Google Music 4.0.1 for Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) has leaked out and with it sports a new interface (which looks gorgeous), more options, better controls and an overall better look. Below we have a screenshot of the new interface. The old on the left, the new on the right. The new interface is very Android 3.0 Honeycomb, which is great as Honeycomb's UI is amazingly beautiful.

The next screenshot shows the Selection menu which has taken on a slight change, instead of a pop-up in the middle of the screen, there is now a dialog-style box directly below the artist. The available offline option is gone, which may bring in a change in the way Music caches its streams.

Next up we have the Player interface itself, which has received a subtle makeover to match the rest of the app. Clean and sleek, less obtrusive and smaller controls. There is also now a 'search' button in the top right, which is thanks to Ice Cream Sandwich's lack of a physical search key.

DICE have announced that the jet and vehicle-filled Caspian Border map has been unlocked in order for DICE to do some testing. The test is for PC gamers only as they are specifically testing the 64-player server configurations, as the console versions of Battlefield 3 only support 24 players. DICE have also reminded users that Battlefield 3 is still in beta, so any crashes, network instability and outages may occur.

DICE is taking this opportunity to fine tune its servers and says that your experience with the beta is not necessarily indicative of the final product. I played 4 hours of 64-player Caspian Border BF3 last night and let me just say the great words of our own Shane Baxtor here (and also, its his Birthday today!): NERDGASM. It is amazing. Absolutely beautiful. Breathtaking. The map is big, but small in areas for firefights. Vehicles help so much with the immersion and having jets flying over you at insane speeds just makes it feel like a literal Battlefield.

The scale of Caspian Border also makes for much more intense fights, and a change in scenery too. Just a little thing I thought I'd discuss. I was in a bit of the level where there's a two storey building, I walked up the stairs and there was a roof section you could access. As I walked up the stairs, the sunlight beamed down against the wall, which enlightened the wall and made it look really 'bright'. As I walked up to the wall and further up the stairs, that bright wall became duller... as I was engulfed in sunlight. The effect has to be seen in game to be believed, but the lighting part of the Frostbite 2 engine is absolutely, hands-down phenomenal.

Rockstar have confirmed that Red Dead Redemption won't be coming to the PC anytime soon. The hugely successful Western open-world game has been great on the console, but has been at a shoot-off with the PC with rumors of it hitting the PC for a while now shot down today. Rockstar have an interview with multiple gaming sites over the past few days for Max Payne 3 and had discussed L.A. Noire, MP3 and of course, Red Dead Redemption.

This is what Rockstar had to say:

Microsoft's next-generation console is not only long overdue, but has been rumored for a while now that it be unveiled at E3 2012. But, now we have the product logo in a trailer for Hugh Jackman's upcoming sci-fi robot fighting movie, Real Steel. The Xbox 720 logo is seen during a futuristic scene set in a sports arena, where it is a digital banner ad alongside other popular brands such as Cafillac, Budweiser and Coca Cola.

Microsoft has previously stated that the life-cycle of the current Xbox 360 would be 10 years, but we all know it needs to be much sooner than that. Considering that Real Steel takes place in 2020, it would make the next-generation console only five years old, and with a 10 year life-cycle, this would make sense. The fact that the logo is there at all, puts some validity to the rumors of not just a next-gen console from Microsoft, but to the name "Xbox 720".

I don't particular like the name, as it would seem as if it were held back to 1280x720p output, something like "Xbox Next" would be great. Ditch the numbers, but ditching the numbers would confuse the masses too... however, it has worked for Nintendo.

It was just yesterday I was posting about the negatively reviewed, RAGE from id Software, but today is another day and there are some things you can fix if you'd like to read below. RAGE suffers from tearing, massive texture pop-in, and just a total lack of graphical options to tweak and adjust. For the once great id Software to fall to their knees for some of that console pie... it's just very, sad.

But, if you've picked up the title and want to get things running smoother, there are some things you can do. First of all, if you're an AMD Radeon user, you can grab the latest RAGE-optimized Radeon drivers here. If you're an NVIDIA user, you can grab the green team Battlefield 3 driver (which also optimizes RAGE) if you click here.

