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New Microsoft-backed open source foundation faces questions Microsoft has launched a nonprofit organization with the aim of encouraging commercial software vendors to participate in open source software development. Microsoft has provided the organization, which is called the CodePlex Foundation, with $1 million in funding to get it started. Ars Technica

IEEE stamps "approved" on 802.11n Wi-Fi standard The IEEE has finally approved the 802.11n high-throughput wireless LAN standard. There's been no public announcement yet by IEEE. But Bruce Kraemer, the long-time chairman of the 802.11n Task Group (part of the 802.11 Working Group, which oversees the WLAN standards), has sent out a notification to a listserv for task group members, which includes a wide range of Wi-Fi chip makers, software developers, and equipment vendors. Network World

AMD to push DirectX 11 into laptops early next year Advanced Micro Devices will bring its latest graphics hardware based on DirectX 11 to laptops by early next year, aiming to make graphics in Windows 7 smoother and more realistic. AMD will first offer graphics cards with DirectX 11 for desktops, but it will deliver them for laptops early next year. ITworld

Jobs' excuse for no-camera iPod touch doesn't click This week's iPod event in San Francisco left many Apple watchers wondering why the iPod Touch didn't get a video camera, while the less sophisticated iPod nano did. After all, the jack-of-all-trades Touch, with its iPhone-like feature set, seemed a natural for a camera. PC World

Wii price drop looks to hit first week of October Advance retail listings forwarded to Kotaku indicate that Nintendo is planning to issue its first price drop on the Wii, with a less expensive version of the console--currently priced at $249 USD--coming the first week of October. Kotaku

Sprint CEO on Pre vs iPhone: "It's like comparing someone to Michael Jordan" Charlie Rose asked Sprint CEO Dan Hesse about how the Palm Pre is doing against theApple iPhone. The bottom line: Well, but not too well. It almost feels like he's admitting defeat from the start. Gizmodo