Microsoft updates Games For Windows Live

Microsoft quietly updated its Games for Windows Live service to version 3.0 yesterday. The biggest new feature, according to the company, is how users can now access the marketplace to buy content while playing any supported title and have it download and install in the background. The feature should help streamline digital distribution on PCs and follows a growing trend of generating additional revenue through post-release game content – Valve offers a similar feature on Steam and even Apple is supporting it for iPhone apps

n-game account management is also now possible, so you won't have to stop playing Fallout 3 (or whatever) in order to buy some Microsoft Points, edit your credit card info, or redeem codes. While most gamers will agree the aforementioned features are welcome additions to Games for Windows, there’s also a couple more that are meant to appease publishers.

This includes two new anti-piracy solutions: a Server Side Authentication method that links the game license to a user’s Gamertag, allowing you to game from anywhere but apparently also making used game discs worthless for sale or giving away; and Zero Day Piracy Protection to keep games from launching before the street date the publisher has set for the game. The update is available as a free download here.

Via introduces new rugged Mini ITX board

New hardware is on the way from VIA, in the form of a new addition to their wide EPIA series. The new N700-10EW board conforms to the Nano-ITX form factor and is designed specifically for “extreme” environments. Extreme as it is defined here isn't the usual PC hardware marketing term, but rather indicates the board is up to the job of being situated in extremely high or cold temperatures, at high altitudes or in other intense environments.

The new board certainly seems to boast such functionality on paper, with VIA saying it can withstand temperatures as cold as -20C or as hot as 70C. The company guarantees maximum stability at these temperatures, indicating it may operate far beyond those limits – despite its fanless design.

The N700-10EW is based on a plethora of other common VIA components, such as the VX800 chipset, onboard gigabit LAN, audio, USB and Compact Flash. They even mention its media functionality, but clearly their aim here isn't the standard media center or highly integrated niche markets they generally pursue. You can catch all the details on the product page, but things such as pricing and what sort of manufacturing differences this board has over other EPIAs are not mentioned.

Bug found in Windows 7 RTM, delay rumors exaggerated

Microsoft today made the finalized version of Windows 7 available for download to TechNet and MSDN subscribers, announcing the right-on-schedule delivery on the officialWindows Blog. At the same time, however, a recently-discovered memory bug is threatening to spoil the milestone as several sites are picking up the story and speculating about a possible launch delay.

While the bug has been called everything from critical to catastrophic, Windows division president Steven Sinofsky claims it is far from being a show stopper and joked about the blogosphere blowing things out of proportion.

The flaw is triggered when users run the CHKDSK command with the /r switch, which is designed to locate and repair bad sectors on a disk. According to reports, this should result in your memory quickly gobbled away by the chkdsk.exe process until it either stops at or around 90% or it maxes completely out and crashes the computer. Though it is said to affect both 32 and 64-bit versions of Windows 7, it’s also not reproducible 100% of the time and apparently only affects systems with multiple hard drives or partitions.

Sinofsky still acknowledged the alleged flaw is something they must look into and that, for affected users, simply updating chipset drivers from the PC motherboard manufacturer may take care of the problem. Hopefully a fix will come ahead of the Windows 7 launch, but even if it doesn’t apparently it’s not serious enough to derail plans of an October 22 release.

Logitech intros G500 gaming mouse and G330 headset

Logitech has unveiled two new additions to its G-series line of gaming peripherals - the Gaming Mouse G500 and Gaming Headset G330. The first is the successor to Logitech’s well-regarded G5 Laser Mouse, featuring a new, less ostentatious ergonomic design akin to the MX line, and improved sensitivity thanks to its on-the-fly adjustable DPI system that varies from 200 to a whopping 5,700 in 100 DPI increments.

The usual gaming mice features are also present, including removable weights to customize and tune the overall feel of the device and 10 programmable buttons. Different configurations for custom button layouts can be saved to the mouse’s internal memory, and there’s also a hyper-fast scroll wheel mode for web browsing.

As for the Logitech Gaming Headset G330, it features a behind-the-head wrap around design and a silicon-lined headband with pivoting ear pads to relieve pressure points. It also sports a noise-canceling microphone, in-line audio controls and attaches to your PC via 3.5mm jacks or an included USB adapter. The G330 headset should be available sometime this month for $49, while the $69 G500 mouse should launch in September.