There is no developer console by default, but if you'd like one... right click on RAGE in your library on Steam, click properties and select the launch options, then add "+set com_allowconsole 1" in the box. Note: This will take away your ability to gain achievements. Then, by pressing the tilde key like usual, the console can be launched. From the console you can then type "listcvars" or "listcmds" to see everything you're able to tweak.

Windows Phone owner? Xbox 360 owner? Well, your worlds about to collide in a way you never thought. Microsoft have shown a video where they've shown off the Xbox Companion App where you can Find, Learn more about and Control content from Xbox LIVE Marketplace on your Xbox 360. Xbox Companion gives you instant access to the Xbox LIVE Marketplace catalog of games, movies, music and TV shows.

Learn more about what you're watching, listening to, or playing: once you've found an touched the movie tile, the Xbox companion app takes you to an info page which has all the related details about the movie you've selected. Once there, you can select an actor, once in the actors details, you can be taken to other movies starring that actor. From there, you can learn more about their other movies. Once the content is selected and the play button nis pressed, the Xbox Companion flips into "controller mode" and from here, you can navigate your Xbox, or control video playback. The controls are virtually instantaneous - reportedly as fast as using a controller or a TV remote.

The Xbox Companion will be a free download for Windows Phone customers, and should be available soon.

RumorTT is back! RumorTT was taking a holiday on a Jamaican beach, sipping cocktails and sunbathing all day - because, its a boss and a ladies man. But, RumorTT is back into full swing with a pretty juicy rumor that Intel's upcoming Ivy Bridge Ultrabooks might sport 2560x1400 displays. This would be a huge gain for users who work with photographs, documents or many windows all at once. During last months IDF, there were a bunch of interesting disclosures and strategic directions unveiled, especially when it came to Intel's mobile product expansion.

What is the most interesting from that, is that 13.3-inch panels with a resolution of wait for it, 2560x1440 pixels could make their way onto Ultrabook screens by near year. Even the next-gen iPad which is rumored to have a 2048x1536 display is indeed available, but very expensive. With similar pixel density, a 2560x1400 13.3-inch screen would not be cheap, either. If we do see these super high-res panels on Ultrabooks, expect them to be expensive.

Considering that most 13-inch notebooks have 1366x768 "HD" ready displays, this would be a huge jump. Personally, I can't stand anything less than 1920x1080 on a screen, but each to their own. I'm a resolution and frame rate whore, and I know it.

Valve did promise to release free downloadable content for Portal 2 and have followed through with that promise today by releasing the new gear for Portal 2 across all platforms, PC, Mac, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The new DLC is called "Peer Review" and continues the co-op story as players navigate P-Body and Atlas through a fresh set of test chambers, which would have been constructed by the ever-so-evil AI, GLaDOS. The DLC also contains a single-player and co-op "Challenge Mode", as well as leaderboards to compare Challenge Mode scores with your friends.

There were a fair amount of complains with how short the campaign was in Portal 2, but this update (as well as future DLC) should help the community continue their fanboy love for Valve and Portal. Despite the complaints about the length of the game, the user score on Metacritic has actually improved over the last few months and the game has reportedly sold over two million copies. The fresh DLC is readily available and is free of charged on all supported platforms, even the PS3 and Xbox 360.

On top of the free DLC, Valve have also sliced Portal 2's price in half with a single copy of Portal 2 now available for just $14.99 and two-pack for just $27.49. A bundle pack of Portal 1 and 2 is going for a crazy $17.49, so if you haven't gotten yourself into Portal, now is a great time to do so!

NVIDIA are set to host the upcoming GeForce LAN 6 Gaming Event which will have a few celebrities included, such as NVIDIA CEO and can-of-whoop-ass-tattoo man himself, Jen-Hsun Huang as well as Battlefield 3's Lead Designer and Visual Architect, Johan Andersson who will be at GeForce LAN 6 to talk about the "making of" Battlefield 3. There will be plenty of contests, workshops and other goodies for attendees.

GeForce LAN 6 will be held between October 14 - 16, 2011 on the Aircraft Carrier USS Hornet, in Alameda, California and will feature 48 hours of non-stop PC gaming, fun contests, amazing prizes and special stage presentations. For those who can't make it, NVIDIA will post video footage from the event on GeForceLAN.com.

