Google In Talks With Verizon About Gphone

Boston (dbTechno) - According to reports Google is currently in talks with Verizon as well as other companies such as Sprint as they are trying to sell Verizon on the idea of the Google phone software called Gphone.

Google, according to the Wall Street Journal, is in “serious discussions” with Verizon to put the Gphone software on Verizon phones.

It was rumored for quite some time that Google was actually working on a mobile phone which would compete with the Apple iPhone. This was later revealed though to not be the case as the Google Gphone is more of an operating system and software package than anything else. Gphone compiles many Google services into the mobile front such as YouTube, Gmail, Google Search, and Google Maps.

Asian cell phone makers HTC and LG Electronics will be the first two handset makers to use the Google Gphone software.

Many believe though that Google is going to have a very tough time getting Verizon to buy into the idea of an open platform, which the Gphone software is.

T-Mobile USA is rumored to be the first to sign on with Google for the Gphone software. Verizon Wireless and Sprint are both expected to be in serious talks. Verizon is currently the next target Google wants to try to sell the Gphone idea to.

NASA Astronauts Find Tear In Solar Panel Of ISS

Boston (dbTechno) - NASA astronauts on a spacewalk around the International Space Station have spotted a tear in the Solar Power Tower to the International Space Station.

The tear was found in the 2nd solar panel. On Tuesday the astronauts tried to do some repairs to the solar power tower as they bolted the tower directly to the International Space Station. The hope is that this will keep it from moving and prevent any further tearing while the problem is fixed.

All was good until a rip was spotted in the second solar panel, causing an alarming situation for NASA. The tower needs to be functional in order for station equipment on the ISS to work in time for European and Asian research laboratories to head up to the ISS and link up.

The astronauts doing work on the solar tower Douglas Wheelock and Scott Parazynski halted as soon as they saw the rip next to the edge of the solar panel.

The move by NASA to try and stop the rotary joint from moving freely will cause the ISS to lose the ability to generate massive amounts of power.

NASA is currently looking over images gathered during the spacewalk to determine the best course of action from here.

IBM Making Solar Panels Out Of Silicon

Boston (dbTechno) - IBM has made the exciting announcement that they have found a way to turn silicon waste into solar panels, thus being able to recycle the silicon wafers used in computer chip manufacturing operations.

IBM has announced that they are going to recycle the silicon wafers using a process which has them removing the transistor patterns embedded in the wafers. These patterns are security measures basically to keep the information and such kept under the highest level of security. Once IBM removes this though they can manipulate it for more productive things.

There are about three million silicon wafers thrown away each year by the tech industry. IBM stated that once the patterns are removed they can sell the wafers to thehir plant in Burlington, VT. They can then turn these silicon wafers into solar cells or panels.

IBM is going to expand this as well and also share details of the process to remove patterns with other chip makers in hopes that other companies will follow suit.

This process from IBM was awarded the Most Valuable Pollution Prevention Award 2007 from the National Pollution Prevention Round-table.

Leopard Records Impressive Sales For Apple

Seattle (dbTechno) - Apple made the announcement that about 9% of Max OS X users upgraded to Max OS X Leopard over the weekend as they were all among the first to take part in what has already become a very successful launch of this new OS for Apple.

Apple managed to sell through 2 million copies of Leopard between Friday and Sunday night which is very impressive for an opening weekend of a brand new operating system being put to market. This 2 million number in sales includes online sales, boxed copies, as well as new Macs which were pre-installed with Leopard.

Back when Apple launched their other OS, Tiger, they did not sell 2 million copies until almost two months after launch. Leopard did it in less than a weekend.

The installed user base of Mac OS X computers is currently at 23 million users giving the OS a nice base to build off of to get people to upgrade to the new OS and allow for new Mac buyers to have it pre-installed already.

These sales compare to Microsoft who sold 20 million copies of Windows Vista in the first month it went on sale. By the end of 2008 the installed base of Windows will be around 1 billion users.

Still though Apple is happy with the progress as these sales are very impressive for Leopard thus far.

BioWare and LucasArts Working On Star Wars MMO?

Seattle (dbTechno) - BioWare and LucasArts made the exciting announcement today that the two companies are currently working together on what many believe is a brand new MMORPG based in the Star Wars universe.

