WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Thursday launched a broadband test service to help consumers clock the speed of their Internet.

Located at the site www.broadband.gov, the test is aimed at allowing consumers to compare their actual speeds with the speeds advertised by their providers.

The FCC release follows an FCC meeting in September where officials said that actual speeds were estimated to lag by as much as 50 percent during busy hours.

"The FCC's new digital tools will arm users with real-time information about their broadband connection and the agency with useful data about service across the country," FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in a statement.

On Wednesday, Firemint was honored with four awards from handheld gaming Website Pocket Gamer at a ceremony held at the annual Game Developers Conference. The company behind Flight Control ( ) and Real Racing ( ) has few titles on the iPhone marketв”virtually every one has become a mega-hit.

While the Pocket Gamer Awards donвt have the cache of some of the bigger-name award shows, as mobile gaming has gotten more recognition, the award winners have been taken more seriously. Also, unlike some media bodies that award games based on popularity, niche publications serve an important role in the industry by being experts in their fields.

published exploit code for the latest Internet Explorer zero-day flaw on the Web and Microsoft is warning that more attacks against the unpatched vulnerability can be expected in-the-wild. One thing seems to be more apparent with each passing Internet Explorer (IE) vulnerability: its time to upgrade the Web browser.

This zero-day exploit of Internet Explorer is just the most recent demonstrating that IE8 is more secure than its predecessors--especially IE6. Security aside, Web hosts and developers generally despise IE6 as well. For evidence of this fact you need look no further than the extensive list of supporters displayed on the IE6nomore.com site.

Version 4.0 of the operating system for Apple's iPhone, iPod touch, and the forthcoming iPad will represent a major overhaul of the software and will feature a "full-on solution" to one long-standing gripe about Apple's devices -- their inability to multitask.

At least that is the latest rumor making the rounds, as reported by the AppleInsider blog. The site attributes the report to "people with a proven track record" in predicting Apple's next moves.

AppleInsider's sources offered no details, however, on how the company will deliver multitasking without compromising battery life, efficient memory usage, and security.

ATLANTA – A Georgia man who posted a video of himself on the Internet holding a sign that said 'Elton John must die' has been arrested for making terroristic threats.

Neal Horsley, 65, was arrested early Wednesday in Carrollton, about 50 miles west of Atlanta, said Atlanta Police Sgt. Curtis Davenport. He would not say who Horsley is accused of threatening, but Horsley's son, Nathan, said he thought the arrest was connected to the video about the musician.

In the video posted Feb. 28 on YouTube, Horsley held the sign in front of a building where he said John has a condo. John's publicist, Fran Curtis, confirmed that John has an Atlanta apartment but declined further comment.

SEATTLE – U.S. retail sales of video games declined 15 percent in February, hurt in part by an ongoing decline in sales of music games and lower sales of the Wii system.

Americans spent $1.26 billion on video game systems, software and accessories during the month, down from $1.48 billion a year ago, market researcher NPD Group said Thursday.

'I had expected the industry to perform somewhat better this month,' said Anita Frazier, NPD Group's video game industry analyst, in a statement.

Game software sales fell 15 percent from the same month a year earlier to $624.4 million. Top-selling games included 'Bioshock 2' from Take Two Interactive Software Inc. and 'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2' from Activision Blizzard Inc.

NASHUA, N.H. – SkillSoft PLC, an education software company that has agreed to be taken private, said Thursday its fourth-quarter net income fell 16 percent from a year earlier, when it benefited from a tax windfall.

Its revenue also fell, by 2 percent to $79.2 million from $80.5 million.

Skillsoft's net income in the three months that ended Jan. 31 fell to $15.8 million, or 16 cents per share, from $18.8 million, or 18 cents per share a year earlier.

A $5.1 million non-cash charge for taxes more than reversed a $600,000 benefit the company recorded in the same period last year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected Skillsoft to report earning 15 cents per share on $78.2 million in revenue.

Mozilla made public the first beta of Thunderbird 3 today. Code-named Lanikai and available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, the milestone makes few noticeable changes to the open-source and free desktop e-mail client. This is not surprising, though, as Mozilla Messaging announced that the goal of this release was to fix problems created by upgrading the Gecko engine that powers the program.

Lanikai is the first semi-stable release of Thunderbird to use Gecko 1.9.2, which is the same engine that Firefox 3.6 uses. The changes made from Thunderbird 3 to the 3.1 beta test version include Mac OS X 10.6 upgrade path from Thunderbird 2 improvements, fixes for autocomplete, tabs, activity manager, minor interface improvements and corrections, and a spate of stability and memory corrections.

(Credit: Sanyo)

More and more electric bicycles are being developed in Japan to give riders a little help when commuting or going grocery shopping. They're a common sight on the hilly streets of Tokyo, where 'mamachari' bikes with baskets and kid seats over the wheels are the norm.

Sanyo recently unveiled a new series of two-wheel drive eneloop electric hybrid bicycles whose lithium ion batteries can recharge while the bike is being pedaled on level terrain. Previous models relied on braking or downhill energy to re-power.

The Eco Charge Mode featured on the SPL series gives you more recharging opportunities while the bike is in use. It reads foot pressure on the pedals, as well as pedal torque and the revolution speed of the dynamotor on the front wheel, and charges the battery along flat roads, on downhills, and during braking. When the rider comes to an uphill gradient, the motor assist function kicks in automatically.

In a move to shake up the online gaming industry, OnLive has announced PC and Mac versions of its on-demand, instant-play games will roll out in June during the E3 2010 show. Here's the rub: Gamers don't have to buy a console, and they can get broadband speeds.

OnLive delivers games to HDTVs over an Internet connection via a small browser plug-in for PCs and OnLive's MicroConsole TV Adapter, which will roll out later this year. The company is billing its game service as a way to find, purchase or rent video games from publishers like Electronic Arts, Ubisoft 2K Games, THQ and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.