Yahoo! to disable customers' music

Consumers were remind why Digital Rights Management (DRM) restrictions don't play nicely with their personal freedom yesterday when Yahoo! Music announced that it was stop releasing keys to unlock songs downloaded from its service.

First reported in the Los Angeles Times on Thursday, the move comes as part of the company's partnership with RealNetwork's Rhapsody service. The plan is for the authentication servers to be taken offline on the 30th September, after which time the Windows Media DRM wrapped around songs downloaded from the service will render them unusable on new systems.

Prince of Persia creator making new Karateka

At Comic-Con 2008 in San Diego, the creator of the original Prince of Persia games has said that he will is currently working on reviving another of his classic games - Karateka.

Questioned about whether he plans to revisit some of his older games, such as The Last Express, Jordan Mechner confirmed that he is currently working on a remake of his first commercial game; 2D fighter Katateka.

Nintendo launch mass lawsuit against R4

Nintendo has recruited a total of 54 other companies and is launching a new lawsuit against the makers and distributors of the R4 Revolution device for the Nintendo DS.

The R4 is essentially a firmware override and MicroSD adapter for the Nintendo DS. Using the device gamers can load custom software on the DS by loading them onto a MicroSD card. The R4 then bypasses the Nintendo firmware and loads a new custom version which allows access to the SD card.

Riccitiello: "quality of EA games up sharply"

EA CEO John Riccitiello believes that the quality of EA games has risen sharply since he began his reign according to comments in The Mercury News.

Riccitiello believes that, while EA used to have a reputation for rushed games and endless sequels or NFL licenses, that has changed since he took over thanks to games like Spore, Battlefield: Bad Company, Mercenaries 2, Crysis and the latest Command and Conquer

Google launches Knol

If you thought that Wikipedia needed less Jimbo and more Google, your dreams may well have come true: the ubiquitous data hoarder has announced its own wiki-alike dubbed Knol.

Unlike Wikipedia, in which anonymous authors gather to make a page containing references to other sites around the 'net – and which can change from minute to minute, depending on the bias of the last person to edit said page – the 'knols', as the articles will be known, are aimed at having an actual named author behind each page. By introducing this accountability, and by removing the restrictions on original research present in Wikipedia and similar on-line encyclopaedias, Google hopes to create a more reliable resource.

IE8 due "later this year"

If you're waiting with bated breath for the final release of Internet Explorer 8 – the very first Internet Explorer revision to actually follow web standards instead of just making things up as it went along – the good news is that you might have your wishes granted before the year is out.

Reporting on Microsoft's Financial Analyst Meeting yesterday, BetaNews quotes the head of the Windows and online services division of the company Bill Veghte as confirming that IE 8 will ship before year end, as well as news that the next version of the Windows OS, Windows 7, is "

Intel cuts desktop processor prices

In a move that'll surely make AMD weep, Intel has cut the prices on four of its desktop processors.

Probably the biggest news is the ever-popular Core 2 Quad Q6600's first appearance below $200. Intel reduced the price of its 2.4GHz quad-core part by 16 percent in April, bringing it down to $224 in 1,000 unit quantities – now it's available for just $193.

Other price cuts include the 3.16GHz Core 2 Duo E8500, which has had a 31 percent reduction in price from $266 to $183, while the 3.0GHz Core 2 Duo E8400 has been discounted by 11 percent to $163.

Sony: We don't want any Xbox titles

Sony Computer Entertainment boss Kaz Hirai has said that even if he were given a simple yes/no choice then he still wouldn't be interested in launching an Xbox 360 exclusive on the PlayStation 3 and would rather be shot than be forced to do so.

Microsoft on the other hand don't have any such qualms, having recently secured the right to publish Final Fantasy XIII on the Xbox 360, stealing the thunder of what had previously been a PlayStation 3 exclusive.

Games for Windows Live - expanded and free

Microsoft has today announced that the Games for Windows Live Gold service will be completely free from now on and that many new features and expansions to the service are planned for the future.