The two companies stated that it is a “ground-breaking interactive entertainment producut.” Many users for months nwo have been hinting that BioWare is currently hard at work on an MMORPG based in the Star Wars universe. The possibility is that the game will likely be based in the same universe as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

This would be the first true Star Wars MMO follow-up to the problematic Star Wars Galaxies from Sony Online Entertainment.

Many reports from inside sources state that the upcoming game from BioWare and LucasArts is definitely going to be another Star Wars game. The thought though is that it will be neither another Knights of the Old Republic game, nor will it be another Star Wars Battlefront. BioWare has long stated and hinted that they are working and experimenting with the MMORPG genre.

It seems they now have the perfect chance as it looks as if BioWare and LucasArts are joining for what could be the ultimate Star Wars MMORPG.

Manhunt 2 Hits Retail On Halloween

Boston (dbTechno) - Manhunt 2 from Rockstar is one of most talked-about video games in history as the game was given an Adults Only rating by the ESRB originally and has been banned abroad. All has been fixed though as Manhunt 2 is now set to release, M-rated and all, on Halloween for the PSP, PS2 and Wii.

Manhunt 2 is one controversial game to say the least. Rockstar Games had to delay the July release because they needed to get a rating that would allow them to release the game. The ESRB had given Manhunt 2 an Adults Only rating. The problem with this is that neither Sony nor Nintendo allow games with those ratings to even be released on their respective consoles. Even if they were released the majority of retail locations refuse to carry Adults Only rated games or products.

Rockstar Games though cleaned up their act and sent the ESRB a slightly modified version back in August for approval. They were able to get a Mature rating instead of an Adults Only rating this time out allowing them to release the game on Halloween.

Manhunt 2 is now releasing on the Wii, PS2, and PSP on Halloween. Unfortunately though it is not the game that it was when it was first given that Adults Only rating. Apparently Rockstar Games has taken many of the more violent scenes out of the game or presented them in such a way that they may not appear as violent and bloody.
Those abroad in Europe though are still not happy with the progress made by Rockstar was Manhunt 2 remains banned in those parts of the world. At least North America is sick enough to allow it to release, so if you are interested, Manhunt 2 could be an entertaining way to spend your Halloween.

Full Song List For Rock Band On Xbox 360, and PS3 Revealed

Boston (dbTechno) - MTV Games and Harmonix have unveiled the full set list for the upcoming Rock Band which will release on the PS3 and Xbox 360 on November 20, 2007 as well as on the PS2 in December.

Rock Band is one of the most highly anticipated games of the year as it will be the first true music experience for video gamiing, featuring the ability for players to do vocals, play the drums, bass, or guitar.

“Our goal with Rock Band was to give players the chance to experience an amazing cross section of music from the last four decades, and our final list of tracks includes everything from emerging bands to iconic artists,“ stated Paul DeGooyer, MTV’s Senior Vice President of Home Entertainment, Music and Games. “The overwhelmingly positive response from artists, music publishers and record labels made the final selection process challenging, but extremely exciting. As a result, 51 out of 58 of the final selections are based on original masters, giving fans an unprecedented way to get closer to the music they love.”

The full set list includes 45 tracks which will be on the PS3 and Xbox 360. There are also 13 other songs which will be able to be unlocked as you play as well as new upcoming downloadable songs to build the library.
1960s
Rolling Stones “Gimme Shelter”

1970s
Aerosmith “Train Kept a Rollin’”*
The Who “Won’t Get Fooled Again”
Boston “Foreplay/Long Time”
Mountain “Mississippi Queen”*
The Police “Next to You”
David Bowie “Suffragette City”
Black Sabbath “Paranoid”*
Blue Oyster Cult “Don’t Fear the Reaper”
The Ramones “Blitzkrieg Bop”
Deep Purple “Highway Star”
KISS “Detroit Rock City”
Molly Hatchet “Flirtin’ With Disaster”
The Outlaws “Green Grass & High Tides”*
Sweet “Ballroom Blitz”*

1980s
Rush “Tom Sawyer”*
Bon Jovi “Wanted Dead or Alive”
The Clash “Should I Stay or Should I Go”
Faith No More “Epic”
R.E.M. “Orange Crush”
Iron Maiden “Run to the Hills”*

