Microsoft's Xbox 360 game console will be US$50 cheaper starting Wednesday, confirming fuzzy snapshots of leaked advertisements posted by bloggers in late July.

A July 1 decree that opens most cable systems to any set to box maker can change the industry. The new rules make cable companies bundle all propriety technology on "cable cards" that fit in and work with any compatible device. A viewer who has such a device can rent a cable card when he buys cable service. The card will let his box unscramble the signal.

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Microsoft has slashed the price on its Windows Vista operating system in China by more than half, in a bid to curtail piracy, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

President Bush decided not to veto a US International Trade Commission ruling barring the importation of new 3G cell phones that contain Qualcomm chips found to have infringed on a Broadcom patent.

An outfit called SP Technologies has sued Apple over the touch-screen keyboard at the heart of the iPhone, claiming Apple is infringing on a patent held by SP Technologies for a similar keyboard.

ThinkPad customers will soon have a new configuration option, as Lenovo and Novell have announced that the popular laptops will begin shipping with SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 (SLED) preinstalled.

Haier, which has made its presence felt in the Malaysian market with a wide range of household appliances, is mulling plans to introduce its own laptops in Malaysia.

Nokia and Microsoft have extended their cooperation to include support for Microsoft PlayReady technology into the Nokia S60 and Series 40 mobile device platforms.

"...The Bluetooth SIG anticipates silicon vendors such as Broadcom, CSR, Infineon and Texas Instruments will have Bluetooth v2.1+ EDR chips available immediately and that the first products will follow by the end of the year...."

Sources close to company have confirmed that AMD has changed its strategy. Unlike previous years, the company will switch to a new mode and plans to release a new high-end graphics solution every six months.

AMD can make the Kuma dual-core processor work at 1.6 GHz at a mere 0.94V...

Lenovo Group's fiscal first-quarter profit jumped more than tenfold on higher PC shipments as the company's ongoing efforts to cut costs and operate more efficiently yielded results.

"...HSSL, the joint venture between Hynix and STMicroelectronics, and Hynix Semiconductor Manufacturing China have signed a memorandum of understanding to sell the equipment of the C1 line of the Wuxi plant to CSMC...CSMC is in an expanding phase and our purchasing department is continuously looking for and sourcing additional equipment ..."

"...Samsung said on Friday 1/3 of its lines at a chip plant near Seoul were down after a transformer malfunctioned on August 3 afternoon...ome of the six chip production lines that were affected were halted..."

Google has developed a prototype cell phone that could reach markets within a year, and plans to offer consumers free subscriptions by bundling advertisements with its search engine, email and Web browser software applications, according to a story published today in The Wall Street Journal.

Flat-screen maker LG.Philips LCD will start mass producing larger TV panels from its planned next-generation line in 2009, which will focus on enhanced picture quality, a company executive said.

Pioneer recenly announces FY2007 first quarter sales results and expects PDP TV unit price to rise 3%.