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Years of antitrust allegations and legal wrangling between the world's largest makers of computer chips were resolved last week with a $1.25 billion payment by Intel. But Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang believes "further action needs to be taken to protect consumers," as he called out the chip giant's business practices in the integrated graphics sector where its pricing bundles make it hard to compete.

According to Huang, the Atom chip can be used with Ion when purchased alone for $45, but Intel offers a three-chip set including its own graphics processor for $25 as a means of driving sales and steering buyers away from the competition. The Nvidia executive went on to say that there is no point in getting an Intel bus license if it's impossible to compete against their allegedly unfair pricing practices.

Intel disputes these claims, of course, saying Nvidia is "playing a trick of numbers" by comparing list price to negotiated price, and that their current pricing strategies meet the legal standard worldwide.

Nvidia is the world's leading supplier of standalone graphics chips but takes a distant second place in overall market share to Intel, which supplies integrated graphics built into the chipsets that accompany all of its processors. Although no legal action is being taken on the pricing strategy front for now, the two companies are currently caught up in a legal battle over the scope of a 2004 chipset licensing agreement.

Apple has scored another victory in its ongoing legal battle against Mac-clone maker, Psystar. In a summary judgment delivered this past Friday, November 13, Judge William Alsup ruled that the Miami-based startup "violated Apple's exclusive reproduction right, distribution right, and right to create derivative works" by bundling OS X with its unauthorized Mac clones.

Furthermore, Alsup ruled that Psystar violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by circumventing Apple's software protections that block its software from being installed on third-party hardware. He also rejected the company's contention of fair use and "first sale" doctrine, rejected claims that Apple had misused its copyright and tossed out claims that Apple's license was unduly restrictive.

The summary judgment pretty much obliterates Psystar's entire line of defense and sets the mood for the upcoming January 2010 trial, with apparently a few more claims still to be challenged in court, including breach of contract, trademark infringement and trademark dilution. A second hearing to determine what sort of relief Apple can ask for is scheduled for December 14.

Toshiba Wows With "Space Chair" Commercial @ Engadget
Nintendo Wii may provide actual exercise @ Reuters
The History of the Internet in a Nutshell @ Six Revisions
Five Best Online Backup Tools @ LifeHacker
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A new method has been discovered and implemented by hackers to get around product activation in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. The hack in question works by disabling access to Windows Activation Technologies (WAT; previously known as Windows Genuine Advantage) and subsequently turning off any nags asking users to activate their copy of Windows 7 after the 30-day evaluation period is over.

This means pirates will be able to keep using the operating system indefinitely without actually providing a product key, nor having to put up with constant activation reminders. This will probably be a short-lived hack, though, as a similar workaround appeared and was barred from Vista years ago via system updates.

A Microsoft spokesperson said they were aware of the technique and were working to shore up the activation procedure. Of course, Windows 7 has been available on torrent sites pretty much from the beginning. Most of the torrent ISOs available online are already cracked using BIOS emulation tools and mods, which seem to be working well enough for now.

Having conquered the motherboard market years ago, Taiwan-based manufacturer Asus no longer sees PC peripherals as its only way to go for business growth. You may recall it was Asus who boosted netbooks to massive popularity with the introduction of the Eee PC. Now they are looking for more.

Earlier in the year Asus stated they were laying out a plan to become the third largest notebook maker in the global market by 2011. Most recently Asus' chairman, Jonney Shih was quoted in saying they are also considering an acquisition to jumpstart their current position. According to a report from the Commercial Times (via Digitimes), Shih disclosed that they are already in talks with Toshiba for a potential takeover or merger with their PC division.

Toshiba is currently the fifth largest notebook manufacturer worldwide, with HP, Acer, Dell and Lenovo taking the remaining top four spots. You may recall Lenovo was a little known company outside of China until they acquired IBM's PC division in 2005.

