According to a Microsoft job advertisement, it has revealed that the next-generation Xbox will support Skype. Xbox maker, Microsoft, are looking for a "UI Designer & Prototyper - Xbox", to work at the company's UK-based Skype division on projects that are related to the "next-gen Xbox". The job ad also says:

The team you'll join is responsible for Skype in the living room (broadly the home), across various devices but with a focus on the large screen and the next generation of Xbox.

The job ad also states that the successful candidate would be "working with the Xbox team directly in Redmond, USA. (both current Xbox and next gen)". Well, is that enough proof of the next-gen Xbox? Or will Microsoft also deny this, and claim it never happened and was taken out of context? Are you surprised that the next-gen Xbox will support Skype? I'm not. The company acquired them, and the next-gen Xbox is going to need to throw everything including the kitchen sink into the next-gen Xbox if it wants to survive in the market when it hits.

The developer behind successful titles such as the recently released Diablo III, and World of Warcraft, oh I suppose we can't leave out StarCraft, has posted an "important security update" to its official website. Blizzard have announced that their security team found an "unauthorized and illegal access into our internal network here at Blizzard".

The developer quickly took appropriate steps to close off access, and started working with law enforcement and security experts to investigate into the matter. At the moment, Blizzard have found no evidence that financial information (such as credit card details) or billing details and real names were compromised. Blizzard's investigation is ongoing, but there's nothing suggesting that these pieces of information were accessed.

What was accessed, were lists of email addresses for global Battle.net users, outside of China. This mens that players on North American-based servers, such as North America, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia had their personal security question, and information regarding to Mobile and Dial-In Authenticators were accessed. Blizzard have noted that based on what they currently know, this information is not enough for anyone to access Battle.net accounts.

It looks as though Xbox Live could soon be doing away with Microsoft Points, even as Microsoft claims the change is just a glitch. On Wednesday, some Avatar items showed up on Xbox Live with real, local currency price tags instead of Microsoft Points. Later that day, the prices reverted back to the traditional Microsoft Points.

Was it a slip? Signs point to yes and this is a good thing. The idea behind virtual currency is that it gets consumers to spend more money than they otherwise would. Hence a change to real currency would be much appreciated by many as users would no longer need to do the conversion to figure out just how much they are spending.

Microsoft told GamesIndustry yesterday:

Facebook is trying out a new feature that allows users to send a postcard with one of your pictures on it to a friend. The new feature is powered by Sincerely and allows you to mail a physical postcard to a friend. You can even add a message that will be sent to the friend with the card or send prints of their pictures.

Of course, Facebook isn't doing this for free. The sender is charged a fee, right now at varying price points for the people who have access to the trial, and the card goes out in the mail through Sincerely's service. Sincerely is the company behind Postagram, the service that does basically the same thing for Instagram pictures.

This feature came about from a Hackathon project. If successful, and instituted, the new service could garner Facebook some more earnings through increased interaction with pictures (higher advertising value) and through a possible small profit from the selling of the postcards and prints.

Google needs your help so that they can better help you. Earlier this year, Google launched a stock image library as part of its Google Drive product. Thanks to lots of positive feedback, they are now planning on expanding that library with images that are selected by the people who use the product. That's why they've enlisted your help.

Want to help decide what goes in? It's a simple task, really. Just head over to ThinkStock.com, select up to 10 images to nominate, and fill out Google's nomination form with the information they require. Easy, and you have helped make Google, and the Internet, a better place. Not to mention you should then be able to use these photos in your Google Drive docs.

Google explains the process in a bit more detail:

Google: "Don't be evil." However, it would appear that the Federal Trade Commission feels that Google might have overstepped that by a wee bit, okay, a large bit, judging by the size of the fine levied against the company over the Safari tracking incident. The FTC announced today that Google has agreed to pay $22.5 million to settle the claim, the largest fine ever levied by the FTC.