"Ballot screen" coming to Office 2010

On January 15, Microsoft was charged with seeking to hinder rivals by coupling its browser, Internet Explorer, with its Windows operating system. It was accused of abusing its market dominance by harming innovation and limiting consumer choice. After six-plus months of rope pulling, Microsoft gave in to European regulators and proposed a "ballot screen" solution which would prompt users to choose between several third party browsers on the system's first boot-up.

It would seem that the software giant now plans to implement a similar feature for the coming version of its popular Office suite. There are few details, but it is reported that asimilar screen will be used in Office 2010 to determine the default format files will be saved in. It too will prompt users the first time the program runs, and the preference will be saved unless it's manually changed later.

Microsoft hasn't disclosed what file types will be on the screen apart from its own DOC/DOCX format, and the open source ODF file type. In its statement, the company did say that it would make tools available to enterprises in the EU, so they can auto-specify which formats will be seen when their users run Office.

Toshiba starts shipping 512GB SSDs to OEMs

Toshiba announced today that their latest-generation solid state drives, featuring the company’s new 43nm MLC NAND-flash manufacturing technology, have just started shipping. Available in 64, 128, 256 and 512GB capacities, the drives won’t be available directly to the public initially but rather as an OEM product for the notebook, gaming and home entertainment markets.

They’ll come in both 1.8 and 2.5-inch form factors and are capable of up to 230MB/s and 180MB/s sequential read and write speeds, which is pretty impressive. Unfortunately Toshiba was not forthcoming about which companies will be getting the drives or at what price.

Looking at a previous 512GB SSD option available exclusively on Protege laptops and a similar-capacity offering from Super Talent, I gather Toshiba’s new flagship drive will set you back some $1,500.

Comcast adopts DNS hijacking, cashes in on bad URLs

In a bid to squeeze out more cash through their existing service, one of the largest ISPs around has added themselves to the ranks of companies participating in controversial DNS-redirecting programs. Comcast has officially begun redirecting invalid DNS requests to their own “search portals,” which are advertising pages intended to capture anyone who makes a typo or visits an invalid address into a web browser.

The technique is slowly being adopted by other ISPs around the world, and has been rife with controversy since the beginning. Essentially, anytime a user tries to visit an invalid web page, they are redirected to an advertising splash page rather than being told that the page is unavailable. As most other ISPs are doing, Comcast is offering an opt-out system – though there have been complaints that the process is not particularly friendly. Other ISPs around the world that have begun implementing this include Bell Canada, Verizon, and EarthLink.

Several years ago, Verisign, a major domain registrar, attempted to implement this. Their attempt received massive public outcry, and ultimately even ICANN stepped in and asked them to stop. Comcast has even gone a step beyond their cohorts, pushing for a new IETF standard that would make such DNS hijacking more legitimate.

Hitachi unveils 2TB 7200RPM HDD, Deskstar 7K2000

Hitachi has announced the five-platter-packing 2TB Deskstar 7K2000 hard disk drive. With a rotational speed of 7200RPM, it's the industry's first among desktop HDDs. Its specs include a 32MB cache and SATA II interface. In addition to their new 2TB drive, Hitachi is also refreshing its high-volume desktop HDD family. The new 7200RPM Deskstar 7K1000.C family will house up to a capacious 500GB per platter, and will be available in sizes from 160GB to 1TB.

Both the 7K2000 and 7K1000.C feature a patented ramp load/unload design to boost shock protection, and Thermal Fly-height Control (TFC) to sustain a steady fly-height during the read/write process. The 72K000 boasts 10% less power consumption at idle over previous its previous generations, and the 7K1000.C measures about 4.4W or less power consumed at idle.

Apple readying $99 iPhone 3GS

When Apple introduced the 16GB and 32GB iPhone 3GS back in June, it also gave the older 8GB 3G model a nice price cut to $99 with a two-year contract. The company used this as a strategy to expand the market for its smartphone with a lower-end alternative. But as inventories dry out, it wouldn’t make much sense for them to use up manufacturing capacity for outdated hardware. Instead of dropping the 8GB version altogether, though, Apple may be thinking of updating it.

