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AT&T Sells Parental Cell Phone Controls
Is there anyone who actually prefers dealing with AT&T? They continue to give every single segment of their customer base a reason to dislike them, this time: teens. They have begun offering a service called “Smart Limit” at a contract-free $4.99 per month. Once signed up, the parent will have access to controls via a web page where they can allow/disallow SMS and phone calls at varying times of the day. They will essentially have full control over when the phone can be used. I can only imagine how many arguments this service is bound to spark…
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The Smart Limits service will be marketed to AT&T’s existing family plan customers and through advertising in parent magazines, Hill said, but because it is available throughout the AT&T network, the service can also be used by business customers or individuals looking to block and limit certain callers or hours of incoming calls. “We expect over time to see other segments open up,” Hill said.
Source: Wired
Gigabyte To Beat ASUS To Market With X38 Offerings?
Intel’s high-end X38 chipset will be launching later this month, but according to DigiTimes, ASUStek might not be one of the first ones out the door with a variety of motherboard offerings. Thanks to last-minute revision changes, their launch may be pushed back upwards of two weeks, while leading competitor Gigabyte is currently prepared for a smooth launch.
The official launch date has not been verified by Intel, but leaks speculate that it will be three weeks from now. Although the new chipset is quite similar to P35 which was launched this past May, it will bring features to the table that enthusiasts will appreciate, including dual GPU 16x PCI-E slots. That’s something that’s been previously only available on NVIDIA boards and also ASUS’ own Blitz boards on the ATI side.
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The sources indicated that Gigabyte’s X38 motherboards were showcased at Computex Taipei this year, with the Ultra Durable 2 technology as its major selling point. Ultra Durable 2 features low RDS (on) MOSFET, ferrite core choke, and low ESR solid capacitors. The motherboards also use all-copper heatpipes. Although the costs of Gigabytes’ motherboards are relatively high, the sources said they expect good market acceptability for the company’s X38 motherboards.
Source: DigiTimes
California Bans Forced Employee RFID Tagging
It’s not difficult to see that RFID is becoming increasingly popular and more difficult by the day to avoid, but did you know that there have actually been companies that have planted RFID tags into their employees? It’s a matter of “get tagged or look elsewhere for a job.” Foolish. What’s happening with the world when employees are tagged in the same manner that animals are before they are let back into the pastures?
Well I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks it’s ridiculous, but you can relax in knowing that the state of California has banned forcible RFID employee tagging. If your employer asks you to get tagged, you don’t have to in order to keep your job. Now we just need to sit back and see if the same legislation will be passed for anal probing.
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“RFID is a minor miracle, with all sorts of good uses,” Simitian said. “But we shouldn’t condone forced ‘tagging’ of humans. It’s the ultimate invasion of privacy.” Simitian said he fears that the devices could be compromised by persons with unauthorized scanners, facilitating identity theft and improper tracking and surveillance.
Source: LA Times
Hard-Drive That Features 1GB of DDR2 RAM
Hybrid hard drives are a welcomed innovation because they are low power and very efficient. However, as Ars Technica reports, there may be even better drives on the horizon. A company by the name of Mcell has produced a hard drive that includes a 1GB stick of DDR2 ram, essentially taking the place of the drives cache. By comparison, most standard high-end drives today utilize 16MB of cache, so the benefits of such a steep increase is evident.
The cool thing is that such a device takes up virtually no additional space inside of your PC. Inside a 3.5″ enclosure would be a 2.5″ drive and 1GB of DDR2 ram and also a special chip with a real-time OS and CPU. Although the drive would be rated for 5400RPM, the included RAM and efficient OS would effectively wipe out any potential bottlenecks. This is a strange but very interesting idea. I am looking forward to it actually being developed in larger quantities.
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The drive will initially be available in 80GB, 120GB, and 160GB sizes, with the 80GB model selling for Â¥15,800 ($136.15). According to the drive’s product page, it contains a “quick boot up option” as well as a “one-stop software failure option,” although it’s not entirely clear how the latter will work.
