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Although completely unconfirmed, TechArp is reporting that Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is coming in the Q4 2010.

TechArp has been spot on for past service pack releases, dating back to the XP days, so the new report is speculation, but at least worth listening to.

In January, rumors began swirling of an upcoming SP1, but Microsoft responded: "There is currently no news around this at the moment."

Vista saw its SP1 released 14 months after release, and that OS was debateably one of Microsoft's worse. After SP1 is released, Microsoft is expected to see a bump in sales, as corporations normally wait until after the first service pack release to migrate to a new operating system.

According to a new WSJ report, Google has teamed up with the Dish Network to create an Android-based set-top box that will be used to stream YouTube and other videos to HDTVs.

The set-top will be operated with a keyboard, making for easier searches.

Additionally to YouTube, the deal will allow for searches of video content from Dish as well, and the ability to create video playlists. The Journal also notes that Google has been working on the box since last year, and that it still may not ever get released, as it is not top priority for the search giant.

Dish Network has 14 million subscribers.

It is unclear how Google will price the box, and whether ad revenue will subsidize the price.

Ubisoft has confirmed that their DRM servers remained under attack until earlier today, thanks to a DDoS attack.

Yesterday we reported that Ubi's servers were down, meaning legitimate buyers of their games could no longer play the game, since the "always connected" DRM could not connect.

Read the original Tweet: "Our servers are under attack again. Some gamers are experiencing trouble signing in. We're working on it and will keep you posted"

Today, the company says the servers are back online: "Login servers were partially reestablished at 10pm CET and fully restored at 1am CET. The attack affected only those trying to login"

Ubi's "always connected" DRM means gamers must be connected to the Internet at all times, so the game can authenticate. If you are ever kicked off the Internet, even for a second (or Ubi's servers are down), you are brought back to the main menu, losing any progress you made in the game since your last save.

T-Mobile America has announced the replacement of Yahoo as the default search engine for its line of smartphones, including Blackberrys and WinMo device. Google will now be the default, although users can switch back to Yahoo if they want.

The news follows AT&T's recent announcement that it had selected Yahoo as the default search engine for the new Android-based Moto Backflip.

Yahoo had been the default since late 2008, but that deal appears to have expired.

T-Mobile's Web2Go portal will still be predominantly Yahoo-based, with "prominent placement of Yahoo News, Yahoo Sports, Yahoo Finance, Flickr and weather," says eWeek.

Major League Baseball (MLB) has signed a new deal to stream live events online for ESPN, a move away from their baseball-only roots on a big scale.

ESPN streams about 3500 live events per year, including soccer games, NBA games, and tennis tournaments. The sporting giant will begin using the MLBAM (advanced media) unit in April, and change the name of its video hub from ESPN360.com to ESPN3.com.

MLBAM will use the popular Flash software, which is a move away from the current streaming services they had, which required a stand-alone download.

Says John Kosner, senior vice president of ESPN Digital Media: "Baseball does a terrific job in terms of online video and distribution of their games. They really are the best in class for sport."

MLBAM is in charge of 3000 baseball games per season, as well as the NCAA college basketball tournament.

The popular CBS NCAA March Madness iPhone app, which includes live streaming of the NCAA Tournament, will support streaming over Wi-Fi and 3G this year, with 3G being a welcome addition from past years.

However, the app will double up in price, to $9.99 from $4.99 last year.

The company will offer a free "lite" version of the app, but it will not include any live streaming, just highlights and box scores.

The NCAA March Madness on Demand (MMOD) app begins coverage starting on March 14th with the selection show, and will end after the tournament has run its course.

The added price to the app is thanks to a deal between CBS and exclusive iPhone carrier AT&T, which for years has not wanted to put additional strain on its data network, but seemingly will for some extra revenue.

Adds Rob Gelick, Sr. Vice President and GM, CBS Mobile: "The CBS Sports Mobile 2010 March Madness products appeal to both casual and diehard fans, keeping them connected to the action via live video and highlights, news, scores, and brackets. Last year CBS Sports Mobile witnessed a huge appetite for mobile video when we were the first to stream live sports events over the iPhone, and this year, by including Wi-Fi and 3G, we expect that appetite, and audience, to grow even more."

