Coins DIG

Over the last few years, Nintendo has discovered a whole new market for video games: seniors. Not a demographic that's known for welcoming new technology, the senior-citizen crowd has nonetheless embraced the Wii console, with its intuitive controls and easy-to-understand interface.

Nintendo's new portable system, the DSi XL, could find a place on the coffee table next to grandma's Wii remote. Think of it as the electronic equivalent of a large-print novel: You get the same content you would on a DSi, but everything's bigger and easier to read.

The XL isn't just for seniors, though. As a game reviewer, I often spend hours gazing at the DSi. (Don't try this at home.) The 3.25-inch diagonal screens on the previous model have led to lots of squinting — and some fierce headaches. The 4.2-inch screens on the XL let me relax my eyeballs a little more.

I left GDC this year with a lot of uneasiness about the state of gaming on Windows 7 phones. The selling point for me was the synergy the phones would share with Xbox Live, though the sessions and conversations about Windows phones as a development platform worried me, as it became obvious that gaming experiences would not be identical between platforms despite the services sharing a Live backend. On one hand, you've got to develop to each platform's strengths, but if I earn Achievements, I want it to be for things that I can do on my Xbox 360.

Nintendo Co. said year-end holiday sales were "robust," suggesting that its Wii game console had regained its footing after a slowdown in demand, though a strong yen and price cuts continued to push down the company's profits.

Nintendo said group net income was 192.60 billion yen ($2.14 billion) for the nine months ended Dec. 31, down 9% from a profit of 212.52 billion yen for April-December of the previous year. Revenue fell 23% to 1.182 trillion yen, while operating profit fell 41% to 296.66 billion yen.

The report does not go as far as to claim what other U.S. carriers could offer the iPhone. But a source allegedly told the Web site that AT&T is "tired of taking the heat" for poor reception from iPhone users. In short, the report claims, AT&T officials believe the iPhone is hurting the company's image, and they are no longer interested in having exclusive access to Apple's handset.

"Inside of AT&T, we are hearing that the iPhone is causing more trouble than ever before," the report said. "On some level, having the iPhone is hurting AT&T's image. Because they are the only company to carry it, and it's such a data hog, it's largely to blame for AT&T's network troubles. We don't remember hearing about AT&T's 'horrible network' before the iPhone--do you?"

With the Mobile World Congress fast approaching, the rumor mills have started to work overtime with some of them sounding outright preposterous and contradictory to earlier reports. This particular rumor we are about to talk of is one such thing.

The company's surprise statement on Tuesday that it was no longer ready to censor search results in China and might pull out of the world's biggest Internet market by users has put it squarely at odds with the Chinese government.

But analysts and business experts on Wednesday said Google's past clashes with powerful companies and industries, and the importance of the Chinese market to Google's future, suggest that self-imposed exile from China may not be Google's end-game.

Hard lines in previous battles have been negotiating tactics and could be this time, too, they said.

Apple Inc. shares may keep advancing after reaching a record as the maker of the iPhone and Macintosh computer introduces new products to fuel sales, analysts said.

Apple rose 31 cents to $211.92 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading at 9:39 a.m. New York time. It climbed to record $211.61 yesterday, fueled by holiday sales estimates and speculation that Apple will release a tablet device next year. The shares have more than doubled this year, compared with a 61 percent rise for the Standard & Poor’s Information Technology Index.

NASA launched a new infrared space telescope—WISE (Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer) from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

A Delta II rocket carried WISE into the polar orbit that is 326 miles above Earth at 6:09 a.m. PST.

Through WISE, NASA is hoping to get detailed information regarding hundreds of millions of unseen and far away objects in space besides comets and asteroids.

At an award ceremony held in Bangalore on the November 20, 2009, Deloitte announced the winners of the fastest growing 50 Technology companies in India.

The Deloitte's Technology Fast 50 India program is one that recognizes the fastest growing technology companies in India based on their percentage revenue growth over the past three financial years.