YouTube removing 15 minute upload length, for some

YouTube videos are about to get longer. The company says it is lifting the 15-minute limit on uploaded videos, beginning with a subset of users. These individuals have never violated copyright rules and have followed YouTube's community guidelines. Some content owners that partner with YouTube have already been able to upload longer videos but this step will remove the limit for everyone.

The change will allow YouTube to host videos such as lectures by college professors, talks at conferences, and films by independent filmmakers without breaking them up into multiple parts. It could also mean uploading longer copyrighted material, but YouTube says it is changing its limit now because its system for handling copyright violations is better than ever.

"As long as it's your original content, its fair game regardless of length," a YouTube spokesperson said in a statement. "This launch has been made possible in part by the continued advances in our state-of-the-art Content ID system, as well as our other powerful tools for copyright owners. Over 1000 global partners use Content ID to manage their content on YouTube, including every major U.S. movie studio and music label. We remain as dedicated as ever to building and improving the most sophisticated technology in the world to help copyright owners protect their rights."

YouTube currently has 35 hours uploaded every minute. Expect that number to grow even faster as the 15 minute limit is slowly removed.

New BitTorrent client offers truly decentralized P2P

While BitTorrent is the most popular P2P protocol, it still relies on several centralized points for users to find the files they are looking. There have been several attempts at making BitTorrent more decentralized, and the latest Tribler 5.3 client is the first to offer the BitTorrent experience without requiring central trackers or search engines, according to TorrentFreak.

Tribler offers some very interesting technologies; the latest version enables users to search and download files from inside the client. Plenty of other clients offer search features, including the ever-popular µTorrent, but Tribler's results come from other peers rather than from a dedicated search engine. Users can search and download content without a server ever getting involved; everything is done among peers, without the need of a BitTorrent tracker or search indexer.

This is a little ironic because it means that the actual torrent file aspect of BitTorrent is no longer necessary. Normally, users have to find the torrent file corresponding to the content they want to download. The torrent file contains the BitTorrent tracker URL which, as its name implies, keeps track of everyone downloading and uploading the content in question. More recently, the need for a tracker has been replaced by technologies like peer exchange (PXE) and distributed hash tables (DHT). A replacement for BitTorrent search engines and indexers had yet to appear, until Tribler 5.3.

Since Tribler is still a rather new BitTorrent client, there are significantly fewer torrents to search from compared to popular BitTorrent search engines, but as it gains more traction, that number should grow exponentially. Furthermore, if competitors like µTorrent jump on board, we may have yet another P2P

Microsoft: 46% Windows 7 installations are 64-bit

For the first time in history, 64-bit operating systems are gaining serious traction with the arrival of Windows 7. In a blog post today, Microsoft revealed that 46% of Windows 7 users are running a 64-bit version, which compares to only 11% of those on Vista and less than 1% on XP. Steam recently released stats showing an even higher adoption rate among its customers, with around two times more people running Windows 7 x64 than x86.

OEMs have finally embraced the architecture, with some converting their entire consumer lineups to 64-bit-only machines. NPD says that 77% of retail PCs sold in the US during April 2010 ran the updated architecture – but it's not just end users buying into 64-bit computing.

Gartner estimates that 75% of all businesses will ditch 32-bit systems by 2014, and Intel recently migrated to a 64-bit environment to take advantage of features such as support for more than 4GB of RAM and additional security benefits.

Netgear preps four-bay, six-bay ReadyNAS Ultra products

Netgear has announced a new range of NAS devices that supposedly mark the "beginning of the end of local storage" – a bold claim from the company's CEO, to be sure. Along with the features you might expect to find on networked storage, the ReadyNAS Ultra line can stream media to any TiVo device, DLNA-certified machine, and mobile devices including iPads, Blackberries, and Android devices via Orb technologies.

The series is comprised of two models, one with four bays and another with six. The Ultra 4 ships with dual 2TB hard drives and is priced at $899, while the Ultra 6 packs 6TB of storage for $1,349. Both carry a 1.66GHz Intel Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, and support RAID 0, 1, 5, and 6. Preorders should be open relatively soon with units set to ship mid-July. A two-bay system, presumably the Ultra 2, is due in October.

Dragon Age II available for preorder, coming March 2011

If you're dying to slay more Darkspawn and catch up with your party around a virtual campfire, then we're pleased to inform you that a new installment of Dragon Age is only eight months away. Along with opening preorders for Dragon Age II today, EA promised a trailer for August 17 and revealed plans to ship the new chapter on the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 next March. Additionally, the next issue of Game Informer magazine (208) will feature an exclusive 10-page cover story of the title.

According to the official game page, players will embark upon an all-new adventure that spans an entire decade, where they'll be "forced to fight for survival in an ever-changing world" and "gather the deadliest of allies" – just like the first title. You can also expect an emphasis on character interaction, with decisions greatly affecting the world. There's also talk of updated combat mechanics, revamped graphics and a "new visual style."

AMD readies new six-core processor for late Q3

AMD is reportedly getting ready to launch its fourth hexacore desktop processor to the market. Although the existing Phenom II X6 1090T should remain its fastest Phenom II X6 offering until "at least" early 2011, word is that a new low-end model is set to arrive late this quarter. The 1045T will come clocked at 2.7GHz, 100MHz faster than the 1035T, featuring the same Thuban-based 45nm design and an optimized TDP rating of 95W (the six-core family originally debuted with 125W TDPs).

The new six-core part will be able to go as high as 3.2GHz when its Turbo Core dynamic overclocking technology kicks in. Otherwise, specs should look familiar to those of its predecessors with support for DDR3-1333 memory and a total 9MB of cache. As The Tech Report points out, the 2.6GHz Phenom II X6 1035T is currently confined to pre-built PCs from the likes of HP and Gateway. It's unclear if the 1045T will suffer the same fate or if it will be sold separately at retail.

As you might expect there was no mention of pricing. Currently, the top of the line 3.2GHz AMD Phenom II X6 1090T is available for just under $300 at Newegg while the 2.8GHz 1055T can be had for $200.

Pirate Bay hacked, millions of IP address, emails exposed

A team of Argentinian "security researchers" have gained access to The Pirate Bay's administration panel by using multiple SQL injections, leading to the exposure of over four million registered members' IP and email addresses, MD5-hashed passwords, as well as the number and name of torrents uploaded by users.

A hacker named Ch Russó and two of his associates pulled the stunt, temporarily gaining the ability to create, delete, or modify all user information. Fortunately for TPB, Russó and his friends claim they weren't out to cause damage and didn't make any changes to the site's data. They also haven't revealed any information to a third party.

The group considered hawking user information to anti-piracy organizations, but decided against it in favor of broadcasting a public service warning. "Probably these groups would be very interested in this information, but we are not [trying] to sell it. Instead we wanted to tell people that their information may not be so well protected," Russó said.

Before you're overwhelmed by a sense of goodwill, it's worth noting that Russó also released a video detailing the hack for anyone to replicate (originally here, but the URL now throws a 403). TPB was down for maintenance this morning and they've reportedly fixed the vulnerability used by Russó and his compadres. The site is currently back online.

