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AMD is preparing to show its Puma Laptop Platform to the world, with the launch penned for June during the Computex trade show. Around 100 laptops based around the Puma platform are being readied in time for the launch
The Puma platform highlights includes:

• AMD Turion X2 Ultra CPU (Griffin)
• Both Intergrated Graphics & HD3400 Discrete GPU (Using Hybrid technology to switch between the two to save power)
• WIFI a/b/g/n

AMD won’t be alone in introducing a new laptop platform though; their main rival Intel is also set to release its Atom low power CPU and its Centrino 2 platform at the same event.
VIA is also set to try to take some market share releasing its Isaiah processor, which is scheduled to be available during the middle of this year. [Neowin]

After having played the Australian Xbox 360 box copy thoroughly we’re happy to report that the ” minor differences” Rockstar admitted were made to pass classification haven’t made any impact to the GTA experience that our seasoned eyes can spot.
The infamous act of picking up hookers in your car remains intact in the Australian version. This was the most likely cut to be made to appease the OFLC and the fact that it hasn’t been made indicates that the actual change must be very minor indeed.
Fans of the raunchier side of GTA can also breath easily upon hearing that strip clubs, complete with private lap dances are also completely accessible and intact in the Aussie version. Other potential items for the cutting room floor were getting drunk and being able to then drive while drunk, but both of these options are still present.
Our best guess is that something has been trimmed from a cut-scene. So, although we can’t say for sure what has been cut, we would urge people planning on boycotting the Aussie version to reassess their plans. Considering hookers, lap dances and drink driving have all sailed through you’re very unlikely to even notice, let alone miss, whatever was snipped. [IGN]

Leading UK supermarket Asda has disclosed surprising figures pertaining to the forthcoming Grand Theft Auto IV, revealing that the PlayStation 3 version is outselling the Xbox 360 version to the tune of three to one. 
Speaking to trade paper MCV, Asda’s head of games Duncan Cross said, “Both titles have generated great interest on the Asda website, with strong pre-orders, and the PS3 version is selling three times that of 360, which is surprising and not in line with what we’d expect.”
While it’s no news that the game is going to sell – with recent reports suggesting it could make $400 million in its first week alone – it’ll come as a surprise that the PlayStation 3 is trumping the Xbox 360 to such an extent. Debbie O’Neill of UK electronic retailer Comet stated that “We have great expectations and believe it is going to be a massive hardware driver – especially on PS3.” [IGN]

NVIDIA’s been on a hyper-competitive tear lately, and while the latest rumor isn’t quite on par with Roy Taylor saying that the Intel CPU is “dead,” it reinforces the company’s new win-at-all-costs attitude. Seems ATI’s upcoming RV770-based Radeon HD 4800 might threaten NVIDIA’s  dominance of the high-end graphics market, and that’s just not acceptable — so the company is planning on pushing up the release of the GeForce 9900 to July. That’s one billion transistors and GDDR3 memory, if you haven’t been memorizing rumored graphic card specs — we’re guessing that blue screen of death will render mighty fast on that rig. [VR-Zone via Engadget]

THE OFFICIAL RELEASE is only six days away, but hacked copies of Rockstar’s latest opus - Grand Theft Auto 4 - are already appearing on the interwebs.
Retailers have been threatened with thumbscrews if they dare break the game’s street date of April 29, even under intense pressure from gamers desperate to get their hands on what is sure to be the game of the year. So far, all have publicly avoided getting into trouble - but someone, somewhere, has been very naughty indeed.
Cracking group ‘Icon’ has taken credit for leaking the full 6.32GB disk image of the Xbox 360 version to Bittorrent. This is the PAL version - indicating that it’s come from a UK or Australian source - and does appear to be the legit thing. The release notes for the game suggest that eager gamers don’t play the game whilst connected to Xbox Live, to avoid the Volish authorities from picking up on the outrage and banning their British butts.
Word on the street is that this is a toned down Australian version, so if you really want to chainsaw hookers’ faces off, you’ll have to buy the real thing when it comes out.
Reports are also hitting the intertubes that an NTSC version of the game has shown up courtesy of ‘101′.
The leak has led to a flood of GTA4 video being posted online, with various online video sites hosting gameplay footage, the introductory trailer, and the inevitable deluge of cool stunts and glitches. [The Inq]

