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IBM will continue to develop the Cell chip technology and hardware to supply for future gaming consoles, a company executive has said. Jai Menon, CTO of IBM's Systems and Technology Group, said that the company is working with Sony and Nintendo. "We want to stay in the business, we intend to stay in the business," he said.

Cell made its first appearance in the PlayStation 3 console, launched in 2006. The chip includes processor cores based on IBM's Power architecture. Neither the Xbox 360 or Wii consoles use the Cell processor, but they do use IBM processors.

"I think you'll see Cell integrated into our future Power road map. That's the way to think about it as opposed to a separate line -- it'll just get integrated into the next line of things that we do," Menon said. "But certainly, we're working with all of the game folks to provide our capabilities into those next-generation machines."

Menon also said that IBM would be providing hardware for cloud-based gaming services. Such services require giant servers with a lot of processing power. "Some of this consumer stuff is also a cloud play. There are giant servers out there that provide some of the gaming capability. Some of that will come through cloud-based offerings as well," he said.

Graham Cluley, a security expert at Sophos, has written about an Internet rumor that predicts a virus will spread across the Internet on October 10, 2010. More specific rumors say it will happen at exactly 10:10am. Of course, it sounds utterly ridiculous but the fact is these rumors do incite panic for some reason.

Cluley also had to debunk similar rumors back in 2003, when many believed a virus would start infecting computers on March 3rd, 2003. These dates are specific because of how they look: 10/10/10 and 03/03/03. "It's just the kind of scare that people love to murmur about, and share with their online friends, but I'm afraid it has no basis in fact," Cluley writes.

"The truth is that there is malicious software which triggers every day of the year - so worrying about one particular date or time is actually counter-productive, as it implies that you should take less care on other dates. The 10/10/10 rumour, just like the 03/03/03 one, is utter codswallop."

"And yes, I know that 101010 is binary for decimal 42 (the alleged answer to "Life, The Universe and Everything" if you're a fan of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy). But it's still not any reason to worry any more than normal!"

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States is looking for ways to tackle "bill shock" for mobile phone customers. The trade association representing carriers insists that customers are already well informed about their calling and data plans. However, the FCC conducted a survey in which it found 17 percent of respondents experienced sudden bill increases even though they hadn't changed their plans.

CTIA, the trade group that represents mobile carriers, questions the survey and insists that there are no need to any new regulations. The FCC could, for example, force carriers to alert users via SMS or some other way when they are approaching their monthly call minutes limit or data limits. CTIA insists that carriers already carry out such measures to warn customers, and there is no need to mandate any more.

"Wireless carriers and app developers are constantly providing additional methods for alerting customers regarding their usage to avoid unexpected charges," CTIA said in a September document describing discussions with the FCC. "The FCC should not prescribe -- and ultimately limit -- carriers' ability to provide effective consumer account management tools."

Webroot is warning about a change that a Trojan makes to Firefox files that change the way the browser handles password information entered in forms on websites. Trojan-PWS-Nslog is found to modify a file used by Firefox (nsLoginManagerPrompter.js) in such a way that the browser simply saves all entered passwords and does not prompt a user anymore on whether or not it should.

Computer security firms generally advise against saving passwords in a web browser because they can so easily be retrieved either by a person physically using the browser or by malware installed on the computer. The keylogging Trojan, which copies itself as Kernel.exe to the system32 directory, creates a new user account on the machine in the background (Maestro).

It then retrieves information from the registry and saved passwords from Internet Explorer and Firefox. It attempts to send the stolen information to a server once per minute. The server is now actually offline, but the changes the malware makes to the Firefox browser file are not fixed by removal tools. Instead a user will have to re-install the Firefox browser to write a new copy of the file.

That's not the only interesting thing found with this trojan however. Embedded inside is an interesting string of text you wouldn't expect to see included with malware: "SaLiLoG keylogger server made by Salar Zeynali - Salixem@Gmail.com."

Tech vendors are hoping for a stronger year-end as economic woes continue to impact the industry. There are signs that U.S. consumers are spending more, despite unemployment remaining high. Analysts expect consumers to spend more on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet PCs, but will likely demand deep discounts.

Retailers are expected to see their best Christmas in four years and companies that are less exposed to the booming wireless device market are expected not to fare as well as others. "A lot depends on what happens in the economy, but some segments are pretty good," Micron Technology Inc President Mark Durcan told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.

"At least for Micron, we have very strong demand in the smartphone space and pretty good demand in enterprise and networking."

The market for tablet PCs has exploded following Apple's release of the iPad device in April. Samsung and Dell have launched competing products and dozens more are in the pipeline. However, many of those devices likely will not be out in time for Christmas.

Another week, another Apple rumor. Once again, a report is suggesting that Apple Inc. is moving closer to offering a music subscription service to customers. The service would grant access to a large catalog of music content for a monthly fee.

The iPod maker is reportedly in talks with the major record labels, mulling over the finer details of the concept.

The New York Post is the source of the latest report on the issue. According to the Post, Apple's iTunes boss Eddie Cue recently has discussed with the record companies how they could implement the plan, with a source saying there would be a tiered pricing range.

The monthly fee would work out at around $10-15 depending on how much music would be included and how long customers would sign up for the service.

The video game industry is confident of a strong holiday season performance following strong sales of top video games recently released. New titles from popular franchises are boosting confidence in holiday sales. After Halo Reach made $200 million in its first day on sale, Electronic Arts' FIFA 11 went on to become the fastest-selling sports game ever.

U.S. games industry figures for September are due out next week from NPD, which will help to give a clearer picture. Arvind Bhatia, a Sterne Agee analyst, expects the numbers to be better than August's dismal 10 percent hardware and software sales drop.

