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The Great Firewall of China was activated earlier this week, as the eastern nation moved to block all access in the country to the online video-sharing service YouTube.

According to reports first published by the BBC, China shut off access in response to the posting of a video depicting a raid by hundreds of Chinese army soldiers on a Tibetan monastery. The video includes graphic footage of a man being beaten with batons and a group of men (including a monk) being assaulted while lying on the ground.

There is no information regarding when the film was shot or at what location.

YouTube Slowly Disappears

Following the posting of the video over the weekend, Google noticed on Monday that less YouTube traffic was flowing to China. As of Tuesday morning, traffic had stopped altogether.

According to Google spokesperson Scott Rubin, China didn’t inform the company that it was blocking YouTube, and hasn’t offered an explanation. “We don’t know the reason for the block,” Rubin said, “and [we] are working to restore access to users in China as quickly as possible.”

There has been limited direct comment from the Chinese government, apart from a statement at a news conference early in the week in which a spokesperson said, “We encourage the active use of the Internet, but also manage the Internet according to law.”

International Controversy

This is the second Tibet-related block of YouTube by China in the past year. In March 2008, a similar shutdown followed the uploading of video clips showing riots in the streets of Tibet.

The move to cut off access for Chinese citizens has been condemned by human-rights groups. In a statement to the BBC, the Center for Democracy and Technology accused China of failing “to live up to international norms.”

“China’s apparent blocking of YouTube is at odds with the rule of law and the…

After kicking off on Monday, the Game Developers Conference being held at San Francisco’s Moscone Center is well underway, and today the conference brought in one of the industry’s most respected executives, Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo, to deliver a keynote address.

Iwata, who last took the stage at GDC just before releasing the Wii in 2006, took no time to tell the audience of peers and press that Nintendo has shipped more than 50 million units of its popular Wii gaming console worldwide, making it the fastest-selling game console in history.

In the month of February alone, 750,000 of Nintendo’s Wii consoles were sold in the United States, according to the NPD Group. In the same month, Microsoft sold 391,000 Xbox 360 units and Sony sold 276,000 PlayStation 3 units.

Nintendo has also sold 588,000 portable DS players, while Sony sold just under 200,000 PlayStation Portable units.

“It is in the power of game developers to invent things that gamers have never seen — or even imagined — before,” Iwata said.

Third-Party Developers

After briefly talking about the success of Nintendo’s Wii, Iwata did not hesitate addressing what has been on third-party developers’ minds for some time: whether they can continue to successfully sell their games on the Wii platform.

More third-party games were sold for the Wii last year than for any other platform, Iwata said, according to GameSpot, which blogged live during the event.

“We all work in a time of rapid change,” Iwata told the audience. “When this is the case, it is normal for people, even game developers, to feel unsettled.”

“Other people believe that only Nintendo software [is successful] on Nintendo systems,” Iwata added. “Later, I will explain why this is not the case, but that I understand the concern.”

Surprises for Consumers

Before announcing a few surprises for consumers, the…

Canon USA has taken the wraps off its new entry-level digital SLR camera, which integrates a 15.1-megapixel image sensor with high-definition video recording.

The EOS Rebel T1i offers users two different ways to capture high-definition video with a 16:9 aspect ratio: At 30 frames per second for 720p video clips, or 20 fps when recording video at full resolution 1080p (1920×1080 pixels). Additionally, users can elect to shoot standard-definition video with a 4:3 aspect ratio at 30 fps.

“We are witnessing the emergence of a new phase in digital imaging history, as high-resolution still images and HD video can now both be produced in a handheld device for under $1,000,” said Canon Vice President Yuichi Ishizuka.

15.1 Megapixels

Canon’s new camera can capture up to 4GB of MPEG-4 video per clip, which is roughly equivalent to 12 minutes of 1080p HD video, 18 minutes of 720p HD video, or 24 minutes of SD video. All clips are recorded in the .MOV video format and stored on 1GB to 2GB SD or 4GB SDHC memory cards, which are sold separately.

The EOS Rebel T1i comes with a three-inch VGA-quality LCD monitor. When recording video, the camera’s rear LCD screen is letter-boxed by a semitransparent border to match the aspect ratio selected for the clip being recorded.

Under the hood, the new camera integrates a 15.1-megapixel CMOS sensor and the DIGIC 4 imaging processor, which uses 14-bit analog-to-digital conversion to generate digital data with incredibly smooth tones. The new camera also has an HDMI output to make it easy for users to display their images on an HDTV screen.