1990s
Foo Fighters “Learn to Fly”
Metallica “Enter Sandman”
Nirvana “In Bloom”
Stone Temple Pilots “Vasoline”
Weezer “Say It Ain’t So”
Smashing Pumpkins “Cherub Rock”
Radiohead “Creep”
Beastie Boys “Sabotage”
Hole “Celebrity Skin”
Garbage “I Think I’m Paranoid”
Soundgarden “Black Hole Sun”

2000s
The Hives “Main Offender”
Queens of the Stone Age “Go With the Flow”
The Strokes “Reptilia”
Jet “Are You Gonna Be My Girl”
OK Go “Here It Goes Again”
Nine Inch Nails “The Hand That Feeds”
Pixies “Wave of Mutilation”
Yeah Yeah Yeahs “Maps”
Red Hot Chili Peppers “Dani California”
Coheed & Cambria “Welcome Home”
Fallout Boy “Dead on Arrival”
The Killers “When You Were Young”
New Pornographers “Electric Version”

NASA Extends Discovery Shuttle Mission

Boston (dbTechno) - NASA has made the announcement that they have added a day to the shuttle Discovery’s mission up at the International Space Station to allow for further work to be done on the power system of the outpost.

NASA made the announcement on Monday stating that more time is needed for spacewalkers to be able to look into and address the problems regarding the power system of the International Space Station.

The Discovery will be staying in space a bit longer as they were originally supposed to depart from the ISS next Sunday. Instead they will have to stay one extra day coming back on Monday.

Spacewalker Dan Tani satted that he found shards of metal scrapings all around the area of the joint on the space station. He stated “I was quite sure there was something anomalous with the mechanism.”

NASA has decided to lock the solar panels in place to avoid further damage. This will kepe them from working the rotary joint. These limit the amount of power the station can produce. The International Space Station must be prepared before the Japan science lab, Kibo launches next year.

NASA stated this delay will likely cut the launch window for the next mission by a day. The next mission is for the NASA shuttle Atlantis to fly the Columbus laboratory to the International Space Station. The target launch date is set for December 6th.

Apple Limits Customers To 2 iPhones Per Buyer

Seattle (dbTechno) - Apple has made the announcement that they are making a stand to try and stop iPhone buyers from purchasing the devices just to resell them by limiting the number of phones buyers can purchase to just two iPhones.

Apple also stated that they will no longer accept cash when selling the Apple iPhone.

Apple kicked off this new policy last week in an attempt to try and stop the reselling of the iPhone on auction locations such as eBay.

This was a huge cut from the previous maximum which allowed buyers to purchase up to five iPhones and had no restrictions in place as to how they could pay for them.

Apple believes that many buyers were purchasing the iPHone to modify or unlock them and then resell it online at a premium price point. Apple recently stated over 250,000 iPhones have been unlocked to work on other networks besides the exclusive AT&T network Apple has a deal with.

How this will have an impact on iPhone sales remains to be seen but it is clear that Apple is dead serious about fighting the unlocking of the iPhone and reselling of the device as well, even if it means they may lose some sales to resellers.

Wii Smash Bros. Gets Create-A-Stage Feature

Boston (dbTechno) - Nintendo has made the exciting announcement that the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Nintendo Wii will feature a create-a-stage mode which will allow gamers to create their very own maps to battle it out in on the Wii.

Nintendo made the announcement in regards to the highly anticipated game on Monday.

They stated that gamers are going to be able to do a variety of thinsg with this new feature. They will be able to choose things such as placement of items, locations to jump on, setting, etc. You will also be able to take these levels you create and save them on an SD card. You can also submit your level to Nintendo over the Nintendo WiFI Connection.

Each day Nintendo is going to choose one stage which will be featured for that day for all to play around with and use. Every 24 hours this is going to update and Smach Bros. on the Wii will have a brand new user-created level for all to enjoy.

When creating a stage you will select the size, background, music, and much more such as obstacles and as stated item placement.

It seems that Smash Bros. on the Wii is going to allow for many game modes which Wii owners are going to absolutely fall in love with. It surely will be one of the best games of the year when it ships in early 2008.

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