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After much speculation Google introduced Chrome OS this week, a feature-stripped operating system aimed at netbooks that's built around the company's browser and relies on web applications. Actual data and programs are stored and run online, while local storage is only meant to be used to speed up those processes.

Google made it clear that Chrome OS is not intended as a replacement for Windows, OS X or Linux. Though that could change in time, initially it will be targeted at netbooks and smartbooks, where it makes the most sense. While Chrome OS might not be the game-changing piece of software some were expecting it to be, it offers a very interesting glimpse at the future Google envisions, one where all your computing is done through the browser.

Web applications like Gmail and Google Reader already run well enough to replace some of their desktop counterparts, but we're still ways off from matching the functionality of more complex applications like video or photo editors, not to mention video games. Then again, looking at ambitious projects like OnLive, one has to wonder if it is a matter of when -- and not if -- we'll want to move our whole digital lives into the cloud.

Regardless of the success Chrome OS may or may not see initially, it seems like an early step towards making bigger things happen. Taking away from the numerous applications and implications of cloud computing, we want to know your thoughts on those tasks affecting you immediately, your current PC tasks and habits either at home or the workplace.

From simple things like relying on Google Calendar instead of Outlook, sharing data with your colleagues or backing it up on a cloud-based service. How do you see these affecting you today and what are your expectations for cloud-based applications a few years from now? Discuss.

In a presentation with investors, Sony revealed that it would introduce 3D stereoscopic technology to the PlayStation 3 as a part of its strategy to achieve profitability. The company plans to introduce a system-wide firmware update that will add 3D functionality to the PlayStation 3.

Sony is aiming to lead the 3D market -- and it shows. The company said during September's IFA technology conference that it planned to deliver 3D-capable TVs, Blu-ray players, and VAIO laptops. It also wants to install 3,000 Sony-crafted 3D theater projectors in cinemas by the end of 2010.

As for the PlayStation 3, Sony is expected to provide partnered developers with 3D-specific tools, so they can begin making games for the platform. That said, most consumers will have to upgrade their TVs in order to experience PS3 games in the most effective 3D modes.

Sony's CEO, Howard Stringer believes that new technology like 3D and the upcoming PS3 Motion Controller will drive the company's PlayStation business into the black by March 2011.

The shift from DDR2 to DDR3 has been long underway, and research group iSuppli believes the transition will reach a critical point in the second quarter of next year. The outfit predicts DDR3 shipments will rise to account for over half of the global DRAM market by spring 2010, leaving DDR2 behind for the first time.

According to iSuppli, DDR3's share of the DRAM market (in terms of gigabit-equivalent shipments) will grow to 50.9% in the second quarter of 2010, up from a meager 14.2% in 2009 and 1% in 2008. By the end of next year, DDR3 is expected to account for 72% of shipments. The firm provided various contributing reasons for the acceleration away from DDR2.

For starters, Intel's latest CPU architecture, Nehalem, features an on-chip memory controller that only supports DDR3 RAM. As PC manufacturers gravitate toward Intel's new processor line, they must also employ DDR3 memory. It's also worth noting that DDR3 prices have fallen drastically, recently dipping below DDR2 -- not to mention that DDR3 is faster and more energy efficient.

If you needed any more proof of just how large and important social networking has become, the following bit of news should convince you. When you think of online video, sites like YouTube and Hulu probably come to mind, but you should add Facebook to that list. The social networking giant is ranked number three for video streams worldwide, according to research by Nielsen.

The firm looked at statistics for various video sites in October, and YouTube came out as the top provider. They had a monumental 6.6 billion streams delivered, which put their closest competitor to shame -- Hulu netted around 632 million streams. Surprisingly, however, the number three spot went to Facebook, who served 217 million videos. Further, Nielsen found that the amount of time actually spent on Facebook for the purpose of viewing videos increased a massive 1,840% over the past year. That surpassed the growth in online video viewing as a whole, which roughly doubled.

The speculation is that Facebook has evolved beyond social networking, and is instead morphing into a media hub. Nielsen may be right, and with hundreds of millions of subscribers already, Facebook has the userbase to try nearly any service they want.

Patriot has announced the release of its PS-100 solid-state drive series. The new lineup is the latest in the company's "cache-based" SSDs, and targets budget-minded consumers seeking the performance and reliability of solid-state technology without having to spend big.

