Imagine connection speeds up to 60 times more than what we have today. That'd be a miracle, since we all know that even if the fastest pipelines are laid, there are still the limitations of electronics to deal with. Luckily, Australian scientists have found a way to drop electronics altogether, and make circuits fully photonic. Yes, photonic. The future awaits at the full story.

It's yet another case of Texas-filed lawsuits being slapped at large companies: Wi-LAN, an Ottawa-based company that provides and licenses patents for telecommunications equipment, has sued about 22 companies including Sony, Apple, Best Buy, Netgear, Belkin, HP, and Intel among many others.

Wi-LAN claims that the 22 companies have infringed on their WiFi and DSL patents, and that they are illegally using Wi-LAN's Wi-Fi and DSL technology in their devices such as wireless routers and modems. The company currently claims ownership on about 280 issued and pending patents.

Will this lawsuit hold water? Do check this space for more updates!

People who are always doing business on the go should check out Verizon's new product, the UM150 wireless USB Modem for Verizon Wireless. Compatible with most computing devices - desktops, notebooks, tablets, etc. - this small, wireless modem lets you get connected to Verizon Wireless high-speed broadband. The UM150 wireless modem is optimized for Verizon Wireless to ensure higher performance compared to the usual DSL connections.

When used with Verizon Wireless' EV-DO network, the UM150 has average download speeds of 600 kbps and average upload speeds of 500-800 kbps. The small wireless modem also features a retractable antenna as well as a Y-shaped extension cable for more flexibility.

The UM150 is priced at US$ 79.99 after a US$ 50 mail-in rebate, and comes with a two-year agreement with Verizon Wireless. It's certainly not free like Sony and T-Mobile's joint offer for the PSP, but still is a great deal.

Motorola has developed a WiMAX chipset for cellular phones. This is part of the company's move to create "controlled application centric architecture" which supports both 3G and 4G devices.

WiMax or Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access provides gadgets to transfer data wirelessly at a high speed comparable with a DSL or broadband connections. Cellular companies have been looking into this technology as a method to increase the bandwidth of phones allowing a variety of data intensive applications to be used.

The new chipset that Motorola has developed is said to be superior in many ways to the current 3G technology in cost, size, speed and most importantly, power. We won't have to wait long to get our hands on this kind of technology either since the company will be releasing new phones with this chipset by next year. Vice president for Platform Planning and Systems Architecture at Motorola Gary Koerper was understandable very excited about this saying:

The introduction of the WiMAX chipset modem solution marks yet another significant milestone in Motorola's end-to-end WiMAX solutions portfolio, allowing users to enjoy a superior Mobile Internet experience. With this chipset, Motorola has been able to redefine what is possible for WiMAX mobile devices, enabling a wider portfolio of devices, from voice-centric handsets to multimedia terminals.

In the past few years, Motorola has been very aggressive at marketing their WiMax infrastructure products. If the sales of these new WiMax enabled phone picks up, then their investments in developing this technology will be paying off with large dividends.

Sales and distribution network company AsianMedia is happy to announce that it has acquired the rights to NCSoft's MMO video game Lineage II for local distribution in the Philippines. This means that the said country, and nearby markets as well, will finally have their own dedicated servers.

Truth be told, the Philippines is one of the emerging "gaming countries" but it's currently being wrecked by piracy. Despite that however, don't assume that fans in the Philippines wouldn't be getting the same quality of service other top markets are enjoying. Information and Communications Technology Head Apol Salud shared,

The Lineage II servers are also tightly integrated with Telco grade network equipments from Cisco Systems to increase its efficiency in handling large amounts of data traffic. This allows "direct peering" with our partner telecommunication companies such as PLDT DSL, Globe DSL, Telekom Malaysia, and SingTel.

Aside from this, AsianMedia also noted that it will be putting up a 24/7 customer service center using servers from Dell to address regional and local gamers' concerns. According to AsianMedia Chief Operating Officer Ronald Allan Aquino mentioned that these kind of services will further endear Lineage II to the Southeast Asian player,

We have a great product in Lineage II and we've done everything we can to ensure that we provide the best gaming experience possible to those who log in to our servers to play. This is the kind of game where you simply cannot afford to be lagged if you expect to get anywhere in PvP or PvE scenarios.

 

Compared to the previous week, most Nintendo Hardware saw an increase in sales for the week ending April 22. The only other system to see an increase in sales is Sony's handheld, the PSP. The number of PSP units sold this week is even higher than the PS3s and the PS2s combined. Ogle the Media Create sales numbers yourself:

• DSL:  172,359  (+39,034)
• Wii: 77,913  (+2,154)
• PSP: 29,459  (+4,609)
• PS2: 11,398  (-1,474)
• PS3: 11,000  (-948)
• Xbox360: 2,307  (-593)
• GBASP: 860  (+206)
• GBM: 449  (-168)
• GC: 266  (+99)
• DS: 81  (-65)
• GBA: 55  (+29)

The bigger high-definition consoles, Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3, saw a dip in sales this week. PlayStation 2 sales also slowed down a bit.