Potential fix for 1 million banned Xbox 360's has arrived A fix appears to have arrived, according to some of the forums, but it is rather complex and requires access to either an Xbox 360 you know the CPU key of, or did not update over the summer. DailyTech

Judge rules for Apple in Psystar case A judge has ruled in Apple's favor in its copyright-infringement case against Psystar, which has been selling Mac clones running Mac OS X. CNET

Google hopes to speed up the Web with new protocol Today we'd like to share with the web community information about SPDY, pronounced "SPeeDY", an early-stage research project that is part of our effort to make the web faster. The Chromium Blog

Bill Gates praises Steve Jobs for saving Apple When asked about Steve Jobs in a TV special that aired this week, Bill Gates said the Apple co-founder has shown "more inspiration" than any other leader in the tech industry. AppleInsider

Stick with XP? Windows 7 battery life worse on netbooks Back in August when we started testing the final version ofWindows 7, we noticed that several netbooks didn’t last as long on a charge with the new OS installed as with Windows XP. LaptopMag

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was released worldwide this week to an overwhelming success, selling 4.7 million copies on a single day and raking in an estimated $310 million in North America and the United Kingdom alone. Reviews have been mostly favorable too, at least as far as gameplay is concerned. But there is one group who feels slighted by a series of changes made in this latest addition to the Call of Duty franchise.

Ever since the word was out, PC gamers have been up in arms with Infinity Ward's decision to replace dedicated servers to host multiplayer matches with a proprietary infrastructure called IWNet. This has translated into less control in the hands of gamers, with no way to choose who is hosting matches (one player is assigned automatically), and no ability to kick or ban players from your game.


These are all things the PC community has grown accustomed to and taken for granted for years. Furthermore, player cap has been reduced from 64 on previous versions to just 18, with 9 vs. 9 matches becoming the new norm just like in the console versions. Looking at some disgruntled user reviews you'll learn about a few other omissions that have left people complaining of this being nothing more than a console game that plays on your PC.

In its defense, Infinity Ward claims the new matchmaking system "takes the benefits of dedicated servers and allows them to be utilized and accessed by every player, out of the box." For example, it will automatically find you a game with the best performance, ping, and preferences based on your location and individual connection as well as matching you with players of your same skill. They also promise a cheat and hack-free experience.

Today we want to know your thoughts on the new multiplayer functionality and lack of control on the user side. Is all the backlash really warranted or will the game's multiplayer mode remain just as enjoyable while making it easier for less experienced users to join the fun?

Asus plans to launch a new 17" 3D notebook in the first quarter of next year, according to DigiTimes. Asus' G72GX will feature an Intel Core i7 processor, an Nvidia GeForce GTM 160M graphics chip, 4GB of RAM, and dual 320GB hard drives. The company is also planning to release a 15.6" 3D notebook, the G51J3D, at some point this month. Apart from the smaller display, the G51J3D's core specifications will be on par with its larger counterpart.

Sources suggested that Asus' laptops would be priced a bit higher than competing units, like Acer's $780 Aspire 5738DG 3D notebooks. The sources said this is mostly because Asus employs more advanced active shutter glasses for the 3D effect on its notebooks. Both HP and Dell are expected to introduce similar products in the near future, and many others will certainly follow suit as the popularity of 3D technology kicks off.

Microsoft confirmed today that its Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool had indeed contained open-source code -- but it wasn't intentional. As first suspected by the blog Within Windows, Redmond had contracted the project to a third party, and simply didn't catch the code during its review process.

Microsoft has gone a step further, conducting a review of other code provided through the Microsoft Store -- though, the company didn't find any other offenders. The software giant said it will reintroduce the tool to the Microsoft Store next week, and will also disclose its source code as well as the binaries in compliance with the General Public License (GPL v2).

The company pulled its Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool earlier this week after being accused of using code from a utility called ImageMaster in a way that violated the GPL v2.

As usual, Valve is offering a fantastic weekend sale through its digital distribution service, Steam. The company has substantially reduced the price of Crysis and Crysis Warhead. Both titles typically run $30 but are now available at half off for $15 each. The Crysis Maximum Edition pack that bundles the titles together is also discounted, with a total price of $30.


Originally released in late 2007, Crysis is still one of the most graphically demanding, and impressive first person shooters on the market. Recommended system requirements include a 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ processor, 2GB of RAM, an Nvidia GeForce 8800GTS or similar graphics, 12GB of HDD space, and Windows XP, Vista or 7. To get a better idea on how your hardware might stack up, see our detailed performance analysis of Crysis and Crysis Warhead.

