Safe Gadgets

Internet services have been disrupted throughout the country on Thursday following a major international cable breakdown in the Mediterranean sea.

Nearly, 50-60% capacity remained down in the country following the damage of SEA-ME-We 3 and SEA-ME-WE 4 cables that connects Mumbai to East Coast of the USA and the UK.

"The repair will take another 15-20 days," Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI) President Rajesh Chharia said.

Some service providers affected by the breakdown include FLAGTEL of ADAG Reliance and Delhi's internet ISP Spectranet and Bangalore's ISP Karturi Network, he said.

Several cables were damaged when some ships had to anchor in Egypt's Alexandria region due to bad weather conditions. It has impacted internet connectivity in India.

The connections were severed on Wednesday afternoon, Chharia added.

"Majority of the firms are trying to restore their connections through the Pacific Region, which is increasing the latency period (time taken to connect two servers)," he added.

Chharia said the Bombay Stock Exchange was unlikely to be impacted as it is connected through the VPN.

Source- http://in.news.yahoo.com/indianexpress/20080131/r_t_ie_nl_general/tnl-internet-services-in-india-disrupted-aaaedd4_1.html

We're pretty certain middle schoolers across the world have sketched this exact console 10,000 times, but that still doesn't make it right.

Via- [Engadget]

After bleeding red for months, Sony's games division finally turned a profit last quarter. Sony sold 4.9 million PS3s last quarter after slashing console prices, boosting game titles, and cutting production costs internally.

Of course, we're sure Wii shortages aren't hurting Sony's bottom line either. Sony did lower its annual sales goal of PS3s from 11 million to 9.5 million (citing a slow start) while increasing PSP projections to 13 million from 10 million as originally expected.

Sony's fiscal year ends in March. Overall, Sony's profits rose 25% for the quarter.

Source- http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/31/sonys-game-division-turns-a-profit/

Gartner, the fat lady of research firms, is singing HD DVD's swan song this morning. Hiroyuki Shimizu, Principal Research Analyst in Japan, says in Gartner's Semiconductor DQ Monday Report that, "Gartner believes that Toshiba's price-cutting may prolong HD DVD's life a little, but the limited line-up of film titles will inflict fatal damage on the format." He goes on to call the recent price cuts "useless resistance" in avoiding the inevitable. What's that, you coyly ask? According to Shimizu, "Gartner expects that, by the end of 2008, Blu-ray will be the winning format in the consumer market, and the war will be over."

With 5 of the 7 major studios now backing Blu-ray exclusively, Gartner's certainty on the subject doesn't appear to be much of a stretch.

Source- http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/28/gartner-blu-ray-to-win-in-2008-hd-dvd-price-cuts-are-useless/

In Arkanoid, "the player controls the "Vaus", a space vessel that acts as the game's "paddle" which prevents a ball from falling from the playing field, attempting to bounce it against a number of bricks."

The ball striking a brick causes the brick to disappear. When all the bricks are gone, the player goes to the next level, where another pattern of bricks appear. There are a number of variations (bricks that have to be hit multiple times, flying enemy ships, etc.) and power-up capsules to enhance the Vaus, but the gameplay remains the same.

Source- http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/video-game-vault-arkanoid

The LEGO brick turns 50 at exactly 1:58 p.m. today, January 28, 2008. This timeline shows these 50 years of building frenzy by happy kids and kids-at-heart, all the milestones from the LEGOLAND themed sets to TECHNIC and MINDSTORMS NXT, as well as all kinds of weird curiosities about the most famous stud-and-tube couple system in the world. Jump to zoom in and tell us what was your first LEGO in the comments.

It all first started in 1947, when LEGO bought their first plastic injection machine. The brick was not invented then but took final form in 1958, when the shape of the stud-and-tube brick was patented. Since then, LEGO sets have been going through dozens of iterations, from the younger version, DUPLO, to the most sophisticated LEGO TECHNIC and LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT sets, going through all the different themes of LEGOLAND and, of course, the most successful line of all times according to LEGO, LEGO Star Wars.

