, President and CEO Gianfranco Lanci noted that “the entire industry is looking at Android.” Furthermore Lanci reasonably downplayed chances of an Acer netbook running Android, saying it makes more sense to stick the mobile operating system on a smartphone, but did not completely rule out the possibility. Sadly, no additional information or timeframe was given.

The company actually expects to get 10 percent of its revenue within three years from the growing smartphone sector, and hopes to capture nearly half of the entire netbook market this year, so we’re anxious to see what the company has in store for us the next few months.

Fallout 3 developers give update on Broken Steel

Fallout 3 fans who have been waiting for the Broken Steel DLC might be interested in a large dose of development updates. Coming straight from Bethesda, some screenshots of the new content have been released along with a pretty interesting developmeny diary, where game designers Jeff Browne and Alan Nanes go into detail about the work they have been up to creating Broken Steel.


They write about balance issues in raising the game's level cap, the addition of new non-player characters to challenge the post-level 20 players, creating new weapons and armor, and how the game's storyline itself will be impacted by the changes. They also go into mechanics, such as how the style of Broken Steel will be largely solo play and what will make it worth playing for people who have already put the game down. If you're a Fallout 3 fan, it's definitely worth the read.

OpenOffice's future uncertain in light of Sun-Oracle deal

Advocates for the continued development of OpenOffice have been busy this week, coming up with plans and ideas as to where the open-source suite should head once the Oracle-Sun merger is complete. Some are calling for Oracle to make the suite independent, while others want to see the company roll up their sleeves and dive into development on their own. Oracle, however, has declined to comment on what they have planned.

As the head of marketing for OpenOffice, John McCreesh, has issued a public statement saying that the future of OpenOffice is leading it towards becoming an independent project. He believes that having it completely detached from Oracle, both legal and in development terms, would be beneficial for OpenOffice in that it would enable them to find their own source of revenue and dictate future development on their own.

Others call for a different approach, claiming that Oracle's backing could make potential partners take it more seriously and become a stronger rival to Microsoft, as opposed to simply a free alternative. Ultimately, it’s all up to Oracle. Each proposition has its own benefits, but working independently certainly feels like the 'right' model for an open-source community.

Windows 7 updates AutoRun behavior to prevent further malware propagation

If you have used any computer running Windows within the past 14 years (and who hasn't?), you are probably well aware of the AutoRun feature. Introduced along with Windows 95, AutoRun is a default feature present in every Windows desktop system. The simple concept, putting media in and having the computer automatically run a program on said media has changed little from when it was first introduced. It did eventually morph into two separate features, AutoRun and AutoPlay. The latter was intended to differentiate between content found on a CD, DVD or other removable media, and prompt you with a default action to choose from. What started as a good idea did eventually bring Microsoft a lot of slack, with people blaming infected computers and numerous other issues on this stock feature.



Infection Detections of Malware that Spread via AutoRun

Microsoft has admitted that malicious software are using AutoRun as a vector for infection, and thus newer versions of Windows (starting with 7) will not feature it for all removable media. Detachable hard drives, USB/thumb drives, rewritable CDs and DVDs and other “generic” mass storage devices will no longer use AutoRun by default. The idea is to reduce the chance of a machine getting infected by plugging in media you aren't sure of.

The commonly known AutoRun feature will be retained for read-only optical media, such as CDs and DVDs, claiming that those are seldom used as a transmission medium for malware or viruses. This may seem like a minor change, but it does represent a fundamental change in the way Microsoft developers are seeing security threats.

Apple assembles chip design team for next-gen iPhones

Following the acquisition of PA Semi last year, Apple is looking for yet more microprocessor design expertise to work on future chips for the iPhone and iPod touch. The company has been hiring engineers with the hope that its proprietary designs may be able to give its devices unique and exclusive features that its competitors will not be able to replicate. Among those recently signed up by Apple are Raja Koduri and Bob Drebin, both former CTOs of AMD’s Graphics Products Group, along with longtime IBM executive and chip expert Mark Papermaster.

Though it’s well known that Apple already plays an active role in the design of chips from third-parties, switching to an in-house strategy boasts the huge advantage of secrecy. This will allow them to take their designs directly to a chip foundry without disclosing any plans with other mobile processor manufacturers, so that it can prevent feature leaks and better differentiate its handheld products from a growing list of competing devices. The fruits of the move won’t likely be seen until at least next year and should focus on, among other things, lowering power consumption and improving the graphical abilities of Apple’s handheld products.

Office 2010 screenshots emerge

Microsoft has finally finished and compiled the RTM version of Windows Vista SP2 and Windows Server 2008. The full version string being 6.0.6002.18.005, which company officials have confirmed is the final RTM version of SP2.

The key features of SP2 are:

• Windows Search 4.0 for faster and improved relevancy in searches
• Bluetooth 2.1 Feature Pack supporting the most recent specification for Bluetooth Technology
• Ability to record data on to Blu-Ray media natively in Windows Vista
• Adds Windows Connect Now (WCN) to simplify Wi-Fi Configuration
• Windows Vista SP2 enables the exFAT file system to support UTC timestamps, which allows correct file synchronization across time zones.

Currently circulating around popular BitTorrent websites, the final version is available in 32 and 64 bit versions. Microsoft is expected to release it publicly shortly.

For more information on SP2 please check out the recently posted Microsoft support article.

Screenshots of the file properties:

Thanks to Neowin user Vask for the heads up.

Updated 6:33P.M. -6 GMT, fixed version number. Sorry about the confusion guys!

Sony to unveil redesigned PSP at E3

There have been rumors about a PSP redesign, but now 1UP.com claims sources directly involved with the project have told them that Sony will unveil the latest variant of its portable gaming console at the E3 conference this coming June.

Image courtesy of 1UP.com. Note: This is not the actual PSP

According to their sources, Sony will "forgo a numerical moniker in favor of a subtitle". So you wouldn't see a 'PSP-4000' anytime too soon. 1UP.com speculates that this new system would be called the PSP Go!, in keeping with the Go! brand of add-ons released for the European PSP. Sources have also said that the model will be available in two SKUs, with either an 8 GB or 16GB internal flash memory.

Wait, 8GB/16GB internal memory? That's right. You would need all that space now that the new PSP will no longer play UMDs. All titles for the PSP would be available as downloads instead. As for the hardware, the button layout will remain faithful to the older generations of PSPs and will not include dual analogue sticks, as rumored by many fans. It would feature a sliding mechanism (as pictured above).

1UP.com also speculates that Sony could be integrating the Mylo's design into the new PSP, and hence could feature a touch screen and a camera.

Well it is no surprise that Sony has finally decided to redesign its PSP, as it faces stiff competition from newly released Nintendo DSi and iPod Touch/iPhone. Many rumors were flowing around back when the PSP 3000 was released, of a redesigned PSP which would be released in 2011. The real surprise here is that Sony has opted for 'sooner' rather than 'later'.

