Square Enix have announced that the expected start of the Beta phase for their RPG game Final Fantasy XIV has been delayed.

On their Final Fantasy XIV Beta page, the developer has stated that the Beta phase which was due to start at 1100 on the 1st September in Japan, 1900 (PDT) on the 31st of August in the US and 0200 (GMT) on September 1st in the UK has been postponed until further notice due to bugs that have been found in the upcoming game.

The notice above has been posted by Final Fantasy developers Square Enix (time and date differs on the notice for each region, this is the notice for UK users – click for full size image) on their Beta Test Application page.

The entry to the Beta application page can be found here.

UK carrier O2 have apparently confirmed the much circulated rumour that the Dell Streak handset will recieve the anticipated Android 2.1 update tomorrow on the network.

O2 previously announced that release of the update would be early September and Engadget have confirmed with O2 who have now said that the update is to be rolled out on the 1st or 2nd of September which is obviously great news for Dell Streak owners.

There is still no news on a date for the release of Froyo (2.2 version of Google Android OS) but, at lease Eclair (2.1) is on it’s way at last, for UK owners at least.

While Orange may have missed the opportunity to be the exclusive retailer for the Xperia X10 Mini Pro in white (available on Three),  like they are for the full size X10, they haven’t missed the chance with the Apple iPhone 4. Orange have secured the exclusive rights to sell the white model of Apple’s latest iPhone.

The white iPhone 4 was supposed to be released a couple of months back but, Apple delayed the release of the white model in the UK due to the reception issues and some handsets also experienced yellow tinges on the screen.After this, it was discovered that the white model, would not be released until the end of the year but, hopefully we should see it before then. Orange haven’t given out much information and have only commented with “later this year”. There may be only a four months left of this year but, later this year, certainly sounds more promising then at the end of the year.

The Xperia X10 finally arrived on US shores last Sunday with AT&T. You can purchase the handset direct from AT&T, where the handset will cost $149.99, plus a two year contract. Where as if you took the X10 from SonyStyle, the phone would still be on AT&T but, cost $20 less and come with an 8GB MicroSD card. However on the SonyStyle website, the handset was listed as featuring a 4 inch multi touch screen. The multi touch feature has been highly discussed, for it to be finally disclosed that the X10 did not feature a screen capable of multi touch.

With the listing on SonyStyle, it had many wondering whether the X10 did in fact feature it, or whether Sony were misleading customers. It seems to be the latter, or maybe just an error on their part. Either way, the website now stands corrected and has removed the multi touch reference. It did however take them a week and a few emails from various sites across the web questioning this before action was taken.

In a deal worth a whopping $7.68bn (£5bn), leading  processor manufacturer Intel have agreed to purchase security software specialists McAfee.

Intel intend using the McAfee side of their future business to create built-in security features, not only in the chips they create for PC’s and servers but, also for the micro processors it makes for items such as mobile (cell) phones and portable computers. Intel are said to have paid 60% more per share than each share was valued at market price to take over McAfee. The market price then rose dramatically once the takeover was announced to around 58% above what it was, almost matching the amount that Intel are set to pay for McAfee.

Intel president Paul Otellini said the deal “elevates focus on security on par with energy-efficient performance and connectivity”.

Source: Press Release from Intel

We recently saw what appeared to be the HTC Desire HD, which has also been named the HTC Ace. While there’s been no official announcement from HTC about the device, it hasn’t stopped one online retailer from putting up a product page for the handset.

The handset appears on Amazon.co.uk with no photo and no specifications. However Amazon appear to be the shippers of the handset rather than a third party. They list the release date as October 1st. They also have a retail price of £415. If the handset does exist, based on the leak specs, a price point of £415 would be really great, as currently the HTC Desire can be picked up for £399.99 in the UK and I’m sure many would rather pay the £15 extra, to get the higher specced device.  Officially we should find out September 15th from the HTC press event if the handset exists.

Source

I recently got hold of the Sony Walkman E series. The model I acquired was the NWZ-E443 4GB in red. The E443 Walkman features:

• 4GB Capacity
• Playback your MP3 music, video and photo collections
• Clear Audio Technologies work together to create a purer sound
• Dynamic Normaliser balances the volume level between songs
• Up to 30 hours music battery life, and 6 hours video
• FM radio for even more listening choice with 30 station presets
• Playback multiple file formats for both audio and video.
• Supports:
• MP3, AAC WMA (DRM) and L-PCM for music, and H264/AVC, MP4, WMV (DRM) for video
• Ultra bright 2.0″ QVGA LCD screen
• Videos can be watched in widescreen format
• 30 frames per second video playback for outstanding clarity
• 4GB storage holds around 1,000 (at 128kbps) music tracks
• Approx 15 hours video (at 384kbps)
• Drag and drop with Windows explorer,
• 5 band equaliser with preset (Heavy/Pop/Jazz/Unique) and customisable options
• Supplied headphones (MDR-E804Y) deliver improved sound quality
• WM-PORT to easily connect your Walkman to optional accessories

As well as being available in red, you can also pick the E443 up in black. Both color versions also come in an 8GB variant. The 4GB model, on average retails for £60 in the UK. Click the read more link to view the gallery of the unboxing pictures.

A few days back, we told you of the competition that the News of the World was holding. In the competition, you could win you had the chance to win the white Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro, which is an exclusive to Three in the UK. Along with the Mini Android 1.6 handset, the winner would also receive a Marc by Marc Jabobs watch, Ray-Ban sunglasses and an Aspinal of London bag. The competition with the News of the World ends tomorrow.

Vogue are also holding the same competition. The prize is the same, you receive the white X10 Mini Pro, along with the extra goodies in white. The competition with Vogue however, ends September 2nd, giving you even longer to enter and getting friends and family to enter. The question for the competition is however different: “Which young designer has been named as the winner of the British Fashion Council’s MA Scholarship?” There are three options to choose from, Jo Crisp, Peter Crisp or Thomas Crisp. Fortunately, if you don’t know the answer, Vogue have a “clue” page, who tells you who the winner was.