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Developers can incorporate PS Vita controls and features into PS3 titles.

Sony has confirmed that developers will be able to incorporate features of the PlayStation Vita handheld console into PS3 games. Devs can make use of the handheld's touch screen, gyroscopic features and other elements. The PS Vita handheld features a 5-inch OLED screen.

The functionality was confirmed as possible by Sony Europe R&D manager Phil Rogers at the Develop conference last month. At the time he suggested that Sony would allow cross-talk functions between the two systems most of the time.

"PS3 can send data down to Vita and Vita can display it," Rogers said.

"You could use the unique features [of Vita]--gyroscope, touch front and back--as a control device for a PS3 game. You can run software on both devices and use the network to sync the game states. And that's pretty good because you then have the processing power of PS3 doing that work, Vita [doing] fancy graphics...however you want to do it. You're not sacrificing the PS3's CPU to be able to have a rich experience on Vita."

Nintendo boss apologizes to Japanese early adopters.

Nintendo's Japanese website is hosting a personal letter of apology from company President Satoru Iwata. In the letter, Iwata explains that hardware prices fall eventually in every case, but that the company acknowledges the Nintendo 3DS price cut's timing is unprecedented in the history of the gaming firm.

"We are all too keenly aware that those of you who supported us by purchasing the 3DS in the beginning may feel betrayed and criticise this decision," the letter reads.

"If the software creators and those on the retail side are not confident that the Nintendo 3DS is a worthy successor to the DS and will achieve a similarly broad base, it will be impossible for the 3DS to gain popularity, acquire a wide range of software, and eventually create the product cycle necessary for everyone to be satisfied with the system."

Nintendo's "Ambassador Programme" provides 3DS owners with 20 free downloads games from the Nintendo eShop. Nintendo dropped the price of its 3D handheld console following disappointing sales of the system. It also posted a drastic reduction in Nintendo's annual earnings forecast.

Regulator surveys citizens use of mobile phones.

UK Communications Regulator Ofcom has said that over a third of all UK adults now use smartphones. Apple's iPhone had the most popular with adults, while teenagers appeared to prefer Blackberry handsets instead. Apple's smartphone was the model of choice for 32 percent of adults, while 37 percent of teenagers favour RiM's handsets.

Of adult males, 58 percent owned a smartphone, compared to 42 percent of women, whereas for teens it was the reverse with 52 percent of girls owning a smartphone to 48 percent of teenage boys.

Ofcom said that the growth of smartphone use in the UK has led to a dramatic rise in mobile Internet use. Facebook was the most visited website, with an estimated 43 million hours spent on it in December 2010.

The information on mobile phone usage in the UK was pulled from Ofcom's annual Communications Market Report, which takes a look at the UK's TV, radio, Internet and telecommunications consumption.

Former counter-terrorism official warns that same sceptical mindset is being applied to cyber-attacks.

Speaking at the Black Hat conference, former CIA counter-terrorism official Cofer Black recalled the attitude toward al Queda by the United States in the 1990s. He described it as a biased view that while Osama bin Laden was known to fund terrorism, his network did not initiate attacks itself.

He said a problem back then with "validation" applies now to the cyber-threat. Judging the severity of the threat and who is behind it can be tricky at least. In October 2000, the USS Cole was bombed in a Yemeni port, and the demand for validation that it was done on the orders of bin Laden took up to five months, far too long, according to Black.

"Validation of threat and attack will come to your world," he told the audience at the Black Hat conference. He said there was a lack of appreciation for how much of a thread al Queda states before September 11, 2001, and said decision makers now are in the same boat. "They hear it but they don't believe it."

Black said that Stuxnet was an example of cyber-warfare carried out by a nation (suggesting the obvious effort and cost of developing and deploying Stuxnet points at a state operation). "The Stuxnet attack is the Rubicon of our future," he said.

Research shows the growth of Android-targeting malware.

Research carried out by mobile security firm Lookout suggests that mobile users with Android handsets are 2.5 times more likely to encounter malware now than they were just six months ago. The report said that mobile users have a 30 percent likelihood of clicking on a malicious link.

Of course, most malicious links and crafted pages target PCs and so are harmless even if a mobile user encounters them, but some do not discriminate based on operating system and will attack mobile browsers in use.
Phishing attacks also affect mobile users the same way as desktop users.

The report estimates that half a million people were affected by Android malware in the first half of 2011. In January, 80 apps were known to be infected with malware. That tally rose to 400 by June.

