2008
Sony No Longer Selling Backwards Compatible PS3
Well, really, the title says it all. Sony is no longer offering any version of the PlayStation3 console that can actually play games that were released for the previous two Playstation consoles. At this time, the only PlayStation3 model available in stores is the 40GB model, which is not backwards compatible with anything. However, the future is not bleak in Playstation-land. Sony has long been planning a successor, which more than likely will have a larger hard drive and one or two other surprises/goodies. Unfortunately, backwards compatibility will not be among those goodies. If you’re into playing PlayStation classics on next-generation hardware, you’d best get yourself an 80GB PS3 before stock completely runs out.


Face it, the Windows XP code is reliable, practical, useful, secure and cost-effective. Most people, especially those in the business sector, simply don’t see the need to upgrade to Windows Vista. It’s no news that Windows XP Service Pack 3 is coming out soon. However, Microsoft may not have considered the effect XP SP3 may have on Vista sales. If a lot of users adopt XP SP3, they may be even less tempted to move on to Windows Vista, which is ultimately what Microsoft would like their customers to do. However, Microsoft may find that XP SP3 doesn’t have any effect on Vista sales at all. After all, those who want Windows Vista will upgrade to Windows Vista, no matter what XP offers. Those who want to stick with XP will stick with XP, and may not even upgrade to the latest service pack.
Social networking giant Facebook has suffered it’s first drop in members since the site was conceived, probably due to the fact that users now have a way to delete their accounts. Since January, Facebook has lost a whopping 5% of all user accounts. Why, exactly, Facebook popularity is going down the tube is a matter of speculation, at the moment. It could be that some inconsiderate Facebook application developers force users to spam their friends before they can make the application do anything. Users could simply have become tired of getting an E-mail every time they’re bitten by a vampire. Perhaps Facebook was just a passing fad, and people have come to accept that it’s time to move on from the social networking site.
South Korean SSD manufacturer Mtronstorage Technology announced today that it has completed the development of a new 1.8-inch ZIF-type SSD (Solid State Drive) for laptops. Mtron’s new SSD with Single Level Cell (SLC) Flash memory supports PATA (ZIF-type) interface and has a maximum reading speed of 120MB/s and writing speed of 100MB/s, which is more than 6 times faster than the current 1.8-inch HDDs. Mtron expects to ship the new SSD in capacity of up to 128GB. Worldwide premiere for these drives is set for April this year.