Xbox to stop making HD DVD add-on

About 300,000 of the HD DVD add-ons have been sold

Microsoft has decided to stop making the HD DVD add-on for its Xbox 360 games console after Toshiba abandoned the high definition DVD format.

Toshiba estimated last week that about 300,000 of the add-ons had been sold.

Microsoft was one of the key backers for the HD DVD format, competing with Blu-ray, which was the format available in Sony's rival PlayStation 3 console.

Microsoft said it would continue to provide warranty support for the $130 (£115 in the UK) HD DVD add-on.

Last week, Toshiba said it would stop production of HD DVD players and recorders after major film studios decided to back Sony's Blu-ray format instead.

Toshiba said the tipping point came last month when Warner Brothers decided to release its movies only in Blu-ray.

The Xbox add-ons sold represented 30% of the one million HD DVD devices that were sold worldwide.

That compares unfavourably with the 10.5 million PS3s sold by Sony, which come with a built-in Blu-ray drive.

Anti-depressants 'of little use'

Anti-depressant prescription rates have soared

New generation anti-depressants have little clinical benefit for most patients, research suggests.

A University of Hull team concluded that the drugs helped only a small group of the most severely depressed.

Marjorie Wallace, head of the mental health charity Sane, said that if these results were confirmed they could be "very disturbing".

But the makers of Prozac and Seroxat, two of the commonest anti-depressants, said they disagreed with the findings.

A spokesman for GlaxoSmithKline, which makes Seroxat, said the study only looked at a "small subset of the total data available".

Reviewed data

And Eli Lilly, which makes Prozac, said that "extensive scientific and medical experience has demonstrated it is an effective anti-depressant".

Patients are advised not to stop taking their medication without first consulting a doctor.

In total, the Hull team, who published their findings in the journal PLoS Medicine, reviewed data on 47 clinical trials.

They reviewed published clinical trial data, and unpublished data secured under Freedom of Information legislation.

They focused on drugs in the class known as Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), which work by increasing levels of the mood controlling chemical serotonin in the brain.

These included fluoxetine (Prozac), venlafaxine (Efexor) and paroxetine (Seroxat) - all commonly prescribed in the UK.

There seems little reason to prescribe anti-depressant medication to any but the most severely depressed patients Professor Irving Kirsch University of Hull

The number of prescriptions for anti-depressants hit a record high in England in 2006 - even though official guidance stresses they should not be a first line treatment for mild depression.

The researchers found that even the positive effects seen on severely depressed patients were relatively small, and open to interpretation.

The seemingly good result came from the fact that these patients responded less to dummy pills (placebos) which they were given during trials, rather than any notable response to anti-depressants.

Lead researcher Professor Irving Kirsch said: "The difference in improvement between patients taking placebos and patients taking anti-depressants is not very great.

"This means that depressed people can improve without chemical treatments.

"Given these results, there seems little reason to prescribe anti-depressant medication to any but the most severely depressed patients, unless alternative treatments have failed to provide a benefit."

Professor Kirsch said the findings called into question the current system of reporting drug trials.

Revieweing guidance

Dr Tim Kendall, deputy director of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Research Unit, has published research concluding that drug companies tend only to publish research which shows their products in a good light.

He said the Hull findings undermined confidence in the ability to draw meaningful conclusions about the merit of drugs based on published data alone.

He called for drug companies to be forced to publish all their data.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is currently reviewing its guidance on the use of antidepressants.

Marjorie Wallace of Sane commented: "If these results were upheld in further studies, they would be very disturbing.

"The newer anti-depressants were the great hope for the future.... These findings could remove what has been seen as a vital choice for thousands in treating what can be a life-threatening condition."

Japan blasts satellite into space

The launch is part of an ambitious space programme

Japan's space agency has launched an experimental communications satellite designed to enable super high-speed data transmission in remote areas.

An H-2A rocket carrying the satellite Kizuna was launched from the southern island of Tanegashima, about 1,000km (620 miles) south of Tokyo.

A ship entering restricted waters near the launch site slightly delayed the lift-off.

