Nintendo offers to replace Wii straps

Nintendo today offered to replace 3.2m of the straps fixed to the controllers on its new Wii computer games console.

The Japanese games giant made the costly move following a string of reports that damage was being caused by the wand-like controllers flying out of the grasp of gamers.

The wireless controllers, which mimic the motions of a tennis racket or sword depending on the game being played, have helped the £179 console become a top seller this Christmas.

However, there has been an increasing number of reports that controllers had flown out of the hands of overzealous players. Numerous players reported suffering injuries or accidentally throwing their controller at the person they were playing with.

Videos on YouTube show players suffering mishaps with the controllers - or "wiinjuries", as they have become known by some.

Nintendo today said it would allow customers to exchange the current straps for a thicker, more robust version on request. The old straps have a diameter of 0.6mm, and the new versions will be 1mm in diameter, Yasuhiro Minagawa, a company spokesman, said.

Games players have always been advised to use the strap. Today, however, the firm also issued new guidance on using the innovative controllers, warning people not to make "excessively rapid, violent or wide swinging motions" while using them.

It also advised gamers to stay at least one metre away from their televisions and ensure their hands were not "sweaty or wet".

"People tended to get a bit excited, especially while playing Wii sports, and in some cases the control would come loose from their hands," Mr Minagawa said. "The new strap will be almost twice as thick."

The pledge to replace the straps could cost Nintendo millions of pounds - a costly hitch in its three-way battle with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360 in the "next generation" console market.

However, stories about Wii controllers crashing into television monitors have not had a negative impact on sales.

More than 300,000 of the machines have been sold in Europe, and the Wii sold out in less than 24 hours after going sale in the UK last week. US customers bought 476,000 Wiis in the two weeks following its release there on November 17.

Can You Really Trust Certified Sites?

Web sites that feature the TRUSTe security Relevant Products/Services certificate are two times more likely to contain badware than Web sites without any security certification, spyware and adware researcher Ben Edelman alleges in a new report.

Among others, adware providers Direct-revenue and Webhancer are using TRUSTe certificates in an attempt to look more trustworthy than they really are, Edelman claimed. Direct-revenue is facing legal action from the New York Attorney General for its adware software. Edelman alleged that Webhancer often is installed without the user's consent.

TRUSTe is a so-called certification authority, an independent organization that issues security certificates to Web sites. These certificates indicate that service adheres to certain privacy guidelines, allowing users to verify that they are on the Web site that they intended to visit.

The independent certificate authorities perform a background check to verify the identity of the Web site's operator and ensure compliance with the privacy standards. Web sites that meet the organization's criteria are allowed to display the TRUSTe logo on their Web site.

The perceived trustworthiness of a certified Web site makes such certificates an attractive target for Web sites pushing malware Relevant Products/Services and adware.

In his study, Edelman compared TRUSTe certified Web sites with a list of known malware sites from McAfee's Siteadvisor product, a service that black-lists Web sites containing spyware, spam, viruses and online scams.

Using a base sample of a 500,000 Web sites, Edelman determined the number of sites have TRUSTe certification and cross-checked those against the McAfee list. Edelman found that 5.4 per cent of the TRUSTe sites were considered untrustworthy. Only 2.5 per cent of the sites from the base sample were blacklisted in Siteadvisor.

Edelman alleges that TRUSTe has no incentive to properly verify compliance with privacy standards.

A Home Connected to the Internet

Imagine coming home and, with the push of a single button, turning on the lights, turning up the thermostat and flipping on the TV. Another button might shut off all the lights and turn down the thermostat when you leave.

Starting next month, Best Buy will sell a "ConnectedLife.Home" package that features a computer with software coordinating a high-definition TV, light switches, a thermostat and two remote cameras — all included in the $15,000 price tag.

The components talk to one another over the home's power lines and through a wireless network.

Controlling all this is a black Hewlett-Packard computer that looks as if it belongs on the rack with the rest of the stereo gear. Using Microsoft's Windows Media Center system, the PC will record shows and send them to any TV in the house, along with photos, music or home video. Third-party software called Lifeware lets the user control the lights and thermostat.

For another $19.95 a month, users can access the system over the Internet, so they can check on the house using the two video cameras or adjust the thermostat while on vacation.

Best Buy, the nation's largest consumer electronics retailer, is working with security companies to integrate the system with home security services.

Other appliances — like the laundry machine — also can be added. When clothes are done drying a message might flash on the TV screen, or the owner could set it to fluff until the TV show is over, said David Hemler, a company vice president.

The package, initially for sale through the company's website, won't require drilling holes into existing homes. The $15,000 price includes installation anywhere in the United States.

Hemler said Best Buy has avoided using proprietary devices to make sure they communicate well with one another, but he acknowledged that earlier attempts at networking more than just computers have left homeowners frustrated.

"People are right to have a healthy skepticism based on what the industry has delivered in the past," Hemler said.