It's been mentioned here and there before, but John Carmack confirmed its development in a Doom Classic update.

If there's one thing you could say about John Carmack, it's that he's an interesting read to say the least. On October 30, id Software finally released the iPhone version of Doom Classic. For $6.99, gamers get 36 levels of classic Hell goodness from all four original episodes: Knee-Deep in the Dead, Shores of Hell, Inferno, and Thy Flesh Consumed. The game even provides deathmatch and cooperative play for up to four players via "wireless Internet."

Once the game finally swam past the infamous Apple mad scientists stationed in the App Store, Carmack posted a development overview of the iPhone remake, talking about putting the project aside to work on Doom 4(!) and Rage, or how id software decided to put the game aside so it didn't clash with Doom Resurrection. He even goes into the whole networking issue, revealing how 3G was disappointing and overall caused ping times of 360 ms despite its "speed."

But somewhere in that plethora of gaming goodness, Carmack revealed that the company is indeed working on Quake Classic for the iPhone. "We have two people at Id that are going to be dedicated to iPhone work," he said. "I doubt I will be able to personally open Xcode again for a few months, but I do plan on trying to work out a good touch interface for Quake Classic and the later 6DOF games."

Carmack also said that there may be a free tech demo using the company's idTech 5 megatexture content creation pipeline, and also mentions the Rage themed game in his update as well.  "I'm not sure exactly what game I would like to do with it, so it might be a 500 MB free gee-whiz app," he said, referring to the idTech 5 demo. "I want to work on a Rage themed game to coincide with Rage's release, but we don't have a firm direction or team chosen for it.  I was very excited about doing a really-designed-for-the-iPhone first person shooter, but at this point I am positive that I don't have the time available for it."

Quake... my favorite game of all time! -kp

Marvell and E Ink making ereader babies.

The ereader segment still has a lot of headroom, and Marvell is hoping to make its mark with a new ebook platform.

Marvell has teamed up with electronic paper display (EPD) supplier E Ink to create a highly integrated ereader processor and complete turnkey platform design for the ereader market.

The platform gives OEMs a starting point to design its ereaders without starting from scratch. Marvell brings to the table its new Armada line of ARM-based processors with its 16XE System-on-Chip design and pairs it together with E Ink’s display technology.

“With this announcement, Marvell raises the technology bar and takes the lead in the e-reader market,” said Ms. Weili Dai, Marvell's Co-founder and Vice President and General Manager of the Company's Consumer and Computing Business Unit at Marvell Semiconductor, Inc. “Because this is a total platform solution – including Marvell key technologies such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G modem, and power management – the ARMADA e-reader has the potential to deliver the first mass market product accessible and affordable to billions of consumers around the world. Marvell’s passion is to give consumers more choice, improved features, and greater access to more information with e-readers that are aimed at education, health, and business applications.”

There are already three OEMs with the new Marvell/E Ink platform ready.

·         Plastic Logic’s QUE - http://www.plasticlogic.com/

·         Spring Design’s Alex eReader - http://www.springdesign.com/resource/jsp/

·         enTourage eDGe - http://www.entourageedge.com/

Interestingly enough, the ereaders--all based on the same platform--differ in design enough that they appear to be unique in their form and features. Are you wishing for an ereader under the tree this year?

Too bad the USB stick doesn't transform.

It's the digital age, where some form of entertainment are found more often on personal storage devices than on physical media bought from the store. Yes, it's a transitionary period, and there's no better proof of that than in Kingston and Paramount's new upcoming product.

Kingston and Paramount announced that both companies will deliver full-length motion picture feature films on Kingston Flash memory products. The movies on Kingston memory will be available to consumers as part of a bundle package and for sale.

"This unique agreement enables PDE to make available its entertainment offerings on USB and SD cards," said Alex Carloss, EVP and GM of Paramount Digital Entertainment. "As more and more movies are viewed on computers and other portable devices, having a relationship with Kingston will become increasingly important to Paramount for years to come."

