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Sony has said this week that the popular VOD service Vudu will launch on PlayStation 3 consoles starting on November 23rd.

Via the PSN, Vudu will offer 1080p HD and Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround sound streaming.

Vudu says the "PS3 will be the first and only system with dedicated gaming functionality to offer this service," implying a partnership with the Xbox 360 isn't in the cards, at least for now.

The streaming movie service currently has 4000 movies available in full HD, and new releases are available the same day as their Blu-ray and DVD counterparts.

Google has announced that its updated version of Google Docs for Android and iOS will allow users to edit their documents, right in the mobile browser.

Until now, users could only open and view their documents, but not edit. The search giant had promised to add editing capabilities to future updates.

There is a catch, however. You must be running iOS 3.0 or higher and Android 2.2 to be able to access the latest Docs.

If you meet those requirements, navigate to docs.google.com from the mobile browser and sign into your Gmail account.

Users should be able to see a new "edit" button now. Android users can change text, edit tables, and add text via spoken dictation. It is still unclear whether more advanced features such as adding links and images is available.

Hulu has officially launched their Plus premium service today, after months of beta.

Originally set at $10, Hulu has instead launched the service for $8, accepting the fact that $10 was too expensive.

Any subscriber who used Hulu Plus during the beta period will be credited the $2 difference, per month.

Plus offers back catalogs for NBC, Fox and ABC shows like "30 Rock" and "Glee."

The popular free Hulu site shows only the last 3-5 episodes of any given TV show.

Yesterday, we reported that iTunes had begun selling the music catalog of the Beatles, marking the first time legal digital versions of the tracks are available online.

Apple, EMI and the Beatles knocked out a deal after a few months of negotiations, moving forward mostly when new EMI CEO Roger Faxon came on board in June.

Today, industry sources are saying that Google and Amazon both tried to secure rights to the tracks for their digital music stores, but were clearly unsuccessful.

All indications are that iTunes has exclusive rights to the tracks until January, at least.

After it was clear that a deal was in the works, Apple, Google, and Amazon were approached by Apple Corps CEO Jeff Jones (Apple Corps being the arts-promotion company where the Beatles are the board members) over the availability of the digital rights.

Apple won, flat out.

One senior music exec made it clear why: "Who else are they going to do a deal with? Apple dominates the digital market."

Yesterday, we reported that the first 36 minutes of the latest Harry Potter film was made widely available on the Internet, via a leak.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, will debut in the U.S. on Friday and is in theaters in some countries already.

The "extended clip," which is tagged as a DVD-Screener, has a large Warner Bros. watermark but is an otherwise intact first 36 minutes of the film.

Today, Warner Bros. has said they are looking into the leak, and will prosecute whoever leaked the movie.

Says the studio: "This constitutes a serious breach of copyright violation and theft of Warner Bros. property. We are vigorously investigating this matter and will prosecute those involved to the full extent of the law."

Engadget has posted new pics of the upcoming LG 'Star' smartphone, the new flagship in the company's Android Optimus line.

The device will run at least Android 2.2 out of the gate, and be the first smartphone to run on a powerful Nvidia Tegra 2 processor.

Additionally it will feature an 8MP camera with 1080p video recording, and a front-facing camera.

With a January release date planned, the smartphone will be the first to use a dual-core processor.

Furthermore, the site says it hears the Android will be "vanilla," with no extra interface layers.

Earlier in the day, LG said they sold 1 million Optimus smartphones around the world in just 40 days.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt has explained what will differentiate their Android OS from their upcoming Chrome OS, saying mainly that Chrome OS was created for devices that have full keyboards, whereas Android is better for touchscreen devices.

Chrome OS will soon be available on PCs, notebooks and netbooks, which will always include full keyboards, even if they have touchscreen interfaces.

Android, on the other hand, is best suited for smartphones and (eventually) tablets, which may sometimes have keyboards, but will always have a touchscreen.

When asked about Android fragmentation, Schmidt noted that he wants to make sure that in the future, the same apps can be run on all Android devices, no matter what version or what device.

Android 2.3 Gingerbread is expected in the coming weeks while Chrome OS is expected by January.

Major U.S. carriers T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T have announced today the launch of Isis, a joint venture that will give customers a chance to pay for services and products via their phones.

The payment network will use Discover Financial Services (DFS).

"This is an unprecedented partnership, one that's necessary," says Michael Abbott, who will run the venture.

The initiative is open and Abbot says that Barclays' Barclaycard will be the first issuer.

