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PS3 Gets Blu-ray Bump in February Sales Figures



third-place finish in monthly console sales may relate to reported
supply problems. The console maker plans to have its difficulties there
solved in time for the April release of "Grand Theft Auto 4" ("GTA IV").
However, don't look for Microsoft to extend its recent round of Xbox
360 price cuts in Europe to the U.S. before summer, Baker said.
"Microsoft's price drop in Europe should help them gain traction, as it was in preparation for the 'GTA IV' launch," he noted.
Although sales for Microsoft's Xbox 360 floundered a bit in
February, games for the platform dominated the software market.
Activision's "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare" lead; coming in at the
No. 2 spot was Capcom's "Devil May Cry 4." "Lost Odyssey," "Turok" and
"Rock Band" were seventh, eighth and 10th, respectively.


PS3 Surge



The culmination of the high definition DVD format war, wherein HD DVD backer lost to Sony's Blu-ray format, was a component in the PS3's improved sales.
"Any spike is more likely due to the HD DVD/Blu-ray format war being
settled, so people that are interested in movie watching on the console
may have decided to go ahead with their purchase of the PS3. Based on
the volume this effect appears to be minimal," according to Baker.
For consumers Interested in purchasing a Blu-ray player, however,
the two-in-one attractiveness of the PS3's price could be a strong
incentive.
"The PS3 now costs just a little more than a standalone Blu-ray player. That makes it an outstanding value," O'Rourke told the E-Commerce Times.
Sony, however, will not be able to bank on Microsoft's supply issues
or its inclusion of the Blu-ray player to boost sales in the coming
months. With only one title available on the PS3 -- "Devil May Cry 4"
-- cracking the top 10 games list in February, Sony has some much
needed work to do to beef up its library of games for the PS3.
"[The PS3's sales in February] has little to do with the title
library, as Microsoft has a bigger library. Also, sales of the games
indicate only one game for the PS3 in the top 10," Baker noted.
"This will not give Sony any permanent advantage, and both [the Xbox
360 and PS3] should spike when "GTA IV" ships. Sony needs a hit title
for the PS3 that is exclusive and that is not on the horizon," he
added.

Web Standards: How to Untangle the Web We Weave




Birmingham Post

03/15/08 4:00 AM PT


Microsoft said the new version of its browser,
when complete, will support industry-standard versions of the code that
tells browsers what Web pages should look like, including CSS 2.1, by
default. "That's a big deal," said Chris Swenson, a software industry
analyst for the NPD Group.




has given testers their first glimpse of its next-generation Web
browser -- and said Internet Explorer 8 will adhere to the same
standards as competitors' programs.
Microsoft's browsers,
including the current Internet Explorer 7, gained notoriety among Web
developers for handling Web page code differently than (Nasdaq: AAPL) Safari, the now-defunct Netscape Navigator and others.
For the most part, major non-Microsoft browsers and outside
developers who built Web pages worked with agreed-upon technical
standards, while Microsoft was accused of adding proprietary code to
those standards.
The result: Web pages that looked good in Internet Explorer, but broke on other browsers, or vice versa.




Broken Pages



At a Web developer conference in Las Vegas, Dean Hachamovitch, general manager for Microsoft's Internet Explorer division, made light of Microsoft's past spotty standards and pledged to do better.
Hachamovitch said that in early Internet Explorer 7 days, his kids
would hear about broken Web sites and ask, "Daddy, did you guys break
the Web?"
"And most of the time I could honestly say, 'No.' But, you know, Web
developers might answer that question a little bit differently,"
Hachamovitch added.


Not So Funny



He elicited a laugh, but developers have sometimes had to build Web
sites from scratch a second time to devise a version that worked with
Microsoft's browsers.
Microsoft said the new version of the browser, when complete, will
support industry-standard versions of the code that tells browsers what
Web pages should look like, including CSS (cascading style sheets) 2.1,
by default.
"That's a big deal," said Chris Swenson, a software industry analyst for the NPD Group.
While most Web surfers might not feel a huge impact, Swenson said it
will bring "a sigh of relief" for developers, who will spend a lot less
time tweaking Web pages to work with different browsers.


