"A recent Kotaku post cites "one reliable industry source" to suggest that the still-unannounced successor to Microsoft's Xbox 360 will somehow prevent used games from being played on the system. The idea remains an unconfirmed rumor, of course, but it's something that members of the game industry have floated repeatedly in the past. It's also a move that would likely find hefty support from publishers looking for a way to stop what they see as erosion of their profits thanks to used games (the reality is a bit more complicated than that, but we won't rehash that old argument here).

"LG has become the latest in a long line of Android handset vendors to sign a patent licensing agreement with Microsoft. The agreement allows the South Korean conglomerate to use Microsoft patented technology in phones, tablets, and other consumer electronics running both Android and Chrome OS.

"For thousands of customers of Subway restaurants around the US over the past few years, paying for their $5 footlong sub was a ticket to having their credit card data stolen. In a scheme dating back at least to 2008, a band of Romanian hackers is alleged to have stolen payment card data from the point-of-sale (POS) systems of hundreds of small businesses, including more than 150 Subway restaurant franchises and at least 50 other small retailers.

"Microsoft has announced that starting in January 2012 Internet Explorer will, like Chrome, Firefox and Opera, no longer pester you with update notices. Instead Internet Explorer will automatically download and install updates in the background..."

"A month after releasing a temporary workaround to block malware exploiting a Windows kernel vulnerability, Microsoft today issued a patch for all supported releases of Windows aimed at putting an end to attacks based on the Duqu worm."

"Intel and Micron's joint venture IMFT has announced that it has produced a 128Gb die. A package combining eight such dies together would be small enough to fit on a fingertip and boast an unprecedented 128GB capacity. Mass production will start in the first half of next year, and devices using the new dies are likely to start shipping in 2013..."

"Apple may have considered AMD's Fusion platform for the MacBook Air before settling on Intel. Aside from production issues with limited available quantities, there are important performance reasons for Apple to keep using Intel processors..."

"The widespread flooding in Thailand that disrupted operations at hard disk drive factories will lead to significantly declining PC shipments, say market analysts. Thailand accounted for 40 to 45 percent of worldwide HDD production in the first half of 2011, but flooding has impacted more than a dozen factories, according to IDC..."

"Last week's Battlefield 3 launch had its high and low points, with sky-high consumer interest, but stability issues plaguing many players. EA has announced that the game has sold an estimated 5 million copies worldwide in its first week of availability. That's a big success by any metric, although we're curious about the split in sales between the console and PC versions of the game."

"The Battlefield series isn't just another war game franchise that's trying to compete with the first-person shooter Call of Duty; it's a series that offers an experience that's utterly distinct from Activision's testosterone-drenched celebration of war. The multiplayer in Battlefield places an emphasis on teamwork, communication, and vehicles, and this combination has appealed to those who don't care for the alpha-male play of Call of Duty.