Source: Ars Technica
Free Games Courtesy of EA and Ubisoft
If you happen to be in the mood for gaming this week but are strapped for cash, no worries as both EA and Ubisoft have got you covered. This past week, Ubisoft released four titles absolutely free: Far Cry, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Rayman Raving Rabbids. Free is good, but there is a catch. Each one of them is ad-supported and requires you have an Ubi.com account. That’s fine, but what hurts is the fact that these games are only available to US players.
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There are more releases that everyone can enjoy though, courtesy of Electronic Arts. Last Friday marked the 12th anniversary of the first Command and Conquer game, so to celebrate, EA has released the game for free, including both the Global Defence Initiative and also Brotherhood of Nod versions. I remember playing these games when they were new. Multiplayer happened by dialing into your friends machine. Good times, but now I suddenly feel old…
Here are a few Gamers Hell links for the games. This is not the only website to host them, but was the first I stumbled on.
MPAA Says No To Suing Movie Fans, Yes To Purchasing E-mails
It’s no surprise that companies whine about things for the wrong reasons, and it’s also no surprise that they’d complain about illegal practices that effect their product, but then go behind everyone’s back and take part in shady practices themselves. Take the MPAA, who constantly complains about the harsh effects of piracy on their business, despite the fact that movie sales are at a record high.
Recently, it came about that they would not be suing movie fans, which helped clean up their image a little bit. Until now, where it has become public knowledge that they paid $15,000 for private e-mails from a prior TorrentSpy employee. As it turns out, the MPAA didn’t do anything illegal, since the ex-employee signed an affidavit noting that they were gathered using legal means. When will the movie industry worry about more important things? Such as continuing to create blockbuster movies that helped it hit a record high this past summer.
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When TorrentSpy found out this had happened, it sued the MPAA for violating federal wiretap rules. A judge recently tossed out the case, saying that the MPAA’s actions were legal. The group claimed that its informant, a former TorrentSpy employee, signed an affidavit saying that the e-mails had been acquired legally (turns out that he had hacked into the mail server and forwarded the e-mails to a Gmail account of his own).
Source: Ars Technica
Upcoming Apple Products Revealed, More On iPhoneSIMFree
Yes, it appears I couldn’t go a full two news posts without posting even more iPhone related tidbits. Earlier this morning we posted that CNN took a look at the iPhoneSIMFree service, but now even more details have surfaced.
As Engadget has found out, the business is up and running, but not to end-users. Rather, only wholesalers are able to purchase bulk bundles and re-sell them to their customers. This of course means that many will be making huge profit by buying bulk counts and re-selling them on eBay and the like. Prices begin at 50 licenses for $1,800 ($36 each), with overall prices decreasing the more you buy.
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Apple news doesn’t stop there, though. Last Wednesday we posted about a special press event that would be occurring this coming Wednesday. Industry site DigiTimes has revealed information on what will be unveiled there. First is a new iPod Video that will feature a widescreen and also WiFi capabilities. The iPod Nano will also be updated with better storage and an iPhone-like interface. Lastly, the lowly iPod Shuffle will also have it’s storage upgraded, but that’s as far as it’s upgrades go.
Optimus Maximus Includes Bland Packaging
If you are one of the few people willing to spend $1,500 on an ugly keyboard, wouldn’t you at least expect the packaging to be the best you’ve ever seen? Not in the case of the Optimus Maximus keyboard, no. The project has just posted an unboxing, showing purchasers what to expect when they receive their own copy. Why they would show such bland packaging at all is beyond me. At least it will keep the keyboard safe during shipment. There’s always that.
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Package is an essential part of the product for two reasons. First, the product should be wrapped in something to be send by post. Second, is there’s no packaging or there’s one that’s crap, all the reviewers will write about it. In fact, no one cares about the ecology when emotions are concerned.
Source: Optimus Project Blog
iPhone Unlocking Demonstrated To CNN
It goes without saying that the iPhone has had its share of news since it’s launch, but lately it’s all been about unlocking it and keeping it away from AT&T. Even CNN picked up on it, noting a couple quotes from the iPhoneSIMFree developers and also AT&T themselves. Notable is the quote from Mark Siegal of AT&T, “When you sign up, you’re signing a two-year contract. You’re obligated to pay the bill.”
