By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

Grand Theft Auto IV has created a frenzy of news stories, including

• rave reviews
• worries over an effect on Iron Man ticket sales
• probable record sales
• did I mention rave reviews?

Ah, but the one that has gamers hot under the collar: freezes.

Owners of both Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles are reporting freeze issues with the new game. The issue seems most prevalent on 60GB PS3s, however. A few random posts fron various forums around the Internet include this one (Xbox 360):

Mine keeps freezing in the opening scene. I cannot get past it. This definitately sucks.

and this one (Xbox 360):

This is incredibly annoying and odd, indeed.

I picked up the game the day it came out of course and got home and played for maybe 15 minutes when it froze. So I got freaked out (having just replaced my 2nd Xbox for RROD). I tried again, it froze maybe 20 minutes in the second time. So, I returned to EB Games (Gamestop) and got it replaced, hoping it would fix the problem. It didn’t!

Check out how many pages of responses are in this thread at Sony’s forums.

Some are complaining of cutscene freezes, others random freezes. The only workaround from Rockstar Games so far has been to delete all the game data and reinstall - but that’s not working for all.

We Say: Rockstar is starting to get a reputation for great games that have a tendency to freeze (Bully had this issue also).

Naturally it affects a minority of users, but for now, the only thing users can do is install and cross their fingers.

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

Close only counts in horseshoes, right? Well, although a number of sites are saying that Windows XP SP3 is available for download, it’s not quite there. The reason is a glitch between the service pack and Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System.

“In order to make sure customers have the best possible experience, we have decided to delay releasing Windows XP SP3 to Windows Update and Microsoft Download Center,” the company said in a statement.

The glitch also exists between Microsoft Dynamics RMS and Windows Vista Service Pack 1, though that product has already been broadly released. Microsoft started pushing out Vista SP1 last week via Automatic Updates.

“To help protect our customers, we plan to put filtering in place shortly to prevent Windows Update from offering both service packs to systems running Microsoft Dynamics RMS,” Microsoft said. “Once filtering is in place, we expect to release Windows XP SP3 to Windows Update and Download Center.” Source: News.com

We Say: You’d think they would have the filtering system in place quickly, and you’d probably be right, so this probably won’t block downloads for long. If, of course, you don’t have the RMS system, go for it (if you can find a link).

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

Rumored since last week, and revealed by the typical Apple Store outage, updated iMacs are here. Same prices, better specs.

And what are those better specs? Well, as Apple trumpets in their press release, for starters, buyers can now get the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors (up to 3.06 GHz), a faster 1066MHz FSB and optional nVidia GeForce 8800 GS graphics.

In the release, Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing said:

“The iMac’s gorgeous aluminum and glass all-in-one design has been an incredible hit with our customers and is just one of the reasons Mac sales are growing three and a half times faster than PC sales. With the latest Intel processors, a faster new graphics option and more memory, customers now have even more reasons to love the iMac.”

The same $1,199 for the low-end model nets you a a 20″ iMac, 2.4GHz CPU, ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT with 128 MB memory, 1GB of RAM and a 250GB 7200 RPM hard drive.

The high-end 24″ model starts at $1,799 with a 2.8GHz CPU, ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO with 256MB memory, 2GB of RAM, and a 320GB 7200 RPM hard drive.

Move to the higher-end 24″ model (starting at $2,199) and you add a 3.06GHz CPU, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS with 512MB GDDR3 memory, and a larger 500GB hard drive.

Here are the specs for the lower-end models at each screen size:

The new 20-inch 2.4 GHz iMac, for a suggested retail price of $1,199 (US), includes:

• 20-inch widescreen LCD display;
• 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with a 1066 MHz front-side bus;
• 1GB of 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM expandable to 4GB;
• 250GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
• a slot-load 8x SuperDrive® with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);
• ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT with 128MB GDDR3 memory;
• built-in iSight video camera;
• built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking & Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
• mini-DVI out (adapters for DVI, VGA and Composite/S-Video sold separately);
• built-in stereo speakers and microphone; and
• the Apple Keyboard, Mighty Mouse and infrared Apple Remote.

The new 24-inch 2.8 GHz iMac, for a suggested retail price of $1,799 (US), includes:

• 24-inch widescreen LCD display;
• 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with a 1066 MHz front-side bus;
• 2GB of 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM expandable to 4GB;
• 320GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
• a slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);
• ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO with 256MB GDDR3 memory;
• built-in iSight video camera;
• built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking & Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
• mini-DVI out (adapters for DVI, VGA and Composite/S-Video sold separately);
• built-in stereo speakers and microphone; and
• the Apple Keyboard, Mighty Mouse and infrared Apple Remote.

Naturally you can add more RAM and other upgrades. Also naturally, the Apple Store is back up and these babies are available now.

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

Despite all the skepticism from the media, Psystar has produced a video that purports to show “the triplets,” three Open Computers running Ubuntu Linux, Windows XP and Mac OS X Leopard.

The video is posted on their website, but a copy has also been uploaded to YouTube.

The Open Computer running OS X is shown running Quake 4. There’s not a whole lot of detail or close-ups in the video, which lasts about one and a half minutes. According to the narrator, the video was created using Final Cut Pro on one of their own Open Computers.

Things like this make me feel this operation is less vaporish than I originally thought, but it would be great if a reputable site could get their hands on one of the “bad boys,” as Psystar calls them, and reviews them. Or even if an end user could confirm having received one of them!

Watch the video and judge for yourself.

