Earlier this week, we reported on how trusted sources confirmed the Nintendo Wii was getting a price drop to $150 in mid-May, just weeks before the Entertainment and Electronics Expo (E3) in June. This was strange news, as companies like Nintendo tend to reserve announcements like this for the kind of large conferences and trade shows (like, you know, E3), so why would they do something like that? In the article linked above, I hypothesized that they must be planning on releasing a new system- and I was right!

Game Informer reported today that multiple sources have confirmed the impending E3 announcement of a new Nintendo Console. Very little is known about the system outside of gross speculation, but the same sources confirmed that this console will be HD compatible, a great move for Nintendo in strengthening its historically-poor relations with third-party developers. In the Game Informer article, one source was said to have described the system as "not gimmicky, like the Wii". I for one love the Wii, and any gimmicky aspects were overshadowed by how accessible, entertaining, and esthetically pleasing the interface and gameplay was for the majority of the games, but I kinda get where they're coming from.

Evidently Nintendo is already demonstrating the new system to possible publishers in an effort to get them prepared for its reported late 2012 launch- hopefully we see the "Nintendo HD" before the world goes tits up in December. Either way, E3 just got a bit more exciting.

Social is just everywhere these days. Yesterday we had news of GetGlue's 1 Million users, and today it's New York City startup SocialGuide announced the beginning of what could be a very promising future with a seed round of $1.5 million from angel investors, including Alex Zubillaga:

With more than half of the nearly 300 million Americans who watch TV having a second screen experience, the market is ripe for a social TV product that connects with consumers and networks. SocialGuide is the only product that is built around the existing social TV behavior that is happening with millions of consumers across the most popular social networks. Consumers now have one place to enjoy their favorite programming, and networks have a way to more deeply engage with their audience

CEO Sean Casey believes that the social TV space is "nascent", and spoke of the pending improvements to SocialGuide's already strong interface and user experience. SocialGuide is essentially a social data collecting service that filters and displays millions of discussions occurring in real time about televised media, and ranks them according to popularity. SocialGuide also makes it very easy to share this type of information throughout your various social networks. With the $1.5 million in funding, Casey hopes to "continue on the path of creating a true social TV platform that goes beyond check-in, to driving tune-in and creating deep social engagement experiences."

IDF has come to a close and let me tell you there's a lot to review. In case you're too lazy to ready this I shot a video telling you the tale of Intel's Developer Forum Beijing 2011.

For starters Cedartrail was officially launched, this is Intel's latest Netbook platform. There were no details on what performance gains we are going to see, but three new features were added: Intel Wireless Streaming, Intel Music and Wireless file sharing. Intel is still behind the netbook category as tablets might be taking off in North America and EU, APAC is still seeing strong growth. Just because we in the West aren't buying doesn't mean globally they aren't still trending.

Oak Trail was also officially announced at the show with tablets hitting the streets in May. So far all the tablets are 10.1 inches and about 10mm thick. Nothing to get too excited about as we have yet to see what kind of battery life we might be getting. Some tablet manufactures like Evolve Three came out with a unique design integrating a kick stand and keyboard into the hard cover.

If you haven't heard the news today, an upstate New York entrepreneur and convicted felon Paul Ceglia is suing Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg for over 50% of the company. Paul, proud owner of the two shiniest, brassiest balls on the planet might actually have a case though. Evidently Zuckerberg accepted $1000 for exchange of half of a company he refers to as "the Face Book" in various email exchanges with Ceglia, who is being represented by reputable international law firm DLA Piper. He is not, as they say, @#$%ing around.

Seven years later, after already having been convicted of fraud for his woodchipper fuel company (I know, right?), Ceglia stumbled upon these emails and contracts while researching his defense for his fraud case. If you want to take a look, the evidence is pretty solid, and DLA wouldn't stake their reputations on evidence that was shoddy.

Facebook, wonder of wonders, is claiming that Ceglia fabricated all of the emails and contracts. Honestly, I'm really curious as to how this one will play out.

Though social network Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg may have inadvertently sold half of his company to some rando from upstate New York, another rando is saying it won't matter because Facebook has the capability to become the world's largest bank by 2015.

This guy, Ken Rutkowski, evidently both founder of Metal International and chief dude at the Founder institute in Los Angeles, believes that in a few short years Facebook will have amassed enough financial credibility so as to calculate the credibility of consumers. Rutkowski told TechWorld:

If you play games on Facebook, which, by the way 40 to 50 per cent of the time spent on Facebook is playing games, and those games - like Farmville and Mafia Wars - are paid for and you have to buy credits for that and they are called Facebook Credits.