LEGO brick curiosities:

• There are about 62 LEGO bricks for every one of the world's 6 billion inhabitants.
• Children around the world spend 5 billion hours a year playing with LEGO bricks.
• More than 400 million people around the world have played with LEGO bricks.
• LEGO bricks are available in 53 different colors.
• 19 billion LEGO elements are produced every year.
• 2.16 million LEGO elements are molded every hour, or 36,000 per minute.
• More than 400 billion LEGO bricks have been produced since 1949.
• Two eight-stud LEGO bricks of the same color can be combined in 24 different ways.
• Three eight-stud bricks can be combined in 1,060 ways.
• There are more than 915 million combinations possible for six 2 x 4 LEGO bricks of the same color.
• 7 LEGO sets are sold by retailers every second around the world.
• The LEGO bricks sold in one year would circle the world 5 times.
• 40 billion LEGO bricks stacked on top of one another would connect the earth with the moon.
• LEGO bricks are so much more than just toys. They are used in classrooms from preschool to university level to teach everything from math, language skills and science to engineering and technology principles.
• The LEGO brick has inspired generations of innovators, like Jonathan Gay, inventor of Flash.
• World-renowned author Douglas Coupland believes the LEGO brick represents a "language in itself."
• A January 2008 Google search produces 57.6 million references to LEGO bricks.
• There are 55,600 LEGO videos on YouTube.
• Google co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, used LEGO bricks to build the external low-cost and expandable casing for 10 4GB hard disks when they were busy developing the Google search engine (today, they have reportedly been used in Google's college graduate recruiting exercises to test potential candidate's creative horsepower).

Via-[Gizmodo]

The Skyfire browser is set to finally bring PC-like browsing to your Windows Mobile device with crazy speeds and support for all manner of embedded content. Sure, there are ways to get Youtube and other mobile video content through proxy sites that convert on the go or with other 3rd-party applications, but this puppy does it all in one sweet and free package. Facebook and Myspace pages load up in no time, video plays in the browser, and all of this is accomplished with some server side magic on the part of the Skyfire server but is completely transparent to the user.

All flavors of Windows Mobile -- 5 and 6 for both touchscreen and not -- are supported with the roadmap hinting at Symbian support in the near future.
Source- http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/28/skyfire-browser-for-windows-mobile-is-game-changing-does-flash/

In perhaps the biggest threat to Apple's global dominance of digital music, Amazon just announced the international rollout of Amazon MP3. Right, the on-line storefront offering DRM-free music from all four major labels. That's 3.3 million songs (priced at $0.99 or less) from over 270k artists encoded in 256kbps MP3 files for playback on any PC, any Mac, and pretty much any portable device you might own. Sure, it's beta but so is that Gmail account you've been using for the past 4 years.

Unfortunately, the best that Amazon can commit to is "this year" which leaves plenty of time for the house of Apple to get their DRM shiznit together.

Source- http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/27/amazon-mp3-store-to-spread-drm-free-love-global-this-year/

This humanoid is apparently allowed to run amok at Universal Citywalk Osaka as the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute tests out its ability to interpret signals from cameras, sensors and RFID readers and determine which patrons are thoroughly lost.

When it recognizes a stumped individual, it wheels over, confirms their state of confusion and politely offers directions to their destination of choice.

Source- http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/26/crowd-monitoring-humanoid-helps-lost-mall-patrons-likely-freaks/

Qtrax, a new P2P music sharing service. Here's the skinny: The service is free, completely. Qtrax offers an unlimited service. It is supported by the four major labels, as well as smaller, niche music groups, and that means it will have a start-up music library of over 25 million songs. That is about four times bigger than iTunes, and about 100% cheaper. Very, very soon.

Monday, in fact, is the day the service goes live, and we cannot hold our wee we're so excited. Initially, only Windows Vista and XP will be supported, but the Macboys and girls see some action on March 18th.

The system will work by tracking all downloads, royalties will then be issued accordingly. It isn't too clear how that revenue will be generated, but expect some anal advertising to bombard a PC near you if you do give it a whirl.

Source- http://gizmodo.com/349295/qtrax-promises-legal-p2p-music-sharing-service-the-impossible

Devil May Cry 4 for the Xbox 360 / PS3 "present two separate difficulty levels for players to test their skills with."

For newcomers to the series, the Human setting should offer a challenge but help ease players into monster killing. For veterans of the franchise, however, the Devil Hunter setting should present more than enough of a challenge to your abilities.