Standards Lacking



However, both Swenson and Microsoft note that Web standards continue
to evolve, and that definitive tests to determine compliance don't yet
exist.
Microsoft indicated its intention to step up involvement with this process.
The group's decision might also help it fend off a new antitrust investigation in Europe.
Regulators are looking into whether the software maker held other browsers back by not following open Internet standards.
The probe was launched after Norwegian browser developer Opera Software filed a complaint in late 2007.
Microsoft also unveiled a few features in the new browser that may
appeal more to average Web users. For example, right-clicking on a Web
page will give people more "to-do" options than they'd see today.
Users will be able to "Send to Facebook," "Map with Live Search" or "Define with Dictionary.com" with a quick click.






© 2008 Birmingham Post. All rights reserved.
© 2008 ECT News Network. All rights reserved.

Exponential Storage: Security Through Openness




By Allison Connolly
The Baltimore Sun

03/16/08 4:00 AM PT


The NSA and Defense Department have embraced
open source security software to guard their networks. Columbia,
Md.-based Sourcefire, which developed network security software from
the open source community, has a number of government contracts to
protect sensitive data. The NSA declined to comment on whether it would
use a product such as Exponential's, saying it doesn't discuss how its
operating system works.



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A small Annapolis, Md., startup
is using free software developed by scores of online users to build a
data storage company that it claims will be secure enough to store
sensitive government data like satellite images of terrorist hideouts
in Afghanistan.

hopes to one day persuade the National Security Agency and other
government bureaus to hire the company for its data storage network.
Its focus on NSA seems to have potential: The agency already
established that open source software can be made secure and uses it
for some computer functions.
Three-year-old Exponential has yet to land a customer but executives
said they expect to secure their first round of investor financing
soon. The company's five founders developed a network using open source
software that they believe would make storing large amounts of data --
from satellite images to patient X-rays -- easier and cheaper, Chief
Executive Officer Wick Keating said.


Glut of Data



The data storage business is booming as more people use computers to
collect documents, photographs and streaming video. What makes
Exponential unique is that it combines open source software with a
cluster architecture that uses a network of servers on the Internet to
build pockets of data storage space.
The process is "leading edge," said analyst Benjamin Woo, vice president of enterprise storage systems at
an information technology consulting firm in Framingham, Mass. Woo said
Exponential's methods make data storage more flexible, and allows the
customer to more easily expand its space when needed.
"The government is requiring that we store more and more data," Woo said.


A Mere 60 TB, for Starters



It took two years for Exponential to develop what it calls the right
combination of open source software that makes its network capable of
storing enough data securely. A patent is pending on the combination.
The company is aiming its product at three types of customers: health care, media and defense.
The product that Exponential hopes to persuade customers to support
is a cluster of five servers that can each store 12 terabytes' worth of
data. A terabyte is the equivalent of 1,000 gigabytes. An iPod with 160
gigabytes of storage, for example, can hold up to 40,000 songs or 200
hours of video.
With five servers, the product demo offers 60 terabytes' worth of
storage, which is the equivalent of about 80 percent of NetFlix's
inventory of 50,000 movies, Keating said. The network can distribute a
multigigabyte video file simultaneously to thousands of users.
Customers can order as many servers as they want depending on how much
data they need to store. The data are stored on the servers' disk
drives.


Both Open and Secure



Open source means the software's programming code is free and
available for anyone to use and modify, and often can be downloaded
from the Internet. Users customize and encrypt the programs to make
them secure.
The NSA and Defense Department have embraced open source security
software to guard their networks. Columbia, Md.-based Sourcefire, which
developed network security software from the open source community, has
a number of government contracts to protect sensitive data.
The NSA declined to comment on whether it would use a product such
as Exponential's, saying it doesn't discuss how its operating system
works.


Plenty of Business



Big players such asSun Microsystems
and up-and-comers such as Isilon Systems are already in the cluster
architecture storage space, Woo said, but there should be enough
business to go around.
Isilon spokesperson Jay Wampold said the government is an ideal
customer for clustered architecture because customers can expand
capacity when needed by adding more storage servers to the system. He
said his company has a number of government clients but declined to
disclose them.
Wampold said his Seattle-based company has avoided operating with
open source software, saying it is difficult to manage. He hadn't heard
of Exponential Storage but said there will be enough business to go
around given the expanding need for storing more data.
Industry experts say the use of open source software among computer
storage companies is growing. The Storage Networking Industry
Association, which represents about 400 storage companies, is
developing standards for open source storage software as a platform
that everyone would be able to use.