"It's a tough economy, but the overall picture for video games is starting to look a little bit better," Bhatia said. Activision also revealed this week that its online RPG, World of Warcraft, has 12 million subscribers which is the most it has ever had at any given time.

"When you look at how the industry looks today, we are seeing the top products doing really well," said Paul Sams, chief operating officer of Activision's Blizzard Entertainment.

Thanks to quickly dwindling stock of the ultra-portable, the latest rumor is that Apple is preparing to launch a smaller 11.6-inch MacBook Air.

Current models, which are 13.3-inches and come in two models, have been reported out of stock almost everywhere, and Apple has not given a concrete timeframe for new stock.

Best Buy and Amazon have said that Apple will not ship them any new stock until at least the 12th.

Apple historically updates hardware, like their iMacs, in October.

Sources claim the new 11.6-inch model will run on an Intel Core i-series, and could weigh under 2.7 pounds.

Verizon has said this week that they will be launching six LTE smartphones at the CES event in January.

LTE (Long Term Evolution) is the 4G data network used by Verizon and AT&T.

Verizon announced that their LTE network would begin rolling out to 38 major cities later this year.

So far, rival Sprint has their WiMax 4G network available and T-Mobile has their HSPA+ network rolled out. AT&T expects to launch LTE next year.

Verizon is also making USB adapters with access to the LTE network available soon, giving netbook and other users full-time access to the network.

Citing sources close to the bank, Reuters is reporting that Morgan Stanley is preparing an initial public offering (IPO) for popular video streaming service Hulu.

Hulu is looking to raise between $200 and $300 million from investors with the offering.

The service could file a prospectus with the SEC by the end of the year.

An IPO is just one of a few options Hulu has actively considered. Another is attracting new media companies to contribute programming or raising more money from existing investors.

The decision is likely to be made in November, add the sources.

Hulu is backed by NBCU, Fox and Disney, three of the four major broadcasters in the U.S.

According to a new report from tech blog Gdgt, Apple's iPhone 4 may soon be back in the news negatively, following "antennagate" with the newly-dubbed "glassgate."

The site says that the glass that is used on the front and back of the iPhone 4 is very susceptible to "serious cosmetic damages", especially on the backside of the device when using a slip-on cases.

Additionally, dirt and other debris from your pocket ends up in that space, reads the site.

Eventually, the backside will completely shatter as the scratches lead to large cracks.

The site likens the effect to a cracked windshield on an automobile.

While it has not been widely addressed in the media, the report says Apple engineers are currently working on a "quiet lockdown," testing a plethora of cases to see how deep the issue is.

The site finally suggests that development of the iPhone 5 may be held up while the company fixes the glass problem on the 4.

Mozilla has released its Firefox 4 beta for Android and Maemo devices, adding a number of new significant features.

Among those features are pinch-to-zoom, the "Awesome Screen" and syncing. Pinch-to-zoom is supported on all multi-touch-capable devices.

The new syncing capabilities allows for all browsing history, passwords, bookmarks, form-fill data and open tabs to be instantly synced from your desktop version of the browser to the mobile one.

Mozilla's "Awesome Screen" will give you instant access to recent history, bookmarks, and tabs with one-click on your mobile device.

Says the company: "Firefox 4 Beta for mobile is significant step forward in sharing a personalized, seamless and encrypted Web experience across devices. Developers have the power to use the latest Web technologies like HTML5, CSS and JavaScript to to build fast, powerful and beautiful mobile apps and add-ons that can reach millions of devices."

Yesterday we reported that Adobe's stock jumped as high as 17 percent on reports in the media that Microsoft has identified it as an acquisition target. The New York Times reported that Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer met with Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen in San Francisco recently to talk about Apple's dominance in smartphones.

According to the report, which cited employees and consultants familiar with the situation, the two discussed several options to deal with the situation, one of which would see Microsoft acquiring Adobe.

Today, the stock has fallen back to Earth, dropping 6 percent on skepticism about the proposed deal.

A number of prominent analysts have stated the merger will do little to solve Microsoft's immediate short-term goals.

"There is no doubt Microsoft has some secular concerns that must be addressed, namely around 1) lack of share in tablets, 2) lack of a compelling mobile offering and 3) lack of critical mass in online," says Walter Pritchard of Citigroup. An acquisition of Adobe would not address any of those.

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer has decried the use of pirated software by Chinese firms. "One of the things that has improved a lot around the world is business piracy, and yet when we look at China today business piracy is more extreme than consumer piracy," he told a business forum in Madrid.

"We are working hard with the support of the Chinese government to improve the situation but it is a real problem," he added. According to the Business Software Alliance (BSA), approximately 79 percent of Chinese firms are running pirated software on their computers, while it estimates the value of pirated software in the country at $7.58 billion.

Microsoft generates less revenue in China than it does in India or South Korea, despite China's GDP being twice that of the other two economies combined. Chief executives of several major software firms, including Microsoft, met with lawmakers and officials from the Obama administration to push them to step up pressure on China to crack down on piracy.

Acer plans to adopt dual operating systems on its dual-core netbooks, according to a report from DigiTimes. The Taiwanese firm is planning to load both Microsoft Windows and Google's Android operating system to its netbooks so users can decide which to boot.

Including Android offers users a rapid boot and the ability to quickly and easily handle common tasks such as browsing the Internet or checking e-mail. Including Windows will allow users to run larger more resource hungry applications for more complex tasks.

Acer recently unveiled its new Aspire One AOD255 netbook which includes an Intel Atom N550 dual core processor.

Acet Taiwan president Scott Lin said the company expects to ship 40 million notebooks in 2010, along with 10 million netbooks. Lin said that figures from Gartner showed that netbooks will not be replaced by tablet PCs, and that global netbook shipments would reach 36 million units in 2010 and 50 million in 2014.