With the forthcoming launch of the Xbox 360, Microsoft's online gaming service Xbox Live is taking center stage. The next-gen console will come with a free basic, or Silver, subscription to Microsoft's online community, but the company has also announced offerings for those who want multiplayer features.

Silver Xbox Live users can create their own gamertag and personalized profile, along with sending text and voice messages to other players. In addition, Silver members receive access to the Marketplace where they can purchase game add-ons such as weapons, new levels, and additional characters.

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One of the largest solar flares ever recorded was observed Wednesday afternoon by forecasters at the NOAA Space Environment Center, and scientists are predicting more significant flares could occur over the next two weeks.

Spacecraft operations, electric power, high-frequency communications, and low-frequency navigation systems could all experience disruptions. The flare came from the same region, called Sunspot 798, that caused the northern lights to be visible as far south as Colorado in the northern hemisphere, and the southern lights as far north as Australia and New Zealand in July.

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The man widely known as a "founding father" of the Internet is now a Google employee. Vinton Cerf, the man who helped co-found TCP/IP, the system that routes Internet traffic, will join the search giant as Chief Internet Evangelist.

Cerf said he would continue his work in leadership roles within the Internet community including chairman at ICANN, as well as his work as a visiting scientist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to figure out ways to connect the Internet to outer space.

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Just hours after Apple unveiled its iPod Nano, Sony on Thursday unveiled several new Walkman players in an effort to recapture the portable music player market it once dominated.

"We are not at all satisfied with where we are now," Koichiro Tsujino, co-President of Connect, Sony's digital music arm said. "I understand a certain company made an announcement earlier today. We will accelerate our challenge with these new models."

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Skype appears to be looking for a suitor, although it does not seem to be having much success. The company had been in talks with several firms including News Corp, however the VoIP provider's search may end with an unlikely buyer: eBay.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that talks are in the formative stages for a $2-3 billion takeover of Skype by eBay.

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Less than a month after its high-profile purchase of community site MySpace, News Corp said on Thursday that it would buy Internet company IGN Entertainment for $650 million. The network would become part of Fox's Interactive Media unit, and would push its U.S. web traffic to over 70 milllion users and 12 billion pageviews per month.

The deal is expected to close by the end of the year, and IGN CEO Mark Jung will remain in his position after the transition. IGN is most commonly known for its gaming Web sites GameSpy and GameStats.com among others, as well as movie review site Rotten Tomatoes.

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Washington state judge Steven Gonzalez said late Wednesday that he expected to issue a ruling Tuesday morning on whether former Microsoft executive Kai-Fu Lee would be allowed to work at Google. Microsoft had asked Gonzalez to bar Lee from starting work in Google's China division until a trial is held in January.

Google argued that Lee's contact does not prevent him from doing recruiting work in China. The announcement follows two days of testimony where lawyers argued over whether Lee had any pull at Microsoft and how vital his position was to Microsoft's search efforts.

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Analysts and bloggers alike sounded off on Wednesday's announcement of the ROKR iTunes phone and iPod Nano, Apple's replacement for the iPod Mini. While it looks like reception for the Nano has been more than positive, the same cannot be said for the much anticipated ROKR. Here is a sampling of what people are saying:

"The big news here in SF wasn't so much the iTunes phone but rather the iPod Nano...Pictures do not do this device justice. The form factor is amazing, this clearly fits in our mobile taxonomy in the invisible space. But it's a real iPod, with scroll wheel and a beautiful hi-res color display."

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Apple announced on Wednesday that it had signed agreements with Acura, Audi, Honda and Volkswagen to feature seamless iPod integration in factory car stereos in their 2006 models. According to Apple, 30 percent of cars sold next year will come pre-equipped with iPod support.

Honda and Acura's implementations will also be the first to feature text-to-speech or VoiceID capabilities, which can be used to search for music. "We're thrilled to team up with Acura, Audi, Honda and Volkswagen to provide drivers with a seamless iPod experience," Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice president of Worldwide iPod Product Marketing, said. "Car companies are embracing the iPod."

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Apple CEO Steve Jobs on Wednesday surprised attendees at a special event in San Francisco by introducing a completely new addition to its popular iPod line that will replace the iPod mini. The wafer-thin iPod Nano sports a color screen and holds 1,000 songs in a form factor slimmer than a #2 pencil.

The iPod Nano is "an entirely new ground-up design," Jobs said. Smaller than even Motorola's RAZR phone, the Nano weighs in at just 1.5 ounces. The player is 62 percent smaller than the Mini and 80 percent smaller than the original iPod.

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As expected, Apple and Motorola on Wednesday unveiled the long-awaited iTunes phone at an exclusive event at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. The phone, dubbed the "ROKR E1," will launch exclusively today with Cingular in the United States and with various operators worldwide throughout the rest of the month.

The ROKR can only hold about 100 songs, Jobs told attendees, which would be transferred via USB to the phone.

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At a special event in San Francisco Wednesday, Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the fifth generation iTunes client, which brings to the table a number of new features along with additions to the iTunes Music Store. Jobs also announced that Apple has surpassed 10 million iTunes accounts.

iTunes 5 closely resembles version 4 with minor adjustments to the user interface. Playlists can now be organized into folders and a new search bar can seek out specific types of content, such as podcasts or albums. The beefed up search bar has also been to the iTunes Music Store.

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Novell announced on Wednesday that it would release SUSE Linux 10.0 in early October. For the first time, SUSE Linux includes changes and bug fixes proposed by the open source community. Novell recently created the openSUSE project, which opened up the code behind SUSE to developers.

The 10.0 release will include the latest version of Firefox as well as the OpenOffice.org 2.0 productivity suite. New features and usability improvements will appear throughout the release, and Novell has included tools to simplify the migration process from Windows to SUSE Linux. The upgrade will cost $59 USD.

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XM Satellite Radio on Wednesday said that it had launched a new channel with the American Red Cross specifically aimed at the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. Called "Red Cross Radio," the station will be used by the organization to broadcast messages to its workers in the field 24 hours a day. XM will donate radios to relief workers, shelters and aid stations.

The station can be heard on XM channel 248. It will broadcast regular updates on relief efforts, as well as locations where the Red Cross is assisting evacuees. The service also has the Emergency Alert Channel on XM channel 247 that updates clean-up, road closures, school closings, and other pertinent information from local officials.

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Gateway showed off the latest addition to its line of notebook computers Wednesday at the Microsoft Small Business Summit in Redmond, WA. The CX200, Gateway's new convertible notebook with a 14-inch display, also comes in at a competitive price compared with other Tablet PCs at $1099 USD.

The company says it is aiming the notebook at students and home users rather than business users that have predominantly been the target market for tablets.

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