Oct 25, 2008

PRINCE OF PERSIA : PRODIGY

Ubisoft was created 2 game of Prince of Persia. The first one is Prince of Persia : The Two Thrones, and the second is Prince of Persia : Sands of Time, what i gonna say about that game… it was awesome game!!!. But silently Ubisoft preparing the new scence of adventure for The Prince at 2008!!! with the simple title “PRINCE OF PERSIA”, also common with Prince of Persia: Prodigy. As a developer of Prince of Persia Ubisoft Montreal give some different contents from the 2 last games that was created. (click to original size)

First, In the last 2 games you will play with the prince of the kingdom. But know…our Hero in Prince of Persia: Prodigy is an adventurer. He is the man who finding some gold, money and more about that can make him became a rich man. And with this job, he will famous and called with the name “Prince”. The story is begin when The Prince gonna enjoy his wealthy after he finish with his adventure, but he trap on the big sand storm. after the storm going down, The Prince see that he now in some beautiful land, it’s like fantasy dream…an he meet a girl was named as Elika. Elika bring The Prince in to the Tree of Live at the middle of the land. In there The Prince see awakening of God of Darkness AHRIMAN, that was prison on the Tree of Life, and use the power to close the land with the darkness. After it Elika open the identity of The Prince, and she found that the prince as a Ahuras that keeping the place of Ahriman was prisoned. Prince and Elika will do a great adventure to stop the bad evil of Ahriman, and to repair the land from the darkness.

The second, Ability of The Prince will more better then the last 2 games. He will have some agility and the good fighting so it will make him more powerful and become a great killer machine. The weapons that he wear are a sword and some gauntlet (like some clowed glove) . Beside for attack his enemy, the gauntlet can use for glid from the high place. Although The Prince cannot control the time, he have another great ability as good as the last 2 game.

Another thing that make this game different is abut the appearance/feature. All of the game looking is use like some illustration graphic. Different with the old game is use Full 3D, but now the developer choose to use the illustrative graphical style. Even looks like cel-shading graphic but the appearance is completely different with another game that use same technique, like The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. (story Link)

GENRE : ACTION

PUBLISHER : UBISOFT

DEVELOPER : UBISOFT MONTREAL

RELEASE : NOVEMBER 2008

OFFICIAL WEBSITE : http://prince-of-persia.uk.ubi.com/

The "TIBERIUM" Game

Tiberium is a cancelled tactical first-person shooter video game title set in the Command & Conquer universe, that was in development by EA Los Angeles (EALA). Tiberium was initially revealed when shots of the January 2008 issue of Game Informer was leaked, but was officially announced by EA just a day after. Prior to the announcement, the game had been in production for two years. (click to original size)

In the first previews of the game by GameSpot and IGN, it was confirmed Tiberium uses a game engine based on Unreal Engine 3.

On January 18, 2008, a trailer of Tiberium was released on GameTrailers with a message of more to come on January 25. (See external links section). It would have been, to date, the only C&C game not to include "Command & Conquer" in its title.

Tiberium was cancelled on September 30, 2008 due to the game's failure to meet "quality standards set by the development team and the EA Games label".

Synopsis
In 2058, eleven years after the Third Tiberium War, a wasteland covers what was once the Mediterranean Sea. The player takes the role of Ricardo Vega (main character of the novel), a GDI Forward Battle commander recently pulled out of retirement, who is exploring the single complete Scrin Threshold Tower, called "Tower Omega" by the GDI and "Threshold 19" by the Scrin, in this area. The tower is believed to be a relic from the Third Tiberium War but turns out to be the base of another Scrin invasion.

Gameplay: Squad
The most important feature of the game would have been that the player controlled squads of units, as opposed to a single member. The producer claimed that controlling the squads would be very easy, and that the squad members would automatically find cover, such as behind a walker's legs. Squads were intended to be deployed at the beginning of each level, with reinforcements being sent as members were killed. The known squads and units prior to cancellation were the rifleman squad, the missile team, the Titan Battle Walker and the Orca VTOL Assault Craft. The number of squads able to be controlled in the console version of the game was four, via the directional buttons on the controller.

Weapons
In Tiberium, the player would have access to single weapon: a multi-purpose transforming "GD-10". The weapon was shown to include four firing modes, similar to that in Star Wars: Republic Commando or Jak 3. These modes included an anti-infantry rail gun carbine, grenade launcher, sniper rifle, and an anti-aircraft missile launcher. Ammunition status was to be displayed by a hologram on the weapon rather than via a heads-up display. (story Link)

Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X

In story of H.A.W.X is happening in 2012. In this time, the world is very depend on the private military companies (PMC) that create many of soldier of fortune, most of them don’t care about the law. This make competition between PMC, and make chaos into the world. Even one of the most influence in PMC do attack to the USA!! Their objective is to conquer that country, to spread their territory. To stop this bad action, the gamer whose in the HAWX (High Altitude Warfare Experimental) Squadron was created to destroy the basis of PMC in Brazil.

HAWX as an Ace Combat give something difference to us. Well, that not doubt if this game give some air action fighting, the one is different is about the plane. You can see in the other game that they use the reality of military data. In HAWX the planes is so cool, even there is have realistic plane but this game give some thing like sense of realism. You will see the cool fictive planes.

Ubisoft Romania prepare more than 50 planes that you can use in combat. Start on the plane in the war Vietnam until the new prototype is going to show in this game. Beside that to make this game more realistic, you will have a wingman. The wingman can help you to finish the missions, its like reality war. (story Link)

Platform : XBOX 360, PS 3, PC GAME

GENRE : FLIGHT-ACTION

PUBLISHER/DEVELOPER : UBISOFT

RELEASE : Q1 2009

OFFICIAL WEBSITE : http://hawxgame.uk.ubi.com/

Tomb Raider : Underworld

This time Crystal Dynamics as the developer of Tomb Raider : Underworld give some new story in this game. I’m sure you already know about Lara Croft, this woman was common as the adventurer girl in the Tomb Raider movie. The new game of Tomb Raider, will played in the deep of ocean. That’s why this game named as Tomb Raider:Underworld, the really place is in the Mediterranian.

