USA

Xbox 360 outsells Wii And PS3 in US Over Xmas
It truly was a battle of the consoles this Christmas, with big-hitters Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony all looking to set the Yuletide cash tills ringing.

According to analysts at the US research firm NPD, Santa’s bags were mostly straining with Xbox 360’s over the festive period, closely followed by the Nintendo Wii, with the PS3 trailing in third place.
Preliminary findings from NPD revealed that the Xbox 360 outsold both the Wii and the PS3 in the US, with around 2 million Xbox 360s shifted between the start of November 2006 and Christmas.

Not far behind was the eagerly awaited Nintendo Wii which registered 1.8 million sales, while the PS3 could only muster a mere 750,000 Stateside sales.
According to NPD, these figures represent a huge leap from November’s figures which saw 511,000 Xbox 360s, 476,000 Wiis and 197,000 PS3s flying out of the stores.
It’s worth noting that Nintendo’s Wii didn’t launch in the US until 19th November – nearly three weeks behind the Xbox 360 – with the first batch of stock reported as selling out in hours.
It was a similar situation in the UK, with Nintendo Wii’s near-impossible to find in the shops (yes, we were looking too and someone’s still waiting for their Christmas present!).
One of PC World’s flagship stores in the West End told Digital Lifestyles that their consignment of Wii consoles went almost as soon as they came through the door, although we noted no shortage of XBox 360s in the store.
NPD is expected to release the complete figures for December later this month.
NPD
3 January, 2007
Skype Offers US Unlimited Calling Plan
While announcing the release 3.0 of their VoIP software, Skype have unveiled the US Unlimited Calling Plan.
Don’t panic – this doesn’t affect Skype to Skype calls, but calls to US landlines and mobile.
The offer to US Skype users is $29.95 per year. Those who sign up for the new plan before 31 January 2007 will get it for half price – $14.95 per year. Pay per call SkypeOut will continue.
Skype will be sweetening the deal further by giving 100 minutes of SkypeOut credit for making International calls and over $50 in discount coupons for purchasing Skype-certified hardware products.
Those Europeans who are surprised that calls to mobiles are included, should know that in the US owners of mobile pay to receive calls, so callers don’t pay extra to make them.
Until now, calls to landlines from Skype have been paid on a per calls basis, whenthey’re not offering free calls for a limited period which ends at the end of this year.
Skype are really doing rather well, with claims of over 11m Skype users, way in excess of any other VoIP services.
15 December, 2006
Engadget: Dafur Gears of Peace Charity Auction
We see that Engadget are offering a charity auction for Save Dafur.
As well as three cheers to them for that organising it, we found it interesting what was being auctioned. The winner of the eBay-based auction will win two hours of online playing time of the video game Gears of War, against the editors of Engadget and Major Nelson.
If you don’t inhabit the world of Xbox 360 it’s more that likely that you’ll have no idea who Major Nelson is, so let us fill you in. Nelson is a pseudonym of Larry Hryb, the Xbox Live Director of Programming, and he runs a popular blog, not surprisingly about the Xbox.
We took a look at the Gears of Peace Auction last night when it had 6 days and 19 hours to go, and bidding was at $300 after 21 bids. Just checking it now shows it at $310 after 23 bids. Early days clearly and we can imagine seeing it going considerably higher, the further the word of the auction spreads – so after you’ve read this, go tell some friends.
Ever self-aware, Engadget also point out they understand the irony of raising money for a Dafur charity, by playing a video game called Gears of War. Their defence is that their readers chose the charity and that they’d already decided what the event was going to be. As some step towards balancing this, Engadget have named the event Gears of Peace.
Gears of Peace Auction
Gears of peace: Engadget & Major Nelson Vs. you and your pals
Engadget charity selection
23 November, 2006
Nintendo’s Wii Starts Shifting Units In The States
Nintendo’s eagerly awaited Wii games console went on sale yesterday in America, and the sales figures strongly suggest that the company have a winner on their hands.
Stocks quickly sold out in many stores, with sales outstripping its rival PlayStation 3, which hit the shelves two days earlier.
