This morning Nintendo officially announced that it will be canceling several services built into the Wii effective June 28th. The apps on the chopping block are ones not featured on the Wii U, and were expected to be canceled at some point.

Wii users will no longer have access to News, Weather, Everybody Votes, Mii Contest, Digital Camera Print and Nintendo channels, as well as WiiConnect24 apps like messaging and exchanging system data.

Nintendo has yet to announce if the apps will be removed elsewhere too.

In the past 48 hours, life has been pretty stressful for those invested in the virtual currency Bitcoin. On Wednesday the Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox experienced a massive crash that led to the Bitcoin losing half of it's value. Then yesterday Mt. Gox announced a 12 hour suspension in trading to upgrade servers, and let investors calm down over the crash.

This morning we got word that before yesterday's shutdown, Mt. Gox was also attacked by hackers when it experienced a massive DDOS attack. This is the second large cyber-attack on the exchange in less than a week, which should fuel speculation about the security of investing in a yet-to-be vetted virtual currency.

Skeptics of Bitcoin will be quick to point out the fact that it will be hard to validate the new currency until the market is secure from such attacks, and measures are implemented to prevent such massive sell-offs.

LG is looking to combat rival Samsung's Galaxy S4 head on with its flagship Optimus G Pro, which features similar hardware included in the Galaxy S4. With some planned software tweaks and a "Value Pack" upgrade, the Optimus G Pro will even more closely resemble the Galaxy S4 in function.

The Value Pack will introduce a "Smart Video" feature which like Samsung's Smart Pause, will pause video when a user's eyes are not focused on the screen. Also included in the upgrade pack is the ability to pause live recording and start it again in the same video file. Users will also be able to use both the front and rear cameras to capture both a photo of the subject and the user at the same time.

Existing Optimus Pro smartphones in the Korean market will begin getting the Value Pack upgrade beginning today, with further roll-out taking place in the coming weeks.

We have been talking about Google's Motorola's Googlerola's upcoming X Phone since December, and there is news this morning that could mean we will be speculating about the new flagship all the way into August.

The X Phone has long been rumored to be the most advanced Android phone ever, and will be the first device running Google's next-gen Android 5.0 platform, dubbed Key Lime Pie. Rumors today are pointing to the X Phone being delayed until August, instead of the May, June or July time frame, as previously reported.

There is no reason given for the speculated delay, but it could have something to do with Google not being impressed with early designs, or that Android 5.0 is just not going to be ready in time. I think it could have something to do with the recent releases from Samsung and HTC, and Google / Motorola realizing that they really have to step their game up if they wish remain a big time player.

Earlier today we were invited to the GIGABYTE headquarters here in Taipei, Taiwan to get a look at the motherboard maker's brand new pride and joy. No, for once we're not talking about a new motherboard... we're talking about a new lab.

Staff at GIGABYTE had been pushing senior staff at the Taiwanese company to sign off on a new "OC Lab" for its employees to spend their days overclocking and tweaking new GIGABYTE motherboards and video cards. HiCookie, a famous Taiwanese overclocker, joined GIGABYTE some years ago now and I can indeed confirm each time I visited him, he was slowly taking over cubical by cubical, with all of his overclocking hardware and gear. He and others at the company needed such a new place to be free and overclock, till they can overclock no more.

Eventually the bosses at GIGABYTE signed off on the overclocking lab, known simply as the "OC Lab". GIGABYTE invited some local press and overclockers there earlier today, where we christened it with a couple of drinks. It will be the new home for HiCookie when he moves into the OC Lab next week - he would have been in there by now if it were not for IDF Beijing, which he just returned from.

GTVSource is reporting that ASUS will launch its first entry into the Google TV market later this month. Named the Qube, we first got a glimpse of it at CES 2013 in Las Vegas, and now four months later it is coming to market.

The Qube is essentially an Android box that features Marvell's ARMADA 1500 media SoC, which is paired up with 1GB of RAM. Only 4GB of onboard storage is included for additional app installs, but ASUS says that the Qube will come with 50GB of free cloud storage.

The device comes with a full featured remote, which includes a built-in QWERTY keyboard. Users will be able to stream their content as well as content from services like HBOGo, Crackle, Pandora, Amazon, Google Play and Netflix.

The Qube will launch in the US on the 29th of April and retail at $129. Additional markets will follow shortly after according to the report.

This morning the air is thick with sadness at EA's Montreal studio where the company has reportedly laid off most of its staff. The reports have been confirmed by EA, but no official word on how many employees were let go.

