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According to the International Gamers Survey 2010, Apple's iOS devices have surpassed the Sony PSP as a gaming platform in the United States, while closing in on the popular Nintendo DS.

The group says about 77 million Americans play games on portable devices and mobile phones, with a whopping 40.1 million using iOS devices such as the iPhone/iTouch or iPad.

That number far surpasses the 18 million figure for Sony PSP gamers, and closing in on the 41 million figure for the very popular Nintendo DS. The survey only includes gamers aged 10 and up.

SPA! magazine, a Japanese tabloid, recently wrote a report on Apple CEO Steve Jobs claiming that Jobs would never return to Japan after airport officials would not allow him on his private plane with a luggage bag full of "ninja" throwing stars.

Going through a standard security scan at the Kansai International Airport in Japan, security detected a number of throwing stars in Job's carry-on luggage.

When the stars were taken away, Jobs angrily told officials he would never return to Japan, and that it didn't make sense that Jobs would try to hijack his own plane, especially with throwing stars.

Apple has made sure to dismiss the story today, saying: "Steve did visit Japan this summer for a vacation in Kyoto, but the incidents described at the airport are pure fiction. Steve had a great time and hopes to visit Japan again soon."

A spokesperson at the Kansai airport did confirm that a passenger in a private plane was stopped in late July for carrying throwing stars and other knives but the passenger was not identified.

According to a new Digitimes report, HTC is preparing to launch an Android 3.0 tablet during the Q1 2011.

The latest speculation follows recent talk that Motorola is set to launch a 3.0 tablet, as well.

Digitimes cites Taiwanese component makers who place the launch early next year. The timeline makes sense as Google has promised 3.0 (Gingerbread) by the end of the year.

HTC had reportedly been set to release a tablet based on the Chrome OS.

Google and HTC have long had a close relationship, with the latter company building the first ever Android device, the T-Mobile G1, and more recently, flagships like the Nexus One and HTC EVO 4G.

Intel has launched a dedicated App Store for netbooks this week, 8 months after showing off the beta at the CES event.

Dubbed AppUp, the beta is now open to everyone.

The store is compatible with all Windows 7, Windows XP and Moblin netbooks.

To download the main AppUp Center, you can visit AppUp.com or BestBuy.com.

Asus says their netbooks will come preloaded with an Asus-specific version starting this month.

The AppUp store, just like the Android Market and Apple App Store, will offer paid and free apps for news, weather, multimedia, productivity, social networking and more.

So far, Adobe, Accuweather, Barnes & Noble, Funkitron, Gibson Guitars, iWin, Kaplan, KONAMI, and Lifetime have submitted apps.

Speaking at the DEMO event this week, Fox Mobile-backed Bitbop has revealed their smartphone app, bringing streaming TV to your Android devices.

Users can play the full-length TV shows over 3G or Wi-Fi.

The app is now available on the Motorola Droid, HTC Droid Incredible, HTC EVO 4G, Droid 2, Droid X and Nexus One .

Bitbop has been in early beta for BlackBerry since the beginning of the summer.

The service costs $10 per month, but a free trial will let you watch three shows for free.

Bitbop offers a catalog similar to Hulu Plus, however the streaming TV is commercial-free and users can download the shows for playback at a later time, making it quite different than Hulu.

According to multiple sources, hackers have released the HDCP 'master key' this week, cracking the copy protection permanently.

High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection's main focus is to stop the unencrypted transmission of high definition video content from a source like a Blu-ray player and a display monitor / TV set. HDCP is used with the Digital Video Interface (DVI), DisplayPort and High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) .

HDCP is required for all equipment that uses a HDMI connection. Since HDCP is a proprietary technology, it requires a license to be implemented and as part of the license agreement, a manufacturer must agree to limit the capabilities of the other video outputs on a device. This means that in effect, a movie disc can instruct a source player to downgrade the video quality if a user attempts to transmit high definition video content through a connection that doesn't feature HDCP.

John Mayer has deleted his Twitter account this week, leaving millions of followers stranded without updates from the pop star.

At 3.7 million followers, Mayer was in 11th place, behind the likes of Lady Gaga, Justin Beiber and Barack Obama.

When asked why he shutdown the account, Mayer said it was because his recent tour was "now at a close and a return to the studio planned."

Mayer was an active "tweeter" and even used the micro-blogging site to defend his statements made during a now infamous Playboy interview. During the interview, he used the "N-word" and also discussed his sexual past with Jessica Simpson.

Despite leaving Twitter, Mayer says he will continue to give updates through Tumblr.

"I think I made the right choice," he said. "I now have an even larger Tumblr addiction but it's sort of like a book addiction, or a gambling addiction where you always walk away with the casino's money."

Best Buy has announced today that the Apple iPad will soon be available in all 1093 nationwide stores.

Starting on September 26th, Best Buy will offer the Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi/3G models as well as a plethora of accessories at all their brick and mortar locations.

