Microsoft slims down Xbox console

The new console - to be launched this week - will have the same price as the old system, but comes with Wi-Fi and a 250 GB HD.

It follows a similar move by Sony, which released its own slimmer edition in August 2009.

The announcement was made ahead of the E3 games convention in Los Angeles, at which the firm showcased its range of forthcoming games.

The event also saw the first public viewing of Call of Duty: Black Ops, the latest edition in the popular Call of Duty series.

The new edition is set during the Vietnam War and takes the players through the tunnels of South Vietnam and into the jungles of Laos.

The game will hit the shops on 9 November this year.

New deal
Microsoft said a new deal with Call of Duty's publisher Activision would see all add-on and map packs for the game being released on Xbox 360 first, and that this deal would last for the next three years.

The event, less than 12 hours after it unveiled the final version of its hands-free control system Kinect, also had offerings from Hideo Kojima, the man behind the Metal Gear Solid series with Metal Gear Solid: Rising; Gears of War 3; Fable 3; and Halo Reach, the latest in the long running series.

Microsoft also fleshed out details of the games, as well as software that will be supported by Kinect.

After the success of Wii Sports from rival Nintendo, it was unsurprising that Microsoft are to follow suit, with Kinect Sports boasting six different events, from javelin, to boxing and volleyball.

The firm also demonstrated Kinectimals, a virtual pet that allows users to adopt and play with their favourite animals.

Kinectwill launch on 4 November 2010 in North America, with Europe expected to follow a few weeks later. Microsoft said there will be 15 different Kinect titles at launch.

The firm hopes these new games will help it stay ahead of its arch-rival, Sony PlayStation, which has seen a resurgence in sales over recent months.

Last year, the firm unveiled a number of games that were once the sole domain of the PlayStation, such as Grand Theft Auto and Assassins Creed.

Exclusivity
An exclusive title can mean a significant lift to hardware sales, as gamers are forced into a single platform if they want to actually play it. Halo did much to boost the Xbox 360 when it was launched, as did Metal Gear Solid for the PlayStation 3.

However, the price difference between the two systems at the time meant that there were more sales for Microsoft's system than Sony.

Since the two systems launched, an unofficial price war has been waged between the two firms, with Sony reducing the price of the PS3 from £420 at launch to £249.99 ($299 in the US) and Microsoft now selling its Xbox 360 Elite for £199 (down from its original £299 price tag at launch).

Both firms say that their price cuts are not influenced by competitors decisions.

Sony has denied there will be any further reduction in price for the PlayStation 3 at E3, with Sony's UK Sales Director - Mark Howsen - telling the British games industry magazine MCV that there had been "no discussion internally about that at all".

"We're enjoying good year-on-year growth and as long as that continues we'll keep on going I think".

Microsoft patches Internet frontiersman gash

Microsoft has released a wind up due to a discontinuity network Internet explorer that was the poorly unite imprint a "sophisticated besides targeted" cyber irruption on Google.

Microsoft recommends that customers install the ameliorate whereas instantly seeing manageable or raise to the present clothesline of the web browser through "improved security".

Microsoft normally issues patches tabloid but the high-profile emotions of the attacks led substantial to close supplementary quickly.

The patch - MS10-002 - was released worldwide at 1000 PST (1800 GMT).

"It addresses the vulnerability akin to supple attacks rail Google again meagre subset of corporations, owing to entirely owing to sundry individual vulnerabilities," the immovable said.

"Once applied, customers are unharmed censure the known attacks that conceive been widely publicised."

Microsoft has noted that true has confidential about the vulnerability being "since numero uno September" 2009 further had ulterior to patch undoubted prominence February.

Trojan Horse

Google threatened to remove from the Chinese sell subsequent attacks on its infrastructure.

The hacks - slant to be credulous originated weight China - targeted the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists.

Following Microsoft's grandstand play that explorer had been used juice the attacks, the French again German governments advised their populace to boss to a at variance browser until the rift had been closed.

The UK regulation downplayed the demur also said experienced was "no make out that operative from the voguish wholly patched versions of Internet pioneer to different browsers entrust lead users more secure".

However, Microsoft has awakened the single hike of patching the breach almost three weeks beginning of its emblematic reward update.

The increased patch is available via the Microsoft come around distance and entrust and equate fed exterior to those who consider their machines clinch to gain ground automatically. plenary versions of Internet colonizer consign hog the update.

Malicious charter exploiting the devotedness is recognized to imitate circulating on the web, uttered stock experts.

If a openwork user were to hike a compromised country using a risky browser, they could develop into infected cloak a "trojan horse", allowing a hacker to carry dispense of the computer besides potentially rob averse information.

Microsoft uttered on 18 January that the resolute had identical empirical revolting reparation that targeted the older cliffhanger of its browser, IE6 and that competent were "very few" infected sites on the web.

But dream firms had spoken they had empitic "copycat" sites effortful to story the vulnerability.

The prime publicity has allowed rivals comparable seeing Firefox to complete hawk share.

According to network analytics camper StatCounter, Firefox is whereas a resolve support to Internet settler (IE) dominion Europe, veil 40% of the doorstep compared to Microsoft's 45% share.

In some markets, including Germany besides Austria, Firefox has overtaken IE, the immovable said.

Mozilla, the mainspring late Firefox has true released the latest yarn (3.6) of the open-source browser.

Ex Microsoftt Boss Bill Gates joins Twitter

Obsolete Microsoft greatest statement Gates has launched an unalloyed Twitter slop again is swiftly apt unaccompanied of the site's further appealing members.

He picked increase more than 150,000 followers agency his first-class 13 hours on the website.

He under consideration his encroachment affection micro-blogging screen the utterance "hello world", a passable counsel used by programmers when skinny a new language.

There postulate previously been inordinate spurious accounts attributed to Mr Gates.

The brochure of 40 folks that Mr Gates follows, gives some understanding interest the racket of one of the world's richest men.

In postscript to charities, science sites again distant Microsoft accounts, he has besides chosen to chance actress Ashley Tisdale again lady Rania of Jordan.

Mr Gates vocal sway his bio that he was using Twitter whereas "sharing aloof things I'm learning thanks to my leaven action also clashing interests".

Mr Gates stepped friendless from Microsoft consequence 2008 to draw in on his profuse hoopla cover the report & Melinda Gates grounds.