If you bought an iPhone and got wrapped into a two-year deal, then it’s going to be difficult to get out. But for those who can manage an iPhone purchase without the contract, you might be smooth sailing… once the software sees the light of day. As the article mentions, the developers are waiting on comments from their lawyers before moving forward, so hopefully something will surface before the end of the week.
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They [developers] said they are fans of Apple products who thought the iPhone should be made accessible to people who cannot use AT&T. “I’m not in America and I can’t use it,” said Liu, who would not reveal the country in which he lives. “It’s not fair.” Asked if he thought modifying the iPhone was legal, he said “That’s a very good question. I truly believe it is.”
Source: CNN.com
Vista Or Net Access… Which Would You Choose?
If there is anything that you’ve gained from reading our news, it’s probably that not too many of us on staff enjoy Windows Vista. But who can blame us? Even Microsoft themselves know that Vista is a pain, but the sad thing is that the “fixes” are not coming quick enough. Regardless of how much I personally dislike the OS, I can at least admit that I’ve had no real problem getting online with it, which is more than this Swedish city can say.
According to a Swedish newspaper, the city of Lund has a choice between using Vista or having access to the internet. The reasons are not clear, but the ISP apparently runs Linux and the IT guy doesn’t feel ambitious enough to tweak the configuration. Ridiculous though, considering Lund houses almost 80,000 residents, many who are likely to be running Microsoft’s new OS.
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According to this local newspaper, the reason is because Lund is a Linux city which has a a Linux server that doesn’t like Vista. Lundis Energi blamed Microsoft because Vista has got a bug and it isn’t going to change the configuration of the server just to cope with the flaw. A local Microsoft rep said it could probably fix the problem if Lundis Energi got in touch with it.
Source: The Inquirer
Sony Releases Another Rootkit?
It sure doesn’t seem like it, but it’s almost been two full years since the lid blew off of Sony’s rootkit-infected music CDs fiasco, something that has scarred the company and made them the butt of jokes ever since. So whenever anything “minor” occurs with the company, people notice and immediately escalate the issue.
Case in point would be with Sony’s Micro Vault USM-F thumb drive, which uses a rootkit-like feature to disguise itself on a Windows PC. Malicious applications could be left underneath the same folder and go undetected. What I’m wondering, is whether or not this is unique to this particular thumb drive. There are many drives on the market that have the same functionality. Would it be unreasonable to think that they might do the exact same thing?
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In this case, the “good will” was a security program that tried to keep itself secure from would-be hackers but ended up becoming a security risk itself. This is a little bit different from the original Sony BMG rootkit fiasco, where the intent was to deliberately add protection software to music CDs that consumers did not ask for or want and make that protection software hard or impossible to detect and uninstall.
Source: Ars Technica
How Does 17,000% Profit Sound?
It’s likely that at some point during our lives, we look back at something and regret it highly. Of course, no one owns a De Lorean anymore, so we can’t exactly go back in time to right our wrongs. Luckily, there is a great way to make yourself feel better about the past… look at the major mistakes of others. Such as one eBay seller.
Long story short, this one seller sold a very old bottle of liquor on eBay, not caring to actually proof-read the auction prior to posting. Thanks to that oversight, it sells for $300USD. Seems like a solid sale at first, however the buyer knew what the bottle was really worth. He re-listed the item on eBay a month later, and it ended just a few weeks ago at just over $500,000USD. It’s an incredible item but an even more incredible profit.
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This is a faint glimmer of hope for those aspiring to become internet brazillionaires. Some guy decides to sell a 200 year old bottle of ale but accidentally leaves out one “P” in the brand name. A lucky bargain hunter just happens to see the auction and –realizing the value of the bottle– spends a healthy $300 only to resell it for half a million a little later. Yeah, I’d be mad.
Source: CrunchGear
NBC Claims It’s Not About The Money
We posted yesterday that NBC and Apple were officially breaking up. According to Apple, it was primarily due to the fact that NBC wanted to charge upwards of $4.99 per episode. Well, NBC issued a counter-argument yesterday that pointed out it wasn’t really about money, but rather how they lacked the ability to create custom packages that would be appealing to the consumer. Yeah. That seems likely.
Not to end things there, they brought the security issue into play, noting: “since it is estimated that the typical iPod contains a significant amount of illegally downloaded material.” Is it really that common for people to download TV shows from the web and copy them to their iPod? It comes as a surprise to me. Regardless, you don’t have to look too hard to realize that NBC is the one at fault here.