NVIDIA CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang will open the even on Friday, October 14th at 6:00pm PT, providing an inside perspective on the exciting future of PC gaming. Andersson on the other hand, will share rare, behind-the-scenes info on the making of Battlefield 3. Throughout the event, gaming and technology companies will showcase their latest gear, and host insightful workshops to help gamers gear up their rigs for the ultimate gaming experience.

The Indian Government has released a new tablet computer, Aakash, dubbed "the world's cheapest". And at $35 for a student, and $60 for stores, it sure is the cheapest. Here we were thinking that Amazon's Fire was cheap, but now the Indian Government has come and knocked our socks off. On top of the price of the tablet, India is giving away 100,000 free during the launch period. The first 500 tablets released had a luke warm response, with some complaining that they were slow.

The Government hops that the Aakash will bridge the gap between the rich and poor. Kapil Sibal, communications and education minister says:

One of two announcements has just come out from Microsoft detailing their freshly signed agreement with Verizon to provide a new FiOS TV-powered experience for the Xbox 360; this among several other niceties in the way of an overall better, and complete Kinect-enabled TV experience.

A special software app developed by Verizon for Xbox LIVE Gold members will provide streamlined access to live TV channels through the Xbox without any additional hardware requirements. A vast selection of Verizon's live TV channels will be on offer, also including multichannel streaming HD TV.

As mentioned, the app is designed to make good use of the Kinect accessory as well, doing away with the need to use a controller or remote.

Samsung Electronics have just announced they will file separate preliminary injunction motions against Paris, France and Milano, Italy on October 5 local time requesting the courts block the sale of Apple's iPhone 4S in the respective markets. Samsung's requests in France and Italy will each cite two patent infringements related to wireless telecommunications technology, specifically Wireband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) standards for 3G mobile handsets.

The patent they refer to is essential to the reliable functioning of telecom networks and devices and Samsung believes that Apple's violation as being too severe and that the iPhone 4S should be barred from sales. This bit is the bit that puts a smile on my Samsung lovin' dial:

Four years of hype, all gone in a single day. Most reviews have not been that great for id Software's latest FPS offering, with reviews mixed at best. Most agree that Rage fails to deliver the goods, with most reviews saying its a shallow, corridor shooter with gaping craters in its story, dialog, quests and mechanics. Ars Technica does not hold back saying Rage is "creatively and mechanically bankrupt, it feels like a group of people had to create a game because they were under contract, not because they honestly enjoyed any aspect of their own creation".

Joystiq is just as harsh, being quoted:

The Battlefield 3 beta has given users the chance to either play the beta early (48 hours earlier than the open beta) and for those who didn't, they got a free, no obligation chance to test out the beta to see if they liked it. So far, most people have loved it. But there are of course, the haters. There are issues with the beta, but this is why it is a beta after all. It does not represent the final product, nor does it show off the entire game.

But, there has been a tweet from the guys behind Battlefield 3 have tweeted that they've lost 34,000 pre-orders with those numbers rising. They remind everyone that "people need to be aware this is a beta, much more to come for the full game". I have to reinforce the same thing, it's not perfect for me, but I expect that for a beta. I do expect more from the full game, but I haven't canceled my pre-order. The news of BF3 possibly hitting Steam made me cancel my CD-key order and wait for Steam, though.

On top of Apple's announcement today of the iPhone 4S, Tim Cook has come out swinging with a bunch of Apple-related numbers to impress the world with. Starting with, there have been 16 billion songs downloaded from the iTunes store, and also 300 million iPods sold. To give you some perspective, Sony took 30 years to sell just 220,000 Walkman cassette players.

Cook also announced that "the MacBook Pro and iMac are the number one best selling notebook and desktop in the United States". Apparently, the Mac platform grew by 23 percent over the past twelve months, versus a four percent increase from the PC sector. Cook displayed a chart showing the past five years for Mac, showing that Apple is closing in on 60 million Mac users worldwide, leaving Apple short of owning a fourth of the personal computer market. Cook says "there are still 77 percent of people who are buying something else, we have an incredibly high ceiling here. We have a long way to go".

Cook has high dreams for Mac, and with the way things are going, they should have no issues getting there.

