Speaking to MCV, Sony Europe president Andre House says the release of the Sony PSPGo handheld was a test of how consumers would accept digital gaming and the end of physical media.

While the handheld was a complete failure, Sony says it was a good test of the company's future plans in the sector.

Says House: "It was introduced in a mature lifecycle to learn more about what the consumer wanted and we've definitely learnt a lot. Is that measured by success in sales? I don't think it is."

He continues: "One of the reasons we launched PSPgo was to understand where that consumer behaviour was going. We were getting signals from consumers that this was the kind of device that they wanted. But we need to recognise that consumers like their packaged media library."

As far as a "test" goes, Sony certainly overstated consumer willingness to pay an $80 premium for a device that is limited to only digital gaming and adds little else of value.

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Baidu, China's top Internet search engine, has said today that it wants to extend its market share in China to 79 percent, the far and away leader.

The goal comes from Baidu General Manager for Corporate Development Tang Hesong, who noted that Google's exit from the market has helped Baidu take a large amount of market share in a little bit of time.

Google announced in January that it would quit China if it had to maintain self-censorship of its search results. The ruling communist party forces search engines to filter out results for certain terms, or certain results that it deems inappropriate for Chinese citizens to see.

The search giant's threat to leave the country came after it, along with at least 20 other companies, was the target of a cyberattack aimed at stealing Google's Intellectual Property and at the e-mail accounts of Chinese activists.

Baidu currently owns 64 percent of the search market in China, up from 58 percent in the Q4 last year.

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If you are an active Twitter user, you have undoubtedly used a URL shortener such as bit.ly.

Today, Twitter has announced their own official URL shortener, t.co, which will automatically shorten all links posted, whether you are posting from the website or from any number of clients and apps.

The service is currently being tested internally and will be made available to the public by the end of the summer.

If you want to continue to use bit.ly or other third-party shorteners, they will be "wrapped" as well by t.co.

Shortened links will displayed differently depending on what client you are using, however. Using the website, or a desktop client means you will see the full link, or at least an excerpt. Those getting SMS notifications will only see the shortened link. Best of all, only the amount of characters in the shortened link go against your 140, despite the full link being shown to others.

Twitter says this move "removes the obscurity from shortened links," letting users know what they are clicking on.

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Sprint's record breaking HTC EVO 4G is apparently sold out across the United States, with more shipments expected later in the week.

The EVO 4G broke Sprint's one-day sales record for a phone, with an estimated 320,000 units sold on June 4th, the day the device launched.

More importantly for Sprint, the numbers crush launch day sales of the Palm Pre, which launched to fanfare last year but quickly faded. EVO demand continues to remain strong.

Sprint, Best Buy, Radio Shack, Wal-Mart, Amazon and many others have all reported being sold out of the smartphone.

The next batch of phones are set aside for those that pre-ordered, notes Sprint.

The HTC EVO 4G boasts a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 1GB ROM, 512MB RAM, a 1500 mAh battery and an 8GB microSD card. The device has a 4.3-inch WVGA capacitive multi-touchscreen display (with pinch to zoom), Android 2.1 with Sense UI, Google Search, Google Maps, Google Talk, Gmail, Google Goggles, YouTube, Google Calendar syncing, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g and 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot capability for connecting up to eight Wi-Fi enabled devices.

Additionally, the device has GPS with Sprint Navigation, a Digital compass, Bluetooth 2.1, a 3.5mm headset jack, FM radio, Amazon MP3 store, Qik video sharing, HDMI out a kickstand for hands-free viewing, an 8MP autofocus camera with dual LED flash (and 720p HD video recording) and an additional 1.3MP front-facing camera for video conferencing.

The device costs $200 with contract.

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Microsoft has issued an update for Internet Explorer that will fix multiple vulnerabilities including one critical flaw that would have allowed hackers to remotely take control of host computers.

Additionally, Microsoft is releasing nine other patches that will address 34 vulnerabilities, three of which are considered critical. The vulnerabilities are for Windows, Microsoft Office, IE, Internet Information Services and the .NET Framework.

The company did note that there are currently no active attacks exploiting any of the critical vulnerabilities covered in the patches, but Microsoft is still trying to release the patches as soon as possible.

Jerry Bryant, Microsoft group manager for response communications, says the critical IE exploit was given an exploitability index rating of "1," indicating that the company expects an active exploit within the month.

The critical exploit can occur even if you are using Internet Explorer 8, the most updated of Microsoft's browser offerings.

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Patently Apple has posted an in-depth report this week on an Apple patent they recently unveiled, one for "media players with integrated touch sensor solar panel surfaces."

The patents clearly imply that Apple may be working on incorporating solar panels into their iPhones and iPods in the future, or even perhaps into the popular iPad tablet.

Each panel would be hidden under the touch screen of the devices, allowing them to keep their same design (or future design.)

The patent was filed in 2008, and Apple has yet to release any other solar devices.

Giving more credibility to the assumption that solar-powered iPhones are coming is the fact that Apple recently just released the iPhone 4 with a glass back instead of metal, allowing for double-sided solar panels.

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