“There were enough people in line to snap up almost all the units of the Nintendo Wii that we had in stock, so it was an instant sellout,” enthused Circuit City spokesman Jim Babb.
Such was the enthusiasm for the new console that some ~~sad obsessed nutters~~ keen gaming fans had camped outside shops in New York and Hollywood for several days, with thousands of fans queuing outside shops on the launch day.
The first punter to get his hands on the shiny new console was the time-rich Isaiah Triforce Johnson, who had sat outside a New York store for more than a week.
Possibly lacking a little perspective and focus in his life, Johnson had already legally changed his name to include a reference to Nintendo’s “Zelda” games, and was pictured wearing a 1989 Nintendo Power Glove as he got to shake the hand of Nintendo’s America president Reggie Fils-Aime.
“I had to get it first,” he said, and I think we can understand why.
Sony had shipped 400,000 PlayStation 3s in North American stores at the end of last week, but Nintendo boasted that it would have “five to ten” times as many Wiis available at launch, with an end-of-year shipping figure of 4 million units expected.
Nintendo spokesman Yasuhiro Minagawa announced that around 400,000 Wiis will be hit the shelves for the 2nd December Japan launch date, with patience-stretched UK gamers finally getting the console in their grubby mitts on 8th December.
The unit will retail for £179 in the UK.
Nintendo
See the game controller in action
20 November, 2006
MySpace.com Sued By Universal Music
As new media continues to challenge the traditional means of delivering music, video and other digital content, copyright lawyers can expect to get rich in the legal fall out.
Universal are the latest media group to get on the blower to their legal boys, filing a case against the social networking site, MySpace.com.
Universal claims that MySpace, “encourages, facilitates and participates in the unauthorised reproduction, adaptation, distribution and public performance,” and is seeking unspecified damages, including up to $150,000 for each unauthorised music song or video uploaded on to the Website.
MySpace’s botty-covering tactic of making users agree to grant the Website a license to publish uploaded content isn’t washing with the Universal legal team, who insist that they have no such authority over works they don’t own.
“A willing partner in theft”
The complaint, filed at the US District Court, claims that “MySpace is a willing partner in that theft,” observing that most of the media slapped up its pages aren’t generated by users, but purloined from copyright owners.
MySpace hit back in a statement, insisting that they are in full compliance with copyright laws:
“We have been keeping UMG closely apprised of our industry-leading efforts to protect creators’ rights, and it’s unfortunate they decided to file this unnecessary and meritless litigation,” the statement said.
“We provide users with tools to share their own work – we do not induce, encourage, or condone copyright violation in any way.”
Universal were having none of it, claiming that their, “music and videos play a key role in building the communities that have created hundreds of millions of dollars of value for the owners of MySpace.”
“Our goal is not to inhibit the creation of these communities, but to ensure that our rights and those of our artists are recognised,” the statement added.
20 November, 2006
US Is The World’s Worst Spammer
The US is responsible for a fifth of the world’s spam, according to security firm Sophos.
Based on their figures for Q3 2006, the US was responsible for a whopping 21.6 percent of relayed spam, making it the worst country on the planet for originating spam.
In second place in Sophos’ list o’shame comes China with 13.4 percent, followed by France (6.3 percent), South Korea (6.3 percent) and Spain (5.8 percent).
Us Brits can give ourselves a little pat on the back, as we’ve managed to reduce our spam output enough to drop out of the top ten, into 13th position.
Stratio is a pain in the arsio
Sophos reckons that the reason for the boost in the US’s spamming activities could be down to the emergence of over 300 strains of the Stratio worm.
This pesky bleeder, also known as Stration or Warezov, spreads via email using a variety of disguises, including a cheeky one that warns the victim that their PC has already been infected by a worm.
Of course, if the recipient is daft enough to download the enclosed attachment, they will indeed by infected by a worm.
Most unsolicited emails are churned out by zombie PCs. These don’t walk towards you, arms outstretched and making funny groaning noises, but are computers that have been silently infected with Trojans, worms and viruses that turn your lovely PC into a spam-spewing beast.
