G Mail Update

A major upgrade to Gmail is getting the thumbs down from users who complain that the new version is extremely slow, often fails to load pages and even crashes their browsers.

People have flooded discussion forums with complaints since Google began "upgrading" users about two weeks ago to the new version, popularly referred to in the blogosphere as Gmail 2.0.

Ironically, Gmail 2.0, which features an upgraded contacts manager, is designed to be faster and more stable. Gmail 2.0 is based on what a Google spokesman calls "a major structural code change" upon which new features will be launched in coming months.

"Most users should see a marked improvement in performance. We recommend using IE7 and Firefox 2 to take full advantage of Gmail's speedier interface," said spokesman Jason Freidenfelds via e-mail.

Asked about the problems users are reporting, Freidenfelds didn't address the complaints specifically but said that Google appreciates the feedback it's getting. "The new code underlying Gmail should allow us to roll out performance improvements more frequently," he said.

Users interviewed via e-mail for this article report a variety of performance problems with Gmail 2.0.

The most common complaint is that it is generally very slow, with delays of a minute or more when attempting to display the inbox upon logging on, to record keystrokes when typing text and to respond to mouse clicks. Often the tasks time out. Others report that Gmail 2.0 repeatedly crashes or freezes their browsers, in particular Firefox.

If these users switch to the "old" Gmail version, the problems go away. However, these users say they have to switch manually every time they log on, because Gmail 2.0 automatically became their default version once they got upgraded to it.

When Google upgraded his account last week, Jim Sellers, a software programmer based in Ottawa, Canada, was eager to try Gmail 2.0's improved contacts manager, but his Firefox 2.0 browser kept crashing both on Windows 2000 and Mac OS X 10.4.

"These problems were very disruptive. I spend at least 25 percent of my day using my browser as one of my main working tools. To have it crash like that made the new version of Gmail a non-option," said Sellers, an otherwise satisfied Gmail user since June 2004.

As a workaround, Sellers has bookmarked the URL for the "old" Gmail version. However, others expressed worry that Google at some point will phase out access to the "old" Gmail without having fully resolved problems.

Some users interviewed also complained that Google didn't notify them that they would be moved to Gmail 2.0, or give them an option to decline the upgrade.

Others, on the other hand, trust Google will soon solve the issues. That's the case of Jack Freeman, a retiree in Oklahoma who, for lack of broadband options in his area, has learned to live with, and make the best of, his relatively slow dial-up connection.

For example, he enjoys posting answers in Google discussion forums, and in recent days has been addressing a lot of questions about the slowness of Gmail 2.0. Freeman's solution to the delays has been to toggle between the two versions of the service. "It is still my favorite e-mail program," Freeman said.

Google is moving people progressively to Gmail 2.0, so some users have it and others don't.

Google didn't immediately reply to a series of follow-up questions, so it's not clear what percentage of people have access to the new version and how many are experiencing problems with it. It's also unclear when Google expects to have everyone on the new version and when the performance problems be solved.

What's clear is that the problems have unleashed a storm of complaints. A search, sorted by date, for "Gmail slow" in the Gmail Help Discussion forum returns about 35 pages of results related to problems with Gmail 2.0.

Xbox 360 to Live Long and Prosper

So sayeth the suits at Microsoft, who think the
Xbox 360 has legs to carry it past the typical
five-year lifespan of the average game console.
Well...what else are they going to say?

Sony and Microsoft have turned "losing money to make money"
into a convoluted cash-splash process worthy of an equally
convoluted motivational seminar. Microsoft's Xbox gaming division,
over six years old, is supposed to finally be profitable in 2008.
But that's effectively seven years of net losses,
and more if you count research and development time.
Seven years, which is fast approaching a full decade.

To paraphrase Gordon Gekko, risk is good, risk works, risk clarifies. Mm-hmm.
But what's the ceiling on a money pit?
At what point do you pull a Sega and cash out?
And if you ever "arrive" -- unless you can somehow
mimic the Windows model, where consumers and businesses
are essentially "indentured users" --
what's the guarantee you'll be able to hold on for
more than a month or a year or a single product cycle?
Sony had and arguably still
has the market by the teeth with the PlayStation
2.
Now look at the PlayStation
3.
A year on, hemorrhaging component costs, and Sony
rumored to be pleading with developers to stay the course.

The guys with perpetual game-driven money in the bank, making a profit out of the gate? Who else?

So when we eventually hear how Microsoft's gaming division is finally in the black, or witness the point at which the PS3 turns the curve (and I think a recognizable turnaround's coming) instead of clapping or cheering, all I'll be wondering is: "At what cost?" "TANKS TO PC WORLD

Manufacturer's description of PS3

The PlayStation 3 was first officially announced May 16, 2005, at a press conference prior to the 11th annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles. The design of the machine incorporates many successful standards established by the original PlayStation and the PlayStation 2 both of which led the console markets throughout their respective generations but it also offers some new features that distinguish it from its predecessors as well as its competition.

Fittingly, the central feature of the PS3 is its CPU, the Cell processor, which was codeveloped by IBM, Toshiba, and Sony. The PS3's Cell processor uses seven "Synergistic Processing Elements" (SPEs) plus an eighth for "redundancy," and is designed to dynamically handle multiple operations. Graphics are produced through the RSX GPU, which was codeveloped with Nvidia. The console has 256MB of XDR RAM for use by the CPU, and another 256MB of GDDR3 VRAM for use by the graphics chip.

PlayStation 3 games can be written to DVD or Bluray discs (BDs), the higher density format codeveloped by Sony and Toshiba. Like the PS2, the PS3 is backwardscompatible, and can play both original PlayStation and PS2 games, as well as PS3 games. It can also read and play audio, video, and other files from a variety of contemporary media formats, including CDs, DVDs, and BDs.

The form of the PlayStation 3 console is similar in size but somewhat squatter than that of the PS2. It can be operated in either a horizontal or vertical position. When laid flat, the PS3 console case has a squareish footprint, and its top bows upwards, with a fronttoback arch. This case is a silvery gray plastic, and it has a sleek, Spartan aesthetic, with a only the disc drawer plainly visible along its front. Four USB ports are hidden behind a front panel.

More so than its predecessors, the PlayStation 3 was designed for communication and compatibility with other electronic devices. In addition to its Bluetooth functionalities, the console has Ethernet ports and capacity for a IEEE 802.11 b/g "WiFi" connection. Internetconnected gamers can access the web, chat with online friends, and even download content, even while playing a game. The console also reads Memory Stick, SD, and Compact Flash memory, creating opportunities for crossplatform file sharing and other communications between the PS3 and the PlayStation Portable

Nintendo Number One in Game Sales

Nintendo displaced Sony as the leader of video game sales this past quarter said a new market report published on Tuesday.

According to iSuppli, combined game sales of both Wii and DS totaled US$1.2 billion dollars during the third quarter of 2007, up 31 percent from the second quarter of this year and more than double the amount sold a year prior.

By comparison, combined PS3, PS2, and PSP game sales totaled $1 billion for the same period while Microsoft reached $318 million in total Xbox 360 and Xbox 1 games sales.

The news marks the first time that Nintendo has accomplished the feat since first being displaced by Sony in the mid nineties with the release of the original and much more popular PlayStation 1 when compared to the Nintendo 64.

"Because Sony was slow to reduce the price of the PlayStation 3 and to produce compelling games, third- party game publishers are flocking to other platforms," says the report. "If the PlayStation 3 can't promote more game sales, developers may begin to feel working with Nintendo outweighs the benefits of working with Sony."