A source close to CVG are claiming some huge news from Sony's research and development department that they've been busy playing with more than one controller design for the next-generation console from Sony. We should expect it to launch as the PlayStation 4, but things can still change before release and we could see it released as simply "PlayStation" - something I believe has some weight to it.

These controller designs are said to be including an LCD touchscreen, as well as biometric sensors on its grips. Biometric technology on console controllers would be interesting, as it is capable of reading data from a gamer's body, which includes gamers' heart rates, temperatures and more.

This information isn't just a huge leaked rumor, as sources from Eurogamer are mirroring the same info, stating that Sony have been testing a PS4 controller with a touchscreen and biometrics functionality for at least six months, in which the designs reportedly change every month. This would be a huge departure from the DualShock controller which was introduced with the original PlayStation in 1997, and we've seen an iteration of the DualShock controller with every new PlayStation.

It looks like the Pirate Bay is about to get a little bit harder to find on the Internet, thanks to a bunch of malware alerts sent to Google have resulted in sites on the Pirate Bay being flagge by their content advisory service.

If you're like me and rocking Google's Chrome web browser, the advisory is alarment and displays the phrase "visiting this page now is very likely to infect your computer with malware'. Sitting on the Firefox side of the browsing fence will display it an attack page, stating "many are compromised without the knowledge or permission of their owners".

The team over at the Pirate Bay have told TorrentFreak is in relation to one of their ad partners who have "screwed up". There should be no malware threats now, and the warnings should eventually fade away from their side. These automated tools are slipping, and banning certain sites because of the ads, as they're made to target specific items and flag them. TPB getting flagged is another one of those "automatic" anomalies.

We already heard that the next-generation PlayStation 4 was set to be more powerful than the next-generation Xbox, but now we have found some better details on the exact hardware being baked into the next-gen console from Sony.

The CPU that will find its home in the new PS4 is said to be sporting a new "Jaguar" technology from AMD, which features low-power processor cores that are designed for the entry-level laptop and tablet market. This is a perfect solution as console power consumption is a huge problem, and it looks like it'll be solved by the hardware in the PlayStation 4. The PC bound Jaguar technology from AMD is headed to the consumer market in a quad-core design, but consoles are looking to amp this up with some customizations to the overall design.

The PlayStation 4, or 'Orbis', will aos feature a high-end Radeon GPU solution. We should be looking at the mobile side of AMD's GPU plans, with the "Pitcairn" design, or the Radeon 7970M design. The 7970M is clocked at 850MHz, and feature 20 "Graphics Core Next" compute units, but the Orbis will take 10% off those specs - reducing the GCN compute unit count to 18, and the clock speed down to 800MHz.

If you have been putting off upgrading to Windows 8 cheaply, your time is running out. At the beginning of February the price of an upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 8 Pro will cost you $200 instead of the introductory offer of $40.

Redmond is claiming that it has already sold a whopping 60 million copies of Windows 8, but there is no word on how many of those licenses have actually been activated.

Like Windows 7 there are several editions of Windows 8 which will be priced as follows: Pro will be the top dog at $199.99, Windows 8 upgrade edition at $119.99, and Windows 8 Pro Pack at $99.99. If you have any interest in upgrading to Windows 8, I highly suggest you jump on the current $40 offer.

If you are a media junkie and a computer geek like me, you have most likely heard of XBMC, the Xbox-born open source media center software. Also if you are like me, you have used XBMC for years to shuttle your digital media from servers to televisions. Then like me, you will be glad to hear that XBMC has released a "user friendly" version of the XBMC app for Android.

While we have had access to the official app for a while now, it has been complicated to get working properly on most Android devices, leading to hours of frustration for not so tech savvy users. XBMC has announced that a stable, user friendly version of the app is now available for download. Details on how to get everything up and running can be found here.

This is especially exciting news for Android based set to box owners because it completely negates the need for a dedicated HTPC at each TV if you want to run XBMC. I own a Pivos XIOS DS Android box and have been using the PLEX app while a more stable release of XBMC for Android comes out. Making things even cooler is that XBMC will now sync up with my existing PLEX server and populate all of my media content into the XBMC interface.

A popular gaming website is reporting that the PlayStation 4 will be significantly more powerful than its rival, Microsoft's Xbox 720. VG247 has said that their developer sources who possess intimate knowledge of the PS4's specs as well as the Xbox 720 have confirmed the rumors.

VG247 says that the PS4 will clock in at around 1.84 teraflops of run-capability which is significantly more than the mere 1.23 teraflops possessed by the Xbox 720. The Xbox however, will sport 8GB of RAM over the PS3's 4GB, according to the source.

The website is also reporting that the new Xbox will have Blu-ray playback capabilities this time, which should come as no surprise because developers will need the extra disc space to fit all of those high-end graphics on. We will know for sure which console wins the power race in March when both companies are set to make announcements. Until then we'll keep reporting on developments on the subject as they come to hand.

Diane Franklin, a Missouri-based representative, has proposed a new sales tax on violent video games, in which she thinks "would finance mental health programs and law enforcement measures to prevent mass shootings."

The Entertainment Software Association told Joystiq in response to the proposal that "the U.S. Supreme Court ruled only 18 months ago that laws penalizing video games are unconstitutional. Taxing First Amendment protected speech based on its content is not only wrong, but will end up costing Missouri taxpayers."

I don't see how pushing in some new taxes is going to somehow curb mass shootings - guns don't kill people, people, kill people. I don't think video games are the cause of all of this, and if they're going to be targeted as a source, then I think we should be looking at the bigger picture. Is it society? Parenting? The influence within movies, music, TV shows?

Now that the Chrome Beta channel app has opened its doors for business in the Google Play Store, we're finally getting some constant updates. The latest update includes a new icon that has a black and white "BETA" tag on it.

This may not sound like world changing news for most, but usually the BETA tag has a grey and white color scheme. The new update brings some small fixes:

As with most Beta releases, there are still some bugs hanging around - such as the yahoo.com page links not working as well as some graphical glitches on some devices. You can get the Chrome Beta right here.

I knew Sony were in trouble, but is this a sign of serious problems for the Japanese electronics giant? Sony have now announced they're selling their New York headquarters to a consortium led by The Chetrit Group.

After Sony settle their debts on the building, the $1.1 billion sale will see Sony cash in around $685 million in operating income. This will help their Q3 earnings, but it won't help the company in the long run. Rumor has it that Sony are looking to repeat the sell off in Japan, which will see another $1.14 billion enter their accounts.

Do you see this as a sign of confidence for Sony? Or as a sign of things to come? I personally think that if the PlayStation 4 isn't super successful, and by that I mean a total homerun, it'll be lights out for Sony. Maybe not right away, but in the coming 1-2 years, that's my prediction. They need something big and they need it now.

Diablo III's Game Director, Jay Wilson, has announced through the Blizzard forums that he is leaving his post. Wilson has been in this position for seven years now, and is looking to move on as he has "reached a point creatively where I'm looking forward to working on something new".

Wilson will now move from the Diablo III project and onto something else within the company, so this definitely isn't hit resignation from the company. Wilson cites that he wasn't the only person working on the project and there are still many committed employees of Blizzard tweaking and working on Diablo III to continue to impress fans.

Wilson finishes his post by telling the world that patch version 1.0.7 is on its way, and that there are "many other great things brewing for Diablo in 2013". He finishes his post with something personal, and witty: