Google, which announced last month that it will begin building an ultra fast broadband network to service up to 500,000 customers around the United States, (with speeds advertised at about 100 times the current average speed for broadband connections) has said today that 600 communities applied for the experiment, as well as 190,000 individuals.

"As we narrow down our choices, we'll be conducting site visits, meeting with local officials and consulting with third- party organizations. Based on a rigorous review of the data, we will announce our target community or communities by the end of the year," adds James Kelly, a product manager.

One of the most headline-grabbing lobbying efforts done by a community was from Topeka, Kansas where the mayor temporarily changed the name of the entire city to Google, Kansas.

Permalink | Comments

---

The DSi XL handheld goes on sale in North America tomorrow, but there appears to be one hitch for current DSi owners that are thinking of making the change to the larger-screened new addition to the handheld market.

DSiWare games, downloadable games that cost anywhere from $0.99 to $20, will not be available for instant transfer to the XL, even if you already purchased the games for your DSi.

Says Kotaku: As of now, a spokesperson for Nintendo confirmed to Kotaku, the gaming giant offers its consumers no ability to transfer their purchases from one DSi to the bigger screen XL. But the rep did give a sign that a change in policy could be coming: "We're looking into that specific topic, but we don't have anything to announce at this time."

The problem stems from the fact that Nintendo does not have a sustainable account (such as XBL, or PSN) where user's purchases are listed and are available for download again as long as you are signed in your own account.

The XL will cost $199 USD and has screens 93 percent larger than the DSi.

Permalink | Comments

---

According to a new Reuters update, launch day Apple iPads may be already sold out, with customers who pre-order now not receiving their tablet device until April 12th, 9 days after launch.

Taiwanese parts makers have placed initial estimates on iPads available at launch at around 300,000, and the WSJ said earlier in the week that at least 200,000 have already been pre-ordered so it appears that Apple may already be having supply issues for the huge demand.

The iPad, available in a few different options, with prices ranging from $500 to $800, is Apple's biggest launch since the iPhone in 2007 and certainly has gigantic hype.

NPD reports that 25 percent of all 18-to-34-year olds surveyed want to purchase an iPad, with those consumers with $100,000 or greater income also seeing high percentages.

Permalink | Comments

---

George 'Geohot' Hotz, the teenage hacker known globally for hacking the iPhone, has said this week that the iPad may already be "jailbroken" when it hits customer's hands on April 3rd.

Dubbed "untethered jailbreak," Geohot says "the jailbreak is all software based, and is as simple to use as blackra1n. It is completely untethered, works on all current tethered models(ipt2, 3gs, ipt3), and will probably work on iPad too."

Blackra1n is the utility that current jailbreaks up to iPhone OS 3.1.2.

Permalink | Comments

---

Albert Gonzalez, the 28 year old hacker convicted of stealing and reselling over 170 million credit and ATM card numbers, has received 20 years in prison for his role in over 20 counts of identity theft, wire fraud, computer fraud and conspiracy that led to $200 million in losses for banks, insurers and retail companies.

The hacker stole the credit card numbers using sql injection and packet sniffer malware software to create backdoors into the corporate systems of retailer chains TJX Companies, BJ's Wholesale Club, OfficeMax, Boston Market, Barnes & Noble, Sports Authority and Dave & Buster's. Gonazalez and two other conspirators also used wardriving, hacking using accessible Wi-Fi in retail stores.

At the time of his arrest Gonzalez forfeited his Miami condo, a 2006 BMW 330i, thousands of dollars in jewelry and $2.7 million USD in cash.

Permalink | Comments

---

As rumored, Microsoft will be adding USB memory support to the Xbox 360, starting April 6th with a system update.

Reads the post from Larry "Major" Nelson:

"On April 6th, we will be releasing a system update over Xbox LIVE for your Xbox 360 that will allow USB flash drives to be used for storing profiles, game saves, demos and more. I've been testing this feature out for a few weeks, and I have to say it's really great. Once you take the system update on April 6th, you'll be able to connect your USB flash drives to your console and head over to the memory section to configure your new storage device. Once you do that, the system will conduct a one time performance and integrity check to confirm the drive is working properly. You will then be able to configure how much storage to use on the device, up to 16 GB. The remaining space on the flash drive will be accessible by your PC or Mac. USB Hard drives may work, but like flash memory, you'll only be able to use up to 16GB of space. Since performance on flash based USB storage is usually better, I highly recommend using flash based instead of spinning media like a hard drive…it's just going to give you a MUCH better experience.

We've also enhanced the memory management functions, so you'll be able to have better control on what you want to copy or move between storage devices.

A couple of points:

* You can have 2 devices connected to the console at a time, enabling up to 32GB of simultaneous storage.
* The system won't just configure the device once it is connected to the console. You'll need to head to the memory area in system settings, select your USB Device, and choose from Configure Now (Format and Configure the Full Device), or Customize (you can choose how much memory you want configured for Xbox360 from the free space on the device.)

While any flash drive can be used, we are partnering with SanDisk to release an Xbox 360 branded USB flash drive in May that comes pre-configured out of the box and ready to go. I'll provide links to those drives once they're available. Until then, starting April 6th (when we release the system update) you can pop any flash drive over 1GB into your Xbox 360 and configure it as storage."

Picture Gallery: http://www.flickr.com/photos/majornelson/sets/72157623576662307/

Permalink | Comments

---