Latest Headlines

U.S. Executed 32 Federal Search Warrants Looking For Wii Mod Chippers

Today U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents executed 32 federal search warrants in 16 states as part of an investigation into the alleged sale and distribution of illegal modification chips for various video game consoles, including Nintendo’s Wiiâ„¢ home video game system. The mod chips designed for the Wii console circumvent the security embedded in the hardware and allow users to play counterfeit Wii software.

This Immigrations and Customs Enforcement investigation represents the largest national enforcement action of its kind targeting video game piracy. Nintendo has worked closely with this branch of the Department of Homeland Security, and fully supports its actions and other investigations currently underway.

Hottie Morgan Webb Launches A New Site

Morgan Webb, host of the popular TV program X-Play, today announced the launch of WebbAlert a daily online videocast covering major breaking developments in the technology and gaming industries, as well as important and intriguing technology lifestyle and culture stories. She is launching WebbAlert in close cooperation with Federated Media, the fast-growing network of author-driven websites.

Morgan Webb will be producing and hosting WebbAlert. She will also continue to host X-Play, which is television’s longest-running and most-watched videogame-focused series. A graduate of Berkeley’s Rhetoric department and a former Internet developer, Morgan is a respected technology and pop culture commentator who has appeared on networks as diverse as MSNBC, E!, and CNNFn, as well in countless publications. In April she was voted the 51st sexiest woman in the world in FHM’s closely watched annual survey.

WebbAlert will be frequent, succinct, and highly topical, covering eight to ten headline stories in a roughly four-minute daily format. The program will initially appear at 5 a.m. Eastern Time Monday through Thursday, with Friday coverage added this fall along with advanced community and commenting features.

“The top technology blogs will be my primary sources, and I’ll be pointing my viewers to specific blog postings as part of almost every story that I cover,” said Morgan. “Even when something’s the top story on every newspaper and news show, I’ll try to direct my viewers to a particularly analytical or thoughtful blog posting for deeper background.”

NCAA Foootball 08 To Show Real Time Weater Updates In Game

Electronic Arts and The Weather Channel Interactive today announced that the recently released NCAA Football 08 features the ability to experience real-time weather conditions and updates through a service provided by The Weather Channel. The latest version of the top selling college football video game will use up-to-date information from The Weather Channel Interactive to reflect accurate, real-time weather conditions at NCAA stadiums.

If a winter storm threatens the Northeast, the Eagles of Boston College will play through the snow. Hurricane threatens Florida? See how the Gators field goal kicker deals with 50 mph winds. Through a deal with EA SPORTS, the sporting division of Electronic Arts, The Weather Channel will provide real-time weather to the game via the Internet.

“This is a long-awaited feature for gamers - it is the first sports game we know of where actual current weather conditions will affect weather conditions in the game,” said Derek Van Nostran, director of marketing for The Weather Channel Interactive. “The Weather Channel Interactive welcomes this opportunity to work with EA Sports to bring an extra dose of realism to the game.”

TWCI provides a custom weather data feed to EA SPORTS for each stadium location. Every time a player with a live Internet connection loads a new game, they have the option to choose real-time weather from TWCI. The video game will then use the current conditions at the selected location to create the weather experience for that game.

“We are always looking to add more realism to the game experience,” said Jeffrey Luhr, producer for NCAA Football 08. “Adding real-time weather conditions from The Weather Channel interactive truly helps gamers feel ‘in the game.’”

Developed by EA Tiburon, NCAA Football 08 is now available in retail stores on the PlayStation 2 and PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment systems, and Xbox and Xbox 360 video game systems from Microsoft.

AMD To Give Free Steam Games For ATI Radeon Video Card Owners

Effective immediately, all owners of ATI Radeon graphics cards may receive a free copy of Half-Life 2: Lost Coast and Half-Life 2: Deathmatch via Steam at:SteamPowered.com Steam will automatically confirm the presence of ATI Radeonâ„¢ hardware and then enable immediate access to full versions of the games free of charge.

For added convenience to new purchasers of ATI Radeonâ„¢ products, Steam will be included in all ATI Catalystâ„¢ Software and Driver packages through early 2008.

Customers who purchase the new ATI Radeonâ„¢ HD 2900 XT will also receive, upon release via Steam, the highly anticipated trio of new games coming from Valve: Team Fortress 2, Portal, and Half-Life 2: Episode Two.

Some conditions apply. Customers will be required to download and install the Steam software, and will require an Internet connection.

Anybody have a Extra ATI Video card they want to give me?

Xbox 360 HD DVD Player Price Drop

Today at Comic-Con International 2007, Microsoft Corp. announced it will lower the price of the popular Xbox 360™ HD DVD Player from $199 to $179 ERP (United States only) starting Aug. 1, 2007, and will add five free HD DVD movies for anyone purchasing an Xbox 360 HD DVD Player between Aug. 1 and Sept. 30. In addition, Microsoft further solidified the Xbox 360 as the ultimate high-definition (HD) entertainment platform, with key announcements around the HD DVD launches of “300” from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group and “Heroes: Season 1” from Universal Studios.

To promote the HD DVD versions of “300” and “Heroes: Season 1,” Microsoft unveiled exclusive content for Xbox LIVE Marketplace. Xbox LIVE will offer “300” on demand in HD starting Aug. 14, and is working with Warner Bros. at Comic-Con on a Bringing It Home campaign featuring “300” and other Warner Bros. properties. In advance of the street date for the “Heroes: Season 1” HD DVD boxed set, Xbox LIVE members will be able to download for free the show’s pilot episode in high definition for a limited time. Members will also be able to download trailers, teaser scenes and other promotional materials highlighting the “Heroes: Season 1” boxed set on HD DVD.

