Create your own free news widgets.

Alison Beasley sends word that GaiKai, the cloud gaming service being developed by games industry vet Dave Perry, is about to begin beta testing in Europe. (Sign-up page.) GaiKai is a competitor to OnLive, which started beta tests of its own recently. IGN got a chance to try out GaiKai for themselves, and they've posted a video showing how it performed. From Perry's announcement: 'Our closed beta has two goals. #1 is to bring our servers to their knees so we can choose the final configuration before we start ordering large quantities of them. (We think we have it worked out, but you can be certain our staff will be swapping cards and testing different processors as each day goes by.) Goal #2 is to test older computers. We've had lots of emails from people describing their computers and 99% of them have ample performance. Remember you don't even need a 3D card to see a 3D game run on our service. I know this is strangely counter to what people expect, but we actually want to get plenty

In order to make the business of exchanging information on the Internet as clear as possible, even among different platforms and languages, software developers have designed a clear standard of communication. That standard is called the Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP). The disadvantage of such a clear protocol is that anyone who intercepts an online transaction can easily read it unless it has been altered. The computers exchanging the information can agree upon a method to disguise it. The text can be changed using a process called encryption. When computers exchange encrypted text, the protocol is called HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS). read more

The big news from Cupertino iPod, iphone and Mac computer maker Apple's big 'rock and roll' event today in San Francisco: CEO Steve Jobs took the stage for his first public appearance since his medical leave and liver transplant earlier this year.

The new iPod touch, starting at just $199, gives you a great iPod, a great pocket computer, a great game player and access to Apple's revolutionary App Store with over 75,000 applications. iPod touch features Apple's revolutionary Multi-Touch user interface, a gorgeous 3.5-inch widescreen glass display, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a built-in accelerometer and speaker in an amazingly thin metal design that slips easily into your pocket.

An anonymous reader writes 'Dutch company Frame4 group is offering subscriptions for the Malware Distribution Project, a large security archive with a massive collection of downloadable malware and computer underground related information for the purposes of analysis, testing, research and development. Help Net Security has talked with the founder of the project and several other security researchers to get more details on this unique service.' of this story at Slashdot.

The new iPod nano adds a video camera, mic and speaker to the world's most popular music player, allowing you to shoot video wherever you are, view it on your iPod nano and use your computer to easily transfer your videos to YouTube. The new iPod nano-available today in an 8GB model for $149 and a 16GB model for $179-features an ultra-thin and sleek design with a larger 2.2-inch color display and gorgeous polished aluminum and glass enclosure in nine brilliant colors.

Providing 256 MB of memory (upgradeable to 1.28 GB) and high-speed USB 2.0 connectivity, FS-C5350DN prints 32 pages/min at 600 dpi color and comes standard with 500 sheet input tray and 150 sheet multi-purpose tray (MPT). It offers monthly maximum duty cycle of 140,000 pages, and features IPsec and IPv6 support. Enabling departmental accounting for up to 100 account codes, printer supports various network OS for seamless use across office and can print on broad range of paper stocks. This story is related to the following:Computer Hardware and PeripheralsPrinting and Duplicating EquipmentSearch for suppliers of: Computer Printers | Digital Color Printers

Could Wednesday finally be the day that the Beatles arrive on Apple's iTunes Store? Ian Paul of PC World recounts the complicated history between the band and the computer maker.

Weighing only 1 lb, 5600 Series small form factor thin client features Intel Atom N270 1.6 GHz dual thread processor. Unit is Energy Star rated and is available in Linux, Windows Embedded Standard 2009 or XPe operating systems. Product offers wide variety of features including optional dual monitor support and internal wireless option. This story is related to the following:Computer Hardware and PeripheralsSearch for suppliers of: Network PC's, NC's or Thin Client Computers

Featuring Core(TM)2 Duo CPU and Intel® 945GME chipset, PPC-177T offers dual Gigabit LAN port configuration, 4 serial ports, and 4 USB 2.0 ports, combined with ability to run Windows® XPE, WinXP Pro, or Vista. Dust tight and water resistant unit meets IP65/NEMA4 protection standards and LCD touchscreen is available in resistive touch, capacitive touch, and SAW technologies. PPC-177T meets requirements of diverse set of industrial computing platforms. This story is related to the following:Computer Hardware and PeripheralsSearch for suppliers of: Flat Panel Computers | Industrial Computers | Multimedia Computers