Video games to overtake other entertainment

Speaking during a keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, game studio boss Mike Griffith said video games were prospering as interest in almost every other category of entertainment declines, according to the BBC.

"Video games are poised to eclipse all other forms of entertainment in the decade ahead," according to the Activision chief.

He quoted US market statistics which showed that between 2003 and 2007, sales of movie tickets fell by 6%; the number of hours of TV watched dropped by 6%, sales of recorded music slumped 12% and purchases of DVDs remained flat. Over the same four-year period, said Griffith, the video game industry grew by 40%.

This month, Hyundai is launching a system that warns motorists when they drift out of the lane they are travelling in. Another manufacturer has developed pedestrian-detection software that works with heat-seeking cameras to alert drivers when someone is in their path, says CNN.

In March, Ford will release a fully functional, dashboard computer - complete with keyboard - geared to contractors and other business people who want to access the Web, review documents and log inventory while on the go. AT&T will also launch an in-car entertainment service with 22 satellite TV channels.

Industry executives hope the new technological bells and whistles will put some sizzle back into stagnant vehicle sales.

A nine-year-old girl, allegedly kidnapped by her grandmother, has been found using a mobile phone signal and Google Street View, states the BBC.

A police officer and a firefighter in Athol, Massachusetts, joined forces after authorities were alerted that Natalie Maltais had been taken.

Officers used GPS in the girl's mobile phone to find her approximate location. They then fed the coordinates into Google Street View, pinpointing a hotel where the child was subsequently found.

Brian Rakowski, Chrome's product manager, said the company wants to release Chrome for Mac and Linux before the first half of 2009 is up, according to Cnet News.

"That's what we've been hoping for," he said in an interview on Friday. "Those two efforts are proceeding in parallel. They're at the same level of progress."

Google has high hopes for Chrome - in particular, the Internet giant wants better performance, so browsing the Web is faster and Web-based applications are more powerful. Now Google is filling in some missing pieces Chrome needs in order to attain wider usage. The company has also released a new version that paves the way for the most requested feature: extensions.