Microsoft Xbox Live revenue estimated to top $1 billion

Microsoft's Xbox Live reportedly closed a record sales year for fiscal 2010, which ended June 30. According to estimates published by Bloomberg recently, the premium gaming service over this last year managed to break the $1 billion dollar mark collectively through subscriptions, movie and TV show sales, and other downloadable content.

Microsoft itself has been mum about specific sales figures, but the math seems about right: the financial news outfit simply multiplied the number of users Microsoft admits paid the annual Xbox Live fee -- about 12.5 million -- by the average price of $50 and came up with $625 million. They then took Xbox chief operating officer Dennis Durkin's remark at E3 that sales of downloadable content topped subscription revenue for the first time and you have a total upwards of $1.25 billion. By comparison, the company is estimated to have raked in $800 million a year earlier from Xbox Live.

With Microsoft making such a hefty sum from their hybrid subscriptions + virtual goods model it's no surprise rival Sony has taken notice and followed suit. Its PlayStation Network service has offered free multiplayer gaming to all console owners since the beginning, but at its E3 press conference last month, the company announced a new subscription plan dubbed PlayStation Plus offering premium content and services for a yearly $50 fee. Online revenue is crucial for both companies because sales of consoles themselves barely make up for the cost of building the hardware.

Bamboo-bodied Asus notebooks available for preorder

If you have a thing for wood-garnished electronics, you'll be pleased to know that Asus finally plans to open shipments on its long-anticipated bamboo-encased notebooks. Two of the company's bamboo notebooks – the U43F and U43JC – are now readily available for preorder via Best Buy, with an ETA of late July, early August. The first is priced at $950, while the second is $1,000.

The least expensive model features a 14-inch LED-backlit display, a 2.26GHz Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, 640GB of storage, and a DVD burner. Rather than rough it with Intel's integrated graphics, the pricier U43JC has a 1GB Nvidia GeForce 310M with Optimus technology. Although some people can get by without discrete graphics, for an extra $50 it seems silly not to opt for the U43JC.

Both units weigh about five pounds and have gigabit Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n, three USB 2.0 ports, HDMI-out, up to five hours of life, and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.

Gateway preps 11.6" LT32 netbook with AMD CPU, graphics

HP's not the only one showing the Althon Neo some love, with Gateway adding a new AMD-powered ultraportable to its growing roster of notebooks. The Acer subsidiary has announced its 11.6-inch LT32 netbook, which bears a striking resemblance to the Pavilion dm1z HP slipped out today.

It too packs a 1366x768 screen, a single-core Athlon Neo II K125, an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4225 IGP, 2GB of DDR3 RAM, and the typical array of connectivity, including mobile broadband and HDMI for 1080p output – just as you'd expect from a so-called "ultra-mobile entertainment powerhouse."

The LT32 isn't all about consuming high-def media, though. It's at least partly aimed at Web socialites, with a function key providing quick access to social networking services like Facebook, YouTube, and Flickr. It also has an "HD webcam" versus the dm1z's VGA camera, which could be useful for video-conferencing.

Gateway has priced the LT32 at $450, but the company has yet to disclose a ship date.

HP quietly intros AMD-based variant of Pavilion dm1

HP quietly welcomed a new AMD-based offshoot of the Paviliom dm1 to its online store today, which starts at $450 and scales beyond a grand depending on the configuration. The base Pavilion dm1z includes an 11.6-inch 1366x768 LED-backlit display, an Athlon II Neo K125 1.7GHz with Mobility Radeon HD 4225 integrated graphics (capable of 1080p playback), 2GB of DDR3 RAM, a 320GB 7200RPM HDD, and Windows 7 Home Premium x64.

Optionally, you can outfit the system with a dual-core Athlon II Neo K325 or Turion II Neo K625, 3GB or 5GB of memory, up to a 500GB HDD or 128GB SSD, an external Blu-ray reader, Bluetooth, WWAN via Verizon, AT&T or Sprint, and Windows 7 Professional. Universal specs include a webcam, a mic, three USB 2.0 ports, VGA and HDMI output, a 5-in-1 card reader, Ethernet, 802.11n wireless, and a 6-cell battery offering 5 to 7 hours of battery life.

Hitachi unveils LifeStudio external storage solutions

Hitachi has unveiled a new range of external hard drives that do a little more than providing users with large storage capacities. Available in both desktop and mobile versions, the new LifeStudio drives come loaded with software from Cooliris to help users manage their "digital mess" by pulling together all of the videos, photos, music and documents it can find in local storage, as well as integrating photos from your Facebook, Flickr and Picasa accounts.

All of the media is then displayed on a "3D visual wall" that should make it easier to find and organize files. The software also allows users to access online TV from certain content providers, and can be set up to enable automatic backups. On top of all this, Hitachi is throwing in 3GB of online storage with every drive. This can be bumped to 250GB for $49 per year and all the content will be accessible from anywhere through a browser or iOS app -- on both free and paid versions.

Besides software there are also some unique aspects to the series design. The Mobile range comes in 250GB, 320GB and 500GB capacity points with a detachable 2.5-inch drive that fits comfortably into the cradle, while on the desktop side there are 500GB, 1TB and 2TB variants. There are 'Plus' models for the larger two capacities in each class, featuring a USB stick magnetically mounted on a docking station that can sync with the main drive to take your data on the road.

The USB stick is essentially a microSD reader and comes with a 4GB microSD card as its storage, but you can change this card to upgrade the storage to up to 32GB. Other than these features, the LifeStudio family comes pre-formatted using the FAT32 file system out of the box to fully support both PCs and Macs and connects to your system via a USB 2.0 interface -- there's no support for USB 3.0, eSATA or FireWire, unfortunately. Both the desktop and mobile solutions are available now ranging in price from $80 to $220, depending on features and storage capacity.

White PS3 Slim hits Japan in July, Move bundles announced

With the Xbox 360 recently going 'slim' and swapping its original white color to black, Sony has decided to do just the opposite and announced a white version of its console. The new PlayStation 3 hardware will be launched in Japan on July 29 and will bring with it an expansion in the hard drive sizes offered -- rather than 120GB and 250GB models, the PlayStation 3 Slim will be available with 160GB or 320GB capacities.

The 160GB hard drive model will cost approximately $340 while the larger, 320GB version which can also be ordered in black will cost $400. Sony has not yet announced any plans to update its product line with the larger hard drive sizes or new color option outside of Japan, but a worldwide launch is possible depending on public demand. The company also provided an updated list with Move's upcoming software lineup and hardware bundles for the motion-controller.

The official launch lineup is comprised of almost entirely Sony-published titles -- EyePet, Sports Champion, Beat Sketch, among others -- and will be followed by several third party games later in November, December and into 2011. Current owners of Resident Evil Gold Edition will also be able to upgrade to motion control support via a free update that's scheduled for release in mid September -- a pack with the game, camera and controller will also be available.