Source- http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/new-devil-may-cry-4-xbox-360-ps3-gameplay-footage

There are plenty of outfits out there looking to snap up your loose change in exchange for a pre-built rollup keyboard, but if you just can't stand that 'board that came bundled in with your last pre-fab PC, we think there's a better alternative. Apparently, all you have to do is remove the inner membrane from an unwanted set of keys, make sure the control board is accurately reassembled onto said membrane and cut out letters in the font of your choosing to keep you on track when your touch typing skills begin to fade.

That's it -- an über-painless, amazingly easy and absolutely inelegant method of crafting your own rollable keyboard.

Source- http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/26/diy-rollable-keyboard-exudes-simplicity/

If you enjoyed the original topless Wii video or the more recent, even hotter sequel, then you are probably the type to get a kick out of this semi-nude rendition of Samba de Amigo on the classic Sega Dreamcast.
Source- http://gizmodo.com/349303/very-nsfw-video-toplessbottomless-dreamcast

Unlike its predecessor, "level evolution looks to be a huge focus this time around, and it works wonderfully, as our free-for-all fights were not only about person vs. person survival, but also a constant battle for an ever-changing position against a world that didn't seem to want us there."

My personal favorite as far as levels go has to be the Bridge of Eldin from Zelda, as it's a no-BS flat world that allows for the purist face-off I play the game for.

Source- http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/video-super-smash-bros-brawl-challenger-approaching-part-2

Its latest Virtual Console addition: the Sega Master System. That's right, if you happen to be nostalgic for a certain Z80A kind of action -- and you live in Japan -- you need only look to Nintendo's cash-cow for help. Starting this February, you can play Fist of the North Star and the hallucination-inducing Fantasy Zone to your heart's content, though just like other VC offerings we expect to see more games and more territories included later on.

What's important for Nintendo to know is this: the sooner we're deep in a game of Wonder Boy in Monster Land, the happier everyone will be...

Source- http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/26/wii-virtual-console-getting-sega-master-system-games/

If you have been thinking about remodeling your home, and you just can't get enough of the atmosphere your neighborhood Apple Store, oobject has tracked down 24 items that you will need to get the job done. Sure, it will cost an absolute fortune, but I'm sure that there is at least one well-to-do hardcore Apple fanboy out there willing to do it.

Source- http://gizmodo.com/349250/build-your-own-apple-store

This latest clip "showcases the triple-play of Havok physics, Pixelux's Digital Molecular Matter, and NaturalMotion's Euphoria, showing how the three technologies are combining to make Star Wars: The Force Unleashed."

Surely it's a massive, irrational intrusion into Star Wars canon, but when you compare it to Soulcalibur IV suddenly it doesn't seem so bad.

Source- http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/video-amazing-star-wars-force-unleashed-ps3-footage

What would you do if the US patent office gave you the go-ahead on a far-reaching, non-specific application filed for a "mobile entertainment and communication device"? If your answer was that you would immediately draw up lawsuits against almost every major electronics manufacturer that even looked at a smartphone funny, you get a cookie. Yes folks, as impossible as it is to believe, the holders of the aforementioned patent have just sued Apple, Nokia, RIM, Sprint, AT&T, HP, Motorola, Helio, HTC, Sony Ericsson, UTStarcomm, and Samsung... amongst others. So eager was this company to sue, in fact, that legal papers were filed a day before the patent was granted, and subsequently had to re-submitted.

The real sucker-punch here is that the patent simply combines a list of prior technologies jumbled into one product, a practice which has recently been ruled against by the Supreme Court.

Source- http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/25/patent-granted-on-smartphones-everyone-sued/

The iPhone is a popular gadget, there is no doubt about it. As with all popular gadgets, people tend to get a little overenthusiastic. This enthusiasm can take multiple forms—like waiting in line for days to get the product, dressing up like the gadget for Halloween, selling cheap knockoffs or completely ridiculous accessories, or even building their own from scratch.


The above images featured after the jump illustrate this phenomenon as it relates to the iPhone, and the video below shows just how much the new fangled iPhone technology can piss off a strung out old hippie.