A problem now has also arisen when apps confirmed to be cleaned are updated to include malware. Two of the most prevalent Android threats are DroidDream and GGTracker. The latter is the first known threat designed to steal money from Android users in the U.S. by signing up for a premium text subscription service and costing the user between $10 and $50.

Pair behind threatening letters for alleged piracy given hefty fines.

Davenport Lyons former intellectual property partner Brian Miller, and current equity partner David Gore, have been fined £20,000 each for sending intimidating letters to Internet users accused of illegal file sharing activity. Additionally, the pair have been ordered to pay £150,000 to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to cover some its costs for bringing the case to prosecution.

The fines here handed down at a hearing before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) on Monday. Between 2006 and 2009, Miller and Gore sent over 6,000 letters to alleged pirates on behalf of clients that included Topware Interactive and Atari.

Which? had filed a complaint with the SRA over the letters, saying the solicitors were bullying and being excessive. It also alleged that the letters contained false assertions on copyright infringement, such as a claim that failing to secure an Internet connection was grounds for legal action. The pair also increased the level of compensation claimed over the period of correspondence. The letters typically demanded £500 to be paid in compensation to avoid it going any further.

Toshiba has announced its Qosmio F755 3D laptop will hit the U.S. on August 16th.

The company has been planning on releasing glasses-free 3D HDTVs and notebooks since 2010, and we finally have an American date. The F750 is set for release in Europe this week.

Price start at $1,699 for a 2GHz Intel Core i7 processor, 750GB HDD, 6GB DDR3 RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 540M, Harman Kardon stereo speakers and Dolby Advanced Audio HDMI-CEC.

Says Toshiba of the 3D aspects:

To create a 3D effect without 3D glasses, the left eye needs to see a slightly different perspective to the right eye. The Qosmio F750 3D's state-of-the-art lenticular screen sends Qosmio F750 3D displays 3D images without the need for glasses. Eye-tracking technology ensures 3D effect works regardless of position (15.6") screen allows 2D and 3D images to be viewed simultaneouslytwo images of slightly differing perspectives individually to the left and right eye, which creates the 3D effect.

HP has started a promotion today that will chop $50 off the price of their newly-launched WebOS-based TouchPad tablet.

With the discount, the tablet will sell for $450 (16GB model) or $550 (32GB model).

Retailers and channel partners have offered that demand for the TouchPad is very light, so the promotion is not a shock to anyone. What is shocking is how quickly HP had to resort to the price cut after launching the device on July 1st.

One HP partner in the health care market, Denali Advanced Integration, says they have seen interest from a number of hospitals who have requested "try-before-you-buy" units. There have been very little completed sales, however.

The company purchased Palm last April to acquire WebOS and all its patents, and the TouchPad, along with a new version of the Palm Pre, are the only new devices consumers have seen with the mobile OS. Developer support has been, understandably, limited.

Asus has said today that its Meego-based Eee PC X101 netbook will launch in two weeks in Europe.

The ultraportable is just 17.6mm and weighs 2.03 pounds.

Eee PC X101 feature a 10.1-inch (1024 x 600) LED-backlit display, a 1.33 GHz Atom N435 single-core processor and GMA 3150 graphics.

Each computer also has 1GB of RAM, an 8GB SSD, a 0.3 megapixel webcam, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, a microSD card slot, and a small 3-cell 2600 mAh battery.

The Eee PC X101 will be one of the first computers to run on Meego, the mobile operating system built by Intel and Nokia.

Priced in euro, the netbook will sell for just 169, and likely have a $199 pricetag when it hits the States.

In a surprising post today, Google has called out Oracle, Microsoft and Apple today, accusing them of trying to stifle Android growth and development with their lawsuits based on "bogus patents."

Says Google SVP and Chief Legal Officer David Drummond:

I have worked in the tech sector for over two decades. Microsoft and Apple have always been at each other’s throats, so when they get into bed together you have to start wondering what's going on....

...Android’s success has yielded something else: a hostile, organized campaign against Android by Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and other companies, waged through bogus patents....

...Patents were meant to encourage innovation, but lately they are being used as a weapon to stop it.

The post (here) goes on to list all the ways rival companies are trying to attack Android, including Microsoft's continued lawsuits to get $15 licensing fees per Android device, the CPTN's (Apple, RIM, others) $4.5 billion purchase of 6000 Nortel patents to make sure Google didn't get them, and Apple's current suits against Samsung and Motorola over Android devices.

