Microsoft To Offer Full Retail Games on Xbox Live

At a press briefing after Microsoft’s main press conference, Marc Whitten, the GM of Xbox Live, revealed that Microsoft will begin selling full retail games as digital download via Xbox Live. Up until now, only demos, Xbox Live Arcade and Xbox Originals have been up for grabs, but now it seems things are opening up to include just about everything else.

The service will be called Games on Demand, and it’ll launch in August with about 30 titles, with more being added as the weeks progress. The launch titles will all be older titles (including “Mass Effect” and “Call of Duty 2,” for example), but Whitten didn’t rule out the possibility that new games could become available on Xbox Live right on launch day.

This is news that should come as a very bad shock to GameStop and other brick-and-mortar games retailers, as it basically cuts them out as the middle man. Not only that, but digital downloads remove the lucrative “used games buy-back” angle, which has been enormously profitable for GameStop. We’re still waiting to hear back from the retailer about today’s annoucement, and we’ll be sure to fill you in when we do.

Air France 737

BRASILIA, Brazil – An airplane seat, a life jacket, metallic debris and signs of fuel were found in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean on Tuesday by Brazilian military pilots searching for a missing Air France airliner.

The debris was spotted from the air about 410 miles (650 kilometers) north of the Brazilian island of Fernando de Noronha, roughly along the path that the jet was taking before it disappeared with 228 people on board, said Air Force spokesman Jorge Amaral.

There were no signs of life in two sightings of separate debris areas about 60 kilometers (35 miles) apart.

"The locations where the objects were found are towards the right of the point where the last signal of the plane was emitted," Amaral said. "That suggests that it might have tried to make a turn, maybe to return to Fernando de Noronha, but that is just a hypothesis."

Amaral said authorities would not be able to confirm that the debris is from the plane until they can retrieve some of it from the ocean for identification. Brazilian military ships are not expected to arrive at the area until Wednesday.

The discovery came more than 24 hours after the jet bound from Rio de Janeiro to Paris went missing, with all feared dead.

Rescuers were still scanning a vast sweep of ocean extending from far off northeastern Brazil to waters off West Africa. The 4-year-old Airbus A330 was last heard from at 0214 GMT Monday (10:14 p.m. EDT Sunday).

Investigators on both sides of the ocean were trying to determine what brought it down. Potential causes included shifting winds and hail from towering thunderheads, lightning or a combination of other factors.

An automatic message sent from the plane just before it disappeared said that the plane was losing pressure and had experienced an electrical failure.

____

Associated Press Writers Bradley Brooks and Alan Clendenning contributed from Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.

Microsoft and Intel may trim netbook sizes with Windows 7

One of the more fascinating aspects of the netbook phenomenon today is how the market segment has grown and adapted over the last couple of years. Originally all netbooks were humble laptops with tiny, 8.9-inch screens and baby-finger-sized keyboards, but recently manufacturers have been pushing those machines and screen sizes larger. 10.2-inch became the new standard late last year, and now 11.6- and 12.1-inch screens are becoming popular -- namely because they're large enough to substitute for a regular laptop on which you can do "real" work. From there it's only a quick hop to 13.3 inches, which is the realm of the mainstream, ultralight PC.

Now comes news that manufacturers may have a hard time making larger netbooks if Intel and Microsoft have their way. According to one source (unsubstantiated at present), the two companies are conspiring to limit the maximum size of what qualifies as a netbook to machines with a 10.2-inch screen.

Semantics? Nope. "Netbooks" have become serious business and now have a real, defined definition in the industry. That's important because Microsoft gives a price break on computers that qualify as netbooks, and also currently allows them and only them to have Windows XP preinstalled. As well, Intel certifies its low-cost Atom CPU to run only on machines of certain sizes.

Why limit the netbook classification to smaller-size machines? Simple economics. Once you hit the realm of 13.3-inch notebooks, prices skyrocket as you enter the world of "ultralights," slim and svelte computers designed for the style-conscious and for business travelers who want to keep their gadget load minimized. Ultralights can run up to $2,000 or $3,000, while netbooks, even larger-size ones, usually hit the $400 to $650 range. No one in the supply chain wants to lose that gravy train, especially not Microsoft and Intel, because it's where the lion's share of profits come from.

Bottom line: If you like the looks of bigger netbooks like the Dell Inspiron Mini or the Samsung NC20 (though the latter currently uses a VIA CPU, not an Atom), you might want to snap one up now, because their days 

Land of the Lost (2009)

Watch the Trailer Space-time vortexes suck. Has been scientist Dr. Rick Marshall, is sucked into one and spat back through time. Way back. Now, Marshall has no weapons, few skills and questionable smarts to survive in an alternate universe full of marauding dinosaurs and fantastic creatures from beyond our world. Sucked alongside him for the adventure are crack-smart research assistant Holly and a redneck survivalist named Will. Chased by T. rex and stalked by painfully slow reptiles known as Sleestaks, Marshall, Will and Holly must rely on their only ally -- a primate called Chaka to navigate out of the hybrid dimension. Escape from this routine expedition gone awry and they're heroes. Get stuck, and they'll be permanent refugees in the Land of the Lost.  Production Status: In Production/Awaiting Release Genres: Action/Adventure, Kids/Family, Science Fiction/Fantasy and Remake Release Date: June 5th, 2009 (wide) MPAA Rating: PG-13 for crude and sexual content, and for language including a drug reference. Distributors: Universal Pictures Production Co.: Krofft Pictures, Mosaic Media Group Studios: Universal Pictures Filming Locations: Los Angeles, California, USA Produced in: United States

Top 5 Best Kiss Moments—No. 1: Rob & Kristen

Our whole countdown was a tribute to Robsten, so no duh that our No. 1 fave onscreen kiss would go to Rob and Kristen. Like we're gonna vote for those Slumdog amateurs? Please. But, to be additionally painfully honest, while we adored the Twilight book, we thought the movie could have used a little more heat. So obviously our favorite scene in the flick was the bedroom make-out sesh!

The chemistry between Robsten is clearly undeniable, and since the Twi audience is supposedly PG-esque, no wonder they cut some of the deleted kissing footage. Or maybe certain execs just didn't want people to see how naturally these two mesh? The conspiracies continue to fascinate and build.

Here's hoping Robert and Kristen, who will be front and center together tonight (even poor Taylor up with them), take home that yummy golden bucket of popcorn. We might have adored Slumdog Millionaire, but Dev Patel and Freida Pinto are no Bella and Edward.

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The Hangover

Watch the Trailer Two days before his wedding, Doug and his three friends drive to Las Vegas for a blow-out bachelor party they'll never forget. But, in fact, when the three groomsmen wake up the next morning, they can't remember a thing. For some reason, they find a tiger in the bathroom and a six-month-old baby in the closet of their suite at Caesars Palace. The one thing they can't find is Doug. With no clue as to what transpired and little time to spare, the trio must retrace their hazy steps and all their bad decisions in order to figure out where things went wrong and hopefully get Doug back to L.A. in time to walk down the aisle. Also Known As: Hangover The Hangover (Warner Bros.) Production Status: In Production/Awaiting Release Logline: Forty hours before the wedding, three friends lose the groom at his bachelor party. Genres: Comedy Running Time: 1 hr. 39 min. Release Date: June 5th, 2009 (wide) MPAA Rating: R for pervasive language, sexual content including nudity, and some drug material. Distributors: Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution Production Co.: Green Hat Films Studios: Warner Bros. Pictures Financiers: Legendary Pictures, Inc. Filming Locations: Los Angeles, California, USA Los Angeles, California, USA Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Produced in: United States The Hangover