Source- http://gizmodo.com/349001/10-examples-of-the-iphone-making-people-crazy

Fast moving images at that resolution will probably cause motion sickness according to the eggheads at Japan's NHK who are developing the technology. Adding to the practical issues the format will face is that there's no real way to cram that many lines of resolution into a display any smaller than 60 inches, and even if you could cram them into a smaller screen there'd be no point to it. You wouldn't be able to tell the difference anyways at that point.

Despite the fact that the format isn't expected to be broadcast until 2025, NHK has built what's probably the sweetest home theatre setup in the world to play around with it: a 500 inch Super Hi-Vision screen hooked up to the world's only 22.2 multi-channel surround sound system.

Source- http://gizmodo.com/348985/next+gen-hdtv-is-so-clear-itll-make-you-throw-up-i-see-no-problems-with-this

Apparently money has burned quite the hole in Bill Gates' philanthropic pocket, as during this week's World Economic Forum in Switzerland, Gates pledged $306 million in grants to fund farming in in poor/developing countries through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. To the audience he said:

If we are serious about ending extreme hunger and poverty around the world, we must be serious about transforming agriculture for small farmers, most of whom are women...The challenge here is to design a system including profit and recognition to do more for the poor.

I dunno, Apple. The way things have been going lately, maybe that giant head* on the big screen wasn't to be feared after all.

Yes, before our commenters flip out, we realize the 1984 spot was a shot at IBM, not Microsoft.


Source- http://gizmodo.com/348946/bill-gates-gives-away-306-million-goes-green-acres

All five of you who have been waiting patiently for Sony to upgrade its mylo Personal Communicator should be pleased to learn that the revised internet tablet has finally gone on sale at SonyStyle. With its high-res 3.5-inch touchscreen, 1GB of storage, and improved Flash support, the $299 mylo 2 does indeed offer a number of attractive feature bumps over its predecessor -- however, we're still a little wary of how Sony's positioned this product in the market. But hey, what do we know: apparently they pushed enough first-gen units out the door to give this restyled number a shot.

Starts shipping on the 28th, in either white or black, says Sony.

Source- http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/25/sony-mylo-2-on-sale/

Photographers interested in taking endless shots of themselves with their arms outstretched will surely love this flying stick camera concept from designer Tsunho Wang. Just "rub the stick" between your palms and use the built up energy to send the camera whizzing into the air. Once airborne, the camera will automatically take a series of photographs at set intervals.

No specs were mentioned regarding the stick cam, but seeing as how it is a concept that won't see the light of day, it probably doesn't matter all that much.

Source- http://gizmodo.com/348801/flying-stick-camera-rub-it-between-your-palms

After years of watching Microsoft chase billions of dollars into the bottomless pit that has been its Xbox Entertainment and Devices Division, the company is finally, as predicted, returning with some loot -- $524 million in income over the past six months, compared to $423 million in losses over the same period last year. Microsoft says the achievement was primarily due to 360 successes, even though Zune and PC sales are factored in there somewhere. Sounds like decreasing production costs, decreased marketing and a little thing called Halo 3 all worked together to help rake in the cash, and Microsoft has high hopes for the rest of fiscal '08, since they "expect revenue to increase due to increased sales of Xbox 360 consoles and related games, accessories, and services."

Apparently Nintendo isn't the only manufacturer this generation that's figured out how to make some money...

Source- http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/25/dells-xps-one-product-red-a-charitable-rip-off/

The new Sharp AQUOS X series are only 1.35 inches deep, which is thinner than their old IFA bags and, according to Sharp, makes them the world's thinnest LCD televisions in production. All of them have full high definition resolution at 37, 42 and 47 inches. What is Sharp thinning trick this time? Among other things, all the tuner and in/out connections are in a separate box, which is connected to the panel by a single cable.

Sharp claims a 15,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio (900:1 absolute) for these LCDs, and a 450 cd/m2 brightness with double-speed 120 Hz refresh rate and 176 degree viewing angle. A proprietary 12-bit processor, designed to give smooth tone variations, handles the color processing. The system has 3 HDMI inputs along with analog and digital tuners. It has a thin-profile 8-speaker soundsystem integrated in the chassis, with a 1-bit digital amplifier.