According to the NYPost, Blockbuster is on its last legs, and is looking for an equity partner as it runs completely out of money.

Citing insider sources, Blockbuster needs $213.5 million in cash to pay off loans and interest for 2010, with a similar amount coming due in 2011. According to latest financials, the company only has about $211 million in cash, and is expected to lose as much as $120 million in 2010, leaving them with no ability to pay off the loans unless they sell more of their assets, or complete larger cost cutting measures.

After the report, Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes disagreed with the assessment: "All your numbers are wrong. They bear no resemblance to any materials we have in the market." Any talks with private equity firms are for "strategic alternatives," not to add capital infusions.

In February, Blockbuster said they owed $105 million in interest payments for 2010, but did not add what they needed to pay in principal.

The Chinese government has said it is ready and willing to punish hackers in the country that allegedly targeted Google Inc. and other companies earlier this year, if Google can provide evidence against the accused. Vice Minister Miao Wei said that Google has not filed a report to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology over the cyber attacks or sought negotiations with the government.

"If Google has had evidence that the attacks came from China, the Chinese government will welcome them to provide the information and will severely punish the offenders according to the law," Miao said. "We never support hacking attacks because China also falls victim to hacking attacks."

As for Google's threat to leave China following the events and ongoing tensions over mandated censorship, Miao said that the company didn't notify the ministry that it is considering a withdrawal from the country either. "If Google decides to continue its business in China and abides by China's laws, it's welcome to stay," he said.

"If the company chooses to withdraw from the Chinese market, it must go through certain procedures according to the law and regulations and deal with customers' problems that may arise." He went on to vow that China will continue to provide a sound investment environment for foreign investors and protect their legitimate rights.

Panasonic Corp. will work with U.S. electronics provider Best Buy for its launch of 3D televisions in the United States. The official launch of Panasonic's 3D ventures in the U.S. will be on Wednesday, and Best Buy will be the main promoter of the products in the market.

Best Buy will setup viewing areas at its retail outlets across the country, where consumers can try out the Panasonic 3D products. Panasonic is aiming to sell half a million 3D televisions in the United States in their first year on the market, and expects a 50-inch Viera model to retail in the region for $2,500.

Consumer interest in 3D has been on the rise due to high-profile theatrical releases of 3D titles, such as James Cameron's Avatar or Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. Panasonic is in 4th place in the global market for flat-panel televisions (behind Samsung, LG Electronics and Sony).

Apple Inc. is believed to have played a part in raids carried out at this year's CeBIT expo in Germany. Along with Siemens and Sisvel, Apple is believes to have been behind the forced shut down of an exhibitor's booth at CeBIT on Friday. The unnamed company was showing off Netbooks and e-book readers.

The unnamed company is alleged to have violated patents held by the three. On Thursday, lawyers from Siemens, Apple and Sisvel reportedly had visited to the booth and levied a €10,000 fine in advance of the raid. On Friday, German police moved in and forced the unnamed exhibitor to shut down.

The raid was not the only one to happen at CeBIT this year either, according to reports. Moves such as these are common at trade shows like CeBIT, as bigger tech companies use their patent portfolios to essentially "shut up" a smaller competitor that might not get as much exposure in a particular market.

iSuppli has issued a warning to manufacturers of LCD televisions about an upcoming shortage of LEDs, which are used for backlighting of some LCD televisions. LEDs provide a much better video imagery for viewers when used in LCD TVs, compared to LCD TVs that utilize fluorescent lamps for backlighting.

LCD televisions generally required between 300 and 500 LEDs per panel, all producing a uniform level of brightness. This makes the sector much more vulnerable to an LED shortage than notebook makers for example, as notebooks generally use about 50 LEDs in LCD screens.

Due to the popularity of LED-backlit LCD televisions, consumption of LEDs rose from 57 billion units in 2008 to 63 billion in 2008. iSuppli expects it to reach 104 billion by 2011, while current industry capacity is about 75 billion units.