The most immediate benefit of this announcement though is that PC gamers will no longer have to pay for a Live Gold account if they want to go online and try a spot of Xbox 360/PC crossplatform gaming - excellent if you're a fan of

Nintendo debuts new Wii Channels in Japan

Nintendo has added a new Wii Channel to the official selection in Japan, adding the new features in as part of a new system update. Currently there's no news of when or if the new content will become available outside of Japan, but it looks very smart nonetheless.

The new channel, called the Wii Bonus Content channel appears as a prompt which asks console owners to key in a 16-digit code before they can progress. Codes are being distributed separately and seem to unlock all manner of new features for the hyperkinetic console.

Hirai: Home will be worth the wait

Sony Computer Entertainment head honcho Kazuo Hirai has said that the eagerly-anticipated PlayStation Home service for the PS3 will be worth the wait.

Home has been heavily delayed after being originally slated for launch last October and it's now expected to come out from under the covers later this year.

Speaking to GI.biz, Hirai remained bullish when asked if Home would be an anticlimax given the hype and anticipation surrounding the service.

Developers kept in the dark about Wii MotionPlus

A recent article in Game Informer magazine has confirmed our own information that many developers were kept in the dark by Nintendo when it came to the announcement of the new Wii peripheral, the WiiMotion Plus.

The WiiMotion Plus is a new add-on attachment for the Wii Remote which makes the controller more sensitive and was first announced at E3 2008 just over a week ago. The device contains a new accelerometer which will make Wii Remote movements translate in 1:1 form.

EA CEO hates the new E3

E3 2008 has finally come to a close, but all is not good apparently as several major publishers have voiced concerns about the worth of the show and whether or not they will continue to be part of it in the future.

EA's CEO John Riccitiello was perhaps the most blunt of all who said that he flat-out hated E3 in it's new scaled-down incarnation during an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle.

"I hate E3 like this,

No netbook chips due from AMD

AMD isn't looking to compete in the low-cost 'netbook' market, according to comments by its chief marketing officer this week.

Nigel Dessau has been quoted by eWeek as saying that the company isn't saying "[the netbook market] is not an important segment and we're not saying it's not a growing segment" but admits that "[AMD is] a smaller company and we have to focus on what we do well at this point. We are watching that segment rather than playing in it, but as it matures we'll see where it goes.

Microsoft announces DirectX 11 at GameFest

Microsoft has unveiled DirectX 11, the company's next-generation graphics pipeline, at its annual XNA GameFest developer conference in Seattle, Washington.

Details of the new API are fairly scant at the moment, as presentations from the developer-only conference aren't available to the public yet. However, Microsoft says that D3D11 "extends and enhances" the D3D10 pipeline with new hardware and API calls.

As a result of this, you can expect DirectX 11 not to be supported on operating systems preceding Windows Vista, which will no doubt upset those that believe Vista is a hunk o' junk. On another note, hardware vendors will need to support both DirectX 10 and DirectX 10.1 in order to support for DirectX 11, so the boys in green will have to support D3D10.1 at some point down the line.

Valve hires MINERVA mod-maker

In a move which further evidences how committed to sustaining and encouraging the growth of third party mods Valve is, the Half-Life developer has now officially hired Adam 'Cargo Cult' Foster, the maker of the popular MINERVA mod for Half-Life 2.

MINERVA, which can be downloaded from the official website, has proved to be one of the most popular Half-Life 2 modifications available thanks to the episodic release of high quality maps all set around one fairly bizarre storyline.

Windows Home Server data corruption bug fixed

Well, it didn't quite hit the promised June deadline, but a fix for the dreaded Windows Home Server file-swallowing bug has finally been released.

Microsoft announced on its Technet Blog for Windows Home Server yesterday that the Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 patch was finally available in finished Released to Manufacturing form.

Available for immediate download from the Microsoft Download Center [sic], users relying on Windows Update will have to wait until August to get their hands on the much-vaunted update pack – as will anyone running a Chinese or Japanese Windows Home Server install.

Guitar Hero renders mice redundant?

According to analysts, how you interact with your computer in the future could be a radically different experience than it is now and the days of the mouse and keyboard could be very numbered indeed. Want proof? Then look no farther than Guitar Hero, apparently.

