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A ZuneBoards post today has revealed that the Zune and Zune HD media devices have finally been hacked, as of today, meaning all XNA limitations are no longer a problem.

A few of the current XNA limitations are no 3D, no Internet access, and performance peaks that are not very high given the hardware.

The ZuneBoards Development Front, which consists of "itsnotabigtruck", "Netrix" and "Nurta," says that all Zune models, past and present are now hacked and will "for the first time, run applications directly on top of the Zune firmware," giving users and developers full access to the firmware and hardware, without limitations.

Dubbed OpenZDK, the hackers behind it say there have been very few apps written so far, but admittedly OpenZDK is newly released.

That being said, developers can now add emulators, 3D games, port classic games, and also create full-on app stores, like Cydia for jailbroken iPhones.

Read the OpenZDK wiki here: OpenZDK Dev Wiki

An official report in China has shown the reach of a widespread variant of Conficker B in the country as of late last year. The report from the National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team (CNCERT) reported 7 million Internet-connected machines in the country infected with the Conficker B in the first half of 2009.

In the second half of the year, the number of Conficker infections in the country varied but only spent one week under 5 million PCs. From the figures, China had up to 28 percent of the worldwide Conficker reach within its borders, depending on the week.

Chinese users are found to be hit more easily by worms that in other areas of the world. About 4 percent of the country's 380 million Internet users run no security software at all, and the higher rates of pirate software also has an impact with services such as Automatic Updates being disabled.

China also had anywhere from 125,000 to over 300,000 IPs infected with Conficker C during the second half of last year, giving it up to 20 percent of the world's infections for that variant.

A ruling by the High Court in Ireland has paved way for subscribers of Eircom's Internet services to have their service suspended for repeatedly sharing music illegally despite warnings. Eircom is the country's largest ISP, but the ruling is expected to have an effect on other ISPs in Ireland.

In a settlement deal last year, Eircom agreed to implement measures aimed at stopping illegal downloading, including handing over subscribers' identities when they are caught sharing files illegally. The Data Protection Commissioner had concerns about the settlement, questioning whether the measures violated rights of access to the Internet.

Mr Justice Peter Charleton rejected the concerns, ruling that the anti-piracy measures were lawful and compatible with the data protection legislation. He said that young people are now in the habit of file sharing that they appear to believe they have an entitlement to take what is not theirs.

"The right to be identified with and to reasonably exploit one's own original creative endeavour I regard as a human right," he commented, referring to what he said was a fundamental right to copyright in Irish law.

Samsung has offered some guidelines for 3D television viewing and possible associated health risks and side effects. While most likely being the result of pressure from lawyers, the health warnings would probably take a bit of enthusiasm about 3D away from anybody who reads them.

"Some viewers may experience an epileptic seizure or stroke when exposed to certain flashing images or lights contained in certain television pictures or video games. If you suffer from, or have a family history of epilepsy or strokes, please consult with a medical specialist before using the 3D function," the warnings read.

"Even those without a personal or family history of epilepsy or stroke may have an undiagnosed condition that can cause photosensitive epileptic seizures. Pregnant women, the elderly, sufferers of serious medical conditions, those who are sleep deprived or under the influence of alcohol should avoid utilising the unit’s 3D functionality."

"Viewing 3D television may also cause motion sickness, perceptual after effects, disorientation, eye strain and decreased postural stability. It is recommended that users take frequent breaks to lessen the potential of these effects. If your eyes show signs of fatigue or dryness or if you have any of the above symptoms, immediately discontinue use of this device and do not resume using it for at least thirty minutes after the symptoms have subsided."

Sony has announced that their first Bravia 3D HDTV for the UK will go on sale in June and the company will be bundling four 3D games for early adopters.

The TV, the Bravia HX803 has 200Hz high frame rate technology, a "simulated 3D" feature which converts standard 2D pictures into simulated 3D. The TV will also feature 'high speed precision' technology, which reduces the mixing of 3D images assigned to each eye.

The TV will require 3D glasses, and Sony will sell pairs with expected 100 hour battery life.

The four HD games, Wipeout HD, Motorstorm: Pacific Rift, PAIN and Super Stardust HD are all PSN games that will be re-released with 3D optimization, says GI.biz.