The EOS Rebel T1i camera offers three Live View autofocus functions that can be applied to still images as well as video. Though the Quick and Live modes employ different AF detection methods,…

Rochester, NY, March 24, 2009 –- Vuzix Corporation, the leader in video eyewear for the mainstream consumer, defense and low vision markets, will showcase a game-changing Augmented Reality Accessory Kit for the popular VR920 Virtual Reality Video Eyewear. Partnering with metaio, Inc., a world leader in augmented reality software solutions, Vuzix will demonstrate at the 2009 GDC how a simple printed page can be brought to life with 3-D animated characters that literally pop out of the book. Additionally, be prepared to experience the thrill of a fantasy tale coming to life with a fire-breathing dragon flying overhead.

Vuzix AR Accessory Kit consists of two main features:

• CamAR™, a clip-on USB camera that mounts onto a pair of Vuzix Video Eyewear. The CamAR™ not only allows the user to see through to the real world but is also designed to accurately track objects and the user’s position in 3-dimensional space.

• PhasAR™, a wireless augmented reality input controller is designed to be used in unison with the CamAR™. The PhasAR™ allows users to interact with virtual, mixed and augmented reality worlds with a revolutionary 6 degree of freedom tracking system that lets the computer know exactly where the user is touching in the virtual and real worlds. Depending on the application, the PhasAR™ can become anything from a powerful virtual magic wand to a 3-D virtual paint brush. The PhasAR™ enables powerful 2-D like mouse support in order to effortlessly control virtual objects in 3-D space.

Together, these new devices allow the user to perceive and interact with the real world in ways they have never dreamed of before.

“This capability, known as Augmented Reality (AR), will open up new applications in the gaming, education and business sectors,” said Vuzix CEO, Paul Travers. “The applications for gaming and education will…

Tuesday’s session of the Game Developers Conference at the Moscone Center in San Francisco opened with a provocative topic: Why the iPhone Has Changed Everything. For an industry that has long regarded Apple as an afterthought when it comes to serious gaming, it was an eye-opening presentation.

The talk was delivered by Neil Young, founder and CEO of ngmoco, one of the leading developers of games for the iPhone and the iPod touch. Among the company’s titles are the popular Word Fu, Rolando, Topple, Dropship, and Dr. Awesome, Microsurgeon M.D.

Functionality is the Key

As an introduction to the power of the iPhone in the gaming industry, Young reviewed the market battle between the handheld Nintendo DS and the Sony PlayStation Portable. He argued that although the PSP may have superior technical specifications, the DS proved more popular because it offered greater functionality.

That positions the iPhone to be a particularly powerful platform, Young suggested, because of the enormous number of features built into the device. Future games will be able to take advantage of the iPhone’s social-networking capabilities, its camera, the contact list, the weather app, and so on. In Young’s words, game developers will be able to “leverage every surface of the device.”

ABI research analyst Zippy Aima agreed with Young. “In the current scenarios,” she said, “the iPhone indeed is a revolutionary product. Earlier gaming was limited to portable video-game devices, and then came along the likes of Nintendo and now we have the iPhone, which is a complete package, including gaming.”

Superheated Market

If ngmoco is any indication, iPhone games are a significant part of the success of Apple’s App Store. Young told the audience that ngmoco games have been installed on more than seven million devices.

“The market is superheated. The pace of adoption is going way faster than the DS,” he said….

Michael Dell may have been speaking from halfway around the world, but the voice of the CEO for a $20 billion company carries a long way. The topic was small-screen devices and specifically smartphones, a market with which Dell has flirted with but never quite taken the plunge. But Dell said that may change.

“It is true that we are exploring smaller-screen devices,” he said. “We don’t have any announcements to share today, but stay tuned, as when we have new news we will share that with you.”

Crowded Market

The biggest question surrounding the possibility of a Dell smartphone product is whether it’s simply too late. “The smartphone market is cluttered and crowded,” said Greg Sterling, founding principal of Sterling Market Intelligence. Moreover, Sterling added, the market is overwhelmingly dominated by Apple’s iPhone, which makes it very difficult for new entries to distinguish themselves.

In fact, there are reports emerging that last year, Dell built a prototype smartphone that was rejected by the major cellular carriers for a variety of reasons, including a thin set of features, lackluster design, and cost.

Now new rumors are circulating that Dell might try to leapfrog into the smartphone race by purchasing Palm, a company increasingly short on cash and in need of a major boost from the soon-to-be-released Pre.

“I think the possibility that Dell might buy Palm is an interesting story,” Sterling said. “Palm’s predicament is that too many expectations are being heaped on the Pre. It’s an interesting phone, but it can’t carry the whole company, which will undoubtedly disappoint investors.”

Mobile Internet Device?

A more interesting possibility, Sterling suggested, would be for Dell to consider manufacturing a device larger than a smartphone that might have more capabilities.

“In the field of mobile Internet devices,” he said, “there are some really interesting possibilities. If you solve the connection problem,…