According to some unverified documents acquired by Boy Genius Report, Canadian telecom Rogers will transition to a new 8GB iPhone 3GS model from the old 3G. There's no word on when this might happen, but the rumor mill suggests Apple will hold a press event around September to unveil new iPods – and probably a bit more. If true, this will certainly upset many new 3G owners, but at the same time serve as an aggressive move against the $199 8GB Palm Pre.

Themes come to Chrome, bookmark syncing next

Google has quietly launched a theme gallery for its open-source Chrome browser comprising a range of minimalist to headache-inducing options. With 29 templates to choose from, Chrome is nowhere near Firefox’s diversity when it comes to getting all gussied up but many will appreciate the added functionality. For now, it is available only on the latest 3.0 developer builds though.

Users can apply themes simply by choosing a design from the gallery and selecting “open” in the download manager pane at the bottom after it finishes downloading. There’s an option to switch between themes and the default view at any time under the “Personal Stuff” link in the Preferences menu. A word of caution: although it shouldn’t come as a surprise, some are reporting that using themes can slightly slow down Chrome.

Additionally, the search giant revealed plans to introduce a new developer build in the coming weeks that will support bookmark syncing across multiple instances of Chrome. The Xmarks plug-in (formerly called Foxmarks) has solved this issue for years on Firefox, and even Google used to develop a browser sync extension for Mozilla’s browser. However, Chrome’s new sync feature could have broader implications down the road, as Google tries to unite desktops and the cloud with its forthcoming operating system.

StarCraft 2 release pushed back until 2010

A small bit of disappointment came from Activision today after they confirmed that StarCraft II will not be released on its original schedule. Rather than coming out in the second half of this year, the game has been pushed back to the first half of 2010. Though disappointing to eager fans, the delay is not surprising. Not only had Blizzard put themselves up against a wall with a tight time window for the beta, it also claimed numerous times before that if delays were necessary they would implement them.

Blizzard attributed the delay to needing additional development time for Battle.net, which may be beneficial in the long run for the game's success. The company has a lot riding on StarCraft II, so making sure it is polished and ready for the world is going to be important – particularly so since they hope for all StarCraft fans to be shelling out for three separate boxes to get the complete game.

Crytek could leave Germany due to violent game ban

With popular franchises like Far Cry and Crysis in its portfolio, Crytek is one of the biggest game developers in Germany – but that could change soon if sixteen interior ministers have their way. Commenting on the country’s current parliamentary attempt to enforce a ban on violent videogames, Crytek president and co-founder Cevat Yerli has said such a move would force the prominent studio to relocate.

The proposed ban would not only prevent the sale of violent videogames throughout the country, but also make it illegal for developers to even produce such content. Although having Crytek take its business elsewhere wouldn’t exactly be in Germany’s best interest, the current goal is to pass the proposal into law by September.

Germany has traditionally had strict standards and regulation of what it considers excessively violent video games. All the more so after a recent school shooting in which one FPS fan killed sixteen people, it’s reasonable to believe the Bundestag (the country’s equivalent of Parliament) could back such radical action. In the meantime, a petition against the ban has been signed by over 64,000 Germans, and apparently the government is required to officially review petitions signed by over 50,000 people.

Sony takes on Kindle with two new e-readers

Sony is getting ready to step up the action in the rising e-reader marketplace with two new models scheduled to debut at the end of the month. The first is a pocket-size version for less than $200, dubbed the Sony Reader Pocket Edition, which the electronics giant touted as the “most affordable dedicated reading device on the market.” This lower price point could be a crucial factor for Sony – with most people still not convinced that moving away from paper books is for them. The device has enough internal memory to hold about 350 books, comes in three colors – blue, rose and silver – and has a 5-inch electronic ink display. Next up, the $300 Sony Reader Touch improves on its smaller sibling by including a 6-inch touch screen with a virtual keyboard and stylus for note-taking. It also has expansion slots for SD memory or Sony's Memory Stick Pro Duo to increase the number of books it can carry. By comparison, Amazon’s Kindle 2 retails for $300, while the large screen Kindle DX costs $490.

Unlike the Kindle, however, neither of Sony’s devices has mobile connectivity, so users will have to transfer e-books manually. The company also plans to reduce all new releases and best sellers at its e-book store to $9.99 each, down from $11.99, and offer access to Google’s public domain library.

