via Games Industry


Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has moved quickly to dismiss a report claiming that the 40GB PlayStation 3 suffers from a 40 per cent failure rate as "totally inaccurate".

The report appeared on Dutch website Gamed.nl but appears to have since been removed.


The 40GB PS3 launched in the UK on October 10, priced at GBP 299. ...

Winnydows has released a new version of his rather excellent Video Converter for many formats.


Download Above and Give Feedback Via Comments ...

Winnydows has released a new version of his rather excellent Video Converter for many formats.


Download Above and Give Feedback Via Comments ...

Speaking to Weekly Famitsu in Japan, Sony Computer Entertainment President and CEO, Kaz Hirai, talked about a number of topics related to Sony's PlayStation business.

Regarding Sony's Home virtual world service for the PlayStation 3, which was officially delayed to Spring 2008 (the service remains in beta), Hirai noted that he's actually not very happy with its current state and he wants to make sure Home makes a big impact when it finally does make its debut.

"...we believe the delay would have a positive effect. I personally am not satisfied with the current version of Home," he said. "This is a very big project for the PS3 and we want to make sure that we deliver to our hearts content. We hope everyone will look forward to its spring release next year."

http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/ne...00500000000007 ...

Regardless of what those oh-so-knowledgeable analysts had to say, we all knew this day was coming. Yep, that highly-touted, totally "impenetrable" copy protection technology known as BD+ has officially been brought to its knees, and it's not at all surprising to hear that we have SlySoft to thank.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/07/s...eta-cracks-bd/ ...

It is official now, that 65nm Cell and RSX chips are coming to Sony Playstation 3 in the first quarter of the year 2008, and it seems that all the Playstation 3 models will receive this upgrade as well. Also, Sony is currently working with Toshiba and IBM in an attempt to make 32nm chips possible on Playstation 3.
http://www.xuecast.com/?p=208 ...

Via Aol.com


WASHINGTON (Nov. 7) - Millions of Chinese-made toys for children have been pulled from shelves in North America and Australia after scientists found they contain a chemical that converts into a powerful date rape drug when ingested. Two children in the U.S. and three in Australia were hospitalized after swallowing the beads.

With only seven weeks until Christmas, the recall is yet another blow to toy industry - already bruised by a slew of recalls this past summer.







Millions of Aqua Dots art sets were recalled on Nov. 7 after several children in the U.S. and Australia were hospitalized. The toys contain beads coated with a chemical that converts into a powerful date rape drug when ingested.

In the United States, the toy goes by the name Aqua Dots, a highly popular holiday toy distributed by Toronto-based Spin Master Toys. They are called Bindeez in Australia, where they were named toy of the year at an industry function earlier this year.

It could not immediately be learned whether Aqua Dots beads are made in the same factories as the Bindeez product. Both are sold by Australia-based Moose Enterprises.

The toy beads are sold in general merchandise stores and over the Internet for use in arts and crafts projects. They can be arranged into designs and fused together when sprayed with water.

Scientists say a chemical coating on the beads, when ingested, metabolizes into the so-called date rape drug gamma hydroxy butyrate. When eaten, the compound - made from common and easily available ingredients - can induce unconsciousness, seizures, drowsiness, coma and death.

Naren Gunja from Australia's Poisons Information Center said the drug's effect on children was "quite serious ... and potentially life-threatening."

The recall was announced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission on Wednesday several hours after published reports about the recall in Australia.

The two U.S. children who swallowed Aqua Dot beads went into nonresponsive comas, commission spokesman Scott Wolfson said Wednesday afternoon.

In Australia, the toys were ordered off store shelves on Tuesday when officials learned that a 2-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl were hospitalized after swallowing the beads. A 19-month-old toddler also was being treated.

The news jolted the toy industry because Aqua Dots has been one of the few bright stars of the toy selling season, which, along with overall retailing, has gotten off to a sluggish start. The item, which had been heavily advertised, had appeared on many toy experts' list of must-have holiday toys, and toy sellers are now in the midst of canceling advertising and scrambling to figure out how to replace it.

Chris Byrne, a New York-based toy consultant, noted that the incidents could have been isolated, and Spin Master may be erring on the side of caution.

"This is something that they could not have foreseen. This is an extremely hot toy. ... It's a little scary," Byrne said.

In a statement, Toys "R" Us Inc., said that it issued on Tuesday a "stop sale" on the entire Spin Master Aqua Dots product line in its North American stores and on its Web site after it learned of the news. "We understand that Spin Master and U.S. regulatory authorities are investigating this product and we have asked Spin Master to fully explain what it believes happened," said the toy seller in a statement.

Meanwhile, a separate recall was announced for 405,000 children's products made in China, most of them toy cars, because of dangerous levels of lead.

The recall includes about 380,000 Pull-Back Action Toy Cars imported by Dollar General Merchandising Inc. of Goodlettsville, Tenn., and 7,500 Dragster and Funny Car toys imported by International Sourcing Ltd. of Springfield, Mo.

Four of the recalled products were imported by Schylling Associates Inc. of Rowley, Mass., including the items Duck Family Collectable Wind-Up Toy, Dizzy Ducks Music Box, "Robot 2000" collectable tin robot and Winnie-the-Pooh Spinning Top. The company recalled another 66,000 spinning tops Aug. 22.

Representatives from Schylling Associates Inc. were not immediately available for comment.

Wednesday's recalls include about 7,200 "Big Red" Wagons imported by Northern Tool & Equipment Co. of Burnsville, Minn. Totaling about 405,700, the recalled children's products all had excessive levels of lead in their surface paint.

Although no illnesses connected to the toy car recall have been reported, lead is toxic if ingested by young children. Children's products found to have more ...

Dark_AleX updated his 3.71 Custom Firmware to revision 3 as mentioned a couple of days ago. And released the PopsLoader as well.


Download: PBP Unpacker
Download: PSAR Dumper

That's it, Enjoy!

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Pspfreak101 has made an easy installer for the latest Custom Firmware that was released for the PSP a few days ago:


Download above and Give Feedback Via Comments ...