The launch had been postponed by a week because of a mechanical fault.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) said the satellite had separated from the rocket and successfully entered its intended orbit, 283km from Earth.

The agency said that with Kizuna, it hoped to enable data transmission of up to 1.2 gigabits per second at a low cost across Japan and in 19 different locations in South-East Asia.

Kizuna is also known as the Wideband Inter-Networking Engineering Test and Demonstration Satellite, or Winds.

Hi-definition TV broadcast

Jaxa developed Kizuna with another government agency, the National Institute of Information and Communication Technology, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

About 100 experiments will be conducted via the satellite, including a test broadcast of the next generation of high-definition television.

Jaxa spokeswoman Asaka Hagiwara said the total cost of the development, launch and operation of the satellite was estimated at 52bn yen (US$480m; £240m).

Saturday's launch is part of an ambitious space programme which sent Japan's first lunar probe into orbit around the moon last September.

Jaxa has said it wants to send astronauts to the moon by 2025, although Japan has not yet attempted manned space flight.

Computers 'spot Alzheimer's fast'

Alzheimer's can be difficult to diagnose

Computers can diagnose Alzheimer's disease faster and more accurately than experts, research suggests.

University College London researchers say their work may help ensure patients are diagnosed earlier, increasing the chances of effective treatment.

Their study, published in the journal Brain, found computers can identify brain damage caused by Alzheimer's with an accuracy as high as 96%.

At present a definitive diagnosis is usually only possible after death.

Alzheimer's is caused by the build up in the brain of plaques and tangles of brain tissue filaments, which causes tissue to start wasting away.

It is currently diagnosed using a combination of brain scans, blood tests and patient interviews, but distinguishing the disease from other forms of dementia is difficult, and time consuming, and the accuracy of diagnosis is only about 85%.

The new method works by teaching a standard computer the differences between brain scans from patients with proven Alzheimer's, and people with no signs of the disease.

The two conditions can be distinguished with a high degree of accuracy on a single clinical MRI scan.

Researcher Professor Richard Frackowiak said: "The advantage of using computers is that they prove cheaper, faster and more accurate than the current method of diagnosis.

"The new method makes an objective diagnosis without the need for human intervention.

"This will be particularly attractive for areas of the world where there is a shortage of trained clinicians and when a standardised reliable diagnosis is needed, for example in drug trials."

Speed important

Professor Frackowiak emphasised that as symptoms only emerge after a considerable amount of damage has already occurred in the brain it is important to make an accurate diagnosis early to improve the chances of effectively preventing further deterioration.

He said: "The next step is to see whether we can use the technique to reliably track progression of the disease in a patient.

"This could prove a powerful and non-invasive tool for screening the efficacy of new drug treatments speedily, without a need for large costly clinical trials."

Dr Susanne Sorensen, of the Alzheimer's Society, said: "Currently, MRI imaging is not routinely used in diagnosing the diseases causing dementia.

"This paper puts a strong case for the wider use of this technique."

Dr Sorensen said it was vital the National Dementia Strategy currently being produced by the government makes early diagnosis a high priority.

Rebecca Wood, of the Alzheimer's Research Trust, said: "This promising computer aided technique could act as a second opinion to increase the accuracy of a doctor?s diagnosis.

"However, this research is in the early stages and further analysis is required to understand the full benefits and accuracy of this technique and to see if it can be used to assess the effectiveness of new drugs."

It is estimated that over 700,000 people in the UK are currently living with dementia, of which Alzheimer's is the most common form.

Xbox to deliver community games

Little Gamers is one of the first community titles

Hobbyist game developers will be able to share their "home brew" titles over Microsoft's Xbox Live online service.

The company has launched a community driven service that will let amateur creators build and distribute games.

"Ten million people will be able to play your games," said Microsoft's Chris Satchell, at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.

Microsoft also announced a sequel to its four and a half million-selling game Gears of War.

"I think of this as gaming created by the community and managed by the community but enjoyed by everyone," said Mr Satchell of the new game distribution system.

'Democratisation'

Microsoft freely distributes tools, called XNA, which gives amateur developers the chance to build games for the Xbox 360 and for Windows.