Already the most affordable high-definition player available, the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player is the best solution for movie lovers seeking HD content in the highest possible resolution. The player’s price reduction to $179 (U.S. ERP) continues to set the bar for value, making the Xbox 360 platform the most affordable solution for consumers seeking the broadest, most compelling selection of next-generation gaming and HD video experiences.

In addition to the price drop, Microsoft is extending Toshiba’s highly successful “Perfect Offer” of five free HD DVD discs to Xbox 360 consumers. Previously exclusive to Toshiba HD DVD Players, with the purchase of an Xbox 360 HD DVD Player at the new low price of $179 ERP, consumers can choose five HD DVD titles for free from a selection of 15 popular titles through a mail-in offer. With a retail value of over $140 (U.S.), this promotion makes the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player one of the most compelling offerings for consumers looking to make the leap into HD this holiday season.

New Metal Gear Solid: And It Looks Like Candy. Eye-Candy.

Sorry it’s a tutorial-esque video, not a wham-blam, thankyee mam gameplay vid, but it still showcases the graphics capabilites in the PS3. I am sure Sony will be bending over in front of Konami for this latest offering, that will not appear on the 360.

Well, enjoy, the graphics are just… wow.

And read the comments on that page, the flaming is just HALARIOUS!

Skinit And Konami To Bring You Skins From Your Favorite Games

Konami will offer Skinit skins featuring popular Konami content, which include designs from its world-renowned video game properties such as Silent Hill, Dance Dance Revolution and others. Consumers will be able to personalize a variety of mobile devices with this premium content, including handheld video game systems, phones, laptops, mp3 players and more.

A dedicated online store front at http://konami.skinit.com provides consumers with a convenient way to choose, buy and ship their customized Konami skins. In addition, Konami customers will also be able to choose other designs from Skinit’s premium brand roster which includes the NBA, NFL, MLB, Star Wars, Disney, Colleges and many more. Skinit skins uniquely offer 3M Scotchprint( graphics, the highest quality product in the market, ensuring consumers experience a perfect fit, durability, exceptional image quality and easy residue free removal.

“Skinit skins offer consumers a fun and innovative way to personalize their mobile device while also providing Konami with great brand exposure,” said Kazumi Kitaue, CEO, Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. “We are looking forward to building this partnership and creating more opportunities to generate awareness and interest in Konami’s acclaimed properties.”

“Skinit is proud to partner with Konami to offer gaming enthusiasts a brand new personalization experience. Skinit skins allow them to express their affinities and individualize their devices while also helping Konami increase brand awareness. This partnership is also indicative of Konami’s confidence in our product, our robust infrastructure and our fulfillment process,” said Paul Buss, CEO Skinit Inc.

UK To Get Worlds Largest Gaming Center

Omega Sektor, the next recreation destination is set to open its doors to the public on August 10th 2007. Located in the heart of Birmingham on Corporation Street, and set across two floors, the center is set to offer a brand new high-tech entertainment experience for all ages.

The center will be the largest of its kind in the world and offer over 440 of the highest spec PCs with multi-player LAN and online play, as well as a dedicated area for console gaming.

In addition to the catalogue of over 100 playable games, Omega Sektor will also offer music, movies, an Internet café and other entertainment areas, all set in a state-of-the-art and casual environment providing an original social experience for all ages and abilities.

Your iPhone Is Not Safe!!!

(As the NYTimes Reports) A successful vulnerability has been found. Working with the iPhone’s architecture (which also includes some tools from the #iphone-dev community), and proof-of-concept exploit capable of delivering files from the user’s iPhone to a remote attacker. Apple has been notified about the vulnerability and proposed a patch.

The exploit is delivered via a malicious web page opened in the Safari browser on the iPhone. There are several delivery vectors that an attacker might utilize to get a victim to open such a web page. For example:

• An attacker controlled wireless access point: Because the iPhone learns access points by name (SSID), if a user ever gets near an attacker-controlled access point with the same name (and encryption type) as an access point previously trusted by the user, the iPhone will automatically use the malicious access point. This allows the attacker to add the exploit to any web page browsed by the user by replacing the requested page with a page containing the exploit.
• A misconfigured forum website: If a web forum’s software is not configured to prevent users from including potentially dangerous data in their posts, an attacker could cause the exploit to run in any iPhone browser that viewed the thread. (This would require some slight changes in our proof of concept exploit, however.)
• A link delivered via e-mail or SMS: If an attacker can trick a user into opening a website that the attacker controls, the attacker can easily embed the exploit into the main page of the website.

When the iPhone’s version of Safari opens the malicious web page, arbitrary code embedded in the exploit is run with administrative privileges. In our proof of concept, this code reads the log of SMS messages, the address book, the call history, and the voicemail data. It then transmits all this information to the attacker. However, this code could be replaced with code that does anything that the iPhone can do. It could send the user’s mail passwords to the attacker, send text messages that sign the user up for pay services, or record audio that could be relayed to the attacker.

[youtube M26sur1YAL4 nolink]

By God, Could You Please Clean Up your Code

How many times have you upgraded your hardware in the last 5 years? Was it really needed? If software makers would do the job correctly you would not “Have To” upgrade as often as most do. Gone are the days of having or trying to make your source code efficient and small, trying to fit it on a floppy or better yet One CD. Why would we do that now we can use a DVD (or more) there is no need to give the Code a smaller footprint.

The more lines of code make the hardware requirements even larger. Take a look at any MS Windows OS after Win95, it was all built on the same Base Code structure. They have not built an OS from the ground up since Win95 and even that was a Hack job of WinNT. Every release of the OS gets larger and larger but it does not necessarily get better, bigger yes, but better? …. Hmmm I will let you work that one out. Full Story »