Apple getting ready for "product transition"

Let the guessing begin.

Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer's decision to warn financial analysts Monday that Apple's fourth-quarter gross margins will be negatively impacted by a "product transition" should be enough to get the rumor wheels turning: Of course, it doesn't take all that much. The remark came within yet another Apple's earnings report that produced stellar numbers for the previous quarter but an outlook below what Wall Street had been expecting.

Oppenheimer deftly avoided several questions from analysts who tried to get a little more information on just what that "product transition" might involve. He used the exact same phrase last year in July during an earnings call to warn analysts of pretty much the exact same situation: that the transition would cause lower profits for the upcoming quarter. The result? New iMacs in August, and the iPod touch in September.
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Games for Windows Live goes free

Update:
We found a press release in an unexpected Inbox folder that gives a few more details on Microsoft's announcements. All of the user-matching, cross-platform multiplayer, and other formerly-premium services via the Games for Windows Live Gold Membership should now be free (effective today, says Microsoft). The digital distribution comes this fall, along with a revamped user interface.

The release also features the official announcement from Microsoft of DirectX 11. Features include support for GPU computing, and better use of multicore CPUs, among others.

Original post:
The basic news is that Microsoft has announced it will be adding digital distribution to its Games for Windows Live program. It also plans to shed all user fees connected to its Games for Windows Live, whose Gold membership level previously required a US$7.99-a-month fee for some advanced services.
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Dark Knight available online over opening weekend

Hollywood can celebrate that pirated copies of this year's hit films aren't showing up on major Internet sites.

Too bad for the studios' enforcement efforts that some can still be found on smaller sites.

At the same time that the new Batman film, The Dark Knight, was drawing record audiences (the movie is estimated to have earned more than US$155 million over the weekend), several copies of the film was available online.

A half hour after returning home from watching the film on Saturday night, I got home to find my colleague, Elinor Mills, has sent me a link that apparently originated at VideoEmbedder.com. Sure enough, a grainy and dark copy of the hit film was available for viewing and for download. It was still up on Sunday but could not be accessed on Monday.

Finding newly released movies is nothing new. In the past, it was easy to find them at Google Video and other video-sharing sites. Michael Moore's documentary, Sicko, was posted to the Web even before it had debuted in theaters. Following the appearance of Sicko on the Web, some argued that movies posted to the Internet can help boost interest in a film.
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Creative offers quick audio upgrade with Sound Blaster Play!

Adding a Sound Blaster sound card to your PC really doesn't get any easier than this. The Creative Sound Blaster Play! plugs straight into the USB port and comes with onboard stereo headphone out and microphone in jacks. Its compact thumbdrive-like size also makes it a simple audio solution, particularly for notebook users.

But while Creative's Sound Blaster Play! may look similar to some of the other USB audio solutions out there, it has some neat tricks up its sleeves. For one, it has Creative's Multimedia Surround Sound (CMSS) function which upconverts stereo content into surround audio. It also promises enhanced audio quality and surround sound in games with its built-in support for EAX Advanced HD 4.0 and Creative ALchemy software.

The Creative Sound Blaster Play! is expected to launch in Singapore from mid August at S$29 (US$19.41). It can only be used with Windows XP and Vista systems and requires a USB 1.1 port. We are still waiting for Creative to confirm the other Asian markets where the device will be launched.

Update: The Sound Blaster Play! will be available in most Asian countries before the end of July, with the exception of Japan where it has been launched since the first week of July.

Laptop bags could shorten airport wait

Hey, we're ready to cheer anything that can move travelers through an airport security queue faster--and a new line of "checkpoint-friendly" laptop cases by Anaheim, Calif.-based Mobile Edge falls under that rubric. Owners of the ScanFast bags don't have to dig their computers out of their cases. Airport screeners can X-ray the machine while it's still inside.

The bags come in briefcase, backpack, and messenger-bag styles; all are compliant with Transportation Security Administration guidelines. The collection is set to launch in late summer, with a tentative price range of US$79.99 to US$99.99.

The ScanFast bags, of course, aren't the first entry to the speed-security-lines genre. Among other offerings, there's the LapStrap, a laptop case that's essentially all strap and no bag.

Via CNET Crave

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