anthemaniac writes "Space.com reports that the American Astronomical Unions Division of Planetary Scientists recognizes the IAU's authority to make a new planet defintion but expects it to be altered. Separately, 300 astronomers have signed a petition saying they won't use the definition. All this stems from the discontent over how only 424 astronomers voted on the proposal that demoted Pluto. Looks like this little dog is on the comeback trail."

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Wireless

While it's not quite as exciting as those computer-free and base station-free WiFi Skype phones that have been cropping up of late, Philips' new VoIP841 phone at least can do its thing without a computer -- and does it in style. The new phone bests its VoIP321 predecessor with a color screen and a whole lot more sexy. Of course, we expect this phone to trump the former on price as well, so you'll have to ask yourself if those pretty little notification icons are really worth the extra green. All you need to make calls with the VoIP841 is a broadband connection to hook the base into, after that the DECT protocol takes over and you can roam your house in freedom, with cute little Skype graphics to keep you company. The phone should be available for the 2006 holiday season.

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Debra D'Agostino writes "Despite the media hype around Google CEO Eric Schmidt's appointment to Apple's board, CIO Insight Executive Editor Dan Briody says it's not that big a story. 'Apple and Google are already plenty tight,' he says. Arthur Levinson, CEO of Genentech, has been on both boards for years. And Al Gore and Intuit Chairman Bill Campbell are both Apple board members and advisors to Google. 'While it's fun to speculate about what an Apple-Google alliance could produce (GoogleMacs? MacGoogle? GoogleTunes?) this move is far from an alliance,' Briody writes. 'And even if it were, it wouldn't be first time that two upstart powerhouses have joined forces in an attempt to unseat Microsoft. Remember AOL-Netscape? Boy, they just steamrolled the team from Redmond, didn't they?'"

Filed under: Gaming

As you've probably already discerned from the headline and the pictures themselves, the images above supposedly depict the demo kiosks that Sony and Nintendo will be setting up in retail locations to lure people into buying the PlayStation 3 and Wii, respectively. Since the photos are low-res, a little blurry, and of unknown origin, they have all the makings of a jolly good Internet hoax, but we'll play along for now and assume that they're the real deal. So, what new information can we glean about the upcoming consoles based on their respective kiosks? Well, by mounting the LCD so high, Sony is obviously targeting taller individuals with its marketing strategy, while Nintendo is going after the brainier crowd as evidenced by the lack of any informational pamphlets adorning its display. With all of this speculation swirling around, one thing is certain, though: tucked behind the Wii kiosk's center column are a bevy of first aid kits, for the inevitable injuries that will occur when arm-swinging gamers collide with innocent passers-by in the impending blood baths sure to plague our favorite big box retailers.

[Via Joystiq]

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Toreo asesino writes "There has been lots of debate in the past few days over Microsoft's plan to make the startup sound in Windows Vista something that can't be specifically silenced by changing the sound settings in the control panel. Users would be able to avoid hearing it by manually turning down the speaker volume, but then they would have to turn that volume back up to hear anything else."

Filed under: Desktops

It ain't quite an iMac, but Averatec's new All-In-One PC -- their first consumer desktop -- has plenty to love. The design looks to be based on that TG LLUON design we saw a couple of years ago, but sadly the looks seem to have taken a bit of a step back from the snaz of the LLUON, and the processor hasn't really received much of a bump either. Averatec's All-In-One PC sports an ancient 3GHz Pentium 4 processor, but the 20.1-inch 1680 x 1050 display, 250GB 7200RPM HDD, DVD burner and 7-in-1 media card reader spiff things up significantly. The Media Center PC also sports a wireless keyboard and mouse, along with a Media Center remote and a 1.3 megapixel webcam. We don't have a price or a release date on this one, but we're hoping the P4 processor means this'll be a budget affair -- and not just another lame iMac ripoff.

[Thanks, Arthur B.]

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