Google gains legal right to use Gmail brand in Germany

Google happily announced on its blog todaythat @googlemail.com will now become @gmail.com in Germany. This marks the first time in several years that @gmail.com will be the default option for German users. Google had switched to @googlemail.com following a trademark dispute with businessman Daniel Girsch. Girsch was the owner of a German "electronic postal delivery" service named "G-mail", a company name which was short for "Girsch mail".

In 2005, when Google rolled out its Gmail service across Europe, both the United Kingdom and Germany quickly disputed its use based on trademark infringements. Faced with the proposition of having to pull Gmail from those countries, Google decided to re-label its service from Gmail to "Google Mail"  and offered U.K. and German citizens @googlemail.com addresses instead.

Eventually, Google settled with U.K. opposition but in 2007, Germans cemented their decision, preventing the company from operating in the country under its Gmail label.

Although the nature of the settlement is unknown, Google now appears to own both gmail.de and the German G-mail trademark, making it legal for the company to offer @gmail.com by default.

Existing users with @googlemail.com addresses will be able to transition to @gmail.com if they so desire. For users who do convert, their @googlemail.com email address will continue to remain active as an alias. This means if someone sends that user an email to their old @googlemail.com address, it will still arrive in their @gmail.com inbox. Additionally, users can even change back to @googlemail.com if they wish.

Star Wars: The Old Republic launches today in the U.S. and Europe

One of the most anticipated games of the year is launching today as Star Wars: The Old Republic is now available for the PC in North America and Europe. Fans of the series have been looking forward to this day since the title was originally announced by BioWare and LucasArts over three years ago.

The Old Republic is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) based in the Star Wars universe. Rumored to have a development cost of over $135 million, it could be one of the most expensive games ever made. Those who pre-ordered the title online were granted early access in waves based on pre-order date.

The game is set in the Star Wars universe 300 years after the events in Knights of the Old Republic and over 3,500 years before the plots from the films. Players can choose to side with the Galactic Republic or the Sith Empire, each with different classes of characters to choose from. There are eight different classes; four per faction, with the classes of one faction mirroring those of the other, just with different names. Each class also has two different advanced classes to select from as you advance your character through the game.

Furthermore, each class has their own starship and will be accompanied by up to seven companions based on the storyline: five default companions and two secret companions available through other measures. These companions can perform various tasks for the player including crafting, gathering and mission-related acts.

Subscription pricing has been set at $14.99 per month, $41.97 for three months or $77.94 for six months. This places it in the same price-point as WoW, Rift and Eve.

Apple's 12 Days of Christmas giveaway underway in Canada and Europe

Apple has started their 12 Days of Christmas promotion that runs from December 26 until January 6 in Canada and select parts of Europe. The app will provide users with free music, movies, books and applications each day until the promo expires.

To get things started, users are able to download a free Coldplay album that features three tunes from the band's iTunes Festival: London performance earlier this year. The tracks include Every Teardrop is a Waterfall, God Put a Smile Upon Your Face and Fix You. Accompanying the free songs are videos of each live performance, according toPocket Lint.

The fourth annual event is designed to promote the iTunes and App store, specifically targeted towards users who might have received a new iOS device for the holidays. The free service gives customers an opportunity to familiarize themselves with Apple’s purchasing model. Existing users are welcomed as well as a way for the company to thank them for their continued support.

Attempts to download from the US were unsuccessful in my testing as I was greeted with a message that said the item I requested isn’t available in the US store, but is available in the Finnish store. I tried switching stores as per the suggestion but again had no luck.

Since each offering is only available for 24 hours, Apple is allowing customers to sign up for email reminders so they don’t forget to check in each day. You can visit the iTunes Preview page to see if the app is available in your area.

Sony PlayStation Vita coming to Europe in October?

Sony has said that the PlayStation Vita will launch globally at the end of this year, and further indicated that it will arrive this fall, but still hasn't gotten any more specific. Now, a Blockbuster flier obtained by IGN suggests that the PS Vita will actually arrive on Friday October 28, 2011 in the UK.

The advertisement suggests that both Vita models will arrive in Europe after two months. It's not clear what this means for other countries, such as the US and Japan. North America will likely get the portable gaming system after Asia, if history tells us anything. Either way, everyone should be able to get it before 2011 ends.

It's very likely that Sony will have the Vita out to all before the critical 2011 holiday season. Even if it doesn't though, we know that the device is region-free, meaning can purchase a game and system from any two different regions and they will be compatible.

Sony is promising that the PS Vita will give a PS3-level experience with a quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor and a multi-core PowerVR SGX543MP4 graphics chip four times faster than the PSP's. The device will come with a 5-inch OLED screen (950 x 544 resolution), two micro-analog sticks to simulate the Dual Shock experience, front and rear facing cameras, and two-finger multitouch pad on the back of the machine. Sony is hoping the front and rear touch screens will offer new three dimension-like motion gameplay experiences never before seen on any device through "touch, grab, trace, push and pull" finger motions. A Sixaxis equivalent with a gyroscope and accelerometer is also available to let players control games by moving and tilting the system itself.

In terms of connectivity you can expect built-in 3G in addition to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, as well as GPS support. The PS Vita will come with a pre-installed app called Party, which lets you use voice chat or text chat when gaming, using other apps, or browsing the Internet. Another app, called Near, will let you share your game information with other users and add them as friends.

The Wi-Fi model will be available for 25,000 yen (including tax) in Japan, $250.00 in the US, and €250.00 in Europe, while the 3G/Wi-Fi model will be available for 30,000 yen (including tax) in Japan, $300.00 in the US and €300.00 in Europe. Exact release dates are still unknown, but if the leaks have started, it won't be long now before Sony announces the official ones.

MSI Twin Frozr II OC GTX 560 Ti l

Listed at €280,33

One of the forum users over at Xtremesystems stumbled upon an early listing of the upcoming MSI N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II OC card that will feature MSI's custom cooler and a factory overclock.

The card is currently listed at €280,33 but bear in mind that we are still talking about early listings and that the card might be cheaper in some retail/e-tail shops. It appearently works at 880MHz for the GF114 GPU. The GTX 560 Ti stock clock should be 823MHz. It comes with 1GB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 4200MHz and paired up with a 256-bit memory interface. The maximal TDP is rated at 180 Watt.

We are yet to see the reference card but it appears that the card is a great over-clocker and that most, if not all, partners will come up with custom cooled, factory overclocked GTX 560 Ti cards.