27th Golden Joysticks is go! (Nintendo Wii)

The 27th AnnualGolden Joystick Awardsis alive! From today you can vote for your favourite games of the past year in the official awards long list and help us break records all over again.

If you remember rightly (and we do) 2008 was a recording breaking year for the Golden Joysticks. The final votes total stood at an amazing 856,262, the big winner of which was (deservedly) Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare with four Awards.

Above:Girls loveGolden Joysticks. Fact

iRiver Wave phone launches ahead of schedule

Korea’s ReignCom, which makes iRiver-branded personal media players, has released its first cellphone in its home market ahead of the promised March 2009 launch. The iRiver Wave handset sports a 3-inch, 480×272 touchscreen that is capable of recognizing handwriting and will connect to the Internet via its built-in Wi-Fi connection or over wireless data networks, provided by exclusive carrier KT. The handset will also support VoIP calling to reduce airtime costs. Initially, the Wave will be offered in just ten iRiver stores in Korea.

Sony PS3 2.53 upgrade late, brings full-screen Flash

One week after initial reports of the 2.53 update to the Sony PlayStation 3 gaming console, the software has launched and brings with it full-screen Flash video playback capabilities. Users who use their gaming console to often access YouTube or Hulu video services can now select full-screen options along with a 480p mode in Hulu that ups the quality of the content considerably, especially when using an HDTV.

Good OS intros quick-loading Cloud operating system

Good OS, makers of the gOS Linux operating system that debuted in computers sold at Wal-Mart, on Monday announced it will soon introduce its Cloud operating system that can give users near-instant access to Google, Yahoo and Windows Live services, as well as rich client applications and multimedia content. Good OS introduced the Cloud on a GigaByte touch-screen netbook at the Netbook World Summit kicking off today in Paris, and will begin including Cloud alongside Windows XP on the PC builder’s tablets early next year. When users need to do access more hardware-intensive programs, they can go from Cloud to Windows XP.

Hitachi and Intel join to develop enterprise SSDs

Intel and Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi) on Tuesday announced they will join forces to develop and produce enterprise-class solid-state drives with Serial Attached SCSI and Fibre Channel interfaces. Meant for use in servers, workstations and storage systems, the SSDs should be both reliable and fast, the companies promise. The resulting SSDs will be branded, sold and supported by Hitachi GST. They will use Intel NAND flash memory and SSD tech, however, that the chipmaker already uses in its current enterprise SSDs.

Jump Lab intros credit-card sized video player

Digital video card maker Jump Lab on Tuesday announced the EDG video player, which is about the size of a credit card, although thicker. The credit card size is fitting, as the EDG is meant as a promotional tool for companies, handing out the device with preloaded content to push a client company’s products or services. The EDG sports a 2-inch LCD color screen and a built-in speaker, allowing companies to showcase their wares via audio, video or digital photo slideshows. EDG can pre-load the content for customers before shipping or allow them to upload or change it themselves thanks to a USB port that also charges the device’s built-in battery.

Asus P6T Deluxe

Manufacturer:Asus
UK Price (as reviewed):£219.37 (inc. VAT)
US Price (as reviewed):$299.99 (ex. Tax)

As ever with Asus, it’s the first company to get us final, working hardware so it’s the first full review of an Intel X58 board we’ve put together. We have others testing, although we’re happy to point out from the start that the Asus has just worked thus far. We’ve already featured the P6T Deluxe in a first look, as well as demonstrated its overclocking ability in our Core i7 920 at 4GHz article.

Samsung: OLEDs in notebooks by 2010

In a speech made last week at a seminar in Tokyo, Woo Jong Lee, the Vice President of the Mobile Display Marketing Team of Samsung SDI, said the joint venture between Samsung Electronics and Samsung SDI will bring active matrix organic LED (OLED) displays to market in notebooks by 2010. Lee pointed out advantages of the new display technology, saying by 2010, burn-in for active-matrix OLED panels won’t happen for more than 2,000 hours of use. The OLED panels will be used in notebooks first because of their demanding requirements.

IT faces ‘dire shortage’ of core skills, study

The lack of core IT skills is a major impediment to modernizing key IT assets, according to a survey by application-management company Micro Focus.

According to the study, published on Monday, there is a shortage of IT skills across Europe and the US, even though such skills are core assets needed during a recession.

Part of the problem is that businesses are now focusing on newer areas such as Web 2.0, without realizing that the skills to support core infrastructure are lacking, Micro Focus chief executive Stephen Kelly told ZDNet UK. “In this survey, we are not devaluing Web 2.0,” he said. “The problem is that newer technologies cannot succeed unless they are supported by the core infrastructure.”

IT faces ‘dire shortage’ of core skills, study

The lack of core IT skills is a major impediment to modernizing key IT assets, according to a survey by application-management company Micro Focus.

According to the study, published on Monday, there is a shortage of IT skills across Europe and the US, even though such skills are core assets needed during a recession.

Part of the problem is that businesses are now focusing on newer areas such as Web 2.0, without realizing that the skills to support core infrastructure are lacking, Micro Focus chief executive Stephen Kelly told ZDNet UK. “In this survey, we are not devaluing Web 2.0,” he said. “The problem is that newer technologies cannot succeed unless they are supported by the core infrastructure.”