According to Boxee CEO Avner Ronen, the company is working on an app for the iPhone,iPad and Android devices.

The iPad app is already in development while the Android app is so far, just a "coming soon." Boxee recently listed a job opening for "lead developer on software for Apple's mobile operating systems."

There is currently an iPhone app, but it serves as little more than a remote control for the desktop software. The new app would allow for users to stream video on their portable devices.

Speaking about the iPad, Ronen says (via LATimes): "It's perfect for video. You can start watching in bed. And then just take it with you."

The company is also looking to add more content providers, better social networking features and to introduce a centralized payment platform.

A recent study showed that 75 percent of all digital companies were actively looking for a strategy for video on the iPad, meaning the tablet may be a little more than a "fad."

According to new figures from Display Search, the Amazon Kindle has sold 3.3 million units to date.

So far Amazon has kept sales figures under wraps, normally changing the topic to promoting their e-book business.

The data figures say e-paper displays increased to five million units in 2009, up over 400 percent from the 950,000 units in 2008. E-paper displays are used primarily in e-readers.

"Seeing this growth for a new application, especially in the second half of last year, is a vote of confidence from consumers who seem to have embraced e-books," notes Hiroshi Hayase, DisplaySearch director of small- to medium-size displays. "Momentum from e-book popularity last year combined with new, larger-size products hitting the market right now means that this trend will continue, so we will see large shipment volume increases in the first half of 2010."

The Kindle had 66 percent of the e-paper market in 2009, and DisplaySearch says it expects the Amazon device to continue to dominate.

"Boosted by success from e-books thus far, Amazon is expanding its service offering to help customers access more timely books at low cost. We expect to see other service providers increase their presence in the US and expand e-book adoption in Europe and Asia as well," Hayase continued.

MuscleNerd has just Tweeted that the first iPhone OS 4.0 beta jailbreak is now available, using the same pwnage2 DFU exploit that has been available since 2008.

Reads the Tweet: "1st public 4.0b1 jailbreak [ link ] ..Only JB devs til they fix their SW! iPhone3G+Mac only til more is working."

That link leads to the redsn0w 0.9.5 BETA page which now says "4.0beta1 FW only (for now)" under the supported firmwares list. On the page comes a note however: YOU SHOULD STAY CLEAR OF THIS BETA SOFTWARE IF YOU RELY ON A CARRIER UNLOCK. That's because the beta redsn0w works only if your device has already been upgraded to the stock 4.0beta1 IPSW from Apple, which contains a baseband update. If you installed that IPSW, you've already lost the carrier unlock until the next planned release of ultrasn0w and blacksn0w.

Last week, hacker iH8sn0w said that he has already jailbroken the brand new iPhone 4.0 OS beta, posting the keys and claiming that he will be releasing the jailbreak in the near future.

Intel's lack of a USB 3.0 chipset has signaled to observers that the company may be bypassing USB 3.0 in favor of optical technology. Whether that is true or not remains to be seen, but Intel has been promoting its Light Peak technology which promises transmission speeds of between 10Gbps and 100Gbps.

Light Peak technology was unveiled in 2009 and is expected to become available for manufacturers later in 2010. Devices containing the technology are expected to reach the market by early 2011.

Intel fellow Kevin Kahn discussed the technology at the Intel Developer Forum in Beijing on Wednesday, showing off a laptop with a thin Light Peak cable. Kahn's prototype had the cable running through a modified USB 3.0 port adapter. He said that the size of the port could be reduced significantly with Light Peak technology which is good news for mobile gadgets in particular.

Kahn said that Light Peak is not necessarily competitive with USB, but instead the two technologies could be complementary. USB protocols could run over a Light Peak cable.

Kahn told the crowd in attendance that Intel would like to build the "last cable you'll ever need."

After a formal request from German authorities, the Moscow offices of HP were raided yesterday and the company has since been accused of bribing the prosecutor general of the Russian Federation over $10 million USD to secure a communications product contract worth $40 million.

In response, HP said: The "conduct that occurred almost seven years ago, largely by employees no longer with HP. We are cooperating fully with the German and Russian authorities." HP will also be conducting an internal investigation into the allegations.