Microsoft touts Windows 7-optimized keyboard and mouse combo

Microsoft has announced a brand new keyboard and mouse combo designed with ergonomics in mind. The Wireless Comfort Desktop 5000 combines the company's BlueTrack technology with a Comfort Curve layout that encourages natural wrist posture, soft-touch palm rest and low-profile quiet keys.

Gearing up for the general availability of its next operating system in October, Microsoft included some Windows 7 optimizations, particularly the Taskbar Favorites keys which is said to map to the location of open applications on the improved taskbar for instant access, along with a Windows Flip button on the mouse and keyboard and Device Stage support.

Both peripherals connect to a given computer using a single, small 2.4GHz RF transceiver friendly to the USB ports of both desktops and notebooks. As for pricing and availability, Microsoft’s Wireless Comfort Desktop 5000 is expected to become available later this month for an estimated retail price of $80; it’s available today for pre-order at Amazon.

Toshiba claims world's fastest and largest SD card

Toshiba is showing off what it claims to be the world's largest and fastest SD card, the 64GB SDXC. The card is reportedly compliant with the latest SD memory standard, version 3.0, UHS104, and is capable of hitting read speeds of 60MB/s and write speeds of 35MB/s. The company has also introduced the less-endowed 16GB and 32GB SDHC variants, which also conform to the new memory standard.

Announced in January of this year, version 3.0 supports transfer speeds of up to 104MB/s on the SD interface. The SDXC specification will pick up where SDHC ends and can support up to 2TB in capacity. Toshiba expects their memory to be particularly useful in digital camcorders that require high bandwidth data communication. Digital SLR cameras will be able to shoot longer continuous bursts in the highest quality RAW format, and downloading a 2.4GB video will take only 70 seconds.

Although Toshiba has reserved the "world's first" title, sample shipments of its 64GB SDXC aren't coming until November. The Average Joe can expect to wait until next spring. No pricing has been disclosed.

AMD talks about upcoming C32, G34 server platforms

Given AMD’s failed attempt at a desktop comeback with the Phenom, and Phenom II’s impressive but not show-stopping performance, their next few moves have been anticipated by many. John Fruehe, Director of Business Development for AMD, recently solicited and answered several questions about what they have in store. Although particularly referring to workstation and servers, an area they have a good reputation in, their moves here may give a hint on what's in store for desktops in the future.

The biggest piece of information shared was that their upcoming C32 socket will not be backwards compatible with socket F. This means no easy upgrade path for Opteron servers. AMD will diverge even further from a homogeneous setup with the G34 socket – Opterons for G34 and C32 will be mutually exclusive, with 4/6 core CPUs aimed at C32 and 8/12 core CPUs aimed at G34. They also mentioned their intention to be chipset suppliers for these new processors, but aren't excluding other vendors from making their own.

Fruehe mentioned that there are concerns about software scalability for handling multiple cores, with AMD planning a rough ceiling of about 48 cores on G34 systems. According to him, the high-thread market will have a hard time finding a practical use for single systems that have massive number of cores (think nearly 100 or more), at least for now. It seems AMD is betting on cloud computing and developments such as the HyperTransport HNC specification for scalability rather than on adding more cores to a machine.

Microsoft announces XP Mode RC for Windows 7

Three months after first introducing Windows 7’s virtual XP Mode, Microsoft has announced the availability of its release candidate (RC) version. As previously reported, this is an optional add-on for Windows 7 Professional or higher, and is aimed at helping small to medium-size businesses upgrade to Windows 7 by giving them a virtual Windows XP environment capable of running any legacy applications they may rely on.

This is only intended as a “last mile” of compatibility for business users, according to Microsoft, which has clarified that most XP applications will run natively on Windows 7. The software requires an additional 1GB of RAM, 15GB of available disk space, and a processor capable of hardware virtualization with AMD-V or Intel VT.

Refinements in the Windows XP Mode release candidate include new USB and drive sharing support options along with a user tutorial aimed at the small and midsize business market. It also now allows users to view recently opened Windows XP applications in the Windows 7 Jump Menu and open them from the task bar. The near-completed software is be available for public testing now and should be released in its final form at the time of the Windows 7 launch on October 22

Rumored PS3 Slim to debut this month at Gamescom

Rumors of a new PlayStation 3 console are running rampant today – whether it’s the slimmed-down version or a higher capacity model remains to be seen but it definitely feels like something’s cooking over at Sony. The latest bit comes as what appears to be an internal document from 7-Eleven (which sells video games in Japan) that suggests Sony may be about to discontinue the 80GB PS3 in its home country.

According to a report by Kotaku, the retailer will no longer be taking “pre-orders” for black, white and silver 80GB PS3 after Sunday at the maker’s request, and all in-store displays for the 80GB model will be taken down. Meanwhile, a separate report from Taiwan'sDigiTimes claims Sony is seriously ramping up orders for “key PS3 components,” enough to build a million consoles over the next three months – which is apparently double what it ordered last quarter.

Last but not least, a listing for a “PlayStation 3 Konsole Slim” appeared on Amazon’s German website over the weekend before quickly being removed. While this may not mean much, some say official confirmation could come from Sony’s Gamescom press conference in Germany on August 18.

Ubuntu prepares to move in on small businesses

The company behind the world's most popular desktop Linux distro has their sights set on expansion. Apparently satisfied with their desktop infrastructure, Canonical is now offering support services for small businesses, all centered around using Ubuntu as the platform of choice.

Starting with three different support options, the company is aiming specific configurations and implementations of Ubuntu for different businesses with different requirements – ranging from getting desktops off the ground to complete migrations of office environments.

Canonical will join a small but growing (if slowly) market of companies aimed exclusively at Linux desktop support. Is this a positive change for Linux? Probably – one of the biggest gripes that most businesses have is the lack of decent support. While many specialized companies offer fantastic support for their particular niche, there is a huge gap in the quality and availability of support elsewhere. If Canonical thinks they have the manpower to offer a paid business support program, they might also be able to convert some offices.

In the short term, nothing is likely to change for Ubuntu or Canonical. If, however, they combine this with a decent PR campaign and make sure their support is up to snuff, they could get a nice foothold in the small business market, which is almost exclusively a Windows-owned domain.

Chinese site posts Lynnfield CPUs benchmark results

We’re still about a month away from the expected launch of Intel’s Lynnfield processors, but as usual some folks seem to have gotten hold of these parts a little earlier than everybody else. Specifically, Chinese website PConline has posted a full review of two upcoming LGA-1156 parts – the Core i5 750 and Core i7 870.

The Core i5 750 part features clock speeds in the range of 2.66 and 3.2GHz using Turbo Boost and no Hyper-Threading. Meanwhile, the higher-end Core i7 870 will run at 2.93GHz with a top speed of 3.46GHz for individual cores and supports Hyper-Threading technology for up to eight threads. So how did they fare in the tests? A brief look shows that despite being limited to dual-channel memory and the old DMI interconnect instead of QPI, the Core i7 870 outperforms the existing Core i7 920 overall.

A screenshot of CPU-Z also shows the effect of the Turbo Boost feature which increases the frequency of the Core i7 870 to 3.2GHz. The Core i5 750 appears to be the most power-efficient of the bunch but still manages to sit between the Core i7 920 and Core 2 Quad Q9550 in terms of performance. Both chips will outclass AMD’s Phenom II X4 955, according to PConline.

Naturally, you should take these results with a grain of salt considering Intel hasn't even announced the CPUs yet, but it’s always interesting to see some numbers.

AMD launches 785G integrated graphics chipset

AMD has begun shipping its newest chipset, the 785G, to OEM partners today. As the name implies, there is very little separating 785G from its 780G predecessor, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The new chipset boasts a Radeon HD 4200 graphics processor complete with DirectX 10.1 support. The number of stream processors and clock speeds remain the same, however, thus gaming performance remains mostly unchanged – not that you would want to do some serious gaming using an IGP, anyway.

There are a number of improvements in the video and audio departments that will sure please the HTPC crowd. For starters, AMD has upgraded the 780G's HDMI 1.2 support to version 1.3 and jumped from UVD 1.0 to UVD 2.0 on the 785G. The ability to output multi-channel LPCM audio output over HDMI has been added, as well, although TrueHD and DTS-HD audio remain unsupported.