McGee: Publishers should reward content creators

American McGee is a firm believer in user generated content. The creator of Alice and Grimm rightfully applauds the likes of LittleBigPlanet, but has a few doubts of his own.

Speaking to Geek.com McGee was quick to highlight his concerns on the issue, specifically surrounding the rewarding of those who produce the content.

"I think if game products or publishers are relying on "outside the box" content created by users to drive interest in their titles - then they should find ways of compensating those users for developing added value. That might even inspire the user content communities to step up their game."

Whilst McGee didn't delve into a great amount of detail, one can only imagine he was referring to a paying submission scheme.

Now based in Shanghai, American McGee's studio Spicy Horse are we currently working on a new Alice game for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

Chinatown Wars below expectations for DS?

Last year, when Rockstar announced that they were bringing the popular Grand Theft Auto franchise to Nintendo's portable platform; many wondered how well an M rated title would do. Almost two months since it's release, the answers are starting to come in.

In it's debut in March, the game only sold only around 89000 copies, far below the expected 250,000 to 400,000 range. When questioned earlier about it, Take Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar, said they expected to see the title sell well in the long term and Nintendo is expecting about the same: "‘Chinatown Wars' is performing in line with AAA titles that have come to our platform like 'Spore' or 'Lego Star Wars'. Those games went on to have very different life-to-date sales numbers," says Steve Singer, Nintendo of America's Vice President of Licensing and Third-Party Relations. Not only that, but he sees the title to be very important to the image of the DS: "I think strategically, this is a very important game because it helps send the message that great M-rated content can come to the platform and will find a home."

This comes as a bit of a surprise as this is the highest rated title for the Nintendo DS. But now lies the biggest question. Why are sales so low on this platform? Some say perhaps it is because the Grand Theft Auto series does not translate well over to the portable systems, but sales for the Playstation Portable iterations of the games have sold very well. Libery City Stories went on to sell 327,872 in its first month, while Vice City Stories sold 134,275 units in its first month.

MTV blogs asked gamers why they did not buy the title and some of the responses were a little surprising. Some play piracy, some play the fact that the game is not very deep, the overall style of the game was not as good as its console counterparts or some just did not come around to getting the game yet. I personally have two theories.

The first: the game is an M rated title on a family oriented platform. The majority of people who own a Playstion Portable are more likely to buy these types of games because it's geared towards the "hardcore" audience. It should come as no surprise that the Grand Theft Auto titles for that system sold well. When games like Brain Age, Pokemon and Nintendogs are dominating the DS, it's hard to see a title like Grand Theft Auto, with its rabid violence and mature storyline, sell may copies on a platform that is dominated by G rated games.

The second is the game itself. While I know there are plenty of us who remember the good ol' days of the 2D Grand Theft Auto games, the franchise didn't really come into its own until Grand Theft Auto for Sony's Playstation 2, where it went 3D. The game today is known for its 3D open world action where you can run over people and kill hookers, not the top-down 2D days were you had to drive to a pay phone to get a mission.

Only time will tell, but I do not see this title personally doing very well anytime soon and this is discouraging for the "hardcore" gamers out there on the DS who enjoy these types of games.

Piracy has taken big chunk of game sales from PSP

Peter Dille, from SCEA, thinks the piracy on the PSP is "sickening" and is not afraid to say that it is a huge problem on the portable platform and that 18 months ago many developers "just about ready to jump off the cliff and pull support for the platform."

In a recent interview with Gamasutra, Dille went on to say "I'm convinced and we're convinced that piracy has taken out a big chunk of our software sales on PSP." It's been a problem that the industry has to address together; it's one that I think the industry takes very seriously, but we need to do something to address this because it's criminal what's going on, quite frankly."

"It's not good for us, but it's not good for the development community. We can look at data from BitTorrent sites from the day Resistance: Retribution goes on sale and see how many copies are being downloaded illegally, and it's frankly sickening. We are spending a lot of time talking about how we can deal with that problem."

The PSP has gone through 3 major iterations during it's life cycle and a fourth is rumored to be coming soon. Many believe that other then the aesthetics that change, the loopholes that open up the portable console to piracy close as well, though Sony has never admitted to that. While it is "relatively" easy to break open the PSP-1000 (known as the fat) and the PSP-2000 (known as the slim) the PSP-3000 (known as the brite) has yet to be cracked.

Dille believes that education and legal actions are the key and that people "understood [that piracy] meant that a platform would go away."

"I'm not naive, but I do think that most people are inherently honest," he says. "We learned a lot from the music business, and it became so easy and so common to download illegal music -- everyone was doing it. It's almost like people lost sight with the fact that, well, "If everyone's doing it, then it can't be that bad."

"But, it actually is bad; it's bad for the platform. Again, I'm not saying that that's a magic wand; I think that we have to make sure from a technological perspective that it's not as easy as it is to do that."

Hopefully in 2009 we see a turnaround in game sales, as the PSP has a lot of promise in terms of AAA titles that are soon to be released.

Get the Orange Box for $9.99 on Steam this weekend

This weekend's Steam deal is Valve's Orange Box. The "Computer Game of the Year" is on sale for 66% off the normal $29.99 asking price to consumers worldwide.

If you do not already own this game compilation, now's your chance to purchase Half-Life 2, Episode One, Episode 2, Lost Coast, Portal, and Team Fortress 2 for a mere $9.99.

This fantastic deal will only be available for this weekend only so go ahead and pick up your copy now at the Steam Store!

inFamous to arrive with Uncharted 2 Multi-player beta

Earlier this week Sony announced that it would be announcing something "Electrifying" this coming Monday the 27th that involves both inFamous and Uncharted 2, both Playstation 3 exclusives.

Thanks to a picture taken by a Best Buy store employee that was sent to some gaming sites, the announcement seems to have hit the internet before it was to be revealed.

inFamous, a Sony exclusive, is aimed to be released at the end of may will come with a code if pre-ordered that will allow you access to a demo before it hits the mass market and also a multi-player beta for Uncharted 2: Among thieves.

Previously it was unconfirmed if Uncharted 2 would have a co-op or a death match style multi-player mode, but this news has answered that lingering question.

This tactic has been used more recently by Microsoft and the game Crackdown that came with a code to play an early version of Halo 3 before it was released, and is also reminiscent of such titles like Zone of the Enders which came with a demo of Metal Gear Solid 2.
The use of extras like demo's or previews of bigger and more popular games to be released helps to get gamers to buy what is usually a new IP like inFamous or Crackdown and gives it an overall boost to sales after release.

Not much else is known currently as the announcement hasn't come from Sony officially yet, which is hoped to come with more details and some information on what regions this offer is going to include.

