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Eurogamer: Microsoft has confirmed it’s aware of the sound glitch occurring with HDMI connections to the New Xbox Experience.

That’s according to Xbox 360 Fanboy, which has also spotted a temporary solution on the AVForums to use in the meantime.

First, turn off the Xbox 360 and remove the hard drive. Next, switch the console on and wait for the Dashboard to load. Once that’s done, replace the hard drive, and hey presto, the sound should return.

Unfortunately, however, you have to do the same fix every time you turn your machine on, apparently.

The New Xbox Experience launched around the world last Wednesday, and most notably introduced Mii-like avatars to the console.

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ITProPortal: Google-owned video website, Youtube, has announced on the company blog on Monday evening that it will roll out widescreen functionality across the site by expanding the width of the page to 960 pixels from 425 pixels.

Although the blog post seems to have disappeared, Youtube has already started to add vertical black bars to 4:3 videos online rather than distort them – putting it on part with competitors like Vimeo or Hulu.com.

Obviously, the move is motivated by Youtube’s long term goal of featuring full length movies on the website with the help of content creators worldwide, notably MGM with whom it signed an agreement earlier last month.

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T3: Forget iPod; mobile phones are now Britain’s favourite music devices, according to the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA).

In the 12 months to September 2008, Brits snapped up over 32 million MP3 playing gadgets. 75% of them were mobile phones. As for the aging CD format – just over 8m CD players were sold in that same period.

The scale of the figure is not really a huge surprise, seeing as the analysis also reveals that 90% of modern phones feature some kind of MP3 playing ability. Even the all-business BlackBerry range features MP3 playback on many of its handsets.

But just because every mobile phone that’s worth giving a passing glance is packing MP3 compatibility, that doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone buying an MP3 playing gadget is giving up on old formats either.

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Techradar: AV and hi-fi manufacturer Onkyo has announced its first-ever Blu-ray player, the DV-BD606.

The mid-range machine houses all the bells and whistles that you have come to expect from a Blu-ray player – including 1,920×1,080p resolution, 24fps refresh rate and HDMI v1.3a capability.

Onkyo has seemingly opted to make its player Profile 1.1, despite Profile 2.0 being alive and well. While it does mean that you get to enjoy picture-in-picture playback, internet-enabled features will not be compatible.

The player also upscales DVD content to 1080p and has an SD card slot. Audio-wise, under the chassis is a Burr-Brown digital-to-analogue converter.

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Electronista: At the FPD International show recently held in Japan, Samsung showed off a cellphone with a flexible folding OLED screen that, when opened, is larger than displays from any competitor.

The handset features a vertical hinge and opens like a book.

Once opened, the OLED display is about 5 inches in size. The unnamed handset also has a more conventional LED display on the front panel.

That front panel also sports basic phone buttons, but there is no physical keypad, suggesting the smaller display is touch-sensitive.

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NaviGadget: Mercedes-Benz was just showcasing myCOMAND, an internet-based infotainment system at the Los Angeles Auto Show. However you have to keep in mind that this is still a research project for the Stuttgart-based premium manufacturer to demonstrate what functions drivers can access in future.

Here are some of the main features of myCOMAND:

- Navigation: Uses the latest maps, but also takes the traffic information available on the internet into account for route selection.
- Trip Assist: Provides up-to-date information and services in the car such as the weather along the route and informs the user about the hotels and leisure facilities at the destination.
- World Radio: Radio over the internet
- Internet telephony: Enables putting calls through free of charge or sending short messages via internet and simultaneously transmitting voice and data.

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CrunchGear: Now that 1080p is the de facto standard for HDTVs, smaller sizes are slowly becoming available.

HANNspree claims to have the world’s first 28-inch 1080p, full HD LCD with the HT09 that would be perfect for a videophile’s smaller rooms.

Only a discerning eye should be able to pick out the differences between 720p and 1080p at this smaller size.