What's good to see is that the PSP is getting some much needed love. We see Final Fantasy I 20th Anniversary Edition near the top of the Media Create Software charts (at number 5 actually). Perhaps that had something to do with it?

Finally, this week marks one of the biggest selling weeks for the DS lite since it sold past the 200,000 mark sometime last February, but you all know that everyone and their dog owns a DS lite in Japan, so that's like saying that the sky's blue.

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Please note that these numbers are slightly different from the ones released by VGChartz. These of are obviously from Media Create while the ones Gino D reported on, are from the site he sourced. Different as the numbers may be, the trends they displayed are quite similar. Ninty stuff are on the rise and so is the PSP while the PS3, the Xbox 360, and the PS2 aren't doing so well.

Part of being a warlock is being able to summon pets. The thing is, they don't seem to shut up or better yet, their masters can't make them shut up. Treerot from the WoW forums has had enough of the Succubus saying, "Let's get this party started."

Since the release of the Burning Crusade, the pet voices have been added. According to him, it has been unbearable. Other players joined in the fray with various pet complaints. Among the most annoying pets (Blizzard CM Nethaera agrees with this) are the Succubus and the Imp.

• First we'll start with a little fire. Am I bothering you, I'm not touching you, am I bothering you, I'm not touching you. Good - now you're hot, and bothered.
• Can't we all just get along?
• You know we've had some real good times together but I really think I should start seeing other warlocks. Just a little on the side. No no no it's not you, it's me. I just really need my space.

Oh-kay. They are actually quite amusing - for the first few days.  Some players who have been driven semi-insane by the racket are asking if there's an option to turn the voices off. They have tried everything from sending their pets into their certain doom to just turning the sound off. Even the felguard has something to say:

• I listen to all my records backwards. Sdrawkcab sdrocer ym lla ot netsil I.

Oh well, until they can find a way to turn it off - we'd have to be patient and turn off our speakers. Here are some unforgettable dialogues from Warcraft 3 courtesy of Grimhorn.

"*Horrible screams in the background.* And that concludes our demonstration. Any questions?"

"*Ring ring* Hello? GAH! For the last time, I'm a Dreadlord, NOT A DRUGLORD."

"Darkness...... needs to get DSL. His phone line is always busy."

 

As promised, here's an entirely different review for the M3 DS Simply than combining it with the R4 DS. I apologize for taking a long time to publish this review; however it is better late than never! These are in fact the same product, just different casing (sticker) and internal firmware. It all comes down to whether or not you like the R4's logo over the M3 DS Simply logo and their respected internal firmware. The M3 DS Simply offers an excellent solution to current NDS owners looking for a flashcart to enter the "scene" with. Read the review after the jump!

Click on the "Full Article" link below to read the full review.

Vist: [Official Website]

Buy: [M3 DS Simply Slot 1 (MicroSD) for Nintendo DS (Lite)]
Buy: [M3 DS Simply Slot 1 (1GB MicroSD) for Nintendo DS (Lite)]
Buy: [M3 DS Simply Slot 1 (2GB MicroSD) for Nintendo DS (Lite)]

Discuss: [Forum Discussion Topic]

It's 2007 ladies and gentlemen, and for the people in the Land of the Rising Sun, New Year has been a quite a spending spree. As Media-Create noted, the DSL and Wii sales figures constitute for almost 70% of the market sales. As they have conveniently jotted down:

• DSL -  344,878
• Wii - 195,331
• PSP - 118,186
• PS3 - 69,944
• PS2 - 52,037
• Xbox360 - 18,235

As usual, we can see that Nintendo is continuing to ride the waves of success even in its native country, with the DS Lite still maintaining its popularity. So, under the basis of this old belief that the beginning of the year will pretty much signify the trend for the rest of the year, is it possible that 2007 will be Nintendo's year? Or will the PSP or the PS3 bounce back to the top once other PS3 titles are released later this year?

Showtime is expanding their horizons with this recent move. The CBS Corporation owned cable channel is going to work with game publisher Broadband Libraries LLC to form "On Broadband". What is it? Think of GameTap and you'll probably have an idea what On Broadband would be about.

Anyhow, the company will be offering a private label game service for cable TV companies and DSL broadband providers come  the second quarter of this year. They will be offering a collection of games that can be downloaded or played online, some will be free and some will be available for purchase.

A subscription option will also be available. Aside from that, game-related content such as reviews and cheats and tricks will also be offered. In parting, Peter Von Schlossberg of Broadband Libraries has this to say:

Cable operators have tried to populate their home pages with any sort of entertainment they can...We believe (the service) should be in their name and be delivered to them and passed along to consumers as they like.