AC Ryan, International IT and CE manufacturer and leading digital lifestyle producer, have launched what they say is the future of digital home entertainment today - VEOLO. AC Ryan VEOLO combines the most demanded functions to provide a complete digital home entertainment unlike ever before - apps, internet, and a media streamer, all on your TV. VEOLO is powered by Android 2.2 Froyo platform, bringing an enhanced experience for apps on a TV, including casual games and social media.

The built-in web browser includes Java support which allows you to view your favourite Flash-based websites and stream videos from the comfort of your sofa, lounge or bean bag. Streaming your library of music, movies and photos in Full HD is great with the built-in Gigabit Ethernet connection. VEOLO also sports built-in wireless 802.11 b/g/n LAN, powered by an ARM Cortex A9 1GHz processor and includes on-board 512MB DDR3.

AC Ryan include a 3-in-1 remote control as standard with the VEOLO which ensures the VEOLO is a premium product with maximum features an unrivalled user experience. All the functionality of a keyboard and mouse, wireless motion controller and standard remote control, packed into a single, stylish, uncluttered remote control. VEOLO will be available on store shelves in November 2011 at a Suggested Retail Price of US $279.

BF3Blog has received an anonymous report from inside Valve, that they are in late-stage talks with EA to bring Battlefield 3 to Steam. The rumor is that Battlefield 3 will be available just in time for the release of the game on October 25. According to the report, EA and Valve are very close to reaching an agreement regarding sales of DLC content, which is the main reason Battlefield 3 wasn't previously coming to Steam.

Valve requires that all DLC is sold through Steam, whereas EA prefers to sell it through their own channels. This was why Crysis 2 (another EA title) was pulled from Steam earlier this year. Many PC gamers have lobbied both EA and Valve to bring Battlefield 3 to Steam and it looks like this may just happen. Fingers crossed!

Twitter and Facebook (as well as Apple stocks) is alive with disappointed after expecting more from the "Let's talk Apple" event.

Apple left the biggest announcement of the show till the end by introducing "Siri" aka your iPA (personal assistant). Siri takes voice commands and throws the whole concept out the window with a wildly impressive new way for you to communicate with your iPhone.

Apple bought Siri (a mobile assistant app) in April last year and has spent the time since evidently doing a great job of implementing it into iOS 5.0.

The internet and its dog can relax now, Apple has just got done officially revealing and discussing its latest smartphone, the iPhone 4S.

In what seems like what the iPhone 3GS was to the iPhone 3G, the iPhone 4S looks exactly the same as the iPhone 4, but comes with a lot more power. Using the new A5 chip that is used in the iPad 2, Phil Schiller from Apple said "Dual-core CPU, 2x as fast at CPU tasks. Also dual-core graphics. Up to 7x faster in the previous iPhone. One area you really see it scream is in games."

Some may have been expected a low-cost iPhone in the 4S, but we really all should have known it would just be a supercharged iPhone 4. When I say just, that might not have been the right way to put it. I've been using my iPhone 4 since it was first released and it is getting on the slow side and with all the new features and improvements coming to iOS 5.0, the extra power provided by the A5 chip should make a big difference when comparing to a regular iPhone 4 with the A4 chip. Add on to this the iPhone 4S is not a 4G phone as was rumored, but it will be able to offer twice the download speeds of the iPhone 4 with HSDPA compliancy of 14.4Mbps versus 7.2Mbps of the iPhone 4.

Plextor has hit up the ever growing SSD market with a new line of SATA 6Gbps drives in regular 2.5-inch form. There are currently two drives in the new lineup, the 128GB PX-128M2P and 256GB PX-256M2P, both of which depend on Marvell's 88SS9174 controller together with Toshiba TH58TV68D2FDA88 MLC 34nm NAND flash.

With 512MB DDR3 cache on the 256GB model and half that (256MB) on the 128GB, sequential write speeds vary between the two with Plextor promising write rates of 440MB/sec and 320MB/sec on the 256 and 128GB drives, respectively. Read rates, however, are equal at up to 500MB/sec.

Other included features of the new Plextor drives are SMART, NCQ, TRIM, Bad Block Management, Instant Restore and Plextor TrueSpeed firmware. As for pricing, with the drives first showing up in Japan we can get an idea from the JPY pricing of 46,800 (about $610 US) on the 256GB model and 21,800 (about $284 US) on the 128GB.