In a press release today, social service GetGlue reported that as of March 2011 they have accrued 1 million users.

GetGlue is a social service that allows users to check-in to films, television shows, books, music, sports games, etc.; it's like the Foursquare of...pretty much everything. They then use your check-ins and likes to tabulate stats and data to better recommend other pop culture for you to consume (sidenote: as much as this seems helpful, algorithms and similar services like Netflix and even the Facebook suggestions are generally redundant- big @#$%ing surprise, I liked SNL and now you're recommending that I would enjoy 30 Rock, which features at least 50% former SNL cast members. Thanks, supersmart algorithm).

You know how Foursquare has digital badges? Well GetGlue gives you physical, touchable, and stickable badges based on your commitment to the things you like and check-in to. Incredibly, this service has managed to take advantage of what everyone else is trying to eleiminate (including Netflix): Snail Mail. They just mail the stickers to you. Wow. Good for you, GetGlue. Their press release hypes themselves up considerably, and though they refrain from showing how many of these 1 million users are active, this infographic is quite persuasive:

Nintendo announced today on their blog a list of upcoming games as long as my arm. This year's second quarter will see the release of around 60 games for the Wii, The Nintendo DS, and the brand new Nintendo 3DS. The latter will see the long awaited and much anticipated release of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, a completely re-mastered version of everyone's favorite hack-and-slash puzzle-solving RPG available June 19th. This version will utilize motion control and touch-screen features of the 3DS to truly optimize the unique style of play the 3DS offers. Also, the active 3D engine is nothing to sneeze at. The new version isn't just a 3DS'd carbon copy of the original- players can look forward to quests and challenges not featured in the original game.

Though the Wii may get a significant price cut in mid-May, Nintendo is releasing an in-house suite of games entitled Wii: Motion, launching June 13th, which is brand new assortment of challenges and mini-games built to get the most out of the Wii. It also comes with a black Wii controller. Why not?

Among the long list of other games, Nintendo's Mystery Case Files: Dust to Dust (Big Fish Studios) will hit the Wii for the first time, which uses the Wii remote to investigate all sorts of different angles in various environments to quickly and efficiently solve complex puzzles.

For years people have wondered, talked about, made movies about, created successful businesses locally and internationally, sold goods and accessories, all around the Roswell incident involving UFOs that crashed. Files have now appeared on the FBI's "vault" website that was once devoted to classified documents have now become public.

The memo is brief but it's from an Air Force informant about "flying saucers". The memo has FBI agent Guy Hottel saying what an "investigator for the Air Forces" told him about what is called "the Roswell incident", Hottel says:

Three so-called flying saucers had been recovered in New Mexico . . . they were described as being circular in shape with raised centres, approximately 50 feet in diameter . . . Each one was occupied by three bodies of human shape but only 3 feet tall, dressed in a metallic cloth of a very fine texture. Each body was bandaged in a manner similar to the blackout suits used by speed flyers and test pilots.

The unfolding nuclear crisis in Japan has been one of the most devastating events in history and it just doesn't seem to get any better as the days go on with the reports coming out that Japanese officials may have been downplaying the amount of radiation released since the Japanese nuclear regulatory agency has now put the Fukushima Daiichi disaster on the same level as the 1986 Chernobyl explosion.

This is an admission by the Japanese government that the amount of radiation released into the environment has reached a new order of magnitude. The fact that we have now confirmed the world's second-ever Level 7 accident will have huge consequences for the global nuclear industry. It shows that current safety standards are woefully inadequate.

Deputy Director General of Japan's nuclear regulator has said that the total amount of radioactive materials released from the plant equals 10-percent of what was released in Chernobyl.

According to a recent report by Engadget, the Nintendo Wii will see a big price drop come May. Engadget claims a "trusted source" confided this news to them earlier today, despite the fact that they still remain dubious to the news of the May 15th $150 price tag.

Nintendo has suffered a bit recently in the console wars, especially with the remarkable success of the Kinect pretty much dominating the motion-control and recognition/simulation gaming lately. With Sony trying to "Move" in as well, things are not going that great for everyone's favorite and diminutively-monikered console.

Engadget believes that Nintendo would be far more likely to announce news like this at a large venue like e3, but hey- in this day and age when Apple employees are leaving prototypes everywhere, Sony hardware execs randomly leak device specs, and rumors fly around like Tinkle Popo, who knows what's going to happen? Maybe a price cut would help bring the Wii back in sales. As I recall, Nintendo did similar things with the SNES when the 64 came out, and with the 64 when the GameCube (*shudder*) came out, and with the GC when the Wii arrived and......holy @#$%, does this mean we're getting a new console in June? What do you all think?