December 2007

“If you are looking to make that jump to a DDR3 setup, then I would suggest investing in the Kingston KHX13000D3LLK2/2G kit, even if it's just for the simple fact that 1333MHz and above will surpass the performance of the top-of-the-line DDR2 modules currently out. The low latency of the KHX13000D3LLK2/2G kit will yield great efficiency, but don't expect massive overclocking at the stock timings; but then, who cares? It's a DDR3 module at 1625MHz!”

DENVER (Billboard) - There is a reason people still buy CDs more than they do digital albums. Actually there are several, but viruses that come along with music via peer-to-peer sites (P2P) and a concern over digital rights management (DRM) aren't the only culprits.

Digital music files just don't provide the same amount of content that a CD package does. That includes liner notes, extended album art and lyrics. Buy a digital album today and all you get are a list of tracks and (maybe) a thumbnail image of the album cover that you can't even read.

What will Gates announce? Last year rumors of the iPhone--and poor scheduling, with the two shows running at nearly the same time--prompted some people to skip part of CES to hear Jobs's speech at Macworld. At least this year the scheduling is better, with Macworld starting just after CES ends. But what Microsoft rumors are floating around? Vista Service Pack 1? Internet Explorer 8? The Xbox 360 might get motion-sensing game controllers so it can compete with Nintendo's Wii? Yawn.

BOSTON - The loss or theft of personal data such as credit card and Social Security numbers soared to unprecedented levels in 2007, and the trend isn't expected to turn around anytime soon as hackers stay a step ahead of security and laptops disappear with sensitive information.

And while companies, government agencies, schools and other institutions are spending more to protect ever-increasing volumes of data with more sophisticated firewalls and encryption, the investment often is too little too late.

AMD's RS780 and Nvidia's MCP 78 IGP chipsets are scheduled to go head-to-head in the first quarter of 2008, however, performance of the MCP 78S is reportedly below that of the RS780, while the higher-end MCP 78U is causing issues due to its higher thermal dissipation giving AMD the advantage over the chipset battle, according to sources at motherboard makers.

The RS780 is reported to have 15-20% better performance than the MCP 78S in 3DMark 05 and 06 tests, while the higher-end MCP 78U cannot function normally with the original passive northbridge heatpipe due to the higher core frequencies of the graphics engine. Adopting a larger heatpipe or fan will cause costs to rise significantly, pointed out the sources. Nvidia is still struggling with the problem, they added.

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - About 38 percent of U.S. consumers are watching TV shows online, 36 percent use their cell phones as entertainment devices and 45 percent are creating online content like Web sites, music, videos and blogs for others, according to a new-media survey from Deloitte & Touche.

The findings of the online survey of 2,081 Americans, conducted October 25-31, were provided to The Hollywood Reporter before their official release next month.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc quietly canceled its online video download service less than a year after the site went live, a company spokeswoman said on Thursday.

Wal-Mart shut down the download site after Hewlett Packard Co discontinued the technology that powered it, Walmart.com spokeswoman Amy Colella said in an e-mail. She added that it will not look for another technology partner.

It looks like AMD users hoping to pop one of those speedy new Phenom processors into their old AM2 motherboard for a bit of a boost could be in for some trouble, at least according to the folks at Tom's Hardware, who recently put the processor to the test with ten different mobos. After their usual thorough testing, they found that the processor didn't work well at all with eight out of the ten motherboards, despite earlier promises by AMD to the contrary, and the other two had problems of their own even after a BIOS update.

Nvidia originally planned to roll out the new MCP72 chipset in late November or early December but will now postpone shipping to January, along with the planned launch of its MCP78, according to sources at Taiwan motherboard makers.

The sources detailed that Nvidia will introduce the new nForce 700a chipset family for AMD platforms, which includes MCP72XE, MCP72P and MCP78H in January, in attempts to compete with AMD's rival RD790 chipset.