According to a piece over on the BBC, analysts from Gartner predict that the mouse may be rendered redundant within three to five years based on the success of custom peripherals such as those seen in

Portal: Still Alive detailed

The E3 2008 announcement that Valve Software would be making an Xbox 360-only version of Portal, called Portal: Still Alive has understandably ruffled a few feathers in the PC community. What exactly will Xbox owners be getting that PC owners can't have?

As it turns out, not a whole lot. In fact, nothing.

Speaking to GameSetWatch, Valve's Doug Lombardi explained that the Xbox 360 version of Portal

Intel announces Centrino 2

Intel has officially launched its next-generation Centrino platform, and it's looking pretty darn spiffy.

The imaginatively monikered Centrino 2, previously running under the internal codename Montevina, is available in two flavours – the plain old Centrino 2 and the higher-end Centrino 2 with vPro™ Technology. No, really – that's what it's called. vPro is the name Intel has given to its own version of the Phoenix HyperCore embedded security system; a hardware-based virtual operating system that allows corporations remote access to perform security checks and maintenance on their laptops, even if the main operating system is hosed beyond repair.

Corsair shows why budget PSUs aren't so great

Ever wonder why some PSUs claiming huge wattages are so cheap? Why should you buy a branded one - or are you just paying for the name and some fancy cables?

Well, no, you're paying for the fact that it won't blow up - that's why we test PSUs to their limits and we never, ever recommend anything other than branded products. Some people don't listen though and Corsair recently took it upon itself to test some of shoddiest looking power supplies we've seen.

60GB Xbox 360 unveiled

Microsoft has officially unveiled the new Xbox 360 SKU, confirming rumours which have been circling for the past week or so about a new 60GB variant of the standard Xbox 360.

The new SKU will ship with a 60GB hard drive included and will sell for $349 USD, or £179 GBP depending on where you want to buy it.

This new 60GB model will on on sale in the US and Canada early this coming August and will phase out the current 20GB model, production of which is now ceasing. The 20GB model will be reduced to $299 USD (£151 GBP) to help shift boxes while stocks last.

Miyamoto: "Wii Music is better than a game"

One of the big announcements at E3 this week was Nintendo's Wii Music, a kind of music-making simulation being developed for the Wii by Nintendo.

However, in an interview at E3 2008, Miyamoto was fielding questions from the crowd and remarked that Wii Music is even better than a video game - it is a musical toy!

Miyamoto based his view on the fact that the game has no over-arching goal to it, no objectives to complete and no content to unlock or progress through. Instead, what it does have is a lot of music-making potential and a free reign to have a bash at making a melody.

IDC: SSD performance gap 'small'

The war between traditional mechanical drives and solid-state devices isn't over yet, according to test results published by IDC yesterday – but the battle lines have shifted.

The report, quoted by SearchStorage yesterday, suggests that tests showing a high performance differential between SSD devices and traditional mechanical drives might be a trifle misleading – and IDC's own testing bears that out.

The main complaint the firm has with normal testing is that the comparisons are always between the latest and greatest SSD devices and 4,200 RPM mechanical drives. While the comparison makes sense from the consumer point of view – laptops offered with SSDs usually ship with a 4,200 RPM drive if you choose to save your dosh – they don't make much sense in a world where 5,400 RPM mechanical drives are the norm, and top-end laptops are shipped with 7,200 RPM drives.

Noctua Competition winners announced

Wow, we've had a fantastic response to the competition we've been running the past two weeks in association with Noctua to give away six sets of NH-C12P heatsinks, NF-P12 fans with SSO bearings, and tubes of NT-H1 premium thermal compound.

We received over 750 entries, but of course there can only be a lucky few, and those people are: Leclerq Régine
Preben H Pliniussen
Sean Nicholls
Kristian Fenn
Daniel Dolties

AMD CEO replaced amid losses

The CEO of chip maker AMD, Hector Ruiz, is to step down from his role at the company and will be replaced by Dirk Meyer, according to CNet News.