But until now the games could not be shared. The tools have been downloaded 800,000 times and more than 400 universities worldwide are using the XNA package.

Mr Satchell said it was the democratisation of development and distribution.

"There are tens of thousands of developers out there chomping at the bit; we need to unlock that potential," said John Schappert, head of Live services.

Microsoft also announced that it was planning a revenue sharing model for the community games distributed over Xbox Live.

2007's best selling game revealed

Call of Duty 4 has won many awards since its launch

First-person-shooter Call of Duty 4 was last year's biggest selling game, according to sales figures.

It has sold more than seven million units since its launch in November, says its publisher Activision.

The claim is based on sales figures from research firms The NPD Group, Chart Track and The GFK Group.

The game was just one of a raft of high profile releases in 2007 including the third instalment of the Halo series for the Xbox 360.

Halo 3 earned more than £84m ($170m) in sales in its first 24 hours on release, according to Microsoft.

The game sets the record for the most money earned in a day by an entertainment product, topping figures set by film Spiderman 3.

'Perfect 10'

However, Microsoft recently announced that Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare had overtaken Halo 3 for the first time as the most popular game on Xbox Live, based on unique users.

And despite being released six weeks after Halo 3 it has also sold more units.

"We're very excited about this achievement especially given so many competitive titles this year," said Will Kassoy, of the game's publisher Activision.

Call of Duty 4 was developed by Infinity Ward and is available for PC, PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360.

It follows the story of a American and British Special Forces in Russia and the Middle East and won "Best Action game" at the video game industry's leading event, E3.

It also won the Spike TV awards for "Best Shooter" and "Best Military Game".

However, the title narrowly missed a perfect 10 out of 10 score in computer game's magazine Edge.

Halo 3, The Orange Box and Super Mario Galaxy all achieved a perfect score.

Labels deny deals on file sharing

Qtrax said it would carry tracks from "all the major labels"

Three major record labels have denied signing deals allowing their music to feature on a new file-sharing service offering unlimited free downloads.

The service, Qtrax, boasted it would carry up to 30 million tracks from "all the major labels".

But Warner, EMI and Universal all say they have not licensed their music.

Qtrax said it expected an agreement to be reached with Warner and that terms had been agreed with the others even if deals had not been formally signed.

Discussions ongoing

Qtrax aims to allow users to download music from the major labels for free, with advertising revenue used to pay licensing fees.

But Warner says it "has not authorised the use of our content on Qtrax's recently-announced service".

And Universal and EMI said discussions with Qtrax were still ongoing but that licensing deals were not in place.

A spokesman for Sony BMG - the other "big four" record label - was not available for comment.

Amazon store

Qtrax president Allan Klepfisz said that, while a deal with Warner had not been signed, he expected terms to be agreed "shortly".

"With everyone else, we have agreed on all terms," he said.

In some cases, deals had not been formally signed, he added.

Online retailer Amazon, meanwhile, has announced the international rollout of its digital music store.

The store, which is already operating in the US, allows customers to download music without any digital copying protection.

Millions of songs will be sold without Digital Rights Management (DRM) software, allowing - for example - customers to burn their own CDs freely.

Amazon says it is the only retailer to offer DRM-free MP3s for the four major record labels as well as thousands of independent record labels.

Data row hits mobile mast website

The future of a website which details all the mobile phone masts in the UK is in doubt following a row over divulging "commercially sensitive" information.

The Sitefinder website is maintained by media regulator Ofcom, following a request from the government in 2000.

But mobile firms stopped giving data to the site last year after Ofcom was told it must publish grid references of all the masts in a searchable database.

It is appealing against the Information Commissioner and Tribunal order.

Sitefinder also shows which type of mobile phone signal is being used, the name of the operator, the frequency of the signal and the height of the mast.

Ofcom was ordered by the Information Commissioner to publish all of that information, including the grid reference of each mast in the country, in a single database file.

Radio network

It followed more than two years of requests from Ian Henton, of Health Protection Scotland, for the data under the Freedom of Information Act.

The request was made under the "general right of access to information held by public authorities" as enshrined by the act.

Ofcom had argued that supplying such specific information could leave the emergency services radio network open to abuse.

