Enjoy the Superman reference? If not, I meant Phantom Zone, which means that Microsoft have killed the Zune, officially. Microsoft have removed all references to the Zune HD from its Zune site on Monday and later claimed that the removal was "a mistake". I don't think so, Microsoft. It looks as though they might have removed them early, and the removal was pushed mistakenly. A new support article on Microsoft Zune's support pages makes it very clear:

This confirmation is the arrow to the heart of Zune, as they've failed to prove popular against Apple's iPod. Microsoft did kill off their original Zune-based devices earlier this year, which was the beginning of the inevitable end. Microsoft urged customers to purchase Windows Phone 7 devices for the Zune experience.

Toshiba's 3840x2160 resolution autostereoscopic (no glasses) 3DTV was announced in Europe at IFA last month, but it has now debuted in Japan during CEATEC. This time, with more details. Toshiba revealed that in lenticular 3D mode, it's limited to an effective resolution of 1280x720, and also showed off the face tracking that automatically optimizes the experience for up to nine simultaneous viewers depending on where they're sitting.

Toshiba also mentioned that there was an optional THD-MBA1 input adapter due out in 2012 and that 4K-res streaming IPTV is currently being tested. The Regza 55X3 will be priced at roughly $10K, which is close to its Euro-specced counterpart when it launches in December. No US launch date is currently known. But, I'll take 3 of them, thank you.

Sony are planning to update their PlayStation 3 to allow it to have support for 4096x2160 (4K) content. It will only be still content, but showing off some super high resolution photos on a 4K-capable screen or projector will look insanely awesome. The firmware update is planned for early 2012 and will let the PS3 support native output of 4K stills. The PlayStation store in Japan already has a PlayView "visual magazine" which supports both 4K and 3D.

This new update will allow any high resolution image to blow up to 4K resolution. Obviously you need a 4K-capable display or projector, but at least if you have the cash to spend on a 4K screen you now have something to use your PS3 for other than gaming and Blu-ray movies.

Fusion-io have today announced the next evolution of their ioMemory platform for powering application acceleration and data center optimization. Fusion-io previously broke performance barriers when they released their first enterprise MLC products which dramatically enhanced reliability metrics for enterprise flash, and redefined server-side flash have done it again by introducing their new ioDrive2 and ioDrive2 Duo.

David Flynn, Fusion-io CEO and Chairman says:

Apple seem to change their mind quicker than most companies, and this news is no different. It looks as though Apple might be working on its own GPU technology which would see an Apple-based GPU that would power more than just desktop systems, but quite possibly any future iteration of their iOS-based devices. It might seem like a stretch, but the smartphone and tablet industry is moving more and more away from CPU-based designs to GPU-based designs.

As we see the industry move away and we have companies like NVIDIA making strides in the market, Apple will obviously want a piece of this pie. Apple would obviously not want to create its own CPU as that is quite the engineering effort, and it would be a copy cat design of another company like Intel, AMD or Arm. Graphics allows innovation in new and unusual ways - plus production can be offloaded to places like TSMC.

We have NVIDIA and AMD fighting in the DirectX corner, but an open graphics platform allows for much more flexibility - if you can be certain of what kind of hardware you're targeting. With Apple, there is no option, so it would be a very fixed/stable environment - this is perfect for introducing a slew of new and unusual features and methodologies in a GPU. It would be very different to anything else on the market, because of Apple's very tight grip of its environment.

Battlelog is currently experiencing a love/hate relationship with gamers - some love it, some hate it. But the below trailer shows that there's more to Battlelog than just a server browser and front end. Battlelog expands on the franchise's history of stats tracking, combining it with new social networking features that look like they're ripped right out of Facebook. Another major benefit of Battlelog is that its free, absolutely free. Where the competition (Call of Duty) charges a monthly charge to use the "Elite" service.

Battlelog displays so many options its hard to list them all here, but stand-out displays show different stats on weapons, accuracy, awards, time spent on weapons, win/loss ratios, you're able to comment on games after you've played them (great feature!) which makes Battlelog a serious addition to the Battlefield 3 universe. Battlelog can be used on not only the PC, but consoles and even mobile devices.

Leaderboards can also be looked at, and you can option it so your leaderboard only shows your friends - so you can see who really rules the Battlefield. DICE have supplied the tools to expand the franchise itself, and keep users constantly trying to out-do each other.

Do you overclock your graphics card via software? Chances are these days you're most likely using MSI's own Afterburner for it, seeing as it's one of the most complete, useful tools around these days for not only GPU overclocking, but other various things like video capturing, temp monitoring, setting profiles for different scenarios etc.