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Right. This has exactly WHAT to do with legitimately selling shows to paying customers, NBC? We think this is the telling quote: “It is clear that Apple’s retail pricing strategy for its iTunes service is designed to drive sales of Apple devices, at the expense of those who create the content that make these devices worth buying.” Yeah, pretty clear it’s still about the money for those guys.
Source: Engadget
How Linus Copes With Criticism
Open source projects are great. They create free applications and tools for anyone who wants them, and often times, the open sourced version is more robust and more secure than commercial equivalents. Like Linux for example. But as Linux.com points out, the lifestyle of the open-source coder is not always that peachy. Often arguments can occur and your code submission bashed. Even Linus can’t escape it, but he mentions in the article that he’s good in letting things go.
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FOSS development is often described as a meritocracy, where only the best code makes it into a project. That sounds good from the point of view of the user, but that philosophy has some harsh edges that can damage the ego and even cause developers to walk away from a project. Any developer’s code submissions might come under heavy criticism from rival contributors as well as from the project hierarchy. You need a tough hide to survive.
Source: Linux.com
BMW M3 Challenge To Be Free Game
Sure BMWs can be expensive, but when a deal like this comes along, you just need to hop into the driver’s seat and take off. Of course I’m talking about BMW M3 Challenge, a free game that will be available later this month. It’s built on the same engine as GT Legends and is designed to promote their brand new V8 M3, offering 420HP and 0-60 in 4.8s. Oh, and a price tag that equates to $100,000USD. Yeah. I am thinking I will play the game instead.
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The freeware game will debut at the IAA International Motor Show in Frankfurt in mid September, followed by a downloadable version at a later date. The game will feature four game modes, including online play for up to 16 players, with racing taking place at the Nürburgring. As an incentive to race online, BMW will be awarding prizes to the best international drivers.
Source: Pro-G
Microsoft To Buy BlackBerry?
Rumors are fierce that Microsoft is planning to buy Research In Motion, developers of the BlackBerry handheld. Reasons of course are linked to the success of the iPhone. Microsoft might be feeling a little anxious about their own products, so who better to acquire than one of the leading handheld companies? Apparently investors like the idea as well, as their stock prices immediately went up following the rumor leaks.
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Moving into as many markets as possible, and remaining strong in the business application realm, it makes sense for Microsoft to be interested in RIM. The iPhone’s use for business purposes has not yet met its potential, but a lot of companies are paying close attention to the device’s growth, success and influence.
Source: Mashable
20 (Very) Difficult Games
When I was younger, I had a bad habit where I would get so frustrated with a game, that I’d wind up throwing the gamepad across the room. Ironically, some of the games that pushed me over the edge are on Gamasutra’s list of “20 Difficult Games”. This is not a list for the most difficult games of all time, but are rather just a few games that happen to be difficult, and ones that new game designers can learn from. Oh Cobra Triangle, how I loathed thee.
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Nothing attracts the ire of those fickle game bloggers quite like them getting their asses handed to them by a game. And it is possible to make a game arbitrarily difficult without too much effort. Increase monster attack strength, decrease player health, remove resources and/or add more foes — these are just the most obvious ways a game can be made harder, and it doesn’t take any great skill to add them.
Source: Gamesutra
KDE 4.0 Delayed Until December 20
According to our friends at Phoronix, KDE 4.0 has been delayed until December 20th, making it two months late. Of course, it is much more sensible to deliver the product once it’s deemed stable. Delaying by two months will allow two additional beta releases, to make sure as many bugs are squashed as possible. Being a die hard KDE user myself, I’m anticipating the new release greatly. Four more months isn’t so bad, is it?
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KDE 4.0 Beta 3 is now scheduled for release on September 24 while the fourth beta will come out on October 22. There are two release candidates as well — KDE 4.0 RC1 on November 21 and KDE 4.0 RC2 on December 5. The new release schedule can be found at KDE.org.