The PS-100 series drives conform to the 2.5" form factor, feature 64MB of cache, have a MTBF of 2.5 million hours, and consume about 5.3W of power during operation and .5W when in standby, which should prove useful in portable systems. The drives deliver sequential read speeds of up to 210MB/s and sequential write speeds of up to 150MB/s. Unfortunately, there are no details about the NAND chips or controller.

The PS-100 series will consist of four drives, including 32GB, 64GB, 128GB and 256GB models. According to Patriot's director of marketing, Eric Ackerson, the drives will be aggressively priced and should arrive just in time for the holidays, but no specifics were given in the press release.

Sony is reportedly gearing up to launch an online portal for digital entertainment. The new store, named Sony Online Service, will sell music, movies, and books along with other downloadable applications for mobile gadgets. The company's new service will enter into a competitive market, with Apple's iTunes and many other digital content providers.

The Sony Online Service will bring much needed change to the company's portfolio. Chairman and CEO Howard Stringer has sought after a software strategy since taking over in mid-2006, and analysts believe the company has been too focused on hardware, saying "it has to focus on networked products [and] delivering digital entertainment to consumers."

Sony hasn't disclosed any hard details, but the Sony Online Service is supposedly going to be based on the PlayStation Network. The service is also expected to allow users to upload content, such as videos or images, and Sony may let third-party developers create apps for the store.

According to Fudzilla, some new information has emerged about Intel's 2011 Atom platform, which will be a successor to the imminent Pine Trail platform. Codenamed Cedar Trail, the 2011 refresh should bring the first Atom processors built with a 32nm fabrication. Behind the scenes, Fudzilla says those 32nm chips are codenamed Cedarview.

Details are scant, but it is expected that shrunken Atom CPUs will feature an integrated graphics core, much like Intel's other 32nm parts. Cedarview is said to support DirectX 10-level 3D, HD video decoding, and should bring dual digital outputs that recognize DisplayPort and HDMI as well as older standards.

Additionally, Cedarview should house a single-channel memory controller with support for 1066MHz DDR3 RAM. There are also other tidbits that really go without saying, like the potential for decreased temperatures and power consumption.

Looking ahead even further, Cedar Trail will be replaced by early 2013 when Intel introduces its 22nm chips.

Looks like the recent wave of Xbox Live bans -- in which as many as one million users were cut off from the service -- is ready to evolve into a into a full on legal showdown. A Texas-based law firm by the name of AbingtonIP is reportedly organizing a class-action suit claiming Microsoft timed the bans to extract the maximum amount of money out of customers.

According to AbingtonIP, this "convenient" timing may have resulted in more Xbox Live subscription revenues for Microsoft than it would have if the console bans had taken place at some point before the release of Halo 3: ODST and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The company is also said to have earned plenty of game sales revenue from these two titles before dropping the axe on infringing users.

Microsoft for its part says the bans were made to combat piracy and support safer and more secure gameplay, though the law firm contends that it also locked out users who had modified their Xboxes for reasons other than piracy -- which they admit is "arguably" against the terms of service.

AbingtonIP is recruiting plaintiffs through its website and looking for people who have had their Xbox banned from Xbox Live without a refund for their remaining subscription. What's your take on the issue, do they make a convincing case, or is this just a shady attempt to profit at Microsoft's expense?

Why Chrome OS will fail -- big time @ InfoWorld
Does Hidden Text Prove Shroud of Turin Real? @ FoxNews
Microsoft denies it built 'backdoor' in Windows 7 @ ComputerWorld
ASUS Shatters Netbook Conventions with Eee PC 1201N @ Asus
See more articles and reviews.

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There just seem to be no stopping OCZ Technology when it comes to solid-state drive development. The company recently expanded their already impressive lineup with the 3.5-inch Colossus series, and touted a new and improved generation of drives based on controllers from startup SandForce. Now they are looking to introduce the first external SSD to hook up via the super speedy USB 3.0 interconnect.


No details regarding performance or storage capacity are available for the device yet, but the renders above show a micro-USB connector, as well as 8 NAND memory modules. Additionally we know that the SandForce controllers on upcoming drives from OCZ support up to 260MB/s sequential read and write speeds. The company is said to be crowdsourcing a name for the device before its launch, which is expected to take place at CES 2010 in Las Vegas in early January. Feel free to leave your suggestion in the comments.