The move for Ruiz from CEO to executive chairman comes at a time when AMD is struggling to complete both in its traditional processor marketplace against rival Intel and in the graphics market against nVidia after the purchase of ATI back in 2006. The change in leadership was announced yesterday during a conference call run by AMD to announce its second-quarter financials, with Ruiz stating that "

Photobucket privacy hole patched

Popular photo-sharing site Photobucket has issued a fix for a hole allowing people to access photos in albums users have marked as 'private'.

According to CNet, which appears to be taking the credit for alerting Photobucket about the issue, the problem was discovered by a Vancouver (that's California, not Canada) computer tech by the name of Byron Ng. Armed with the user identifier of a Photobucket member and the knowledge of at least one filename in their private album – by far the hardest bit of information to glean – it was possible for users to manually enter a URI for a private album page, and from there navigate to any other file within the allegedly 'private' album.

Nvidia SLI will work on some X58 motherboards

Nvidia confirmed this morning to bit-tech that while it won't have a chipset ready for Intel's new Nehalem architecture, there will be some boards available that support SLI.

This is because in order to get support manufacturers must include a $30 NF200 chipset, like there is in the nForce 780i and 750i SLI boards and Intel's Skulltrail. There will of course still be ordinary X58 boards available that support CrossFire only, and we expect these to be available first.

Psystar sued by Apple

Those of you hoping to get a Mac on the cheap may have reduced options in the future, with mainstream Hackintosh distributor Psystar facing Apple's legal might in the courtroom.

Psystar quietly introduced itself at the start of this year, offering off-the-shelf Intel-based PCs hacked to run Apple's popular MacOS X operating system. While the OS included with the so-called Open Computing units was legitimate – being a fully-shrink-wrapped retail version aimed at Mac owners who want to upgrade to the latest version – the installation was not, as it contravened the terms and conditions set out in Apple's end-user license agreement. The company later added insult to injury by offering rack-mountable servers which directly compete with Apple's extremely expensive Xserve range.

id Software leaves Activision, joins EA

E3 2008: id Software, the developer credited with pretty much inventing modern 3D graphics as used in computer games and the maker of the Doom, Quake and Dangerous Dave franchises has just signed a new publishing deal with Electronic Arts.

John Carmack himself took to the stage during EA's E3 opening address and announced that id Software had broken away from games publisher Activision, who had previously published many of id's games, and formed a new publishing partnership with EA.

NEC launches embedded Linux

If you've always wondered at the logic of running an anti-virus program within the operating system that you think might be infected, NEC might just have the answer.

Betanews has unearthed evidence that the company is about to launch a new range of notebooks featuring a 'hypervisor' built-in to the BIOS from Pheonix Technologies.

Built around an embedded Linux platform, the hypervisor operating system allows anti-virus and firewall applications to run outside the main operating system – meaning that a user is protected from threats even before the OS has booted. It also means that, in theory, nothing that the operating system does can affect the security applications; it doesn't matter how clever a particular bit of malware is, it will never be able to disable the anti-virus running on the hypervisor.

Microsoft details new Xbox Live

E3 2008: Microsoft has offered some new details on the upcoming update to Xbox Live as part of the E3 2008 press conference, most notably confirming the ability for players to copy games from a DVD to the Xbox 360's hard drive.

The new system will allow gamers to copy games from the DVD to the Xbox 360 hard drive, bypassing the need for the noisy disc drive to spin up and start making a racket while also allowing games to run faster and smoother.

CD Projekt launches new on-demand games platform

CD Projekt, the Polish developer behind The Witcher, has announced that it will be launching a new on-demand games platform all of it's very own.

Best of all though is the news that the platform, which will run from website GOG.com will be focusing on older, arguably better games than the usual casual faff that populates such services.

In fact, GOG.com has already signed agreements with Codemasters and Interplay to sign classics such as the original

iPhone 3G ships with yellow screen

Anyone who has upgraded from an original iPhone to the new 3G model may have noticed that the screen is a little warmer than it used to be.