Source: Phoronix
NBC & Apple Break Up
NBC announced the other day that they’ve decided to not renew their ongoing contract with Apple, which means all of the NBC sitcoms and dramas will no longer be available for purchase. This is all due to the fact that they were unable to come to a reasonable agreement, similar to what happened with Universal a few months back. Given that, it’s easy to think that Apple must be the cause, but no, not at all. Here’s what was given as the reason in the official release out of Apple:
“The move follows NBC’s decision to not renew its agreement with iTunes after Apple declined to pay more than double the wholesale price for each NBC TV episode, which would have resulted in the retail price to consumers increasing to $4.99 per episode from the current $1.99.”
Not much of a surprise though. Just look at the hassles that NBC has caused other companies in the past, including YouTube. Seriously. Who in the heck is running this network? Them pulling out of Apple means one thing… more piracy, less revenue. Not difficult to do the math.
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“We are disappointed to see NBC leave iTunes because we would not agree to their dramatic price increase,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of iTunes. “We hope they will change their minds and offer their TV shows to the tens of millions of iTunes customers.”
Source: Apple.com
What’s Coming Up On TG? Part 4
It’s hard to believe that it’s been two full weeks since our last “WCUOTG?”, but indeed it has. September is shaping up to be a very exciting month. As you can see by the picture below, a review of ASUS’ killer Xonar sound card is coming soon, hopefully by early next week if all goes according to plan. Although I am unsure of the in-depth test results yet, Rory is very impressed with the cards presentation. ASUS is looking to turn heads with their first sound card offering, that much is clear.
That’s not the only sound card coming up though. Matt Harris is currently taking a look at Auzentech’s X-Fi Prelude card, which everyone has high hopes for. Creative’s X-Fi is impressive as is (despite their whacked driver issues), but with Auzentech’s loving touch, we can only expect one amazing offering.
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The annual Austin Game Developers Conference takes place next week, with Kiersten hitting it up and relaying all that she finds out there to you. This is a developer-specific conference, so game announcements are not usually the priority, but we will learn about cool new upcoming technologies and hear keynotes from influential people.
Content doesn’t stop there though, as we have reviews of Dell’s 30″ HC monitor, ASUS and Samsung’s latest 22″ widescreens, Ideazon’s new MERC Stealth keyboard, ASUS P5K Premium motherboard, Turtle Beach’s new X3 headset, Cooler Masters CM690 chassis, Logitech’s G51 gamer’s speaker set, high-end Ultrasone Edition 9 headphones… and oh so much more on the way. As always, stay tuned!
Nikon Announces Eight New Digital Cameras
If there is one company that keeps up to a regular release schedule, it’s Nikon. If it seems like it has only been a few months since their last slew of releases, it’s for good reason. It was only this past February when they released eight new digital cameras, all of which are essentially outdated now, thanks to these new ones.
First are their budget L14 and L15 cameras. The L14 features a 7.1 MP sensor with 6.3-18.9mm lens while the L15 features an 8.0 sensor with 5.7-17.1mm lens. Moving onto their “Style” series, we have the S510 and S700. The S510 features 8.0 megapixels and 5.7-17.1mm lens, and the S700 features a staggering 12.1 megapixel sensor and a 7.9-23.7mm lens. The L14, L15 and S510 all come in Silver, Blue and Pink varieties, while the S700 offers models in “Titanium Silver” and “Urban Black”.
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Also new are the S51 and S51c, which both share the similar design that was introduced with the S6 released last August. Both feature 8.1 megapixels and a 6.3mm-18.9mm lens, but the “c” model includes WiFi capabilities. On the downside, it appears you can only upload to Nikon’s own “my Picturetown” service.
Nikon made huge news this past March when they finally brought back a capable point-and-shoot camera, the P5000, which I was personally pleased about since it included a viewfinder, something that all non-SLR Nikons lacked up until then. Well, the P5100 improves on the original by offering a 12.1 megapixel sensor, but includes the same 7.5-26.3mm lens. The P50 is a small brother of the P5100 and comes in Black and Silver models. They include an 8.1 megapixel sensor (Nikon must have many of these on hand ;-)) and a nice wide-angle 4.7-17.0mm lens. You can learn more about these new cameras through the link below.