Uncharted 2 Multi-player details unveiled

After a weekend of rumours, a leaked picture and an early unveiling the official news, the NDA has been lifted and an official press release has been issued detailing the multi-player component of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.

Uncharted being a new IP for naughty dog and their first title to hit the Playstation 3 was a hit with Playstation fans who enjoyed the gun slinging adventure, but also felt that the game was missing a vital part that almost every game released these days has, a multi-player. Uncharted 2 hopes to bring more than just a great single player experience, for those asking for those who want it, with a multi-player that can be played co-operatively or competitively.

The competitive mode will allow up to ten players in a 5vs5 round to battle off in locals from the single player experience. Playing in a ranked mode, players have the option of a death match style of game play or plunder mode, which involves using team work to transport a piece of treasure across the map. Co-operative mode will involve playing in a team of three to accomplish set goals through a level, so far it seems reminiscent of Resistance 2 and keeping its co-operative mode a separate entity from the single player.

Using currency gained from playing the different multi-player modes and also the single player, you can unlock more content which is not currently known and also upgrades, which one would assume is for your on-line character.

As mentioned in a previous post, the Uncharted 2 multi-player beta will be available for those who buy a copy of inFamous when it is released on 26th May, and will take place from June 3rd to the 28th.

The beta offer will be included in all copies from any store in the US, details on European access to the beta has yet to be disclosed but they have said to be working on something for the future.

Zeno Clash developer asks for support

In a PC gaming world filled with DRM and CD key checks, Zeno Clash, a new first person shooter/fighting hybrid from independent gaming development studio ACE team, has taken a new approach.

Appearing on a popular torrent tracker site, Carlos Bordeu, asked all the would be pirates to support his game as this is the only way his game and his company can survive an an independent studio:

I'm one of the developers of Zeno Clash. I would appreciate you read this if you are about to download this file.

Zeno Clash is an independently funded game by a very small and sacrificed group of people. The only way in which we can continue making games like this (or a sequel) is to have good sales.

I am aware that at this moment there is still no demo of the game, but we are working on one which will be available soon.

We cannot do anything to stop piracy of the game (and honestly don't intend to do so) but if you are downloading because you wish to try before you buy, I would ask that you purchase the game (and support the independent game development scene) if you enjoy it. We plan on updating Zeno Clash with DLC and continuing support for the game long after it's release.

Thanks for taking the time to read this... hopefully it will make a difference.

Carlos Bordeu

ACE Team

The comment was met with a lot of respect, and a lot of would be pirates said that they would support the studio and purchase the game. And why not?

The game so far has received an impressive 83 percentile rating on Metacritic and can be purchased on Steam for $20. Perhaps human decency and just asking for support is the next best DRM tool against pirates.

Yoichi Wada: We take 'too long' to make games

It's no secret that Final Fantasy fans are amongst the most patient and loyal gamers in the world. When forced to wait almost 4 years for the next release in your favourite gaming series, it practically becomes second nature.

In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Square Enix president Yoichi Wada was keen to reflect on the company's drawn out past, suggesting that the recent acquisiton of Eidos may spell for a change in direction.

"In reality I think the issues we have are basically the same. On one side you might say that because of the budgetary constraints they (Eidos) released the games without having the games polished to perfection, but on the other side we take too long to release the game."

When tackled about the dwindling confidence in Eidos produced games, Wada remarked that a crucial balance between cost and quality must be struck.

"I personally believe that having a good cost performance and having a good quality game can co-exist - I think that this relationship is actually a positive one. But when you look to the creators they tend to think that if they're asked to pursue a better cost performance, they have to sacrifice quality."

Final Fantasy XIII is due for release later this year in Japan.

Dead Rising 2 will have multiplayer

As if shredding dozens of zombies with a chainsaw on your lonesome wasn't enough, it now seems that Dead Rising 2 will feature some form of multiplayerPR blunder at GDC, Capcom were able to confirm the inclusion of multiplayer at last weeks CAPTIVATE 09 event in Monaco.

"We're at a point in game history that you need to have some form of multiplayer component in a game," Keiji Inafune, who is head of R&D at Capcom, told journalists. "Single-player alone is not going to cut it. So rest assured we are going to put multiplayer in the game."

Precise details are still scarce, but one can only imagine that co-operative play is on the horizon following the critical and commercial success of Left 4 Dead.

Video: Trailer component. Despite the brief

Konami pulls plug on Six Days in Fallujah

According to the Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun, Konami has made the decision to pull the plug on Atomic Games' highly controversial Six Days in Fallujah. The Tokyo-based publisher behind games such as Metal Gear Solid, recently chose not to publish the ultrarealistic Iraq war shooter.

"After seeing the reaction to the video game in the United States and hearing opinions sent through phone calls and e-mail, we decided several days ago not to sell it."

Although Six Days in Fallujah was only revealed at the beginning of the month, the game has already drawn criticism from several groups of people including Stop the War Coalition, a British antiwar organization as well as families who had lost members in the Iraq war. Konami and Atomic Games attempted to defend the game by saying that it would be a "survival horror" title that would display the ugliness of the Iraq War. "We had intended to convey the reality of the battles to players so that they could feel what it was like to be there."

On Tuesday April 21st, Atomic Games president Peter Tamte told GameSpot that Konami's decision not to publish the game had come as a total shock. "We were informed on Thursday night that Konami had decided to pull out of Six Days in Fallujah," he explained. "This caught us by surprise. Development of the game had been progressing very well and on schedule. We would very much like the opportunity to complete the game."

3D: Why a new Xbox is coming sooner than later

This 3D (Dirty's Digital Diatribes) editorial is fairly straightforward... I predict the new Xbox, whatever it may be called, will be announced before years end and furthermore will be available sometime (probably second-half*) in 2010.

It was one simple comment on our recent tour of AMD's facilities during Neowindex in Austin, Texas... "Wait until you see the next generation of consoles." The comment itself was harmless enough and was made in a very blase fashion. I feel I am undeniably obligated to state for the record that not once was the 360 even mentioned during the much larger overall conversation we were having when this comment was indeed made. Needless to say, nine simple words sparked my imagination. After a few days to mull it over, even if this comment had nothing at all to do with the Xbox which it very well might not have, I am still now convinced it is inevitable that we will see a new Xbox sooner than later. Here is why...

Phooey To Those Who Say It's To Early For A New Release
Being so dominant in the computer world for so long now, Microsoft already has deep-seeded roots in a culture where people are willing to spend anywhere from $150 to $450 on a new graphics card, just one singular component of a PC. As such, I am thinking the way they see it, why would people not be willing to upgrade to an entirely new console for around the same amount of money? The 360 is after-all already going to be four years old this November, and lets not forget, the first Xbox launched in November of 2001. Yep, that just four years prior to the 360's launch.