With that said, you may like to know that the folks over at the Guru of 3D have released a new updated version of it to the public, albeit in beta form. The changelog is quite extensive, though, with a ton of fixes, tweaks and additions that should have you quickly wishing to update to this 2.2.0 Beta 8 build.

The full change list can be read below :-

Samsung has expanded its Galaxy Tab range with the introduction of the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus. From the name, you would obviously guess its a 7-inch tablet, but it sports a PLS (Super Plane to Line Switching) display with a 1024 x 600 pixel display, running Android 3.2 Honeycomb and a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, which is looking to be the Exynos 4120. Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus also sports quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support and tri-band 3G with 21Mbps HSPA as well as two cameras.

First up there's a 2-megapixel, front-facing camera and a rear-facing 3-megapixel camera capable of taking 720p video. We also see 1GB of RAM and a 4,000mAh battery that is standard on all models. Honeycomb gets Samsung's splash of TouchWiz UI wonder, and size wise we get options of either 16 or 32GB. Both include dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, GPS and Bluetooth. The 7-inch tablet is quite small, measuring in at 192.65 x 122.37 x 9.96 mm and weighs in at only 0.76 pounds, or just 12.16 ounces.

JK Shin, President and Head of Samsung's Mobile Communications Business chimes in with:

A few days ago, Microsoft signed a major licensing agreement with Samsung over the use of some its patents on Android-based smartphones and tablets. The deal is similar to what other manufacturers have agreed to, which avoid a court battle. But, there's a requirement of a fixed fee to be paid to Microsoft for every Android device sold. Goldman Sach's tech analyst team think that this number is around $444 million per year.

Goldman estimates that Microsoft receives roughly $3 - $6 per Android device, and calculated the multi-million dollar figure based on the number of Android devices expected to be sold by Microsoft's licensees between July 1, 2011 and June 30, 2012. The companies that Microsoft receive the (virtually free) dollars from are HTC, Acer, U.S. defense contractor General Dynamics Itronix, Onkyo, Velocity Micro, ViewSonic and Wistron, and Samsung, which yesterday became the latest licensee.

Microsoft claims that certain Android features contain technologies over which it owns patents. Considering that two of the largest Android device makers have agreed to pay royalties which puts some concrete into this claim. The only one in the US without a license from Microsoft is Motorola Mobility, in which the two are in court battling it out.

QNAP have announced three new Turbo NAS models, with a four-bay, dual-bay and single-bay solution available. The models are TS-419P II, TS219P II and TS-119P II which are all aimed at corporate workgroups, SOHO and home users who are after a budget-friendly solution for backup and file sharing. No pricing has been announced from QNAP, so we don't know how "budget-friendly" they really are. But, the models closest to them (which sport 1.2GHz chips instead of the included 2GHz chips) are very decently priced.

The new models look virtually identical to the predecessors, but they sport upgraded chips tech. QNAP have used a 2.0GHz Marvell CPU and also included 512MB of DDR3 memory which is a bit quicker than the 1.2 and 1.6GHz Marvell CPUs used in previous models. QNAP also say the added speed will enable Windows-based file transfers of up to 109MB/sec. QNAP claim idle power consumption is as low as four watts.

All three models support 2.5 and 3.5-inch HDDs, Gigabit Ethernet, up to four USB 2.0 ports and eSATA. The best bit about QNAP NAS solutions is the software features. Built-in UPnP media server, back up solutions, iTunes support, Time Machine support, power consumption, Bit Torrent and Usenet clients and of course the very powerful QPKG system.

Samsung's latest Exynos 4210 SoC is a great piece of tech, it powers their super smartphone, the Galaxy S II and is a very, very fast phone. The 4210 sports two ARM Cortex A9 cores running at 1.2GHz along with an ARM Mali-400 MP4 GPU. The A9 chip is equal to that of TI's outing, and a bit better than NVIDIA's Tegra 2. In various tests, the Mali-400 MP4 beats out all other smartphone GPUs that have been tested.

Samsung have today announced a 32nm addition to the family, the Exynos 4212. CPU clock speeds get a nice bump up to 1.5GHz, but GPU clocks are unknown. Samsung is however claiming that GPU performance improves by up to 50% "over the previous processor generation". The move to 32nm could have allowed a 50% increase in clock speed. Samsung's 32nm process uses high-K + metal gate transistors, similar to Intel's transition to 45nm.

According to Samsung, these new transistors allow for either a 40% (or more) increase in performance at the same leakage or a 10x reduction in leakage current at the same speed. Density also improves by 2x enabling even more complex chip designs (more cores, bigger GPUs, more integration) or smaller die with the same feature set (which will eventually improve supply and profit). The Exynos 4212, Samsung is claiming a 30% reduction in power compared to its predecessor.