The setting in the deep of ocean is not only great in story, but also great when you find the wild sea animal. Like the shark, the poison jelly fish and may be if you lucky you will find the pope. Of course when Lara in the sea she will use the dive clothes, and Lara will bring the grenades to protect her from the shark.

In this game Lara also can use two stuff of her hand. You can use one hand for the gun, and the other will use the flashlight. The another unique is Lara also have a camera, it can be used to get some picture, and that photos can uploaded to the PlayStation Network or Xbox Live (just for the console version) to share the secret with other player, that they cannot find it.

So, if you really wanna see some game that will make your adrenaline getting up…you need, oh no..you must play this game. (story Link)

Genre : action

Release : November,18 2008

Platform : PS 3, X BOX 360, PS 2, Wii, PC GAME

Oct 22, 2008

Windows 7 Equals Some Strange Math

It was the product’s code name, something relatively simple, and it is generally seen as a lucky number (at least here in the United States).But to arrive at the number 7, Microsoft does some strange math, as general manager Mike Nash outlined in a blog posting Tuesday. Nash writes:

The very first release of Windows was Windows 1.0, the second was Windows 2.0, the third Windows 3.0.

Here’s where things get a little more complicated. Following Windows 3.0 was Windows NT, which was code-versioned as Windows 3.1. Then came Windows 95, which was code-versioned as Windows 4.0. Then, Windows 98, 98 SE and Windows Millennium each shipped as 4.0.1998, 4.10.2222, and 4.90.3000, respectively. So we’re counting all 9x versions as being 4.0.

Windows 2000 code was 5.0, and then we shipped Windows XP as 5.1. Even though it was a major release, we didn’t want to change code version numbers to maximize application compatibility. That brings us to Windows Vista, which is 6.0. So we see Windows 7 as our next logical significant release and seventh in the family of Windows releases.

Well, there you have it.

Perhaps more noteworthy is the fact that, although Vista got the version number 6.0, Windows 7 won’t actually be version 7.0. Rather, it will be Windows 6.1.

That goes to the very fine line Microsoft is trying to walk with Windows 7. The company is at once trying to reassure IT folks that it is not a radical departure from Windows Vista and at the same time tell consumers it is a significant upgrade from Vista.

In his blog post, Nash tries to thread that very fine needle as well.

“We learned a lot about using 5.1 for XP and how that helped developers with version checking for API compatibility,” Nash wrote. “We also had the lesson reinforced when we applied the version number in the Windows Vista code as Windows 6.0–that changing basic version numbers can cause application compatibility issues. So we decided to ship the Windows 7 code as Windows 6.1, which is what you will see in the actual version of the product, in cmd.exe or computer properties.”

But he tries to convince consumers that they shouldn’t read too much into that decision. “There’s been some fodder about whether using 6.1 in the code is an indicator of the relevance of Windows 7,” Nash wrote. “It is not.”

Of course, the real proof will come in two weeks, when Microsoft hands out the first Windows 7 code to developers and outlines what the operating system update is all about. Then we will all be able to better judge for ourselves just how big a deal Windows 7 is (or isn’t). (story Link)

Optimize your website : 5 Tricks In Choosing The Right Keyword

In internet marketing, traffic is the most important thing webmasters must remember in order for them to be successful with the websites they build. Without traffic, you cannot generate any clicks on your ads, acquire sales for your products, attain e-mail subscribers or any other thing that you would like to accomplish with your websites help. It shall always be the amount of traffic and a continuance of a stable flow of traffic that decides the success of your website. Driving traffic to your website does not necessarily mean you have to spend a dime. There are a lot of free methods you can use to drive traffic to your website.
The Five Free Methods
The five methods listed here are really excellent and proven to achieve the closest results you wish and can always be applied directly. Unlike purchasing your own advertising, these methods are free but of course, they require the most of your attention and hard work.
1. Make sure your website is optimized for search engines as far as possible. Any traffic you achieve from search engines is always free. To have your website optimized, ensure that the website contains articles with a lot of keywords. When you write articles for your website, about 400-900 words, you can generate a lot of visits more often. Be sure to include catchy titles to entice visitors to read them. However, this may not likely generate the traffic you have always wanted, this could be your first step in making your website successful. In addition, you could always submit all your articles to article directories and contact publishers if they wish to use your articles on either their mailing list or website. Have your articles contain heavy keywords so that they may also appear on top of most search engine results.
2. Join link exchange programs. Nowadays, there are a lot of webmasters who invite other webmasters to take part in link exchange programs. When someone’s website is linked to yours, you’ll have the chance of being visited by people who visit those websites. To do this, you can look out for websites that are similarly related to yours and allow the owners of these websites to exchange links. Make use of an anchor text for the link as it will aid your search engine rankings.
3. Allow joint ventures. Joint ventures could be very powerful if done in the right way. Give your partners some really good reasons why they should promote your site. By providing them with the right promotional tools such as e-mails, signatures, articles, etc., he/she would no doubt accept your request. To ensure that your website gets better results, look for website owners that have the capability of sending a lot of traffic to you.
4. Join online groups, forums, etc. that could help you with promoting your website. For example, you may post your sites URL in your signature file for the users to see. So you can be a known member by the discussion groups you join, simply participate in discussions that interest you and contribute your knowledge and expertise to the rest of the members.
5. Get a free blog. Blogging is another free method that generates traffic to your website. Post some high-quality information regularly and don’t forget to ping all your posts as it can help in driving traffic to your website. (story Link)

Making Money With Social Networking

Social networking sites on the internet have really changed the ways that many people go about their ventures to make money online. If you haven’t considered making money with social network websites, such as Yuwie, Facebook or Myspace, maybe it’s time that you invest some of your time figuring out how you might be able to increase sales, get more customers, and jumpstart your affiliate marketing adventures.

Many internet marketers are already earning more than enough money through the use of social networking sites’ systems in order to get their hands on more cash. Here are some interesting ways that you, can make some money with social networking websites that shouldn’t and won’t take you very much time at all.

