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9
June 2009 |
Just days after rape games hit the buffers in Japan, it has emerged that several of Germany’s politicians hope to ban the production and distribution of all violent videogames in the country.
Sixteen Interior Ministers have reportedly banded together in an effort to demand that Germany’s national parliament introduce the ban prior to the country’s next election, scheduled for 27 September.
Germany is home to several high-profile game development firms, including Crytek.
Details haven’t emerged abou... |
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9
June 2009 |
Apple will release the iPhone 3.0 operating system on 17 JUne, according to Scott Forstall, senior vice president at the company, in a keynote speech at Apple's worldwide developers' conference (WWDC).
He said that the iPhone 3.0 would be a free release for all iPhone customers. iPod touch customers would be able to download the new release for $10, and it will work on first- and second-generation iPod touch models. And iPhone software developers will be able to download the new release immediately.
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8
June 2009 |
Twitter has said that this summer it will trial a system to verify accounts – but it won’t initially be made available to businesses.
At the moment, impersonating someone else on the social networking service is against Twitter’s terms of service, but it clearly happens - to celebs and even the Queen.
“Impersonation violates Twitter's terms of service and we take the issue seriously. We suspend, delete, or transfer control of accounts known to be impersonation,” said Twitter co-founder Biz Stone wrote... |
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8
June 2009 |
Acer announced that it's bringing Google Android to its line of netbooks. It's planning to release an Acer netbook with Google Android installed in the third quarter of 2009.
This is a major announcement: right now, Acer offers a variety of netbooks under its Aspire One line and they all have Windows running natively when shipped. For the first time, it's Google - not Linux - that will take Microsoft on in the PC space. And by the sound of things, Acer wants to see Android take off.
"Netbooks are desi... |
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4
June 2009 |
comScore has just released April 2009 data from the comScore Video Metrix service, which shows that nearly 152 million U.S. Internet users watched 16.8 billion online videos during the month, representing an increase of 16 percent over March. This means 78.6 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video in April, and the average online video viewer watched 385 minutes of video, or 6.4 hours.
According to a press release, "A significant increase in video viewing at YouTube during April c... |
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4
June 2009 |
A Taiwanese organisation has developed a netbook based on Google's Android platform that can also switch into Microsoft's Windows operating system to run certain programs.
The netbook has a detachable touchscreen that contains the microprocessor used to run Android and can operate independently for its eight to ten hours of battery life. A reference design of the device was displayed at the Computex exhibition in Taipei by the government-funded Institute for Information Industry. The institute is looking... |
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2
June 2009 |
The latest attack to hit Twitter is a "security nightmare" and marks the first time hackers have taken to using the micro-blogging site for profit, a researcher said today.
Unlike earlier cross-site scripting attacks on Twitter, the latest wasn't a worm, said Roel Schouwenberg, a senior antivirus researcher with Moscow-based Kaspersky Labs.
Instead, it's something even scarier: The first instance of hackers serving up "scareware," fake security software that, once installed, nags users with so many al... |
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2
June 2009 |
Sony on Monday confirmed reports that it would release this year PSP Go, a lighter, smaller version of the PlayStation Portable.
John Koller, director of hardware marketing for Sony Computer Entertainment America, the division in charge of the company's PlayStation line of products, released some details of the PSP Go during a video interview on Qore, Sony's online gaming magazine. The disclosure came on the eve of E3, the video-game industry's largest trade show.
The PSP Go is scheduled to be availab... |
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2
June 2009 |
The people Larry Page and Sergey Brin tasked with figuring out how Google should make money in 1998 were a pair of know-nothings in their early 20s. Salar Kamanger, Google's ninth employee, had been a biology major at Stanford. His partner, Eric Veach studied computer science. Together they implemented Google's now $21 billion business, AdWords. Neat.
The first company to buy and run an ad through Google's automated auction business was a live mail-order lobster store.
The ads above the results on Goo... |
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2
June 2009 |
Twitter -- you know what it is, obviously, please, in addition to following PTG and myself? -- doesn't have many downsides, provided you're not some cranky old person that hates "those dang kids and their blog machines!" Or if you're Twitter user "@IzzyVideo" who recently tweeted that he and his family were going on vacation. Good times, right? Um, no. He got robbed, likely as a result of the social media site's ability to reach hundreds of thousands of people.
On May 24th, Izzy dropped this:
We ma... |
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29
May 2009 |
AVADirect, a custom computer manufacturer, has begun offering the Clevo D900F, the first laptop with Intel's Core i7 processor, intended for gaming machines and PC enthusiasts.
In a statement about the 17-inch gaming laptop, AVADirect explained that the D900F utilises "a desktop processor and desktop components," and that while notebook hardware usually lags behind desktop hardware, AVADirect took it upon itself to move things along.
"By using a desktop Core i7 processor, the notebook is able to enjoy... |
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29
May 2009 |
Dell on Thursday reported a 63 per cent fall in net income during the first quarter of 2010, triggered partly by reduced PC sales to corperations and a restructuring charge related to cost cutting.
The company posted net income of $290 million for the quarter ending on May 1, falling from the $784 million it reported in the first quarter of last year. Dell reported earnings per share of $0.15. Excluding one-time items, earnings per share was $0.24, slightly over the consensus forecast of $0.23 per share ... |
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29
May 2009 |
Microsoft has warned of a critical security bug in older versions of its Windows operating system that is already being exploited in the wild to remotely execute malware on vulnerable machines.
The vulnerability in a Windows component known as DirectX is being targeted using booby-trapped QuickTime files, which when parsed can allow attackers to gain complete control of a computer. Because many browsers are designed to automatically play video, people can be compromised simply by visiting a site serving ... |
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28
May 2009 |
Android fans will soon have plenty of handsets to choose from, as Google expects there to be at least 18 Android-powered smartphones by the end of the year.
At the Google I/O conference, Andy Rubin, senior director for mobile platforms for Google, said that number could creep up to 20 handsets. Rubin said these devices will be made by eight or nine different manufacturers, although he did not name the companies.
HTC has the only commercially available Android handset with the T-Mobile G1, but Samsung ... |
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28
May 2009 |
Microsoft's latest vehicle for achieving the elusive goal of Web dominance is Bing.
Previously known as Kumo while in development, Bing replaces Microsoft's Live Search brand and carries forward the company's strategy for taking on Google and Yahoo.
Besides introducing a new look to Microsoft's search interface, Bing adds a spruced-up navigation for search results, including a new left-hand navigation bar, a hover feature that lets users preview Web pages before visiting them, and a categorised search... |
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