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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Another OLED keyboard--Optimus Pultius

If the Optimus Maximus keyboard is a little too over the top for you, the upcoming Optimus Pultius may be more suitable. Instead of a full keyboard, this one has only 15 keys, each sporting an individual OLED display which can be customized to show whatever graphic you want.

So, like what you see in the image above, you will be able to launch certain applications quickly or use some Photoshop shortcuts without memorizing the key combinations. The worth of something like that is that you'll have something cool on your desk--a one-up over your colleagues.

Though given the Maximus' US$1,877 whopper of a sticker shock, one-upmanship won't come cheap. Look out for it at the end of this year or early next year.

Via OhGizmo!

Gaming keyboard meets manual typewriter

Hardcore gamers are always looking for gear that will survive the most merciless abuse under their sweaty palms. So needless to say, tough keyboards are frequently at the top of the list.

But it isn't often that a new version borrows a technology from the distant past. The first gaming keyboard in OCZ's new Alchemy series features keys made from "100 percent rubber-coating for no-slip comfort", according to PClaunches. And in doing so, the Elixir is taking a tack used by old Royal and Underwood manual typerwriters, which occasionally sported rubber caps designed to endure the relentless pounding required to operate the primitive equipment.

Alchemy has included a few more modern features as well, such as 10 programmable keys--the same number provided by the lower-end version of the vaunted Optimus Maximus keyboard from Art Lebedev, by the way. We don't know how well the Elixir stacks up in that regard, but at US$30 vs. US$462, it might be worth a try just to see.

Via CNET Crave

More problems reported with Apple's MobileMe Mail

Apple continued to have problems with its new MobileMe service over the weekend and into Monday, with several users unable to access their email.

The Unofficial Apple Weblog has a summary of complaints from its readers up on its site, and I've been hearing from some CNET readers as well about problems accessing email accounts that were once known as .Mac, and now fall into the MobileMe service. Apple's discussion boards are filled with angry MobileMe customers who haven't been able to access their email all weekend.

Apple's MobileMe status page has a note up at the moment that says "1% of MobileMe members cannot access MobileMe Mail. We apologize for any inconvenience". It's just the latest in a series of problems that has plagued the launch of MobileMe, a US$99-a-year service that lets you access contacts, calendars, and other files from one computer on other Macs or PCs, as well as your iPhone.

Apple provided 30 free days of service as a result of the launch issues that also waylaid Apple's iTunes servers and disrupted the iPhone 3G launch. The company reports its third-quarter earnings later Monday, and it will be interesting to see if analysts push Apple on the problems it seems to have having with its Web infrastructure. An Apple representative did not immediately return an email seeking comment on what might be causing the problems.

Via CNET News

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