Nvidia recently contacted its graphics card partners asking them to reduce the number PCB board layers used in GeForce 8800 GT-based graphics cards from ten to six in order to reduce manufacturing costs and so lower the card's ASP (average selling price) in the market. The redesign would allow the Nvidia cards to compete in terms of pricing with AMD's Radeon HD 3800 series products, according to sources at graphics card makers.

Although the Radeon HD 3800 series was launched three weeks later than the GeForce 8800 GT, Radeon 3800 demand has started to pick up, bringing the market shares of Nvidia and AMD from 90% and 10%, originally, to 70% and 30%.

ARAHUAY, Peru - Doubts about whether poor, rural children really can benefit from quirky little computers evaporate as quickly as the morning dew in this hilltop Andean village, where 50 primary school children got machines from the One Laptop Per Child project six months ago.

These offspring of peasant families whose monthly earnings rarely exceed the cost of one of the $188 laptops — people who can ill afford pencil and paper much less books — can't get enough of their "XO" laptops.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Online retailer Amazon.com Inc has signed on Warner Music Group Corp to its music download service, the latest major record label to join the competitor to Apple Inc's industry-leading iTunes store.

Warner Music songs were available as of Thursday on the Amazon MP3 service, which lets users purchase the tunes and download them to Apple's popular iPod or many other digital music players.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Anyone with dreams of being a talk radio star -- ranting about sports and politics, chatting with callers, sharing recipes or car-buying tips -- can play host on their own show, right on the Web.

BlogTalkRadio, Talkshoe and Skypecasts are among the Web sites that have become popular for would-be radio jocks, and all it takes is a computer and a telephone.

“The best cooling systems for multi-core are no doubt dual and triple 120mm radiators. Extra water in the cooling system can help improve the amount of cooled water constantly circulating throughout. A bigger reservoir is sometimes needed and here is one option. CrazyPC was kind in sending one of their more popular reservoirs for the more serious cooling systems. The IceBox 5.25" UV Dual Bay Reservoir is just one of the solutions they offer that is a more modified look over the casual single or plain solutions commonly found. If you're one among the masses that uses water cooling systems to keep that processor cool, then you probably also like your system to look pretty sweet at the same time. Have a quick look at the IceBox UV Reservoir.”

San Francisco - Like the star on a Christmas tree, iPhone is perched atop all the top 10 gadget lists for 2007, and with good reason. Not only did iPhone revolutionize the way people think about their mobile phones -- as many writing those lists crow -- but in my case, it has changed the way I live.

Let's be clear: I'm not your typical gadget or technology geek. I didn't have a cell phone until 2000, and even then I purchased a refurbished Nokia handset for $30 that resembled the Motorola brick phone Michael Douglas used in the 1987 film "Wall Street."

Video-sharing websites YouTube and Dailymotion are on the list, along with the Club Penguin online role playing game where children pretending to be the flightless birds "waddle about and play" together.

Virtual world Second Life, where people represented by animated proxies interact in digitized fantasy settings, is the final social networking property in the Zeitgeist Top Ten.

The world has only seen "the tip of the iceberg" when it comes to online social networking, says MySpace vice president of business development Amit Kapur.

For someone who hasn’t had a new car in more than a decade, opening a door without a key is a big deal.

So you can imagine my gushing at some of the interior amenities available on new cars, which I went shopping for in this last week before 2008 to take advantage of some tax benefits — and because it’s time I rolled in some new wheels.

My Honda Accord is a little over a decade old and back in its day, it had all the latest features — a really kick-ass V6 engine, sunroof, cruise control, power steering/windows/locks/driver’s seat adjustments — but it still had only a tape deck standard.

"Google cannot grow fast enough relying solely on the PC-driven Internet, according to research firm eMarketer.

"It must extend search marketing to new interactive platforms, new markets and new advertisers who aren't currently online."

Google is developing new software, called Android, which could be used to power a new generation of mobile telephones, but its success depends heavily on securing a wireless license.