It also pointed out that the data was owned by the mobile firms and was supplied voluntarily.

Ofcom explained that if the raw data were available it would provide mobile phone competitors with a "springboard" from which to discover the design of each operator's 2G or 3G radio networks.

But the Information Commissioner disagreed and said the data had to be released.

As a result, mobile phone firms have stopped supplying all data to Ofcom.

A spokeswoman for the Mobile Operators Association said putting all the requested data into the public domain would "entail serious competitive and commercial issues for each of the operators".

She added: "The operators fully support Sitefinder continuing to be publicly searchable by postcode, streetname, or locality."

She said the operators were in discussion with Ofcom and the government on the future provision of data to Sitefinder.

'Remain optimistic'

In a statement the regulator said it was concerned that Sitefinder "would cease to be a valuable tool for the public" unless the mobile firms could be persuaded to continue handing over data.

Ofcom is now appealing the Information Commissioner's decision in the High Court.

It said it was optimistic of persuading the operators to resume supplying information.

"We remain committed to providing the Sitefinder service to citizens and consumers," said the regulator.

Mr Henton was not immediately available for comment.

Search giants offer new features

Yahoo and Microsoft have announced upgrades to their search engines in efforts to gain ground on rival Google.

Yahoo's makeover will include features that allow users to refine searches as well as offering links to photos, music and video on the results page.

Microsoft's new-improved Live Search represents a "quantum jump in search results" according to the company.

Google remains the most popular net search engine, accounting for over half of web searches.

According to data from comScore Media Metrix, Google had a 56.5% share of the US search market, compared to Yahoo wtih 23.3% and Microsoft with 11.3%. In the UK, Google's dominance is even greater with around 75% market share.

Its dominance has forced rivals to relaunch, add new features and improve the relevance of its searches in an effort to compete.

Microsoft's improved Live Search - which will be available globally by the end of October - will offer a series of new featues, including a quadrupling of its index of searchable web pages as well as improving the way it delivers answers to specific questions.

It will draw on its three-dimensional mapping service for location-relevant searches as well as offering video, charts and pictures for relevant results.

Yahoo's upgrades include offering ways to phrase a search request as a user types into the query box. It will also use information from its calendar service, Upcoming.org, to highlight local events when relevant to requests.

Search rival Ask.com relaunched with a dramatically different interface in June, offering search suggestions and thumbnail pictures of listed sites.

There has been a rise in so-called metasearch engines which trawl through a variety of other search engines to find results.

Ultra-thin TV to hit the market

An ultra-thin television brighter and crisper than current generation screens will go on sale from Sony in December.

The TV uses organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) to produce the image, resulting in a screen only 3mm thick.

OLED screens are more energy efficient than LCD panels as they do not need a backlight to boost brightness.

But it is difficult and expensive to make large screens using the technology. Sony's first OLED TV costs £850 and has an 11in display.

OLED screens are brighter than LCD panels and also have better contrast ratio - resulting in sharper pictures.

The diodes emit a brilliant white light when attached to an electricity supply and are also being developed for use as replacements to traditional light bulbs.

Colour display

Different organic materials produce different colours and are combined to produce a colour display.

Sony has hailed the new television as a signal of its returning strength as a technology innovator.

"Some people have said attractive products are slow to come at Sony despite its technological strength," said Sony president Ryoji Chubachi at a news conference at its Tokyo headquarters.

I do believe this is a type of technology with very high potential Katsumi Ihara, Sony

He added: "I want this world's first OLED TV to be the symbol of the revival of Sony's technological prowess.

"I want this to be the flag under which we charge forward to turn the fortunes around."

Other firms are also working on OLED screens - Samsung has shown off a 40-inch TV using the technology - but Sony is the first to market.

"I don't think OLED TVs will replace LCD TVs overnight. But I do believe this is a type of technology with very high potential, something that will come after LCD TVs," said Sony executive deputy president Katsumi Ihara.

The new TV goes on sale in Japan on 1 December. There are no plans for a global launch as yet.

The OLED TV has a lifespan of about 30,000 hours of viewing - half that of Sony's LCD televisions.

