metals

The World Trade Organization, the European Union, and the United States said on Tuesday they were pressing for solutions to concerns China may be exploiting its stranglehold on rare earth metals, crucial in the making of everything from portable phones to wind turbines.

Officials and industry executives in Berlin and Washington warned of severe repercussions from a scarcity of the minerals with magnetic, luminescent, and other properties that go into products such as hybrid cars, solar panels, and windmills. The dominance of China, which produces 97 percent of the world's supply of rare earths, has been well-known for years, … Read more

Earlier this month, CNET editor Josh Lowensohn posted about how Apple was reportedly having some issues with the glass back on the iPhone 4, which was proving to be less durable than some had hoped. Now several sites are detailing how you can replace the glass back of your iPhone 4 with a metal one.

Removing the back--or "rear panel" as Apple calls it--is pretty simple (see ifixit.com's tutorial). And in just a few minutes you can swap in an inexpensive metal back for $12.99 from Hong Kong. Other backs are available, but Unpluggd says … Read more

The U.S., England, Germany, Italy, France, Japan, and China all make bona fide high-end audio gear. Korea? I've heard some South Korean gear over the years, but I can't say any of it made a strong impression.

I recently stumbled upon Metal Sound Design's Web site, and while I can't guess what their speakers sound like, they all have a great sense of style and appear to be well-built. The South Korean company has won numerous awards and prizes over the years.

True to their name, the company's speakers are made out of metal, … Read more

Single virgins looking for love now have their own niche dating Web site called YouAndMeArePure.

Awkward URL aside, the Web site hopes to be an accessible way for virgins to meet and date other virgins. Like all dating Web sites, there's obviously no way to prove that subscribers ($30 per year) are who they say, although the site does sell bona fide male and female "V-Cards" meant to be given away as a sign of commitment to another holder. Also, there's no rule that states you have to be a virgin by choice, so Wilson might … Read more

This week on preGAME we're getting an exclusive First Look at Halo: Reach, almost two months before the game hits stores! In the studio today is Bungie Community Director Brian Jarrard, who will show us some of the single-player campaign as well as the revamped four-player co-op mode Firefight.

But first, we'll take a few moments to finally put E3 2010 to rest and go over a few things we thought were missing from the show. We'll also chat about the new Xbox 360 slim and figure out why the new console can't red-ring even if it wanted to. … Read more

A lot of the time was spent at Sony's E3 2010 press conference talking about 3D gaming and PlayStation Move, but the company also made room for a few surprises. We learned about a few titles we expected to see at the big show, but we were also a bit disappointed that Sony didn't use the opportunity to showcase titles teased last year, most notably The Last Guardian.

Among the games on display was a mix of multiplatform and exclusive titles, though mostly everything had some sort of PS3-only element to boast. Here's a rundown of what we saw:

Killzone 3: Sony led with a 3D demo of Killzone 3, showing off impressive graphics and scenes of intense action and carnage. Plenty of gameplay scenarios and environments were on display, and we really enjoyed the addition of a jet pack. Killzone 3 will ship in February 2011.

Gran Turismo 5: No gameplay was shown for Gran Tursimo 5, but Sony announced the title will be available in 3D when it ships on November 2.

Portal 2: A surprise here,… Read more

It was hard not to be reminded of Monty Python's famous sketch when Sony took the stage Tuesday during its E3 press conference, assuring the public that the PSP platform was still alive, kicking, and very much a viable platform. The company is right, to a degree: millions still play PSP games and own systems, and the platform is far from a failure. On the other hand, the PSP has still never materialized into the superior do-everything portable Sony once dreamed of it becoming.

Though at last year's E3 Sony focused on the expensive and disc-free PSP Go … Read more

Microsoft was quick to show the latest trailer and gameplay footage for Hideo Kojima's latest in the Metal Gear Solid universe. Rising lets players play as the sword-wielding Raiden and gives them ultimate control over where and what the lethal weapon slices.

Still, not a lot is known in terms of a release date and whether Rising will have a timed exclusivity deal with the Xbox 360.