One of the first movies out the gate is Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen, which will come on a 4 GB USB stick and retail for $29.99. Sadly, there's no mention of what kind of codec or DRM scheme it'll use, but we'll tap Kingston for further details.

Would you ever choose to buy a USB stick move over a DVD or Blu-ray?

Mac clone maker Psystar is asking a judge to force Apple into playing nice.

Macworld reports that Psystar is currently pleading with U.S. District Court Judge William Hoeveler to rule that its business is legitimate despite what Apple claims. More specifically, the company wants the judge to say that it is legally allowed to sell machines with Apple's new Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) pre-installed, and to force Apple from saying anything different.

The battle between Apple and Psystar has been ongoing for over a year, with the latest legal exchange taking root two months ago when Psystar sued Apple over Snow Leopard's "illegal ties" to the Mac hardware. Psystar's current plea--or rather its amended complaint--says that Apple's copyright infringement case being heard in a California court is hurting its business.

"[Apple’s] violations of the federal antitrust acts have damaged and will damage Psystar in its business and property because they deny Psystar business that otherwise would go to Psystar by creating doubt about the legality of Psystar computers running Mac OS X Snow Leopard," the company’s lawyer’s contended. "The items of damage to Psystar include damage to Psystar’s business reputation and to the reputation of its products and sales lost that could have been made absent Apple’s attempts to restrict Mac OS X Snow Leopard to Macintoshes."

Macworld also reports that Apple may be planning to block some Intel-based PCs from running Snow Leopard. One developer has even claimed that Mac OS X 10.6.2, the next scheduled update for Snow Leopard, will keep the OS from running on Intel's Atom processor.

Apple is reportedly pitching an idea to the networks that would see the Cupertino-based company offer iTunes users a TV subscription package for $30 a month.

All Things Digitial cites "multiple sources" that say Apple is trying to drum up support for a monthly subscription service that would deliver TV programs via iTunes. The company has reportedly told industry executives it wants to launch the service early next year and, while Media Memo's Peter Kafka says no programmer has made a firm commitment yet, the networks are said to be "intrigued by the idea."

Details are scant, so there's no word on whether this will be an "all you can eat" type service or if Apple will impose some sort of restriction. The only thing we do know is that Apple won't be using its Apple TV hardware to provide this service. Any iTunes users in the house that would be tempted with this kind of offer? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Check the full story here.

the number of file-sharing sites soared 300-percent when The Pirate Bay went offline.

McAfee announced yesterday that the temporary closing of the Pirate Bay inadvertently skyrocketed the number of file-sharing sites by 300-percent. The company also said that cybercriminals are creating fake websites used to trick users into hunting down copyrighted material, only leading them to download malicious programs. McAfee expects the number of malicious sites to grow during the fall and holiday season.

"Many of these sites sprang up to scam users of The Pirate Bay who were looking for a new place to download copyrighted material," the company reports. "McAfee researchers observed that users began creating their own sites to support The Pirate Bay community when the site was in the process of being shut down. When the site was back up after only 24 hours, the new torrent sites disappeared quickly."

McAfee has also discovered "peaks" in the creation of file-sharing websites, correlating with major events in the film industry. The summer usually brings an extremely high point--the Oscar Season and holiday movie season also provide huge peaks in file sharing. However, The Pirate Bay had a huge influence in the file-sharing network as seen when the site temporarily went down, with many file sharers grabbing the Pirate Bay index just days before it went offline.

"The Pirate Bay example shows how difficult it is to 'stop' data once it is on the web," McAfee's report says. "A website can be shut down, but anyone who has accessed the content may still be able to redistribute it."

Take note: never hack a cable modem.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation in Boston said yesterday that an Oregon man was arrested on charges of developing and distributing cable network hacking tools. Twenty-six-year-old Ryan Harris of Redmond, Oregon, along with his company TCNISO, is accused of developing and distributing products that allow users to modify their cable modems to receive Internet connection without paying for the service.

According to the report, the illegal activity endured from 2003 to 2009. TCNISO, under Harris's direction, developed and distributed hardware and software tools to its customers. The modified cable modems appeared on ISP networks without authorization as legitimate, paying customers. Ultimately, TCNISO's customers received premium high-speed Internet access without paying the monthly fee.

