Heroes Season 4 Promo Poster

Sony Alpha 850 leaked

This photo of what is presumably the upcoming Sony α850 DSLR was spotted by Photo Rumors on an unnamed retail site. It looks exactly the same as the α900, but doesn't really seem off on layout compared to the leaked α850 manual. The scary part is that the camera is listed for 1,999 Euro (about $2,833 US), so hopefully Sony is doing something a bit more wonderful under the hood than just those α900 downgrades that have been hinted at so far.

PS3 price cuts appear in print, must be real (update: 'new exciting Playstation 3')

As the story goes, a Kotaku reader just received these PS3 posters (now posted after the break) into the FYE shop where he works. You'll notice that the "new low price" is augmented with a "while supplies last" disclaimer indicating what could be a close-out on the 80GB (soon $300, reduced from $400) and 160GB ($400, reduced from $500) PlayStation 3 models. More evidence, perhaps, that a PS3 Slim announcement is imminent -- even as soon as today's Sony presser at the Cologne Gamescon Expo that kicks off at 12 noon ET or 1800 for those of you on Central Europe time.

Elite 360 No Longer Ships With HD Cables

One of the things I appreciated most about my Xbox 360 Elite was that it shipped with an HDMI cable in the box, letting me get the most out of my system's visuals without the need for further expense.

Thing is, I got my Elite years ago. If you plan on picking one up in the future, you won't be so lucky, as several GameStop employees have told us new models of the hardware hitting stores across the US (new box pictured) no longer ship with a HDMI cable. In fact, they don't even ship with component cables either, just some SD composite cables, meaning anyone with an HDTV is going to have to pay a little extra. An HD tax, if you will.

Forza Motorsport 3 Pre-Order Car and Collector's Edition Details

By Andrew Shin

It's no question that one of the Xbox 360's major exclusives for 2009 will be Forza Motorsport 3. The Forza series has always been a favourite amongst racing game fans and this latest installment looks to continue in this tradition.

Today new details were announced regarding a pre-order car and the Limited Collector's Edition version of the game.

If you pre-order the game, you will receive a custom painted Audi R8 V10. In fact, this is a special custom painted car from Forza community member Justin Van Dusen II. Justin's design was selected as the best car design by community members with approx. 300,000 votes.

Kate Beckinsale might be in Gears of War movie

During Epic Games’ Gears of War Panel at Comic-Con 2009 in San Diego California, the director, Len Wiseman, and writer, Chris Morgan, of the upcoming film adaptation shared some details with fans about potential casting selections for the movie.

According to IGN, amongst the prospects to play Maria, the wife of one of the game’s protagonists, Dominic Santiago, Len Wiseman said he was interested in British actress Kate Beckinsale.

“If I can convince [Kate Beckinsale]—and I think I have a shot—I’d love to see that,” said Wiseman. He is also currently married to Beckinsale. Minor detail, that.

Though best known for her more dramatic roles in films like The Aviator and Pearl Harbor, Beckinsale is no stranger to making action flicks either. She starred in 2003 action movie Underworld as a sultry, leather clad vampire, and co-starred opposite Hugh Jackman in 2004’s Van Helsing.

However, contrary to Internet rumors that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson would be starring in a Gears of War movie, Wiseman was quick to announce they were currently not pursuing the former WWE wrestler.

“A Doom connection would not be smart for us,” said Wiseman, referring to the 2005 film adaptation of the classic PC shooter franchise which was a box office flop. The Doom movie starred recognizable actors like Johnson and Karl Urban, but was scorned by critics and currently holds a Rotten Tomatoes rating of only 20%.

Toshiba applies for BDA admission, Blu-ray players and laptops coming soon

We'd already heard that Toshiba -- the outfit best known for solidly backing HD DVD during the two-year format war of the early 21st century -- was preparing to swallow its pride and kick out a Blu-ray player by the year's end, but now it's official. The outfit just announced moments ago that it has "applied for membership of the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) and plans to introduce products that support the Blu-ray format." Sadly, Tosh doesn't bother to mention exactly what kinds of BD-capable wares it hopes to produce, nor is it ready to disclose product launch time frames.

HP workstations and ProLiant blade servers put to work on the DreamWorks Animation film.

Audiences will experience monsters that move like liquid, whose arms and mouths disappear, and whose bodies are transparent in “Monsters vs. Aliens.” The characters exist in part because of the power of HP workstations, HP ProLiant blade servers and other HP technology that enabled the increased demands of a new generation of 3D filmmaking.

HP technology aided DreamWorks Animation in using the largest number of moving cameras on any of its films to date. The company was able to take creative elements in “Monsters vs. Aliens” to new levels by using several hundred HP xw8600 Workstations plus the largest and most powerful “render farm” of HP ProLiant blade servers ever used by DreamWorks Animation.

“For us, this 3D revolution is about immersing the audience into the movie,” says Ed Leonard, chief technology officer, DreamWorks Animation. “HP’s unique ability to deliver advanced technical tools that help to eliminate creative limitations has allowed us to dive headfirst into the exciting storytelling capabilities of stereoscopic 3-D.”

Infiniti M performance luxury sedan teaser released

Nissan's premium division Infiniti will be unveiling its next generation M saloon at the 59th Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance later this month. This will be the third iteration of the M but the first slated to make it to European dealerships, placed above the G37 in the product lineup.

The M saloon hybrid comes with a 3.7 liter V6 petrol/gasoline engine coupled to a compact electric motor juiced by lithium-ion batteries. Infiniti has aleady put that technology on display in Europe at the Geneva motor show back in March.

Selling a luxury hybrid in Europe poses several problems for premium automakers, who are also offering ever-increasingly efficient diesels in their models. The problem becomes which to promote, the diesel or the hybrid, in a way that one doesn't completely eclipse the other.

Schumacher warms up for F1 return in karts

Michael Schumacher continued preparing for his return to Formula One with a second day of kart racing in northern Italy Thursday.

"We had two very good karting days," the seven times world champion said on his website (www.michael-schumacher.de). "Arms, upper body, shoulders, neck -- an excellent practice indeed."

The 40-year-old German is coming out of retirement to fill in at Ferrari while Brazilian Felipe Massa recovers from injuries sustained in a nasty accident in qualifying at last month's Hungarian Grand Prix.

Schumacher is not allowed to use Ferrari's F60 car before the European Grand Prix in Valencia on August 23 beause the sport's regulations ban track testing during the season.