U.S. pricing for the PlayStation 3 Move has already been revealed to be $50 for the main controller and $30 for the accessory. The motion control peripheral will debut on September 19 stateside -- a month earlier than in Japan.

LG to launch Android-based tablet this year

Korean electronics company LG officially became part of the ever-growing Android clan earlier this year when they launched the TouchMax GW620 smartphone (available in the U.K.). Today, they've furthered their commitment with Google's mobile platform by announcing plans to release a digital media tablet built around it. According to Engadget, the company expects to have a product ready to ship in the fourth quarter of this year, unwilling to fall behind its fierce rival Samsung.

Unfortunately, there aren't yet any real details about the device just yet besides the fact that it will run Android. LG is also known to be working on a Windows 7 powered tablet. Dubbed UX10, the 10.1-inch device was shown off at Computex running on an Atom Z530 processor with 1GB of RAM. Other features included a 120GB hard drive, 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera, SD memory card slot, and HDMI output.

At that time Microsoft said the device would be maturing from prototype to general availability sometime soon, but now we're unsure if it suffered the same fate as the cancelled HP Slate. After all, Android is free, easy to integrate into a variety of hardware, and third-party app development for Google's mobile platform is thriving.

Samsung's new Q-series notebooks headed to the US

Previously announced for the UK, Samsung has confirmed that its three new Q-series notebooks, the 13.3-inch Q330, 14-inch Q430 and 15.6-inch Q530, will also reach international markets. All of the systems are geared toward multimedia playback and feature LED-backlit 1366x768 displays, Intel Core i3 and i5 processors (2.13GHz to 2.4GHz), up to 4GB of RAM, 320 to 500GB of storage, and Bluetooth 3.0.

Both the flagship 15.6-incher and mid-sized model are outfitted with an Nvidia GeForce GT 330M graphics chip and are mostly identical apart from size. The Q330 has 3GB of RAM, a GeForce 310M and appears to be the only one with Nvidia's Optimus graphics switching solution. Systems weigh between 1.97 and 2.39kg and they all have around 6 to 7 hours of plug-free usage.

Pricing is expected to start at £599 (the equivalent of about $900), and units should be in stock at some point this month. It seems Best Buy already has a version of the Q430 available for $800, although it features a GeForce 310M instead of the GT 330M that's mentioned in Samsung's press release.

Intel to revamp its CPU lineup, new 6-core part due mid-July

Intel is preparing to revamp its range of Core i processors with the launch of four new models over the next few weeks. According to DigiTimes, the chip giant will kick off its new introductions in mid-July with the hexa-core Core i7 970, priced at $885 in thousand-unit quantities, or about $115 less than the range-topping Core i7 980X. The new six core part will reportedly run at 3.2GHz and sport a total 12MB of L2 cache.

A Core i5 760 with two cores clocked at 2.9GHz will also be released, priced at $205, alongside a lower powered Core i5 870s with a selling price of $351. Finally, rounding off the revamp, Intel will deliver the Core i3 560 in August priced at $138 in thousand-unit quantities. Further models to be introduced in August include two Pentium and a Celeron processor, while the company will also be dropping its prices across several models.

Among the highlights for the cuts are the Core i3 540 and Core i3 530, which will drop to $117 in mid-July and mid-October, respectively, and the Core i7 950 which is rumored to be falling dramatically from $562 to $294 in August. That model runs at 3.06GHz and is part of Intel's high end LGA 1366 platform.

AMD to increase top Athlon II X2, X4 speeds by 100MHz

Fudzilla reports that AMD is preparing to offload two speedier dual and quad-core processors, one being Regor-based while the other is Propus-based.

The Athlon II X2 265 will boost the range's maximum frequency to 3.3GHz, with other specs remaining identical to the existing 3.2GHz X2 260, such as a 65W TDP. The 265 is expected to arrive in time for the back-to-school period, probably in August.

The second processor is an Athlon II X4 645, which comes in an AM3 package, supports DDR3 1333MHz, and has a clock frequency of 3.1GHz – a 100MHz boost over the current X4 640. It should stick with the same 95W envelope and is also due in the third quarter, although no specific month has been cited.

Although these are only minor improvements on existing products, AMD is preparing a larger rollout toward the end of this year and into 2011 which will include the long awaited CPU/GPU Fusion chips.

Apple iTunes accounts hacked, used to cheat ranking system

A rogue Vietnamese developer reportedly hacked into iTunes accounts and used them to purchase his book apps, thus artificially boosting their ratings and sales in Apple's App Store. Both The Next Web and Engadget covered the story over the weekend and noted that, at one point, the high volume of sales propelled Nguyen's apps to take over 40 of the top 50 book app slots in the store. According to The Next Web, up to $1400 has been spent on some users' accounts.

Apple has not officially responded to the problems, but Nguyen's apps have now disappeared from the App Store. We're not sure whether Apple decided to shut down the operation or the seller pulled the apps himself after the story blew up. Even more worrisome is the fact that this doesn't seem to be an isolated incident -- reports are now emerging about alleged "App Farms" in iTunes being used to scam users out of their money, including one developer who hands out around 45 games for free (many of them clones that only differ by the number of "points" they offer), and then uses in-game points purchases costing upwards of $150 to make their money.

With over 100 million active iTunes accounts to date this is a serious matter. It's unclear at this point how the hackers got their hands on the iTunes account passwords, whether by employing phishing scams or through a vulnerability in Apple's system. Either way, it wouldn't be a bad idea to keep an eye on your account for any suspicious activity and make sure you are using a strong password.

Microsoft readying a multi-touch Arc mouse?

A new product listing for what is being called the "Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse" has prompted speculation that the software giant may be whipping up a rival to Apple's Magic Mouse. The device is listed with the product code RVF-00003 and has an MSRP of around $70 (the same as Apple's device), according to Long Zheng of istartedsomething. Zheng also notes that Microsoft registered the domain "arctouchmouse.com" in March, which is currently redirecting to Bing – a common practice for the company's placeholder sites.

You may recall a project from late 2009 that Microsoft was calling Mouse 2.0. As part of that research, the company was working on designs for a prototype multitouch mouse – one of which is pictured above. That specific unit featured a curved design similar to the existing Arc models, and it used FTIR to track multiple contact points. There's no telling if this is what's coming to market, but any new multitouch peripheral from Microsoft could bring some attention to development for native Windows touch applications, and we can't complain about that.

HP Mini 110, 210 HD quietly upgraded with new Atom CPUs

HP has quietly updated a couple of its netbooks today, adding newer Intel Atom chips and more. Both the HP Mini 110 and Mini 210 HD have received the 1.66GHz Atom N455 and the 1.83GHz N475 as processor options. Interestingly, the Mini 110 seems to be equipped with 1GB of DDR2 system memory (you can swap it for a 2GB stick on your own) instead of taking advantage of the new Atom's DDR3 support, while the Mini HD 210 lists 1GB or 2GB of DDR3 RAM.

The Mini 110 starts at $280 and has a 10.1-inch 1024x600 LED-backlit display, 160GB or 250GB of storage, a webcam and mic, wireless n, optional mobile broadband, a three or six-cell battery, Windows XP SP3 or Windows 7 Starter. At a pricier $330 base, the Mini 210 HD adds a Broadcom Crystal HD accelerator, a 1366x768 display, an embedded GPS module with HP Navigator software, Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit, and more colors.

Apple: iPhone 4 calculates bars wrong, fix on the way

Apple's iPhone 4 launch last month has been touted as the single most successful launch in the company's history, with 1.7 million units shipped in just three days. But beyond the numbers the release itself has been marred by a series of issues with the device's wireless reception, which can significantly degrade depending on how users hold the phone. Despite numerous reports, and videos demonstrating the problem, Apple has maintained that there is no problem.

In a series of informal email exchanges with customers, CEO Steve Jobs further exacerbated the matter by telling them to "Just avoid holding it that way" and asking a disgruntled iPhone 4 owner to calm down, claiming "It is just a phone. Not worth it." (Update: Apple denied the latter email was sent by Jobs, but it does seem to have originated from his account. BGR has the details.) Now, with a class action lawsuit pending, Apple has come forward with a formal statement. Their answer? It's not a hardware design issue, just a problem with the algorithm used to calculate bars of reception.

According to Apple, all phones suffer from a certain amount of signal loss when gripped in certain ways. The problem is some iPhones were displaying more bars than they should have, and in fact the attenuation users are seeing is likely because the signal strength in a given area isn't very strong to begin with. In essence the firmware "fix" they are promising will change the way bars are represented to report signal more accurately.

That, however, doesn't explain the related performance problems like dropped calls some users have encountered and how they seem to disappear when using a bumper case or by simply avoid touching the dead spot on its left bottom corner. It looks like we'll have to wait "a few weeks" to see if the update does anything more than just make the signal bars more accurate. Apple also said that customers can return undamaged iPhones within 30 days of purchase for a full refund.

Microsoft intros InstaLoad battery technology, forgoes polarity

Microsoft has announced a new battery technology called InstaLoad that lets users install batteries in any direction, without regard to polarity. "Never again will people have to squint to see battery installation diagrams - the device simply works regardless if the battery is installed positive-side-up or positive-side-down," the company said.

Along with making life easier to consumers, Redmond believes InstaLoad could be handy in many industries, including law enforcement, military, construction, outdoor sporting, and camping. The technology is compatible with popular off-the-shelf disposable and rechargeable batteries in sizes such as CR123, AA, AAA, C or D.

Microsoft is offering a royalty-free license program to suppliers and manufacturers of accessibility products for people with hearing, vision or learning disabilities. You can find more information on other licensing options in the press release. Third parties are supposedly "lining up to endorse the technology" for use in their own products.

Two such companies are Duracell and flashlight-maker AE Light. There's no information on when we'll see InstaLoad used in products by those companies – or any others for that matter.

Finland makes broadband Internet access a legal right

Finland has become the first country in the world to grant citizens with the legal right to in-home broadband Internet. As of today, Finns have the right to access a 1Mb/s broadband connection, and the country plans to increase that to 100Mb/s by 2015. Talking to the BBC, Finland's communication minister Suvi Linden explained that the Internet isn't just an entertainment medium, but is also a crucial part of an informed society.

"Finland has worked hard to develop an information society and a couple of years ago we realised not everyone had access," she said. As much as 96% of the country's 5.2 million people are already online, leaving only about 4,000 homes that need to be connected in accordance with the new law. By comparison, the UK government aims to provide 99% of its population with 2Mb/s speeds by 2012 (up from 73%) – although there's no law.

In the US, the FCC is pushing for a similar standard with its National Broadband Plan. Like Finland, the agency believes the Internet is a valuable resource and US citizens should have cheap, speedy access. In fact, the FCC expects the Internet to displace phones, TV and other conventional communication technologies. It hopes broadband Internet will exist in 90% of US homes over the next decade, compared to around 65% currently.

Opera 10.60 gets official, brings more speed, security

Only two weeks after the beta release, Opera 10.60 is now available in its complete form, bringing more speed and more security, according to the browser's Norwegian developer. Opera Software says the latest revision is 50% quicker than 10.50 on "key" benchmarks, resulting in snappier performance on JavaScript-heavy sites like Gmail and Facebook.

Opera 10.60 also incorporates AVG anti-fraud and phishing protection to block malicious sites and keep users informed about potential malware and scams. Other improvements include search tweaks like the addition of Bing and a feature called search suggestions, support for WebM video as well as other HTML5 features, such as geolocation and Web app caching.

The interface has also received a facelift with an improved Menu button and the addition of large icon tabs. If you'd like to join the 120 million other folks using Opera (not all desktop users, mind you) swing by our download section and grab latest browser version: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux.

HP completes Palm acquisition, eyes webOS hardware

Hewlett-Packard announced today it has completed its acquisition of Palm at $5.70 a share, or about $1.2 billion. The world's largest PC maker now has a mobile operating system of its own and plans to use it in a wide variety of devices, continuing development of Palm's Pre smartphone line, but also starting work on new slate PCs and netbooks powered by webOS.

Palm's revamped mobile platform has received a lot of praise from reviewers for its intuitive interface and multi-tasking abilities. Unfortunately, a failed marketing strategy in conjunction with Sprint and the slow uptake from the developer community resulted in poor smartphone sales. With HP's full backing and global strengths, Palm's former chairman and CEO Jon Rubinstein is confident that webOS will be able to reach its full potential -- and I really hope it does.

Rubinstein will continue in charge of webOS software development and webOS based hardware products, reporting to HP's Personal Systems Group executive VP Todd Bradley. In the run up to Palm's acquisition, however, the company lost some of the talent behind its platform, including user interface wizard Matias Duarte, who joined Google's Android team as the new user experience director, and public relations VP Lynn Fox who jumped ship without a set destination.

Microsoft axes Kin phones, European launch cancelled

After an underwhelming launch response, Microsoft has essentially pulled the plug on its Kin phone project. The handsets began shipping only a few short weeks ago, and rumors last week suggested that only 500 devices were sold – yes, that's five hundred. According new reports, the folks who designed the Kin have been assimilated into the Windows Phone 7 team. Additionally, plans for a European release have been axed.

As for the US, Microsoft says it will continue to work with Verizon to sell existing phones. We're not sure whether that means production will continue for a while, or if they're just trying to move what's already in warehouses. For what it's worth, Verizon says the Kin "remains an important part" of its portfolio. That said, the carrier slashed prices by as much as 50% over the weekend, and that sure screams fire sale to us.

Even with the lower hardware prices, the Kin probably won't fly off shelves. Besides missing features, the biggest complaint we've heard is that the monthly fee is as high as more capable devices, such as the iPhone and Android-based smartphones, which also happen to be more appealing to the Kin's target demographic of teens and twenty-somethings.

