Two-deal Tuesday: A 42-inch HDTV and a dirt-cheap first-person shooter (PC)

It's Tuesday, right? That means it's the perfect day to indulge my love of alliteration and toss out a twofer. Also, I couldn't decide which of these two items was the "winning" deal, so I'm giving them equal time.

First up: TV deals seem to be on the rise these days--meaning prices are falling. Today only, Dell has the Sharp LC42SB48UT 42-inch LCD HDTV for $444.99 shipped (plus sales tax in some states).

The Sharp LC-42SB48UT offers 42 inches of LCD goodness for just $445.

That's a crazy-good price on a 42-inch TV, especially when you consider that the average 32-incher still sells for around $400.

The LC42SB48UT (Sharp has the sexiest product names, no?) may be last year's model, but it still delivers where it counts. The panel has 1080p resolution, four HDMI ports, two component-video inputs, and a VGA input in case you want to pair it with your media center (though HDMI is definitely better for that).

CNET hasn't reviewed it, but the handful of user reviews at Dell are overwhelmingly positive.

Fight the Taliban in EA's gritty Medal of Honor, on sale for just $7.50.

(Credit: EA)

Next, want to indulge your itchy trigger finger? Today only, the IGN PC Store has Medal of Honor (PC) for just $7.50, a huge savings (it regularly sells for $30). As you've probably guessed, this is the download version.

Update: Sigh. Looks like the deal ended already. I'm getting really sick of vendors not listing the expiration dates/times for these offers. All that does is tick people off (myself included).

Though not as widely praised as Call of Duty: Black Ops, which debuted around the same time last fall, Medal of Honor offers blistering first-person (and multiplayer) action set in Afghanistan. GameSpot's review has all the details.

That's a smokin' deal on a game that's barely a few months old, and you can bet I'll be firing up my download right after I finish firing off this post. Game on!

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13845_3-20045865-58.html#ixzz1HaAayeQY

iPhone 5 rumors again claim NFC, A5, big screen

Another day, another iPhone 5 rumor. This time it comes from the China Times (translated), which is claiming that a prototype of Apple's next iPhone is already in the trial stages of production and will be packing a slightly larger screen, a Near Field Communications (NFC) chip, an A5 processor, and a tweaked antenna design that will combat attenuation when it arrives later this year.

The news, which was picked up by GadgetsDNA, comes following months of on-again, off-again news that Apple is exploring NFC in its products, with a larger goal of building out a payment network that will let consumers use their phones to pay for purchases at retail locations. Competitors like Google have already begun supporting NFC in the Android OS, with hardware makers like Samsung and Nokia having shipped NFC-enabled devices. Meanwhile, the payment tools that will find a place at retailers are being readied.

Guesses that Apple intended to drop an A5 processor into the next iPhone began almost as soon as the chip was introduced with the unveiling of the iPad 2 at the beginning of this month. Shortly following the release of iOS 4.3, crafty code sniffers were also able to find mentions of the processor as part of the build for a yet-to-be-announced device in the iPhone family.

This is also not the first time there have been murmurs about a new antenna design. Readers might remember the iPhone 4 antenna became the center of attention shortly following the phone's release, after a number of tests confirmed that signal strength could be affected by gripping the phone. Apple responded by holding an event to share data about the issue and demos of it happening to other smartphones, as well as to announce a program that would provide iPhone 4 buyers with a free case, or a return of the device. The company then made slight tweaks to the exterior, wraparound antenna between the GSM and CDMA versions of the iPhone; expectations remain that the design for the next iPhone will continue that trend.

As for the larger screen, the China Times report builds on a story in Digitimes from mid-February claiming that the iPhone 5 would sport a 4-inch screen, adding a half inch to the existing 3.5-inch display that has remained constant throughout all four generations of the iPhone. The validity of this rumor was further strengthened a few weeks later, with a purported 4-inch screen part showing up on a Chinese reseller's Apple parts site.

Along with the iPhone 5 rumors, the China Times also adds that Foxconn parent company Hon Hai Precision Industry plans to expand its operations into Sao Paulo, Brazil, specifically for the creation of products for Apple. That facility is said to be opening in 2013. The closer proximity to the U.S. could make for a significant change in shipping of products to the States and South American countries, as well as help keep up with some of the demand for products like the iPad 2, for which Apple now lists a lead time of 4 to 5 weeks for new orders.

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-20045918-37.html#ixzz1HaA10uPX

Firefox 4 doubles IE9's 24-hour download tally

Firefox may be under fire from Microsoft's newly competitive browser, but with more than twice the downloads in its first day, Firefox 4 today soared over its rival by one measurement.

Microsoft, not without reason, boasted that IE9 was downloaded 2.35 million times in the first 24 hours after its release last week. And that is indeed a big number, especially for a browser that tech enthusiasts had scoffed at for years.