The FCC decided the future networks would be open to any mobile device, contrary to existing networks where operators can choose the brands and services.

A crowded field of bidders is jostling to participate in the auction. A total of 96 companies has been cleared to participate in the bidding so far, while another 170 firms are seeking FCC approval to join the auction.

LONDON - The Scottish government said Monday it would pay to insert advertisements discouraging drinking and driving into video games.

The 10,000 pound ($20,000) trial project will see the ads appear on virtual billboards within several games for Microsoft Xbox consoles, including "Need for Speed: Carbon," "Project Gotham Racing 4" and "NBA Live."

Taiwan-based notebook vendors Acer and Asustek Computer have both advanced one rank to become the second and eighth largest notebook vendors in the world, respectively, according to a recent IDC report.

Among the top-ten worldwide vendors, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Acer and Asustek were the only vendors who saw on-year growth of over 60% in second and third quarters this year.

Acer had notebook shipments of 4.15 million units in the third quarter, surpassing Dell's 4.01 million, while Asustek shipped 1.22 million notebooks.

“The outward appearance is pretty decent and quite clean. b-Gears put a bit of focus on this new power supply line that's nice to see, especially for a final revision. Not much can really be improved upon a PSU that is a bit more budget oriented. You might find the cabling idea a little too unique at first, but it'll surprise you just how handy it can be redirecting the modular cables for easier connecting. Users with a more compact computer case will like how much easier it is to maneuver the wiring. If there's a weakness in the b-Gears 650 Watt b-Tarantula power supply, I couldn't find it. If you want to save some cash and don't need that over rated "Giga watt" power supply, this is an excellent, new choice that's well balanced and worth the price.”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI is embarking on a $1 billion project to build the world's largest computer database of biometrics to give the U.S. government more ways to identify people at home and abroad, the Washington Post reported on Friday.

The FBI has already started compiling digital images of faces, fingerprints and palm patterns in its systems, the paper said.

AT&T sued the company, accusing it with using packet-based telephony products, which allows voice conversations to be carried over the Internet, based on products that use technology covered by AT&T patents.

Vonage did not disclose the nature of the settlement, which it said occurred on November 7. The settlement was finalized on Friday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tough-guy actor and martial arts expert Chuck Norris sued publisher Penguin on Friday over a book he claims unfairly exploits his famous name, based on a satirical Internet list of "mythical facts" about him.

Penguin published "The Truth About Chuck Norris: 400 facts about the World's Greatest Human" in November. Author Ian Spector and two Web sites he runs to promote the book, including www.truthaboutchuck.com, are also named in the suit.

The book capitalizes on "mythical facts" that have been circulating on the Internet since 2005 that poke fun at Norris' tough-guy image and super-human abilities, the suit said.

NEW YORK - When Adele Rothman bought her 16-year-old son a car in 2003, she made sure to pick one that had OnStar, the onboard communications and safety system.

What the Scarsdale, N.Y., resident didn't know was that the OnStar system in the car was already doomed to die. The federal government decided in 2002 to let cellular carriers shut down analog cell phone networks, used by Rothman's Saab and about 500,000 other OnStar-equipped cars, after Feb. 18, 2008.

A scathing report on browser security from Microsoft, which claimed in an "unbiased" analysis that Internet Explorer was vastly more secure than Mozilla's Firefox, ignited a recent war of words between the two browser makers. However, Mozilla decided that it was wiser to back up its words with action, rather than just more talk.

The end result is that the company just released the second beta candidate of the third iteration of its increasingly popular Firefox browser, and this release ups the ante on security with many new features.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc and a popular Web site that published company secrets about the maker of the Mac computer, the iPhone and the iPod have reached a settlement that calls for the site to shut down.

Apple and the site, ThinkSecret.com, settled the suit, which Apple filed in January 2005, and no sources were revealed, Apple and ThinkSecret said in statements.