MSI intros new Fuzion motherboards with Lucid Hydra chip

MSI has launched two new motherboards, the P55A Fuzion and 870A Fuzion, which come with the Lucid Hydra 200 chip. The Hydra technology is similar to CrossFire or SLI, except graphics cards from two different companies (i.e. Nvidia and ATI) can be linked together in a hybrid configuration. In other words, just about any two cards from either camp can be paired up to boost performance.

As indicated by their names, one is for Intel's LGA1156 processors and the other supports Socket AM3 chips. Both have two PCIe x16 2.0 (full bandwidth) and PCIe x1 slots, four DIMM slots, six SATA 3Gb/s ports, two SATA 6Gb/s ports, six USB 2.0 ports, one USB 3.0 port, 7.1 channel audio, gigabit Ethernet, as well as MSI's "Military Class components" and OC Genie overclocking tool. It's worth noting that the 870A Fuzion can also unlock "unused" cores in AMD processors.

The new Fuzion boards should be available soon and are priced at a surprisingly reasonable $190 (Intel) and $160 (AMD), considering the Big Bang Fuzion's hefty $350 fee.

Art Lebedev shows off Optimus Popularis keyboard

Art Lebedev Studio garnered a lot of attention when their Optimus Maximus keyboard concept surfaced in 2005. The peripheral touted a full set of OLED keys that were 100% user-customizable and looked downright amazing. After three years in development and many, many delays to the point of actually being labeled as "vaporware," the Optimus Maximus keyboard finally began shipping in 2008 with an obscene price tag of around $1,500.

Needless to say, not too many were sold. Now the company is back with another concept keyboard -- one that is smaller, sleeker and promises to be less expensive compared to the original Optimus Maximus. The Optimus Popularis uses a "chicklet" style layout and thinner profile than its predecessor. It also drops the numeric keypad on the right, but when every key features a customizable LED display on top I guess that's less of a problem -- and it saves a lot of money.

The new Popularis keyboard will supposedly feature OLED screens that encompass the individual keys' entire physical real estate with a 64x64 pixels resolution, up from 48x48 on the Maximus. There's also a long widget display mounted between the function and number keys. Art Lebedev says it expect to ship the peripheral "at the end of this year/beginning of next year" for less than $1000. The company doesn't have a fantastic track record when it comes to meeting deadlines, so we wouldn't hold our breath on that release timeframe. As for the price, hopefully less than $1,000 doesn't mean $999.

Cisco reveals Android-based Cius tablet for business users

Most of the slate devices shown this year have been aimed at consumers, but Cisco has its sights set on the enterprise market. The company's business-oriented Cius tablet is designed to accompany corporate workers during those lonely nights on the road, boasting a "virtual desktop integration with anywhere, anytime access to the full range of Cisco collaboration and communication applications."

The Android-based 7-incher places a large emphasis on video conferencing features, including a front camera capable of capturing 720p video at 30 frames per second, along with a 5-megapixel camera on the rear for still images and streaming VGA quality video. There are also dual noise-cancelling microphones, as well as 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity, with 4G coming in the future.

Other ports include gigabit Ethernet and USB, while an accelerometer adjusts screen orientation and a detachable battery pledges eight hours of life under "normal usage." As noted, the Cius supports a wide range of Cisco tools, including Quad, Show and Share, WebEx Connect, WebEx Meeting center, Presence, TelePresence, AnyConnect VPN Security and more.

Customer trials of the Cisco Cius will begin this fall, with widespread availability expected in the first quarter of 2011.

MSI announces Wind U135DX netbook with Atom N455

MSI has announced the arrival of its new Wind U135DX netbook, which appears to recycle much of the Wind U135's external design, except for the "all new Color Film Print coating" and a 20% wider touchpad. Internally, the new unit supports DDR3 memory thanks to the use of Intel's 1.66GHz Atom N455 processor.

It also comes equipped with a 10-inch 1024x600 LED-backlit display, up to 2GB of RAM occupying a single memory slot, a 160GB hard drive, a 0.3-megapixel webcam, a three or six-cell battery, and Windows 7 Starter. I/O includes a 4-in-1 card reader (SD, MMC, MS, MS Pro), VGA-out, three USB 2.0 ports, Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, and audio jacks.

MSI says the Wind U135DX has a maximum battery life of around seven hours, and if you're not concerned about runtime, it features the company's TDE turbo drive overclocking technology.

Acer ships dual-core AMD Turion II ultraportable to the U.S.

Looking for an ultraportable system packing a bit more power than your average netbook but at an affordable price tag? The new Acer Aspire 1551 might be right up your alley. Externally, the laptop looks a lot like Acer's Intel-based 1810 Timeline, measuring 11.22 x 8.03 x 1.01 inches with an 11.6" screen, but inside there's a dual-core AMD Turion II K625 processor running at 1.5GHz, alongside 4GB of RAM and an M880G chipset with Radeon HD 4225 integrated graphics.

The K625 CPU is part of AMD's new Nile platform, which is manufactured using 45nm process technology and has a fairly low 15W thermal envelope. Other specs include a 320GB hard drive, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, three USB 2.0 ports, HDMI, multi-card reader, 1.3MP webcam, a 6-cell battery and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.

The Acer Aspire 1551 is available for $550 on Newegg. A lower-end model sporting a 1.3GHz AMD Athlon II Neo K325 processor, 3GB of memory and a 250GB hard drive is also available for $480.

Android 2.2 'Froyo' update officially hits Nexus One phones

Good news, Nexus One owners. Google is finally rolling out Android 2.2, codenamed Froyo, to your devices in an over-the-air update. The latest version of the mobile platform brings several performance improvements to the table, as well as new features like support for push notifications, better support for Microsoft's Exchange software, a streamlined Android Market interface, and the ability to turn your phone into a portable Wi-Fi hotspot that can be shared with up to 8 devices.

Android 2.2 also brings faster app-switching and support for Adobe Flash 10.1, allowing you phone's web browser to fully run websites that use Flash for navigation, games and video. In order to access the update, you will receive a message on your phone's notification bar. Just download the update, wait for it to install, and you should be all set. According to Google, the update will be rolling out gradually to all Nexus Ones during the week.

No specific date has been set for when other devices will get the final version of Android 2.2. The HTC Evo 4G, HTC Droid Incredible, and HTC Desire (non-US) should all be getting the update in the coming months, as well as the Motorola Droid and the upcoming Motorola Droid X. Both manufacturers use a custom version of the Andriod user interface with their devices, so it usually takes longer for users of these phones to receive the latest updates

The update will be compatible with most Android phones released in 2010. If you have an older Android smartphone, like the T-Mobile G1, don't expect to get Froyo, as its hardware is said to be too limited to provide full support.

Seagate debuts world's first 3TB external hard drive

Looking to meet and exceed users' ever evolving storage needs, Seagate has announced it now is shipping the industry's first 3TB external hard drive as part of their FreeAgent GoFlex Desk family. The drive is compatible with both Mac OS X and Windows systems, utilizing a work-around that allows it to overcome the 2.1TB partition limit on XP. Like other GoFlex products, it can be adapted to transfer data using USB 2.0, USB 3.0 or FireWire 800 interfaces.

