Sony updates PS3 to version 4.00 ahead of PS Vita launch

Sony is setting the table for the PlayStation Vita today, with the release of a new PS3 update. With version 4.00, rolling out now, PS3 users will be able to share content like music, video and images with the forthcoming Vita, scheduled to launch in Japan on December 17th. The refresh also allows gamers to save PS Vita games and data on their PS3 hard drives, while updating their handheld software using the PS3's network. There are some more PS3-specific features, as well, including enhanced PSN privacy settings and game patches, among others. Find out more at the source link below.

PlayStation Blog

Smartphones, not DVRs, are the biggest threat to TV adverts

TV viewers are a famously fickle bunch, which tends to drive TV advertisers crazy. The prevalent theory remains that skipping past ads using a pesky DVR is the biggest enemy of marketers, but new research has once again contradicted that received wisdom. The IPG Media Lab in Los Angeles pulled together a representative group of 48 TV and online video viewers and asked them to sit through some programming while equipped with the usual "devices or distractions" that accompany their viewing habits. Central to the study was the measurement of time each person spent facing the screen and how engaged they were with the content. The first thing noted was that 94 percent of TV viewers and 73 percent of online video consumers used some other form of media to augment their visual entertainment. Smartphones were the most common, with 60 percent of test subjects resorting to their handset while gawking at the TV. That's resulted in a mediocre 52 percent attention level during actual programs and 37 percent during ads. In other words, two thirds of the time, commercials are being ignored and smartphones are helping people with that heinous behavior. Ironically, fast-forwarding adverts using a DVR garnered attention levels that were 12 percent higher, mostly because people were trying to make sure they didn't skip too far ahead. Damn, why does reality have to be all complex and stuff?

Tech Dirt

Ad Age

Sony says PlayStation Network will return to Asia, starting tomorrow

Good news, Asia -- the PlayStation Network is finally coming back. Today, Sony announced that it will restore its gaming network across the continent, more than a month after falling prey to a crippling data breach. The company's PSN services are already up and running across other parts of the world and, beginning tomorrow, will light up once again in Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and even Japan, which had been harboring serious reservations about the network's security. Gamers in South Korea and Hong Kong, meanwhile, will have to wait a little longer before returning to normalcy, though Sony is hoping to completely resolve the issue by the end of the month. The company certainly seems eager to put this saga to bed, and for understandable reasons. The incident has already cost Sony an estimated $171 million in revenue -- not to mention the untold numbers of suddenly wary consumers.

Bloomberg

Researchers create 26 terabit-per-second connections with just a single laser

Remember that pair of 100 terabit-per-second connections we told you about earlier this moth? Impressive? Sure, but not entirely practical thanks to the massive banks of lasers (370 to be exact) that guzzled several kilowatts of electricity. Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany haven't hit 100Tbps yet, but they were able push 26Tbps using just one, lonely laser. The new single-laser fiber-optic speed record was set using a technique called fast Fourier transform that pulses light at an incredibly high rate with data encoded in 325 distinct colors across the spectrum. A detector at the receiving end is able to distinguish between the various colored data streams, based on tiny differences in arrival time, and recombine them into a high-speed torrent of ones and zeros. The scientists behind the project believe that, eventually, the technology could make its way into commercial use and be integrated into silicon chips. Now, someone needs to hurry up and jack our FiOS connection into this thing -- all this talk of terabits-per-second and graphene modulators, yet we're still jealous of grandma Löthberg.

BBC

T-Mobile flips on 42Mbps HSPA+ across 55 markets, launching Rocket 3.0 modem stick tomorrow

Fellow road warriors, we bring you good news: starting today, T-Mobile customers across 55 markets -- including Chicago, Detroit, Honolulu, Pittsburgh, Miami, and many more -- will have immediate access to a faster HSPA+ "4G" network. This means anyone with compatible devices can achieve theoretical download speeds of up to a whopping 42Mbps, as opposed to just 21Mbps from the good ol' days. But of course, only time will tell whether this upgrade will deliver its promise -- you may recall that even AT&T's LTE demo last week delivered "realistic" download speeds of up to just 28.9Mbps, when in theory it should be capable of hitting up to 100Mbps.