College student Nick Ciarelli, ThinkSecret's publisher, said he plans to move on. He started the site at 13.

new 3.5-inch multi-touch LCD that uses optical sensing technology today. The 640 x 480 screen is made of what Sony's calling "low-temperature polysilicon thin-film transistor" tech, and it supports recognition of up to five fingers at a time, as well as pen input.

Although ATI originally said it would be open to licensing CrossFire to those who wanted to, the acquisition of the company by AMD, followed by the resignations of Dave Orton and Rick Hegberg, former CEO and vice president of worldwide sales of ATI, respectively, sparked concerns among motherboard makers that AMD would completely cut its cooperation with Intel.

“In particular, laptop/notebook users have often been out of luck in this respect. Most laptops do not come with 5.1 outputs (much less 5.1 digital output) and the internal sound options usually aren't upgradeable. Thus, those who have wanted a professional sound option for their laptops have usually be left less-than-satisfied. ASUS wants to change all of that with their new XONAR U1 Audio Station. This USB soundcard aims to provide high quality Dolby Digital audio as well as EAX and DirectSound 3D support for systems where other sound upgrades aren't an option. A slew of other features is also provided - let's see if the Xonar can deliver on all of this.”

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Viacom Inc's MTV and award-winning television and film producer Jerry Bruckheimer will launch a video game development studio, marrying Hollywood and technology in what has been historically an uneasy alliance.

Bruckheimer, producer of Walt Disney Co's wildly successful "Pirates of the Caribbean" film franchise among a long list of film and TV hits like "CSI," said he plans to do for video games what he has done for other well-defined genres of content.

"It's no different than what we did with movies," he said in a phone interview. "We did 'Top Gun' when everyone said you couldn't do an aviation movie because they all failed. We did a pirate movie when they said pirate movies aren't going to work."

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A venture led by Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) co-founder Paul Allen has applied to bid in an upcoming U.S. auction of coveted wireless airwaves, according to auction documents released late on Tuesday.

Allen was listed with an entity called Vulcan Spectrum LLC among the applicants who filed to bid in the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) auction of 700-megahertz spectrum, which is scheduled to begin on January 24.

The introduction of the combination iPod-cell phone-Internet surfing device to the world's second-largest economy would be a tremendous boon for Cupertino-based Apple, which hopes to sell about 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008.

Apple has sold more than 1.4 million iPhones since they went on sale June 29 in the United States. Subsequent launches in Europe have boosted sales and sparked a legal fight over Apple's exclusive use of T-Mobile, part of Deutsche Telekom AG, as its wireless provider in Germany.

Intel has recently adjusted its product strategy and will postpone three 45nm quad-core CPUs that were originally scheduled to launch in January next year, according to sources at motherboard makers.

Intel has already notified its partners that it will push back the launch of the three CPUs to February or March next year, depending on AMD's schedule for triple-core and the upcoming Phenom CPUs.

Launching the CPUs now will not benefit Intel much in its battle with AMD, while they could cause damage to Intel's 65nm quad-core CPUs, therefore the company has decided it is in no rush to release new products until AMD is able to present more of a threat.

Sunnyvale, Calif.—December 18, 2007—OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory and PC components, today unveiled the new Turbo-Cool 860 power supply from PC Power & Cooling. Built for absolute stability and reliability, the Turbo-Cool 860 features adjustable rails, ultra-high efficiency, and a lifespan at least twice the industry standard. NVIDIA® SLI™ certified to the highest level, the heavy-duty Turbo-Cool 860 is the ultimate power solution for today’s mission-critical and high-end gaming systems.

Each Turbo-Cool 860 allows the end-user to safely fine-tune the unit’s independently adjustable power rails (+3V and +5V) via two externally accessible pots. In the hands of an experienced user, the +12V rail can be externally fine-tuned as well. Unlike conventional industrial-grade power supplies, the Turbo-Cool 860’s form factor is standard ATX so it will fit all PC towers and cases.

