In short

A roundup of today's other stories in brief.

Teething problems trouble PS3

Sony said its new video game console, the PlayStation 3, does not run about 200 PlayStation and PlayStation 2 software titles properly, the latest problem the electronics maker has run into in its cash-cow game business.

The PS3, which Sony calls its most important strategic product of the year, went on sale in Japan last Saturday, setting the stage for a three-way showdown with Microsoft's already available Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii.

Sony said audio features did not work on some software titles when played on the PS3, while some other titles did not work on the latest machine at all.

Industry specialists say the glitches appear to be the kind of hiccups that often plague console launches and are not likely to have a lasting impact on the PS3 business. - (Reuters)

Microsoft issues security patches

Microsoft has issued five "critical" security patches to fix flaws in its software that the company warned could allow attackers to take control of a user's computer.

Microsoft, whose Windows operating system runs on 90 per cent of the world's computers, issued the patches as part of its monthly security bulletin.

The world's biggest software maker defines a flaw as "critical" when the vulnerability could allow a damaging internet worm to replicate without the user doing anything to the machine.

The company said four of the "critical" patches fixed holes in its Windows operating system. The other "critical" patch targeted Microsoft's XML Core Services package. - (Reuters)

US video game sales fall flat

US video game sales were roughly flat in October, rising less than 1 per cent from a year ago to $369 million (€288 million), as the industry enters the all-important holiday season, market research group NPD said yesterday.

Video game sales had posted surprise gains in recent months, bucking expectations that sales would be off due to the industry's move to new console technology. - (Reuters)

Samsung expects strong chip sales

Samsung Electronics has forecast "very strong" demand for computer memory chips for the first quarter of 2007, thanks to the much-awaited January launch of Microsoft's new Vista operating system.

Chu Woo-Sik, senior vice-president of investor relations, said Samsung would sell more mobile phones in January to March than in the current quarter, and its LCD business was performing better than expected in the current quarter.

For 2007, Chu said the company expected to beat global handset sales growth, which it projected at 10 per cent. - (Reuters)

Infineon forecasts weak quarter

German chipmaker Infineon said yesterday it expected declining sales and earnings this quarter after a dull fourth quarter, as it takes time to recover from the bankruptcy of a major customer and general weakness in the US automotive market.

But the company signalled it had won a major new customer for its telecoms chips that would start to make up for some of the business lost from BenQ Mobile this year. - (Reuters)