“In the past hackers were very reliant on operating system vulnerabilities to convert an innocent computer into a zombie – now they are turning back to malware to trick users into running their malicious code, and opening the backdoor to hackers,” said Carole Theriault, senior security consultant at Sophos.
Spammers get sneaky
Sophos has also identified new scams being dreamt up by creative spammers, including a mail asking for email addresses for spam purposes, and another that encourages users to visit a video tribute website – but you’ll only get to see the full video once the user has input their email address (if the video even exists, of course).
“Integrated anti-malware and anti-spam protection is getting the better of illegal spam peddlers – forcing them to get more creative and crooked. However, if people are playing their security cards right, the spammers’ efforts will still be in vain,” continued Theriault.
[From: Infozine]
Info and resources
W32/Stration-A Worm [Sophos]
Why spam is out of control [Guardian]
Podcast: How to Protect Against Spam [Symantec]
Podcast: How to Protect Against Spam [Symantec]
Fight Spam on the Internet!
13 November, 2006
US Xbox 360 Gets HD Films and TV Downloads
Starting 22 November, US Xbox 360 owners will be able to download TV programmes and films to their Xboxes to rent and watch.
The film content will only be available for a limited amount of time. They’ll have to be watched within 14 days of getting it and, once the viewing session starts, will have to be completely watched within 24 hours.
Downloaded TV content will be available to be watched as many times as you like – and you’re able to keep it. Just like a video recording …. except you have to pay for it!
The content will be stored on the 360’s built-in 20Gb hard drive.
Microsoft are launching the service with a couple of magic numbers – 1,000 hours of programming, with 200 of those being in HD (720p).
The cost? Well, not content to use one of the current 167 currencies around the world, Microsoft have invented their own – MS Points (they’re also using it with the Zune). In MS Points, HD films will be 480 MS Points and SD films, 320. TV shows will be 240. Those wanting to partake in the service will need to have an Xbox Live account.
No definite European plans as yet, but it’s expected once they sign the content deals.
By the end of the year US Xbox 360 owners will be able to see:
Aqua Teen Hunger Force (Adult Swim)
Avatar: The Last Airbender (Nickelodeon)
Batman Forever (Warner Bros Home Entertainment)
Breaking Bonaduce (VH1)
Carpocalypse (Spike TV)
Chappelle’s Show (Comedy Central)
CSI (CBS)
Hogan Knows Best (VH1)
Jackass: The Movie (Paramount Pictures)
The Matrix (Warner Bros Home Entertainment)
M:i:III (Paramount Pictures)
Nacho Libre (Paramount Pictures)
The Nicktoons Network Animation Festival (Nicktoons Network)
Pimp My Ride (MTV)
Race Rewind (provided by Nascar.com)
Raising the Roofs (Spike TV)
The Real World (MTV)
Robot Chicken (Adult Swim)
Skyland (Nicktoons Network)
South Park (Comedy Central)
SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
Star Trek (CBS)
Superman Returns (Warner Bros Home Entertainment)
Survivor (CBS) UFC: All Access (the UFC)
The Ultimate Fighter (selected episodes from the UFC)
7 November, 2006
AMD Complete ATi Purchase
AMD, the second largest microprocessor manufacturer has complete the purchase of graphics, chipset and CE specialist ATi Technologies in a deal worth around $5.4Bn.
From day one they’re talking a new game – “Fusion.” The integration of the central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU) at the silicon level. Interestingly they claim this will give them a significantly increase in performance-per-watt – benefitting both portable devices, by giving them longer results from batteries, and more efficiencies for mains-powered computers, vital in the world we’re entering with a need to keep an eye on power consumption. The Fusion products are expected late 2008/early 2009.
Phil Hester, AMD senior vice president and chief technology officer summed it up, “With the anticipated launch of Windows Vista, robust 3D graphics, digital media and device convergence are driving the need for greater performance, graphics capabilities, and battery life.”
The capabilities of graphics processors have been gathering pace over the recent years to the point where they come close to rivaling the main processor themselves.
