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Make sure you know exactly what you install with AIM.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET Networks)

The new update of AOL Instant Messenger, the AIM 6.8 Refresh, came out Tuesday with a new feature that allows you to send photos to cell phone users. I decided to try the new version out, mostly because I wanted to get rid of the annoying update notification.

Once the installation was done, I found out that the neat-sounding feature is limited to people using certain types of cell phones within the T-Mobile network.

None of my buddies meet the criteria so I didn't get to try it out, but I am not terribly impressed with the idea of this new feature, especially when cell phones these days can be used to easily check e-mail or receive multimedia messages. If anything, I am concerned.

The installation of the new AIM, much like that of any other instant-messenger app, still wants to significantly change the settings of your computer, including installing the terrible AOL toolbar, change the default home page to AOL.com, and change the default search engine to that of AOL (which is also terrible).

Make sure you pick the custom installation and uncheck all the boxes of features you don't wish to install before proceeding.

There were plenty of announcements missing from the Nintendo 2008 E3 press conference this summer, but perhaps most surprising was the fact that the company did not address the ever-growing storage problem plaguing the Wii.

Since WiiWare hit the console earlier this year, the factory-installed 512MB of internal storage just isn't cutting it. Nintendo is essentially shooting itself in the foot: here we have all these new games to download and play, but only the capacity to store a limited number of them.

Kotaku is now reporting that the company does indeed have a storage solution on the way, but it won't come in the form a physical hard drive. Nintendo executive Reggie Fils-Aime tells Club Nintendo magazine that we'll see something even better than a hard drive for the Wii.

What's better than a hard drive? Some sort of online solution? While we'd love to see this, we all know Nintendo isn't much of an innovator when it comes to online functionality. Either way, we'll let you know when the company officially announces something. For now, what kind of storage solution do you think we'll see--or would like to see?

Who's Online on AIM

(Credit: iPhone Atlas)

Fulfilling a feature available previously with jailbreak applications, AOL is offering a free instant-messaging client, available through the AppStore, for the iPhone. In our brief testing, the client was a snap to configure, and worked well, but exhibited a few freezes.

When the AIM application is first launched, you are presented with options to use either the AOL instant messaging service or MobileMe. Once you've made your selection, however, we couldn't find an easy way to go back and configure another account.

AIM chat screen

(Credit: iPhone Atlas)

Buddy lists are displayed with icons, status messages, and the typical blue iPhone interface arrow, which allows you to initiate a chat with a buddy or add a buddy to your favorites. The blue icon doesn't, however, allow you to access an active chat with said buddy. For that, you'll need to tap on the "IMs" button at the bottom of the screen.

The AIM application adds a preference pane to the "Settings" application, allowing you to change your screen name and password and control whether or not your account signs off when the AIM program is exited. If the option to sign off is turned off, IMs will continue to stream in while you work in other applications, and be displayed in the "Active IMs" window.

AIM My Info screen

(Credit: iPhone Atlas)

Tapping the "My Info" button allows you to set your Avaialble/Away status, as well as establish a status message. There's also a neat feature embedded here: you can tap on your buddy icon to bring up an option to either take a photo with the iPhone's built-in camera and use it as your buddy icon, or choose an existing photo from your iPhone's library and use it similarly.

As aforementioned, we experienced a few freezes in perfunctory use of AIM. If you experience such a freeze, hold the iPhone's Home button down for several seconds to force-quit the app.

The long-awaited iPhone software development kit, which will be released in June, was finally unveiled Thursday.

And with it came a few applications, developed in a couple weeks by some very high-profile names in tech. Apple demonstrated seven new applications in a variety of categories: business, communications, and games.

• Touch FX: Adds Photo Booth-style effects to a photo using your finger on the iPhone touch screen. Pinch or tap to introduce fun-house mirror style effects.

• Touch Fighter: The first official game for the iPhone, developed by Apple engineers over two weeks. You fly through space and steer by using the iPhone like a pretend control wheel, with both hands on the side.

• Spore: Electronic Arts created a mobile version of the game.

• Salesforce.com management application: Salesforce.com created an application that does more than you can do with its Web-based application. For instance, it can talk to Maps to plot directions to your next appointment, figure out how many more widgets you need to sell to make your quota, and more.

• AIM: AOL made an iPhone version of the instant-messaging service. You can switch between conversations with a swipe of the finger, like if you're scrolling through photos on the iPhone. You can also upload photos from your iPhone to serve as your buddy icon.

• Medical records app: Epocrates, a maker of software for medical professionals built a native iPhone application that can access an SQL database for accessing medical information, pictures of pills, and checking for potentially harmful drug interactions.

• Super Monkey Ball: A game from Sega. A skiing game, where you hurtle down a ramp trying to get bananas, and other things. It uses the accelerometer for control, just like Tough Fighter.

See my colleague Tom Krazit's blow-by-blow chronicling of the event as it unfolded in Cupertino on Thursday morning.

CNET News.com's Tom Krazit contributed to this report.

