release

'Star Wars' on Blu-ray coming September 27

The excitement over the launch of "Star Wars: The Complete Saga" on Blu-ray is palpable. And now, we finally have a release date for the box set.

According to the listing on Amazon, the 9-disc Blu-ray set, which includes all six "Star Wars" films and three discs with more than 30 hours of special features, will launch September 27.

The official date follows statements made last summer by Lucasfilm and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, saying the set would be available in fall 2011, and a more recent blog post on the Star Wars site saying … Read more

Samsung Galaxy Tab lands at Verizon

Hot on the heels of T-Mobile's release, Verizon is now offering Samsung's Galaxy Tab to customers.

Verizon's offering is somewhat different from that of T-Mobile's. Verizon is selling the tablet device for $599.99, regardless of whether the customer opts for a two-year contract or a month-to-month arrangement. T-Mobile, on the other hand, is selling the Galaxy Tab for $599.99 with no contract or for $399.99 with a two-year commitment.

Verizon is offering more data plans than T-Mobile. The carrier said customers can choose a 1GB option for $20 per month, 3GB of data … Read more

Verizon quietly launches Motorola Droid 2 Global

After weeks of speculation, the Motorola Droid 2 Global is available today to Verizon Wireless customers.

As expected, the Droid 2 Global features a 1.2GHz processor and runs Android 2.2 (Froyo). It has a 3.7-inch display, slide-out QWERTY keyboard, and comes in either white or black. It features 8GB of internal memory and an 8GB preinstalled microSD card. But it's the device's ability to work around the world that will attract customers. According to Verizon, it boasts "Quad Band GSM capabilities to make and receive calls, check e-mail, and more from over 200 countries.&… Read more

Windows 7 SP1 Release Candidate launches

Microsoft this week unveiled the Release Candidates for Windows 7 Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1.

The new releases are the last public test versions before the RTM (release-to-manufacturing) editions for both products hit the market early next year, according to a Microsoft blog. The Release Candidate for Windows 7 SP1 holds no new features since the product's initial beta came out in July. Microsoft has previously said that Windows 7 SP1 would offer nothing new but would simply be a collection of minor updates and fixes already released.

Still the launch of a … Read more

New IE beta goes modern

First Take:

After several months of teasing Internet Explorer's upgrade with a series of feature-free developer's previews, Microsoft has unleashed on the world an Internet Explorer 9 beta (32-bit Windows 7; 64-bit Windows 7; 32-bit Windows Vista; 64-bit Windows Vista) with some impressive new features. Like any properly named beta, though, there are also some bugs to be ironed out.

This is the biggest overhaul to the browser since Internet Explorer 7 landed. The changes to the interface are enormous, the browser's overall usability has greatly improved, it's more secure, and it's significantly faster and … Read more

Apple starts shipping new iPods

Apple has started shipping its new line of iPods.

Over the weekend and early Monday, those who preordered a new iPod started receiving e-mails from Apple that the devices are shipping. Some folks have seen their delivery date pegged at week's end, while others have received word from Apple that it might be slightly later.

I preordered the new iPod Nano when it was announced at Apple's media event last week. The device is scheduled to arrive at my doorstep Friday, though Apple's official "delivers by" date is Sunday.

The new iPod Nano is drastically … Read more

Duke Nukem Forever to see light of day after all

After well over a decade of "development," 2K Games announced today that Duke Nukem Forever will actually see the light of day. The publisher went on to say that Gearbox Software has taken the reigns on the project, rescuing it from development limbo after the game's original studio 3D Realms went under. Gearbox Software is responsible for titles such as the recently successful Borderlands.

The game will be on display at this weekend's PAX 2010 convention in Seattle, where press and gamers in attendance can have a go at the title 14 years in the making. … Read more

All Apple news

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded: Apple's new iPods iOS updates included in Apple's Fall lineup Streaming AppleTV Windows Phone 7 goes to OEMs Another blow to net neutrality New Sony e-readers

The Dark Knight returns to consoles next fall

One of our picks for 2009 game of the year was undoubtedly Batman: Arkham Asylum. Satisfying gameplay, a near-perfect fighting system, references to almost all the characters in the Batman universe, and a fantastic cast easily made it the best Batman game ever made.

While we knew to expect a sequel to the new franchise, we were a bit letdown to watch E3 2010 come and go with no official announcement of when we could see the Dark Knight back in action.

Today we have word that Batman: Arkham City will hit Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC in the … Read more