"The Turbo-Cool 860 is the most stable, most reliable, and most feature-rich power supply on the market today,” stated Doug Dodson, founder of PC Power & Cooling and CTO of Power Management for OCZ. "It’s the perfect successor to our renowned Turbo-Cool 510, the industry’s very first NVIDIA SLI certified power supply.”

TOKYO (Reuters) - Toshiba Corp said on Tuesday it would join a group led by International Business Machines Corp to develop system chips using 32-nanometre circuitry, as chip makers increasingly team up to cut development costs.

The alliance also comprises Advanced Micro Devices, Samsung Electronics, Singapore's Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing, Germany's Infineon Technologies AG and privately owned U.S.-based Freescale Semiconductor Inc.

REDMOND, Washington (Reuters) - Nintendo Co Ltd (7974.OS: Quote, Profile, Research) is having trouble planning for the coming months because of shortages of its Wii video game console, and the company is also seeing signs of higher-than-expected demand for its DS handheld device, a top U.S. executive said on Monday.

"The level of demand we are facing complicates all of our future business planning," Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America, told Reuters in an interview. "All of that becomes a much tougher exercise until we have supply and demand curves that intersect."

“How many of you out there are, at this very moment, reading this review using a friend's computer or your PC at work because your own PC... ummm... is fubar? In today's review, we've laid our hands on something very unique that may just be the cure for your computer's failure: the PC-Doctor Service Center 6. This PC toolkit includes the most widely used PC diagnostics on the planet.”

Watch out Ben Heck, there's a new console modder in town, and this here wooden portable SNES is making you look bad. There's really not much else to say about this unit other than our standard dose of fanboyishness. The thing was built out of a standard Super Nintendo, and LED-backlit PSONe display and a whole bunch of love -- that wooden case is all custom. Suffice it to say: we want. Video of it in action after the break.

Buried in November’s NPD video game sales data is an interesting bit regarding the make-up of HD DVD hardware owners. According to the tracking firm, the Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on drive accessory has sold a collective 269,000 units in the U.S., making for a 3.4 percent attach rate with the console.

Microsoft does not openly share its sales figures on its accessories, though a company representative did say in June that it had reached 155,000 units sold – showing a slow but steady adoption rate of the HD DVD add-on.

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Sixty years after transistors were invented and nearly five decades since they were first integrated into silicon chips, the tiny on-off switches dubbed the "nerve cells" of the information age are starting to show their age.

The devices — whose miniaturization over time set in motion the race for faster, smaller and cheaper electronics — have been shrunk so much that the day is approaching when it will be physically impossible to make them even tinier.

Once chip makers can't squeeze any more into the same-sized slice of silicon, the dramatic performance gains and cost reductions in computing over the years could suddenly slow. And the engine that's driven the digital revolution — and modern economy — could grind to a halt.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nintendo Co Ltd said on Friday it will offer a "rain check" program to deliver the Wii in January to shoppers who can't buy the game console during the holiday season due to inventory shortages.

Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime told a telephone news conference that shoppers who pay the full price of about $249 for an out-of-stock Wii on December 20 and 21 at retailer GameStop Corp will get a certificate promising a Wii "sometime in January."

Addonics has announced two new external combo drives. The Addonics Zebra drive is available in two models, the ZBH63DES which offers eSATA and retails for $409 and the ZBH63DEU which offers both eSATA and USB 2.0 for $429. The Zebra drives are made of aluminum and have a stereo headphone jack.

Both the ZBH63DES and the ZBH63DEU offer playback of both HD DVD and Blu-ray discs, while still supporting older media to include DVD, DVD DL, CD, they can also both burn DVD±R/RW and CDRW discs. The Zebra drives will work on Windows (Vista, XP, 2000, ME, 98SE), Mac OS X (10.4 or later), Linux (Kernel 2.6 and above) and Solaris 10. They are bundled with the Cyberlink High-Def Suite, however the software will only work with XP or Vista.