Intel and IBM have announced a $4.4 billion investment which is being put into a manufacturing plant to create the next-generation of cutting-edge computer chip technology. It's all being done in New York, with a five-year investment expected to generated and retain 6,900 jobs paying an average of $100,000. Gov. Cuomo who was previously suing Intel, where he filed an anti-trust lawsuit against them, has done a 180-degree turn and has now called this new move "a really, really big deal" and part of his effort to "create a more confident environment for doing business in New York".

The aforementioned lawsuit included Cuomo - as attorney general - trying to sue Intel for trying to monopolize the computer chip industry. He charged Intel with violated state and federal anti-trust laws by trying to keep a monopoly over the market for microprocessors, which as most people know are the heart of computers and servers alike. The suit charged Intel with paying computer makers billions of dollars in exchange for using the company's microprocessors instead of competing products from AMD.

The suit is currently pending with Intel back in May filing three motions seeking to have the suit dismissed.

The best bit of this news isn't the cooler, but the wickedly cheesy video that goes along with it. Before you check it out, here's some details on EVERCOOL's latest cooler, the Transformer S. The Transformer S is only 13.5cm high which means it'll fit into most ATX cases. It sports dual 6mm heat pipes and one 9cm fan with special fan blade design which makes the Transformer S quieter and provides greater cooling efficiency.

Additionally, shock absorption rubber nail design can reduce the shake and goes further to reduce noise levels. EVERCOOL's Transformer S also includes compatibility for both AMD and Intel, including Intel's upcoming LGA 2011 socket. The nine fan blade design on the Transformer S can spin up to 2200 RPM and even at that speed, its noise is less than 20 dBA. All of this tech rolls into one great CPU cooling package, inclusive of a cheesy video which I'll now show you below:

NVIDIA stumbled quite a bit with the Fermi, GF100 architecture and it looks as though they don't want to repeat the same mistakes by going top-to-bottom with GPU releases. NVIDIA are currently playing with engineering samples of their first chip built on the next-gen Kepler architecture, the GK107. This is not the flagship GK100 everyone expected, with NVIDIA changing gears and going for a bottom-to-top release by working on the GK107 first which will be a notebook-based chip.

GK107 is set to be powering four mobile GeForce SKUs - N13P-LP, N13P-GS, N13P-GT and the N13E-GE. These codenames may sound familiar to you, that's because they appeared in the leaked 28nm mobile GPU line-up. The GK107 sports a 128-bit memory interface and has support for both DDR3 and GDDR5 memory. The first three GK107-based SKUs with the "P" suffix will most likely succeed the GeForce GT 500M series, and will probably be branded as the GeForce GT 600M series.

The top GK107 part, N13E-GE, may replace the GTX 560M and be part of the GTX 600M series, as denoted by the "E" suffix (Enthusiast). GK107 will also find its way into the mobile Quadro SKUs - N14P-Q1 and N14P-Q3.

AMD, the second largest PC chip manufacturer, has lowered their third quarter revenue projections citing issues with the 32nm chip production at its German Foundry. AMD now expects its revenue to increase by 4 - 6% on top of their second quarter earnings, down from the 10% that they originally forecasted earlier in the year. In response to this news, AMD shares fell by 7.8% to $5.88 during extended trading yesterday.

AMD have not only been having issues with their 32nm chips, but they have also commented that its 45nm chip supply was also experiencing issues as the two processes share some common toold in manufacturing. The Dresden-based manufacturing firm, GlobalFoundries, which AMD have an 11% stake in, is uses for their manufacturing operations. Poor yields of chips due to production problems seem to be AMD's biggest issue right now.

GlobalFoundries is "throwing substantial resources at improving yields" says Drew Prairie, a spokesperson for AMD. AMD have also said that they're seeing progress, but how much is yet to be reported. Llano has experienced the brunt of the shortage, leading AMD to have supply issues for mainstream computers and it has also caused shipping delays for the new server-grade 16-core Opteron "Interlagos" CPUs, which will affect sales margins even more.

A leaked e-mail from PayPal employees of all places reveals that Microsoft is planning to launch the new Xbox dashboard come November 15. November 15 marks the 10-year anniversary since the original Xbox launched back in 2001. The memo asks PayPal employees to test the new dashboard ahead of the Nov 15 launch. I bet you're wondering why PayPal employees are being selected for testing. Remember Microsoft added PayPal payment options in Xbox Live back in May, allowing users to buy Gold memberships, games and Microsoft Points using PayPal.

