[UPDATE] PlayStation Network is down

It seems as though the PlayStation Network is down and it is causing a whole lot of issues for PS3 owners including: 8001050F error codes, game crashes, corrupted trophy info, and even the complete inability to launch certain games. Some users have even reported that their console's date is listed at 1999, which would probably be the cause of most of these issues.

Sony has also posted to the PlayStation Twitter account that “We’re aware that many of you are having problems connecting to PSN, and yes, we’re looking into it. Stay tuned for updates.”

It is unknown what has caused this downtime and there is no ETA on when the PlayStation Network will be back up.

UPDATE: Sony has posted an update on the PlayStation Network status:

As you may be aware, some customers have been unable to connect to the PlayStation Network today. This problem affects the models other than the new slim PS3.

We believe we have identified that this problem is being caused by a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system.

Errors include:

• The date of the PS3 system may be re-set to Jan 1, 2000.
• When the user tries to sign in to the PlayStation Network, the following
  message appears on the screen; “An error has occurred. You have been
  signed out of PlayStation Network (8001050F)”.
• When the user tries to launch a game, the following error message appears
  on the screen and the trophy data may disappear; “Failed to install
  trophies. Please exit your game.”
• When the user tries to set the time and date of the system via the
  Internet, the following message appears on the screen; “The current date
  and time could not be obtained. (8001050F)”
• Users are not able to play back certain rental video downloaded from the
  PlayStation Store before the expiration date.

We hope to resolve this problem within the next 24 hours. In the meantime, if you have a model other than the new slim PS3, we advise that you do not use your PS3 system, as doing so may result in errors in some functionality, such as recording obtained trophies, and not being able to restore certain data.

As mentioned above, please be advised that the new slim PS3 is not affected with this error. We are doing our best to resolve the issue and do apologize for any inconvenience caused.

It seems as though only the PS3 "fat" is being affected by this issue. Also, Sony is insisting users NOT to turn on their PS3 until the issue is solved.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Multi-Player issue

I was just playing Modern Warfare 2 the other night and I joined this game at Quarry. For some odd reason, when you run, it seems like you are running 100 MPH. It is a bug that I have run into a few times on Multi--Player (Xbox LIVE) mode a few times. It did get annoying and I had to quit the game. The next game I joined was perfect, this issue was not present.

Have you ever had this issue?

Palm webOS 1.4 Now Available To Verizon Wireless Customers

Go check for updates all you Verizon customers!

Sprint drops Palm Pixi price to $50

Unexpectedly, Sprint has dropped the price of the original (no Wi-Fi) Palm Pixi to $49.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate on a two-year contract.

The price of the Palm Pixi on Verizon Wireless is $79.99, which is most likely the cause of the price change on Sprint's network.

Military to begin allowing social networking sites

According to Reuters, the U.S. Military will begin allowing access to popular social networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The decision to allow social networking sites in the Military took 7 months and the main reason behind allowing this was that most of the soldiers in the Military are in their 20's, obviously growing up with these sites.

Under this new policy, commanders will still need to defend against cyber-attacks and block access to certain websites.

Mac OS X market share goes up

New statistics released earlier this week show that Mac OS X's market share has grown by 29.4% and Windows has gone down by 3.8%.

Quantcast, a web statistics company, has found that Mac OS X represents about 10.9% of all Web usage and Windows represents about 86.8% of all Web usage.

The report did say that since the launch of Windows 7, Windows has been steady, but declined a little, since Apple sold 3.36 million Macs this past holiday season.

Mac OS X grew 7% between December and January and Windows grew 0.9% in the same timeframe.

Quantcast also posted a Mac OS X version share, revealing that Mac OS X Leopard is the most popular OS X version to date. Leopard represents 52.1% of all Mac users. However, Snow Leopard represents about 27.3% of all Mac users, and adoption of Apple's newest OS is rapid. 17.2% of all Mac users are running Tiger and 3.4% were on an earlier version of that.

On the Microsoft side, Windows XP represents 51.8%, Windows Vista with 37.4 and Windows 7 represents 10.2% of all Windows users.

Palm webOS 1.4 update available to Sprint customers

A few days back, we reported that Sprint posted a blog post, which was then removed, confirming that the network would be receiving the Palm webOS 1.4 update last night. This turned out to be true, and customers can now have features like video recording, Flash, enhanced message notifications and performance and stability upgrades.

The update weighs in at 39 MB and will be downloaded when the user is connected to a high-speed network and when the device is idle. The update is not available to Verizon Wireless, Bell and Telcel customers yet, but Palm says they will be receiving the update "soon."