The first step in marketing with social network sites involves actually setting up your account. If you don’t already have an account with Facebook, Yuwie, Myspace, or any of the other well-known websites out there, it’s time you did. When creating your account, one can either use their real name or a "pen name" of sorts. In fact, many internet marketers actually use a pen name in order to disguise who they really are as well as creating a social networking profile to go along with their real name.

What to sell: The number of products and things that you can sell on Facebook or Myspace is ultimately limitless. Whether you want to promote your own website to gain members and traffic to, or post your affiliate links to other products, anything is generally accepted in these communities.

There are several ways in which the actual selling process can be done. First, social networking websites usually allow members to post bulletins or notes that all the rest of their contacts that are members of the site will be able to see.

These bulletins are where the real money can be made, because pretty much anything can be included in them. For example, you could do a product review of a weight loss product and post it in a bulletin along with your affiliate link in order for your friends to buy. In doing so, your friends will give you commission sales on the products they buy.

The profile page is another way someone could make money using social networking sites. Whether you’d like to promote someone else’s products as an affiliate or your own products, this can be done right on your profile by posting affiliate links, product reviews, information, or anything else that will attract a potential sale. Even videos that are essentially product reviews and an attempt to try to sell your own product or your affiliate product can be posted on your social networking member profile.

As you can see, the sales and amount of money that can come from using and exploiting social networking sites can really compound. Basically, the more friends that a person has in their community profile means that the more chances they have and the more members they have available to them in order to market and try to sell their products. All in all, using Yuwie, Facebook, Myspace, or any another social networking community website can definitely pay off in the long run! (story Link)

Oct 20, 2008

Vista chief declares war on Apple

Brad Brooks, vice president of Windows Consumer Product Marketing at Microsoft, has gone on the offensive against Vista bashers, Apple and Linux as he personally “draws a line in the sand” and starts fighting for Windows Vista. During Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference in July Brooks told the attendees: “Today we’re making a statement. We’re going to do things differently. We’re going to tell our story - the real Windows Vista story.”

Now Brooks has attacked Apple, talking about an “Apple tax” 20 times in an interview on CNET.

He states that Mac buyers face hidden costs if they try to add Windows to their Mac.

“There’s a technology tax - Apple still doesn’t have HDMI, doesn’t have Blu-ray offerings, doesn’t have e-SATA external disk drives that work at twice the speed of FireWire. And so you’ve got all of these things that are truly taxes.

“You know, that’s the crazy part about it. If people want a Windows experience, then start with a machine that was built for the Windows experience. There’s no question, if you look at it, and go to Apple’s Web site today, their No. 1 selling feature that they’re telling students as to why buy a Mac is because it does run Windows, and that you can get Office when you’re running it in Boot Camp or Parallels. But, then you’re just paying that tax again.

“I don’t personally believe that customers really know that a copy of Parallels is going to cost them $80, or that when they really look at what they’re going to have to pay in terms of another $200 for a (full boxed copy of Windows), that they’re going to pay for another $149 for MobileMe to put on there, Internet services, which they can basically get all the same functionality when they have Windows and Windows Live working together.

“People really don’t understand the Apple tax because it’s never been explained to them. We have not done it, and certainly Apple is not going to explain their own tax to their customers.”

Brooks agreed that this latest attack on Apple is similar to a 2004 campaign Microsoft waged on “Different audience, but very much the same approach. … You know what, we’re not afraid of the truth; we just don’t feel like the truth has been told. And this is another case around getting the facts where we don’t feel like the truth has necessarily been exposed.”

Brooks also backed up Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who recently described Microsoft Office for Mac as not a full version of Office.

“If you define different as meaning lacking several of the features and choices that come in the latest version of Office, yes, it is different. … In the latest version of Office 2007 there’s a number of features, usability improvements, enhancements that are universally liked by our users, and really differentiate the product as being the next generation of productivity suites. Those are things that just don’t come with the Mac versions.”

In a recent interview with PC Mag Español Ballmer lashed out at Apple: “You know, they like to act like Macs are lightweight, there are much lighter weight PC notebooks. Macs - do they have the best battery power? Of course they don’t have the best battery power. Macs tend to have nice screens, but can you get nicer screens for a PC? Of course. Do Macs work in business? No, they do not.”

“PCs are better than Macs, continued Ballmer. “That is not something that can be debated. 32 out of every 33 times, somebody buys a PC instead of a Mac. I’m not saying that there are not some things that people like about Macs, apparently there are. But have you ever seen a cheap Mac? No.” (story Link)

MS keeps ‘Windows 7′ Name for Next Client OS

Microsoft is sticking with the name Windows 7 when it releases the next version of its client operating system, according to Mike Nash, corporate vice president of Windows product management.The Windows client operating system will eventually lose its beta tag, but not its code-name as Microsoft opts for “simplicity” with its naming conventions, Nash said on the Vista team blog.

The release is the seventh version of Windows since its inception.

The company may be hoping it can tap into the mythical qualities of the number, which has held significance for Pythagoreans, Babylonians, Egyptians, Jews, Muslims and Christians throughout history. In mediaeval times, there were the Seven Champions. There are the famed Seven Kings of Rome and the Seven Last Words along with the Seven Sages, Seven Wise Masters, Seven Seas and Seven Natural Wonders of the World.

But, of course, there also are the seven deadly sins. Some critics may want to add an eighth after the beating Vista has taken since its release.

Microsoft plans to distribute the first pre-beta of Windows 7 later this month to attendees at its Professional Developers Conference, which begins Oct. 27 in Los Angeles.

There is still no official word when Windows 7 Beta 1 will ship, but Microsoft has said it plans general availability of the operating system around January 2010.

At the PDC, Windows 7 will be featured in 22 sessions. Those sessions will show attendees improvements in the operating system including the kernel, networking, hardware and devices, and user-interface, according to the official conference Web site.

The Windows 7 sessions will cover topics such as energy efficiency; graphics systems; building communication applications; documents and printing convergence; new APIs to find, visualize and organize; new text and graphics APIs; the operating system’s design principals; and APIs for building context-aware applications.

