Microsoft Offers OneCare & Office Via Subscription Model

Microsoft will finally offer their Equipt service this month, a $70 yearly fee that provides Windows Live OneCare and online tools as well as Office Home and Student 2007. The idea is having a bundle where all applications are kept up to date in an affordable package. In this case, if the costs were taken for a year, the bundle is still cheaper than buying a boxed copy of office, with the benefit of antivirus protection built in (for reference, Office costs $150, and OneCare costs $50).

The service will be sold at Circuit City stores nationwide. As Ars points out, the company stresses that they will not be making a complete transition to subscription-based models.

Microsoft has released more details about its new software subscription bundle that went into testing in mid-April. The bundle has been officially dubbed Microsoft Equipt and will be made available in mid-July 2008 at nearly 700 Circuit City stores in the US. Equipt licenses will cost $70 per year and will include Windows Live OneCare, Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007, Microsoft Office Live Workspace, and Windows Live tools.

Source: Ars Technica

Game Consoles Offer Sexual Predators 'Foot In The Door'

As more and more game consoles offer network connectivity and online play, potential downsides to this bevy of networkability have begun to crop up. More recently, 'net-connected consoles are being treated as a new battleground in the sexual predation of children.Sexual predators are turning to online games that offer in-game test messaging and voice chat to lure new victims.

But as the predators move to new types of media to court their prey, police and federal enforcement agents are hot on their heels, moving to Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. Now, if there's a cool law enforcement job to have, it would have to be spending your days playing online games in order to catch sexual predators. You'd be able to get your game on, and do good for society at the same time. Heck, I'd sign up for that.

In Utah, a man was charged this year with sexual exploitation of a minor for enticing a 12-year-old boy he met through an online game into having sex, says Lt. Jessica Farnsworth, field commander of the Utah Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. She says predators meet kids on a game, "groom them and then try to move off the game."

Source: USA Today

PS3 2.40 Firmware with In-Game XMB and Trophies Now Available

It's been a long wait for PS3 fans who have ached for in-game access to the xross media bar and a comparable achievement system to Xbox Live. Be sure to check out Sony's FAQ and our earlier post explaining the PS3's trophies system if you have any questions.

Source: PlayStation Blog

July 1st Tech Roundup

• AMD Phenom X4 9950 & 9350e - Legit Reviews

• Sapphire Radeon HD4850 512MB - Hardware Canucks

• Corsair Voyager 16GB & 4GB - Madshrimps
• QNAP TS-209 Pro Gigabit SATA NAS - Benchmark Reviews

• Apple Wireless Keyboard - TheTechLounge
• AXP 2.5/3.5" SATA to eSATA & USB Dock - techPowerUp

• Scythe Kaze Master Fan Controller - Tech-Reviews
• SilenX iXtrema IXC-12HA2 CPU Cooler - ThinkComputers

• Thermaltake XaserVI MX - Rbmods
• Tagan PipeRock TG1100-BZ 1100W - Technic3D
• Corsair HX1000W - PC Perspective
• Type R II 680W - Pro-Clockers
• Tuniq Ensemble 1200W - Overclockers Club

• Toshiba Satellite U300 Notebook- InsideHW
• Gateway P-172X FX Notebook- ComputerShopper
• Samsung CLP-610ND Color Laser Printer - Tweaknews

July 2nd Tech Roundup

• AMD Phenom X4 9950 & 9350e - Legit Reviews

• Sapphire Radeon HD4850 512MB - Hardware Canucks

• Corsair Voyager 16GB & 4GB - Madshrimps
• QNAP TS-209 Pro Gigabit SATA NAS - Benchmark Reviews

• Apple Wireless Keyboard - TheTechLounge
• AXP 2.5/3.5" SATA to eSATA & USB Dock - techPowerUp

• Scythe Kaze Master Fan Controller - Tech-Reviews
• SilenX iXtrema IXC-12HA2 CPU Cooler - ThinkComputers

• Thermaltake XaserVI MX - Rbmods
• Tagan PipeRock TG1100-BZ 1100W - Technic3D
• Corsair HX1000W - PC Perspective
• Type R II 680W - Pro-Clockers
• Tuniq Ensemble 1200W - Overclockers Club

• Toshiba Satellite U300 Notebook- InsideHW
• Gateway P-172X FX Notebook- ComputerShopper
• Samsung CLP-610ND Color Laser Printer - Tweaknews