Some people describe the Xbox 360 as a watered down version of the PlayStation 3. Those people are more right than they imagined. A new book reveals that the Xbox 360's tech was built around the technology of the PS3's Cell processor.

In life, it helps to have someone who can hold you accountable for your actions. In the case of electronics companies, it seems that Greenpeace is their accountability partner. The organization has recently released the current company rankings in its Greener Electronics Scale. To find out how certain companies fared, get "green-minded" and turn to the full article after the jump.

Remember amBX, Philips' ambient immersion technology for consoles, new entertainment sets, and PCs? Well it seems that the new immersive technology's about to gain support on Ubisoft's soon-to-be released titles: Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway and Far Cry 2. This is following an "alliance" that Philips announced recently over press wire. More at the full story.

Team modfreakz made waves yesterday after it showed evidence on how an Xbox 360 can run on a consumer SATA DVD drive with the original BenQ firmware. Now this discovery was first claimed a month ago, which was preceded by another mod using a Hitachi drive, but it was the second video released yesterday that presented proof that Microsoft's Xbox 360 console would run backup games and not compromise Xbox Live access.

Team modfreakz used a Philips DVD drive, a product available for PC users, and utilized the actual firmware from a retail Xbox 360 DVD drive - the BenQ VAD6038. So it's basically a Philips drive running on retail Xbox 360 firmware. Take note that this feat requires no actual modification to the game console, allowing the machine to log in to Xbox Live. Need to see to believe? Watch the video below. 

Much had been said about the ongoing format war between HD DVD and Blu-ray. For one thing, it has caught the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in the crossfire. Depending on what format you prefer though, all of this is going to be over soon, according Blu-ray Disc Association Chairman Frank Simonis.

"Due to the fact that we have some hard competition which sometimes makes strange moves, it's very unpredictable," said Simonis. "But I think in the next 18 months it will be very exciting to see what's going on"

Simonis, who is also Philips' Senior Director for Communications, further mentioned that consumers will be deciding soon because of all the new products coming into the market. Apart from the format war, there will also a battle between different brands for both the Blu-ray and HD DVD that will further cost "price erosion".

Definitely a good observation from Simonis part but in the end, he couldn't help but somewhat sell his company's preferred one. He commented:

We don't like to oversell ourselves, but we right now see that there is a major transition taking place from publishers who said they would initially go only for HD DVD and now make the move across the Blu-ray. [This is] based on the sales numbers of software happening in the Far East, US and also now in Europe.

Philips is continuing its bid to form close relationships with the videogame industry. The company has just signed a three-year deal with the World Cyber Games that will see the integration of Philips' immersive amBX gaming peripherals into gaming tourneys as well as the birth of a new competition: the WCG Philips amBX Cup Challenge.

The announcement was made by Michael Arzt, senior vice president and general manager of WCG organizer International Cyber Marketing USA. According to Arzt, as an "Official Global Partner," Philips' exclusive hardware sponsorship designates Philips amBX accessories as the official Ambient Gaming Environment Systems at select WCG events.

"Working with the World Cyber Games is a great opportunity for Philips to showcase the power of amBX and further immerse gamers into the competition," said Engelbert van Pelt, the general manager of peripheral accessories of Philips Electronics.

"Both Philips' and the World Cyber Games' goal is to create an amazing experience for the gamers. We believe the amBX peripherals and the amBX Cup adds a new level of immersive playing never before experienced in the World Cyber Game events."

This year's World Cyber Games will be held on October 4 through 7 in Seattle. Epic Games' hit TPS Gears of War will be one of the many games where gamers will compete in.

 

Well, it's pretty simple. And you don't have to void your warranty by opening your console unit. All you have to do is to eject the DVD tray and compare it with the picture above, as provided by the folks at Xbox Scene. Generally, the BenQ VAD6038 is known to be remarkably quieter when reading.

The VAD6038 comes also from Liteon and Philips. But since the Philips version is a developer-exclusive drive, you won't find it in the picture. Of course, even without opening anything, you can always tell if the DVD drive that comes with your unit is quiet. Newer Xbox 360 units are released with the BenQ drive, since they are the current OEM holders for the 360 drives, after the Liteon-Philips team up.

Who among you got a new Xbox 360 as a present last Christmas? Were you able to compare it with older Xbox 360 models? We are asking because, allegedly, Microsoft has finally began using the new BenQ VAD6038 drive for consoles manufactured beginning November 2006 and up.

One reader from online site Xbox-Scene, XBOXIZGOOD, mentioned that he got an X360 with this new hard drive installed inside. Compared to the Toshiba-Samsung and the Hitachi-LG drives, the reader reported that the BenQ one runs quietly and seems to load a bit faster and smoother.

It would be remembered that back in May of last year, X360 dev kits were found sporting a similar drive. Now, the BenQ drive was based on that model. It was also reported that the new retail models of Xbox 360 will have a new BenQ-Lite On-Philips' drive after the three merged their optical disc drives (ODD) portfolio.

And lastly, just in case you are wondering, reports say that there is no modified firmware for this drive yet.

We can probably live with the occasional advertisement inside a game, but that probably depends on the content and type of ad involved. We were rather surprised then when we found out this little tidbit about Ubisoft's Splinter Cell: Double Agent for the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii.

Nivea and its partner company Philips Norelco will be integrated into the game as advertisements and game-sensitive product placements. The report states the marketing program will show off certain products inside a hotel bathroom in the game, as well as through billboards placed on the game maps. We're pretty sure they're planning to use their men's line for this game, but you never know with these ad agencies.

In an interesting twist, the taglines they'll be using inside the game will coincide with the themes of the game. The messages for their ads will include the taglines, "There are many faces of evil. Don't let yours be one of them," and "The 'Good Guy' almost never has a beard." According to RDA International, the agency handling Beiersdorf's (parent company of Nivea and Philips Norelco) ad campaign, says this approach is meant to introduce the product lines of both companies to a "younger, hipper" audience.

In the spirit of this, we've devised our own little advertisement for the Nivea based on the approach. The tagline will read, "For a wonderfully touchable you... before Sam snaps your neck from behind." Got a tagline? Comment below, and enjoy the hilarity.

Pre-Order: [Splinter Cell: Double Agent]

Yet another brand and model of DVD-ROM drives has been found in the Xbox 360: a Philips VAD6037/21. It looks like the firmware hackers are going to have to find yet another hack for this new DVD drive. The first picture is the new Philip;s drive all by itself. The second picture has all three drives from left to right: Philips VAD6037/21, Hitachi-LG GDR-3120L and Toshiba-Samsung TS-H943. Recently the famous Commodore4eva released firmware hacks for the two previous drives, and hopefully he'll be able to get his hands on the new Philips drive and have a crack at yet another obstacle.