To date, IT has heard little about the new networking features in Windows 7.

Microsoft did say it plans to tweak in Windows 7 the User Account Control features that have been criticized in Vista.

Nash said “aspirational” monikers such as Windows XP or Windows Vista did not seem to do justice to “what we are trying to achieve, which is to stay firmly rooted in our aspirations for Windows Vista, while evolving and refining the substantial investments in platform technology in Windows Vista into the next generation of Windows.” (story Link)

Oct 15, 2008

Microsoft Can’t Close Windows

In a week that saw XP dodge yet another death sentence, the Kindle become even uglier, and Ask remind everybody it still exists, we take a look back to see what our readers made of it all.

In a darkened room somewhere in Redmond, the words XP must Die” are daubed all over padded walls and Vista is rocking in the corner with a deranged smile. That’s right, Microsoft has given Windows XP its seven thousandth reprieve, which officially means it’ll still be the operating system of choice when the cockroaches are taking their turn to put the economy back together.

mprltd isn’t a bit surprised: “Windows 7 is looking like Windows Vista SP3 or SP4,” he notes. “Coupled with [the idea that] if it’s not broke don’t fix it, and it looks like hell will freeze over before certain companies will buy any other operating system apart from XP. I see windows XP staying for eternity.”

Eternity, eh? That might just be long enough to convince the sceptics that Vista isn’t the software equivalent of scurvy. Not forsquare1, though.

“To me, it doesn’t sound as if Microsoft is confident about its operating systems. Why provide XP when Vista is more secure, stable, faster, etc…? I have no experience with Vista, but with MS doing things like this, it’s not tempting me to move over.”

Anybody want to field that one? Big_D’s on the case.

“If you have 20,000 PCs running XP and you need 10 new PCs, which is more cost effective? Another 10 PCs with XP installed or spend millions upgrading all the existing machines to Vista? It has nothing to do with Microsoft’s confidence in the OS, more to do with the real-world situation of large companies, who cannot afford to upgrade.”

Second generation Kindle leaks online

We really hope the pictures that have surfaced on the internet of the new Kindle are Lucifer’s very own lies. Because if they’re real, it’s uglier than a bat crashed into a windscreen. On the bright side we’ll probably never get

to see it anyway, because Amazon still hasn’t realised UK isn’t actually a misspelling of US. cheysuli’s sarcasm would have blistered paint:”Hooray! They’re releasing a sequel to the Amazon eBook reader unavailable in the UK, which will also be unavailable in the UK. I can hardly contain my indifference.”

Even more spectacularly, ProfessorF’s sarcasm would have blistered cheysuli: “I was really hoping that it would have come up with a system where you purchase the document holding device, into which you simply insert the text file ready to read at your leisure. Also, it’d have little or no impact on battery life, and be 100% recyclable. You could take it with you anywhere. Share with friends. Swap literature and ideas. And it’d support user-generated content. Oh no, wait, that’s called an A5 ring binder.”

And after five years it’d need a spare room for storage, a truck to be moved between meetings and be as comfortable in the hand as a sack of razorblades. Apart from that, we agree. The future’s overrated.

“I searched ‘why are you so bad at this?’ on Ask and was immediately directed to a site offering suicide tips,” notes stephenreilly, who’s clearly not got to grips with the forum’s sense of humour yet.

Greemble was equally unimpressed: “Trying to find results using Ask will give a page of ’sponsored links’, very few (if any) of which have much to do with what I’m looking for. Finding the actual results requires scrolling down the page and if you scroll too far, you get another load of advert links. Far too many ads to be of any use.”

Shush, don’t tell Google. It provides at least half of those pity links.

paulzolo wasn’t entirely sure a facelift was necessarily the way to go. He still remembered Ask’s last revamp. “In unrelated news, a Mr A Jeeves was admitted to hospital suffering from suspected pneumonia and severe exposure caused by almost two-and-a-half years of living rough since being sacked by has previous employers.” (story Link)

Oct 11, 2008

Look who’s buying Vista Home Basic

Who’s buying new PCs with Windows Vista Home Basic? Judging by the name, you’d assume those OS editions would be loaded on underpowered machines headed for tract homes in the burbs and studio apartments in the city. But you’d be wrong.

Based on my observations of the PC market over the past year or two, I think consumers have rejected Home Basic in favor of Home Premium. But small, budget-conscious businesses have embraced the low-end OS.


In one large sample I looked at, nearly three out of every five machines destined for small business included Windows Vista Home Basic. Small-business buyers are apparently able to look past that name, and PC makers are happy to accommodate them. The primary appeal of Home Basic isn’t technology, it’s cold hard cash. Vista Home Basic runs Windows apps just fine, and it’s dirt cheap. Dell, one of the world’s two largest PC suppliers, in fact, is pushing Home Basic as the preferred option for many computers aimed at the small business market.


Take Dell’s Vostro 200, which is aimed squarely at the small-business market and starts at $269 with a Celeron 430 processor, 512MB of RAM, and no monitor. A much more capable machine with a Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM, and a 19-inch monitor sells for $449. All three machines in this line come with Windows Vista Home Basic. To upgrade to Vista Business or downgrade to XP Pro is another $99, which represents a huge percentage of the system cost.


The phenomenon is equally pronounced if you look at the Vostro notebook line, where more than half of all available configurations, 13 out of 24, include Vista Home Basic. By contrast, Dell’s consumer notebook lineoffers 34 separate configuration, of which only three start with Vista Home Basic. The remaining 90% come with Vista Home Premium (only one model includes Vista Ultimate by default).


You can see the same mix of Windows versions if you go to a business-focused reseller like CDW and look at a list of the cheapest available desktop computers, sorted by price in ascending order. Five of the 10 PCs on the list, including models from HP Compaq and Lenovo, come with Vista Home Basic. (Once you get past those low-end PCs, however, almost all computers sold at CDW include Vista Business.) (story Link)


Symantec Developing Vista User Account Control

User Account Control (UAC) is a new security feature in Microsoft Windows Vista that changes the architecture of the access token creation process and prevents users from logging on with full administrative rights. While the intent of this feature may have been enhanced security, all too often users need administrative rights for tasks like installing/updating programs, and many software applications need access to run properly.The User Account Control tool has been designed to replace the Vista UAC, to simultaneously make your system more secure while significantly improving user-friendliness.

