Xbox 360 Launches in Japan

Microsoft has launched its Xbox 360 games console in Japan to what seems like a more subdued response than it received in Europe and North America reports BBC.

Surveys by Gaming Fan-sites, leading up to the Japanese launch, showed Japanese gamers pulling for the Sony Playstation 3, even though its a year away from release. Microsoft hopes to overcome Sony and Nintendo by being the first to release its next-generation console.

Queues formed for its main launch event in Tokyo but early sales were reported to be slower than at other launches.

Japan's games market is traditionally dominated by Sony and Nintendo.

The country is the biggest market for console games, after the US.

Apple adding NBC shows

NBC Universal and Apple Computer Inc. on Tuesday said they would make several NBC-owned television shows available on the iTunes music store.

The shows, taken from NBC, the USA Network and the SciFi Channel, include current and older programming, the companies said. NBC Universal is the second big broadcaster to agree to sell shows to users of Apple's new video iPod reports USATODAY

ABC in October announced a deal with Apple to sell reruns of hits such as Desperate Housewives and Lost. NBC Universal is offering 300 episodes from new shows such as Law & Order and The Office, classics Dragnet and Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and segments from Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien's late-night shows.

"Eventually, a goal is to get all of our shows up there," said Jeff Zucker, president of the NBC Universal Television Group. "This benefits the consumers. Now they can watch great programming wherever they are and whenever they want."

Most of the programs cost $1.99, the same as hit programs "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives," which Walt Disney Co.'s ABC several weeks ago said it would offer at the iTunes music store.

The iTunes music store has sold more than 3 million videos since the iTunes catalog launched two months ago.

Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray, estimates Apple has sold 1 million video iPods to date and is on track to sell an additional 1.5 million this month.

"This NBC deal is about more than the iPod," he says. "It's about Apple being the entity to become the personal media center for consumers. People will start using their computers to play back movies and TV shows."

Seperately, News Corp. announced it would begin distributing made-for-Internet episodes of "The Family Guy," its popular animated show, beginning next year reports Forbes

Man sues over Xbox 360 defects

A Microsoft Xbox 360 owner from Chicago has sued the world's largest software maker, saying the new video game console has a design flaw that causes it to overheat and freeze up reports Yahoo News

Robert Byers, who brought the suit, said the power supply and central processing unit in the Xbox 360 overheat, affecting heat-sensitive chips and causing the console to lock up.

Complaints of similar freezing problems began to surface as soon as the Xbox 360 went on sale November 22. Owners reported some systems crashed during both normal and online game play.

Microsoft has stated it has received isolated reports of problems, but emphasized the possible glitches represented a small fraction of units sold.

The proposed class action suit claims that in Microsoft's bid to gain share in the $25 billion global video game market, the company was so intent on releasing the Xbox 360 before competing next-generation machines from Sony and Nintendo that it sold a "defectively designed" product.

ICANN delays .xxx porn domain (again)

Plans for the .xxx have been criticised by many people and organisations, among them former Icann board member Karl Auerbach and US conservative religious groups, including the Family Research Council.

Approval had already been delayed numerous times. First, when Pope John Paul II died, then, after the intervention of the governmental advisory committee (GAC) of ICANN, and finally following pressure from the American Government reports Times UK.

The reason given for the delay, this time was that the GAC wanted to review a 350-page report on the domain by ICANN, released just this week - despite it being completed more than two months ago.