Still, plenty of people would definitely be upset by the news of a new console for a plethora of different reasons. Number one being that for whatever reason, people see consoles as being immune to the plague that affects all other technology: once something is released it is already dated. I believe Microsoft knows this is the mindset, and the main reason I believe they are going to be able to pull off the release of a new console in the mind of many consumers "so soon" is because for the first time...

New Games Will Have Scalable Graphics (at least for awhile).
Anyone who has played a game on the PC knows that most games have, for awhile now, included an Auto-Detect option that will detect your system's components and change the graphic settings for the game accordingly. Admittedly, the Auto-Detect settings are almost always never right, but when you only have two systems you need to detect for, it makes a developers job that much easier. By doing this, they will not be abandoning the 360 and people will indeed still be able to play new game releases. Only difference being is this time around they will be providing consumers with an option (and believe you me their marketing people will make sure to reiterate that "options" fact over and over) to play new game releases either on the new console with better graphics and resolution, or on their current 360 with the same graphics they have come to know and love. Again, this is yet another concept with roots in the already established PC gaming market, just replace one singular component with an entire console.

Taking this approach, after a few years Microsoft could kindly "suggest" to developers that for Triple-A titles to drop development for the 360 completely. This would be the exact opposite of how they handled things with the Xbox to Xbox 360 transition where they virtually dropped development almost instantly. Doing so would keep plenty of nay-sayers happy for at least a good time to come.

But What About Blu-ray?
Naturally, the concept of better graphics then leads to the question "Will Microsoft then decide to support Blu-ray?" Well my first response would be perhaps. I do not see that as being completely out of the question. Perhaps even some sort of external solution would be an option as other companies seem to see that as a plausible and viable option. However, a more plausible scenario is that the resources needed to support higher resolutions, etc., especially when there are only two configurations to support (360 and new console), will actually still be able to fit on current dual-layer DVD's. The two different configuration would already share so many common resources, and it is indeed only the graphical elements such as textures, etc., that would need to have two "versions."

Let's just say for the sake of argument that they could not fit everything on a current dual-layer DVD. With the now introduced option to install to hard-drive (again from PC world), especially on a 250-320 GB drive which is the most common-sense size to be in the next generation of consoles. Would it then really be that big of a deal if a game did indeed require two disks if you only needed one disk to play after you were able to install the game itself? Finally, there is still the possibility that games can indeed be delivered by means of digital downloads, although I personally just do not see a huge company such as Microsoft strictly relying on a method of distribution that still has a long way to go before it is the absolute standard.

PC Graphics Are Just That Much Better
We all know the above subtitle in bold has always been the case, it goes without saying if you know anything about gaming. However, since we are talking about better graphics and resolution, one cannot deny or dismiss the fact that PC graphics are really, really starting to make the 360 (and PS3 for that matter) show how weak and not-so-capable they actually are in this department. Truth be told, a capable PC could have shown both consoles graphical inferiority on Day One of each consoles release. Going back a few years to their release, the not all that informed public was simply just mesmerized by the fact that their newfangled HD TV was able to play games in HD itself.

Keeping in mind that for better or for worse, the modern day gamer is obsessed with graphics, I cannot help but think Microsoft is not only aware of this fact, but they also simply want to stay competitive in this area. Case in point, two games that are fairly recent releases that stick out to me as examples of superior graphics are F.E.A.R. 2 and Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena. Both undeniably look dramatically better on a well equipped computer, and to reiterate, I believe Microsoft are smart enough to know people are either already realizing this fact and / or will start realizing it more and more as time goes on.

Also lets face it, the current generation of consoles was and still will be about the "HD gaming experience." One cannot ignore that none of the Triple A titles are running at the superior 1080p, and none probably ever will on this current generation (and note I do say Triple-A titles, yes there are indeed some games that are 1080p native, most notably XBLA and PSN releases. So for a "true HD gaming experience," they need better more capable GPU's. Plain and simple. I can notice the difference in a 720p Blu-ray compared to a 1080p one, and I am sure I am not the only one. If game graphics can be at 1080p, and in a perfect world even run at a constant 60 frames per second, I am sure plenty of people would definitely be interested in and in-fact desire this capability.

They Want To Put The Nail In Sony's Coffin
Sony has time and time again talked about the PS3's ten year life-cycle. While it is a noble crusade, and one that many support at least in theory for their wallets, unfortunately it is just not a realistic one, mainly for the reasons I pointed out above about no games actually being capable of full-blown 1080p HD. Sure, perhaps Sony can help developers squeeze some more power out of the Cell processor. Sure, graphics on the PS3, just as the 360, do currently look pretty damn good, but why not make them look even better if possible? Also lets face it, the PS3, just as the 360 in all fairness, are definitely limited in the GPU department to pull true HD off, as already outlined above.

While I have no doubt Sony is already working on their next console as well, I just do not think they are as far along as Microsoft is on their next console - not even close actually as they had a fairly well documented struggle getting the PS3 off the ground itself. I just cannot help but think that Microsoft sees this as a perfect opportunity to deliver a potential KO punch and put Sony down for the count, perhaps even for good.

The Experience Itself
We have to keep in mind that Microsoft already have done a major overhaul to the 360's OS itself with the launch of NXE. They are going to continue building and improving on NXE naturally, but they just as NXE's current name implies, Microsoft are indeed all about the new experience. As such, I believe that NXE will indeed be the last major overhaul to the 360, but Microsoft is and definitely will be itching to release a completely new experience sooner than later: Specifically one that capitalizes on social media and networking. Expect plenty of partnerships to be announced and an even more social experience than you currently can and do indeed enjoy on the 360. Going back to possibly putting Sony down for the count, I do not think that anyone can argue that Sony is almost embarrassingly behind in this aspect with the PS3 currently, and if Microsoft can release and even stronger social experience, that could indeed have the potential to even further the distance between themselves and Sony as the must-have console.

Thing is, I do not deny that Microsoft can and definitely will continue to develop for the NXE, as they have an extremely solid foundation to build upon. However, taking into account the way social media and networking has and will more than likely continue to take over aspects of our everyday computing lives, I think something else to tie it all together is in the works. If you then also add in the fact that the line between your computer and TV keeps getting blurred more and more, I believe it all adds up to multiple top-tier development teams somewhere deep in top secret labs in Redmond are buried knee deep with the task of designing a brand new experience that somehow ties it all together. Which then leads to...

* Marketing. Marketing. Marketing.
This is perhaps the weakest reason for my prediction, but it actually has the potential to be the strongest if you also believe that companies live and die by their marketing departments. In keeping with this theory, it is my belief that 2010 just has a great ring to it. Simply put, 2011 does not. To further elaborate, I believe Microsoft might even break the tradition of a November release and go for an October release. Yep, that would be 10/10/2010. I can literally see the higher-ups in any marketing department gathered in a non-descript conference room giggling uncontrollably at the potential to launch on this date.