The FTC charges that Google "misrepresented to users of Apple Inc.'s Safari Internet browser that it would not place tracking 'cookies' or serve targeted ads to those users, violating an earlier privacy settlement between the company and the FTC." Jon Leibowitz, Chairman of the FTC:

The record setting penalty in this matter sends a clear message to all companies under an FTC privacy order. No matter how big or small, all companies must abide by FTC orders against them and keep their privacy promises to consumers, or they will end up paying many times what it would have cost to comply in the first place.

While there has been no official announcement of a coming black Samsung Galaxy S III, a couple of pictures have popped up on the Samsung Olympics Facebook page which include a black Galaxy S III. This is likely to keep interest in the Galaxy S III so that it can better compete with the upcoming iPhone 5.

The first image, shown above, features both a black Galaxy S III and a white one. It's highly unlikely to be an optical illusion as another picture with a black Galaxy S III is also online (see below). At least one black Galaxy S III has to exist, and many more are possibly being manufactured as I type this.

The launch will probably occur sometime around the launch of the next iPhone, rumored to be September 12, in order to draw attention back from the rival's product. The question is, will this be enough to keep Samsung and the Galaxy S III on a hot streak? It's already managed to sell 10 million units in 2 months, but the iPhone will steal at least part of its thunder.

If you're looking into buying a tablet for your return to school, you might just think about holding off for a little bit. Engadget has heard from an anonymous tipster that Samsung will be releasing a student edition of the Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 that will be sliding onto Best Buy's shelves bundled with a keyboard and USB adapter.

The tablet itself will be the 8GB Wi-Fi only model that already retails for $249, so holding off for a few weeks will net you a free keyboard and USB adapter for free. The device is said to be coming to shelves near you on August 19, just in time for most people who would be buying it for college, and just a week into high school.

If you're still conducting research and weighing the pros and cons of the different devices, this is something you would want to consider. If you go with the Google Nexus 7, you'll have to purchase these extras separately, something likely to drive the price beyond the $249 selling point of the new student version of the Galaxy Tab 2.

Dell have just replaced their UltraSharp U2711 monitor with some seriously slick looking screens, with specs to match their looks. Dell's latest display is the UltraSharp U2713HM and is Dell's first monitor to sport the AH-IPS (Advanced High-Performance IPS) panel, which is meant to feature improved color and clarity over other IPS-based technologies.

Dell's UltraSharp U2713HM sports a resolution of 2560x1440, with the company claiming that the U2713HM offers a color gamut of more than 99% sRGB, maximum brightness of 350 cd/m2, grey-to-grey response time of 8ms, a 178/178-degree wide viewing angle, as well as an anti-glare coating.

The U2713HM has a plethora of connectivity, featuring four USB 3.0 ports, dual-link DVI, DisplayPort 1.2, HDMI and VGA. All of the connections are on the back of the display, keeping those nasty cables out of sight. Dell also mentions that their U2713HM is environmentally friendly, with the U2713HM's chassis made out of 25% post-consumer recycled plastics, as well as providing a 37% reduction in energy consumption when compared to its predecessor, the U2711.

It looks like The Hobbit, which is now a trilogy by the way, will only be shown in limited amounts of cinemas in 48 fps. Variety reports that according to a source familiar with Warner's release plans for the first Hobbit movie, is that the HFR version will only hit select locations, and maybe not even major cities.

Though, people who have had the pleasure of eyeballing the 48 fps version of the movie have said that it now looks much better than the test footage shown at CinemaCon back in April, which had not "undergone post-production polishing" and received a mixed reception from viewers. Warner's wants to protect the HFR format, where they'll be going into a limited release for the HFR version of the movie, hoping that they'll be able to test the marketplace and expand the HFR release for the second, and third Hobbit movies.

Right now, there are no HFR-ready theaters, with some requiring a simple software upgrade that will be ready next month. It also looks like HFR is the future, where myself, and many people in the industry seem to think its going to take off. Does someone want to find me a theater, and fly me over to the US to watch it at 48 fps? Drool.