It has now emerged that the company’s domain name and website were only recently set up and staff images were lifted from a legitimate French business in Paris. Thumbnail images of the firm’s staff on the website also matched those on the site of French research company Central Test, although many of the names had been changed.

Two days after the study was widely circulated in media across the world, a computer programmer named Tarandeep Gill, the person behind the hoax wrote on www.aptiquant.com, “There is no company called AptiQuant, and no such survey was ever done“.

He further added, “The main purpose behind this hoax was to create awareness about the incompatibilities of IE6, and not to insult or hurt anyone.“

Earlier, AptiQuant had claimed that it surveyed over 1 lakh Web users and found that Opera users were smartest while IE users “have a below than average IQ score.“

“So, frustrated with Internet Explorer, I went on to create a meme that would result in some awareness and hopefully convince a few Web users to stop using IE 6,” Gill wrote on AptiQuant. “But what’s really funny is that everybody took the report so seriously, with comments like ‘Oh did we need such a study, we already knew that,” wrote Gill.

You may want to call the person behind the ‘fake survey‘ a liar, but I don’t see it being as much about lying as it is about being a case of very good viral marketing combined with the media’s eagerness to pick up shocking and popular stories without fact checking them first.

But perhaps it was a test after all. If you follow any publications that wrote this story up last week and haven’t yet corrected it, you might ask them where they send their journalists for training.

In short, you may not want to believe anything this study claimed… still the stereotype of backward IE users continues to proliferate and Microsoft will certainly hope to reverse the trends once they release IE 9.

This week, the Xbox 360 Limited Edition Star Wars Kinect Bundle ranked as the No. 9 best-selling pre-order product at Bestbuy.com. The bundle will include a R2-D2 blue-and-white themed 320GB console, custom Xbox 360 Wireless Controller inspired by C-3PO, white Kinect sensor, Kinect Star Wars game.

The bundle will retail for USD $449.99 (or AUD $599 & NZD $649 in the antipodes). Kinect Star Wars will include motion control functionality to wield a virtual lightsaber, use The Force, pilot a pod racer vehicle or fire guns from an X-Wing. The title will also recognize standard kick and jump functions.

Xbox Kinect Star Wars developers also confirmed that a pod-racing mode based on Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, would be featured in the game.

The game allows players to use gestures to drive pods across intergalactic landscapes, as well as wield light sabers and other powers of The Force.

The Amazon listing includes 23 images of the bundle and the following product feature descriptions:

- Xbox 360 Console: Bring the Star Wars characters you know and love into your living room with this custom R2-D2-themed Xbox 360 console with custom sounds.

- Kinect Sensor: Includes the first ever custom white sensor. Immerse yourself into the Star Wars universe with full-body gameplay. Xbox 360 Wireless Controller: Includes custom C-3PO-themed Xbox 360 Wireless Controller.

- Kinect Star Wars game: Enter the Star Wars universe like never before. Use the Force like a Jedi, become a champion Pod Racer, pilot iconic ships and much more.

- Kinect Adventures game: Get off the couch and into the game in a whole new way. You and your friends and family will jump, dodge, and kick your way through 20 pulse-pounding adventures set in exotic locations.

- 320GB Hard Drive: The largest hard drive available on Xbox 360, Xbox 360 Wired Headset, and Xbox LIVE Token for exclusive downloadable content

Also check out our Ultimate Survival Guide To Xbox 360 Kinect [Top 5 Tips For New Users]

Though this interactive gaming bundle won’t be available till this fall, pre-orders have already started and you can’t possibly think of a better way to blow $449, especially if you are a Star Wars fan!

What is Office 365?

Office 365 — which is being launched today — is Microsoft’s latest attempt to push enterprise holdouts onto a new online version of its Office software. But if you pay attention, the basic Office 365 package is a mere upgrade to the 2010 versions of Exchange, SharePoint, Office Communications Online and Live Meeting. Interestingly, the last two have now been merged as one and are known as Lync. Office 365 gets interesting when we look at the additional Office Software Online options that it brings out of the box.

And this is going to be interesting because recently Google declared war with Microsoft with launch of Chrome OS Laptops; and now as it appears – Microsoft has decided to respond back!

What is Google Apps?

features several Web applications with similar functionality to traditional office suites, including: Gmail, Google Groups, Google Calendar, Talk, Docs and Sites. With Google Apps you can work with multiple people in the same document. There’s no need toworry about whether or not it’s possible to share a spreadsheet, or co-edit a presentation.