Source: Nikon Imaging
HMV Canada Lowering Prices To Entice Buyers
Popular music retailer HMV has decided to lower the prices on their entire selection in Canada in order to entice buyers to… buy. Let’s face it… no one wants to pay upwards of $18 (or more) for a CD unless you are major fan of the band. Hilarity ensues if you want to purchase an older album, which normally start at $25. As a result of these price drops, older titles will be priced up to 33% lower, while the rest of the selection, including new releases, will drop 20%.
The CRIA (Canuck version of the RIAA) blames this move as a result to piracy. Oh really? Is it really surprising that people don’t want to shell out a crisp $20 for a new release? Being a Canuck and a regular HMV shopper, I’m pleased to hear about the price drops, especially on the older releases. Whether or not this move makes much of a difference is yet to be seen, but I’m hoping it will.
“Canada has the highest rate of illegal downloading in the world,” he told CBC News. “It’s affecting our ability to build a digital industry.” Other countries, including the U.S. and Britain, have been able to stem the tide of illegal downloading by updating laws and increasing enforcement, he said, but calls from the recording industry for updated copyright laws in Canada have gone unheeded.
Source: CBC News
Nero 8 Due In October
It’s been well over a year since we took a look at Nero’s 7 Ultra Edition, and soon it will be obsolete. According to Computing News, Nero will be releasing version 8 on October 1, and you can expect us to have a review shortly afterwards. New to this version will be some web-integration, including the ability to upload your videos and share content with MySpace, YouTube and a service called My Nero.
Also new is RescueAgent, allowing users to restore deleted files and recover data from scratched CDs. This in itself seems like a great tool and is one I look forward to giving a go. The latest version, as you would expect, is developed with Windows Vista in mind, and this will be seen with some Sidebar functionality, such as 1-click CD copying.
Nero 8 introduces the newly-designed Nero StartSmart user interface, which maximizes user efficiency with a one-stop solution for creating and managing digital media projects. With this new interface, prime functions like burning and ripping audio and data discs can now be accessed directly, letting users complete projects with one-click functions. Nero 8 also supports a number of next-generation formats with editing, playback, and burning features. In addition, Nero 8 lets users edit photo slide shows and create High Definition video in both Blu-ray BD-AV and HD DVD video formats.
Source: Computing News
Zune 2 & Zune Flash Images Leaked
It hasn’t even been a year since Microsoft released their Zune music player, but Zune 2 and Zune Flash images have made their way onto the web, courtesy of Gizmodo. The Zune 2 will feature an 80GB hard drive while the the Zune Flash offers a 4GB and 8GB model, and is far smaller than it’s big brother. The controller seems odd at first glance, but it might be one of those things you just need to use before making a conclusion. Looks sharp overall though.
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These photos came from a source who cites marketing materials, likely from the retail channel, but were confirmed by a second source as well. Does that mean they’re final? I don’t know. If I were Microsoft, I might seed the internet with mockups as to confuse. Oh how I love counterintelligence measures. So take them with a grain of salt, confirmed as something, but still unofficial.
Source: Gizmodo
AMD Announces 128-bit SSE5 Instruction Set
The past year hasn’t been too good for AMD. Their new releases are lackluster, to the point that they won’t even send out their latest releases to regular reviewers. Their ATI branch is suffering similar troubles with their X2-series of cards, which haven’t been able to out-perform NVIDIAs biggest models. So, if you were AMD, what would you do to really aggravate the competition? Release a new instruction set with their naming scheme, of course.
Yes, Intel first released SSE back in the Pentium 3 days, followed by SSE2 with the Pentium 4 and SSE3 in late 2005. SSE4 is on it’s way with Penryn/Nehalem, so to see an SSE5 instruction set on the horizon that has virtually nothing to do with Intel is beyond odd. It wouldn’t be so much of a problem if SSE5 was built on top of SSE4, but it’s not. It uses portions of SSE4 which seems to become SSE4A, as seen in this forum thread. In fact, SSE5 could have been named 3DNow!2 and it would have made much more sense.
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But, I am putting too much emphasis on that. The fact is, SSE5 will bring some interesting things to the table. According to documentation, SSE5 would thrive off of a GPU, which is where AMD’s own Fusion technology would be of benefit. The set also adds over one hundred new instructions, which you can see laid out in this comprehensive PDF. Now the question to ask is, what will Intel be naming their next instruction set?
Source: Ars Technica