Anyhow, if you want to soldier on and be a guinea pig an early adopter, then help yourself to ZTE's Rocket 3.0 USB modem stick starting tomorrow -- the entry price is $99.99 after a $50 mail in rebate, but tied to a two-year broadband plan of 2GB or higher; or you can opt for the contract-free price of $199.99. Hit the press release after the break for the full list of activated markets.

T-Mobile lauches new individual and family plans right on schedule

As rumored, T-Mobile overhauled its individual and family plans today and simplified your options to just three tiers of voice service. Individuals can choose between 500, 1,000 or unlimited minutes, with unlimited text messaging adding $10 and data add-ons ranging from $10 for 200MB to $60 for 10GB. Family plans come in 1,000, 2,000 and unlimited minute varieties while the sharable data and text services cost twice as much as their individual counterparts. There are some odd restrictions, such as the inability to add texting or data to the mid-tier plans and no choice for unlimited voice service without SMS tacked on. We do, however, like the overage-free data options that simply drop to 2G speeds when you reach your plan's threshold instead of shocking you with huge fees at the end of the month. We can also confirm that restocking fees have been bumped from $10 regardless of device to $50 for smartphones, $75 for tablets, and $25 for USB modems and "basic phone devices." Check out the sources for all the details and fine print.

T-Mobile (1), (2)

US lags in broadband adoption and download speeds, still has the best rappers

U, S, A! We're number nine! Wait, nine? At least according to a recent broadband survey by the FCC, yes. The good ol' US of A ranked ninth (out of the 29 member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) in fixed broadband penetration on a per capita basis, and 12th in terms of pure percentage -- behind the UK, South Korea, Iceland, the Netherlands, and plenty of others. Though, granted, these nations lack the sprawling amber waves of grain that America must traverse with cables. The US also trailed in wireless broadband adoption, ranking ninth yet again, behind the likes of Ireland, Australia and Sweden. Worse still, even those with broadband reported slower connections than folks in other countries. Olympia, Washington had the highest average download speeds of any US city with 21Mbps (New York and Seattle tied for second with 11.7Mbps), but was easily topped by Helsinki, Paris, Berlin, and Seoul (35.8Mbps). Well, at least we beat Slovenia... if only just barely.

Reuters

FCC

AT&T demos speedy LTE, calls 28.8Mbps downloads realistic for real people

GigaOM got to peek inside inside AT&T's Foundry innovation center in Texas this week, and the tour came with a special treat -- a first glimpse at how AT&T's upcoming LTE network might perform when the carrier flips the switch later this year. Where Verizon's existing network promises download speeds of between 5 and 12 megabits per second (though we've gotten far better and worse in practice), the publication witnessed a connection with 28.87Mbps download and 10.4Mbps upload speeds, using a MIMO antenna passing bits through both 700MHz and AWS frequencies. "But," you protest, "isn't LTE capable of more?" Sure, but an AT&T executive told the publication that these were meant to be real-world numbers. Still, considering all the factors and where the test was held, it's probably best to break out the table salt for now.

GigaOM

Verizon finally killing unlimited data plans this summer, says it'll get iPhone 5 at same time as AT&T

Verizon's been telegraphing its intent to drop unlimited data plans for nearly a year, and despite the fact that LTE smartphones launched with all-you-can-eat options, those plans haven't changed one bit. Reuters reports that Verizon will finally nix the megabyte buffet this summer, replacing it with a fully tiered data pricing scheme, though CFO Fran Shammo also floated the idea that tiered data could open up an avenue for family data plans. We've never really enjoyed sharing minutes, so we doubt counting our kilobytes will be much fun, but we suppose there's always room for Verizon to pleasantly surprise us with a really low price for mobile web browsing. Right? By the by, Fran also reiterated claims that the next iPhone will be a global device, and said that when it launches on AT&T, it'll hit Verizon stores at the very same time.