How do schools use laptop webcams to spy on students

Last week, we reported on the shocking events that were happening at Lower Merion High School District in Pennsylvania, PA. The FBI later announced that they will begin a criminal investigation on the issue.

Students that had school-issued laptops were being spied on using the webcam on the computer. This had repordedly been happening for the past 14 months, but was recently discovered when a school punished a student named Blake Robbins for "improper behavior in his home," with the Vice Principal even providing a photo as evidence. A lawsuit on behalf of all students with school-issued laptops has been filed.

The school responded to all of the reports, saying that the feature was installed to find a stolen laptop and to return it to the student. The school apparently remotely activated 42 webcams on student laptops.

The video below shows how the school connects to the webcam, what they do and why. They can see all the applications and webpages the students have open and monitor the student's computer usage. The choice is yours, was this really a way to get back a stolen laptop, or is it a technology that violated students privacy at home?

EU says Google must remove Street View images after just 6 months

The European Union has issued a statement today saying that Google must remove all Street View images within 6 months after being posted, instead of the current 12 month policy. Every 12 months, Google goes around the world and will take new Street View pictures for Google Maps, but now they must do the same process every 6 months. According to the EU's Article 29 Data Protection Working Party, Google must cut this in half, as 12 months is a ‘disproportionate’ length of time. The EU also stated that Google must be more open to letting people know where their vehicles with cameras are located at any given time to protect people's privacy. It does not seem likely that Google will follow this because there will be a whole lot of people chasing after the vans to get inside the picture. Google will most likely have to hire more drivers, or cut down in the locations that Street View supports to be able to comply with these new guidelines from the EU.

Windows 6.5 is Windows Mobile Starter Edition

ZDNet has confirmed that Windows Mobile 6.5 will become Windows Mobile Starter Edition when the Windows Phone 7 Series launches sometime near the holidays. Windows Mobile Starter Edition will be a cheaper alternative than the Windows Phone 7 Series, especially for developers.

When asked what features would be removed to make Windows Mobile 6.5 a "Starter Edition," Microsoft responded that 3G support will be removed, but EV-DO will stay. No more information in available at this time, but we will keep you updated.

Associated Press announces iPad application

The Associated Press announced today that they are planning on developing an iPad application. The application will be the debut for the company's new "AP Gateway" unit that will focus on getting news content on mobile devices, the first being the iPad. The application will focus on local news, but also give worldwide news as well. It also appears that the iPad application will be subscription-based, with no announced price yet. However, an Associated Press executive said that the application might very well be free at launch.

"The group already has drawn up plans to charge for an application designed for the iPad, a 1.5-pound tablet computer that Apple Inc. is scheduled to release at the end of March. The price of the application has yet to be determined, although it might start free, according to Jane Seagrave, a senior vice president who becomes the AP's chief revenue officer Monday.

Much like the AP Mobile news product, the iPad app will show custom packages of headlines, stories, photos and video from the AP and from newspapers and broadcasters that choose to contribute their content and share the revenue. AP members also could use the same system to offer their own iPad apps that show their own content." There is a similar pricing dispute that is reportedly happening at The New York TImes as well, over what the newspaper giant should charge for subscription for their upcoming iPad application. AP currently has an iPhone application available in the App Store (free).

Microsoft says there is a fake version of “Security Essentials 2010″ going around

Microsoft is beginning to warn users of a fake anti-virus application called "Security Essentials 2010," which is almost the same name as the company's own security suite. The fake anti-virus software is actually the trojan Win32/Fakeinit. When installed, the trojan will stop processes, make small changes to the Registry and change the user's wallpaper to this:

According to Microsoft Security Agent, David Woods:

"Well, it had to happen eventually. One of the oldest tricks used by rogue antivirus products is to use a similar name as, or have a similar look and feel to, legitimate security software. It’s been commonplace for them to mimic the Windows Security Center. So it was inevitable that the day would arrive when a rogue would masquerade as something similar to Microsoft Security Essentials. If anything, it surprises me a little that it’s taken so long."

Microsoft has said that the genuine Security Essentials software will remove the trojan if found.

Nexus One coming to Verizon Wireless on March 23rd?

According to Neowin, multiple sources are now reporting that Google's Nexus One will be coming to Verizon Wireless on March 23rd.