The LCD on the latest 3G iPhone model from Apple is brighter than the original, but that improvement comes at an interesting cost – a colder white point. Whereas the original screen had a white point temperature of 8300k, according to measurements taken by Richard Baguley of Wirelessinfo.com the new screen is somewhere closer to 7000k. This translates to a yellow cast that some are calling the 'pee filter'.

Traits removed from Fallout 3

New details and screenshots have slipped out about the upcoming Fallout 3 and the Fallout purists out there (like us) will no doubt be a little bit annoyed to hear about some of the changes.

Most notable of all the changes to Fallout 3 is that the traits and perks system has been completely over-hauled. In the original two games, players could choose optional traits when designing their character and could later choose a

iPhone App Store details revealed

If you're an iPhone user – or if you're planning to pick up the second-generation 3G-enabled model this Friday – then you're probably eager to see the new App Store rumoured to be launching this Thursday.

Apple's App Store, which is designed to offer downloadable software that can be installed onto an un-modified iPhone without the need for 'jailbreak' hackery, has been described by Steve Jobs – a man not known for tact and restraint – as "

MS: "Wii is novelty console"

Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg still isn't a big fan of the Wii apparently and, despite the fact the diminutive console is trouncing the competition in terms of sales, thinks that the little white box is little more than a fad.

In comments made to Gamasutra, Greenberg talked about why he thinks the future for the Wii is limited, discussing the problems Nintendo may have with customers.

"You see they're not buying games on it, right? It's like something they break out when people come over, and it's maybe a fun thing, but it's almost like the same people that buy a karaoke machine, you know? They're not really buying it for games, they're just buying it as a novelty,

Todd Hollenshead defends Doom 3

Todd Hollenshead has spoken out in defense of Doom 3, one of the most controversial (among gamers anyway) games that the company has made. While the game was undeniably ground-breaking in several areas, the repetitive nature of the gameplay has tarnished the reputation of the series in the eyes of many.

Or not, if you listen to Hollenshead, who defended the game in an interview with Kikizo recently.

"I think there are three people on the internet that keep making these posts that Doom 3 was 'bad', and they get no credibility from any other people... there's some mass-misperception out there,

Google launches MMO game, Lively

Google has today launched a new competitor for Second Life, dubbed Lively. The new non-game provides an arena for users to create avatars and environments and then socialise and interact with each other in.

Lively is currently completely free to use, requiring only a quick sign-up process and an existing Google or GMail account.

The current build of Lively is compatible with both Firefox and Internet Explorer, but is only available for Windows users at the moment - so Mac gamers will have to forego the experience for now.

Flaw in AVG 8 fixed

A fix has been released for a rather nasty bug in the well-regarded free anti-virus package AVG 8.

According to BetaNews, the flaw was in a rather ill-thought out feature new to the version 8 release called 'LinkScanner'. The premise behind LinkScanner was that it would visit each link on a search engine's results page in turn in order to check if any lead to sites you'd be better off not visiting. Sound in principle, but not so hot in execution.

bit-tech weekend poll: PC advice to others?

It's that time again! No, not ice cream (it's not 2pm yet...) or Hammer Time (sorry, put away the parachute pants and late 80s tunes), it's bit-tech Weekend Forum Poll Time!

Drop in here and let us know if you're the guru of everyone you know, handing out computer purchasing advise to the masses, or if you recline from the role, afraid you'll be branded as "the geek" or worse... "24/7 techinical support" when things go wrong.

Jack Thompson recommended for permanent disbarment

Judge Dava Tunis, who is currently presiding over the Florida Bar's disbarment case against Jack Thompson, has recommended that Thompson be considered for a permanent disbarment and not just the ten year suspension that had originally been asked for.

Gamepolitics managed to obtain a copy of the judge's recommendation for the case, which indicated that Judge Tunis did not believe the ten year suspension the Florida Bar had been pushing for was going to be enough.

Diablo 3 for consoles 'is possible'

Blizzard's Rob Pardo has confirmed that while a console version of Diablo 3 isn't planned, it is something that is theoretically possible and Blizzard has looked at possibility.

