Ed Oswald

Despite analyst claims that it would fall short of its shipment goals for the year, Sony said Wednesday that it still plans to ship 1 million PlayStation 3 consoles to the US before the end of the year. The buzz around the console is also creating a halo effect for other products.

In a statement to gaming news Web site gamesindustry.biz, Sony said manufacturing was "now running smoothly" and the company was airlifting consoles in regularly. Sales data indicates that the $599 USD 60GB unit is currently the best selling console.

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Executives in Microsoft's Office division seem to be discounting any possible threat to their business from Google's Web-based productivity software, according to Reuters. Antoine Leblond, co-head of the Office division, says the applications are not suitable for corporate use.

Google in recent months has turned out a host of applications that rival features within Microsoft Office. They include word processing and spreadsheet applications, along with calendaring and corporate e-mail functionality.

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A researcher has posted proof-of-concept code for a zero-day flaw within Mac OS X dealing with its handling of disk image (.dmg) files. The issue causes a memory corruption vulnerability that could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code.

The disclosure of the bug comes as part of a larger effort by an anonymous security researcher that posts to his blog using the initials "LMH." He plans to release one kernel bug every day during the month of November.

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Violent video games are once again under the microscope following a shooting at a German school, in which a teenager with an apparent fondness for war simulations and violent video games wounded as many as 37 people before taking his own life.

The attack has resulted in members of Germany's legislative body calling for stricter laws surrounding violent video games, an effort that has so far been struck down by the courts in the United States. At least one lawmaker who is the head of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrat party has called for an all out ban.

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Dell said Tuesday that it would be eliminating rebates from its Dimension desktops and services in an effort to simplify pricing for consumers. The move means that the company would no longer use mail-in rebates on any of its products.

"Customers are seeing the final price they are paying for a computer system is as low as it's ever been from Dell and easier to understand," Home and Business vice president Rocky Mountain said. "We believe this pricing simplification will contribute to a better, no hassle experience for Dell customers."

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With the holiday shopping season as a backdrop, Google is aiming to increase the visibility of its Google Checkout service by offering promotions to consumers who use it. Beginning on "Cyber Monday," November 27, discounts would be provided by participating merchants.

Reusable discounts of $10 off purchases of $30 or more, or $20 off purchases of $50 or more would be provided. The rebates would be instant, and no registration would be required, Google said.

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Monday marked the end of closing arguments in a four-week trial aimed at overturning a 1998 law aimed at curbing pornography. While proponents of the law saw it is necessary to prevent children from viewing objectionable material, opponents say it hurts free speech.

The law is too broad, lawyers for the ACLU and others argued, and violates the Constitution. Children can be similarly protected through the use of filters, opponents added. However, government lawyers said filtering is not enough, citing evidence to the contrary.

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With Macworld fast approaching, and news of an apparent manufacturing deal in the air, Apple enthusiasts are again abuzz over the oft-rumored iPhone. Two separate reports indicate that the Cupertino company has signed a deal for as many as 12 million units.

Both AppleInsider and ThinkSecret both say that Apple is aiming to debut the devices at Macworld 2007, alongside the iTV device and a rumored refresh the flagship iPod line. It is not known how much the iPhone device would sell for, or its exact feature set.

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REVIEW To many consumers, Delphi is known as a manufacturer of XM radios. However, the company wants to change that and show its strength in other markets where it has had an OEM presence for years, such as GPS.

Enter the NAV200, the company's first entrant into the increasingly crowded consumer portable GPS market. At $399 USD, it is priced as much as 25 percent cheaper that equally-featured units.

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Compared with last week's launch of the PlayStation 3, Sunday's launch of the Nintendo Wii went off much smoother. Long lines again greeted consumers eager to get their hands on the venerable game players new system, however much broader availability ensured most didn't go away empty handed.

Although Nintendo would never confirm the number of consoles available at launch, it was said to be close to a million. Checks at retailers indicate that nearly all had sold out of the $250 console, indicating that the launch was likely one of Nintendo's most successful in years.

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Yahoo has forged a strategic partnership with more than 150 daily newspapers across the US, the first benefit of which will be a tight integration with Yahoo's HotJobs service. In addition, the consortium also plans to work on advertising and content partnerships.

Belo, Cox, Hearst, Journal, Lee Enterprises, MediaNews and E.W. Scripps have agreed to join the partnership. This includes major dailies such as the San Francisco Chronicle, the Houston Chronicle, and the Denver Post, among others.

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Universal Music Group sued MySpace on Friday, accusing the popular social networking site of infringing on copyrighted works. Additionally, it also threatened to sue Bank of America earlier this week over a leaked internal video showing a parody of U2's "One."

The label has increasingly ramped up its legal rhetoric in recent weeks, with comments suggesting the company is becoming more aggressive in seeking compensation for lost revenues stemming from piracy of its artist's works.

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RealNetworks said Thursday that subscribers to its SuperPass service would receive additional benefits through its "Broadband Essentials" third-party software service. Being added are tune-up applications and a parental controls service.

The company quietly began offering the option in May as a way to entice consumers to sign up for its subscription-based multimedia services.

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The often outspoken and controversial founder of the Weblogs blog network who sold the startup to AOL last year has resigned following the exit of CEO Jonathan Miller. Jason Calacanis confirmed Friday that he would be leaving the ISP over disagreements on the future of the company.

Calacanis in an earlier post on his Web log lamented parent company Time Warner's decision to oust Miller. "Miller is not a brash self-promoting CEO, and maybe that worked against him a little," he wrote. "However, he turned this ship around and built a kick-ass team. The numbers don't lie."

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It doesn't seem to even matter if you were a former United States Senator, the rules are just the same in attempting to obtain a PlayStation 3: wait in line like everybody else. At least that's what national retailer Wal-Mart is telling Sen. John Edwards.

Edwards, who is widely believed to be preparing to announce plans to form an exploratory committee to run for president in 2008, apparently directed one of his aides to attempt to secure a PS3 from a Wal-Mart store in Raleigh, N.C.

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