The Nexus One, originally released on T-Mobile in January, has passed FCC inspection for use on Verizon's CDMA network and according to a Google worker, it will be made available on Verizon Wireless on March 23rd. At the time of launch in January, Google announced that the Nexus One would be coming to Verizon Wireless sometime this Spring. The pricing is not yet known, but it is expected to be similar to the current T-Mobile pricing. A report today has also said that Google is expecting to release the Nexus One in Europe this April. Image courtesy of Neowin

Apple files trademark for ‘Magic Trackpad’

According to Patently Apple, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a trademark filed earlier this week by Apple for the term "Magic Trackpad". The trademark application requests registration in International Class 009 under multiple categories under computer hardware and software, as well as several types of peripheral devices. International Class 009 includes the following categories:

Computers; computer software; computer operating system software; computer utility software; computer hardware; computer peripherals; scanners; touchscreens; keyboards; computer mice; trackballs; trackpads; touchpads; light pens; joysticks; game controllers; graphics tablets; digitizers; cables and connectors; flash memory drives; USB drives; solid state storage devices; barcode readers. It is still unknown whether this could be a new type of trackpad coming to Apple's notebook lines soon or if it could be an entirely new product.

Nintendo DSi XL hits store shelves on March 28th

Nintendo officially unveiled the DSi XL on Wednesday. It is supposed to be the next in the DS/DSi line and the company boasts about the two screens on the device that are 93% larger than the DS Lite. The DSi XL is going to have a retail price of $190 when it hits store shelves on March 28th (in burgundy and bronze).

Apple says 27-inch iMac display issues solved

According to Gizmodo, Apple has announced that they have fixed all display issues with the 27-inch iMac.

"We've addressed the issues that caused display flickering and yellow tint. Customers concerned that their iMac is affected should contact AppleCare."

The 27-inch iMac has been experiencing issues ever since its launch in October. Some iMacs showed up dead-on-arrival or with cracked screens. If the customer was lucky to not have these issues, they could have a flickering issue or a yellow tint on the screen.

Apple has released two display updates to attempt and address the issues. It seems like the second one helped many users with screen flickering. Also, Apple has reportedly been offering customers a 15% refund for the purchase price if their iMac was experiencing the display issues. Finally, it seems like shipping times have improved, coming from 3 weeks to 3-5 business days.

Nexus One coming to Europe in April?

According Telgraph, the Google Nexus One smartphone will be coming to Vodafone network in Europe this April. The device can be purchased from Vodafone with no contract, similar to the setup in the United States.

The April release makes sense as there is a rumored Verizon Wireless launch coming late March.

Motorola Devour, Fails to Impress?

If you didn't already know, Verizon recently announced a new phone, the moto devour. With a metal body, slide out keyboard, and a superbowl commercial with Megan Fox, you would figure this device would be fairly well received. Although, after reading up on my morning tech news, I quickly realized that no one is particularly excited about this device. At least this is what comments on: Engadget, Gizmodo, Phonedog, Youtube, and Twitter all suggest.

Of the comments most people stated that they though the device was: ugly, bulky, had a small screen, ect. So although, I haven't seen one up close I can at least guess that this is going to be accepted by girls and no one else will really buy it. But, thats not to say there aren't any good things about the phone. For example its metal unibody design is awesome and will probably urge other manufactures to use metals for their devices, it is a great advancement for MotoBlur, and continues to show us that Motorola is very innovative and continues to be.

But, what I really liked about the device was that it proved that, Megan Fox can't sell a phone.

Moto Devour a success or a failure?

Verizon HTC Incredible close to release?

If you saw any videos on Youtube about the HTC Incredible, it was knowingly going to Verizon Wireless, but most everyone still wants to know when.

The Incredible has found its way into Verizon's Inventory System
(Image Courtesy of BerryScoop)

Usually after it is entered into their inventory, it is usually release very quickly afterwards.

Comment Question
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1. Are you planning on purchasing an Incredible?
   

Moto Cliq users experiencing problems

Motorola released their update to the Motorola Cliq (1.3.18) which improved several things, but I wont get into the technical specs of the update.

Some users are complaining that after they reboot their Cliq from installing the update, their phone is telling them that it is December 31, 1969 at 7:00 P.M in the Gregorian cal­endar format.

Users have tried a master reset and it has sadly made it worse, keeping the 1969 year and not allowing them to log into MotoBlur or Activate their device.

Motorola and TMobile are aware of the problems and are working quickly to get it repaired, but whatever you do....DON'T Master Reset your Cliq. It will only make it worse.

Comment Question
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1. Have you had this problem with you TMobile Motorola Cliq?