Speaking to Eurogamer at the Diablo 3 announcement, which was staged as part of the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational in Paris, Pardo said that any port would require changes, but was possible.

Diablo 3 is currently planned for a release on PC and Mac exclusively, with no console version in development. Blizzard decided to pursue the PC and Mac as they felt that it was the most appropriate platform for the game.

Burnout Paradise Cagney update delayed

Criterion Games, the developer behind the Burnout series, has been forced to delay the much anticipated 'Cagney' update for Burnout Paradise - but only on the Xbox 360.

The update is the third major update for the game and is set to add in more than 70 online events for players to try in FreeBurn mode. The update is now set for a release on July 14, though the PlayStation 3 version is not being delayed.

'Fanboy' enters MW dictionary

Meriam-Webster has just updated it's dictionary again and has added a good 100 or so words to the English language, including the word 'Fanboy'.

'Fanboy' joins words such as 'w00t' that have transcended from niche slang and jargon status, to official words recognised by authoritative bodies. Also joining the MW dictionary from the world of computer jargon is 'Malware' - defined as "software designed to interfere with a computer's normal functioning.

Body found in Reiser case

Hans Reiser, creator of the ReiserFS open-source journalling file system, has allegedly lead police to his wife's body.

Reiser stood accused of accused of killing his wife, Nina Reiser, during an acrimonious divorce in 2006. Although his wife's body was never recovered, authorities managed to gather enough evidence against Reiser to arrest and convict him.

Since his arrest, Reiser has been protesting his innocence – his legal team have even gone so far as to invent what CNet calls the "

BBFC: New system won't cause delays, price hikes

The BBFC, the UK's regulatory and ratings body for films and (some) computer games has responded to comments from EA and Microsoft that the new ratings systems proposed in the Byron report could cause increased costs and delays in games.

Currently the BBFC only rates games which the optional pan-European PEGI system scores as being suitable only for those over the age of 15, but recommendations in the Byron report advise that the BBFC should rate all games rated for 12 years and older according to the PEGI system.

Nvidia warns of high failure rates

Graphics card manufacturer Nvidia has warned investors to expect rough times ahead due to high failure rates of "previous generation" devices.

Betanews has quoted a filing made by Nvidia to the US Securities and Exchange Commission in which the company warns that it will take a "$150 million to $200 million charge against cost of revenue to cover anticipated customer warranty, repair, return, replacement and other consequential costs and expenses arising from a weak die/packaging material set in certain versions of our previous generation MCP and GPU products used in notebook systems.

Asahi unveils robotic barman

At bit-tech, we like to think we've got quite cool jobs, but it seems there's always someone out there who has to go and push it to the next level - in this case ex-bit-tech editor and current ChannelFlip front-man Wil Harris.

Wil was out at an event in Selfridges recently and although browsing the latest fashions might not sound as cool as playing the latest games, it does kind of take the biscuit when he's getting served beer by a

MS: New ratings might make games more costly

Microsoft executive Neil Thompson has voiced concerns recently that the proposed changes to the UK ratings systems put forward in the Byron report may end up making computer games in the UK more expensive.

"We're in the business of providing great games to a broad audience of gamers, and we need to be able to fulfill that role by getting products to consumers quickly and at a good price," he told GI.biz.

"

PSN will continue to be free

At bit-tech we occasionally give Sony a little bit of stick and it's no secret that the company has had a fair bit of bad luck lately, but one thing we do constantly admire about Sony is its ongoing commitment to the freely available PlayStation Network.

The only problem is, what with Metal Gear Solid 4 helping to shift more PlayStation 3s than ever before, more people are signing on to that free service. More people equals increased costs for Sony - more servers, more bandwidth, more updates and so on. There's inevitably going to come a point when Sony has to ask people to start paying, right?

LCDs cause greenhouse gas worries

Just when you thought you were getting to grips with your carbon footprint, along comes another greenhouse gas that'll roast the world to death – and this time it's your monitor that's at fault.

