Microsoft delaying release of Halo 2 due to nudity scenes

Halo was one of the top selling games on the original Xbox, and helped increase the popularity of the Xbox. The next version of the game is eagerly awaited, but now Microsoft has released a statement that the release of Halo 2 for Windows Vista has been delayed by around a month due to 'content' issues. And what are these content issues ? Well, Microsoft discovered that due to an error in Halo 2's map editor, there are scenes of partial nudity, and hence unless these are repaired, the game cannot be released. Refer to this article:

Halo 2 for Windows Vista is now expected to hit the stores sometime in the first week of June, approximately two weeks behind the revised May 22 schedule. The game was originally scheduled for release on May 8, but was delayed due to some technical problems, Microsoft said at the time.
The software giant attributes the most recent delay to an "obscure content error" found in the initial production of Halo 2's map editor. That error was partial nudity.
The company has no plans to change the rating of its game, given it affects only the initial run of games and not subsequent shipments. Warning labels will be placed on packaging for the affected games, and Microsoft has developed a patch that can be downloaded to remove the content in question.

However, after the furore over similar scenes discovered in Grand Theft Auto and the political questions over it, it was impossible for Microsoft to discover that something like this occurs in the game, but is not yet fixed. They would rather bite the schedule and take a fix.

Using cell phones to lose weight

Cell phones have lots of uses nowadays; you use them for making and receiving calls (still number one use), for sending and receiving messages, for using as an alarm, for music and radio, for viewing movies, as a viewer for text books, for internet connectivity and browsing on the move, and so on. Well, add one more use to this list. You use a cell phone for losing weight ! Surprise, read this article:

Wondering how much of a diet-buster that banana cream pie on your plate is? Some Japanese have a novel way to find out: Photograph it with your cell phone and send the image to an expert.
With cell phones ubiquitous in Japan and rising concern over expanding waistlines, health care providers have put two and two together to allow the calorie-conscious to send photos of their meals to nutritionists for analysis and recommendations.
Nutritionists can work with photos from one day's meals to several weeks' worth, he said. Results come back in three days. Participants also can log onto a Web site to get further dietary information and upload photos from digital cameras.
"Patients used to fill out meal logs, but people tend to forget things or underestimate their portions," Kimura said. "Photographing meals and e-mailing them in is easier and gets more accurate results."

This seems like a very interesting use. You make full use of the data plans, you lock customers into an additional service that can provide a cut to the carrier, and has a peer pressure level. You see a friend or colleague doing this, and such a service will appeal to you as well.
Also, with obesity increasing, customers are more likely to use such a service, and if it can help reduce the obesity levels, then it will be a big boon for people.

Sony Playstation getting a firmware upgrade

Sony's Playstation 3 development was delayed, missing its milestones and being pretty expensive. In the high stakes for who wins the gaming console, Sony PS3 is behind its 2 principal rivals, the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Xbox in terms of market sales; and given the high cost of the entire PS3 development, including the price of the machine, Sony needs to sell more machines to get over current costs and make a profit. How can it do that ? In terms of gaming power, it is fighting an equal battle with the Xbox, and the Nintendo Wii was a match-winner in terms of customer 'wow' factor, so Sony was not going to be able to beat the others in having something unique.
Well, Sony things that they have found something; the decision to include an expensive Blu-Ray has been criticized for pushing up the cost, but Sony seems to be trying to convert the machine into a gaming console + entertainment hub. Towards this end, the upgrade version 1.80, available on 24 May 2007, will allow those users having a HDMI compatible hi-def TV to upscale PS1 and PS2 games and DVD movies to a full 1080 resolution (HDMI refers to the capacility for transmitting high-definition signals. Refer this article:

The 1.80 firmware update coming to the PlayStation 3 on Thursday will allow PlayStation 3 users to upscale earlier PlayStation games to 1080p resolution on HDMI-capable TVs, and will also give users the ability play images, music, and video that are stored on DLNA-enabled devices connected to a home network.
"The capability to upscale DVDs to HD quality is a feature normally only associated with top-range DVD players," Sony said in a statement, "and its inclusion in the latest firmware upgrade now allows PS3 owners with an existing DVD collection to dramatically enhance the viewing pleasure of their DVD collection when viewed through a compatible HD TV set."
In addition, on a home network, upgraded PlayStation 3s will be able to play images, music, and video that are stored on DLNA-enabled devices anywhere in the home. DLNA, offered in such devices as PCs or laptops, is the Digital Living Network Alliance standard for sharing content between consumer electronics devices.
The PlayStation 3, while a technological powerhouse, has had its ups and downs. Last week, Sony announced that its video game business would lose about $413 million this fiscal year, and that it won't recover until there are more PlayStation 3 games. Through March 31, it had shipped 5.5 million PlayStation 3 machines, not quite hitting its target of six million.