Reuters

Gartner: 1.6 million Windows Phone 7 devices sold in Q1, consumer interest remains tepid

Direct sales figures for Windows Phone 7 handsets have been remarkably difficult to come by since Microsoft's OS reboot at the end of last year, but here come the stat gurus at Gartner to provide us with their best estimate. 3.6 million of the world's smartphone sales in the past quarter were counted under the Microsoft mobile OS umbrella, of which 1.6 million featured the very latest WP7 software. That means Redmond partners sold more Windows Mobile devices in the first three months of 2011 than ones bearing the sparkling new operating system. Guess now we know what LG meant when it said the Windows Phone launch didn't meet expectations. Gartner sees these numbers as evidencing a failure "to grow in consumer preference" by WP7's launch devices, though it predicts better things ahead, with Nokia's participation helping to accelerate the platform's momentum. For more (much more!) stats relating to the global cellphone market in Q1 2011, click on the source link for Gartner's full disclosure.

WMPoweruser

Gartner

iDVM Digital Multimeter collects voltage readings on your iDevice, shares them with whoever cares

This, dear reader, is the iDVM Digital Multimeter -- the world's very first iDevice-enabled voltmeter, from Redfish Instruments. Designed with auto technicians, electricians and engineers in mind, the iDVM uses an ad hoc wireless network to connect to any iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch, allowing users to record voltage, resistance and current directly from their palms. Once you've purchased the multimeter and downloaded the accompanying iDVM app, you'll be able to gather electrical measurements from up to 30 yards away from your target, log data over extended periods of time and export your findings in spreadsheet or graph displays. The rechargeable battery-powered device can also read your measurements back to you, which should make you feel slightly less lonely while digging around your car's engine at 3 am. We're still not sure why anyone would want to juggle their iPhone while chasing down a shorted wire, but if you do, the iDVM starts shipping on June 1st, for $220 -- which could buy you about 40 less complicated multimeters from Harbor Freight. 

BusinessWire

Redfish Instruments

T-Mobile baking fresh prepaid plans May 22, adds more 4G data for flavor

Consumers are flocking to prepaid about as fast as children to an ice cream truck, and T-Mobile is welcoming them with open arms. Pushing out a competitive and timely response to Verizon's Unleashed plans is vital -- especially given T-Mobile's paltry first-quarter results -- and the company will be ready to match wits with the country's number-one carrier on May 22. The official site is already saying as much, proclaiming to its prepaid customers that their monthly packages will become even tastier at that time. What it's missing, though, is a name, and TmoNews has uncovered evidence suggesting 'T-Mobile Monthly 4G' will be the re-branded title. So what will these new enhancements bring to customers?

Monthly rates will stay exactly the same as before, with additional 4G data supplying an extra oomph to the offerings. The top-of-the-line plan goes for $70 and will offer unlimited minutes, text, and web (a jump up from the 2GB currently in use); the $50 choice is identical in minutes and text, but will only allow 100MB before data gets throttled. This idea of cutting down internet use is a definite upgrade to the current plan, since at present time it gives out the same 100MB but cuts data use completely off as soon as that point is reached. We're also noticing that international and BlackBerry services are available a la carte for an extra $10, as well as a noteworthy day pass that bestows 24 hours of unlimited 4G data for $1.49. Color us impressed; all of the latest revamps to T-Mobile's prepaid options are a refreshing contrast to its competitors mandating more and more restrictions to their monthly data plans.

TmoNews

Chromebooks get 3G connectivity via Three UK (update)

Long before Google outed Samsung's Series 5 and Acer's Chromebook, we'd already heard that Verizon would provide unlimited 3G coverage to the Internet giant's netbooks, but our friends across the Atlantic still didn't have a data carrier until yesterday. We don't have a lot in the way of details for now, but Three UK has stepped forward as the Chromebooks' carrier of choice for 3G data in the United Kingdom. The company is decidedly tight-lipped otherwise, but says they'll have more details in the "next few weeks."

Update: Well, it looks like Three has already let the cat out of the bag on this one. According to the UK's Chrome OS site, British Chromebook users will receive a free SIM card, offering 3GB of 3G coverage for three months -- see what they did there? After that, users can choose to go contract-free with a number of different pay-as-you-go plans that range from a 500MB day pass for £3 to a 7GB one-month pass for £25. More details can be found at the Chrome link below.

[Thanks, Ross & Jamie W]