Billionaire Boys Club

Oh what a pity, just about all of America’s filthy rich citizens are poorer this year than they were at this point in ’08. The collective net worth of the country’s wealthiest has declined by $300 billion in the past 12 months, dropping from $1.57 trillion to $1.27 trillion, according to The 400 Richest Americans by Forbes.

A little over 75 percent of the 400 richest Americans had their fortunes reduced as a result of failing capital markets and falling real estate prices; divorce and fraud also contributed to the decline in wealth. Thirty-two tycoons lost their rankings on Forbes’ list.

America’s second wealthiest person, Warren Buffett, was hit the hardest. He is now ONLY worth $40 billion after losing $10 billion from his personal finances as shares of Berkshire Hathaway fell 20 percent in the 12-month period.

Microsoft’s co-founder Bill Gates was hardly effected. For the 16^th straight year he was named America’s richest person.

Second Time Around

Microsoft’s floundering attempt to keep up with Apple’s iPod brings to us the newly crafted Zune HD media player. This revamped multi-touch mp3 player shows high definition videos and movies, and also plays in HD radio signals.

The Zune HD features a NVIDIA TEGRA chip, providing a faster graphics processor, as well as less battery depletion. Microsoft has also launched a sister application for consumers to download HD movie files from the Zune marketplace for rental or purchase.

Microsoft is going to offer its 16GB version the Zune HD for $219 and its platinum-32GB edition for $289, although it still lacks a mobile phone to challenge the iPhone.

Chrome Finish

It was announced today that the Sony Corp. plans to become the first PC maker to sell all computers with pre-installed versions of Google’s new Web browser, Chrome.

Along with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, which happens to be the worlds most widely used Web browser, all Vaio computer users in the United States and Europe will also have the option of using Chrome.

Cyberlution

It has been recently discovered that two years ago, Microsoft attempted to patent clustering phylogenetics methods, which is used by every evolutionary biologist. In other words, they were attempting to patent the studying of evolution.

Discovered by a University of Texas in Austin graduate student, Microsoft researcher Steve Ozer filed the patent in July 2007. The patent claims ownership of numerous common phylogenetics methods and the identification of evolutionary relationships from sequences.

By clustering algorithms and taking a collection of related sequences, like the amino acids in proteins or the bases in DNA, researchers can calculate the likely evolutionary relationships between them.

The filing has already been compared to attempting to patent the multiplication table, both which have been in existence for years.

Slimming It Down

In an attempt to recover from recent money-losing earnings, the Sony Corporation has revamped the PlayStation 3, as well as slashing prices worldwide.

Debuting today, the PS3 Slim is a slimmer version of the PlayStation 3 and has about 120 gigabytes, 40 more than its predecessor. It’s also about $100 cheaper.

Gamers in the United States will pay $299 instead of $399 and in Europe, 299 euros rather than 399.

Although Sony has sold more than 23.7 million PS3’s since 2006, the global slowdown has weakened their sales.

The Nintendo Co. has sold about 52.6 Wii’s, which cost $250, and the Microsoft Corp have sold 31.4 Xbox’s, which go for about $300.

Sony projects selling 13 million PS3’s in the fiscal year through March 2010.

Would You Pay $2,500 for These Kicks?

Quickly, ask yourself if you would buy these unique, yet tacky, Nike sneakers emblazoned with Xbox’s logo for a whopping $2,500. I’m sure some aspiring fashionista or video game junkie would.

The custom kicks designed and handmade by Cali-based artist Sole Junkie haven’t even been endorsed by Microsoft or Nike. Supposedly, the Xbox logos located on the patent leather back light up via inserted fiber optics and a hidden switch inside of sneakers tongue. The toes are painted in a Tiger Camouflage and accentuated with lime and bright green.

These exclusive sneakers are a size 11 up for auction on eBay. Check out more on these kicks here.

Phone Wars

By Marcus Delahoz

The Wall Street Journal’s recent speculation that Microsoft and Verizon Wireless are joining forces to create a smart phone to rival Apple’s iPhone have not been confirmed but are stirring competition.

So-called sources familiar with the Microsoft-Verizon talks say the smart phone codenamed “Pink” will be a Windows multi-media phone made specifically to challenge the iPhone. However, in other talks Verizon is also discussing the possibility of developing a phone with Apple called the “iPhone Lite,” which is a smaller and more convenient iPhone.

AT&T currently dishes out any where from $3 to $18 a month to Apple for every customer that uses an iPhone on their network as part of their exclusive deal with the iPhone. Could Apple’s discussions with Verizon be a ploy to squeeze more money out of AT&T as their iPhone deal comes to an end soon?

Apple has sold over 10 million iPhone units since its introduction in 2007 and has increased AT&T’s customer base. All the while Verizon is said to be launching its 4G network in 2010, making it an ideal candidate to carry the next generation iPhone.

All things considered we are at least a year away before the real winner of any deal with Apple is finalized.