Adobe challenges word on the web

Adobe has joined a growing list of firms offering web-based alternatives to conventional office programs.

The software developer has acquired the online word processor Buzzword, which allows users to create and share text documents on the web.

Similar programs are already offered as elements of other free office software suites from Google, ajax13 and Zoho.

Microsoft has also announced a new web feature for its Office suite which lets people access documents online.

Microsoft Office Live Workspace is currently being offered as free test, or "beta", software.

"Office Live Workspace will provide anywhere-access to Office documents, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint files," said Jeff Raikes, president of Microsoft's Business division.

"In other words, these documents will go wherever people go when they're away from their usual desktop."

People using the new feature will be able to post documents directly to an online workspace where friends or colleagues can be invited to collaborate on a document.

Web purchase

The new services from both companies are part of a wider trend to offer applications on demand and online. In addition, many companies also offer their standard applications for free.

"Companies are looking at this as a real paradigm change," said Michael Silver of analyst firm Gartner.

The market for these applications was still small, he said, particularly compared to the dominance of Microsoft Office on computer desktops. However, he said, that would start to change.

"Companies need to position themselves today to be leaders in the area as it develops."

Google has already established itself as one of the major players offering free programs that allow users to create documents, spreadsheets and presentations online.

While mainly aimed at individuals, Google also offers a business, or "enterprise", version that comes with technical support to help people use it.

Google has developed its software suite by acquiring companies such as the internet start-up Writely, which developed its word processing application.

Adobe appear to be following a similar path, having acquired Buzzword by buying its developer, Virtual Ubiquity.

The firm has offered the word processor as a limited trial since May 2007.

"We were inspired by the way today's youth spend their lives working and playing together online, and how this is influencing the way we all think about collaboration," said Rick Treitman, CEO of the firm.

Offline worlds

Although there is a move towards increasingly hosting applications online, many people still demand an ability to work with documents when there is no web connection.

In May this year, Google announced its Gears tool that allows users access to online data and applications inside a web browser even when the PC is offline.

Using Gears, online data that is usually held on web servers is stored on an individual's computer, and then synchronised when the user logs back on to the web.

The developers of the free online office package Zoho use Gears to allow users to work offline.

Adobe has said that a similar service will be available for Buzzword at a later date.

It also plans to integrate a new file-sharing feature called Adobe Share with the online word processor.

Share allows people to store up to 1GB of documents online or embed them in any web page, from which anyone can download and print a PDF.

The service is currently being offered as part of a trial.

Palm in red as iPhone grabs sales

The US handheld computer maker Palm has reported a three-month loss as the launch of Apple's iPhone hit sales of its own smartphones.

It made a net loss of $841,000 (£412,000) between June and August, compared with a profit of $16.5m in the same three months of 2006.

Palm warned on 19 September that it was likely to report a loss.

Analysts blamed it on increased competition from Apple and other manufacturers of high-end phones.

It is the first set of results since Palm sold one quarter of its shares to the private equity house Elevation Partners.

"As we move toward completing the recapitalization transaction with Elevation Partners, we are excited to strengthen our ability to accelerate Palm's growth in the future," said Palm's chief executive Ed Colligan.

Apple launched its iPhone in the US on 29 June.

Palm's Treo systems may also have been losing out to the Blackberry devices made by Research in Motion.

Palm recently withdrew its Foleo keyboard and monitor devices for its Treo smartphones.

But it has launched its Centro device, which is a lightweight, cheaper device, designed to compete with manufacturers such as Samsung.

Apple iPhone warning proves true

An Apple software update is disabling iPhones that have been unlocked by owners who wanted to choose which mobile network to use.

Earlier this week Apple said a planned update would leave the device "permanently inoperable".

Thousands of iPhone owners hacked their expensive gadget in order to unlock it for use with other mobile carriers and to run a host of unsupported programs.

There are also reports of the update causing issues with unaltered iPhones.

On Monday Apple issued a statement in which it said many of the unauthorised iPhone unlocking programs caused "irreparable damage" to the device's software.

The company said this would "likely result in the modified iPhone becoming permanently inoperable when a future Apple-supplied iPhone software update is installed".

