GTA IV Super Sales Figures

For those in the games industry there was little doubt that Grand Theft Auto IV would be absolute blockbuster. Current figures suggest that the title has sold more that six million copies in only a week of release. This makes it one of the biggest video games ever to hit the shelves and more widely, one of the best opening weeks for any title, music and film included.

The game will generate around half a billion dollars, a windfall for the development company. It is the largest launch week in interactive entertainment giving some representation of how popular the games market is in the current climate. While everyone expected the game to be a success, sales figures of this magnitude were in no way predicted; for industry commentators it is simply astonishing.

Search Engine Optimisation Glossary

For the lay reader the world of search engine optimisation can be confusing and befuddling. Those who work in the optimisation industry tend to bandy around terms that to the outsider can seem like a foreign language. Here is a brief glossary of the terminology used in the search engine optimisation industry most often.

Anchor Text

The anchor text is a phrase or word that is likely to be entered by searchers when using a search engine; it is also referred to as a search query. Naturally, the more popular the anchor text, the harder it is to undergo a process of optimisation for it; as it is harder to achieve high rankings for more competitive phrases.

Cloaking

IPhone To Be Sold In Ten Countries, By Vodafone

It is a pretty phone; it has fabulous features that only someone with a dab-hand in technological advancements could handle. However, for the simple layperson like myself, all of the extra features would only go wasted should it land in my possessions and should therefore be promoted in ten other countries – such is the new announcement made on Tuesday (or thereabouts) from Vodafone, as they aim to sell the IPhone across ten different countries later this year.

People in Australia, Egypt, Czech Republic, Italy, Greece, India, Turkey, South Africa, New Zealand and Portugal will have the opportunity to buy the IPhone using the Vodafone network. Unfortunately, Vodafone has stated that this will not be sold in the UK and Germany – bad news for those staying loyal to their Vodafone service provider. O2 and T-Mobile, however, still hold exclusive agreement with Apple on selling within the UK.

Xbox goes Blu Ray

Rumours that have been abound in the last few months concerning the Xbox peripheral to allow Blu-Ray play seem to be finally confirmed. This is despite original denials by Microsoft officials that a peripheral would be forthcoming. Microsoft in fact denied even exploring the options of creating a specialist add-on drive to utilise Sony’s Blu Ray technology.

The original thinking had been that the Xbox would not have needed an add-on to utilise the physical entertainment medium, as the Xbox live system allowed users to download all of the high definition media they may need. Microsoft had previously presumed that an add-on for Blu-Ray play would have just added clutter; seemingly however, this was all just smoke and mirrors as the company has given a September release date for the new piece of kit.

Instant Internet Access Not Just A Pipe Dream

You know how infuriating it is when, first thing in the morning you arrive at work, turn on your computer and sit for what feels like an age waiting for it to ‘fire up’. Or you’re at home in the evening and want to just quickly check something out on the net. Waiting for the computer to wind itself up feels like it takes an age!

All that could be coming to an end with a new component that promises to make micro chips smaller and more efficient. ‘Memristors’ were first created in the early Seventies and made up the fourth building block of basic circuits after capacitors, resistors and inductors.
What’s new and so exciting about this new development is the memristors ability to retain information after the power source has been removed. This promises to revolutionise computer memories, giving them the power to immediately return to where they were before being switched off.

Instead Of An A-Star For Your GCSE Project, How About An Award

Young people really are the people of tomorrow, who says the future is bleak?! It seems that there are some bright young stars shining above the rest, with one of the young stars winning an Award for her GCSE project! Ruth Amos, from Sheffield, designed and created a new device to help people using stair lifts. This simple horizontal hand rail, which is attached to the wall or banister serves as a useful purpose for people to hold onto when climbing up or down the stairs.

The StairSteady rail was presented at the Naidex 2008 annual disability event held at Birmingham. Ruth was inspired to create the device after talking to her teacher, whose father had recently suffered from a stroke. This in turn sparked an idea to use this device for other people with disabilities.

New Mesh Raises Questions For Developers

Web developers are questioning the latest move and commitment of openness in Microsoft’s Live Mesh service that is created to bridge the offline and online world. This new service was introduced at Web 2.0, which is going to ease user’s device and applications to create a smooth framework. Microsoft has claimed that this will be launched for use on Windows, Mac and mobile phones, and will be using open standards.

However, developers are requesting more information and detail about the commitment for openness. Certainly, some entrepreneurs feel that this has promise, but the concern is over openness and Microsoft’s ability to control the volume of people’s information. “It’s what they have always been trying to do which is own the pie. I think the main thing with Live Mesh is to benchmark all the talk about “open”, states developer JC Herz of Batch Tags.

Wii Fit as the protector of gaming rights

Nintendo’s latest offering is hailed to be a revolution in the gaming industry, well at least by its creators. There is little doubt that the idea of a game that actively works towards making the gamer healthier is novel, but a debate has been sparked in gaming circles over whether Wii Fit even classifies as a game.

Those on the negative side claim Wii Fit is more of a simulation than a game in the proper sense. Utilising a balance board that can work out your body mass index and measures your movements to ensure you are working out properly it is a clever interactive device. But is this device really a game controller, or simply a glorified sit up mat? Doubtlessly we will have to wait for future releases to really answer this question.

Ecocho and the wider issue of manipulating eco guilt

While we all have a semblance of eco-awareness, how far does this awareness go to changing our activities from day to day? One search engine based in Australia obviously thought that people’s eco-guilt would lead them to using their ‘green’ search engine. Unfortunately, this new site has been kicked out of Google for using the search engine giant’s technology and advertising system.

This eco-friendly search engine named Ecocho.com.au was launched just one week ago. Its specialist slant was that for every thousand searches, two trees would be planted. Seemingly however the site acted purely as a gateway for searchers to use Yahoo or Google as Ecocho used their results and advertising layout.

Sony’s PlayTV now available for pre-order

It seems as if finally the much heralded PS3 system will become the all encompassing entertainment platform it set out to become. The release of the PlayTV gadget has been eagerly awaited by owners of the system as it will turn this gaming centre into a digital television recorder. News is slowly filtering through of a release date for this impressive gadget; while there has been no official word from Sony, makers of the PS3, Amazon have stated that it will be released at the end of July.

Many however will be sceptical, the online retailer has a history of unrealistic release dates and this latest development may prove to be just that. The gadget will however be hotly anticipated, with a dual TV tuner allowing users to record from all current Freeview channels it should be classed as a must buy for PS3 owners.