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter has said that he expects Rockstar’s upcoming Grand Theft Auto IV to shift more PlayStation 3 hardware than Xbox 360s.
Speaking to Reuters, Pachter commented, “If sales come in at the high end of that range, the game will directly spur sales of 2 million additional PS3s in 2008, versus 1 million Xbox 360s.”
“I think PS3 ‘wins’ this battle,” he added.
Similarly, BMO Capital Markets analyst Edward Williams observed that many consumers who bought into the series on PlayStation 2 are likely to see GTA IV as a reason to upgrade to Sony’s latest home console.
“So many people who owned the PS2 went into PlayStation family because of ‘GTA’. The release of ‘GTA4′ could expedite their decision to upgrade,” said Williams.
Grand Theft Auto IV is due out worldwide on April 29. [Videogaming247]

SingStar (PS3) has been conspicuously absent from US release lists as of late. Europe has had their fill of pop, hop and rock for a long time now, and it appears the US is about to get a taste.
If any Americans want to get their Sing on, they’ll have less than a month to wait, as SingStar is arriving in North America for your PlayStation 3 system on May 20. If you can’t wait that long, you can always crash this weekend’s Californian Coachella music festival where SingStar is on display along with LittleBigPlanet and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. [PSU]

The 3G iPhone will be announced June 9, the likely date of Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ keynote at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference, analysts said in research notes on Thursday.
The 3G iPhone will be the “first of an impressive wave of new products” from Apple, wrote Citi analysts Richard Gardner and Yeechang Lee. They also expect an updated Mac laptop and iPod lines. The Apple conference is scheduled for June 9-13 in San Francisco.
In addition to a 3G iPhone release in early June, the 2.5G model could have a “minor casing change” and a price drop to between US$299 and $349, compared to the current $399, wrote Shaw Wu, an analyst with American Technology Research, in a research report.
Those predictions are consistent with a February prediction Gardner made that 3G iPhones will be announced by midyear. The 3G iPhone release will help Apple meet its target of shipping 10 million iPhones in 2008, Gardner wrote at the time. Apple is confident it will sell 10 million iPhones this year, officials said during a conference call on Wednesday to discuss the company’s second-quarter earnings.
View: The Full Article @ Yahoo

In a bid to target fantasy sports players, AOL has purchased the Fleaflicker Web site for an undisclosed amount. Fleaflicker, which lets players create fictional U.S. football teams, has attracted users and advertisers with the popularity of Internet gaming, AOL spokeswoman Alysia Lew said in a statement Friday. The free service will operate independently and will also be integrated into AOL’s sports site. The purchase comes on top of the almost $2 billion AOL has committed since 2006 to buying online ad companies and Bebo, the third-largest social-networking Web site. AOL also said Friday that the number of visitors to its sites for topics such as finance, food and games rose 11 percent to 56.5 million in March, citing figures from researcher ComScore.
View: Full Story at SiliconValley.com

Microsoft may be preparing to discontinue sales of Windows XP, but some OEMs have found a way to circumvent the software giant’s June 30 deadline.
In yet another sign of the market’s resistance to Windows Vista, Dell Computer, and Sony on Wednesday all confirmed plans to exercise the downgrade rights Microsoft offers with OEM versions of Windows Vista Business and Vista Ultimate in order to continue offering XP-equipped PCs to their customers.
Downgrade rights, which Microsoft also offers to volume licensing customers, give users the ability to roll back to the previous version of the product they’re using. Downgrade rights have existed since 2001 for Windows, but many Microsoft partners say they’ve been seeing a recent uptick in the number of customers exercising downgrade rights to roll Vista back to XP Professional.
View: The Full Article @ CRN