By default, any application launched by an administrator is running with a filtered, standard user access token. When the administrator attempts to perform a task, the UAC prompts the user to approve the action. This can lead to poor user experiences because the prompts can be slow to display, and appear frequently and without warning. What’s more, because the UAC may give a false sense of security since other processes can still access the desktop, it actually raises security concerns.

The net effect is that many users find the UAC security clearance and prompting process annoying, especially those who are a computer’s only user and have all the latest Norton Internet Security software installed and updated.

The User Account Control tool will collect user input as well as information on applications causing prompts. The data will be processed to improve the comprehensiveness and robustness of the white list, which will be updatable while running the tool online. (story Link)

OpenOffice 3.0 to Launch October 13

OpenOffice.org will host a launch party in Paris on October 13 to celebrate the eighth anniversary of OpenOffice and the release of version 3.0.

That day will hopefully mark the actual availability of the software as well; "[The] target date is now 13th or 14th of October," Charles Schulz wrote on the OpenOffice marketing blog on Oct. 2.

Meanwhile, OpenOffice 3.0 release candidate 4 is available via the organization's Web site as of Oct. 7. However, RC4 is not recommended for production use, as it is not the final product, OpenOffice.org said.

OpenOffice, intended to be a free, open-source alternative to Microsoft Office, released the beta version of 3.0 in May. OpenOffice 3.0 will feature a new Start Center, icons, and zoom control in the status bar, as well as support for the ".docx" file format used by Microsoft Office 2007. The release candidate also includes additional, technical updates, details of which are provided on the OpenOffice Web site.

The launch event will be sponsored by the Region Ile de France, Silicon Sentier, and OpenOffice, and will feature presentations by Jean-Paul Huchon, president of Region Ile de France, Louis Suarez-Potts, president of the OpenOffice.org Community Council, and Charles-H. Schulz, leader of the native-language confederation at OpenOffice.org.

The party is open to everyone, and registration is available online.

Earlier this year, versions of OpenOffice between 2.0 and 2.4 were affected by a vulnerability in the software's custom memory allocation routine. It was discovered by iDefense's VCP (vulnerability contributor program), which allows researchers to submit vulnerabilities and exploit code for money. (story Link)

Adobe Releases 'Clickjacking' Fix for Flash

When we first wrote up clickjacking we noted that the "...proof of concept code was said to affect every major browser and 'an Adobe product' (Flash? Acrobat?)" Turns out it was Flash.
Now Adobe has revealed a workaround for the attacks, which can trick a user into clicking on a link or dialog box unwittingly. Adobe Flash Player 9.0.124.0 (the current version) and earlier are affected.

The Flash player's camera and microphone access dialog are the problem, and the workaround involves denying interactive access to them through Flash. There is a workaround to the workaround in which specific sites may be allowed access.

Adobe says that a true fix will be available before the end of October. (story Link)

Apple Invites Journalists to Notebook Launch

Apple has sent out invitations to a press conference on Oct. 14, where the company says it will launch new notebook PCs.

"The spotlight turns to notebooks," the invitation reads.

The launch appears to confirm rumors of new MacBooks, including possibly the so-called "Brick," where Apple's manufacturers would use lasers to carve the notebook from a single block of aluminum. The advantage would be to add stability to Apple's thin-and-light notebooks, helping to eliminate the flex in the chassis.

Rumors have also surfaced that at least one of the notebooks will be priced as aggressively as $800.

A lower-priced notebook could help offset worries that the fourth-quarter will be an especially tough one for tech companies, including boutique companies like Apple. This week, a staff economist for the Consumer Electronics Association predicted that fourth-quarter consumer spending on consumer electronics would be just "okay".

The press conference is being characterized as a "town hall," and will be held at Apple's headquarters in Cupertino. (story Link)

Oct 9, 2008

New BlackBerry - The "Storm 9530"

RIM's first touch-screen BlackBerry, the Storm 9530, has the first touch screen you can actually physically click. Combine this innovative display with global high-speed cellular, a high-resolution camera, and an improved Web browser and you have a BlackBerry that's poised to steal some of the iPhone's thunder in corporate circles and among those who prefer Verizon's network to AT&T's. Although the Storm hasn't yet hit the PC Magazine Labs for full testing, I was able to get some quality time with the device. And I liked what I saw.
The 5.5-ounce Storm is a 4.4 by 2.4 by 0.55 inch (HWD) slab dominated by a 3.25-inch, 360-by-480-pixel touch screen, which is capacitive, meaning it detects the electricity from your fingers, and transflective, so it's easy to see outdoors in bright light. Below the display are Pick Up and End call buttons, a Back button, and the familiar BlackBerry menu key. On the sides of the handset, you'll find Camera, Volume, and a programmable Multi-Function button. Mute and lock buttons are on the top panel. The phone's metal back is home to the speakerphone and the 3.2-megapixel camera with LED flash.

The touch screen feels surreal; it's like nothing I've ever tried before. Many other touch-screen handsets vibrate slightly when you touch a virtual button. But when you press a button on the Storm, it feels as if you're actually pressing on that specific spot. That's because you are: the Storm's touch screen floats along three axes in a magnesium frame, so it provides specific tactile feedback. The screen's virtual keys are as durable as those found on any previous BlackBerry keyboard, RIM CEO Mike Lazaridis told us in a meeting. (full story Link)

Need-4-Speed : UNDERCOVER

We got behind the wheel of Need for Speed's latest instalment. Find out if Undercover is looking ready to race in our hands-on look.
EA has been pretty clear that Need for Speed Undercover is more of a spiritual successor to Most Wanted than a follow-up to last year's iteration, ProStreet. It has brought back police pursuits, but it's also bringing the series up to date with what it claims will be an expansive open world and a deeper story mode, complete with a lead character who gains experience along the way.
Undercover takes place in three distinct cities in the fictional Tri-City Bay. Gold Coast Mountain, Sunset Hills, and Palm Harbor will offer three different regions to explore, and all of them are accessible from a main interstate highway. To give you an idea of the size of the world, the game's developers at EA Black Box said it would take eight minutes to navigate across at top speed, and 160km of drivable roads are available. Black Box is working on a streaming world that loads as needed, and with the main menu also loaded into the world (appearing
as a pop-up) there will be no breaks from the action, unless you're jumping online for a race against friends. Xbox Live and PlayStation Network will be supported, but there is no local split-screen multiplayer. In addition to embarking on missions, you'll be able to free-roam around Tri-City Bay as much as you like, and at any time you can bring up your GPS device to jump directly into races, sprints, highway battles, and pursuits.