To summarize, I believe Microsoft recognizes that they have a unique opportunity to potentially overthrow Sony permanently and secure their dominance in the console market. I also happen to believe they are willing to take the potential risks and steps necessary to seize the moment and try to indeed do just that, also making the RROD of consoles past a distant memory. Will they announce it as soon as E3? Highly unlikely. Truth is who knows when they will announce it, but I do think for the reasons mentioned above, it will be much sooner than anyone might have expected.

Original Post: NeoWin.Net

Tekken 6 and Soul Calibur fighting their way onto the PSP

Today Namco Bandai have announced that Tekken 6 would be finding its way onto the PSP this year, but giving that news enough time to make its way around, they then announced that a PSP version of Soul Calibur would also be arriving.

Tekken 6 for the PSP will be released at the same time as the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game that are scheduled for the end of this year.

The game will come with some additional content that includes some stages, items and will include an ad-hoc multi-player mode.
As a new addition, a "Ghost" infrastructure mode has been added that allows a player to upload their data that can then be downloaded by others to compare their skills.

Soul Calibur, subtitled Broken Destiny, will be a PSP exclusive version of Soul Calibur 4. It will come with all the usual characters that have been built up over the last few games, but will be ditching the Star Wars exclusive characters from the 4th iteration and will add a new character by the name of Dampiere.

Broken Destiny will come with the character creation tools that have been in place for a number of the games, and will come with the usual set of modes, Arcade, Versus and Survival along with a new single-player mode that is aimed to help those new to the game to learn how everything works.

It will feature the armour destruction and critical finish features that were introduced in Soul Calibur 4, and as a new feature for level section, you will be able to set the time of a level letting you play at different times of the day.

Broken Destiny like Tekken 6 will also come with Ad-Hoc support for the title allowing you to play wireless multi-player and it is also mentioned that Infrastructure mode might be possible in the future.

Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny will be arriving some time this summer.

Original Post: NeoWin.Net

MSNBC looks at the effect of Demigod piracy

There has been quite a bit of discussion in the past couple of weeks about piracy, Demigod, and the possible effect on the industry as a whole. In reading various blogs, community forums, and talking with gaming 'experts', there has been a wide range of responses from both ends of the spectrum on this.

Demigod was officially released two weeks ago but as we covered here last week, it had its street date broken by Gamestop, which led to pirates around the world to slam Stardock servers with illegal copies of the game. At one point, there were over 100,000 more players than anticipated on their servers, and only around 18,000 legitimate copies of the game sold at that time.

MSNBC.com has a video about gaming piracy, in which Stardock CEO Brad Wardell comments and adds his thoughts about how it affected Demigod, and possibly the industry.

Original Post: NeoWin.Net

Del Ray to publish Elder Scrolls novels

Del Ray the Sci-Fi and Fantasy book publisher is teaming up with Bethesda Softworks to release two novels that are new original stories based off The Elder Scrolls video games.

The first of the two Novels that are to be written, titled Infernal City, is based in and around The Elder Scrolls universe that takes place after The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and is to continue the story of what happens to Tamriel after the events of the game.

The synopsis of the the frist novel follows:
"Floating high above the land is a strange and mysterious city that is casting a horrifying shadow – wherever it falls, people die and rise again as undead. It is up to an unlikely duo – a seventeen-year-old girl named Annaig and the Emperor's young son, Prince Attrebus – to rescue the kingdom from doom."

Both books will be written by Greg Keyes who is known mostly for his work on three books from the New York Times best selling series Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, he has also worked on titles for Babylon 5 and worked on this own books in the The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone series.

Pete Hines, vice president of public relations and marketing for Bethesda Softworks commented. "We've been big fans of Greg's work for a long time, and we're thrilled he agreed to bring his talents to The Elder Scrolls"
"We see these books as a natural extension of the franchise and think fans will love the stories and characters Greg has created."

The first book will be published during the fall later this year, and is to join a host of novels that are based off computer games with the likes of the Halo Series, Gears of War, Resistance, Republic Commando and many more.

Original Post: NeoWin.Net

Xbox 360 hits 30 million in sales

Microsoft Xbox 360 has hit another milestone today. As reported by VGchartz, the next generation console has reached sales of 30 million worldwide.

Released on Novemeber 22, 2005, it has taken Microsoft's second gaming console just over three years to reach the mark. While this may not sound significant when comparing it to it's rivals (the Nintendo Wii is currently just under 50 million in sales), this is a nice improvement when comparing it to Microsoft's first entry into the console market, the Xbox, which sold under 20 million in it's lifetime.

Things only look promising for the console as new AAA titles are soon to be released, and new and big announcements are expected to be heard from this year Electronic Entertainment Expo which takes place in June.

Original Post: NeoWin.Net

Sony to unveil redesigned PSP at E3

There have been rumors about a PSP redesign, but now 1UP.com claims sources directly involved with the project have told them that Sony will unveil the latest variant of its portable gaming console at the E3 conference this coming June.

Image courtesy of 1UP.com. Note: This is not the actual PSP

According to their sources, Sony will "forgo a numerical moniker in favor of a subtitle". So you wouldn't see a 'PSP-4000' anytime too soon. 1UP.com speculates that this new system would be called the PSP Go!, in keeping with the Go! brand of add-ons released for the European PSP. Sources have also said that the model will be available in two SKUs, with either an 8 GB or 16GB internal flash memory.

Wait, 8GB/16GB internal memory? That's right. You would need all that space now that the new PSP will no longer play UMDs. All titles for the PSP would be available as downloads instead. As for the hardware, the button layout will remain faithful to the older generations of PSPs and will not include dual analogue sticks, as rumored by many fans. It would feature a sliding mechanism (as pictured above).

1UP.com also speculates that Sony could be integrating the Mylo's design into the new PSP, and hence could feature a touch screen and a camera.

Well it is no surprise that Sony has finally decided to redesign its PSP, as it faces stiff competition from newly released Nintendo DSi and iPod Touch/iPhone. Many rumors were flowing around back when the PSP 3000 was released, of a redesigned PSP which would be released in 2011. The real surprise here is that Sony has opted for 'sooner' rather than 'later'.

The Ion Arrives - Acer AspireRevo

The Ion Arrives - Acer AspireRevo


By Vincent Chang

Category : Others


Published by Vincent Chang on Tuesday, 28th April, 2009

Rating : 4 out of 5 stars

The First Ion

It was a sensational debut. NVIDIA's Ion platform received unanimous approval at this year's CES 2009 show, en route to winning the show's 'Best Enabling Technology' award. Going by the gushing quotes from tech enthusiasts, the small Pico-ITX wonder box that was NVIDIA's engineering sample, was greeted like a cure for cancer.