Putting about 10 pounds of electronics in the separate tuner box means that the 46 inch model weighs only about 48 pounds, which will be great for your back if you hang it. It will be available in Japan this March for ¥350,000 ($3,290) for the LC-B-37XJ1, ¥430,000 ($4,050) for the LC-B-42XJ1, and ¥480,000 ($4,510) for the big LC-B-46XJ1.

Source- http://gizmodo.com/348378/aquos-x-is-worlds-thinnest-production-tv-says-sharp

Like an evil pope preparing to capture the Holy Land, Jeff Jones, Microsoft's self-proclaimed "Security Guy" (and Microsoft Director) just published the Vista One Year Vulnerability Report. As you can see from the graph above, JJ's methodology concludes that Microsoft's Vista easily bests the first year vulnerabilities found in XP, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Ubuntu, and Apple's own OS X.

As contentious as the report is, is anyone else reflecting on the fact that Vista is more than a year old for businesses (almost exactly one for consumers) yet XP continues to ship standard on many PCs.....

Source- http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/24/microsoft-vista-has-fewer-first-year-vulnerabilities-than-any-m/

If you really want to screw with someone, put this Wrong Number Generator on their landline. When your victim (wife) tries to make a call, it'll screw up some digits and randomly dial someone. Better yet, it only does this 75% of the time, meaning that it'll let them dial the right number 25% of the time—which allows them to think that they've got the sloppiest fingers in the world.

We thought this would be even more exciting when someone's trying to dial 911, but apparently it lets all of those calls through unmolested.

Source- http://gizmodo.com/348068/wrong-number-generator-makes-dialing-exciting

Maxim Magazine isn't usually known for their software engineering efforts (though I know for a fact that software engineers love them despite of this), but their iPhone weather checker takes the cake. And by cake, we mean boobs. Lots of boobs. Every time you refresh your weather, you'll get a new "hometown hottie" from Maxim's extensive archives.

Sure, the default weather app can give you the temperature and tell you if you need to wear a jacket, but it's a little short on the "rub-one-out-o-meter".

Source- http://gizmodo.com/348195/here-comes-the-greatest-iphone-webapp-ever

It looks like the cat-and-mouse game of DRM exploits is starting to inflict some collateral damage -- the DTrace debugging tool built into Leopard is apparently locked out of iTunes and any other app that opts-out. Reasons aren't clear, but it sure looks like Apple is trying to keep interested parties from seeing the inner workings of FairPlay and other DRM-enabled apps -- which probably makes the RIAA happy, but makes it harder for devs to get work done.

In the words of one DTrace developer, the lockout is "antithetical to the notion of systemic tracing, antithetical to the goals of DTrace, and antithetical to the spirit of open source."

Source- http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/23/apple-crippling-os-x-debugging-tool-to-protect-itunes-drm/

Virgin Galactic is on track to start launching commercial space flights in 2009, and they just announced their new spaceship designs.

SpaceShipTwo is the spaceship that'll actually go into space, while White Knight Two is the plane that'll bring it up high enough to launch itself away. SpaceShipTwo will be able to tote eight people at a time into sub-orbit, two pilots and six passengers, each of whom will pay $200,000 for the right to be one of the few humans to see the earth from above.

The White Knight Two is already almost complete, with testing scheduled for later this year, while SpaceShipTwo is about 60% complete. The flights will take off from the Spaceport that Virgin Galactic is building in the New Mexico desert.

Source- http://gizmodo.com/348092/virgin-galactic-unveils-spaceships-thatll-take-passengers-up-in-2009

Oh Palm, things just seem to be going from bad to worse. After your recent (and repeated) Palm OS II delays and employee layoffs, you really should be due for some good news -- but that's not the case today. According to a member of the TreoCentral forums who cites "sources," Palm will be folding all but its airport-based retail locations by the end of January.

Apparently, other forum members have checked in with their local stores and gotten word from reps there that the doors are indeed shutting, so it seems like this is a go. Palm, we're not going to say you're in your darkest hour just yet, but we're pretty sure you can see it from where you're standing.

Source- http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/23/palm-retail-stores-to-close-by-months-end/

Three MacBook Air reviews are in from USA Today, Newsweek and the WSJ. The first two reviews are both fairly positive, with caveats, but the WSJ's reads slightly less so.