That is if they aren’t distracted by the lackluster 500 cd/m brightness and 3,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio that proves once again to not shop just the resolution but also other specs too.

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Electronista: With Finnish handset maker Nokia releasing its first touchscreen handset, the 5800 XpressMusic, early last month, now comes evidence the company will focus on a gesture-controlled interface, as per the company’s Chief Designer, Alastair Curtis.

He hinted at the potential of the gesture technology being incorporated into upcoming handsets earlier this week and Nokia already has a patent for the technology. The invention would use ultrasonic transducers (USTs) to detect a user’s hand motion and gesture and track their relative location on the device’s screen. Simple gestures such as opening or closing of a hand will open or close a program, respectively, and as an example.

As per the patent papers, users would customize the functions of the gestures, assigning various ones to a specific operation.

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Register Hardware: Nintendo and Microsoft have once again failed to find favour with eco-watcher Greenpeace, both scoring the lowest marks in the NGO’s latest Guide to Greener Electronics report. But they’re not the only consumer electronics firms criticised for being too slow to get serious about climate change.

The Guide – now on its tenth edition – ranks 18 leading electronics firms according to its own energy, e-waste and chemicals criteria. Only a minority of those companies scrutinised lead the way on energy and climate change, Greenpeace said.

Motorola, Microsoft, Dell, Apple, Lenovo, Samsung, Nintendo and LG are all “lagging behind”, Greenpeace said, having no plans to cut their operations’ emissions, no support for generic targets and no timelines in place to “avoid catastrophic climate change”. PC manufacturers make up much of the report’s middle ranks.

Nokia took pole position with a score of 6.9, although it’s worth noting that the handset firm’s score dropped from 7.0 in version nine of the report, because it still hasn’t committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The phone giant was praised for its product take-back scheme and for its commitment to removing harmful chemicals from products.

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Electricpig: We’ve managed to get our mitts on a Philips 42PFL9803 LCD television, one of the very first HDTVs to feature LED backlighting.

Most LCD televisions have poor black levels due to the lights behind the screen, which can’t be turned off – so light leaks through the black parts of the picture, making them look grey.

Not so with this “LED Lux” TV – it uses hundreds of LED clusters to light the picture, each of which can be completely switched off when needed. So while you might have a bright object in the middle of the picture, any black areas around it are unlit – so they actually look black.

It also comes loaded with Philips best picture processing and 100Hz tech, which helps by smoothing out motion judder, cleaning up noise and enhancing colours and contrast.

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Trusted Reviews: Formally announced back in August alongside the Archos 5, the Archos 7 has been slightly longer coming to the boil but it brings with it a spec sheet which genuinely tries to do something different with the PMP market.

First up, like many an Archos player of the past, the 7 has a 7in display. As with the 5, this is touchscreen and it is backed up by a choice of 160GB or 320GB HDDs, WiFi, optional 3.5G, and the ARM Cortex superscalar CPU.

Archos strengths like remote TV access and recording are bundled too though its weaknesses also raise their heads such as paid codec support. Throw over some of your hard earned cash however and the likes of 720p HD video content and video podcasts will become available. Accessories such as a DVR Station, mini dock, second removable battery and even helmet cam will appear alongside it.

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CNET News: Faced with strong competition from Apple and Research In Motion, as well as economic headwinds, Palm has decided to lay off some workers.

Valleywag reported that the layoffs could involve as many as 10 percent of the company’s 1,050 employees. A Palm representative confirmed that layoffs were taking place but did not comment on exactly how many people were affected.

“There have been some layoffs as a result of challenges facing our company and the industry, and we’re restructuring our worldwide operations to better position ourselves for profitability and long-term growth,” said Lynn Fox, a Palm spokeswoman. She declined to comment on exactly where the cuts would come, but she said Palm has decided to “focus our efforts more effectively.”

The layoffs will have no bearing on Palm’s plans to release a new operating system next year, Fox said.

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