Unless LED fabrication plants are built rapidly, or manufacturers figure out how to reduce the number of LEDs required in an LCD television whilst not compromising on picture quality, iSuppli predicts that the industry will have to deal with a "drastic under-supply" of LEDs starting later this year.

HardOCP had an interesting report over the weekend in which they proclaimed that NewEgg buyers had been receiving counterfeit Core i7 microprocessors, and today Intel and the retailer have confirmed the reports.

Users had reported receiving packages that contained a "huge hunk of plastic" where normally a fan would have been, as well blank manuals, and guide documentation that was full of obvious errors. The processor itself is described as just a "hunk of metal," with no pinouts, making it useless.

Intel has confirmed: "Intel has been made aware of the potential for counterfeit i7 920 packages in the marketplace and is working to how many and/or where they are being sold. The examples we have seen are not Intel products but are counterfeits. Buyers should contact their place of purchase for a replacement and/or should contact their local law enforcement agency if the place of purchase refuses to help."

The number shipped is still unclear, but estimates are in the 200-300 range.

NewEgg has issued a statement as well:
"Newegg is aware of a shipping error that occurred with certain recent orders of the Intel Core i7-920 CPU. After investigating the issue internally it appears one of our long term partners mistakenly shipped a small number of demo boxes instead of functional units. Our customer service team has already begun proactively reaching out to the affected customers. In line with our commitment to ensure total customer satisfaction, we are doing everything in our power to resolve the issue as soon as possible and with the least amount of inconvenience to our customers."

Microsoft has officially announced their Office 2010 "Technology Guarantee" plan today, offering a free upgrade to the upcoming suite for anyone who purchases Office 2007 between today and September 30th.

Additionally, Office 2010 for businesses is set for a May 12th release.

"Were excited to confirm that Office 2010, SharePoint 2010, Visio 2010 and Project 2010 are on schedule and will release to manufacturing (RTM) next month. For businesses, we will launch the 2010 set of products, including Office 2010, SharePoint 2010, Visio 2010, and Project 2010 worldwide on 12 May," says the Redmond giant.

Retail consumers can expect their Office 2010, in 32-bit and 64-bit to hit in June.

Over the past couple of weeks, we have been reporting on the ongoing debacle that is Ubisoft's "always connected" DRM scheme, now available on at least five PC games.

The publisher first made headlines when it announced the DRM which made it so gamers must be always connected to the Internet, or not be able to play the game. If you are ever disconnected from the Internet, you are forced back to the main menu, losing any progress you made between save points.

Embarrassingly for the company, Silent Hunter 5: Battle of the Atlantic was cracked on the first day, with pirates enjoying the game, offline, and with the DRM removed.

In another embarrassment for the company today, it has been reported that legitimate (as in, they purchased the game) Assassin's Creed II and Silent Hunter 5 gamers were unable to play this weekend, as Ubisoft's servers went down, meaning the DRM could not connect.

"Due to exceptional demand, we are currently experiencing difficulties with the Online Service Platform. This does not affect customers who are currently playing, but customers attempting to start a game may experience difficulty in accessing our servers. We are currently working to resolve this issue and apologize for any inconvenience," says Ubisoft.

Skype for the Symbian smartphone OS will not be available to North American visitors through Nokia's app store. The decision not to distribute the app through the Ovi Store was apparently made to help market Skype's partnership with Verizon.

Last month the two companies announced a deal to offer Skype on a number of smartphones, including a Blackberry and several Android phones.

Sravanthi Agrawal of Skpye’s corporate communications team said, “Skype has made a decision in the United States to not promote the Skype for Symbian app through the Ovi Store. We did this so that we could drive more attention to the recently announced Skype and Verizon Wireless agreement. This was a marketing decision — plain and simple."

Skype's decision came as a surprise to Nokia, who reportedly wasn't told of the plan ahead of time. Like everyone else, they found out when the app was released to users outside the US last week.