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

A little more than a year since it was brave enough to backtrack on its Vista-only policy on consumer PCs, Dell is again breaking ground.

We know that Microsoft has set June 30th as the drop-dead date for Windows XP (despite their statements yesterday). Despite the fact that after June 30th, manufacturers such as Dell are not allowed to ship PCs with XP pre-installed, Dell has come up with an “escape clause.”

Consumers who buy either Windows Vista Business or Ultimate also entitled to get Windows XP Professional (the so-called “Downgrade Rights”). Each computer manufacturer decides whether, or how, to implement this, but generally they ship a CD with an image of Windows XP with the computer. This was how it was handled on my wife’s recently purchased VAIO.

What Dell’s going to do is implement this policy their way.

Their way means installing Windows XP on the PC themselves, rather than supplying you the CD. Thus, the PC leaves the factory with XP preinstalled.

On a special site Dell’s put up addressing this, they say:

Is there any way to get Windows XP after June 30th?

Customers may continue to get Windows XP Professional by exercising Downgrade Rights that come with Windows Vista Business or Windows Vista Ultimate licenses. Dell has the ability to exercise “Windows Vista downgrade rights” on your behalf in the factory if your business is still reliant upon Windows XP and you’d prefer to have Windows XP Professional preinstalled on your PCs.

What does it mean for Dell to exercise “Downgrade Rights” for me? Where can I find this option?

When you are configuring your system online or through the help of one of our sales experts, you will have the opportunity to select which operating system you would like on your PC. When selecting your operating system, you will see an option called “Genuine Windows^® Vista Business BONUS” and “Genuine Windows^® Vista Ultimate BONUS.” With these options, you may purchase the licensed rights to Windows Vista but have Dell factory install Windows XP Professional. You will also receive a backup media disc for Windows XP Professional as well as the media for Windows Vista so you can upgrade when you’re ready. Furthermore, with these options Dell will provide technical support for the factory-installed Windows XP Professional image and your licensed version of Windows Vista.

Dell will normally only provide tech support for the factory-installed OS, but with this option, if you have XP preinstalled and then switch to Vista, they’ll support it as well.

According to a contact at Dell, the “downgrade” program will be available as an option on some Dell Latitude, OptiPlex, and Dell Precision systems at no charge, and as an option on some Vostro and Dell XPS gaming systems for a small fee.

I have to applaud Dell for this. While this is obviously good PR for a company that desperately wants to get out of the doldrums, it’s a great move and I hope other OEMs follow suit.

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

Wednesday, in a post on the Windows Vista Team Blog, Microsoft announced that they had begun automatic distribution of Windows Vista SP1. What this means if that if you have Windows Updates set to automatically download and install on your PC, Windows Update will automatically download SP1 to your PC, after which a few clicks (for the EULA, naturally) will be required for the install to begin.

Until now users had to either manually download a standalone installer or install from Windows Update manually. Only English, French, German, Spanish, or Japanese languages are currently being distributed automatically, however.

Also, it should be noted there are a few issues that may prevent automatic downloading from occurring, most prevalent of which is the “old driver issue,” in which SP1 can’t be installed because older drivers may cause an endless reboot cycle.

While Microsoft outlines this and other issues on this web page, why they haven’t provided a tool that indicates a) which driver is the problem, b) where to get an update - if available - is beyond me. For most end users trying to search down which driver is the issue is beyond their capability.

And in that case, I would label Microsoft’s automatic distribution of SP1 as “somewhat” automatic.

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

Hopefully you read that title the way Steve Ballmer probably meant to say it on Thursday. You know, emphasis on the “HAVE” in a sarcastic way. Although I’m sure he didn’t say it that way, he probably wanted to.

Speaking at a news conference in Belgium, where he was to announce the establishment of an “innovation centre” in the Belgian city of Mons, Ballmer gave XP fans a little hope. Ballmer said:

“XP will hit an end-of-life. We have announced one. If customer feedback varies we can always wake up smarter but right now we have a plan for end-of-life for new XP shipments.”

The end-of-life plan for XP states that - with the exception of ULCPCs - Microsoft will stop licensing Windows XP to computer makers and end retail sales by June 30.

Microsoft has been quite adamant about the end of XP. It’s strange that he made his “if customer feedback varies” statement, because if Microsoft bothered to listen, they’d know both analysts and users want XP to continue until the next version of Windows releases (targeted for 2010). In fact, there’s a petition to save XP here with over 164K signatures.

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

In Monday’s post-earnings analyst / media conference call, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said that Netflix users can expect a “modest monthly premium” if they want to rent Blu-ray Discs. Formerly the rental of high-definition discs was bundled into their normal fee.

Hastings said that since Blu-ray discs cost more, and since consumers are used to paying more for high-definition content in “every other channel”, Netflix is

planning on implementing a modest monthly premium for access to Blu-ray sometime this year.

You can hear that about 5 minutes into the conference call. The fee itself and the timing were unannounced.

They also spoke more about their streaming service and about the standalone LG set-top box expected in the second half of the year. They also mentioned that besides LG they have 3 additional partners, but did not disclose the new partners. Netflix did indicate that two of the new partners are major companies, while one is a small one.

While Netflix garnered a 36% increase in profits during the first quarter, analysts’ expectations were that Netflix would raise its outlook for the remainder of the year and top analysts’ earning estimates.

But Netflix matched, rather than surpassed the average earnings estimate of $0.21 per share and slightly lowered its previous projections for its full-year profit.

Netflix shares dropped more than $9 or nearly 24% to $30.03 on Tuesday.