Major Michael Pottratz of the U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center demonstrates proper fitting of the immersive binocular HARV display at the AFCEA West 2008 conference in San Diego.

(Credit: Mark Rutherford)

For Army researchers looking to give robot operators new ways to "see" via unmanned ground vehicles on the battlefield one thing is clear, legacy video doesn't cut it anymore.

It's not just broadcast quality or resolution that needs improvement, but the level of "telepresence": the sense of increased situational awareness that allows a robot driver to shoot and move and make fast decisions.

One possible upgrade is the three-axis Head-Aimed Remote Viewer (HARV), a dome enclosed, three-axel gimbal-mounted camera that slews around to match operator head movement. Wherever the soldier/operator looks, the unit instantly rotates to focus on that area. The operator's visual perception through the immersive binocular display is one of actually being onboard the vehicle, according to Chatten Associates.

It's not like watching a TV screen; it's more like standing there looking through slightly tinted glasses. Head-aiming capitalizes on the visual processing capability of the human mind yielding results that are three to four times faster than an ordinary pan/tilt systems with flat panel displays, according to the company. (See videos here.)

(Credit: Chatten Associates)

The way it stands now, operators must swerve the bot from side to side using a joystick to get a quick look around. But in this case, the operator's head position controls both the UGV sensors as well as where its weapon system is aimed. Head-aiming is twice as effective as the joystick-aiming, where tests showed that 15 percent of the hostile targets identified were actually friendly forces, according to Chatten.

The HARV includes optical and digital zoom, night vision, infrared illuminators and pointers, and stereo audio. It can also be controlled by a joystick, or a mouse control mounted on an infantryman's weapon's handgrip. This means the operator can keep his head up and not have to take his hands off his weapon.

Another attempt to improve robotic vision by Picatinny Arsenal - a super wide, fisheye lens called WARVVS (Wide Angle Robotic Vehicle Vision System). Seen here at West 2008 mounted on a SWORD UGV. A number of these units have already been delivered to Iraq and Army researchers are waiting for troop feedback on their effectiveness.

(Credit: Mark Rutherford)

(Credit: Nintendo of America)

The Nintendo Wii launched more than a year ago, and the system is still incredibly hard to find. This long after the system started shipping, people are still camping in front of stores as soon as they hear about new shipments.

Friday morning, Nintendo of America's president and CEO, Reggie Fils-Aime, held a telephone press conference to address the continuing shortage of the Wii.

Fils-Aime said Nintendo hadn't expected as much demand for the Wii as they're getting. Since the launch, he claimed, Nintendo has almost doubled its global production from 1 million to 1.8 million Wiis per month, and tripled its workforce at Nintendo of America's North Bend, Wash., distribution center. The Nintendo president wouldn't say whether Nintendo would further increase its Wii production, but he denied any claims that Nintendo is stockpiling Wiis.

"There was no ability for us to stockpile systems in the summer for the holiday rush," Fils-Aime said. "Enough systems would make everyone, including me, much happier."

According to Fils-Aime, Wiis will be available next week at all major retailers. If past patterns are any indication, however, that "availability" will be limited to shoppers willing to camp out before stores open on Sunday or Monday morning. Since Christmas is just two weeks away, you're probably still going to have some difficulty finding a Wii.

While that seems to be the biggest hope for Christmas Wiis, Reggie also announced a raincheck program in conjunction with GamesStop to get more Wiis out to shoppers in January. Even if Wiis are out of stock, on December 20 and 21, consumers will be able to purchase them for January.

On those two days, if you put down the full retail price of the Wii at a GameStop, you'll receive a raincheck guaranteeing you a Wii in January. The rainchecks will be available only as supplies last, but Fils-Aime said GameStop has "many tens of thousands" of rainchecks available across its 3,000+ stores. Perhaps the Wii-hungry will be camping out next week to get a raincheck for a Wii next month. We'll find out by next Friday.

"We went into the launch with very high expectations," Fils-Aime said. "What we didn't expect was to throw out the whole playbook and essentially create a whole new level of sell-through for this industry. You can't plan for that."

Heard the one about the Skype worm? Actually, users of the popular VoIP service Skype have been contending with misleading and dangerous URLs for some time. Like worms spread by MSN Messenger and Yahoo Messenger, various Skype worms have been known to include a message such as "Give me your opinion" followed by a URL. Clicking the link then installs several malicious files including versions of the Warezov/Stration Trojan horse. Stration has been known to open remote access on infected machines.

Now, Chris Boyd, Director of Malware Research at Facetime Security Labs, has found a recent Skype worm variant that is able to infect not just Skype, but ICQ and MSN Messenger, with the potential to infect AIM, Trillian, and Yahoo Messenger as well. While looking at a collection of Skype worm code posted on the Internet, Boyd found a file that looks for other instant messenger services. While attacks via Yahoo and MSN are not new, we haven't seen a lot of IM worms that are able to jump the fence and attack other services. Thus, if you have Skype, and click the link, you may infect contacts you have on other IM services as well.

Our recommendation? Don't be so quick to click.