It has been no secret that that AMD was a company in trouble in 2007. Despite starting off the year on a high following its acquisition of ATI, by the middle of the year things had started to turn sour, only to get steadily worse towards year-end while the company itself appeared to have its head in the sand.

Problems started when the first products of the AMD/ATI union, the Radeon HD 2000 series, were delayed, according to graphics card markers. AMD argued that launch dates on roadmaps given to partners are not official, a spurious distinction at best, aimed solely at keeping investors happy. When the 2000 series finally launched, the performance of the high-end 2900 card failed to meet the expectations of old-ATI customers, while power consumption and temperatures were generally considered too high, causing many to label the 2000 series a flop.

One simple question. That's all it took for Christophe Bisciglia to bewilder confident job applicants at Google (GOOG). Bisciglia, an angular 27-year-old senior software engineer with long wavy hair, wanted to see if these undergrads were ready to think like Googlers. "Tell me," he'd say, "what would you do if you had 1,000 times more data?"

What a strange idea. If they returned to their school projects and were foolish enough to cram formulas with a thousand times more details about shopping or maps or—heaven forbid—with video files, they'd slow their college servers to a crawl.

Sunnyvale, Calif.—December 13, 2007—OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, today announced new 1800MHz Intel® Extreme Memory modules, a performance solution that implements a specification predefined and specially tailored for the Intel X48 chipset. These top-speed modules are the ideal solution for enthusiasts looking for the extra performance gains optimized memory offers their system.

Designed to significantly increase performance levels of the entire platform, these modules feature Intel Extreme Memory Profiles (XMP), an exclusive set of SPD (Serial Presence Detect) settings that act as an integrated “plug and play” overclocking tool. Configured to Intel’s defined specification, these XMP-Ready memory kits will be configured to run CL8 latencies at 1800 MHz. Furthermore, each OCZ XMP module also features CL7 latencies on a second profile that is qualified by OCZ for the extreme enthusiast seeking tighter timings.

abit announced the AN52V series motherboard today. The better performance and upgradeable flexibility make the AN52V series more striking than other competitions. You can get a more powerful platform without costing a fortune. The abit AN52V series will let you easily experience the powerful peformance of high quality motherboard with competitive price.

abit designed the AN52V series motherboard especially for the mainstream users. The AN52V series not only provide a powerful platform with outstanding performance for normal users, but also focus on the need of hardware upgrade. The AN52V series motherboard support both AM2 CPU and the new generation AM2+ CPU coming soon so you will have further space to upgrade the platform. Through Hyper Transport™ Technology, AN52V series can reach system bus up to 2000MT per second.

Vienna, 13.12.2007 - As Noctua announced today, buyers of the new NH-U12P CPU cooler can now obtain free mounting-kits for socket F as well as socket 939, 940 and 754. As a result, the new high-end cooler can now also be used on Opteron based Servers and Workstations as well as older AMD systems.

"Since we've introduced the NH-U12P, we've received numerous requests from customers who'd like to use our new cooler in AMD servers and older socket 939 systems", reports Mag. Roland Mossig, Noctua CEO. "The world of servers and workstations is of particular interest for us and of course, we don't want to keep users of older systems from choosing our NH-U12P as well. That's why we've decided to send free K8 & socket F mounting kit to NH-U12P users on request."

LONDON (Reuters) - A new tracking system to pinpoint people inside smoked-filled buildings has been developed in a move that should slash the risks faced by firefighters.

French aerospace company Thales (TCFP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday its Indoor Positioning System (IPS) was aimed initially at helping fire services although it could also be used by the police and armed forces.

Eventually, it could also be applied in the consumer market and offered as an additional service with GPS-enabled cell phones, allowing users to navigate around shopping malls or airports.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp said on Wednesday it has acquired Multimap, one of Britain's top online mapping companies.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Microsoft's acquisition is the latest in a series of deals in the consolidating digital mapping industry. Dutch navigation device maker TomTom NV launched a takeover bid for digital map maker Tele Atlas NV last month.

