We’ve written previously here at Variety 
about the growing importance of digital SLR cameras to Hollywood. Indie filmmakers use them to shoot on a budget and bigger budget content producers use ’em to help cut costs (like “Saturday Night Live,” which shoots its opening credits with a DSLR).
Now Nikon is adding some new features to better compete with Canon, which has had the lead among film makers for a while.
Strategy games are hard to make for a mass audience, 
but Jet Set Games has found the formula in Highborn HD. By blending tactical decision making with a good dash of humor and entertaining characters, it’s accessible to mild fans of the genre, but core fans will find plenty to enjoy as well. The game’s a good looking one, too. It wisely sticks with a 2-D model when you’re moving your forces around the map, but goes into a cartoon-like 3-D during battles. The game has a lengthy solo campaign consisting of eight parts (and another “chapter” on the way) as well as a rich multiplayer element.
Read more at Common Sense Media
For a low-priced app, there’s not a lot to complain about with 
Hungry Shark 2, but it’s not a game that’s going to wind up on your most-played list. It’s a fun diversion for older kids, but the gameplay gets repetitive quickly — boiling down to keep eating or you die. The graphics are nice and the sound effects that accompany each kill are fine, but even those get old after time. It might be a fair price for two games (the first Hungry Shark comes bundled with purchase), but ultimately Hungry Shark 2 is a one-trick pony.
Since Facebook itself hasn’t come out with an iPad app, you 
have to applaud Friendly – Facebook Browser for making the effort. This is the best way for Facebook fans to interact with the social network site via the device. The app’s use of large fonts make it easy to browse — and eliminate the need for pinching and zooming the page. The layout is very natural, as well, making it easy to find the area of the site you’re looking for. But there are some standard Facebook features that are noticeably absent. You’re unable to upload any photos via this app and you won’t be able to play any Facebook games, which could be distressing to FarmVille fanatics. The page also doesn’t automatically refresh, meaning if you want to see new updates, you’ll have to click on another tab, then back to your news feed.
Technology is keeping Hollywood on its toes: Just 
when studios have gotten used to Netflix reinventing the homevideo biz and are flirting with becoming a major player in the pay-TV biz, it’s time for networks to face a very near future when Apple’s iPad and rival tablet computers steal more eyes away from TV sets.
Verizon is about to offer up the latest carrot for consumers, with the telco giant announcing plans Wednesday for an upcoming app that will let its FiOS TV customers stream television and on-demand programming to the iPad.
2010 hasn’t exactly been a good year for the video 
game industry. In fact, it’s been pretty lousy so far.
While the quality of major titles has been top-notch – with Red Dead Redemption, Super Mario Galaxy 2 and God of War 3 leading the way – consumers, on the whole, just aren’t buying games.
Verizon has big plans for the tablet marketplace – 
maybe bigger than they’re willing to talk about right now.
The telecom giant held a press conference Wednesday showing off an app that would stream live television and on-demand programming to the iPad for FiOS customers. The application, which also allows customers to see which shows are most popular with viewers in real-time, is expected to be available next year.
When Microsoft announced the Xbox 360 motion sensor 
controller that’s now known as Kinect, the demo that had everyone talking was Peter Molyneux’s “Milo”. Shown in a video (and, later, via a select number of live demonstrations), the onscreen 11-year old boy interacted and chatted with a human player and showed remarkable artificial intelligence.
Milo’s been silent since then, but Molyneux brought him back out recently at the TED conference. A video of his presentation at that event has just been released and it’s worth 10 minutes of your time.
As Microsoft has leaked out details of its upcoming Windows 
Phone 7 series, it has been pretty obviouthat the company planned to borrow heavily from its successful Xbox Live formula. Now it’s sharing more details – and it’s looking a lot more like a semi-complete integration of the service, rather than just a few elements.
The new phones will launch with Xbox Live integration, letting owners stay connected with their gaming friends when they’re away from their consoles. They’ll also be able to access leaderboards, turn-based multiplayer games, Achievements and more.
Electronic Arts is counting heavily on its Medal of Honor
franchise to help boost revenue in the holiday quarter, but as the title gets closer to launch, it’s finding itself in the crosshairs of game industry critics.
Set in modern-day Afghanistan, the latest version of the franchise casts players as a Tier 1 Operator, a relatively unknown branch of the Special Forces, fighting the War on Terror. Developers say they are striving to present the conflict in an authentic manner, with respect for the soldiers. But the disclosure that gamers could play as the Taliban in the game’s multiplayer mode has raised a few eyebrows.
Chris Morris: Journalist 