The UpStream

The Entertainment Software Rating Board, ESRB, stepped up their game by entering the mobile world last December with an iPhone app that allowed the user to search for games by title only. And this year they have added a major feature which will allow users, or in most cases, concerned parents, to take a picture of the box art and get detailed information on the game.

According to the ESRB the kind of detailed information made available will include,

detailed, straight-forward explanation--including specific examples--of the content that factored into a game's rating. The goal is to ensure parents can make truly informed game choices for their children.

Hit the break to watch the PR video the ESRB released for the new app.

Oh man, I may have to jump up and down and rejoice if all of this turns out to me true. Break out the party streamers, the piñata, the lemonade, party hats and of course, the rumor alert siren as I have stumbled across an image that would make any NFL fan who doesn't have DirecTV lose their mind! DirecTV sent out a marketing research survey asking customers if they'd prefer to watch their NFL Sunday Ticket over the Internet instead of satellite.

As you may or may not know, to receive any out-of-market NFL game, the only way to do it is either the illegal online stream route, or by subscribing to NFL Sunday Ticket as a premium add-on to DirecTV's satellite service. There are a lot of circumstances that prohibit signing up for DirecTV, such as trees, building placement or local laws. So, in essence, it only furthers the frustrations of many fans in the country.

If you want to see the survey and have more info on this and why this is important, follow the break.

Under normal circumstances, I'd be inclined to make fun of, downplay or otherwise have MetroPCS look foolish. With no contract, prepaid carriers, most of the time you get a service that is lackluster at best, relies on outdated technology and devices and gets placed last on the queue for connectivity to the towers, in which they do not own, only borrow when needed from the major carriers.

However, the tide has turned, as T-Mobile has been in my crosshairs for over a month. I mentioned in November how T-Mobile has lied about having a true 4G network and that MetroPCS has had a real 4G device on a real 4G network for a while now.

If you want to know how this all plays together, click the break.

It seems like only yesterday that P2P user Jammie Thomas-Rasset was monetarily attacked by the RIAA and a court ruling ordered her to pay $222,000. Then, after an appeal, another judge ruled she should pay $1.92 million and then after another appeal, $1.5 million. After the second verdict, the judge did say that all of those numbers are absolutely ridiculous and then decided that $54,000 is the maximum he could allow.

Well, clearly it appears that the jurors didn't catch that memo and because of all the confusion and crazy numbers, defendant Jammie Thomas-Rasset feels that she has suffered enough by spending her time in court and thinks she should owe absolutely nothing. Her lawyers have motioned for the judge to minimize the damage owed to zero dollars and zero cents.

For more on this crazy story, five years in the making, hit the break.

I guess they just couldn't wait for CES 2011. LG this week announced the Optimus 2X, the world's first phone powered by a dual-core processor. What proc is powering this new powerhouse? The Nvidia Tegra 2, of course, running at 1GHz (times two, of course).

In benchmarks, the device obviously overpowered devices like the Nexus One, Motorola Droid X and HTC Evo (currently the three fastest handsets running Android 2.2). Not surprising, given its dual-core wonderfulness. You can see the benchmarks on the right.

What other traits does this phone have and will it be worth it? Hit the break to find out.

Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony have planted multimedia Trojan horses in our living rooms in the form of videogame consoles. Until recently, these devices have been mainly used for gaming, but the winds are changing in video's favor.

Nielsen released some statistics recently that show video usage on the consoles is definitely on the rise. 20% of all time spent on a Wii is spent with streaming video, mostly Netflix. Xbox users spend 10% and PS3 users spend 9% of their overall time streaming video. Some of these numbers are surprising and some not so much.

To see which is which, hit the break.