For more than a decade, the Grand Theft Auto gaming series has been a lightning rod for controversy. But really, what else can you expect from a game that so shamelessly flaunts social mores? This is, after all, a video game where carjacking and murder aren’t merely a means to finishing missions and beating the game—you can get your kicks in with GTA’s massive extracurricular sandbox worlds, too.
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Hot on the heels of last week’s report from ABI Research noting that many consumers may not see the picture quality difference between Blu-ray and standard DVDs comes the latest Blu-ray sales figures from NPD Group. And they’re not pretty.
According to NPD, sales of Blu-ray standalone players plummeted 40 percent from January to February, then rose a scant 2 percent from February to March. The general consensus was that once Toshiba dropped its support for the HD DVD format early this year, sales would increase
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According to HD Guru:
"In a few days the price of flat panel TVs will drop considerably. Why? Because Sony wants to regain its number one market share, so its drastically dropping the prices of its first new 2008 1080p flat panel models in order to pick up more sales volume.
Want more good news? According to a well-placed industry sources, you can expect Sony’s major competitors (LG, Samsung, Sharp, Toshiba) to react by dropping their respective prices too (in May).
Here is an example. Sony’s latest 40” 1080p (1920×1080) HDTV the KDL-S4100 will have a (suggested minimum price) of just $1199 making a full $500 less than its lowest priced predecessor.
How about a 46” 1080p set? The new KDL-46S4100 will be priced at $1599 (representing a $400 drop). This is Sony’s “advertised price”. The big box retailers Circuit City and Best Buy have been dropping below this minimum advertised price (MAP) 10% or more, only a week or two after other 2008 HDTVs have debuted, so don’t be surprised to see these Sony prices cut quickly by the big box retailers."
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David Kirk, Nvidia’s Chief Scientist, is an incredibly busy man with an even busier schedule. In the last four weeks, he’s been touring some of the top universities in China, Japan and Europe to give guest lectures on how Nvidia’s technologies will impact the future of computing—and not just graphics.
Bit-tech.net managed to catch up with him in London on the final leg of his European tour at the Department of Computing at Imperial College for an exclusive chat about where Nvidia (and the industry) is moving in the future.
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