While we still haven't seen much of the storyline, EA revealed that a character played by Hollywood actress Maggie Q (Mission Impossible III, Die Hard 4.0) will recruit you as a federal officer at the beginning of the game to help bust an underground car-smuggling operation. You'll gradually infiltrate the crime syndicate, building on your reputation as you climb the ranks by taking jobs. This is where Undercover gets its name: You'll have to complete your jobs while facing off against cops, using them as your foil in the process. Some of the cutscene cinematics look top-notch, and hopefully the story will be just as solid--it's unusual to see developers go to this length to include a storyline in a racing game. EA has used a photographic technique known as magic hour (used in movies such as Transformers and 300) to film some of Undercover's cutscenes, giving it a warm, soft "late in the afternoon" visual tone. The in-game world will also cut straight to full-motion video, with the world being rendered behind the FMV, which is designed to increase the seamless feel.
We tried out a new game mode called Highway Battle on a stretch of the Southeast I-20. Essentially a point-to-point race against other street racers with the goal to win by 1,000ft (305m), this particular challenge is one of the easier tasks early on in the game, with only some light traffic to navigate around. A nifty onscreen meter will show you how far behind or ahead of the pack you are, and once your car reaches the top of the meter, you'll have completed the challenge. Variable traffic in Undercover means you shouldn't experience the same race twice. Vehicles will indicate when they're changing lanes and will vary their speed, so you'll need to keep an eye on the surrounding traffic. You'll also be able to draft behind other vehicles, but getting too close may result in a high-speed collision, bringing your race to a quick halt. You can use vehicles to create havoc for opponents and police, by creating pileups and accidents. Damage modelling will also be part of the game, and the team is working on improvements over ProStreet.
Pursuit mode looks like it will be just as thrilling as the highway battles. The object of the challenge we played, dubbed Grand Theft 5-0, was to steal a cop car from a police station carpark and evade the pursuing officers in the process of taking it to a garage. The chase takes place in Sunset Hills, which has a more industrial feel than the other areas, complete with warehouses and derelict land. While this race wasn't too difficult, we were told that police AI will increase as the story continues, forcing you to become more adventurous as you progress. Like in the highway battles, you'll have an onscreen meter showing your distance from your competition, and you'll need to gain a sizable lead before you can escape. Not content to merely chase you, cop cars will also ram your vehicle and set up barricades, although we didn't see any spike strips deployed as they were in the Need for Speed games of yesteryear.
Because you're stealing a vehicle for commercial interest, you'll need to make sure you don't damage it too much during the sprint. While you need to keep your vehicle looking tip-top, you can earn extra points for causing damage to public property--the greater the damage to police cars and council property, the better. If you get busted, an amusing cutscene will be triggered, showing you trying to escape the clutches of the fuzz, with a look almost straight out of Cops, complete with a blurred face. (full story Link)

USB Powered Air conditioned clothes

We have USB powered Beverage coolers, gloves, slippers and what not here is a something really unique, USB powered powered air conditioned clothes. Everyone actually does have a natural air conditioner which is sweating and the air conditioned clothes are designed to give that mechanism a shot in the arm.
The clothes have two 10 centimeter fans located at right and left sides at the back of clothing at waist level. These fans draw in a large amount of air which helps to vapourize thus dissipating sweat and bringing down the wearers body temprature. The clothing comes with a switch to adjust the fan speed. Just connect your shirt to the USB port and be cool.
Other than USB the shirt is powered by four AA batteries or your car's cigars socket. This ingenious idea is the brain child of Kouzi Ichigaya an ex Sony technician. At present half sleeve shirts for men and women are available with this unique system in Japan.
(story Link)


USB Air Conditioned Shirt from Kuchofuku
The USB Air Conditioned Shirt is a fantastic invention for hot days! USB- fans blowing fresh air into the shirt. Best cooling effect - Made in Japan. Featured in press and gadget blogs.
Included in delivery:
1 Eco Wear shirt, Size XL (Japanese XL)

Specifications:

Size: XL 126/45.

Fans: 1,2 W.

Weight: 325 g.

Material: 80% Polyester, 20% Cotton.

Buy the air-conditioned USB shirt online.

(story Link)

Apple set to release $800 Notebook

The Inquisitr is reporting that Apple is getting ready to release its first sub-$1,000 computer - an $800 notebook.

According to the source, Apple retail stores have been given price sheets that list 12 price points for the new range, with prices between $800-$3100. Current lines only have 8 price points, 3 Macbooks starting at $1099, 3 Macbook Pros and 2 Macbook Airs. According to the source, retail outlets usually get the price lists 10 days before products hit the market. Technical specs for the new laptops were not included on the price sheet.

If this turns out to be true, then this is a clear sign that Apple is looking to broaden its customer base in an attempt to try to make itself more resistant to the effects of consumers tightening their belts.

Quick word of caution though - the idea that an Apple store would get pricing information for a new product so far in advance seems fishy to me. This information, if real, is coming to Duncan Riley from a much higher level than a store drone. (full story Link)


Microsoft Windows Vista is Alive & Kicking

Microsoft has kindly extended its XP “downgrade” program for OEMs by another six months. Rather than appreciating the extension, some people have chosen to mock Microsoft and call for the curtain to close on Windows Vista once and for all.

