It's not uncommon for game industry icons to express their preferences for or against something. This time around, it's American electrical engineer and entrepreneur Nolan Bushnell. Simply put, Bushnell believes that typical in-game advertising doesn't work. More on his opinion in the full article after the jump.

This shouldn't be surprising, folks, but we know not everyone's inclined to take in a daily dose of business trivia so here's a little primer: EA was just like any other small-time company back in their infancy. In order to build up their portfolio they needed a third-party investment firm to financially back them. We know that EA is at its prime time today, so would it be startling to see ol' Bing (a.k.a. William Gordon), co-founder of EA, joining the venture capital firm that gave them a chance to shine? Nope, not at all. More at the full story.

A new technology being developed by IBM can potentially expand your favorite media storage device to over 500,000 songs or around 3,500 movies. Using a special "racetrack" memory technology, the new storage device will have the capability to store more data in the same amount of space possible with lightning fast boot times and lower production costs. For more details regarding this new technology, read more about it in our full article.

As Apple's MacWorld Expo draws near, more reports have been made regarding mysterious versions of MacBooks sporting a new "metallic-grey color" and were described to be distinctively  "thinner" than the laptop's usual models.

Is this our first glimpse into Apple's introduction for the MacWorld Expo next year? More details at the full article.

Reginald Fils-Aime, President and Chief Operating Officer of Nintendo of America, recently reaffirmed the company's commitment to players during a small event held in Redwood City that was meant to usher in Nintendo's move of select US operations to Silicon Valley. Mr. Fils-Aime gave his speech to an audience of journalists and CEOs from various game developing and publishing companies.

The basic theme of his speech? That everyone's a gamer at heart.

An important part of Reggie's speech after the jump!

Nothing is more annoying than an unwanted wake-up call in the middle of the night. This seems to be exactly the case with UniquePhone's announcement to deliver the promised software unlock for the iPhone.

An update on their iPhone Unlocking site says that a Silicon Valley law firm called them in the middle of the night to "slow down" the release of the software to users everywhere, even after their bold announcement of saying that they already have the software ready and good to go. Already this has caused a lot of clamor everywhere about the veracity of the company's promise to deliver the goods. Apparently, AT&T isn't the only one annoyed with this news.

A press release was already issued shortly after, explaining the hold on the software release until an assessment regarding the potential legal action it may cause. So until any new developments come up, anyone who wants their iPhone unlocked for whatever reason will just have to either look for a different alternative or just hold on to their hats and hope for the best.

Microsoft is among the front runners in a bidding battle to acquire a 27-acre site that Nintendo is putting up for sale in Redmond, Seattle. The land can accommodate some 550,000 square feet of office space and is conveniently situated near other Microsoft sites.

The land is situated just north of Nintendo's North American headquarters, and accessible by state route 520 on the city, making it a prime spot to do some serious business. Nintendo is reportedly limiting the space it occupies because of moves to relocate key personnel to Silicon Valley and New York where they can better serve projects.

Microsoft, on the other hand, is sticking with its Seattle stronghold and is looking to add more power to its work force. To compensate for the increase in employees, the computing giant wants to build more installations in strategic sites such as the one that Nintendo is giving up.

Redmond deputy planning director Jim Roberts explains that there's a lot of interest besides Microsoft for the site. "If you think about the Overlake area, there's not many big pieces like that left," he says.

In a Silicon Valley conference, Skype co-founder Niklas Zenstrom revealed that the global service will be introducing money transfer options within a month in conjunction with Pay Pal.

 

Both Pay Pal and Skype are owned by eBay and that makes the money transfer service proposal all the more feasible.  Using Pay Pal's core mechanics and Skype's 171-million strong network across the planet, users will soon find it easier than ever to send money wherever needed.

The function also makes it more handy to use Skype as there will be less multitasking and open windows involved once the new feature is introduced to the current one.

"They won't advertise your album unless you give them extra material" Lily Allen says of Apple, the computer company behind iTunes. Apparently, Apple has pushed the outspoken British pop singer to quickly produce a new version of her song for sale on iTunes. The musician responsible for the hit single Smile wont' let the Silicon Valley giant get away with it - she now plans to give Apple a "rubbish remix".

Record labels pay for good in-store placement of albums, a practice which Apple shuns. Instead, Apple wants to enable unbiased music recommendations. In order to gain visibility on the front page of iTunes, labels must negotiate with Apple. Apple offers good iTunes placement to artists who offer exclusive material.

But such good placement, as offered by Apple, is the key. We heard from Wall Street Journal that during a week when an album is featured on the iTunes home page, it can sell about five times more copies than its average sales when that album is not featured. Torn between two figures we really like: Apple and Lily Allen, we wonder whose side of the story holds more weight.

Organizer giant Palm has felt the pressure of Apple's impending release of its new iPhone and hired the maestro of interface design Paul Mercer to spearhead its counter-thrust.

Industry insiders believe that the battle in the cellphone business has shifted from hardware to software, and Palm believes that hiring Mercer will breathe new life on its upcoming products to replace its aging palm OS used in most of its products.

The move was determined when Apple decided to come up with its own organizer/ cellphone hybrid called iPhone, which clearly poses a danger to Palm's own line of hybrids. The cause for concern may have been Apple's reputation for creating innovative products.

And though the iPhone is still months away from shipping, Palm has wasted no time in acquiring the services of the 39-year old Mercer who is an industry veteran and has worked with Apple, along with other independent firms that he himself founded. Paul Saffo, a Silicon Valley forecaster said, "he’s the best of the best in this space."

Palm has been the pioneer in the handheld industry, but has been on its toes in recent years as challenges came left and right in the form of industry hard-hitters Sony Ericsson, Nokia and Microsoft.