Dell computers have been the subject of cheap jokes for years, though it seems that reputation may have been rightfully earned. A lawsuit targeting Dell says that the company knew that 11.8 million OptiPlex computers between the May 2003 to July 2005 had faulty components.
Dell apparently purposefully downplayed the issue, telling its salespeople to conceal system problems. The issues came from poor quality capacitors on motherboards, which could cause systems to fail.
Source: New York Times
The details for the PS3 update 3.40 have been released. The firmware update is available now and offers PS3 owners the ability to sign up for the PlayStation Plus subscription service. Other features include a networked Photo Gallery, a Video Editor and Uploader, purchase ratings by users, and power save settings. More Facebook integration has been added as well.
“In addition to the latest features introduced in PS3 system software update (v3.40), a separate, new PlayStation Network application on Facebook.com will be made available,” writes Eric Lempel, VP or Network Operations Americas. “This builds upon what was previously launched with Trophies and the ability to publish purchases from the PlayStation Store. Now you can further integrate your PlayStation Network and Facebook accounts with this new application. The application allows you to display your PlayStation Network profile on your Facebook account, find out which of your Facebook friends have a PSN account and send them a PlayStation Network friend request, view your PSN friends online status and add the PlayStation Network application tab to your Facebook user profile.”
Source: PlayStation Blog
Hideo Kojima has tried swearing off of the Metal Gear Solid franchise since the first one, but he’s always been pulled back in to a more involved role. Currently he’s producing Metal Gear Solid: Rising and also writing and directing Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker though there have been some doubts over whether he’ll be more fully involved in a Metal Gear Solid 5.
A comment by Metal Gear Solid: Rising producer Shigenobu Matsuyama about the place of his game in the over arching canon, however, raised the possibility of Kojima’s continued involvement. “I’ve been asked a lot, ‘Is this going to be a side-story or spin-off to the MGS series ‘, but what I’m positioning is that there will be a Hideo Kojima game that is MGS, but what we are planning as Kojima Productions is have this Raiden Rising as almost as a standard so that there’s an MGS and the Rising going back-and-forth in the future.”
When asked about this, Konami USA simply responded, “Hideo Kojima will continue working on Metal Gear Solid games, meaning he’ll be involved with whatever comes up after Metal Gear Solid: Rising in some capacity.
Source: Shacknews
Inside sources are indicating that Peter Jackson is signing on to direct the two Hobbit movies. The final agreement is reportedly being negotiated with Warner Bros, New Line, and MGM. Guillermo del Toro recently removed himself from the directorial duties of the Hobbit movies, which are set to be filmed back-to-back.
“Despite Jackson camp denials that directing was a consideration, there were signs for cautious optimism from the moment del Toro bowed out. More recently, there have been major clues,” writes Mike Fleming. “While several directors have angled for the job — the most recent rumors focused on David Yates and Jackson’s District 9 protege Neill Blomkamp — no offer was ever made. I think that’s because Jackson was figuring out if he wanted to direct two more films, and finish the saga he started with The Lord of the Rings. And then once he decided, Kamins had to make it possible. It became more evident this week: he, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens scheduled a trip to London the week of July 4, followed by a trip to Los Angeles the following week. They will meet the most impressive actors who’ve been put on tape by casting directors. Jackson, Walsh and Boyens wrote the scripts with del Toro, and they did the original trilogy together. But if they intended for someone else to direct, they would have made sure the filmmaker was part of the casting process.”
“Jackson is the natural person to take over, given that he directed the original Lord of the Rings trilogy and his intimate involvement with the Hobbit project. The two Hobbit movies are set to release December 2012 and December 2013.”
“Numerous directors wanted the job, but hiring a star on Jackson’s level would have been difficult. Raimi, who is working on the Warner Bros/Legendary vidgame adaptation Warcraft and the Disney film The Great and Powerful Oz, was busy and would likely not return to a project for which he’d gotten passed over. Most of the other star directors like Alfonso Cuaron, Chris Nolan, Spielberg or Bryan Singer are busy on their own projects. In addition, it would be difficult to pay them properly, because of the amount of first dollar gross already committed to Jackson, the Tolkien estate, rights holder Saul Zaentz and Harvey Weinstein, who held the 5 percent gross stake he had in the original trilogy. That’s when Michael Eisner refused his request for Miramax to make the films with Jackson, and Weinstein gave the filmmaker a short window to find another home for the project. That window was almost closed when New Line founder Bob Shaye said yes to three films. Jackson will have his deal sweetened, but he’s already completely invested in the process and there are built-in efficiencies. The films will use the soundstages and visual effects facilities that Jackson built with proceeds from the LOTR proceeds.”
Source: Deadline
Apple today revealed that the first three days since the launch of the iPhone 4 through Saturday, June 26 have seen 1.7 million in sales from the major regions of U.S., U.K., Japan, France and Germany. Comparatively, the 3GS model sold 1 million during its first weekend.
“This is the most successful product launch in Apple’s history,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Even so, we apologize to those customers who were turned away because we did not have enough supply.”
Sometimes a solid marketing message can be conveyed using a simple outdoor image. Here, a sundial is used to convey the threatening nature of the night in Alan Wake with a billboard titled “Dark is Deadly.”
Source: Ads of the World
Bungie’s latest (and last) game in the Halo franchise, Halo: Reach, is a prequel to the events of the first Halo: Combat Evolved. It wasn’t always set up to be that way, however, and Bungie considered a game following up on the events of Halo 3.
“Even before the idea to build a game based around Reach came about, a lot of other concepts were explored, up to and including a proper Halo 4, where Master Chief was going to wake up from cryo-sleep and we were going to tell that story,” said Bungie community director Brian Jarrard. “It just wasn’t as interesting to the team to just pick up where that left off and all the baggage that came with it.”
Halo: Reach, which will detail the events that will lead up to the Covenant pursuing the USNC Pillar of Autumn, will not see Master Chief factor in at all. “I think it was a little bit liberating. Hearing the guys talk about working through the trilogy and the obligation of keeping the themes moving forward and tying them up systematically,” described Jarrard. “And ODST was also kinda nice ’cause they could do something different, something separate, and it’s totally self-contained. I definitely think that, for Reach, a lot of the same attitude carried over. We don’t want to open up a whole bunch of doors that we’re not going to close. By the end of this, it’s all going to come to a nice, neat finish, and if people want to then go play the Halo trilogy, I think they’ll have a better understanding of what’s going on, but it’s not required at all.”
Source: MTV
By now, enough words have been written about the iPhone 4 reception issues to fill several books. It’s been acknowledged that the iPhone 4, like every other cell phone, has sensitive areas and Steve Jobs said, “Just avoid holding it in this way.”
However, 3G Microcell users have better reception, raising questions over whether it’s totally hardware related. The theory is that the hand placement could disrupt the signal, not allowing the iPhone 4 to recognize the connection through the fluctuations.
The firmware fix wouldn’t necessarily remove the hardware-based variations in signal quality, just allow iPhones to work better with them, writes David Murphy. “We’ll all see come next week the proposed launch that’s been floated around for the iOS 4.0.1 update.”
Source: PC Mag
Dead Rising creator Keiji Inafune is directing a Japanese movie based on the franchise. Described as a new kind of first-person action film, Zombrex Dead Rising Sun will release as a download during the Summer.
{link no longer active}
You don’t see a lot of executives on Late Night, but Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime seemed very comfortable rubbing elbows with Jimmy Fallon. Watch as he shows off Donkey Kong Country Returns and the 3DS.
{video link no longer active}