Even my esteemed colleague Randall C. Kennedy wrote in his column entitled “Die, Vista, die!” (tell us how you really feel, Randall) that for him, “Vista’s demise was a foregone conclusion”. Personally, I get so much hate mail whenever I write something positive about Vista that I shy away from the subject. Well, in the words of Michael Corleone from The Godfather: “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”

Allow me to share with you some numbers that come from a Vista Tracking Poll conducted by CDW through Walker Information. They used an online survey, and participants included 772 IT decision makers who identified themselves as being familiar with Windows Vista. Here were some of their key findings:

  • 48 percent of respondents indicate that their organization is evaluating, testing, or implementing Vista. That doesn’t sound dead to me.
  • 30 percent of respondents have organizations that are currently implementing or have already implemented Vista.
  • 50 percent of the respondents said Vista is performing “above expectation” on key features.

Given that most of what we read is how worthless Vista is, one must wonder: What could they possibly about this wretched OS that is doomed to retirement at such an early age? Most of the respondents pointed to security enhancements as the No. 1 feature that attracts them to Vista. Performance improvements, search enhancements, improved networking, and patch management — these were all high in people’s list of features they liked about Vista.

It still boggles my mind that people berate Vista, even after SP1. Mr. Kennedy called it a “pretender to the desktop throne.” I’ll agree that it may not be all that it was initially hyped up to be, and hopefully Windows 7 can meet the expectations we’ve been watching and waiting for nearly a decade to see. But how can some of its finest features simply be ignored by critics?

Among them, there are enhancements to Group Policy settings (more than 800 new settings in Vista) that allow for a greater level of administrative control over such items as power use. These days, we are all about going green, and here Vista is an OS that can help us thanks to the added ability to adjust the amount of power your system uses. Other enhancements allow for greater security control within the enterprise, preventing users from plugging in USB devices and other removable media, User Account Control, and more.

Vista also introduces BitLocker protection, which is great for encrypting your entire system. Hundreds of thousands of laptops with confidential company data on them are lost or stolen each year. Without encryption of the drive, it is just a matter of time before a thief can access the contents. With BitLocker, that worry is removed. As a business person — perhaps one who has had their laptop stolen — would you mock that level of protection? Most likely not. Can you get it with XP? No. So, even if you didn’t receive a feature you wanted in Vista like WinFS (which nobody really understood anyway; it just sounded cool) but did receive peace of mind in the event your laptop was stolen, wouldn’t you say that it’s worth having?

I can go on and on with features that are a tremendous improvement over XP, features Microsoft developers can be proud of because they enhance our user experience, as well as make us more secure and more productive. (full story Link)

Asus ships Eee Box PCs with Malware

Asus has confirmed and apologized to customers (press release in Japanese; translated version) for shipping malware on the recently introduced Eee Box desktop computer :

“According to an email sent out by Asus, PC Advisor reports, the Eee Box’s 80GB hard drive has the recycled.exe virus files hidden in the drive’s D: partition. When the drive is opened, the virus activates and attempts to infect the C: drive and an removable drives connected to the system. According to Symantec, the malware is likely to be the W32/Usbalex worm, which creates an autorun.inf file to trigger recycled.exe from D:. Separately, we’ve been testing the Eee Box this week, and discovered our review unit came loaded with the W32/Taterf worm - aka W32.Gammima.AG, aka kavo.exe malware that sniffs out online gaming usernames and passwords.

Which models are known to carry the malware according to Asus?

The company has already managed to identify the following models with associated UPC codes :

Model number: EEEBOXB202-B; UPC code: 610839761807
Model number: EEEBOXB202-W; UPC code: 610839761814
Model number: EBXB202BLK/VW161D; UPC code: 610839530526
Model number: EBXB202WHT/VW161D-W; UPC code: 610839531202
Model number: EBXB202BLK/VK191T; UPC code: 610839547753

In addition to last month’s Asus fiasco when they accidentally shipped cracking tools and confidential documents on recovery DVDs, (full story Link)

Virgin Mobile Launches New Broadband Package

Virgin Mobile will today become the last of the six largest UK mobile phone operators to join the rush to connect consumers to the internet with the launch of its own mobile broadband package.

The launch of the £15-a-month service follows yesterday's news that more than a dozen mobile and IT companies had got together to push mobile broadband by creating laptop devices that would be able to connect to it "out of the box".

Companies including Dell, Toshiba, Microsoft, Vodafone, T-Mobile and Ericsson combined with the mobile industry trade group GSM Association to create a mobile broadband service mark that can be put on any hardware able to access the mobile web immediately after purchase.

The first notebook computers with mobile broadband inside will be ready to switch on and surf straight out of the box in 91 countries across the world in time for the festive season, backed by a $1bn (£562m) global advertising budget.

The move is a direct attack on the rise of Wimax, a competing technology that has limited use in Europe but is being rolled out in a number of major US cities.

It is a potential competitor to the next generation of mobile phone technology, called LTE.

Wimax has also been backed by Google, which put $500m into a Wimax venture created by the US mobile phone company Sprint and a rival communications company, Clearwire, earlier this year.

The search engine has already made another - albeit less powerful - wireless broadband service called wifi, free in its home town of Mountain View, California.

More than 55 million people currently use mobile broadband services in 91 countries. (full story Link)

Has Microsoft given up on Vista?

There’s growing evidence that Microsoft may have, in essence, given up on Windows Vista, and plans to extend the life of Windows XP so people can continue to buy XP until Windows 7 is ready, or very close to that date.

The newest piece of evidence arrived only a few days ago, when Microsoft extended the availability of XP on PCs for another six months. A Microsoft spokesperson said that Microsoft will allow computer makers to “downgrade” machines they sell from Windows Vista Business or Vista Ultimate to Windows XP Professional until the end of July, 2009. Previously, Microsoft said the date would be January 31, 2009.

Microsoft has set no absolutely firm date for the release of Windows 7, but in a recent publicly released email, Bill Veghte, Microsoft Senior Vice President for the Windows Business wrote:

our plan is to deliver Windows 7 approximately 3 years after the January 2007 general availability launch date of Windows Vista.