Well, it was not exactly that of course, but in its debut performance on the big stage, the Ion did appear to be a cure for "Blu-ray-ritis", or what we term the impotence of Intel's Atom when it comes to handling HD video content.

Since then, we have had a chance to test the NVIDIA engineering sample for ourselves and found it to be as capable

as advertised. With the same integrated GPU as the one now found on the entirety of Apple's notebook series, the GeForce 9400M, the Ion manages to lift its partner processor, the Intel Atom above its usual mediocre performance. 1080p HD videos were playing smoothly on our system.

Yet, despite its potential, what followed has been a period of uncertainty, with seemingly no takers for the chipset among OEMs. It was looking a bit like VIA's Nano processor, left for dead by the Intel Atom. As usual, part of the reason is Intel, which has responded to the competition posed by the Ion with an attack
on the chipset, with higher power consumption and cost quoted as main weaknesses.

It made for exciting news for us but we were no closer to seeing the Ion in any form, whether as a low-cost, low-power media center replacement or in one of the mini-notebooks that were taking the market by storm. That is, until this month.

Together with Acer, NVIDIA has finally made good its promise to deliver the Ion platform. The Acer AspireRevo is a small system about the size of a large book. With a volume of around 1 liter, it's slightly larger than the engineering sample from NVIDIA, but then again, it also looks more polished. Before we get to it, here's how it looks and the technical specifications of our review unit:-

The Acer AspireRevo has the distinction of being the first NVIDIA Ion system available from vendors. It's not vaporware anymore.

Acer AspireRevo Technical Specifications

Processor and Chipset	Intel Atom 230 (1.6GHz) with 512KB L2 cache NVIDIA Ion
Operating System	Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit SP1
Memory	2GB DDR2-800
Storage	Hitachi HTS543216L9A 5400RPM 160GB
Audio	Realtek HD Audio CODEC Up to 7.1-channel audio output
Networking	NVIDIA Gigabit LAN controller w/ FirstPacket Technology
Video	NVIDIA Ion 450MHz core, 1100MHz shader 128-bit Up to 512MB shared graphics memory
I/O	6 x USB 2.0 ports (2 front, 4 rear) 1 x eSATA port 4-in-1 card reader (MMC, SD, xD-Picture, Memory Stick) Gigabit Ethernet port HDMI output Analog VGA output
PCB	Pico-ITX motherboard form factor, 180 x 180 x 30mm

Oracle Announces New Release Of Oracle Transportation Management

Manila, Philippines -- Oracle has announced the availability of Oracle Transportation Management 6.0, a global transportation management system that helps streamline transportation planning, execution, financial settlement, visibility and business process automation across all modes of transportation.

With this latest release, Oracle delivers Oracle Fleet Management, the industry’s first combined shipment and asset-centric transportation solution that enables companies to manage private fleet and common carrier networks on a single platform for increased asset utilization, lower transportation costs and reduced environmental impact.

Oracle Transportation Management 6.0 provides extended transportation sourcing and business intelligence capabilities within the same, single platform. The solution also features expanded functionality for planning, execution and financial settlement.

With Oracle Transportation Management 6.0, organizations can better manage their orders, shipments and fleet resources, thereby reducing costs, streamlining processes, improving customer service and supporting sustainability objectives.

Bringing Fleet Management Into Control

Oracle Transportation Management 6.0 supports broader fleet processes beyond transportation planning and execution, including order management, asset management, driver/contractor management and financial settlement.

Oracle Transportation Management 6.0 enables companies to:

o Reduce overall fuel costs and associated emissions;

o Improve asset utilization, tracking and lifecycle management;

o Enhance service through fleet-specific order management capabilities;

o Boost driver satisfaction and retention through increased utilization while accounting for driver-specific dispatch requirements;

o Gain greater insight into fleet operations through driver dispatch, mobile communications and asset tracking;

o Measure and control financial performance by leveraging new capabilities for costing, payables, billables, cost accruals, revenue recognition and claim and dispute management; and

o Ensure overall safety and visibility within the transportation value chain.

“Effective transportation management increasingly demands that companies be able to control, and manage, both their own fleets as well as for-hire carriers,” said Dwight Klappich, Gartner Research Vice President. “We find that the current difficult economic climate is placing extra emphasis on the need for transportation and fleet management tools to help control costs while managing assets and resources."

"Traditional, stand-alone fleet management solutions do not offer shipping and logistics managers with holistic insight to effectively manage their fleet,” said Derek Gittoes, Oracle Vice President, Logistics Product Strategy. “The result is missed opportunities for operational savings and a higher cost of ownership. Providing this capability in a single system changes the game for being a best-in-class transportation management system”

For more information, visit www.oracle.com.

SPARKLE Intros GeForce 9800 GT Plus Edition Graphics Card

Manila, Philippines -- SPARKLE Computer Co., Ltd. recently introduced the SPARKLE GeForce 9800 GT Plus Edition Graphics Card with SPARKLE own designed non-reference PCB, which brings better OC performance and stability compared with NVIDIA reference design, and getting mainstream gamers pulled deeper into the gaming experience and HD video than ever before.

Advanced Rendering Architecture

Based on NVIDIA’s next generation G92 architecture, the SPARKLE GeForce 9800 GT Plus Edition Graphics Card adopts innovative unified architecture, dynamically allocates processing power to geometry, vertex, physics, or pixel shading operations, delivering up to times the gaming performance of prior generation GPUs. Built upon technologies such as NVIDIA Lumenex Engine, providing support for DirectX 10 Shader Model 4.0, NVIDIA Quantum Effects technology for physics computation and GigaThread Technology for extreme processing efficiency in advanced, next generation shader programs.

Great Designed Non-Reference PCB

SPARKLE graphics cards with high performance and exceptional speeds are never far from the gamers' mind. That is why SPARKLE, producer of top quality graphic solutions, has today introduced the graphical solution with its own designed PCB. This PCB design provides enhanced power circuitry with more phases of vGPU power circuit and vMem circuit, combining with Japan-made polymer capacitors will lower power loss, making the graphics card more stable and powerful than NVIDIA reference design. In this way, users will be able to enjoy extreme performance and have peace of mind over product lifespan.

Unbeatable DX10 Gaming Power

Compared with ordinary GeForce 9800 GT graphics cards on market, the SPARKLE GeForce 9800 GT Plus Edition Graphics Card features 675MHz core speed, 112 processor cores operating at 1674MHz, offering first-rate graphics, physics, and GPU computing performance, as well as the absolute best DX10 gaming experience in latest DX10 games such as Gears of War, Bioshock, Crysis for gamers.

2nd Generation PureVideo HD

High-definition video decoder and post-processor delivers unprecedented picture clarity, smooth video and accurate color for movies and video.

