Adobe Launches 64-Bit Flash Player ''Preview''

Adobe launched an enhanced player for Internet Explorer 9 Beta and 64-bit platforms.

Adobe's Paul Betlem said Thursday that a special preview build of Adobe Flash Player--dubbed as "Square"--is available to download. The new preview build offers enhanced support for the just-released beta of Internet Explorer 9, and native 64-bit support for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

"Flash Player 'Square' leverages the new GPU support available with Internet Explorer 9 Beta to deliver a faster and more responsive user experience," Betlem said. "In our internal testing, we’ve seen significant improvements in Flash Player graphics performance--exceeding 35-percent in Internet Explorer 9 Beta compared to Flash Player running in previous versions of IE."
As for the 64-bit native support, Betlem said that Linux users should have a faster and even more reliable Flash experience than the previous version. Square also marks as the introduction of 64-bit Flash to Windows and Mac OS X, however users are cautioned to be on the lookout for any issues, as "not everything will be fully baked."

Nokia Slaps HTC in the Face With 'Survival Kits'

Meow!
Nokia and HTC both held press events in London this week. Nokia announced three new phones at Nokia World while HTC announced the launch of the Desire Z and the Desire HD. However, it seems Nokia was a little less than pleased with HTC for scheduling a press event during Nokia World and the Espoo company wasn't shy about broadcasting that fact.

Lenovo Charger with 4 Built-in USB Ports is Genius

A shortage of USB ports is a problem tons of people are familiar with. It's easily solved with any one of the countless USB hubs available. But what's a USB hub if it's not also a laptop charger? A one-trick pony, that's what.

After speaking to customers about what they buy and use the most in conjunction with their laptops, Lenovo learned that a large amount of people buy a spare adapter as well as a USB hub. Last week, the company revealed the Lenovo Power Hub, a device they describe as "one part power adapter and one part USB hub."
The Lenovo Power Hub combines those two devices, resulting in a single $75 purchase. Though it takes up a USB port, it more than makes up by giving users access to four ports located on the end of the power brick.
It's on sale now from Lenovo. Who wants one? More importantly, who wants the rest of the big name companies to follow suit?

PlayStation Move Hits Best Buy Shelves Early

If you've been quivering in anticipation for the launch of Sony's PlayStation Move peripheral, get thee to your local Best Buy, for you might get lucky.
Engadget reports that a reader in Benton Harbor, Michigan, picked up Move at his local Best Buy branch yesterday afternoon. Officially set for launch next Sunday, it seems the Best Buy staff got their Sundays confused. It's not clear if this mistake is confined to just one store, or if other shops are also selling Move a full seven days before they're supposed to.

Amazon.com is still reporting a shipping date of September 17.

Google Will Simplify Privacy Policy in New Update

Google has said it will update its privacy policy to make it easier to understand.

Privacy and Google are two words that often incite a debate as to how Google uses our personal data. In an attempt to quell the concerns of those worried about their privacy, Google has announced that it will simplify its privacy policy to make it more transparent and easier to understand. Though the search giant was quick to clarify that it's not actually making changes to the policy itself, the company also said it would delete a number of product-specific policies.