"The Indictment also charges that TCNISO and HARRIS offered ongoing customer support, primarily through forums that it hosted on the TCNISO website, to assist customers in their cable modem hacking activities," the FBI reports.

Harris was charged in a six-count indictment with conspiracy, computer intrusion, and wire fraud. If convicted, Harris will face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, followed by a 3-year supervised release. Harris will also face a $250,000 fine and restitution on each count. Harris was originally charged on August 16, but wasn't arrested until October 23.

an industry insider says that Hulu isn't going pay-only.

So is Hulu going to charge users for its streaming video service? That was the case weeks ago, as News Corp. Deputy Chairman Chase Carey said that the current free model was very difficult in capturing the "value" of the site's content. There was even an indication that Hulu would start charging some kind of fee for content as early as 2010.

But that may or may not be the case. Entertainment Weekly reports that Hulu will continue to remain free of content fees. Based on an inside source close to the video streaming website, any possible pay-per-view or subscription service would only build upon Hulu, not replace it. But for now, there is no set timeline for any kind of payment system.

Last month Carey clearly indicated that charging for every video on Hulu would be the answer even though the industry needs to receive payment for broadcasting online content. However, he did mention Hulu Mobile or "specially-created content and TV previews" as means to help carry the financial burden. Streaming content from HBO and other pay-channels would work as well, or perhaps selling downloadable video content such as movies and TV episodes.

A Boston woman is planning to give birth live on the Internet.

Boston.com reports that blogger and first time mom Lynsee has been recording every detail of her pregnancy through her blog Watch Lynsee Grow. Not unusual given that there has been a huge influx of "Mommy Bloggers" over the last year or so. However, 23-year-old Lynsee will be giving birth live on the internet.

Already 37 weeks pregnant, Lynsee is due to give birth later this month and the whole thing will be streamed on the Moms Like Me website. Boston.com cites Lynsee as saying she and her husband wanted to document the pregnancy so their child could look back through everything in years to come.

“We wanted to document the pregnancy and create a one-of-a-kind memento for our baby to have forever,” said Lynsee. "You'll be at some of the doctor's appointments... You'll be there in the delivery room, tastefully, but you will be there.’’

Moms Like Me site manager Cindy Chapman says the idea stems from the TLC show 'A Baby Story'. Chapman wanted to take the concept further and broadcast a live birth, something that 'A Baby Story' does not do. Chapman says there will be no graphic scenes broadcasted and an experienced camera crew will be there to make sure everything is done right. She also added that there is a "massive crisis plan" in place.

Boston.com goes on to report that an October members poll showed that 60 percent of Moms Like Me users said they did not want anyone but their significant other in the room when they gave birth. However, the same percentage also said they would be interested in watching the birth.

Read the rest of the story here.

*Image via Moms Like Me.

Woof, woof! Microsoft has given a dog his own Xbox Live account.

A couple of weeks ago, Greg Strope's dog Oscar spent $63 purchasing 5,000 Microsoft points while he was sleeping. At least, that's what Greg claimed.

Greg and his girlfriend say they went to sleep at around 11 p.m. At 11:40 p.m., Greg's phone buzzed, indicating that he had received an email. Assuming it was spam, Strope ignored his phone until the next morning.

When Greg did check his phone the next morning, he had an email from Microsoft confirming his purchase of 5,000 Microsoft points. With no one else in the house and a half chewed controller to throw weight behind his theory, Greg and his girlfriend Christina arrived at the conclusion that Oscar was the culprit.

However, the most surprising part of the story is not the fact that the Xbox was actually off when Greg and Christina went to bed, but that Microsoft has refunded the points, despite the fact that the company has a no refund policy on Microsoft points. Not only that but Microsoft is also giving Oscar his own Gamertag (Oscar The K9) for good measure. A PR rep for the company said they were doing it so Oscar doesn't feel left out anymore. Aw, cute!