'More Than a Trend'



Sun Microsystems, (Nasdaq: CSCO)
have formed a group called "Aperi" to develop open source storage
management software. "The use of open source software is more than a
trend," said Vincent Franceschini, chairman of the industry group. "It
could become a strategic approach going forward."
With the proliferation of data-heavy Web sites such as
the computer storage industry's capacity needs will grow at a rate of
57.4 percent per year over the next five years, Woo said. At the same
time, the cost for storage is coming down, at a rate of 33.7 percent
each year. In 2006, the cost of storing a gigabyte of data was US$8,
while in 2011, the price-per gigabyte will be less than $1, according
to IDC's forecast.
Exponential's founders pooled their savings to start the storage
company in 2005, a year after AMS, an IT consulting and integration
company based in Fairfax, Va., where three of them worked, was sold.
Keating had been AMS' chief technology officer. Exponential's only
employees are the five founders.


Out of Stealth Mode



They said they are close to securing their first round of private
investment, about $750,000. They also are searching for their first
customer.
Last month, Exponential's founders threw a housewarming party at the
Chesapeake Innovation Center, the state's homeland security incubator
in Annapolis, more than a year after they moved in. Keating said the
company wanted to stay "stealth" until its technology was far enough
along that it would be tough for a competitor to copy it.
For Keating, it was not only important to establish the company's
headquarters in Maryland to be near NSA and other federal government
agencies. His ties to the state date back to the 1600s, when his
ancestors settled on the Eastern Shore; and to the War of 1812, when
his great-great-great-grandfather, Levin Winder, was governor.
He said Exponential will stay small, and rely on subcontractors to
build servers and market them, and provide customer support. "We've
projected healthy growth," Keating said. "But when you start at zero,
it takes a while to be come a Sun" Microsystems.






© 2008 McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. All rights reserved.
© 2008 ECT News Network. All rights reserved.

Canon puts three new cameras on its 'A'-list







(Credit: Canon USA)


Canon unveiled today three new budget-priced additions to its PowerShot
A-series line of point-and-shoot cameras. Two of the models offer basic
shooting for $150 or less, while one packs exposure controls and
optical stabilization into a sub-$200 package. The PowerShot A590 IS stands out as the only new A-series PowerShot
camera to include optical image stabilization. The 8-megapixel shooter
features a 35mm- to 140mm-equivalent, f/2.6-5.5 4x zoom lens that Canon
claims can gain up to three stops with its stabilization system. Like
previous high-end A-series Canons, the A590 IS supports additional
converter lenses to boost the camera's zoom by 1.75x, give it a 0.7x
wide-angle shot, or enhance its macrophotography. It also offers full
manual exposure controls, including aperture and shutter priority
modes, giving more experienced users much more flexibility when
shooting. At about $30 less than the A590 IS, the PowerShot A580 features nearly
identical hardware as the A590, but with a slimmed-down feature set. It
keeps the same 8-megapixel resolution and 4x optical zoom lens as the
A590 IS, but forgoes the optical stabilization system and accessory
lens compatibility. Worse yet for skilled users, it lacks the A590 IS'
manual exposure controls. The 7-megapixel PowerShot A470 sits at the bottom of the pile,
featuring both the smallest price tag and the least impressive stats.
It incorporates a 38mm- to 132mm-equivalent, f/3.0-5.8 3.4x optical
zoom lens, and the same basic control options as the A580. On the
bright side, the A470 comes in blue, red, orange, and gray versions,
offering users more fashion options than the higher-end A-series
cameras. All three new cameras are scheduled to ship in March. The A590 IS and
A580 will retail for about $180 and $150, respectively. The A470 will
have a suggested retail price of $130.








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sweet can't wait for GTA 4

yes I really have been waiting long for this game to come out!

I voted yes, because I liked the storyline, haven't played the demo yet

I voted yes since I already own this, its not really good though

I will deffinatlely purchase this

lol okay so no posting refferals

wow I noticed this one the frontpage but couldn't see it at first but I changed my preferences in profile and noticed there was an option to allow html than I did see it. awesome job this will be so sweet!

yes those games are really easy NTAEndar but there also really shitty haha

jus because this site really looks great I will contribute some money right away. I will send you the codes. I know I just joined this site, and that it still needs to grow, but I have faith in this site.

Hey guys my names james. I am currently not in a clan but am interested in joining one. I play games mostly shooters. I am 24 years old and like this community already. I live in the US
Talk you guys soon.