"Barclaycard will have the first mover advantage as an issuer of multiple mobile payment products. It gives us great access to [the telcos'] 200 million customer base," added Amer Sajed, CEO of Barclaycard US.

Visa and Mastercard are not expected to sign up for the venture, however, as both are starting their own systems.

Samsung Electronics has said today that the company is planning on introducing HDTVs with Google TV at the CES event in January.

The company is the world's largest TV maker.

Yoon Boo Keun, head of Samsung’s TV business, did not leave any other details except to say it was "open to using" new chips made by Intel for its TVs.

Last month, Sony began selling the first HDTVs with Google TV and sales have met expectations.

Fans of Google TV, however, have been disappointed as all the major broadcasters have blocked their signals from use through the service.

Lenovo has said today it will launch its LePad Android tablet in the U.S. next year, looking to compete in the ever-growing market for fast, portable, touchscreen gadgets running mobile operating systems.

CEO Yan Yuanqing confirmed the device which was first spoken about over the summer.

The American tablet market has grown exponentially since Apple launched the iPad in April. Dell, HP, RIMM, Samsung, Toshiba and LG have all released or promised to release tablets within the next quarter.

Lenovo did not put a price on the tablet just yet but did note it will launch in China early next year, as well.

The company is also heavily investing in a "program to support developers of mobile Internet applications and services as the firm looks to expand its application download store, which will work with the LePad," says the WSJ.

In what is certainly the most notable movie leak in some time, the first 36 minutes of the latest Harry Potter film are now widely available on the Internet.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, will debut in the U.S. on Friday.

The "extended clip," which is tagged as a DVD-Screener, has a large Warner Bros. watermark but is otherwise intact.

In 2007, a PDF of the book was leaked the week before the title was set for release.

The question now remains as to why the screener is only 36 minutes long, but the consensus is that Warner Bros. was so scared of a leak that they cut down the amount shown in the screeners they sent out.

It could also be that Warner just leaked the clip themselves to add to the hype, not that the Harry Potter series, especially this film, needs any more.

Regardless, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 will make over $100 million at the Box Office this weekend.

Apple has officially announced today that iTunes will begin offering tracks from the Beatles, marking the first time a digital platform has been given access to the catalog.

The Beatles had long kept to selling their re-mastered tracks on CDs and records.

All 13 re-mastered Beatles albums are now available via iTunes, with each individual track costing $1.29.

Albums sell for either $13 or $20, depending on the length.

If you are an avid fan, Apple is also offering the "Beatles Box Set" for $150. The set includes film of their "Live at the Washington Coliseum, 1964" concert. The concert was the band's first in the U.S.

With the Beatles now checked off the list, remaining notable major artists that do sell on iTunes include AC/DC, Kid Rock and Black Sabbath.

Microsoft has confirmed that the Kinect motion control system has hit its first major milestone today, reaching 1 million in unit sales.

The accessory went on sale in the U.S. and Canada just 10 days ago, and in the E.U. last week.

As a standalone device, Microsoft sells the system for $150. The software giant says it expects to sell 5 million by the end of the year.

Kinect is headed to broader Asia and finally Japan starting this week.

Microsoft sells Kinect as part of console bundles or standalone.

The HP Slate 500 tablet is seeing stronger demand than expected, say multiple sources, with HP having trouble keeping up.

HP showed off the Slate at CES in January, and even shelved plans to release it before reviving it late in the summer.

The tablet sells for $800 and is dubbed as an "enterprise-only" device.

HP wanted to launch the tablet on November 12th but all pre-orderers are now seeing a two-week delay. The company says they do not have "on-hand stock" to complete orders.

"Due to high demand on the portable system you have selected we will not be able to fulfill the order from on hand stock, therefore we have routed your order to manufacturing for your product to be built. The average lead time to get these portables ready to ship may vary from 10 to 15 business days," reads the note.

One source says the company only had 5000 in supply but received over 9000 pre-orders. Angry customers are even being offered up to $100 off of the device for waiting.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt has shown off the upcoming Nexus S device today at the Web 2.0 summit, finally confirming that the device at least exists.

It will launch via T-Mobile, likely before the end of the year.

Outside of those facts, Schmidt would only call the Nexus S an "unannounced phone" from "an unannounced manufacturer" although most leaks seem to indicate it will come from Samsung.

The CEO also confirmed that Android 2.3 Gingerbread is coming within the "next few weeks" and definitely before Christmas.

A new key technology for Google is apparently the addition of NFC chips, a standard that should make commerce even easier than swiping a physical credit card.

For more info on NFC, check here: NFC

Pic via Engadget