It looks like Microsoft's trying to increase the must-have factor for the pricey Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 suite, because the XNA Team has just come up with a VS 2008-only rendition of XNA Game Studio - upgraded to version 3.0 But there's a lot of catches, and they aren't pretty for the average, budget-conscious, and possibly still studying,  indie dev. Prepare to be blown away (the wrong way, probably) at the full story.

Things are shaping up in Europe today. Sony just announced that they're going to double their production capacity for the European BRAVIA LCD TV line, and according to the news via press wire, it'll be Sony's new plain in Slovakia that will be getting the muscle upgrade. More details unfurls at the full story.

Say what? Believe it or not, Samsung and Giorgio Armani have teamed up once again to fuse leading flat-screen, LCD technology with bleeding edge fashion statements. Their lovechild: an Armani/Samsung LCD television. The Armani TV oozes nothing but sleek, sexy, can't-touch-this black from top to base, all the while boasting anything from 46 to 52 inches of full high-definition displays. More at the full story.

It's lean, it's mean, and it's packing dual GPUs. The GeForce 9800GX2, NVIDIA's flagship high-end graphics card, has finally rolled out of the many trusted brands of video card manufacturers, just a month after the 9600GT taunted budget-conscious gamers to give the GeForce 9 series for a spin. But now the most powerful of NVIDIA's graphics technology is out, and you'll find out why at the full story.

Okay, here's the leg of our gadget journey where we double over on ourselves and drop our geeky side to let our hidden social needs emerge and frolic. Hey, sometimes gearheads need to flash their accurate chronometers with some flair, too. And Casio, being the carrier of the popular G-Shock product line, will allow those with a knack for both tech and fashion to indulge themselves just so. More details of the new G5500C line at the full story.

For the socialites, telling another the time just boils down to how much bling factor your watch flashes. But for the techie in some of us, it's not about the shimmer and pizazz - it's how pretty darned accurate your chronometer's counting the seconds passed. Researchers from the National Institute of Science and Technology have claimed they've got a pair of clocks using ions and optics, and they're both way up there in terms of accurate timekeeping.

OCZ Technology, the people you'd best know for their highly-prized, branded, enthusiast performance memory modules, are now entering a different product for the extreme PC gamer in most of us. You've seen what the Emotiv EPOC neuroheadset hoped to achieve back in GDC 2008. Okay, so EPOC probably wasn't the spectacular unveiling it was supposed to be, but in essence, it works. And OCZ will be creating something similar, but this time it's optimized for PC play. Head on to the full article for more details.

One of the last 9800GTX-related rumors circulating around the web was that NVIDIA's long awaited GeForce 9800GTX was bound to release by the time twin-G92 carrying GeForce 9800GX2, and that's next month. That came with whispers that the card would flex a rumored G100 chip. Guess we thought wrong. Move on to the full story for dream-shattering 3DMark06 scores of the elusive 9800GTX.

Yes, we all might've browsed through reviews of the once hinted first 9 series model to roll out of NVIDIA, and now the GeForce 9600 GT has hit the market in all its mini-GT glory. The single slot, cooler encased 8600 GTS successor is being offered at prices that could make enthusiasts itch. Heck, you might do well to head on over to the full story and find out why you might want to scratch that itch.

No matter what Microsoft Game Studios' Shane Kim says Redmond has up its sleeves, Sony probably doesn't care. And who could blame them? Their recent triumph with Blu-ray has solidified Sony's mark on the consumer entertainment front, and the PlayStation 3 just overtook the Xbox 360 in market sales for a month. What could be sweeter? CEO Jack Tretton hints that it starts with a two and ends with an eight. More at the full story.