You can see people type in real time, and share a file in just two clicks. Discussions bring people into your documents for rich conversations. You don’t need to buy additional licenses to work with others, or hope people outside your company have upgraded to the same software. If you have a Google account, you can collaborate.

Office 365 Pricing:

The software will cost small businesses $6 a user each month for a package with programs like Office Web Apps and Exchange e-mail software, Microsoft said. For an additional $12 a month, companies can add a full version of Office, including Word and Excel programs.

Google Apps Pricing:

Google charges companies $5 a user each month or $50 a user each year, and offers a free version for consumers. Google Apps has 30 million active users overall, and doesn’t reveal how many of those are paying customers.

Office 365 Advantages:

Office 365 offers hosted versions of a family of server products launched by Microsoft last year: Exchange Online 2010, Lync Online 2010, and SharePoint Online 2010. Plus, you get Office Web Apps, a version of MS Office that runs in the browser.

Google Apps Advantages:

On the other hand, Google delivers its mix of Gmail for Business, Google Docs, Google Calendar, Google Groups, Google Sites, and other applications entirely online. Born in the Internet age, Google argues its services were built for Internet-connected teamwork and collaboration–a generational advantage over Microsoft offerings born in the PC era.

Google also touts ease of use, lower cost, and frequent feature updates (delivered online, of course) as key advantages. But the company’s services stop short of the breadth of capabilities–particularly the communications capabilities–included in Office 365.

Usually, when it comes to selling new versions of Office, Microsoft’s toughest competitor used to be IBM or Google. But this time they are trying to challenge Google in their own battle field and it will be really interesting to watch how matters unfold. In a nutshell, Office 365 could be little costly than Google Apps but it could be a lot of net new business, and stable recurring revenue, if Microsoft can pull it off.

Regardless of you realize it or not, your Outlook’s .pst file contains all the local Outlook folders, such as Calendar, Inbox, Tasks, Sent Items, Outbox, Deleted Items, and user-created folders. Hence it is extremely important that you regularly take backups your Outlook PST files so as to prevent any data loss in the event of a computer crash.

Microsoft has detailed instructions on how to make a backup copy of a personal folders (.pst) file, but unfortunately it is a manual backup process that one needs to follow every time s/he is taking a backup. In addition, it can be cumbersome to make a schedule, remember it and follow it regularly to make sure you have regular backups of your Outlook’s pst file.

In situations like these, running continuous backups using an online backup software can be pretty handy as these backups are fully automated and run in the background. To make matters more seamless, continuous backups perform your backups constantly throughout the day.

The Most Dangerous Common Backup Mistakes (Outlook PST Backup)

The major advantage of this approach is that you no longer have a long backup window. Instead, your updates are split up into smaller chunks and spread throughout the day.

The PST files from Microsoft Outlook will get uploaded seamlessly every time you get an email. Hence, you can be pretty sure that ALL your recent Outlook communications and other data will be always safe even if your computer crashes.

If you want to extract the most out of your system and stay secure while having it running like it did on the very first day, then you should try to keep it pretty much in the same state. I don’t want to say you are forbidden to install new programs and play around, just keep it clean and virus-free if you want to speed up your PC. Before you ask me “how to”, I’ll stop you – wait a while and just let me share my experience with you!

Another aspect of the problem is to keep your Windows PC up-to-date with everything — starting with browsers, drivers and the operating system itself. As long as you are performing the maintenance regularly you will never be too much behind, so the operation can’t transform into a nuisance.

First of all you should try to have your Windows running smoothly, and the easiest way to achieve that is to install not all the updates it recommends. Some of them are automatic, some will require your consensus, but as long as you have a genuine copy you shouldn’t worry too much about them.

In fact, you don’t have to do anything more than allow Windows download the required updates from time to time and the benefits are multiple. They range from faster speed in running various applications and processes to increased safety against harmful malware.

How to Keep Your Windows Operating System Up to Date and Patched

If you think you are behind with the updates, got to the All programs in the start menu and select Windows Update and you will be guided to the Help and Support Center where you can ‘get Microsoft Update‘. Decide between custom and express, with the first being the recommended option and install all updates.

Once this is dealt with, you should make sure that the internet browser you are using is the latest in its family. Usually you are being prompted when an update is available and downloading it is the right thing to do. You will benefit from new features and enhanced security and speed up computer!

Have a tip, trick, or must-have application for updating your Windows computer or keeping it secure? Let’s hear about it in the comments.