Cooling System

Exquisitely made cooling fans, which have high performance thermal compound ensures optimal thermal dissipation even after years of use.

Full Microsoft DirectX 10 Support

DirectX 10 GPU with full Shader Model 4.0 support delivers unparalleled levels of graphics realism and film-quality effects.

NVIDIA PhysX

GeForce GPU support for NVIDIA PhysX technology, enabling a totally new class of physical gaming interaction for a more dynamic and realistic experience with GeForce.

NVIDIA CUDA Technology

CUDA technology unlocks the power of the GPU's processor cores to accelerate the most demanding system tasks such as video transcoding delivering up to 7x performance over traditional CPUs.

For more information, visit www.sparkle.com.tw.

SPH Websites Topped Hitwise Rankings in 2008

SPH Websites Topped Hitwise Rankings 2008

Singapore, 29 April 2009 - Five websites in the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) stable have topped Hitwise Rankings for 2008. Asiaone's soshiok.com, STOMP, zaobao.com, ST701.com, and hardwarezone.com have emerged Number One in their respective categories.

The Hitwise No. 1 Awards recognise websites from over 160 Hitwise industry categories that are leaders in their industry.

Asiaone's www.soshiok.com topped the category, Food and Beverage - Lifestyle and Reference. Soshiok.com covers food and wine appreciation, gourmet and epicurean lifestyle, entertaining and cooking. It has remained the top food and beverage lifestyle site in Singapore since its launch last May.

STOMP's 'singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg' clinched the top spot for the Lifestyle - Blogs and Personal Websites category.

Zaobao.com and ST701.com are the Number One websites for the News and Media (Print) and Shopping and Classifieds (Classified) categories respectively. Both sites held the top positions in these categories for three consecutive quarters last year.

hardwarezone.com, a SPH Magazines Pte Ltd website, topped three categories - Computers and Internet (Hardware), Social Networking & Forums, and News and Media (IT Media). The site has been a consistent winner for Hitwise’s IT categories.

Ms Chen Jingwen, Editor of soshiok.com, said: "SoShiok.com has established itself as an authoritative, engaging and lively food website, where foodies and gourmets go to, to obtain reviews by reliable food critics and recipes by international chefs as well as exchange views on food issues. This award is a very clear indication of the stamp of approval given by our readers of the appeal of SoShiok.com."

STOMP’s editor, Ms Serene Siew, said, “Singapore Seen is Singapore's number one citizen media website, and is a platform which allows our citizens to have a voice, to tell us their news and views on events and issues close to their hearts. I am pleased that there is active citizenry, judging from the steady flow of contributions from "Stompers" who are our eyes and ears on the ground.”

Mr Zheng Wei, Editor of Zaobao.com, said, “Zaobao’s efforts to report up-to-date stories on current affairs, especially on the current economic situation, have been rewarded. I’m heartened to see that our site remains popular among readers, who recognise the quality reporting and in-depth analyses by our team.”

On ST701's success, Ms Elsie Chua, Executive Vice President of Marketing, said, “ST701 has focused on engaging with users and creating an environment where it is fun to advertise or find jobs, cars, property and other stuff online. We are encouraged to be the Number One online classifieds site for 2008 and will strive to continuously deliver more value for our users.”

For Hardwarezone.com, Mr Lim Chuan Jer, General Manager of SPH Magazines, said, “Our achievements would be nothing short of a confidence booster to not just the team behind hardwarezone.com, but also to our advertisers who have been believing in our platform. Based on Google Analytics, we've registered a significant pageview growth of 27% in 2008 against 2007. Unique visitors also saw a rocket growth of 73% to 12 million for the entire year of 2008.”

The Hitwise Ranking lists are updated daily and provide a comprehensive overview of top performing websites across the industries. Reporting on over 800,000 websites, the ranking lists can be viewed according to different metrics (visits, page views or average session duration), time periods (daily, weekly and monthly) or area (local websites or all websites). Results are generated based on the market share percentage the website receives against the specified metric.

PC Power & Cooling Introduces the Silencer 910 PSU

PC Power & Cooling Introduces the Silencer 910 PSU, 80+ Silver Certified for the Ultimate Balance of Power and Efficiency

San Jose, Calif.—April 27, 2009 - OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory and PC components, today unveiled the new Silencer 910 power supply from PC Power & Cooling. The Silencer line has proven itself as one of the most trusted PSU series on the market over the past twenty years, built for absolute stability and reliability for high end enthusiast systems, and the newest addition to our legendary Silencer series completes the family of ultra-quiet highly reliable and efficient PSUs which now range from 370W to the new 910W (1KW peak).

Featuring an industry-leading 80+ Silver Certification, the Silencer 910 offers one of the highest efficiencies on the market combined with a power output to meet the demands of the most component-heavy systems. Where ultimate power meets top efficiency, the robust Silencer 910 is the ideal solution for today’s high-end gaming systems and professional workstations.

“PC Power & Cooling has a rich history when it comes to highly efficient, maximum-performance power supplies,” stated Ryan Edwards, Director of Product Management for OCZ Technology. “With the release of the newest member of our legendary Silencer series, we continue a long-standing commitment of building quality PSUs that began nearly a quarter century ago. Today’s enthusiast and mission-critical market expects the highest efficiency possible while still maintaining reliable, cutting-edge performance, and the new PC&C Silencer 910 delivers on these requirements and more, offering the ultimate high-performance package retailing under $200.”

Designed to offer consumers a combination of legendary PSU architecture and the ultimate in quiet power management, the Silencer 910 is the optimal power solution for gamers and enthusiasts with multiple power-hungry drives and video cards. The Silencer delivers 910 Watts of continuous power and 1KW at its peak, and offers a temperature rating of 50C, twice that of the industry standard. Garnering an 80+ Silver Certification, the Silencer 910 is one of the highest efficiency PSUs on the market for energy and cost savings at 88% efficiency typical load.

Next-generation platforms and high-performance graphics cards are essential components for modern gaming and enthusiast system builds. Tested and qualified under NVIDIA’s renowned certification program, the rock solid Silencer 910 edition not only meets a high standard of quality, but guarantees superior compatibly with the latest graphic cards to provide sufficient output to even the most demanding GPUs and cutting-edge platforms. Featuring rock-solid, super-clean DC output, a powerful Single Rail +12VDC (74A), and complete array of connectors including quad PCI-Express, 24-pin, dual 8-pin, and 4/8-pin motherboard connectors, this PSU can power an array of high end components.

With a history of over 20 years building long-lasting, investment-grade PSUs, PC Power built the Silencer 910 using the highest quality components and circuitry to provide one of the highest MTBF ratings on the market at over 100,000 hours. The Silencer 910 offers the industry's most powerful yet versatile design on the market, backed by an industry-leading 5-Year warranty commitment and the in-depth knowledge of PC Power & Cooling technical support.