That would mean there would be only six months between the end of XP’s life, and the beginning of Windows 7’s life. That’s not a ringing endorsement of Vista. And there have been some rumors floating around the Web that Windows 7 might be available as early as July, 2009 — just at the point when XP’s life ends.

If that’s the case, why would Microsoft be spending so much money on a recent ad campaign to push Windows? Because the campaign doesn’t bother to mention Vista — it’s only about Windows in general. That in itself is evidence that Microsoft isn’t pushing Vista hard. (story Link)

Oct 8, 2008

Asus launches Eee S101 MacBook Air killer

Taiwanese manufacturers are not known for inviting the world's press to fancy product launches, but this afternoon in rainy Taipei, Asus

put on a little fashion show to launch the latest Eee PC, the S101. This is a cut above the previous models in being thin and stylish, and Asus reckons it's "a successful melding of fashion and functionality" that puts it at the "pinnacle of netbook computing." And while it comes at a higher price -- $699 -- it's much lighter (1kg) and cheaper than a MacBook Air, it looks nicer, and it has a much more practical specification.

At around 18-25mm, the S101 isn't as thin as a MacBook Air, but it's certainly thin enough. And where the MacBook Air makes pointless sacrifices that reduce its practicality, the S101 does the business. It has three USB ports instead of one, it has a built-in 4-in-1 card reader, it has a real RJ-45 Ethernet socket, plus Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. And you can change the battery yourself, without undoing 19 screws. Asus reckons the S101 will run for about five hours, but when the lithium polymer battery runs out, you simply swap it for a spare.

Since the S101 is a netbook rather than a notebook, the screen is 10.2 inches rather than the MacBook Air's 13.3 inches. However, it does offer similar resolution: you can choose 1024 x 768, 1024 x 600, or 800 x 600.

The first S101 runs Windows XP Home in 1GB of memory and a 16GB SSD (solid state drive), to fit in with Microsoft's netbook guidelines. Asus is chipping in another 16GB on a memory card plus a free 30GB of online storage. However, two Linux versions, which will follow in a few weeks, are expected to offer 32GB or 64GB of SSD.

In use, the S101 feels snappy, though the spec is familiar enough -- Intel Atom processor and Intel 945 Express (GMA 950) graphics with 128MB pinched from main memory. (full story Link)

CREATIVE: X-FI GO- THE USB STICK SOUND CARD

Creative, a worldwide leader in digital entertainment products, announces the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi™ Go! Approved by the World Championship Gaming Series™ and tested by world-renowned gamer Johnathan ‘Fatal1ty' Wendel, the USB-powered Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Go! uses acclaimed X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity™ audio technology to enable users to experience ultra-realistic gaming with surround sound over headphones.
Sporting a sleek and distinctive black finish, the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Go! is incredibly lightweight (less than 20g) and compact. Its 1GB of built-in flash memory stores all the software needed for fast and easy installation on any notebook or desktop PC without requiring a CD. It also incorporates Read/Write Protection which prevents important files being accidentally deleted, so users can save their custom gaming profiles, plug-ins, add-ons and any other essential files.
The Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Go! harnesses the power and performance of Creative's award-winning X-Fi audio technology, which enables users to experience ultra-realistic sound effects and 3D surround that totally immerse them in the game. X-Fi technology features X-Fi Crystalizer and X-Fi CMSS-3D. X-Fi Crystalizer intelligently revitalises and restores details lost during the compression of MP3 music or movie soundtracks, enabling users to hear everything in crystal clarity. X-Fi CMSS-3D expands stereo games, MP3s and digital movies into virtual surround over speakers or headphones. The Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Go! also supports Creative EAX® Advanced HD™ 4.0 which provides a more realistic gaming experience. Over 400 game titles currently use Creative EAX technology to improve their sound effects.
The Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Go! comes bundled with Creative ALchemy software. This restores surround sound under Windows Vista so that users can enjoy the same great gaming experience they had under Windows XP. The latest VoiceFX technology provides additional fun, allowing users to select over 18 different voice effects for their avatars during online games, or to amuse their friends during voice chats. (full story Link)

Sprint launches Xohm 4G WiMAX

Sprint today took the wraps off its Xohm wireless network in Baltimore, Md. Xohm, which uses Samsung WiMAX technology on the 2.5 GHz spectrum, offers faster download speeds than current 3G wireless networks. For instance, while AT&T's fastest HSDPA network claims speeds up to 3.6Mbps, our real-world tests have rarely topped 1Mbps downloads. Sprint's Xohm network hopes to average 2-4Mbps average download speeds, which is a great, though perhaps not revolutionary improvement over the current technology. Xohm network devices will operate somewhat faster while stationary than on-the-go, which means that the network will also be marketed as a home broadband replacement.

The Xohm-enabled hardware
Initial devices available for use on the Xohm network focus primarily on heavy data usage. Wireless cards from Samsung, and modems from companies like ZyXel and ZTE will bring data access to laptop and desktop machines, while the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet will be the only standalone portable device available at launch. Besides Sprint's obvious voice pedigree, the company seems to be taking an ambivalent view of voice over Xohm. Instead, the network will follow an "Open Internet" business model, with few restrictions on the type of Internet App that will work on the service.
Among the first device makers on board are laptop manufacturers like Acer, Asus (check out the Asus F8va here), Lenovo and Toshiba. All of them have announced new or upcoming laptops that will come will include onboard suport for integrated Xohm networking. Of course, we'd really like to see some of those new netbooks, like the Asus EEE PC or the Acer Aspire One, start earning their keep by integrating the fast WiMAX abilities. We think this would make those machines much more compelling.

A new way to buy wireless
It is this aspect of the Xohm network that has us most excited. While faster network speeds were always inevitable as networks evolved, we're excited to see Sprint embrace a new pricing and buying structure in the new network. The Xohm network is available without any contracts. Users simply buy a device and activate their plan through a unified Web site. Pricing will range from $10 for a single day's use, to $25 for a stationary modem or Xohm-enabled device, up to $30 per month for a mobile device. Sprint will also initially offer a $50 deal for two devices. (full story Link)