iPhone Slippery?

With the launch of the iPhone right around the corner, some insiders who have had a chance to play with the phone for an extended period of time say the battery life is actually a lot better than expected, but the casing of the phone is actually very slippery. As always, this is nothing more than a rumor until we see some solid evidence.

Overall, our source found the iPhone awesome but he mentioned, as a sole negative point, that the material used on the device's case makes it feel even more slippery than the iPod and will probably require the purchase of a protective skin or case so as to avoid unintentionally dropping it.

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Ken Kutaragi's Most Infamous Quotes

With the news that Ken Kutaragi is retiring, 1UP has assembled some of his most memorable quotes from recent history.

[PS3 is] for consumers to think to themselves 'I will work more hours to buy one'. We want people to feel that they want it, irrespective of anything else."

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Has the PC Become Antiquated?

This article brings up the interesting point that even after all the innovations we’ve seen in the PC market, we still do a lot of things the same way we we always have. Could it be that consumers are looking for a change?

In a recent interview with BetaNews, the chief researcher for IDC's Quarterly PC Tracker report -- which rates the relative market share of PC manufacturers in both the US and worldwide markets -- raised a serious question pertaining to the market growth figure around which much of IDC's reporting is based.

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101 Power Supply Round-Up

Our resident Power Supply expert Paul sent along a 101 Power Supply Round-Up. The article itself is in French so you’ll need to fire up your translator of choice. Incidentally, Paul also tells me that Google translates the French word for Power Supply as food, so be forewarned.

Depuis fin 2005, nous utilisons la même configuration pour nos tests d’alimentations. Bien qu’arrivant à consommer pas mal de watts, elle est parfois insuffisante pour certaines alimentations très puissantes tout en étant trop gourmande pour les blocs les plus modestes. Bref, lorsque vous lirez ces lignes, cette configuration sera partie à la retraite après de bons et loyaux services et va faire place à un nouveau protocole de test.

As most of you are surely aware, we are also doing our own Power Supply evaluations as well. Our latest on the test bench is the Thermaltake ToughPower 1200W, which did extremely well in our rigorous testing environment. Hit the link for the full details.

[H]ardware Round-Up

Video

NVIDIA GeForce 8500GT 256MB @ Phoronix

Foxconn 8600 GTS @ I4U

Cases

Gigabyte Triton 180 @ CPU3D

ETC

Cingular Wireless 8525 Smartphone @ Project PDA

$299 Wal-Mart HD-DVD….Not Quite Yet

There have been rumors flying back and forth over the past 2 weeks that Wal-Mart was readying a $299 HD-DVD player. Those rumors have now been put to bed as both parties are saying the original information was incorrect. It should be noted that neither side really closed the door on the matter however.

Unfortunately, it seems that the firm pulled the trigger a bit too soon on a hopeful order, as a recent retraction on the company's website insinuates that Wal-Mart simply inquired about their ability to "provide a schedule" along with "cost and quantity" details for Wally World to evaluate. Currently, it seems that the "capacity is still under consideration," but it did leave the door open to believe that this idea may still be churning in the background by cordially inviting anyone with an up-to-snuff manufacturing facility to ping them for more details.

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UK Government Loses $1.7 Billion

Imagine losing over a billion (yes with a ‘B’) dollars because of a simple data transfer error.

"That may appear to be an obscure point, but it meant that some $1.7 billion of debt failed to appear on the debt case management system. That is hardly a first-rate example of financial management by a department that should be at the forefront of such matters."

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Hi-Res 'Alien Reveal' Crysis Trailer

You guys really should check out the latest Crysis trailer for some awesome eye candy. Thank snowysnowcones.

The two rival nations unite to stop the aliens and save mankind. The newly formed alliance fights epic battles against the marauding Aliens. With hope rapidly fading, the player must lead a crack squad through lush tropical jungle, harsh frozen landscapes, and finally into the heart of the alien ship itself for the ultimate Zero G encounter with the aliens.

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NIN Releases Songs on PirateBay

Nine Inch Nails has taken a radical approach in marketing their latest record. After the appearance of flash drives in restrooms at their concerts containing tracks, they have now also started placing their own music on The Pirate Bay.

Releasing Nine Inch Nail material online is an avenue the industrial rock band has been familiar with some time. Many tracks are readily available one the NIN.com website, downloadable via the traditional client/server method. However in a brief announcement made yesterday, a surprising element appeared. Not that new material was available for download, but that it was available via the BitTorrent protocol. Even more surprisingly, the torrents were uploaded to The Pirate Bay.

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Intel, AMD Accuse Each Other Of Media Manipulation

It would seem that tempers are flaring in the Intel / AMD antitrust case. Apparently both Intel and AMD have sent letters to the court appointed mediator accusing each other of manipulating the media but neither company has asked for court intervention at this time. Pass the soda and chips, this could get interesting.

In letters sent this week to court-appointed mediator Vincent J. Poppiti, the two companies exchanged barbs, but stopped short of asking presiding federal court Judge Joseph Farnan Jr. to intervene. The missives stem from a recent filing in which Intel said an internal investigation showed that e-mails mistakenly deleted after the suit was filed in June 2005 did not result in the loss of evidence with any "genuine significance."

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[H]ardware Round-Up II

Cooling

Cooler Master GeminII CPU Cooler @ Modders Inc.

Motherboards

EVGA nForce 650i Ultra @ nV News

ETC.

Fedora 7 Test 4 @ Phoronix

Cases & Modding

ULTRA GRID PC Case w/700W PSU @ Driver Heaven

Some MacBooks May Have Battery Problems

If you are a MacBook or MacBook Pro owner, you might want to read this. Apparently some batteries in the aforementioned notebooks may have performance problems, but they do not pose a safety risk.

Apple said problems with affected batteries include not charging when the computer is plugged into an outlet. "The issues are not a safety risk, so consumers can continue using their batteries," the company said in a statement.

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