Author Bio: This is a guest article written by Dedee Heather, who likes writing about PC Security and Optimization tips and writes as a guest author for TechChunks.com.

Since then, Kinect has broken the world record as ‘best selling tech gadget” and lot has been done to explore the revolutionary technology behind Kinect to explore the possibilities. The latest in this line of Kinect hacks is the state-of-the-art MIX11, a Microsoft built armchair that can be effortlessly driven by Kinect!

This week, at the MIX11 event, Microsoft demonstrated some of the new things that can be achieved with the Kinect motion controller. Microsoft demoed a special armchair that is completely controlled through the use of hand gestures that are read by the Kinect. With a few hand gestures, tedious actions like reclining the chair and controlling directions can be carried out. No more wasting a hand to grapple with a mini-joystick!

The code to control the chair was created using the upcoming Xbox Kinect PC SDK that Microsoft will be releasing for developers to develop the Kinect using Visual Basic, C++ and C#. News of the Kinect SDK for Windows first came out in January and today Microsoft announced that it will be released in spring. The SDK will enable third party software to hook into Kinect. In other words, Kinect becomes a platform.

In the demonstration, the person sitting on the chair could easily direct the chair where to move, on its omnidirectional wheels. The chair was even capable of reclining – and all this was controlled using hand movements. No word if we’ll ever see a chair like this in the market, but Microsoft will be releasing the source code along with the SDK for developers and hobbyists to make Kinect chairs of their own.

The Kinect PC SDK will also include support for two-person skeletal tracking, provide access to the four mics for high-tech speech recognition and XYZ depth perception.

However, when Microsoft releases the Kinect SDK in spring, it will be restricted to use in non-commercial applications only. Also it will only run on Windows 7, the latest version of the Windows OS. So, initially at least, commercial and non-Windows apps cannot be created.

Microsoft Kinect Driven Armchair Demo Video:

At any rate, from the technological perspective, this Futuristic Kinect Powered Armchair can certainly be a big and rather scrupulous step forward, not just for its high-tech possibilities, but also for the convenient mobility of thousands of differently enabled people around the world.

The hands-free game controller, which went on sale in November, sold 8 million devices in its first 60 days on sale. That’s more than the Apple iPhone or the iPad in their equivalent periods after launch, according to Guinness.

According to independent research, no other consumer electronics device sold faster within a 60-day time span, which is an incredible achievement considering the strength of the sector. To date, Microsoft said the Kinect has sold over 10 million units of its Kinect motion-sensing video game controllers worldwide since the add-on for the Xbox 360 system went on sale in early November.

Kinect, which costs $150 and can be purchased alone or with an Xbox 360 console, lets people control games, play movies and operate other features by moving around and speaking. Technically, Kinect is an infrared camera add-on for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 games console that allows it to track body movements.

Try these Top 5 Best XBox 360 Games!

Kinect sales helped boost Microsoft’s results for the last three months of 2010. Revenue in the entertainment and devices division increased 55 percent to $3.7 billion. Microsoft said in January that it expects revenue in that division to rise 50 percent in the current quarter as the Kinect craze continues.

In the mean time, Guinness said that Microsoft sold eight million of the devices in its first two months on the market, for an average daily volume of 133,333. Here is the Ultimate Survival Guide To Xbox 360 Kinect [Top 5 Tips For New Users]

But finally, Microsoft wants you to help send IE6 in to oblivion, and has officially set up a global IE6 deathwatch in the hopes of increasing awareness that there are better versions Internet Explorer beyond the version 6 that used to be shipped along with Windows XP.

Friends don’t let friends use Internet Explorer 6 (IE6)

“10 years ago a browser was born,” Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 6 Countdown site says. “It’s name was Internet Explorer 6. Now that we’re in 2011, in an era of modern web standards, it’s time to say goodbye. This website is dedicated to watching Internet Explorer 6 usage drop to less than 1% worldwide, so more websites can choose to drop support for Internet Explorer 6, saving hours of work for web developers.”

Microsoft pegs global usage of IE6 at 12 percent as of Feburary 2011 and wants it to drop to 1 percent. So ever wondered why is it still so high? As per Microsoft’s own IE6 Countdown, China is the biggest shareholder of maintaining the IE6 culture, with 34.5 percent of users using IE6. South Korea follows second with 24.8 percent. Norway and Finland get the prize for most progressive and updated, with both countries clocking in at less than 1 percent.