NEW YORK - The next batch of painful "Jackass" stunts is coming to a computer screen near you.

The first two films — spun off from the former MTV series — co-starred Johnny Knoxville and his gang of gross-out pranksters as they performed stunts to the delight of their youthful fans. But for the sequel "Jackass 2.5," the dirty daredevils pull a new stunt: bypassing the movie theater entirely.

The online adult entertainment grotto just got a little more crowded. Penthouse Media Group, Inc. (PMGI), the parent company for Penthouse magazine and the owner of extensive online properties, announced Wednesday that it is spending $500 million to acquire Various, Inc., the owner of numerous social networking sites, including AdultFriendFinder.com, one of the Web's leading dating sites. The transaction is one of the largest ever for an adult business.

“Nothing says, "My computer rocks!" quite like a sweet looking water cooling system. And it gets better and better as all the blocks evolve. This has been true for just about every water cooling manufacturer. We've seen plenty of water cooling kits and cooling blocks come and go. And it's just as interesting today as it was the first day water cooling made its appearance. DangerDen has come a long way in offering arguably the greatest Lucite cooling blocks. However, we've never had the privilege of testing anything from DangerDen up until now.”

The 2007 Microsoft Office suites Service Pack 1 (SP1) contains significant security improvements, stability improvements, and performance improvements. Some fixes that are included with the 2007 Microsoft Office suites SP1 were previously released in separate updates. The 2007 Microsoft Office suites SP1 combines the previously released fixes into one update.

BOSTON (Reuters) - "w00t," an expression of joy coined by online gamers, was crowned word of the year on Tuesday by the publisher of a leading U.S. dictionary.

Massachusetts-based Merriam-Webster Inc. said "w00t" -- typically spelled with two zeros -- reflects a new direction in the American language led by a generation raised on video games and cell phone text-messaging.

It's like saying "yay," the dictionary said.

"It could be after a triumph or for no reason at all," Merriam-Webster said.

NEW YORK - Warren Adelman's colleagues know him as "Thumbs": Like many executives, he is adept at checking e-mail on his BlackBerry and does it almost constantly.

Unable to do so during flights, Adelman welcomes business trips as "an opportunity to decompress a little bit from the constant flow of e-mail, perhaps catch up on a book."

"It's one of the few downtime environments you get in this day and age," said Adelman, president and chief operating officer of GoDaddy.com Inc., a registration company for Internet domain names.

Need a free copy of Windows Vista Ultimate? Are you incredibly trusting of big corporations? Well I have the deal for you, with a new program through Microsoft called the Windows Feedback Program. For the small price of privacy and perhaps some dignity, you can let Microsoft watch your every move for 3 months, in return for some software of your choice. Surveys are also required, one at the start, and then another in 2 week intervals, but compared to the bigger issue those are pretty painless. Some might find this to be an excellent deal, with software prices high, and cost of your free time to be almost nothing at all.

Dell made a serious effort in 2007 to listen to customer feedback criticizing Dell’s older, thick and heavy laptops. The result was the amazingly thin and light XPS M1330, one of the sexiest looking notebooks of 2007. The new Dell XPS M1530 is an impressive 15.4" screen notebook designed similar to (just larger than) the very successful 13-inch XPS M1330.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Web search site Ask.com is launching a feature that allows users to delete data on their search queries in an effort to bolster personal privacy while surfing the Internet.

A link titled AskEraser will be featured on the site's home page and all search results pages, with a clear choice to signal whether the feature should be "On" or "Off" during a user's search requests.

"We take significant steps to protect any data that's stored in our servers, but for those people who want to take extra precautions, AskEraser let them take the issue completely off the table," Ask.com Chief Executive Jim Lanzone said in an interview ahead of Tuesday's launch.

TOKYO - As if the idea of having one robot to serve you wasn't unusual enough, Honda says its humanoids are now ready to work in pairs — and they can even serve drinks.

