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This week on Zune Freebie, the good folks at Zune Marketplace are offering two tracks by Clipse and G. Love & Special Sauce. As with all Zune Freebies, these tracks are DRM Free, which means you can burn, playback, and sync with the Zune. You do need to have the Zune Marketplace software installed on your PC and a Zune account is required.

Title: Fast Life
Artist: Clipse Presents Re-Up Gang
Genre: Hip-Hop
Length: 4:09

Title: Wontcha Come Home
Artist: G. Love & Special Sauce
Genre: Rock
Length: 2:32

One neat feature that Microsoft built into the MSN Toolbar, is the ability to update and add new buttons without the end user having to install a new version. That said, the MSN Toolbar has added three new buttons for the Olympics, Stocks, and Videos. The Olympics button features a medal count, news, photos, videos, and specific sports tabs.

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Summary: Skype for Pocket PC is a free software that enables you to make Skype voice calls using your WiFi-enabled Windows Mobile Pocket PC

Requirements:

• Windows Mobile Pocket PC 2003 / 5 / 6 / 6.1
• High speed wireless Internet connection over WiFi or 3G

Debuting back at CeBIT, MSI has finally released their new GX620/GX720 gaming notebooks. Pricing hasn’t been announced. however that won’t keep you from looking at the specs these notebooks carry.

• Intel Core 2 Duo processor
• 4GB of DDR2 RAM
• NVIDIA’s 512MB GeForce 9600M GT
• 2-megapixel webcam
• 320GB SATA drive
• Optional Blu-ray drive
• Bluetooth capabilities
• HDMI input, 4-in-1 card reader and 3 USB ports

A while back, the UPS man came knocking on my door with some goodies, the V-Moda Vibe earbuds. At first glance, I thought the earbuds’ design is very sexy, but it had me wondering whether the sound quality was just as great.

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Today, Microsoft announced a newly updated Live Search Homepage. So I checked it out and the only thing different is the background with “hotspots.” What are “hotspots” you might wonder? Off to the right of the background, when rolled over, four square boxes activate with a little description and a search icon that will take you to a search result when clicked. Now if Microsoft really wants to add some customization to this, they should allow users to upload their own background, which is very likely they’ll do in the future. Also, Microsoft should take it up a notch and add these backgrounds to the actually search results, where the top blue strip exist.

Today we’re releasing an update to the Live Search home page that received positive feedback from customers in trials last month. The new design features background images that will change frequently, augmented with what we call “hotspots.” These interactive areas highlight parts of the image and help you explore search results related to the highlighted area. Users who have tested this new home page have found it both engaging and a great place to start a search.

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You read about the latest upcoming updates to the Xbox 360’s dashboard, but now we’ve got a few shots of the UI. Check out the images that show the community, featured games, Netflix, and more.

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Coming out in September, Microsoft will release two new Limited Edition controllers. Only thing changing though is the color. The controllers will sport Red (above) or Green (below) colors. The red controller will have black accents and comes with a bundled Play & Charge with a red battery pack. No word on the Green one, although we suppose it will be similar to the Red Controller. The price will set you back $64 for each. See a picture of the Green Controller after the jump.

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So far, Microsoft has given us a new 60GB SKU, Netflix support, a newly designed 3D dashboard, Avatars, and a bunch of games. However, they felt we needed more. So what else are they announcing?

• The ability to copy games and directly play them from the hard drive. You still need the disc inside your Xbox 360 when playing, however the drive won’t spin, meaning less noise.
• You can browse and purchase Marketplace content whenever, wherever you want using Xbox.com. Download new movies, TV shows, XBLA games, or other DLC. Content automatically downloads to your console.
• The “Blades” UI is not going away completely, it is being moved to the new Xbox Guide. All options and features can be found in the Xbox Guide.
• New display resolutions will also be part of the update, 16X10 over VGA or HDMI, and support for 1440×900 or 1680×1050.

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Done for the “first time in history,” Microsoft announced a complete redesign of the Xbox 360 with the magic of software. The new dashboard update, which will be available late fall, will bring a slew of features, such as 3D slides and Avatars, to all existing Xbox 360 owners. The update will drop the Blades UI and feature 3D slides, making the UI simple, clean, and more social. Dubbed as, The New Xbox Experience, the update will also bring the rumored Avatars. You’ll be able to fully customize your avatar with custom shoes, pants, shirts, hats, and more. With more emphasis on the social experience, the new update features a new mode, Live Party. You’ll be able to invite up to 8 friends, which you can choose to chat, share photos, or watch Netflix movies together. You avatar will also be integrated with your gamercard and you can use it in XBLA games and other 3rd party games such as Scene It. You can watch a video of the New Xbox Experience here.

At today’s E3, Microsoft announced an exclusive Xbox 360 partnership with Netflix. Provided at no extra charge, you will now be able to watch over 10,000 movies and TV episodes from Netflix right on your Xbox 360. Using the Netflix site, you can add movies and shows to your instant queue, which will automatically be available on Xbox 360.

“Watching movies at home will never be the same. Netflix on Xbox 360 is an entertainment first, and we are bringing friends together with the best in entertainment content like no other device in the living room, ” said John Schappert, corporate vice president of Interactive Entertainment LIVE, Software and Services Business at Microsoft . “We are creating a completely new social entertainment experience, and Xbox 360 will be the only video game system where you can access your library of instantly streamable movies from Netflix and turn any room into a virtual movie theater.”

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It’s official, the leaked priced cuts are confirmed. Microsoft will be dropping the Xbox 360 price to $299 from $349 on all 20GB models, while supplies last. The clearance sale will help introduce a new 60GB SKU which will carry the $349 price tag. Available in early August, the new 60GB Xbox 360 will be sold in the U.S. and Canad. No price cuts have been announced for the Arcade and the Elite. Hopefully E3 brings us some more price cuts.

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Continuing the long, 5-month battle, Microsoft and Yahoo! still can’t agree on a deal. Announced today was another rejection from Yahoo! that was handed down to Microsoft. With the help of Carl Icahn, Microsoft is trying to acquire Yahoo’s search business. Yahoo! clearly doesn’t like the idea and is willing to open up talks again about a full acquisition. However, Microsoft is not interested in the company as a whole. You can read Yahoo’s press release on what they think about the latest offer. Alternatively, you can wait and watch the entire Microsoft, Yahoo! battle in an upcoming movie (that’ll never happen).

On this week’s edition of Zune Freebie, the good folks on the Zune team bring you another track that you can download, burn to a CD, and share with you friends. The track “Make It So (XXXchange Remix)” is by artist Daedelus. Like always you will need to have a Zune account and Zune Marketplace installed on your PC.

Title: Make It So (XXXchange Remix)
Artist: Daedelus
Genre: Dance/Electronic
Length: 4:38

It’s been know for a while that Microsoft has been working on some sort of karaoke game, Lips. Not many details have been revealed, however there are a few box art and game play shots. From the pictures we can tell the mic do have some sort of ring of lights that will probably light up in different colors. Check the shots below.

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