Our early findings appear to show that as many as 170 employees got the notice this morning, with once source saying that most of those affected were quality assurance and contract workers. In a statement to gaming site Joystiq, EA said that the layoffs were part of an effort to sharpen their focus on providing games for new platforms and mobile.

"These are difficult decisions to let go of good people who have made important contributions to EA, and whenever possible we retrain or relocate employees to new roles. Streamlining our operations will help ensure EA is bringing the best next-generation games to players around the world."

Nokia seems to be one of the few brands taking the time to update older mobile hardware. Microsoft's updates are sporadic at best and non-existent at worst. However, Nokia is taking care of the issue by releasing updated firmware for its popular Lumia 920, 820, and 620 devices.

The updates, said to be rolling out over the coming weeks, is already available on some users' devices. It brings various improvements, which are listed on the Lumia 920 support page:

• Improved automatic display brightness adjustment
• Fix for intermittent screen blanking during a call
• Improvements for connectivity issues in certain network conditions
• Performance and stability improvements

The 820 and 620 are also getting the improvements listed above. The 620 is also gaining the following improvements:

• Improved touch screen functions, including corrections in multi-touch actions
• Better voice quality with Bluetooth headsets that support echo/noise suppression
• Enhanced camera performance with corrected exposure when flash is used in bright light conditions
• Various improvements to system stability, performance, and usability

BlackBerry is apparently already readying an update for its BlackBerry 10 operating system used on its latest flagship devices. The new update is said to be in the works for release by the end of the month and will bring with it numerous improvements.

According to the leak, BlackBerry 10 users can expect numerous improvements for just the camera. BB10.1 is said to feature a faster camera and HDR support. BB10.1 will also be getting UI and keyboard tweaks to help BlackBerry users adjust to the on-screen keyboard. The full list of improvements is below:

• Mnemonic Phone Dialing
• BlackBerry Mobile Voice System Support
• Keyboard Shortcuts
• BlackBerry Balance
• Word Prediction
• Type N Go
• Corporate Liable Feature
• Cross Domain Email Warnings
• Dark Theme Support
• Out-of-Box-Experience
• Smartcard Support

A warning to all of our readers in Brazil: If your system is powered by Microsoft's 32-bit version of Windows 7, you should disable automatic Windows Updates. Patch number KB2823324 will cause 32-bit Windows 7 systems in Brazil to enter an infinite reboot loop, something most would like to avoid.

Oddly enough, the problem only presents itself in Brazil: "The problem is isolated to Brazil and we are working on a solution," Microsoft said.

To fix the problem, you'll need to load a recent System Restore points. If you don't use System Restore, you might be able to use Command Prompt in Safe Mode to remove the botched patch. Run the following command:

DISM.exe / image: C: [windows8 install]/ cleanup-image / revertpendingact

Of course, your mileage may vary. If all else fails, you can wait for Microsoft to issue an official fix or reinstall your operating system.

According to a document obtained by PhoneArena, Sprint will be rolling out LTE to 21 new markets tomorrow, April 12. Sprint has said that the roll out in Los Angeles will be more of a soft roll out as they continue to test bits and pieces much like the San Francisco roll out has taken place.

The markets below are said to be receiving LTE tomorrow:

• California: Los Angeles, Contra Costa County
• Florida: Palm Bay, Port St. Lucie, West Palm Beach
• Indiana: Bloomington and Lafayette
• Illinois: Rochelle
• Minnesota: Mankato-North Mankato
• Missouri: Joplin
• North Carolina: Charlotte, Shelby, Albemarle, Sailsbury, Lincolnton
• Tennessee: Memphis, Greenville, Tullahoma
• Texas: Denison, Kerrville
• Virginia: Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News

The document says that users will be able to enjoy download speeds of 6-8 Mbps down and 2-3 Mbps up. Of course, to use LTE, you'll need an LTE compatible Sprint device such as the LG Optimus G, Samsung Galaxy S III, Samsung Galaxy Note II, or Apple iPhone 5. I'm still waiting for LTE to come to a city near me.

The latest rumor to surface regarding the Xbox 720 talks about what games will be available at launch. According to The Verge, who have been active with numerous Xbox 720 rumors as of late, the Xbox 720 will be launching with several new games including a new Forza and Ryse.

Ryse was originally shown off during E3 2011--the trailer can be seen above--but has yet to materialize. Crytek and Microsoft Studios have reportedly been working on rewriting the game to make use the hardware and features present on the new Xbox 720. Ryse is said to be the mega launch title for the new Xbox 720 console. It will apparently be Microsoft's new Gears of War or Halo series.

