Game makers eye young girls with “Boogie SuperStar”

July 4th, 2008 by Marius Visan (0) Software

If “American Idol” and a modern fairy tale combined to create a video game, you’d get “Boogie SuperStar” — Electronic Art’s latest game for the Nintendo Wii system.But instead of finding Prince Charming, the goal of the game is to beat rival players’ singing and dancing skills to earn the grand title of Boogie SuperStar. […]

Gates leaves Microsoft to focus on philanthropy

June 26th, 2008 by Marius Visan (0) Software

Sensing the start of a personal computer revolution, Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard University in 1975 to start Microsoft Corp and pursue a vision of a computer on every desk and in every home.Three decades later, Gates is set to step down on Friday from what is now the world’s largest software company to […]

Manners still matter when you’re poking on Facebook

June 16th, 2008 by Marius Visan (0) Hardware, Software

Should you reject a friend on MySpace? How do you ward off an old lover on Facebook?Have no fear. Britain’s etiquette bible has come to the rescue for social networkers who are at a loss about how to behave with online decorum.
Debrett’s have helped to compile a new set of “golden rules” for devotees of […]

Time Warner scraps Weather Channel bid

June 16th, 2008 by Marius Visan (0) Internet, Software

Time Warner Inc (TWX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) withdrew its bid to buy the Weather Channel after refusing to raise its offer, leaving NBC Universal and its partners in exclusive talks with the network’s owner, Landmark Communications.“The consortium made up of NBC Universal and the private equity firms of Blackstone and Bain has been […]

Computer trained to “read” mind images of words

May 30th, 2008 by Marius Visan (2) Hardware, Software

A computer has been trained to “read” people’s minds by looking at scans of their brains as they thought about specific words, researchers said on Thursday.They hope their study, published in the journal Science, might lead to better understanding of how and where the brain stores information.
This might lead to better treatments for language disorders […]

Next Microsoft operating system has touch controls

May 29th, 2008 by Marius Visan (0) Software

Microsoft Corp plans to give users of the next version of its Windows operating system touch screen controls as one option for controlling the software, its top executives said on Tuesday.Chairman Bill Gates and Chief Executive Steve Ballmer showed off new Windows features based on software it calls “multi-touch” that will be part of Windows […]

Nintendo launches new fitness video game in U.S.

May 19th, 2008 by Marius Visan (0) Software

Nintendo Co Ltd launched its “Wii Fit” exercise game in the United States on Monday, hoping to get gamers off the couch and appeal to new audiences such as women and older people.Nintendo is banking on “Wii Fit” to further broaden the appeal of its Wii gaming console, which has already become a smash hit […]

U.S. game sales jump 47 percent in April on GTA4

May 16th, 2008 by Marius Visan (0) Software

U.S. sales of video game hardware and software rose 47 percent from a year earlier, as Take-Two Interactive Software Inc’s “Grand Theft Auto 4″ and Nintendo Co Ltd’s Wii console stole the show.The popularity of “Grand Theft Auto 4,” however, failed to boost sales of Microsoft Corp’s Xbox 360 and Sony Corp’s PlayStation 3, which […]

“Grand Theft Auto” publisher sues over pulled ads

May 6th, 2008 by Marius Visan (0) Software

The publisher of the controversial “Grand Theft Auto 4″ video game sued the Chicago Transit Authority on Monday, accusing it of pulling ads promoting the blockbuster without explanation.The video game’s publisher Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. sued the transit authority in Manhattan federal court for violating its free speech and contractual rights, saying it pulled its […]

Microsoft brings TV shows from NBC, others to Zune

May 6th, 2008 by Marius Visan (0) Software

Microsoft Corp said it will start offering television shows for its Zune portable media device, more than two years after Apple Inc introduced the feature for its iPod player.Microsoft’s Zune has one thing that Apple’s market-defining iPod and accompanying iTunes store does not — TV programs from General Electric’s NBC Universal.
Those shows and more than […]