To get hold of ATi, AMD are splashing $4.3Bn in cash and also handing over 58m AMD shares. $2.5 billion of the cash mountain comes courtesy of a term loan from Morgan Stanley Senior Funding. The intention to do the deal was made in July this year.
At the time of the original announcement there was some speculation that ATi rival, nVidia would sell to Intel. This didn’t come to pass, possibly because already has a strong graphics chip division. To minimise the impact of todays deal on nVidia, Mike Hara, Nvidia’s vice president of investor relations, told Reuters, “It reinforces our philosophy that we don’t want to be tied up. I don’t think anything changes. In fact, what we’ve already felt and seen I think gives us the energy to push faster.”
AMD
26 October, 2006
T-Mobile HotSpot Phone Merges WiFi/Cellular Services
Cellular phone provider T-Mobile US is offering a service, HotSpot @Home, giving unlimited calls to US phones via WiFi. This in itself isn’t big news, but what is significant is that callers leaving the range of the WiFi will automatically switch to their cellular service. Initial roll-out is limited to Seattle.
This type of service has been long-discussed, but several technical barriers stood in its way, primarily handing the call from the WiFi-connected call over to the cellular network, without losing the conversation, or a break in the speaking. It’s pretty complex.
Beyond the mechanics of the call hand-over, the riddle of when and how the subscriber would be billed when transferring to the cellular network – and stopping that billing when they reconnect to WiFi has also caused great confusion for a long time.
Cellular reception within peoples home is often pretty ropey, so using their WiFi service will give considerably better reception – making them happy bunnies.
To use the service, three items are required – two pieces of hardware and a service plan. Once the special cellular/WiFi handset has been selected (which look surprisingly decent) and the Wireless hotspot router is installed on the home network, all that is required is the add-on ($19.95/month) on top of the normal $39.95.
The two handsets currently available are the Samsung T709 slider or the Nokia 6136 flip.
BT has been offering a similar service in the UK for a while under the product name BT Fusion. The difference with BT Fusion is it uses Bluetooth to handle the wireless calls at home rather than WiFi.
T-Mobile is the mobile communications subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, the German telco incumbent.
They have spent considerable effort over the recent years not only building and owning their cellular service, but doing the same with their WiFi network, clearly understanding early on that WiFi would be a significant threat to cellular services.
T-Mobile HotSpot Phone
25 October, 2006
US Scouts Offered Respect Copyright Merit Patch
Coming straight from the you-must-be-having-a-laugh folder, news reaches us that the Los Angeles Scout group is introducing a new merit award — the Respecting Copyright Patch. We kid you not.
The MPAA, the film industry trade body, has been instrumental in the development of the structure of the programme. To be awarded the badge, the young scouts will need to learn the basics of copyright law, five ways of identify copyright material and three ways that copyright material can be ‘stolen’.
I know, I know, it just sounds like one big fun-fest doesn”t it, but the fun doesn’t end there for those lucky kids. There is also a compulsory activity with a choice between either visiting a film studio to witness the number of people that are involved with the production of films (therefore helping them understand how many people would be affected if the whole thing closed down), or to create a public service announcement warning of the risks of ‘copyright theft.’
“We have a real opportunity to educate a new generation about how movies are made, why they are valuable, and hopefully change attitudes about intellectual property theft,” Dan Glickman, chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America told the press.
As veteran copyleft campaigner Cory Doctorow over at BoingBoing asked, how balanced will the tutoring of this patch be? Will the young and clearly impressionable scouts also be told about subjects such as Creative Commons?
There are 52,000 scouts in the LA area, many who have family members involved in some way with the creation of films, which is bound to help in its uptake of the patch. It is understood that the MPAA hope to take this ‘opportunity’ to a wider audience. Their plan? Expansion to the rest of California early next year, then to America as a whole.
The patch that they would earn, which is rather tacky to say the least, shows a (c) copyright symbol in the centre, with the left side displaying a CD and to the right, a film reel.
Just how many other industries are given the opportunity to spread their message through the American Scouts is unclear. To us it sound like a worrying trend.
23 October, 2006