USA Today: USA Today's Ed Baig summarizes with this verdict: "Given the compromises, I don't expect anyone to use Air as their only computer. But it is a yummy machine for people who spend a lot of time traveling." Going more in depth, he lauds the Air's thinness, and revels at the little things like the magnetic latch and the backlit LED display. The worst part? He got more than an hour less than Apple's rated battery life.

Baig also notes that this is the weakest Core 2 Duo in the entire Mac lineup, which means you won't be using this for video editing. He knocks points of for the sacrifices, such as the internal optical drive, the scant 80GB hard disk space, the one USB port, lack of FireWire, and the average battery life. Apple rated it at 5 hours, but he only got three hours and 40 minutes just surfing the web, using Remote Disc and writing. It only lasted two hours and 40 minutes when watching a movie. Verdict: Not for everyone (mostly travelers), and definitely not a main computer.

Newsweek: Steven Levy at Newsweek compares the Macbook Air's thinness to ritualistic circumcision, noting that they sliced off just enough to make it meaty, yet super thin. Thin enough for him to spend a good third of his review saying how thin it is, and how it's so great on a lap, on a Starbucks' table, on a conference table, and on an airplane seatback tray. He then decries the obvious lack of features we've been talking about since we heard about the Air: lack of user-replaceable battery, the one USB port, no optical drive, blah blah blah.

It essentially reads like Levy reviewed off the spec sheet, and doesn't have many tales of his first-hand experience with such topics as how snappy the sluggish processor is or how convenient (or inconvenient) using the Remote Disc is (he does note that you have to lower your Firewall to its lowest setting to allow easier configuration). Verdict: Not much of one, but what he does have agrees with Baig: it's thin and even though Apple's removed much of its innards, "the things that Apple left on were the ingredients for a quality computer." Also, he spends much of the review talking in a roundabout way about penises, so it's worth a read just for that.

Wall Street Journal: Mossberg from the big J also loves the svelteness, owning up to his own Contact moment by saying that "it's impossible to convey in words just how pleasing and surprising this computer feels in the hand." Of course, he hates the non-removable battery, the 1 USB port, the fact that you can't put a bigger hard drive in there and the lack of an optical drive.

In his own tests, he says the machine was "speedy" and the keyboard and screen were a "pleasure to use". His own battery tests gave him three hours and 24 minutes with Wi-Fi on and playing music nonstop. He theorizes that you could possibly get 4 hours and 30 minutes without playing music and just working normally, bug Baig's own test disproves that. Verdict: Great if you love thinness or a full-sized screen and keyboard on a "subnotebook", but he "can't recommend it for all."

Source- http://gizmodo.com/348306/macbook-air-reviews

IGN reviews EA's Burnout Paradise, which is now available on the Xbox 360 and PS3 platforms. The game was rated very highly to say the least.

Here's the bottom line: Criterion has once again delivered a racing experience that can best be described as controlled chaos, one where even crashing is immensely rewarding.

Source- http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/video-review-burnout-paradise-xbox-360-ps3-

YouTube, the world's most popular online video-sharing website, launched a localised service in South Korea Wednesday to capitalise on the country's fast-growing user-created content market.

Sakina Ariswala, head of YouTube's international operation, said it has secured content from local companies for its Korean operation to supplement the vast collection of the US-based operation.

"South Korea is a very interesting market," Ariswala told Yonhap news agency, citing its well-established IT infrastructure.

The company's main focus is first to build global communities and then consider how to make a profit, she said. YouTube now provides localised services in 19 countries.

Users can upload, view, and share video clips through YouTube, which was bought by the world's top Internet search engine Google in 2006.

YouTube became well known in South Korea after a video clip of a self-taught amateur Korean guitarist playing Pachelbel's "Canon in D" received more than 36 million clicks worldwide last year.

But it faces tough competition with home-grown user-created content sites, which have dominated the local market.

Yonhap quoted Lee Won-Jin, CEO of Google Korea, as saying the launch of YouTube here would help spread the country's popular culture and video content worldwide.

Google launched a Korean-language search site in 2000 but has been striving to boost its presence against competition from local firms in one of the world's most wired societies. Some 70% of Korean homes have high-speed Internet access but most prefer local search engines.

