According to PlayStation University, the PlayStation 3 software attach rate is creeping in on the Xbox 360's, threatening to kill off the old adage that games simply do not sell on the Sony console.

Despite a lower install base, software sales for the PS3 were significantly higher than that of the Xbox 360 in the fiscal 2009, 115.6 million to 103.1 million. The fiscal year runs from May until the end of April.

The new results put lifetime software sales at 290.5 million, still well below the 360's 353.8 million, but catching up quickly.

At 35.7 million PS3 units sold, that puts the attach rate at 8.1. The 360 has 40.2 million lifetime sales, for an attach rate of 8.8.

Both those numbers are higher than the Nintendo Wii, with a 7.7 attach rate, despite much larger hardware and software sales. All three pale in comparison to the aging PS2, which has been out since 2000 and still has a remarkable 10.3 attach rate.

Permalink | Comments

---

In April we reported that the U.S. Copyright Group had filed lawsuits against 50,000 pirates, each alleged of downloading a number of films including "Steam Experiment," "Far Cry," "Uncross the Stars," "Gray Man" and "Call of the Wild 3D."

The Group has now demanded that Time Warner Cable, one of the largest ISPs in the U.S., hand over the identity of 2000 alleged pirates, and Time Warner has declined, saying it is too expensive, and "exceeds their current staffing capabilities."

The ISP says it would cost them about $45 USD each to send out the info on all the requests.

"Time Warner Cable does not have enough employees to respond to these requests. In a typical month, the company receives an average of 567 IP lookup requests, nearly all of them coming from law enforcement. These lookup requests involve everything from suicide threats to child abduction to terrorist activity," each of which takes "immediate priority" over copyright infringement cases.

The ISP's Subpoena Compliance team is currently only a five-man team and in addition to the "priority" requests, they can handle 28 non-critical subpoenas per month. The U.S. Copyright Group has so far asked for 809, just this month.

Permalink | Comments

---

AT&T has said this week that all equipment-supply constraints it has for its data network updates should end by August.

Says Operations CEO John Stankey: "It's been a slow process to build capacity...Hopefully, it should be back to normal," after the summer.

AT&T has been actively trying to improve its coverage in key markets in New York and California, but says a lack of cellular radio components and zoning issues has led to a very slow effort in the regions.

The constraint issue has "bottomed" says Stankey, and should improve from here.

For New York at least, dropped calls for consumers using 3G fell 9 percent, but in California, progress has "lagged."

Supply issues have come mainly from Chinese component makers, which was compounded last month by the volcano eruption in Iceland that shut down flights for a number of days.

Permalink | Comments

---

In January, Eastman Kodak said it was suing smartphone makers RIM and Apple for patent violations relating to the cameras used in BlackBerrys and the iPhone.

In April, Apple countersued Kodak , accusing the film pioneer of violating two digital photography patents that Apple owns.

The International Trade Commission (ITC) has said this week that it will investigate into the countersuit, after agreeing to investigate into Kodak's claims earlier this year.

The two patents specifically noted in the suit are patents 6,031,964 and RE38,911, which are "a system and method for using a unified memory architecture to implement a digital camera device," and a "modular digital image processing via an image processing chain with modifiable parameter controls."

The decision by the ITC is not a surprise as it, in most cases, accepts complaints from major corporations. The dispute can take up to years to be resolved, however.

Apple is currently in patent lawsuit disputes with Kodak, Nokia and HTC.

Permalink | Comments

---

Skype, the extremely popular multi-platform VoIP company has said this week that it does not intend to create any software for the upcoming Windows Phone 7 operating system, at least not currently.

"Instead, [Skype] is concentrating on development around the iPhone, Symbian and Android operating systems," says David Richards, via SmartHouse. "[Although] Dan Neary, [Skype's] Asia Pacific VP was hesitant to explain why no development was taking place for the new Windows Mobile offering, he did say [Skype] was developing new offerings for the iPhone, iPad and Android based phones."

That being said, the report is not an official renouncement, but just a current snapshot of the development status of different Skype applications.

Regardless, it seems the Windows Phone 7 is having some issues with developer support, as just recently Mozilla announced it would not be building Firefox Mobile for the OS.

Windows Phone 7 differentiates itself from the iPhone and Android phones, which use home screens of widgets and icons by blending applications together for a more "integrated experience," allowing the OS and applications to "share information with the user in a natural and seamless fashion."

Permalink | Comments

---

Google has announced that it will be shutting down the Nexus One web store, just months after it launched to little fanfare.

The online store offered the smartphone for sale, while showing off all its specs and giving a virtual tour of the device. The company concedes that consumers want to be able to see and touch smartphones before they buy, however, so the web store has remained a "niche channel for early adopters."

The search giant also says consumers also want a wide range of service plans to chose from, which were not offered via the store.

As of this week, Google will begin making the smartphone available in "more countries," and available in retail stores.

Once the model is spread worldwide, "we'll stop selling handsets via the web store, and will instead use it as an online store window to showcase a variety of Android phones available globally."

Permalink | Comments

---

Google Voice, the new beta service that allows users to have their voicemails transcribed and sent as emails as well as send free text messages, is now open, "priority" status, to students with valid .edu email addresses.

It has been hard to get invites to the service so far, but if you are a student, you get one within 24 hours.

Head over to google.com/voice/students and enter an email address that that ends in .edu, and you get the invite within 24 hours. (I tried it, it works)

The service is only available in the U.S., and I recommend that if you get it, and own an Android phone, get the free app from the market, it makes the service a lot more handy.

You can check out all the videos on the service here: youtube.com/googlevoice

Permalink | Comments

---

According to Google CEO Eric Schmidt, 65,000 smartphones running the Android operating system are shipped everyday now, showing continued strong growth for the OS which launched in late 2008.

The OS is used on 34 different mobile devices in 50 countries, he adds.

"It looks like Android is going to be either the number one or number two player" in the smartphone market, Schmidt said during the shareholders meeting.

Schmidt also adds that the 65,000 figure may be conservatively low: "Our partners are shipping about 65,000 Android handsets per day but if you check the blogosphere you'll discover there are some reports that that number might be quite low."

Major rival Apple, which only sells one smartphone (the iPhone), had about 8.75 million units sold in the last quarter, so the 65,000 a day figure would put the two companies almost on par.

Permalink | Comments

---

Nintendo this week has filed another lawsuit against an online retailer that continues to sell R4 flash carts.

Flash carts are used to run homebrew and other legal features on the Nintendo DS and DSi handhelds, but also allow for the easy playback of pirated ROMs.

Just last month, Nintendo blamed piracy for a massive 50 percent drop in software sales in Europe.

The suit was filed against NXPGAME, which has continued selling the devices and ignored all cease-and-desist letters from Nintendo.

The owners behind NXPGAME previously shut down their site and stopped selling the R4, but then within weeks had set up an "identical business at a different website address," redirecting old traffic to the new site.

Besides "willfully infringing on the company's intellectual property rights," Nintendo also says the company's site violates copyrights by using trademarks without permission.

The R4 and similar devices were ruled illegal last year in a court decision which said the flash cart violates the DMCA.

Permalink | Comments

---