The Wall Street Journal takes it a step further saying that HP has created shell companies in the US, UK, Switzerland, New Zealand, the British Virgin Islands, Latvia, Austria, Lithuania that funnel payments.

The investigation includes claims of breach of trust, tax evasion, bribery and money laundering.

HP itself cannot be charged under German law, but the executives can, and HP's illegal profits can be taken.

Security researchers have put attention on archive file formats such as RAR and ZIP files because of their potential security vulnerabilities. Up until recently many antivirus programs weren't capable of detecting malicious software in commonly used archival formats, but most antivirus vendors patched their products for better detection.

Tomislav Pericin, founder of RLPack, Mario Vuksan, an independent security researcher and Brian Karney, COO of Access Data, gave a presentation at the Black Hat security conference where they demonstrated how it is possible to tamper with popular archive formats to insert malicious code such as the Conficker worm.

Malware authors had been taking advantage of how packing malicious software in compressed archive files could trick security software, but antivirus companies stepped up efforts in detection of malware hidden in such files. However, the three researchers showed that it is still possible to evade gateway products that analyze file attachments.

"The problem is the AV vendors and the archive vendors have two different solutions. If they don't work in sync, the user can extract an archive on their PC, but the AV won't be able to, and that's a problem," Pericin said.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz has reported today that the Apple iPad has been blocked from entering Israel, with customs officials confiscating all devices upon entry.

10 devices have already been seized, and tourists visiting the country only get their iPads back when they leave.

The problem seems to be with the iPad's built-in Wi-Fi, which will disrupt the signals of other devices that use different standards.

"If you operate equipment in a frequency band which is different from the others that operate on that frequency band, then there will be interference," says Nati Schubert, a senior deputy director for the Israeli Communications Ministry. "We don't care where people buy their equipment. ... But without regulation, you would have chaos."

In the U.S., devices with built-in Wi-Fi have the capability to broadcast at higher power levels than are allowed by "European standards."

While consumers and tourists alike have complained about the ban, some developers were able to get the device imported before the ban and will use it to develop apps.

Google Inc, YouTube and Yahoo! have filed counterclaims against Xerox Corp in response to a lawsuit accusing the companies of patent infringement. Xerox claims that the accused infringed several of its patents relating to Internet search functions.

The defendants are now seeking declarations that they did not infringe on the patents at issue or that the patents are invalid. The counterclaims were filed in a Delaware federal court on Thursday. Xerox claims that Google services such as Google Maps and YouTube, and also Yahoo Shopping, infringed patents it has held.

The patents date back as far as 2001. Xerox contends that the patents cover technology such as a system for generating queries for information relating to a document. It is seeking compensations for all past infringements and a ban on the use of the technology by the defendants.

The video game industry has experienced a small sales jump in March after declining for two straight months. Industry tracker NPD said that sales of video game products in the U.S. jumped 6 percent, to $1.52 billion, in March, even though hardware sales did still decline.

Hardware sales during the month were down 4 percent, to $440.5 million. Nintendo's Wii console topped the monthly charts (home consoles) with 557,500 units sold. Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 console came in second place with a sales tally of 338,400 units, just pushing Sony's PlayStation 3 (PS3) console to third place with 313,900 units sold. The older PS2 title reached 118,300 sales.

In sales of handheld consoles, Nintendo's DS handhelds sold 700,800 units, following by Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP) with a total of 119,900 units.

Software sales were up 10 percent to $795 million, with God of War III for PS3 topping the charts with 1.1 million units sold. If you combine the sales of titles across platforms, then you would out Final Fantasy XIII at #1 with 1.322 million units sold, 828,200 copies on the PS3 and 493,900 on the Xbox 360.

During Google's earnings call earlier today, the search giant showed off strong earnings (20 percent year-on-year revenue growth and 30 percent net income growth) and additionally gave some interesting news on their latest venture, Android.

The Android Market has now hit 38,000 apps, very strong growth considering Google said one month ago that the market had 30,000 apps.

The market hit 10,000 apps in September of last year, and doubled by January.

Secondly, Google stated that the Nexus One 'superphone' is already profitable, despite numerous reports that have called the phone's launch a "failure."

Google added that they are "driving the business to be a profitable business from the get go," and are very satisfied with the sales of the phone.