It's also worth noting that Overlord is currently marked down to $1.50, and the Overlord Complete Pack is $8.75, which includes Overlord, Overlord: Raising Hell, and Overlord II.

Sony's introduction of the $300 PlayStation 3 Slim landed it a top spot in September's console sales, ousting the Wii. Things have turned around for Nintendo, though, as the Wii reclaimed the number one sales position last month, according to research conducted by NPD.

During October, the Nintendo moved 506,900 Wii consoles (up from 462,800 in September), and 457,600 DS handhelds (down from 524,000). Sony trailed, shipping 320,600 PlayStation 3 units (down from 491,800), and Microsoft sold some 249,700 Xbox 360s (down from 352,600). Sony also managed to sell 174,600 PlayStation Portables (down from 190,400), and 117,800 PlayStation 2s (down from 146,000).

In all, year-to-date sales for January through October are down 10% over the same period in 2008, with only the Xbox 360 and Nintendo DS seeing an increase. NPD notes that falling hardware sales accounts for a bulk of the game industry's 19% revenue decline from October 2008. Hardware-related revenue for the year is at $380.74 million, down 23% from $496.96 million last year.

A newly discovered flaw in the Flash suite could put both users and servers at risk, according to some recent reports. Adobe has verified the hole, which lies inside any Flash-based application that allows people to upload their own content. Though some details are omitted, the flaw would allow someone to upload a malicious Flash object to a site, which in turn would be downloaded and processed by people visiting the site. According to one security expert, any site relying on user uploads through Flash could be vulnerable.

Adobe is contending that it is not entirely their issue. Other active scripting could also be made vulnerable, such as JavaScript or Silverlight, along with any site that relies on these to provide a mechanism for users to upload files. Because of that, Adobe said the problem is not fixable through a Flash update. Instead, it is on the shoulders of administrators whose servers use Flash. Adobe also suggests it is the responsibility of app developers to be security-minded and prevent this sort of thing from happening.

This isn't the first severe flash flaw to emerge this year. Only a few months ago, a "critical" vulnerability was discovered and published. Earlier in the year, Adobe was tackling a host of other security issues with Flash as well. This newly-discovered vulnerability could prove to be the worst yet -- and it doesn't help that Adobe is claiming the flaw is "unpatchable". A solution must be discovered, but it may be something that has to happen on a developer, browser or OS level instead of through Flash.

Windows 7 has brought a lot to the table, not the least of which is improved security architecture that helps make it safer than previous versions. It isn't impenetrable though, and the first zero-day exploit for the new OS was discovered earlier this week.

A flaw buried inside the SMB protocol could cause a system lockup if a user attempts to browse shares on a "malicious" server. While the flaw is unpatched, there are already several methods posted on how to avoid it -- such as filtering the ports used by SMB, disabling file sharing, and not browsing shares on remote machines.

Keep in mind, the scope of this flaw is fairly limited. Most firewalls already block the standard ports used by SMB and Windows File Sharing, so users must physically trigger it, which will leave them open to a system lockup at most -- as opposed to system compromise. It is probably more of a concern to networks relying on Windows File Sharing, and potential outsiders causing havoc.

Either way, it doesn't do much to detract from the positive news surrounding Windows 7's debut.

The 50 Best Inventions of 2009 @ Time
NASA Moon Crash Finds 'Significant Amount' of Water @ FoxNews
GameStop lays out digital plans @ Variety
Dell Announces Mini 3 Smartphone @ PC World
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Google's much-anticipated operating system, Chrome OS, will be available for download next week. That is at least according to a "reliable source" cited by TechCrunch, who claims we can expect official driver support only for a small set of devices in this early version.

When first announcing the project back in July, Google had pledged to make its source code available before the end of the year. This rumor seems to be in line with those promises. However, without proper driver support the operating system will be useless to the average user. By the sound of it next week's release will most likely be just a collection of code meant for software developers to tinker with.

As earlier reported, Google's operating system is built on a Linux foundation and should be very Web-centric. Chrome OS applications will run right in the browser, and they'll be cross-compatible with other standards-compliant browsers on other platforms. Companies like Acer, Asus and HP are reportedly backing the project and may have netbooks running Chrome OS ready for customers in the second half of 2010.