This could be a smart move, as long as this does not lead to a lowering of the pitch for the gaming console (potential customers should not get confused about the abilities of the gaming console).
With a move towards more high-definition TV's, and if Blu-ray becomes the next big thing in hardware players, Sony is trying to get into customer looking at its devices as not only a gaming console, but something that is usable by more family members.
However, will this move go unchallenged ? Expect Microsoft to add more ability to the Xbox, and given that this attempt to make it as an entertainment hub will directly attach the concept of the Media center, there could be many more movements in this market.

AT & T exclusive with IPhone: a CDMA killer

The Apple iPhone has been a much awaited device ever since it was announced and displayed a few months back. Due in June, the iPhone will be available exclusively with AT & T, giving AT & T an automatic advantage due to the hype and media buzz around the iPhone. Apple is locked with AT & T for a period of 5 years, an incredibly long time, but equally importantly, in the battle between GSM and CDMA users (Sprint & Verizon), Apple has been prohibited from developing a CDMA version of the iPhone for 5 years. The fact that a leading device is not available on CDMA will automatically give GSM a push up in the standards war. Refer this article:

The Apple iPhone, due out next month, has been breathlessly hailed as offering consumers the ultimate wireless experience. It also could give AT&T, its exclusive U.S. distributor, the ultimate experience for a wireless carrier: an easy way to handcuff rivals and steal customers.
Apple is barred for that time from developing a version of the iPhone for CDMA wireless networks. That ban is no small thing. AT&T rivals Verizon Wireless and Sprint are both CDMA shops. AT&T uses GSM, a global standard incompatible with CDMA.
They also sparred over the iPhone. As previously reported by USA TODAY, Verizon passed on the opportunity to become the exclusive U.S. distributor, balking at Apple's demand for control over distribution, pricing, marketing and more. That left an opening for AT&T — then called Cingular — to cement a deal. (AT&T on Monday officially dumped the Cingular name and store signs now are being switched. The move came slightly ahead of schedule.)

There is intense competition between the major US carriers, AT & T, Sprint and Verizon, with all of them using all possible tactics to get a better market share. In such a case, if the iPhone becomes a major hit, it will give a huge advantage to AT & T, while at the same time, if people are put off by high prices, then it can be a disaster. Also, with the iPhone promoting a much better internet connection as well as songs downloading, more people will use higher data plans, increasing revenue for AT & T.

Something to keep watching on Google: Top searches

Google came out with new information that will typically bring in a large number of people on a regular basis. People running blogs geared about adsense, researchers looking at social trends in terms of large searches, culture icons and their fans, etc. So what is Google doing ? It is going to start listing 100 top searches of the day at this website on Google Trends, HotTrends. Refer this story:

A feature listing the day's 100 fastest-rising search requests has been unveiled by Google.
The chart, part of the search system's trends service, will be refreshed several times a day using data from millions of searches, the company said.
Requests for pornography, the weather, popular websites like MySpace.com and some celebrities will not be included.
Instead, Hot Trends will provide a glimpse of what is baffling and interesting web users from day to day. The service merges elements of Zeitgeist and Trends - two existing products which give a glimpse of search habits but only based on weeks-old data.

Can you imagine the trends coming out from this ? Some examples I can think of:
1. Like 15 minutes of fame, you will now get your 15 hours of Google Top 100 ranking
2. Celebrities will be able to rank themselves on how many people search for them: Britney Spears telling Paris Hilton, "Sorry Paris, more people hunt for me, you are an also-ran!"
3. Serious writers bemoaning people in the US searching for what a celebrity said rather than hunting for information about Darfur or global warming
4. PR agents will be evaluated for how they can somebody into the Google top 100
You can just let your information run riot

