Venus Used To Be Exactly Like Earth

Boston (dbTechno) - According to reports, Venus is a twin of Earth as it use to be exactly like our planet in that it could have harbored life until global warming destroyed its chances. Read more

Google Preparing To Offer Online Storage

Boston (dbTechno) - Get ready for a little online storage from Google as they are hard at work planning and online storage and backup service which would offer people a webbased hard drive to access and share information.

This would allow people to access any file from their home or office computer as long as they can log onto their web-based hard drive. Google already offers a type of storage through its web-based applications.

This planned product though would likely come before all of that and be an umbrella service which all of the other services such as photo sharing and e-mail could use.

Google has declined comment on the report as no release date or anything of that nature has been reported as of yet.

Yahoo and Microsoft already offer their own forms of online stoage and backup services with SkyDrive and Briefcase respectively.

Google is hoping to be different with a unique user interface which would be far easier for people to use compared to the other similar services. It is likely that Google will charge an annual fee for the storage from $20 for 6GB of data storage up to $500 for 250GB.

Greenpeace Hand Nintendo and Microsoft Failing Rankings

Boston (dbTechno) - Greenpeace’s quarterly Guide to Greener Electronics has handed out a record as Nintendo has become the first company to score a zero, while Microsoft was also given a failing score.

The zero score represents the lowest score possible. The rankings are based on the amount of toxic chemicals and substances used by companies in the production of their products as well as the recycling policies of companies once their products become obsolete.

The companies are rated on a scale of 0 - 10.

The rankings from Greenpeace stated “Nintendo joinsthe Guide in the bottom place. The company scores zero on all criteria, allowing infinite room for future improvement.”

Microsoft did not fare well either as they placed third from the bottom scoring a 2.7/10. They stated “Microsoft comes in at number 16 out of 18. The company scores points for its chemical management and for setting a timeline by which it intends to eliminate vinyl plastic and all BFRs, but only by 2011.”

Sony was among the top of the list with a score of 7.3/10. “The company received a good score for providing many examples of products that are free from PVC plastic, including models of the VAIO notebook, Walkman, camcorders, and digital cameras. Sony has commitments to phase out PVC and BFRs by 2010. Sony’s takeback and recycling program has good coverage, particularly in the U.S. and the company provides clear information to its customers about what to do with discarded products.”

Nintendo Wii Has Best Sales Week Since Launch

Boston (dbTechno) - The Nintendo Wii had its second best sales week since launch as it sold 350,000 consoles during the seven day period which included Black Friday.

This is the highest one-week sales since the debut of the Wii.

The Nintendo Wii remains the hottest item this holiday season as it has become, for the second holiday season in a row, the impossible holiday gift everyone seems to be trying to find.

Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime stated that he has been working himself in various retail outlets to see if any consoles were available. The low supply, Reggie stated, is not intentional in any such way.

He stated “A shortage benefits no one. We’re disappointed. This was all about how we didn’t accurately estimate demand. We need to be more bullish about the potential for the Wii.”

The Nintendo DS also did extremely well during the sales week which included Thanksgiving as it sold an amazing 653,000 units.

Nintendo releases these numbers after Sony releases a percentage jump in sales for the PS3. The PS3 sales though are believed to be far below that of the 350,000 Wii units sold.

Judge Supports Amazon, Tells Feds To Back Off

Boston (dbTechno) - According to reports US Magistrate Judge Stephen Crocker has ordered the Feds to stay away from Amazon.

Amazon has been accused by Feds of denying requests by prosecutors to release records for users who bought certain books at the online retail location.

This is a huge win for the consumer as Amazon has been fighting to keep their customers’ identities private.

The judge stated “The subpoena’s chilling effect on expressive e-commerce would frost keyboards across America.”

Prosecutors demanded that Amazon release some 24,000 transaction records.

They are trying to convict a city official on charges of fraud and tax evasion.

The Feds managed to find the information they needed on the official’s personal computer so Amazon was not even needed. It is key to note though that the judge siding with Amazon, and Amazon standing by their customers, is a good sign for future privacy rights of online consumers.

Xbox Live Update Adds Social Networking Features

Washington (dbTechno) - Microsoft is getting set to release their fall update to its Xbox 360 Dashboard. The update will release on December 4th and will allow Xbox Live to expand further into more of a social networking platform.