Currently, the iPad is available in just 673 Best Buy locations (as well as online).

"Technology is becoming more and more personal, and our customers say they really value visiting a Best Buy store to touch and try the iPad for themselves," says Wendy Fritz, senior vice president of computing at Best Buy. "We’re delighted that we’ll soon make that opportunity available to everyone who’d like to come see us, and experience this device in any Best Buy store nationwide."

The 16GB/Wi-Fi will sell for $500, and the 16GB Wi-Fi/3G model will sell for $630.

During the Nokia World event, Nokia has launched new smartphones running the latest Symbian^3 mobile operating system.

The company, still the world's largest phone maker, says each of the devices will be integrated with Ovi services and apps.

"Today our fight back to smartphone leadership shifts into high gear," says Niklas Savander, Executive Vice President, Markets, Nokia. "Despite new competition, Symbian remains the most widely used smartphone platform in the world. Our new family of smartphones introduced today feature the all-new Symbian OS, rewritten to be faster, easier to use, more efficient and more developer friendly."

The flagship business device is the Nokia E7:



Touted as a business smartphone, the device adds Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and secure access to corporate email boxes, alongside a number of business apps.

Thanks to a new judgement made by the United States Court of Appeals, used game and software sales may be a thing of the past.

The decision (linked below) rules that "a software user is a licensee rather than an owner."

Originally, the suit was brought forward by Autodesk, the makers of the expensive AutoCAD software, who were angry a consumer purchased many copies of the software and then resold them on auction site eBay.

Autodesk wanted to know who, legally, had the rights to the software.

This new ruling does not implicitly imply video games, but games are considered software, so the ruling could affect the used game market, as well.

It will be interesting to see how the major publishers run with this ruling, and we will certainly keep you updated.

View the ruling here: Vernor v. Autodesk

Boxee has announced this week that it will begin shipping its highly anticipated Boxee Box starting in November, after first unveiling the device last December.

Speaking to PCWorld, Boxee says the box will run on an Intel Atom CE4100 processor, different than the expected Nvidia Tegra 2. The company says the processor will still allow the box to handle 1080p flawlessly.

Additionally, the box will have both a wired and wireless 802.11n connection, a QWERTY keypad and come with an RF remote.

Boxee Box's software is very similar to Boxee on Windows/Mac, including a WebKit browser with Flash support.

The box is now available for pre-order on Amazon for $200.

Anyone ordering from Amazon will receive their box a week before other buyers, notes D-Link, the manufacturer of the box.

Facebook has said today that Google is likely to launch a social networking site within six months.

Says Stephen Dolan, commercial director for Asia at Facebook (via Bloomberg): We expect Google to start "a fairly significant social media platform."

When asked for a time frame, Dolan said he expected "three to six months."

Google has been quickly moving towards a social networking launch since Facebook overtook the search giant in weekly traffic earlier this year.

"Facebook is the leader in the emerging Social Web and will face challenges from many players, both large and small," adds Ray Valdes, an analyst for research firm Gartner. "Google is Facebook’s most direct competitor, because Google is dominant in the previous generation of the Web, the content-centric Web."

According to the latest figures from Android Developers, 2.2 Froyo has quickly taken a large chunk of the distribution of Android devices.

While still in the clear lead, Android 2.1 has fallen to 41.7 percent of the distribution, while 2.2 has jumped to 28.7 percent.

The strong jump is thanks to the release of the Droid 2, and updates to the EVO 4G, Moto Droid and HTC Incredible.

Surprisingly, however, Android 1.5 devices still account for 12 percent and 1.6 devices account for another 17.5 percent.

Google is expected to release Android 3.0 (Gingerbread) by the end of the year.

Amazon has launched a new TV ad campaign this week, taking direct aim at the Apple iPad.

The ad shows off the Amazon Kindle e-reader, and boasts of its superiority over the iPad's display, when used in direct sunlight.

In the 30-second ad (posted below), two people are sitting by a pool, with the man using an iPad, and the lady using a Kindle. The man is struggling to read on his iPad and he eventually asks the woman how she can possibly read in the harsh sunlight. Her response, obviously, pro-Kindle.

The ad is somewhat surprising given Amazon's former stance towards the iPad, placing it in a whole different category than the strictly e-reader Kindle.

Today, in 1985, the original Super Mario Bros. was released in Japan, with the U.S. version coming a month later.

The blockbuster smash landed on the Nintendo Entertainment System, and through multiple iterations, the franchise has now hit 222 million units sold worldwide.

Wired has put together a timeline of all the Mario games, starting with the original, all the way to the recent Mario Galaxy 2. (Below)

The original Super Mario Bros game sold 40.24 million copies (thanks to being bundled with the NES), the best-selling game of all-time until Wii Sports surpassed it in 2008.

Overall, the character of Mario has appeared in over 200 video games.