MySpace turns around fast - will now provide data about sex offenders

8 attorney generals from different states sent a letter to MySpace requesting for information from MySpace about its users who are registered sex offenders, so as to determine whether such people were using MySpace to lure children into actual physical encounters. MySpace took the high path, grandly declaring that they are legally required not to provide this information, claiming that the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 prohibited them from doing so without a subpeona.
This response was not exactly appreciated by the attorney generals, and now it seems that even after this initial refusal, there were negotiations being carried out. An accord has now been signed for tranferring this data, refer this link:

MySpace initially asserted that it was legally unable to comply with the requests set forth in a letter sent earlier this month from the attorneys general of eight states--Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The letter asking that the social-networking site provide the data, cited concerns "that sexual predators are using MySpace to lure children into face-to-face encounters and other dangerous activities."
But MySpace responded that it couldn't turn the information over due to the terms of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, which technically prohibits such information from being shared without a subpoena, as well as some state privacy laws.
It appears, however, that an accord was struck late last week. Through MySpace's newly announced partnership with the attorneys general, Angus and Nigam said, the company will be able to address the federal and state laws. Company representatives emphasized that the social network had always planned to share the Sentinel Safe data with the attorneys, who could then pass the information on to law enforcement officials in their states.
MySpace.com unveiled a plan Monday for cooperating with requests from state attorneys general for data pertaining to registered sex offenders. According to a statement from the company, MySpace will provide the Multi-State Attorney General Executive Committee with data from Sentinel Safe, the database of information on registered sex offenders that the company has compiled through its partnership with identity verification firm Sentinel Tech Holding. Sentinel Safe, which contains data aggregated from state registries, has been in the works since late last year and was officially deployed May 2.
"Up until now, the predators have felt like they can have a free ride (on social-networking sites), and that day is over," Angus said.

It seems like the intial refusal by MySpace and the harsh reaction from the attorney generals prompted this change in tactics by MySpace. Aware that they were on a weak pitch in terms of apparently refusing to cooperate against people carrying out crimes against children, MySpace did a quick about-turn, using previous lack of technology as an excuse. Otherwise, what prompted a 180 degree about turn within the space of a few days ?

Microsoft buys ad company for $6 billion

Microsoft must have been feeling left out after recent advertising-related acquisitions by Google and Yahoo, hence it finally went ahead and bought an agency for internet ads, aQuantive Inc, for the large sum of 6 billion dollars. The cost of the acquisition shows the current heated nature of the ad market, and also the feeling that it should not be left behind by Google in this market. There are not that many leading companies available now, and the remaining ones will carry an additional premium.
Refer this article:

Microsoft Corp., not wanting to get left behind rivals in an online advertising boom, agreed to pay $6 billion in cash to acquire aQuantive Inc. on Friday, a leading agency for Internet ads which also has powerful technology that serves display and banner ads to other Web sites.
The eye-popping premium of 85 percent Microsoft is paying for aQuantive reflects a heated race for the few remaining online advertising businesses, as media and technology companies jockey for position in the Internet advertising market.
The deal caps a month of furious activity in the sector which began in mid-April with Google Inc.'s $3.1 billion purchase of DoubleClick Inc., a company that provides technology used by Web site publishers to deliver advertisements to viewers.

One wonders about how much the premium paid by Microsoft was due to ensuring that they are not getting left behind by Google in the race for advertising. Google is the unquestioned world leader in the advertising and search markets, and Microsoft is making a determined effort to challenge this supremacy, although they have a long way to go.

For Microsoft, getting aQuantive could jump-start its online advertising business, which lags far behind Google and Yahoo Inc. due to the lower traffic on its own destination Web site, MSN. The deal "certainly keeps them in the competitive arena with Google," A.G. Edwards analyst Denise Garcia says.
aQuantive's technology will allow Microsoft to deliver ads to third-party Web sites, something that should mesh with Microsoft's existing plans for delivering ads onto other platforms such as video games on its XBox, which connects to the Internet. Microsoft currently delivers ads mostly to its own Web sites, such as MSN.

Google has a stranglehold on this market, with the capability to deliver ads easily to third party websites. And Google provides an easy way for third party publishers such as blogs to post Google ads on their sites, and make money out of that, effectively turning all these people into promoting the Google ad network. In fact, if you take a look at a lot of websites in the online world, you will mostly see 'Ads by Google' in them somewhere.
Analysts are not sure about the returns from this deal, given that it is an expensive deal, but maybe there were not too many options available with Microsoft, given that it was unable to push its own network too much.