Panasonic, Philips, Sony Vow Cheaper Blu-ray

Panasonic, Philips and Sony today claim that their plans to create a single licensing firm for Blu-ray discs will make the cost of a license at least 40% cheaper. If those savings are passed on to the consumer, we could see cheaper Blu-ray players in the future. Who knew it was so complicated to get a license in the first place?

In examples of licensing, the partners expect a license to cost $9.50 for a read-only Blu-ray device and $14 for a burner. Discs will cost 11 cents for read-only discs, 12 cents for write-once BD-Rs and 15 cents for rewritable BD-RE discs.

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[H]otDeal of the Day

Today’s [H]otDeal of the Day is this 4GB G.SKILL DDR2 1000 dual channel memory kit for only $44.99 after taking $15 off instantly for being a [H] reader. To sweeten up the deal, you also get free shipping! That means you can get 4GB of PC2 8000 memory shipped to your door for under $45, now that is a good deal. Hit the link above for the exclusive [H]ard|OCP promo code.

Apple Director Says No Change in Jobs' Plans

Apple’s director, responding to questions at the company’s annual shareholders meeting, stated that "nothing has changed" in regards to Steve Jobs’ current leave of absence. When shareholders pressed the board of directors for answers, they admitted that Steve Jobs had been flash frozen in Carbonite until his midichlorian count was high enough for him to return to his post as CEO.

When pressed by one investor, Apple board member Arthur Levinson said the company expects Jobs, 54, to return at the end of June. "Nothing has changed," Levinson, who is CEO of Genentech, told several hundred shareholders.

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The Pirate Bay Trial Day 9

Here is your daily dose of The Pirate Bay trial information. Today’s update features non-repentant pirates, an angry music industry and rich lawyers getting richer.

Yesterday several entertainment industry insiders explained how piracy was responsible for the downfall of their industries. Today, Kristoffer Schollin from Gothenburg University explains that BitTorrent is not evil, while media professor Roger Wallace informs the court that the file-sharing is actually beneficial to the entertainment industry.

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Research Keeps Microsoft on the ‘Bleeding Edge’

When confronted with a tricky problem, Microsoft Research loves to tinker. The supersized think tank has 800 researchers who every day explore an estimated 55 areas of research at six labs spread across the globe. Their ingenuity and creativity is on display Feb. 24-26 at TechFest, Microsoft’s annual celebration of its advanced research work. Microsoft Chief Research and Strategy Officer Craig Mundie spoke with PressPass about innovation at Microsoft.

VIA Announces The AMOS-3000

VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announced the launch of VIA's first embedded box computer; the VIA AMOS-3000. Ideal for a variety of embedded applications, the VIA AMOS-3000 is a robust, custom-designed system based on the ultra compact and versatile VIA EPIA-P700 Pico-ITX board.

Intel CEO Comments on NVIDIA, Economy, Flash

Intel’s CEO Paul Otellini, while speaking at the 2009 Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference, had a few things to say about NVIDIA, the economy and the Flash market.

Otellini said that Nvidia is not in a strong competitive position. "If you don't have a microprocessor, what else do you have to sell?" he said, countering Nvidia's claims that the industry is becoming more centered on graphics chips. "The graphics subsystem for most machines will be subsumed into the microprocessor. So what Nvidia is doing is making an argument to defend the status quo," he said. He said if you want higher performance you can buy a discrete graphics chip. "You can buy it from them or you can buy it from us," he said, referring to Intel's upcoming Larrabee graphics chip.

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Microsoft Sues TomTom

Microsoft is filing two separate cases against TomTom forfor patentpatent infringementinfringement.

"By filing both actions simultaneously we are seeking to both recoup past losses and stop continued infringing activity, which would thus minimize potential future losses," Microsoft said in a statement. ITC cases typically take about 15 months, Microsoft said, while federal patent suits can take much longer.

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[H]ardware Round-Up II

Cases & Modding

Antec Nine Hundred Two Case @ Hardware Secrets

Cooling

Vizo Orbiter HDD Cooler @ VerdisReviews

ETC.

Asus Eee PC 1000HE Netbook @ HotHardware

Motherboards

7 Intel Core i7 X58 Motherboard Shootout @ MadShrimps

Computers Now Control NY Trains

It seems all the commuter trains in New York will be controlled by computers from here on out. Please feel free to insert your own "Skynet became self-aware at 2:14am EDT… jokes here.

This means that you'll have a robot conductor in charge of the movement instead of a disgruntled human. When it screws up they can blame technology and not the human beings in control our idiotic train system.

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Google Talk Phishing Scam Spreading Like Wildfire

With all the news today centering around exploits, vulnerabilities, malware, virus and phishing scams, it makes you want to just unplug from the net and call it a day.

I became alerted to it when I received IMs from three people I hadn’t talked to in some time within a matter of minutes – one a marketing exec at a prominent startup – with typical phishing jargon "check this out!" with a link to a tinyurl that when clicked, points you to a site called ViddyHo.

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Adobe Flash Flaw Could Give Attackers Full Control

Another critical exploit has been found in Adobe Flash. The new exploit can allow attackers to take full control of your PC. How many critical flaws is this in the last few weeks, none of them are fixed and no word when they will be? Nice.

Adobe wasn't immediately available for comment, but Tuesday afternoon confirmed the vulnerability in its Flash software on all platforms. The vulnerability is in Adobe Flash Player 10.0.12.36 and earlier versions. Adobe rates the vulnerability as critical.

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