But less than 24 hours after its own launch, Firefox 4 cleared 4.7 million, according to the Mozilla Glow site that logs downloads.

That's a lot less than the 8 million copies of Firefox 3 downloaded in that version's 24-hour debut in 2008, but that event was a heavily promoted "Download Day," and it should be noted that Firefox 4's full day hasn't finished yet.

And it does signal that at least a very sizable chunk of the Net-connected population is, in Firefox's apt phrase, choosing to "upgrade the Web." New browsers bring new Web standards, new performance, and often a new auto-update ethos that likely will lead to browsers staying continuously updated. That could simplify lives for Web developers who constantly wrangle with the difficulties of supporting old browsers.

Firefox 4 brings a raft of new features--new security and privacy options, faster loading and JavaScript, support for a variety of new standards including WebM video and WebGL 3D graphics, and 3D acceleration that extends even to Windows XP.

Mozilla expects that its arrival will lead to an increase in usage. The browser maker said it has 400 million Firefox users and counting, but as a percentage of worldwide browser use it has lost share to Chrome, which now accounts for more than 10 percent of usage worldwide.

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20046114-264.html#ixzz1Ha9kxllr

Google begins testing Google Music internally

Welcoming Google to the party: At the 2009 Vevo launch party, Google CEO Eric Schmidt (center) visited with Doug Morris (left), the then CEO of Universal Music, and Rolf Schmidt-Holtz, former CEO of Sony Music.

(Credit: Greg Sandoval/CNET)

Google has begun testing Google Music internally, a sign that the much anticipated service is nearly ready to launch.

Employees at the online behemoth have begun a process commonly referred to in Silicon Valley as dog-fooding, in which employees try out a new service or product, music industry sources told CNET.

Two weeks ago someone writing at the XDA Developers forum claimed to have accidentally discovered Google Music after installing the Honeycomb version of the Android operating system on a phone. Turns out, that was indeed a working version of the service, the music industry insiders said, adding, however, that the final version could be much different.

Google did not respond to an inquiry from CNET about Google Music.

Technologically speaking, then, Google Music--a streaming service users would access from Web-connected devices--appears close to being ready. However, the sources said the actual launch is being held up by the lack of one vital component. Music.

Google managers told counterparts at the top four record companies last year that they hoped everything would be in place for a launch by late 2010, sources said. More recently, Google tentatively planned to demonstrate the service earlier this month at the South by Southwest conference.

Negotiations with at least some of the top publishers and with the four largest record labels are ongoing, according to sources. The delays are largely due to the complexity of the subject matter. Google is after cloud music rights and not just for songs acquired from Google Music.

Related links
• Study: Streaming music use to explode in five years
• Sony's Qriocity aims to put Connect, iTunes behind
• 'Steve Jobs once nixed my music-subscription pitch'
• Spotify hits 1 million subscribers; U.S. still out

CNET and others have reported that Google is negotiating for the right to store users' existing music libraries on the company's servers, the sources said. According to a report in Bloomberg this month, the labels are in similar discussions with Apple about cloud music, or music stored on third-party servers rather than on one's personal computer or other device.

Licensing rights for digital lockers of this sort is largely uncharted territory for the labels. There are no templates for these kinds of deals lying around and the record companies want to move cautiously as they assess Apple's and Google's plans.

What's certain is the labels want Google to join the digital-music fray. The possibility that an iTunes competitor of Google's caliber will soon hit the scene has music industry executives giddy.

The past year, digital music has stagnated. All the sector's excitement and promise seemed to seep out starting two years ago when the second wave of iTunes challengers began to disappear.

Imeem, Lala, SpiralFrog, Ruckus, Project Playlist, MySpace Music, Zune--they followed AOL Music, Urge, and Yahoo Music into oblivion or irrelevancy. They all took their whacks at the fearsome combination of Apple's software, hardware, and music store, and all lost. It remains to be seen what will come of Sony's new Qriocity streaming-music service.

Against such a force as iTunes, it can't hurt to have a challenger come in that's of equal size. Google is one of the most powerful advertising companies of all time and has a history of providing consumers access to sought-after and cheap content. Unlike many past so-called iTunes killers, Google can also combine a digital-music service with popular hardware (Android-powered phones).

Let's also not forget that Google has already seen some success in digital music. YouTube's music videos, which are ad supported and free to viewers, have become a popular way to discover new songs.

It's anybody's guess as to when Google Music might finally launch. Unveiling it could make for a nice opening act for incoming CEO Larry Page, who takes over in April. Otherwise, I'm guessing we might see the service in May, at the company's I/O conference.

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20046917-261.html#ixzz1Ha9Qbla9