Hamburg  - Card games have tended to translate badly into computer games in the past. Nonetheless, a new game called Battleforge, which is due out in March, will try to meld real-time strategy games with virtual playing cards.

Battleforge is just one of many new games hitting shelves this month. It stands out, though, in the way it tries to break away from classic gaming setups.

Frankfurt  - Crumbs, fingerprints and dust bunnies: every computer gets dirty. And the dirt is not just unattractive and unhygienic; it can also shorten the computer's life span if, for example, the fan is clogged up and cannot cool the components. Cleaning is fast and choosing the right tools for the job is half the battle.

The keyboard, monitor and fans are particular dust magnets. Computers that see heavy use quickly show wear and tear. This can include crumbs, nasal hair and even nail varnish can smear the monitor, if it is touched frequently, says Dirk Plaehn from EDV-Clean-System, a service provider situated near Hamburg.

Washington (dpa) - If your Windows computer freezes, sometimes the only way to defrost it is by hitting the power button. But what happens if you press the power button and the machine still won't shut down? Hold down that power button for at least five seconds. Doing so forces your computer to shut down, unceremoniously. Don't do this unless you have to, though, as you could lose any unsaved data.

Bonn, Germany  - Security experts have discovered a security gap in the Acrobat Reader and Acrobat applications from Adobe. An update to close them will likely be available in March, the German Federal Agency for Security in IT (BSI) announced. Until then, users are advised to deactivate the JavaScript functionality of both programs.

This is done under the menu item Edit/Preferences/Category JavaScript. Remove the check mark under "Enable Acrobat JavaScript."

Both technology bigwigs including Ericsson, the world’s top mobile network gear maker, and Nokia, the largest cellphone maker, have decided to become mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) in India.

The companies said that they would shortly start their mobile service in the Indian market.

During the last month (Feb 2009), the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has given its nod to the recommendation of the Telecoms Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for authorizing MVNOs.

At a time when there is a recession in the worldwide market, Samsung India has launched a consumer promotional offer for its entire range of notebooks.

The mega consumer offer, which is valid this month i.e. March 2009, means that every Samsung notebook buyer will get Samsung’s J700 multimedia mobile phone worth Rs 6,089. The Samsung Netbook and Notebook PCs are priced in the range between Rs 28,477 to Rs 1,15,014.