The 3.5-inch, 3TB drive achieves its capacity boost without increasing areal density. It has five platters, each with 600GB -- that's one platter more than current 2TB drives. For those who like keeping track of such things, Seagate says this drive can store 120 high-definition movies, or 1,500 video games, thousands of photos or "countless" hours of digital music.

The new drive comes pre-loaded with automatic backup software as well as encryption programs to keep all your data nice and safe. Seagate is selling the 3TB FreeAgent GoFlex Desk today for $250 through its online store. Cables to add new interfaces vary from $20 to $50. The company is also readying an internal 3TB hard drive for release later this year.

Sony preps PS3 and PSP firmware updates

Sony has detailed a forthcoming PlayStation 3 firmware update that will add various new features, including PlayStation Plus, enhancements between your PlayStation Network and Facebook accounts, and more. In case you've missed earlier reports, PlayStation Plus is a new paid subscription service that provides access to exclusive extras, such as free games, betas, special themes, and access to Qore. The existing free online platform will remain unaffected.

Other key additions in firmware update 3.40 include a photo gallery that lets you upload, browse and comment on Facebook and Picasa Web Album pictures. There's also a video editor with the ability to upload clips to YouTube and Facebook, a one to five star rating system for PlayStation Store content, and power save setting to automatically turn off the PS3 after a set duration, the default of which will be two hours.

Sony will launch the next PSP firmware update (v6.30) at the same time as PS3 3.40, but a date hasn't been announced. While we're talking about the PSP, it's worth noting that Sony exec Scott Rohde has gone on the record to say the company has no plans for a 3D-capable portable console. Granted, it's a seemingly niche feature at the moment but do you think Sony will reconsider its stance if the Nintendo 3DS is successful?

Dead Rising 2 launch bumped to September 28

According to Eurogamer, Capcom has postponed the debut of the sequel to 2006's sandbox-style zombie slasher Dead Rising by one month. Dead Rising 2 is now due on September 28 in North America and October 1 in Europe for the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 simultaneously. The developer hasn't provided any official reason for the delay, nor is there any information about whether it will affect the Xbox 360-exclusive "downloadable prologue" Case Zero.

The latest installment is set five years after the events of the original title and follows a "more interesting" protagonist, Chuck Greene, as he hacks his way through hordes of infected souls in the Las Vegas-like Fortune City. Dead Rising 2's gameplay remains largely unchanged, but there are various enhancements, such as new weapons including a lawn mower, missions (sans photography elements), and the max onscreen zombie count has been increased from 800 to roughly 6,000.

iPhone 4 costs $188 in parts, 1.7 million units sold in 3 days

After tearing the iPhone 4 to bits, research outfit iSuppli estimates the handset's parts to cost about $188, or $187.51 to be precise. That figure is for the 16GB model and doesn't include costs associated with manufacturing, research and development, logistics or advertising. Unsurprisingly, the most expensive component in the new iPhone is its high-resolution "retina display," which runs about $28.50.

In all, the latest numbers are similar to what we've seen for previous iPhones, and iSuppli believes this is because Apple is targeting the same budget. The 3GS was estimated to cost $179 in materials, but considering features like the upgraded screen, the new A4 processor ($10.75), a gyroscope ($2.60) and other additions, the iPhone 4's extra $8.5 seems perfectly reasonable.

At retail, the iPhone 4 costs $199 (16GB) and $299 (32GB) when paired with a two-year data plan from AT&T, or $499 and $599 for unsubsidized units. Steve Jobs has called it the most successful product launch in Apple's history, with 1.7 million units shipped in three days. By comparison, the company sold 1 million 3GS' in the same timeframe.

Samsung Galaxy S to debut on all major U.S. carriers, Sprint's version gets WiMAX

Samsung is making sure you won't have to worry about switching wireless carriers to get your hands on its hot new Android handset, codenamed Galaxy S. The device is expected to debut on all major U.S. carriers sporting a high end feature set that includes a 4-inch AMOLED touch screen display, 1Ghz Cortex A8 Hummingbird processor, a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash and 720p video capture, 2GB of internal storage, Bluetooth, GPS and Wi-Fi.

Verizon's version will be called Samsung Fascinate. It will come with a 16GB microSD card included, 3G mobile hotspot functionality, and the carrier's usual slate of branded features such as VZ Navigator and V Cast Music. On T-Mobile's network the Galaxy S will be called Samsung Vibrant and includes a 2GB microSD card preloaded with the movie Avatar and The Sims 3. T-Mobile will start selling the Samsung Vibrant from July 21, for $199 with a two-year contract.

Over on AT&T the phone will be called Samsung Captivate, including 16GB of storage and various customized features such as AT&T Navigator and AT&T Address Book. Last but certainly not least, Sprint's version of the Galaxy S will pack a few extra surprises. Dubbed Epic 4G, the device will be able to hop on Sprint's WiMAX network for faster download speeds (where available), and adds a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, six-axis sensor as well as a front-facing camera.

The device will be Sprint's second WiMAX phone and is a great alternative to the HTC Evo 4G if you just can't get used to software based keypads. Common to all editions of Samsung's Galaxy S is version 2.1 of Google Android, with 2.2 "Froyo" upgrades expected to come at a later time.

Acer's Predator takes on high-end desktop gaming

While not meaning to take it to any extreme levels, Acer is updating its Predator desktop PC series aimed at gamers packing a lot of horsepower and the option to scale up graphics. For $2,000 you get a Core i7 930 processor, a 3-way SLI capable motherboard, 12GB of DDR3 RAM, a single GeForce GTX 470 graphics card, 1.5TB HDD and a radical chassis design with a mechanized front cover that hides a multi-card reader and various connectivity ports.

The way this system has been configured reminds me a bit of the Gateway FX gaming desktop we reviewed a couple of months back. The sheer amount of RAM is unnecessary, but nevertheless adds to the overall appeal for those easily mislead by spec figures. That's not to say the configuration is not well rounded though. The Predator cannot be configured to build, so the SLI capable motherboard is a worthwhile addition. Also the GeForce GTX 470 seems like the best choice to offer a multi-GPU upgrade option as we recently learned in our SLI vs. Crossfire shootout.

Like with the Gateway FX, Acer seems to be targeting the gamer that doesn't want to bother to build his own system, offering a good combination of components at an interesting price point. Unlike its exterior may lead you to believe, the Predator is not an extreme gaming PC, but it won't cost you like one either. Next time an SSD choice in place of that extra RAM could make for a nice option. The new Acer Predator is expected to become available from retailers immediately.

Intel: GeForce GTX 280 is only 14x faster than Core i7-960

In a peculiar attempt to dismiss claims made by Nvidia, Intel yesterday argued that its CPU technology is only 14 times slower than the graphics company's GPUs. The unusual admission comes as the Santa Clara-based chipmaker looks to downplay Nvidia's claims that its GPUs outperform the conventional Intel processor by a factor of 100.

