Apple Introduces iBrick

An Apple software update is disabling iPhones that have been unlocked by owners who wanted to choose which mobile network to use.Earlier this week Apple said a planned update would leave the device “permanently inoperable”.

Thousands of iPhone owners hacked their expensive gadget in order to unlock it for use with other mobile carriers and to run a host of unsupported programs.

There are also reports of the update causing issues with unaltered iPhones.

On Monday Apple issued a statement in which it said many of the unauthorised iPhone unlocking programs caused “irreparable damage” to the device’s software.

The company said this would “likely result in the modified iPhone becoming permanently inoperable when a future Apple-supplied iPhone software update is installed”.

That warning has now proved correct as many owners are reporting their phones no longer work following installation of the update.

Apple requires iPhone owners to take out a lengthy contract with AT&T in the United States but there are a number of programs on the net that unlock the device for use with other networks.

Some owners are reporting on technology blogs and Apple’s own forums that the update is deleting contacts information, as well as photos and music, on iPhones that have not been modified in any way.

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ooh, didn’t see that one coming! so, what’s up iPeople? Enjoying the new iBrick?

Demonoid Shut Down by the CRIA?!

Demonoid.com, one of the most popular BitTorrent trackers has allegedly been taken offline by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA). Both the tracker and the website have been unresponsive for nearly 24 hours now.

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Demonoid is by far the best torrent site on the Internet. I hope everything works out…..

 Edit: seems torrentfreak are fucking with the readers as usual.

YouTube Adding 30-second Ads

Search engine and internet giant Google has announced a new kind of video advertising format for YouTube, to begin next year.

Google acquired the video sharing website last year for $1.65 billion, predicting that video would be the next big thing in internet advertising.

Now Google’s Patrick Walker has revealed that the company is working with content providers to produce 30-second advertisements that will run before content is viewed on YouTube, VNUnet reports.

The revenue produced would then be shared between YouTube and the broadcaster. This will see “real money coming in” from video advertising, he said.

It is unclear how YouTube’s users will react to adverts before the clips, but the announcement signifies the immense popularity of internet advertising and comes soon after Google’s acquisition of online advertising firm DoubleClick for $3.1 billion.

DoubleClick will give Google a massive presence in the display ad market, traditionally dominated by rival Yahoo.

Display ads allow users to click through to corporate websites in order to make online purchases. The more links there are to a certain site, the more prominence it gains on search engines such as Google.

As the BBC points out, “essentially, the web is a collection of pages, all linking to each other One of the most important factors in deciding how relevant particular sites are is to count how many other sites link to it”.

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Ugh, It’ll be Interesting to see how this plays out…

F.E.A.R. – Project Origin Exclusive Trailer

Exclusive Project Origin (aka FEAR 2 ) Trailer has been just posted at GameTrailers.

check it out! looks awesome!

that M-16-esque rifle looks badass