Weird News: Chinese prisoners forced to produce virtual gold, real profits for their guards

The virtual goods economy of massively multiplayer online games may be thriving, but it's also stimulating an undesirable side-effect: exploitation. A former detainee at a prison in Heilongjiang province, China, has told the Guardian about how he was habitually forced into playing MMOs like World of Warcraft for the collection of loot, which the prison guards would then resell online for as much as ¥6,000 ($924) per day. Such totals would be the product of up to 300 inmates working 12-hour daily shifts, though predictably they saw none of the profits themselves. The unnamed source was at a "re-education through labor" camp where the usual toil would involve actual, rather than virtual, mining. The profitability of the online market has seemingly inspired prison bosses to move with the times, however, with business being so brisk that the computers "were never turned off." A Chinese government edict from 2009 is supposed to have introduced a requirement that online currencies only be traded by licensed entities, but it's believed that the practice of using prisoners in this fashion continues unabated.

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Hasselblad's 200 megapixel H4D-200MS camera now shipping, breaks your bank

Hasselblad's H4D-200MS is yet another upgrade to its H4D camera line that we want badly, but wouldn't have a need -- or a budget -- for. This latest piece of kit is nearly identical to the 50 megapixel H4D-50MS externally, but internally adds an astonishing 150 more megapixels to the mix -- yes, that's an astounding 200 megapixels! Don't feel forgotten just yet if you have the older model, though, as Hasselblad can upgrade your sensor for €7,000 (roughly $10,000) -- a great deal considering the full kit costs €32,000 (about $45,000). With that said, we should note that details are null on the medium-format sensor's native resolution -- similar to the multi-shot feature on the 50MS, the new 200MS combines six shots to create ridiculously detailed 200 megapixel still images, and it handles less intensive photos with a four-shot 50 megapixel still mode. Should you dare to venture outside the studio, there's a 50 megapixel single-shot live mode for quick shots as well. Excuse us while we wrap our heads around the sheer number of pixels; you'll find more info after the break in the meantime.

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Symbian News Update: Nokia ORO visits the FCC, on its way to a US release (www.drmobiles.co.nz)

It's been a busy week for Nokia's latest creation - the ORO. First, the fancy dressed smartphone got officially announced, then it appeared in an interview as Nokia CEO's phone of choice. It also paid a visit to FCC to get tested and approved for usage in the United States.

This occurrence seems more than logical, since the ORO, like its mortal cousin, the Nokia C7, sports a penta-band 3G support which includes both AT&T and T-Mobile frequencies.

We don't expect the device to be offered by either of the above mentioned U.S. networks (after all, T-Mobile already sells the Nokia C7 under the Astound name), so availability directly from Nokia USA is most likely.

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Google Android News Update: HTC officially dissolves locked bootloader policy (www.drmobiles.co.nz)

The homebrew community may mourn HTC's Thunderbolt, Incredible S, Sensation and EVO 3D, but the company's controversial policy of locking bootloaders is no more. Following a tease yesterday, HTC CEO Peter Chou has decreed from on high -- namely, HTC's Facebook page -- that future devices will be open.

There has been overwhelmingly customer feedback that people want access to open bootloaders on HTC phones. I want you to know that we've listened. Today, I'm confirming we will no longer be locking the bootloaders on our devices. Thanks for your passion, support and patience.

We're holding out hope that this policy will also be retroactive, but this is very welcome news regardless. Ball's in your court, Motorola.

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Tech News Update: Next Google Nexus will be either HTC, or LG built (www.drmobiles.co.nz) "Android Repair"

The Nexus line is the true and original Google phone and we've seen two already. And now we came across a photo of a third Nexus phone in its testing stage. The phone looks HTC-made and lacks the menu/home/back/search keys. It will probably run Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest Android version.

The photo doesn't show much, except a generic phone design, but the information, given to TechHog.com is pretty juicy and intriguing. It seems a Google developer sent this in and reportedly said that the next Google phone will feature some amazing specs. It will most definitely feature the latest (yet unseen) Android version, which integrates with Honeycomb (hence the lack of additional keys under the display), has a HDPA+ and Sprint CDMA (which would mean an early or exclusive appearance at US telecom Sprint), front-facing camera and a rumored first appearance in December this year, along with Ice Cream Sandwich itself.

That's about it for specs and as for the name, it's not given yet but it may not be Nexus 3. It's still undecided. The Nexus phone line isn't a mainstream gadget on its own. It's made to carry the latest software version, in order for it to be a platform for dev testing. And in the case of the original Nexus One it had an HTC twin brother in the face of the Desire. The Nexus S had one in the Galaxy S so we're hoping this yet unannounced 3rd Nexus to have a global market brother as well.

We'll keep track of the matter and update as soon as news becomes available. Rumors so far suggest that either HTC or LG will make the phone.

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Alaska Airlines ditches paper flight manuals for iPads (www.drmobiles.co.nz)

The iPad has already gotten the go-ahead from the FAA as a replacement for paper flight charts and maps, and now Alaska Airlines has become the first major US airline to hop on board the paperless bandwagon. While it's not quite ready to ditch paper navigation charts just yet (though that is under consideration), the airline has announced that it will be replacing its traditional flight manuals with iPads, which will be loaded up with the GoodReader app and PDFs of 41 different manuals and other materials. According to the airline, that change will result in savings of about 2.4 million pieces of paper, and it says the cost of the project will be offset by fuel savings from the reduced weight, and additional savings that are expected from "fewer back and muscle injuries caused by pilots carrying flight bags," which can weigh up to 50 pounds. Let's just hope those newly lightened flight bags still have room for a charging cable.
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The Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY finally available at O2 UK, white one too! Smartphone repair by www.drmobiles.co.nz

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play generated a lot of hype for a phone with a single core CPU in the year 2011. We guess that has something to do with the PlayStation blood it has running in its veins. Now the phone is finally available from O2 UK, after several delays. And they've got an exclusive white color as well. The phone will cost you nothing on a contract and 430 quid if you want it commitment-free.

O2 has talked on the exclusive white PlayStation phone before, bragging about it, even though they had a significant delay of their 1 April release. Then there was the rumor that the Play will hit O2 shops in June, which finally turns out untrue as it's already online at the O2 store as we speak.

The Xperia Play comes with a single core 1 GHz Snapdragon processor, 512 MB RAM, 5 MP autofocus camera and a slide-out gaming pad. If you're interested in how this bad boy handles why not check out our full review?

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