In a paper titled "Debunking the 100x GPU vs CPU Myth," Intel suggests that application kernels run up to 14 times faster in certain circumstances on an Nvidia GeForce GTX 280 than an Intel Core i7-960. On average, Intel says that number is more along the lines of 2.5 times faster. Naturally, Nvidia quickly published a rebuttal of its own.

In a blog post, spokesman Andy Keane pointed out that Intel used Nvidia's last-generation GPU, as opposed to Fermi. Keane also notes that Intel presumably ran unoptimized codes on the GTX 280, and it's not even clear how they were compared between the GPU and CPU.

The Nvidia staffer went on to acknowledge that not all applications run 100 times quicker on GPUs, but he cited many developers who have achieved that kind of performance, and more. At least seven organizations cite speed-ups of over 100x, and one claims 300x.

Razer preps Tron-themed keyboard and mouse

Children of the 80s: Disney is preparing a range of Tron-themed electronics to promote the launch of its new movie, Tron: Legacy. Among the companies partnering with the studio is PC peripherals maker Razer, who is working a new Tron-based mouse and keyboard.

The mouse features Razer's 5600dpi 3.5g sensor, which is the same technology found in the company's upper-scale products, such as the Mamba we recently reviewed. It's also described as "ergonomic," although that's not the first word that comes to mind when we look at the picture below.

The keyboard's highlights include a set of programmable keys, macro recording capabilities, and a detachable keypad, as seen on competing products like the Microsoft SideWinder X6. There's also talk of a "high precision mouse mat," to complete the set.

Razer's Tron product line will range in price from $79 to $139, while products from other manufacturers include iPod docks, iPhone cases, ear buds, as well as gaming controllers for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii.

Sony adds new signature VAIOs for Summer 2010 Collection

Sony has kicked off the warm season by flooding the North American market with 10 new Signature Collection products, including an upgraded version of the newly redesigned 8-inch VAIO P. The VPC-P118KX/B packs a zestier 2.0GHz Intel Atom Z550 processor, a higher capacity 256GB SSD, both GPS and Verizon mobile broadband, colors have been restricted to only black, and the asking price is $1,500.

The summer 2010 collection also includes an updated version of the 11.1-inch Black Carbon X, which also sells for $1,500 with the same specs as the VAIO P except with 128GB of storage. The Glossy Premium Carbon X seems to feature a higher quality finish for another $100.

Meanwhile, VAIO Metal Shield Z costs $2,020 and has a 13.1-inch screen, a 2.4GHz Core i5, 4GB of RAM, two 128GB SSDs, an Nvidia GeForce GT 330M, and Verizon mobile broadband. This can be increased to an i7-620M, 8GB of RAM, two 256GB SSDs, a Blu-ray burner, and a 1080p display for $4,170.

The Glossy Premium Carbon Z includes those higher end specs outright as well as a carbon finish and Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit for a hefty $4,800.

The black, pink and gold iterations of the 14-inch Arabesque are identical apart from color. Pricing starts at $920, which gets you a 2.26 i3-350M, 4GB of RAM, a 320GB HDD, and a DVD drive. Optionally, you can install an i5-520M, i5-540M, 6GB or 8GB of RAM, a 500GB HDD, and a Blu-ray drive.

The Black F and White J are the final two systems in the collection. The former is a well-stocked 16.4-inch notebook priced at $2,300, while the latter is a $1,550 all-in-one touchscreen desktop. All of the mentioned systems are either already shipping or will begin to do so tomorrow, June 25.

GeForce GTX 460 on its way, overclocking friendly Fermi?

Earlier rumors had indicated that Nvidia was preparing a mid-range addition to its GeForce GTX 400 lineup that would arrive in time for Computex, but as we now know that didn't happen. We do know the GTX 460 is on its way though, and unlike the GTX 465 that is more of the same power hungry Fermi that we have come to love and hate at the same time, the GTX 460 will be based on a cut-down revision of that chip "GF104" that should address our concerns about power consumption and heat generation, particularly relevant for a mainstream priced product that is meant to reach the masses.

The latest tidbits of information come from german publication Heise Online who have disclosed some impressive overclocking results. They claim they were able to overclock a GTX 460 from its stock speed of 675MHz to 830MHz without much effort. Then further tweaking the card's voltage had them hitting speeds in the 900MHz range at which point they were matching the performance of the much more expensive GeForce GTX 470.

According to Heise, there will be two versions of the GTX 460, one that comes with 768MB RAM and a 192-bit memory bus that will sell for $230, and a slightly more expensive version that will carry 1GB of RAM and a 256-bit memory interface.

Maingear launches eX-L 17 desktop replacement notebook

Custom PC builder Maingear has launched a new 17-inch desktop replacement notebook, fully equipped with today's finest hardware. There are three base models of the eX-L 17, one which uses an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870, another with an Nvidia GeForce GTX 480M, and the last uses an Nvidia Quadro FX 2800M. All of the systems come with your choice of five laser-etched designs and are priced at $1,900, $2,500 and $3,000, respectively.

Besides the GPU, little if anything else varies between each model. They're all available with a 17.3-inch 1080p display, five Core i5 and i7 processors (i5-520M through the i7-820QM), 4GB or 8GB of DDR3 1333MHz RAM, up to two mechanical (750GB max) or solid-state storage (512GB max) drives, a DVD burner or Blu-ray reader, a 2.0-megapixel webcam, and Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate 64-bit.

There is one thing that differs between the machines, which is that only the GTX 480M version comes with USB 3.0 ports. Other connectivity includes HDMI and DVI-out, IEEE-1394 Firewire, eSATA, S/PDIF-out, a 7-in-1 card reader, an ExpressCard 34/54 slot, a 56k modem, gigabit Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth, as well as audio jacks. All three variants of the eX-L 17 are available right now with an estimated ship date of July 7.

AMD announces power-efficient Opteron 4000 series chips

AMD today launched its first platform specifically engineered for cloud computing. The Sunnyvale-based chipmaker says its Opteron 4000 series was designed from the ground up for hyperscale data centers comprised of 1P and 2P machines, but the company kept SMB customers and embedded systems in mind too.

Codenamed "Lisbon," the 45nm processors are said to be the most power efficient in their class, consuming less than 6W per core and averaging from 32W to 75W, depending on the product. There are nine chips in total with four or six cores running between 1.7GHz and 2.8GHz, all of which have 6MB of cache per die.

One of the beefier models, the hexa-core 4164EE, consumes 133W at full load and 63W during active idle – a 24% reduction from the older 2419EE, which uses the same fabrication technology and runs at 171W/83W. AMD says such an improvement can save nearly a million dollars a year in a 10,000-server farm.

The new Opteron processors are available worldwide immediately, with prices starting at only $99. Acer, Dell and HP designing servers that include the chips. Looking ahead, the company expects its forthcoming "Bulldozer" technology to succeed existing 4000-series CPUs.