Previous dashboard updates went live in November in previous years (2008 and 2010), which would make this rumor quite the possibility. Also coinciding with the 10-year anniversary really makes this diamond in the rough another strong possibility. The planned update is set to allow users to browser content faster and use the Kinect motion-sensing device to navigate and interfact with the dashboard. The growing library of content is pushing the update which indicates that Microsoft is committed to the user experience on the Xbox 360.

New features are set to include game invites that don't expire as well as Bing integration. Visually, the new layout mimics the look of the Windows Phone 7 UI, the same interface that Windows 8 will sport. Microsoft has also confirmed Xbox Live integration in Windows 8, but has been scarce with more details.

For those who pre-ordered Battlefield 3, you (like me) have enjoyed the beta for a couple of days now. But, if you have yet to have pre-ordered and would like to try-before-you-buy, well now is your chance. Battlefield 3's multiplayer beta is now open to all, on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. There is no registration requirement, you just download the beta from Xbox Live, PSN or if you're on the PC, EA's Origin service.

The beta features the map, Operation Metro, and features the game type, Rush where one team must attack two M-Com stations while a defending team tries to prevent them. The map features 4 full unlocked areas that allow up to 32 players to duke it out at once. It clocks it at around 3.9GB for the PC version. The beta lasts for just a week and a half, ending on October 10. You'll have to sit in a pool of your own tears afterwards, right up until the games full release on October 25 in the US and October 28 in Europe.

Before you download it, you might want to download some new graphics drivers too. AMD users, click here. NVIDIA users, you'll need this link.

Amazon has finally unveiled their Android-based tablet, which is now known as the Kindle Fire. The 7-inch, 1024x600 device will feature a heavily customized interface tailored around Amazon's services and starting at a surprisingly low price of just $200. In order to get to the sub $200 price point, Amazon have had to cull a few features from the Kindle Fire such as 3G access, a microphone and front/back cameras. Kindle Fire does however include Wi-Fi and a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime, which is normally $79 per year.

What that means is, you'll get a taste of Amazon's collection of streaming video content and free or discounted shipping for your purchases at Amazon.com. Not only that, but you'll also gain access to the Android Appstore, Kindle books, magazines, and more - all stored for free through the Amazon Cloud Storage and synced between devices invisibly in the background. Whispersync now works with video content, so you can pick up where you left off in a movie or TV show even after switching devices.

Kindle Fire sports 8GB of internal storage, a USB 2.0 port, and battery life for up to 8 hours of continuous reading of 7.5 hours of video playback, with wireless off. Amazon is also introducing something called Amazon Silk. Amazon Silk is described as a lightning-fast web browser that takes advantage of Amazon's EC2 cloud computing engine. CEO Jeff Bezos explains that Silk splits the workload so that some web request are handled locally by the Kindle Fire, while the others are remotely handled by the cloud at Amazon, optimized and sent back to you.

I don't understand the point of this, and it crosses some very questionable lines for Activision, but to steal Battlefield 3's thunder; it requires thinking outside the square. Activision have teamed up with Pepsi and have announced a promotion called "Rank Up XP". What Rank Up XP offers is, whatever Pepsi products you buy, Mountain Dew and Doritos, players can redeem codes found in the packaging for Double XP time in Modern Warfare 3. A 20 oz gets you 15 minutes whilst a 12 pack gets you 45, and so on.

No, I'm not kidding around. The problem with this is, the XP in Call of Duty is a form of currency. Currency in the game buys you weapons, perks, attackments, killstreaks and so on. For a game that is already over-priced, a re-hash of the older titles, no new graphics engine or technologies built in, charging for the "Elite" service, on top of your monthly Xbox Live membership (PSN is free), this is just a step in the direction of overboard.

Activision are willing to exploit fans even [more] through this promotion. Considering that Activision sold $360,000,000 worth of copies in 24 hours of the last COD title... do they really need to cash in with this type of exploitation? What do you think?

L.A. Noire has enjoyed much success on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, but now PC gamers will be able to get their hands dirty in the 1940s-based crime drama adventure game. L.A. Noire is headed to PCs in November with US gamers being able to grab it on November 8 and it's released in Europe on November 11, for $49.99. No word on the Mac edition yet, but Mac-based users will be able to access the game via OnLive.

It's received a name change also, now dubbed L.A. Noire: The Complete Edition, the package includes all of the downloadable content previously released on consoles. It also includes support for NVIDIA's 3D Vision and will be controllable with either a mouse and keyboard, or a gamepad. System requirement wise, it's not too bad:

· Operating System: Windows 7 / Windows Vista Service Pack 1 / Windows XP Service Pack 3 / OnLive for PC or Mac