That warning has now proved correct as many owners are reporting their phones no longer work following installation of the update.

Apple requires iPhone owners to take out a lengthy contract with AT&T in the United States but there are a number of programs on the net that unlock the device for use with other networks.

Some owners are reporting on technology blogs and Apple's own forums that the update is deleting contacts information, as well as photos and music, on iPhones that have not been modified in any way.

Skype founders quit as executives

The founders of Skype, Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, have resigned as executives of the web-based phone firm.

EBay has announced that it will cut up to $1.2bn (£590m) off the potential price it agreed to pay for Skype.

In September 2005 eBay agreed to pay $2.6bn for Skype and make further payments of up to $1.7bn based on Skype meeting various targets.

EBay will reduce the value of Skype on its books by $900m, a tacit recognition that it overpaid for the company.

"I think this is a testament that the Skype franchise is not worth as much as eBay originally thought," said Youssef Squali of the brokerage Jeffries & Co.

Skype generated only $90m in revenue in the three months to the end of June.

Other projects

Ebay said it might pay Skype shareholders another $195m, but only if it sells 50% or more of Skype before then end of March 2008.

Mr Zennstrom, who was chief executive of Skype, will become non-executive chairman and is expected to spend more time on other projects.

After the Skype sale, he and Mr Friis founded an online video company called Joost.com.

Joost, which had previously only been available by invitation, made its software freely available on Monday.

Apple warning on unlocked iPhones

Apple has warned that anyone attempting to unlock their iPhone to use with an unauthorised mobile network could find their phones irreparably damaged.

The company said that modified mobiles would become "permanently inoperable" once Apple updates were installed.

It follows a flurry of hacks claiming to unlock the phone, which is tied into the US AT&T network and O2 in the UK.

Apple has denied that it is "doing anything proactively to disable iPhones that have been hacked or unlocked".

Cat and mouse

The warning will be seen as a pre-emptive strike by Apple in the ongoing battle with hackers who are increasingly making unlocking software available to iPhone users.

Unlocking the phone allows iPhone owners to use the phone with the network operator of their choice rather than the authorised ones chosen by Apple.

IPHONE APPLICATIONS
iPhone RingToneMaker - one of several unauthorised programs allowing users to customise their own ringtones
Blackjack - first unauthorised casino game for the iPhone
Voicemail button - allows users to reinstall voicemail functionality for unlocked phones
Global Positioning System - not a feature on authorised phones but a hack exists to add Navizon Virtual GPS
Auto Sync - a program from StandAlone that allows users to automatically update addresses, calendar and bookmarks

"Apple is saying that if you buy the iPhone and unlock it, you could preclude yourself from getting new features. Apple updates might not install properly and you could find that you own a £270 brick," said Ben Wood, director of research firm CCS Insight.
At the launch of the iPhone in the UK, Apple boss Steve Jobs admitted that the firm was engaged in a "game of cat and mouse" with the hackers. He added jokingly: "We're not sure if we are the cat or the mouse."

Unlocking the phone has also created a growing market for unauthorised applications, including wallpaper and ringtones.

Mr Wood said he thought the way Apple was marketing the iPhone had made hacks inevitable.
"It set the challenge that the iPhone was unbreakable and the temptation was too much. A small army of hackers started work on this project as soon as it was launched," he said.

The fact that the iPhone can be bought off the shelf without signing up to a mobile contract, coupled with the decision to launch it with a single operator in the US and the UK, have added to the reasons why hackers are keen to open the platform up, said Mr Wood.

Apple is planning to release its next software update - which will allow users to purchase music from the iTunes store via a button on the iPhone - next week.

It has said it wants to "continuously delight" users with new iPhone features.

Google backs private Moon landing

Search giant Google is offering a $30m prize pot to private firms that land a robot rover on the Moon.

The competition to send a robot craft to the Moon is being run with the X-Prize Foundation.
To claim the cash, any craft reaching the lunar surface must perform a series of tasks such as shoot video and roam for specific distances.

Firms interested in trying for the prize have until the end of 2012 to mount their Moonshot.