According to CNet, quoting a study in the Geophysical Research Letters journal published on the 26th of June this year, nitrogen trifluoride – a gas used in the production of LCD displays and various semiconductors – may well be proving more damaging to the environment than the current villain

Fallout 3 producer disappointed by Diablo 3

Blizzard's recent announcement of Diablo 3 has had a lot of fans excited, but it seems that there's still some people in the world who have managed to maintain their cynicism and disappointment at the series, among them Ashley Cheng, the production director at Bethesda.

Cheng, who currently works as a producer for Fallout 3, has said that he is a little dismayed at the first footage of the game, which follows what he calls a conservative design structure.

Bioware to develop for iPhone?

Bioware, the developer behind the Mass Effect and Neverwinter Nights games, has said that it is looking very closely at developing games for Apple's iPhone in the future.

"We look at every platform that comes along. Obviously, something that’s as big a cultural and technical success as the iPhone is something you really got to take a close look at," said CEO's Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk in an interview with MTV Multiplayer.

Dell ships 80 PLUS Gold server

If you're always looking to improve your green credentials, or if you just want to save a few quid on your electricity bill, then an efficient power supply is a must. For servers, the current leading name in this field might surprise you.

Dell announced last week that its new range of servers come equipped with power supplies that meet the 80 PLUS Gold standard of efficiency – and they're the first box shifter to hit the target. Awarded to PSUs that achieve at least 92 percent efficiency, the 80 PLUS Gold standard is set to be a part of the Energy Star 5.0 standard due next year.

Xandros buys Linspire

Bolstered by its success on the popular Eee PC from Asus, Xandros – the little-distro-that-could – has announced that it is to purchase beleaguered Windows-alike Linspire.

Xandros Linux – a minority distribution of the popular open source GNU/Linux operating system – hit the mainstream when a heavily-customised version was shipped with the original Asus Eee PC. Featuring a re-tooled GUI designed for the low-resolution portable, the lightweight Linux distribution proved a hit amongst gadget aficionados. Linspire, on the other hand, has had a somewhat more troubled history.

bit-tech Newsletters are now available!

In response to our recent reader survey to find out your wants, needs, loves and pet peeves, bit-tech has just launched a new Newsletter! Sign up here and choose between daily or weekly updates that drop directly into your inbox.

The daily newsletter is delivered every weekday afternoon and contains everything published that day. You will also receive a summary of the weekend content on Monday mornings.

The weekly newsletter is delivered every Friday afternoon and includes a summary of the content published during the entire week.

Rhapsody goes DRM-free

Digital Rights Management has been dealt another blow this week with the announcement that digital music outlet Rhapsody would be switching to industry standard MP3 format for the majority of its music files.

According to an article on Wired yesterday, the music store has opted to switch to MP3 format – which doesn't support the ailing digital rights management restrictions favoured by the big wheels of the music industry – in the interests of its music being able to "

ZDNet makes Mac overclock tool

If you're a Mac user wanting to get a bit of overclocking action going on your Mac Pro but unsure of how to do it, a new utility released this week offers you the chance of a free speed boost.

According to ExtremeTech the utility, developed by ZDNet Germany, offers Mac users the chance to overclock the processor inside their Intel-based Mac Pro series systems without any hardware modification. Called ZDNet Clock, the utility is similar to overclocking software that has been available for Windows boxes for many years – but marks the first such point-'n-click tool for MacOS users.

Sony: No plans for PS2 downloads on PSN

Sony has responded to rumours indicating that it has been looking to bring downloadable PlayStation 2 games to the PlayStation Network, saying that there are currently no plans whatsoever to bring PlayStation 2 games to the PlayStation 3 in that manner.

Rumours that Sony would be bringing PS2 games to PSN first started when images were leaked which supposedly showed a PlayStation 2 game store with games priced at around £12.99 each.

Prince of Persia DS unveiled

Ubisoft has finally unveiled the first details for the Nintendo DS spin-off of the new Prince of Persia game, which is to be subtitled as Prince of Persia: The Fallen King apparently.

The new Prince of Persia game is a radical departure for the series and will completely reboot the story, with a new vagabond-style hero and a story more closely based around the stories of Scheherazade and the 1001 Arabian Nights