Gateway intros new thin ID notebooks, revamped LT netbooks

Gateway (subsidiary of Acer) has launched its "uber-chic" ID notebook series, which comes in 14-inch or 15.6-inch iterations. The ID49 and ID59 start at $680 and $800, and feature an inch-thick aluminum housing along with an aqua-blue touchpad that glows when touched, and a "social networking button" for quick access to your Facebook, YouTube and Flickr accounts.

Other common specs include an LED-backlit (1366x768) display, an Intel Core i3 or i5 processor, up to 8GB of RAM, an optional Nvidia GeForce GT 330M GPU with Optimus graphics switching technology, up to 500GB of storage space, a DVD burner, a multi-card reader, a 1.3-megapixel webcam, gigabit Ethernet, and 802.11b/g/n wireless connectivity.

In conjunction with the launch of its new ID laptops, Gateway has redesigned its LT netbook line. The 10.1-inch LT23 netbook series boasts an aesthetic refresh, Intel's Atom N450 processor, up to 250GB of storage, has the above-mentioned social networking buttons, provides eight hours of battery life if you're lucky, and starts at $330.

Activision CEO teases ''online world'' for Call of Duty

With Lucas Arts and Interplay readying their Star Wars and Fallout MMO titles, respectively, could Activision's Call of Duty franchise be next in line? The company has flirted with the idea in the past, as it looks at different business models to monetize online gameplay, and if recent comments from Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick are any indication then a Call of Duty subscription based game could indeed be in the cards.

His comments were made in a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, when asked what he would change about his company if he could make it happen with a snap of the fingers. Kotick mentioned the impressive response Call of Duty has received on platforms like Xbox Live, with around 1.7 billion hours of multiplayer gaming, and said an online subscription service for the franchise could really satisfy bigger audiences "with more inspired, creative opportunities."

He didn't get into details of how such an online world would work, so we can't say for sure if it's all wishful thinking, or if such a project is actually in the works. The company recently revealed it gets around 70% of its operating profit from non-console-based titles, which could be seen as a sign that they'll try to bring more of its properties to PC-based online models. When you consider the majority of that figure likely comes from the 11.5 million World of Warcraft players paying a $15 monthly fee, the idea of Activision spreading this model to other popular franchises sounds even more plausible.

Puget Systems intros dead silent desktop, Serenity SPCR

For every hardware enthusiast hell-bent on pushing their silicon to the max, there's another obsessed with tweaking their machine to inaudible levels. Okay, perhaps that's not entirely true. But plenty of us can appreciate a rig that doesn't generate noise pollution, and that's precisely what lesser-known system builder Puget Systems is hoping to cash in on.

The boutique PC maker has announced its most silent offering to date, the Serenity SPCR Edition, which runs at 14 dBA@1m when idle and 18 dBA@1m during full CPU and GPU load. That's around, if not less noise than the average case fan toward the quieter end of the spectrum. By comparison, the redesigned Xbox 360 runs between 45 dBA and 51 dBA.

You can order the Serenity SPCR with an array of modern hardware, including Intel Core processors, 2GB to 16GB of RAM, a GeForce GT 210, GT 240 as well as a single or dual Radeon HD 5750, several popular sound cards, a handful of HDD and SSD options, and one or two optical drives with both a Blu-ray player and burner available. Pricing starts at $1,250.

If you're curious, the machine said to operate at 14-18 dBA had a Core i7-860, 2GB of RAM, a Radeon HD 5750, a 160GB Intel X25-M SSD with a secondary 1.5TB WD Caviar Green HDD, a DVD drive, an Antec CP-850 PSU and Antec P183 chassis along with various noise-reducing accessories. This particular configuration is priced around the $2,500 mark.

Acer expands Aspire line with budget, multimedia notebooks

Ever determined to supplant HP in the PC market, Acer unleashed a volley of Aspire notebooks today, ranging from budget to full-bore multimedia machines. Starting at $700, the 15.6-inch Aspire AS5745 and 17.3-inch AS7745 make use of Intel's Core i3, i5 and i7 processors, up to 16GB of RAM with all four slots populated, 250GB to 500GB of storage, and some carry Blu-ray drives.

The AS5745 can be had with Nvidia's GeForce GT 330M, while the AS7745's secondary drive bay can be occupied by another 500GB HDD, and it uses ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 for discrete graphics. Iterations with hardware such as i7 processors, dedicated graphics, secondary storage and Blu-ray drives run upward of a grand. A sub-model, the AS5745PG starts at $900 and features a multi-touch display.

If you're more the AMD type, Acer has also announced various value-based Aspire notebooks with the underdog's Phenom II, Athlon II, Turion II, and V series chips. Naturally, those processors are paired with ATI graphics solutions, including the Mobility Radeon HD 4250 IGP, as well as HD 5470 and 5650 discrete GPUs. The AMD-powered offerings are due to launch later this month and top out at $900.

In addition to expanding its mainstream Aspire line, the company is now shipping the 18.4-inch Aspire 8943G and the upgraded ultraportable TimelineX series to US customers.

VLC media player gets GPU decoding on Windows and Linux

VideoLAN has pushed out a new finalized build of its VLC media player, adding stability as well as numerous enhancements and features. Among the more noteworthy items listed in 1.1.0's changelog is the addition of GPU decoding on Windows (via DxVA2) and Linux (using VAAPI) for H.264, VC-1 and MPEG-2 formats. Unfortunately, the developer says GPU decoding is currently limited to Nvidia cards, citing driver issues with ATI products.

VLC 1.1.0 also includes DSP decoding using OpenMax IL, improved MKV HD support, and compatibility with Blu-ray subtitles, MPEG-4 lossless, VP8, and WebM. The latest build touts a better audio experience, with additions such as support for DVD-Audio files, AMR-NB, MPEG-4 ALS, Vorbis 6.1/7.1, FLAC 6.1/7.1, and WMAS, not to mention tweaked meta-data and album-art features.

Besides the added functionality and various developer-oriented improvements, VideoLAN says version 1.1.0 is simply lighter and faster, with thousands of lines of code removed and decoding speed boosted by up to 40%. If you're interested, you can read the itemized highlights here.

Microsoft readies family-oriented Xbox 360 features

In a move that'll surely brighten the day of gamer families, Microsoft has announced the "Xbox Live Family Pack," which will knock about half off four Xbox Live Gold memberships. The initiative is reportedly intended to solve the problem of households sharing a single console and Xbox Live account, and it will include various family-specific features to make life easier on parents.

Along with four Gold memberships for $99.99, Xbox 360s will have a Family Center that will funnel billing and account management through one primary account. That account has the ability to purchase and dispense Microsoft Points to other members, as well as access to activity monitoring reports to "help encourage discussions about safer more balanced gaming and entertainment habits."

Redmond also plans to offer "exclusive family content and discounts," and it'll take parental controls to the next step with talk of a function that removes all mature games, movies and content from the dashboard. Parents will also be able to apply title exceptions to disallow inappropriate material, and Microsoft will offer "intelligent default settings for child, teen, and adult profiles."

The new family features will roll out this November alongside Microsoft's new Kinect motion controller.