"Ringback tones" are about to turn into the single largest mobile entertainment revenue source, overtaking mobile ringtones by 2010, according to a new study by analyst group IDC.

If major record labels are looking for new sources of revenue, maybe they should throw more of their efforts behind mobile phone "ringback tones.

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The company that brought forth the Era of Compatibility so long ago, announced today it is teaming up with VDEL (Austria) and LX Polska (Poland) to produce Linux-based PCs for the Russian business market.

VDEL and LX Polska will produce the machines under the moniker "Open Referent," and will pre-install Red Hat Linux and come with IBM's Lotus Symphony software suite. Lotus Symphony competes with Microsoft Office, and supports Open Document Format (ODF).

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Japanese consumer electronics maker Pioneer, makers of what many consider to be the best plasma panels on the market, is reported to be ceasing production of its own plasma screens, according to Nikkei.

Pioneer is known for producing what many consider to be the best plasma panels on the market. The Japanese business news service Nikkei reported today that as early as this year, Pioneer's Kagoshima production facility could close, and its Yamanashi and Shizuoka plants will shift focus to assembly.

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An Osaka University Graduate School of Engineering Science researcher successfully created a new technology that allows users to control their Apple iPod MP3 players, and possibly other items, by blinking and winking.

Kazuhiro Taniguchi built the technology, called Kome Kami Switch (Temple Switch), using a computer chip and two infrared sensors that can accurately differentiate between intentional blinks for controlling the iPod and inadvertent blinks. The chip and infrared sensors are small enough that researchers hope to be able to build the system directly into select glasses frames.

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The term "latecomer" is a particularly uncomfortable one for AMD. So for its 45 nm CPU unveiling at CeBIT in Hannover today, the company had to make the case that, despite being later, Shanghai and Deneb will be technologically better.

It's now an unavoidable asterisk in AMD's history: Intel introduced its first 45 nm CPUs to consumers last fall. So the fanfare accompanying the demonstration of AMD's first 45 nm quad-core CPUs just today at CeBIT in Hannover can't come from the usual source. It's following up, and it has to catch up fast, but it won't have the full arsenal of process technologies that Intel is already putting to use.

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Gamasutra's list of best selling games this week sees Sins of a Solar Empire in the number one slot, beating out Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and WoW: The Burning Crusade.

The Realtime Strategy/4X game was released on February 4, and has already received critical acclaim from several video game review publications. What has won it such praise is its unique combination of 4X (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate) civilization management gameplay with the battle speed of a RTS, and its sheer size, which creates an immersive effect heretofore unseen in strategy games.

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Confirming earlier reports, Sony Computer Entertainment's Phil Harrison has indeed taken a job with Infogrames, owners of the Atari brand.

Harrison stepped down from SCE at the end of last month. Industry insiders have speculated that his departure had a lot to do with Sony's failure to fully embrace social gaming, ceding control of the video game market to Microsoft and Nintendo.

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Microsoft said Tuesday that it had opened up the beta of its Office productivity suite extension, offering a means of online collaboration for those that may not use its more expensive group productivity products.

The company first announced its efforts to bring its software-as-a-service vision to Office with the release of Office Live back in February 2006 in beta. However, at that time, it seemed to be more centered around assisting in the day-to-day functions of a small business rather than online collaboration for Office documents.

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Today, Dell announced the availability of its Latitude XFR D630, a ruggedly designed notebook meant to serve as competition to Panasonic's Toughbook.

Though it cannot claim to have made the strongest nor first rugged laptops, Panasonic's Toughbook line of computers undoubtedly is the most recognizable rugged laptop brand on the market today. Dell, however looks to be moving in on the territory, by making direct challenges to Panasonic's performance.

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In a move that had a negative impact on stocks in general today, Intel lowered one of its key measures of profitability for the first quarter of this year due to lower than expected prices for NAND flash memory.

Some analysts are attributing Intel's move to uncertain demand for Apple iPods and other consumer electronics devices that use NAND flash.

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