For more information on the PC Power & Cooling Silencer 910, please visit our product page here.

Samsung LED Full HD TVs: A Whole New TV Species

Manila, Philippines -- Samsung recently unveiled a new TV species with its Samsung LED Full HD TVs B7000 and B6000. Each series uses Light Emitting Diodes (LED) as its primary light source, rather than traditional Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps (CCFL), to achieve ultra-high contrast ratios, slimmer depths and increased energy savings.

Compared to CCFL, LEDs produce darker blacks that appear endlessly deep to the eye while whites remain crisp and bright against vivid colors. The result is picture quality that measures up to the natural beauty of life. Viewing experience is further enhanced with Samsung’s acclaimed Auto Motion Plus frame interpolation technology to reduce motion blur and image judder.

By using LEDs, Samsung is able to shave the B7000 and B6000 down to ultra-thin depths for an even sleeker look. At just over an inch thick, the sets are trim with no compromise on connectivity options, nor foregoing an ATSC tuner. To further complement the svelte design of the new Samsung LED Full HD TVs, Samsung created an ultra-slim wall-mount solution – reducing the gap between the TV and the wall to around 0.6 inches, down from the two inches of bulkier solutions. The ultra-thin LED Full HD TV depth coupled with the new wall-mount solution allow for a simple installation akin to hanging a picture frame.

In 2008, Samsung created its unique crystal design, which uses dual-injection molding to coat a translucent, colored surface to achieve an attractive crystalline appearance. Samsung’s crystal design has evolved in its Samsung LED Full HD TVs to further accentuate the TVs’ slim bezels.

Lit by LEDs, the Samsung B7000 and B6000 LED Full HD TVs all meet the more stringent Energy Star v3.0 guidelines by cutting power consumption to significantly new lows. LEDs are mercury-free, which adds another degree of environmental friendliness and safety compared with other backlight technologies. Energy consumption is reduced by 40%+ versus traditional LCD HDTVs of similar size. The Samsung LED Full HD TVs also include an optimized energy savings mode that adjusts the backlight and picture quality while continuing to produce smoother, more natural images.

This year, Samsung plans to redefine television watching with Medi@2.0 encompassing Content Library (Flash), USB 2.0 Movie and DLNA Wireless. Content Library (Flash) lets users enjoy a variety of cultural experiences, from art galleries, to cooking, and even yoga. With USB 2.0 Movie, users can expand USB convenience from music and image content to include movie content. DLNA Wireless allows users to easily enjoy their PC-based music, video, and pictures from any room in their home.

Samsung LED Full Samsung LED Full HD TV B7000

The Samsung LED Full HD TV B7000 features Samsung’s acclaimed Auto Motion Plus frame interpolation technology, 120Hz frame rate and mega contrast ratio for pure TV viewing pleasure.

Samsung’s B7000 comes with the Samsung Medi@2.0 solution including Content Library (Flash), USB 2.0 Movie and DLNA Wireless. View cultural content from Content Library (Flash). Plug in to view your favorite movie with USB 2.0 Movie or enjoy PC-based music, video, and pictures with the DLNA Wireless.

A 2009 CES Innovation Award honoree for “Ultra-Slim LED HDTV with the World’s Slimmest Wall Mount Solution”, the B7000 is set on a deep piano black bezel and is infused with a light ruby crystal design around the edges.

Samsung LED Full HD TV B6000

Samsung incorporates its Auto Motion Plus frame interpolation technology, frame rate of 120Hz and mega contrast ratio into the Samsung LED Full HD TV B6000 so consumers can enjoy crisp, easy viewing of sports, video games and movies.

With the USB 2.0 Movie feature, users can easily expand their USB enjoyment from music and image to include their favorite movies.

A 2009 CES Innovation Award honoree for “Eco-Friendly 1080p LED Full HD TV”, the B6000 rests elegantly on a deep piano black bezel and with a light ruby crystal design around the edges.

For more information, visit www.samsung.com/ph.

Mozilla delivers last Firefox 3.5 beta

Mozilla has launched a new beta release for the next version of its web browser, Firefox 3.5, bringing it a step closer to completion. Earlier betas in the series had been labeled 3.1, but Mozilla recently bumped the version number after deciding that the new features were more significant than it had originally envisioned – chief among them are a new private browsing mode and the faster TraceMonkey JavaScript engine.

The company has baked in support for a number of new HTML 5 web standards, including offline storage support (ala Google Gears) as well as embedded audio and video. It also includes location aware browsing and an undo close feature can salvage not only lost tabs but closed windows as well. Firefox 3.5 beta 4 is expected to be the last beta and as such it primarily brings stability improvements, bug fixes and some more speed gains.

Additionally, Mozilla developers have announced a new stable version of the browser to address a critical security vulnerability introduced in Firefox 3.0.9 last week. The vulnerability is a regression which in some cases caused frequent crashes. More details about the release can be found in the release notes.

News around the web: Coolest Robots of the Year

Coolest Robots of the Year @ PC World

Swine flu cases increase, hurting markets, airlines @ Reuters

Steve Jobs gives away house that he hates @ SilicionAlleyInsider

40 Awesome iPhone Application Websites @ WebDesignerDepot

See more articles and reviews.

Five years ago in TechSpot:

Mozilla & Gnome may go after Longhorn

Storage

Seagate Momentus 7200.4 500GB ST9500420AS @ HardwareLogic

The Mammoth 20 Terabyte Custom MEGA-NAS Project @ Tweaknews

Video

ATI Radeon HD 4770 @ Legion Hardware

ATI Radeon HD 4770 512MB GDDR5 Review @ Hardware Canucks

ASUS EAH4770 HTDI/512MD5/A Radeon HD 4770 Videocard @ PCSTATS

Misc.

NewerTechnology Voyager Q Hard Drive Dock Review @ Maximum CPU

Linux Firewall Part 4: Core Software Installation @ OCModShop

Peripherals

Logitech G19 Gaming Keyboard @ DriverHeaven.net

Ultimate Ears 700 Noise-Isolating Earphones Review @ I4U

Power Supplies

Lian Li PC-A05N & Maxima Force 470 W @ techPowerUp

Cooling

Reeven RCCT Review @ XSReviews

Nyko Intercooler TS for the Playstation 3 @ Futurelooks

Sound

ASUS Xonar Essence STX @ InsideHW

Enclosures

Prolimatech Megahalems @ DeXgo

Cooler Master Storm Scout - the smaller Lanparty Case @ TweakPC.de

Motherboards

ASRock X58 SuperComputer Motherboard Review @ Legit Reviews

ASUS ROG Rampage II Gene mATX X58 Motherboard @ TweakTown

Processors

Athlon X2 7850 Black Edition @ NeoSeeker

Six Cores Coming Soon - Opteron Turns Six @ HardwareZone