Aside from that, the new chipset brings full AM3 and DDR3 support for rather less than the relatively pricy 790 boards you'll need at the moment

OCZ Introduces OCZ Colossus a 1TB SSD

The Computex 2009 is the current Mecca for all hardware enthusiasts, as it is one of the largest computer and technology fairs in the world. This means we are getting to see the latest and greatest in the hardware market.

Hence, OCZ decided to present its new OCZ Colossus SSD with a storage capacity of up to 1 TB. In about eight weeks you should be able to buy the new series with 500GB and 1TB capacity, featuring the standard 3.5'' from factor for SSDs. Dual Indilinx controllers and a JMicron RAID controller for a RAID 0 array are making this capacity possible. The rumored price for the 1TB version is supposed to be around 2500 Euros or roughly 3500 USD.

Further features are:

• Form Factor: standard 3.5''
• Power requirements: 5V, 1.6A
• Interface: SATA2
• Capacity: 0.5 TB, 1.0 TB
• Estimated Wt: 400gm
• Seek Time: <0.2ms
• Operating Temp: 0-70 deg C
• Operating Performance:
  • Read: Up to 265 MB/s
  • Write: Up to 265 MB/s

Apple Tablet may see Sept. launch.

A "veteran analyst," albeit a very anonymous one, has allegedly seen and touched Apple's rumored "slate-style" PC, which we like to call the jumbo iPod Touch. According to Barron's source, the new product will be announced in September, released in November, and carry a price tag of between $699 and $799. As previously reported, the tablet (or whatever Apple plans on calling) is ready to go but has been awaiting final approval from Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

As for concrete details about the device itself, the veteran analyst had only one thing to say about his or her hands-on experience: "The machine impresses with its display of hi-def video content. It's better than the average movie experience, when you hold this thing in your hands."

Now there's a shocker. (I don't think you'd have to be a veteran analyst to predict that).

The article also goes on to say that the PC industry is basically on pins and needles as it waits to see what Apple puts out. According to the phantom analyst, PC makers have paused production on next-generation Netbooks until they see what Apple's come up with.

Interestingly, while there's been a lot of talk about this being a media-centric device with a little Apple TV mixed in (what you'd expect from a giant iPod Touch), Barron's quotes Jon Peddie, head of Jon Peddie Research in Tiburon, Calif., as saying it will be a gaming machine as well.

"Gaming will be a big part of what this [the new device] is about," Peddie said.

However, as far as we know, unlike the veteran analyst, he has not seen or touched the device.

Google CEO leaves Apple board as companies compete

In a move that comes as little surprise, Apple announced Monday that Google CEO Eric Schmidt is resigning from its board of directors.

Schmidt had been on Apple's board for almost exactly three years, since August 2006."Eric has been an excellent Board member for Apple, investing his valuable time, talent, passion and wisdom to help make Apple successful," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in the release. "Unfortunately, as Google enters more of Apple's core businesses, with Android and now Chrome OS, Eric's effectiveness as an Apple Board member will be significantly diminished, since he will have to recuse himself from even larger portions of our meetings due to potential conflicts of interest. Therefore, we have mutually decided that now is the right time for Eric to resign his position on Apple's Board."

In May, Google confirmed that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was planning to hold discussions concerning potential conflicts of interest related to Schmidt's presence on both companies' boards of directors. Google's chief legal officer, David Drummond, said at the time that Google did not believe there was a problem with the situation.

Schmidt has said repeatedly that he recused himself from Apple board discussions pertaining to areas in which the companies' interests overlap--the iPhone, for example, given Google's work on the Android operating system for smartphones. But the similarities grew more difficult to reconcile when Google announced the development of its Chrome operating system, which will compete directly with Apple's OS. (The companies already own competing Web browsers, Apple's Safari and Google's Chrome.)

Last month, Schmidt said that he was planning to discuss the future of his role on Apple's board given the advent of Chrome OS.

More recently, potential competitive turf became evident when Google's third-party applications for the iPhone--which comes preinstalled with Google Maps--started to get well-publicized scrutiny from Apple. Google's location-aware service Latitude, for example, has been restricted to a Web-based app rather than an installable one, anda Google Voice telephony app was outright rejected by Apple.

Last week, a report surfaced that the Federal Communications Commission had sent letters of inquiry to Apple, Google, and iPhone carrier AT&T concerning the blocked app.