Daily News Brief: OLED Keyboard Materializes!

Optimus Maximus Ships

We once dubbed the long awaited Optimus Maximus the Keyboardus Disappearibus due to the numerous delays and seemingly vaporware status. Now it appears the wait is finally over. Engadget got their hands on the OLED keyboard and wrote up a mini-review, touting the bright and colorful keys, along with the configuration options. But their main gripe? Typing on the hard to press keys "sucks," leading to fatigue in as little as 30 seconds to a minute. Maybe the wait isn't over after all...

Take Two Says 'Take a Hike'

In an attempt to continue their buying spree, Electronic Arts offered to buy videogame publisher Take-Two Interactive for $26 per share, or rougly $2 billion. Take-Two publicly rejected the unsolicited offer in a lengthy press release, claiming EA's offer is "highly opportunistic and is attempting to take advantage of our upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto IV." Take-Two also feels the $2 billion solicitation "substantially undervalues" the company's worth. Yet despite the seemingly cold shoulder given to EA, Take-Two expressed a willingness to discuss it further once GTA IV ships.

Microsoft Discontinues HD-DVD

Microsoft let it be known they will no longer manufacture HD-DVD players for use with the Xbox 360 gaming console. It was just weeks ago that MS slashed pricing for the add-on down to $129, but that was before Toshiba withdrew from the high definition format war, officially handing victory over to Blu-ray. Existing owners will still receive product and warranty support.

Fujitsu Joins 500GB Club

Owning a 500GB hard drive is hardly news for desktop denizens, but for those on the go, half a terabyte of storage in a single drive remains an elusive feature. That's about to change. Both Hitachi and Samsung have announced 500GB notebook drives, and Fujitsu now joins the fray. The three-platter drive measures 12.5 millimeters, making it too thick for some notebooks, and spins at just 4200 rpm, compared to 5400 rpm for the Samsung and Hitachi drives.

Nehalem Numbers

After Intel's Core 2 architecture lived up to the performance hype, we can't help but to get excited over Nehalem, which represents a 'tock' in Intel's new 'tick-tock' cycle. Anticipation has already been running high, and leaked slides from Sun Microsystems show the excitement might be justified. Read more here.

Boycott Affects Ebay

Incensed over increased listing fees and alterations to the feedback system, Ebay sellers united for a week long boycott against the popular online auction site, which ended today. It's the biggest protest by Ebay sellers to date, and some estimates by third-party tracking sites showed a 13 percent drop in auction listings. Nevertheless, Ebay stated they have no intention of altering the new pricing structure or feedback policy. Read more here.