Verizon's chief executive has come out swinging, saying that video streaming now accounts for 50% of Verizon's traffic. Verizon CEO, Lowell McAdam, was speaking at the National Association of Broadcasters, when he said that his company's investment in their LTE network has benefited their customers, making high-quality streaming video possible.

He also said that with 3G you could only watch small video clips that require heaps of buffering, but with 4G LTE there are endless possibilities. The network believes that streaming video will continue to be popular with customers, and that by 2017 it could consume two-thirds of all traffic on the Verizon network.

LinkedIn have announced that they have acquired the company who make the news reader app Pulse for a reported $90 million. Pulse has over 30 million users, and could give LinkedIn an injection of tools as they continue their mission to move from being a socially-enabled site to resumes and business connections to a complete information destination.

LinkedIn took to their blog announcing the news, with the company's senior vice president Deep Nishar writing "We believe LinkedIn can be the definitive professional publishing platform - where all professionals come to consume content and where publishers come to share their content."

AMD have been kicking all sorts of ass when it comes to their Never Settle Reloaded program, which offers up some of the best games on the market for free when you purchase an AMD Radeon GPU.

The chipmaker have just announced that they're extending this offer, and will give gamers Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon for free to any customer who has redeemed a Reloaded code! How can it get better than that?! AMD will offer the keys to be redeemable through Ubisoft's Ubisoft for UPlay, and will be send by May 1.

We reported the bad numbers of PC shipments in Q1 earlier today, and since then Microsoft stocks have dropped by around 4.4% to $28.93 at the time of writing. Not only that, but other technology stocks have dropped, too.

Dell, HP and Intel were down in stock prices riding the news of Q1 shipment numbers. Research firm IDC had partly blamed Windows 8 for the drop in PC sales, noting that HP's shipments declined 24% year-over-year, backed up by Dell's numbers which dropped 11%. Now several Wall Street analysts have downgraded Microsoft stock, so I'm sure we'll see it tumble more in the coming days and weeks.

Samsung are looking to take a few steps outside of the current ring of competitors, and quickly speed ahead of their competitors with the announcement of mass-production of 128GB NAND flash on their 10nm process. Samsung have said:

We will continue to release next-generation chips at the right moments to actively react to consumer demands.

More consumers are moving to SSDs, using them as their primary drives, which will obviously lift demand for NAND flash. iSuppli reports that the 128GB chips will account for 30% of the 40.5 billion NAND flash shipped this year alone. Samsung are also going for more SSDs over 500GB to help the adoption rate of SSDs as primary drives.

NVIDIA announced at today's investor day that they intend to return roughly $1 billion back to shareholders. The money will be returned mainly through a structured stock repurchase program, though some will also be returned through the company's quarterly dividend of $0.075 per share.

NVIDIA said they have already returned $200 million to shareholders since the dividend was first announced in November 2012. Jen-Hsun Huang:

NVIDIA's strategies are gaining traction in the market and make us confident in our ability to continue generating cash. We are now broadening our program of giving back cash to our shareholders and plan to return a further $1 billion by the end of this fiscal year.

More details regarding the buyback plan will be provided next month when NVIDIA releases its financial results for Q1 2014.

Things aren't looking so good for BlackBerry. According to various analysts, BlackBerry's flagship Z10 suffered from weak sales. Now analysts are suggesting that the number of returns are actually outpacing the number of sales. This is not good news for BlackBerry.

"We believe key retail partners have seen a significant increase in Z10 returns to the point where, in several cases, returns are now exceeding sales, a phenomenon we have never seen before," Detwiler analyst Jeff Johnston wrote.

BlackBerry responds:

BlackBerry wishes to respond to media coverage today regarding speculation that there have been abnormally high levels of returns of BlackBerry Z10 devices. This is absolutely false. Our data shows that return rates for BlackBerry Z10 devices both in the U.S. and on a global basis are in line with or better than our expectations and are consistent with return rates for other premium smartphones in the market today.

Today, NVIDIA is hosting its investor day at which CEO Jen-Hsun Huang showed off graphics produced with its next-generation mobile GPU. The new GPU is currently known as Kepler Mobile and Huang said that NVIDIA made a huge investment to take its high-end Kepler products and shrink them down for use in mobile devices.

The interesting benefits of this is that smartphones and tablets could soon be able to play games that utilize DirectX 11. "We want to get multiple years ahead of the competition. It was worth the sacrifice," Huang said.

To show what Kepler Mobile is capable of, Huang demoed Kepler Mobile playing Battlefield 3. The future of tablet gaming looks bright indeed.