The expected took place this week after ATI launched their latest dual-GPU graphics card. In our review we praised the card for its performance and relative efficiency, however we were quick to conclude that its immediate success would primarily depend on availability. Other cards in the Radeon 5000 series have been equally well received, however shortage issues have kept them out of enthusiasts' hands for the most part.

An initial report from Fudzilla indicates that a 'decent' amount of Radeon HD 5970 card inventory was pushed to retailers this week, but due to pre-orders and general high interest in the product, the available cards disappeared in a matter of hours.

There are scattered reports about retailers carrying some inventory, but those are quick to go. In other words, if you want to have a Radeon HD 5970 in your hands soon you will have to hunt for it. Taking a quick look at Newegg's stock, you can see 5 different flavors of the HD 5970, all of them unavailable for ordering – despite price tags north of $600.

Microsoft stepped up its game in more ways than one with the advent of Windows 7. The graphical user interface, for example, looks and functions better in than previous releases and is easy to customize. Without digging deep, even inexperienced users coming from Windows XP and Vista can see that Microsoft really attempted to bring a degree of style to its latest and greatest operating system.

Windows 7 ships with several unique themes and desktop backgrounds, ranging from the traditional scenic landscapes to creepy character art. In all, though, there are only about 13 accessible themes, which can't really cover the broad spectrum of individual taste. While it's a breeze to tweak themes to something you like, having more stock configurations to choose from certainly wouldn't hurt, right?


As you may have noticed, at least one of the bundled themes is region-specific. This is determined during the installation or setup process when you select your location, which means that there are many more themes lurking on your hard drive. Finding and using these hidden theme packs is very simple.

Read our Tech Tip of the Week.

The Mozilla Foundation has revealed some financial figures from last year, showing 5% rise in revenue to $79 million during 2008. Much of that money came from the foundation's search ad deal with Google, which currently lasts through 2011.

Unfortunately, that growth has tapered off dramatically in the last couple of years. For comparison, in 2007 the Mozilla Foundation reported $75 million in revenue, a 12% increase over 2006. Mozilla chairperson Mitchell Baker goes into much greater depth on her blog, if you are interested.

Dollars aside, Mozilla's Firefox has steadily climbed to the world's second most used Web browser, chipping away at Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Firefox currently holds approximately one quarter of the global market share, and recently surpassed IE6, the most used version of Internet Explorer.

In somewhat related news, a rumor sprouted today which suggests that Sony may have plans to use Firefox on its PlayStation 3 console. The move is surely welcomed by most, as the PS3's built-in browser is considered to be less reliable and accurate at handling websites than a desktop-grade browser.

Dell quietly rolled out the Studio 17 Touch today, making it the company's first multitouch laptop. The system kicks off at $800 and sports a 17.3" (1600x900) LED display, a 2.1GHz Intel Pentium Dual Core T4300, 4GB of DDR3 1066MHz RAM, an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570, a 320GB 7200RPM HDD, a dual-layer DVD burner, 802.11g connectivity, a six-cell battery, and Windows 7 Home Premium x64.


If desired, the Studio 17 Touch can also be configured with a full 1080p display, an Intel Core i7 720QM or 820QM CPU, 8GB of DDR3 1333MHz RAM, a 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650, dual 500GB HDDs, a Blu-ray burner, 802.11n, a Soundblaster X-Fi audio card, a nine-cell battery, and Windows 7 Ultimate x64. Naturally, those additions come at a premium, and maxing out the specifications brings the price up to about $2,900.

Systems come with a minimum one-year warranty, and orders placed now will ship in early December -- just in time for the holidays.

Computer giant Dell took a huge hit in profit for the previous quarter, following a slump in sales. Overall, Dell says their profit has been cut by more than half, falling 54% below the previous quarter. The largest losses have primarily come from enterprise and business customers, which represent the bulk of Dell's profitable sales.

Companies simply have lower budgets for new technology, and that has affected Dell's loss more than increased competition from the market leaders, HP and Acer. The bad news also set Dell stocks back a bit, falling about 19 cents a share, though they are still doing better than they were in the first quarter of this year. While they may not be a bulk of the issue, Acer has been putting incredible pressure on both them and HP, so it's understandable that Dell is struggling.

Dell does have a lot on the horizon though, introducing several new products this year, such as the Inspiron Zino HD nettop and the ultra-thin Adamo XPS. Still, they will have to work harder than that to recover ground lost to Acer and HP.