Source- http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080123/tc_afp/skoreausitinternetgoogleyoutube;_ylt=AlKFPVIL6NTzkVmgM5UjJxMjtBAF

As everybody know, American Airlines is prepping in-flight WiFi in addition to, uh, anti-missile systems. Good news on the former, pricing is set. Good if $10 WiFi for flights less than three-hours or $12.95 for longer flights excites your fiscal sweet-spot like it does American's.

Rollout will begin this summer on AA's 767-200 jets before rolling out across its entire fleet.

Source- http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/23/american-airlines-wifi-will-cost-10-13-anti-missile-system-s/

BMW's all-new 2009 M3 convertible is powered by a "V-8 displacing 4.0 litres and developing maximum output of 309 kW/420 hp; maximum torque is 400 Nm/295 lb-ft at 3,900 rpm and maximum engine speed 8,400 rpm." Check out the video also-
BMW's new M3 Convertible was supposed to be unveiled in March, but several leaked photos led to a flood of official photos and information straight from BMW.

Source- http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/video-2009-bmw-m3-convertible

The DS has already proven some of its versatility by ordering food and dishing out replays at Safeco Field, and it looks like Disney's set to expand those non-gaming capabilities even further, with it now testing a system that turns the handheld into an interactive tour guide.

Dubbed the Disney Magic Connection, the app appears to be fairly extensive, including not only maps of the Magic Kingdom, but details on wait times at various attractions, directions to the nearest washrooms and ATMs and, of course, the odd game.

Unfortunately, at least in its current state, you'll only be able to take advantage of those features with one of Disney's pre-set up DSs and not your own -- no word if that'll change once the system moves beyond the testing phase.

Source- http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/21/disney-puts-nintendo-ds-to-use-as-interactive-tour-guide/

Amid all of the MacBook Air hullabaloo, you might have forgotten about the Apple announcement that Fox would begin providing "free" iTunes versions of programs via DVD. The first release was Family Guy Presents: Blue Harvest, a Star Wars parody.

You pop in the special Digital Copy disc, and on a Mac, a window automatically pops open telling you to launch iTunes. In iTunes, you are directed to a page where—get this—you enter a code printed on slip inside the DVD case.

The "download" completes, and you have a copy of the show that's identical in file format to anything you get from iTunes, and it's locked to your account in the same way. Only you copied it over from a disc.

As you might expect, the disc and code are useable just once. So why the hell was there a disc at all? I imagine this whole thing would be simpler if Fox would just print the slip and let you redeem it with a bonafide over-the-net download via iTunes.

The version itself looks great, about equal to the DVD, quality wise, and far better than the downsized legal version that Toast 8 lets you move to your iPod if you TiVo'd it when it originally aired. (In case you're wondering, the DVD is good too, with a Seth MacFarlane/George Lucas interview and a reel showing all of the Family Guy Star Wars references throughout the years.)

I am a fan of this concept. DVD sales aren't doing so hot, and something like this could really perk them up. Think of all the TV series box sets that would be way more desirable if they came with an automatic iTunes version. Yes, I know there are ways to do it yourself, but those ways are time consuming, not to mention of legal dubiousness. (I think ripping a DVD for yourself is well within the fair-use doctrine, and that Roxio and Nero, not to mention iTunes, should be all over that, but I still worry that the legal squabbles will continually make it hard for mainstream software to embrace it. The music biz may be casting off DRM, but Hollywood is a much more organized, high-tech beast.)

Fox doesn't appear 100% committed to this. Maybe it was just the need to keep it hush-hush before the Jobsnote, but the case bears a single little sticker saying "Digital Copy," with no mention of iTunes anywhere. Nor was there a reference to this clearly valuable bonus feature anywhere on the case itself. Even on Amazon, there's no mention of the fact that you can rip it to your iTunes. That's why it was all the more surprising when I found the second disc inside: a whole disc wasted for something that they didn't even mention on the label.

Via- [Gizmodo]

In Mortal Kombat II -- released in 1993, the characters "have a less digitized and more hand-drawn look to them than in the first game."

One of the greatest fighters of all time was good on the home consoles but there's nothing like playing it in the arcades... with a mod chip.

Source- http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/video-game-vault-mortal-kombat-2