At a demonstration Tuesday at its Tokyo headquarters, automaker Honda Motor Co. showed off two of the child-sized Asimo robots serving tea and performing other tasks in coordination with one another.

The bubble-headed robots seemed to pick their steps carefully as they made their way around the room, picking up and putting down drink trays and pushing around a refreshments cart.

The X2 is a continuation of Ultra's popular X-Connect series which was the world's first completely modular design. Continuing with that tradition, the X2 750W allows you to connect only the cables that you need. Combining the modular design with Ultra's Flex Force cabling allows for air flow up to 30% more effective than standard cables. Ultra's newest power supply also incorporates Dual Rail Technology that distributes cleaner power to your CPU for greater stability and overclocking potential. The X2 750W PSU is available now from Ultra Products for $129.99($139.99 w/UV Blue).

Malvern, Pa (PRWEB) December 10, 2007 -- Xoxide Inc, a privately held online computer products retailer from the Philadelphia area, is offering some wildly unique Holiday Gifts for the tech-savvy consumer this Season.

For those individuals with a tech nerd or computer geek on their shopping list, this particular season tends to be exceedingly difficult when it comes to choosing the perfect gift. Thankfully, this particular online retailer is here to offer up some help. Providing a little something for every web-happy friend or family member on your list, the great gifts offered from Xoxide.com range from the incredibly useful to the wonderfully strange.

As a leader in the computer modification and gaming industry, Xoxide has long provided the most cutting edge products for their online customers. However, what some shoppers might not know is that this particular online retail store also offers a great assortment of unconventional tech products that are straight-up geeky, sometimes silly, and most importantly, a ton of fun.

“To be perfectly honest, I really thought the iXoft was going to end up like so many other items that are based on great ideas: just a great idea, but not much truth to it... you know, the whole "if it sounds too good to be true" shebang. As you can see from the results in the table above, was I ever wrong! I don't know about you, but I really like the idea of using my laptop - IN my lap - without burning myself. I mean, seriously: would you rather have something almost 104° or 73° against your skin? The last time I checked, 104° is about as hot as the water that comes out of the kitchen sink. Unless you've lost all sense of feeling, 104° is way too hot for anyone to handle against their skin for any more than a second or two. 73° is more like the ocean in Hilo, Hawaii at this time of year. Hmmmm... I don't see much of a choice here”

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Cover bands and tribute bands have been a mainstay of the music scene for decades. When a company licenses a composition, it may find that licensing the original master recording is outside the budget or unavailable for licensing. Hiring the original band members to rerecord the song may not be an alternative because of contractual rerecording restrictions in the band's record deal, the members no longer sound like they once did or they may be dead.

Due to the trend of notebooks replacing desktop PCs, first-tier motherboard makers except Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) saw their November motherboard shipments drop on month, according to sources at the makers.

Asustek Computer announced November consolidated revenues of NT$75.29 billion (US$2.33 billion), an increase of 11.2% on month, but a drop of 9.9% on year. The company's accumulated consolidated revenues for the first 11 months of 2007 year were NT$666.1 billion, a boost of 44.5% compared to the same period in the previous year.

Affected by its subsidiary ASRock's strategy change, Asustek shipped 5.1 million motherboards in November, a slight drop of 0.2% on year and 7% on month, while accumulated shipments for the first 11 months were only 54.55 million units, making the company's annual goal of shipping 63 million motherboards difficult to achieve.

"It may have not been the most sophisticated computer, but it did have a lot of personality and it was lovable and remains loveable," said Harry McCracken, vice president and editor in chief of PC World.

Often overshadowed by the Apple II and Atari 800, the Commodore 64 rose to great heights in the 1980s. From 1982-1993, 17 million C64s were sold. The Guinness Book of World Records lists the Commodore 64 as the best-selling single computer model.

The computer featured 64 kilobytes of memory (a lot for 1982), a huge index of games, a sophisticated sound chip, and a relatively parent-friendly price -- $595.