Comments spark fear of state control over Internet.

Russian Interior Minister, Rashid Nurgaliyev, has sparked some web censorship fears in Russia by commenting that limits should be enforced on the Internet to protect cultural values of young people. The 54 year old, ex-KGB officer said that Russia's youth needs to be protected against being corrupted by "lopsided" ideas.

"It is necessary to work out a set of measures for limiting the activities of certain Internet resources without encroaching on the free exchange of information," Nurgaliyev was quoted as saying. "It seems to me that the time has long been ripe to carry out monitoring in the country to find out what they are listening to, what they are reading, what they are watching."

He added: "They have forgotten the love songs of old, the waltzes, everything that united us, our background and our roots."

Russian President Dimitri Medvedev has previously ruled out "draconian controls" of the Internet, but has suggested that more discussion is needed on how to deal with clearly illegal content on the Internet, such as child porn.

Trade panel votes to review Apple charges against South Korean rival.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has said it will investigate claims made by Apple Inc. that Samsung Electronics is violating multiple patents held by Apple. The iPhone-maker has accused Samsung of shamelessly cloning its products.

Samsung's Galaxy smartphones and tablets run Google's Android operating system. Apple filed a complaint with the ITC seeking an injunction against the import of the devices it says infringe its patented technology. Samsung made a similar request to block the import of iPhones and iPads a week before.

The dispute between both of the tech giants has strained an otherwise lucrative business relationship. Apple was Samsung's biggest customer in 2010, providing business worth $5.7 billion throughout the year.

The market for smartphones and tablet PCs is jammed full of patent-related litigation as all the major tech firms look to stake their claim to a piece of the growing pie.

South Korea is first country to fine iPhone-maker since location collection news broke.

The fine is hardly a problem for the multi-billion dollar corporation, being just 3 million won ($2,855), but it represents the first time that the company has been fined over the unauthorized collection of location data with the iPhone and iPad.

It may also have an affect on the outcome of lawsuits that have been filed against Apple over the issue. Over 27,800 South Korean iPhone and iPad users are part of a class action lawsuit against Apple. In the United States, two separate cases are being built against the company.

In April, it was revealed that Apple's iPhone and iPad collected location data and then stored it for a year on the device, even if location software was turned off. Apple blamed it on a software bug and fixed it with a patch soon after.

The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) said that it had found loopholes in systems supposed to protect such location data, and ordered that tech giants such as Google and Apple encrypt location data stored on handsets for any purposes.

"Apple is not tracking the location of your iPhone. Apple has never done so and has no plans to ever do so," said Steve Park, a spokesman for Apple Korea.

Regulator found plan was unworkable.

The UK Government will revamp the country's copyright laws in the coming years to bring them in line with the digital age. Besides preventing piracy, the government wants to simplify procedures for buying and selling licenses for copyrighted works, and will broaden the list of exemptions for use of some works.

The moves follow a review by Ian Hargreaves, a professor at Cardiff School of Journalism. It found that the reforms to Britain's intellectual property framework could add up to £8 billion to the economy. The British government is seeking ways to rebalance the economy away from struggling financial services, and the creative industries have been seen as a high potential target.

As reported already, the UK will make copying CDs and DVDs to digital music players or computers for personal use legal. It will also allow commercial and cultural use of "oprhan works" (the copyright owner cannot be contacted).

It will also work to make data mining less restricted by copyright laws. Right now, according to Business Secretary Vince Cable, mass amounts of medical research data is blocked from data mining due to copyright law restrictions.

McAfee finds disturbing evidence of mass global data breaches in analysis of C&C servers.

In total, 72 organizations have been alerted by McAfee about security lapses going back five years. Among those caught up are the United Nations and the United States government. Disturbingly, McAfee tracks all of the intrusions to just one "state actor," which it does not identify. Security experts that examined McAfee's report are pointing the finger at China.

"Even we were surprised by the enormous diversity of the victim organizations and were taken aback by the audacity of the perpetrators," McAfee's vice president of threat research, Dmitri Alperovitch, wrote.

"What is happening to all this data ... is still largely an open question. However, if even a fraction of it is used to build better competing products or beat a competitor at a key negotiation (due to having stolen the other team's playbook), the loss represents a massive economic threat."

McAfee uncovered the global breaches when it was examining log files found on command and control servers discovered and seized in 2009. It has dubbed the attacks "Operation Shady RAT" with "RAT" standing for "Remote Access Tool."