The new update is going to allow players to browse their own friends as well as to create new gaming friends online. This will work very similar to how Facebook and MySpace works.

Xbox Live users are going to be able to allow either only their friends to be able to see them, or everyone.

This will open things up greatly as gamers may be able to take a closer look at each other without even having to send a friend request over Xbox Live.

This means random people will be able to see you and where you are gaming if they decide to. Be careful, someone could be stalking you as you move from Call of Duty 4 over to Halo 3.

The hope for Microsoft is that this will make the Xbox Live service more of a social networking platform for gamers. Xbox 360 owners are going to have many new features once this Xbox Live update releases as your Xbox 360 Dashboard is going to be filled up with all kinds of new goodies come December 4th.

MySpace Set To Launch News Feed

Boston (dbTechno) - According to the president of MySpace parent company Fox Interactive Media, MySpace.com will be launching a brand new news feed feature very soon.

He stated that “The concept of a news feed is something we are very focused on, and we’ll be well down the path in the next 30 to 45 days.”

The news feed will allow users to have access to updates from people on his or her friends list, something which Facebook started not too long ago. Facebook has been getting in a lot of trouble for the news feed though as many call it invasive and a privacy issue.

MySpace is also going to allow members to operate different versions of a profile for groups such as friends, family, and co-workers.

MySpace is the leading social-networking site on the market in the United States and continues to grow. The addition of the News Feed may bring both positive and negative press but it appears that it is definitely coming.

WIth thsi news as well as them joining the Google OpenSocial platform, it is expected that their battle with Facebook will continue as they rapidly expand with new features.

FCC Ready To Slam Cable Industry

Washington (dbTechno) - The FCC may begin to clamp down on the cable industry as suggestions placed towards them are pushing for exactly this as members of Congress made their return to Capitol Hill on Monday.

Republican Senators Jim DeMint, Kay Bailey Hutchison, and Gordon Smith stated that “It is clear to use that it was Congress’ intent that the marketplace, and not regulatory fiats, should govern whenever possible. If there is to be a fundamental shift or adoption of new regulatory policies, it is up to Congress, not the commission, to implement it.”

The issue at hand has the FCC and Congress battling over who oversees the cable industry.

The 70/70 rule in place prevents the cable industry from gaining too much power.

Republican Rep. John Boehner stated that the rule “was not intended to grant the FCC carte blanche to impose other types of regulation. It was drafted more than 20 years ago as a mechanism to respond to decrease in sources of content, and that clearly is not a problem today.”

Many believe that the FCC simply wants to further regulate the cable industry. FCC Chairman Martin stated that they want rules which “will provide the commission with additional authority to assure that there is opportunity for additional voices.”

OLPC Extends Give One, Get One Promotion

Boston (dbTechno) - The One Laptop Per Child Program has extended their Give One, Get One promotion until December 31st.

The program allows for users to spend $400 on one XO laptop to donate to another child in a developing country, and in return get one for themselves.

OLPC founder and chairman Nicholas Negroponte stated that the promotion was extended due to “an outpouring of support from the public.”

The OLPC began the program back on November 12th and was scheduled to end it today.

He stated “Becasue so many people have asked for more time to participate, either individually or in order to organize local and national groups to which they belong, we have decided to extend Give One Get One through the end of this year. During this extended period we will solicit input and transition to a program of giving only at the beginning of 2008.”

The hope is that the XO laptop promotions will continue even beyond the new year. Many sites have launched to continue encouraging the promotion.

New Wireless Guitar Hero Guitars Revealed

Seattle (dbTechno) - Activision has revealed that they will be releasing a stand-alone wireless guitar next year for all of the major consoles, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360, etc.

This is big news for Xbox 360 owners as those who purchased Guitar Hero III without the guitar since they already owned one have been stuck playing wired to their next-gen consoles.

The Xbox 360, Wii, and PS3 guitars will be the same wireless Les Paul model which was included in the original bundle for the respective systems.

Those PlayStation 2 owners out there should not feel left out though as they will be able to purchase an exclusive Gibson Kramer model.

GameStop has the release date for these new wireless Guitar Hero guitars slated for late January.

Activision has confirmed an early 2008 release. There has been no confirmation yet on pricing but it is expected that the guitars will be around $49.99 to $59.99 depending on the console. The PS2 guitar will likely have the cheapest price tag.

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