The countdown website also includes details of IE6 share by country, updated on a monthly basis; the software giant says it will celebrate as countries dip under the 1 percent mark. Microsoft urged website owners to display the IE6 countdown banner on their sites, and urged everyone to educate acquaintances of the dangers. “Friends don’t let friends use Internet Explorer 6,” Microsoft said.

Some facts About IE6: IE 6 came out a few weeks before the Twin Towers fell. It came out before the Nintendo GameCube. It came out before the first iPod.

Interestingly, Microsoft is getting ready to introduce Internet Explorer 9 in the coming weeks and must be hoping the drop of IE6 usage will help them get some early-adopters of IE9. At any rate, with Microsoft’s Kill IE6 campaign, it certainly appears that this is time for IE6 to retire and go home; no more excuses! What do you think? And more importantly, what are you going to do to contribute to this campaign?

Apparently, Rovia is working on a version of the game for Windows Phone 7, but gave no release date. As to why there’s been such a delay in the game being released for Windows Phone 7, Rovia’s Peter Vesterbacka strongly implied the delay was on Microsoft’s end, saying, “Let’s just say, Microsoft has a lot of lawyers.“

This hiccup, however, has fortunately nothing to do with the fact that Microsoft unlawfully used the Angry Birds logo (i.e. without Rovio’s consent) on its website last October as part of their promotion for the launch of Windows Phone 7 (WP7). But even at that time, Rovio had made clear that they were willing to work with Microsoft on a WP7 version of their game.

And now it seems all their differences have been put aside as Rovio’s Peter Vesterbacka claims that “there’s no bad blood between the two companies.“

The 3D version of Angry Birds will be produced in three-dimensional (3D) for Nintendo 3DS and 3D Optimus LG. Vesterbacka also confirmed the company is working on a 3D version of the game, though he gave no details about a launch date or a platform. “We’ve built a lot of 3D games before,” Vesterbacka said, “it’s not like it’s a lot of learning in order to recreate the technology with Angry Birds.”

It is worth mentioning that today Angry Birds is one of the most phenomenal games in the gaming universe. Until now the game has been downloaded 12 million times on various platforms for gadgets like the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. As for the version of Android, the game is recorded has been downloaded 5 million times since its release in October 2010. Angry Birds was recently awarded “Best Mobile App” and “App of the Year on the Apple Platform” from the Mobile World Congress.

In the mean time, a release date for neither the Windows Phone 7 version of Angry Birds, nor the 3D version, has not yet been confirmed. No details were released about pricing. The game cost 99 cents for the iPhone, and is free and ad-supported on Android.

TechChunks asked its old friend Google about “XBox Scratch Disks” and was informed that there were more than 260,000 entries concerning this issue. Sure, not all of them will be genuine, new or even true – but how many issues does one manufacturer have to see its customers endure before it chooses to fix the problem? If you have concerns about genuity of this issue then head over to Wikipedia. Wikipedia, has a great section devoted solely to the problems suffered by XBox 360 owners, which you can find here.

People seems to have been experiencing this problem of scratches around their disc ever since the Xbox Kinext 360 released. Turning the console while the disc is running is a sure way to accomplish this scratch. But how does it happen if your 360 is stationary? This surprises me from a company as accomplished as Microsoft. At 50 dollars a pop for games, I wonder how much money Xbox Kinect 360 gamers may have just thrown away…

Xbox 360′s are made with a relatively cheap disc drive that allows vibration from your feet to move that disc drive ever so slightly. Mix this with Kinect’s constant requirement to move and jump around and you can have a scratched disc! Sadly, if the issue is real and is related to vibrations from bouncing Kinect users, then it could take several months to spot any trend. We are crossing our fingers and hoping that this won’t turn out to be an international epidemic.

While Microsoft enables the world to communicate with PCs, it seems to have been strangely non-committal about the problem of “Whose responsibility is it to replace disks which have been scratched by an XBox 360 – when the manufacturer has ample evidence that the problem is not an isolated one”.

You should probably check out: Ultimate Survival Guide To Xbox 360 Kinect [Top 5 Tips For New Users]

If you have ever suffered from XDisc, let us know. Also, we’re keen to hear from you if you have any legal opinion about damage to 3rd party disks (i.e. NOT from Microsoft Game Studio) which are scratched during normal operation of an XBox 360 during the first year of use. We are sure, this issue is gonna do lot more damage to the reputation of Microsoft and Xbox Kinect 360 than the damage caused to the Xbox game discs! What do you think?