The Xbox 360 is about six-years old. The PlayStation 3 and Wii almost the same age. Microsoft and Sony had said that their current consoles will have 10-year life cycle and it looks like they were pretty on target. A Wii 2 is even expected this year to compete with the 360 and PS3′s Kinect and PlayStation Move motion controllers.

Now we have word that Square Enix, makers of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest to name a few, are already planning to open a 100 staff studio in Canada next year. This way they will be ready for the next generation consoles and get their games out accordingly.

You crazy kids today with your crazy custom artwork on your computer lids. When I was a kid our fancy spreadsheet boxes were plain black or white. And get the hell off my lawn. Dell has just brought the Inspiron 15 into the Design Studio fold, so you’ll be able to select graphics from a bunch of artists to dress up your system.

Most of the artwork is priced around $60, but that could vary. Dell’s also launching a new FastTrack next-day delivery service for pre-configured machines. The company says that it’s constantly tracking orders and will be able to keep the most popular models on hand.

Dell is now offering their Studio XPS 16 in the color of Merlot Red. So if you’ve been putting off your purchase to wait for just the right red, you can go ahead and order up. The XPS 16 isn’t the only model getting the Merlot treatment, the XPS 13 is getting it as well.

Pricing will be the same as with the other colors. Merlot Red will be available as an option on both models from today onwards for those in the US and Canada. Those in Brazil will get the Merlot Red option for only the Studio XPS 13.

I have several Dell LCDs in my home office and I have like them all. I can’t say the same about some of the other LCDs I have tried out or owned. The Dell offerings are good though and I especially like my 30-inch high res gaming screen from Dell.

Dell has announced a new LCD that is available right now in Hong Kong only. We can expect to see the screen show up stateside soon or later though. The low cost 20-inch LCD is designed to match the look of the new Studio and XPS line of desktop computers.

Dell’s new Studio XPS laptops have arrived on the company’s store without even a press release. The 1340 is obviously the Studio XPS 13 incher, while the 1640 is the 16-inch version of the leather accented system. Both machines are lookers, and share the same $1,199 pricepoint, with Core 2 Duo processors and the typical options.

The base model of the 1340 includes a P8400 processor, Vista Home Premium, a 13.3-inch WXGA LCD, 2 megapixel webcam, 4GB of DDR3 SDRAM, 320GB 7200rpm SATA drive, slot-loading DVD burner and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M G graphics. The 1640 is similar, but with ATI Mobility RADEON M86XT graphics.

The computer industry is hurting in the current economic climate globally. Even the largest PC makers like Dell have had a hard time maintaining the levels of profit common before the global economic crisis. One of the ways Dell is luring consumers who are shopping for new notebooks to its doors is with more customization options.

Dell announced today that its Design Studio now has more than 100 different design options for customizing its Studio 15 and Studio 17 notebooks. The Design Studio allows shoppers to choose any of the artwork from the catalog and view the notebook from all angles before they order.

After the success of the Studio Hybrid mini PC, Dell today launched two new entries to the Studio line of desktops. The Studio Desktop and slimmer Studio Slim Desktop. Starting at $549, systems start out with 2.53GHz Core2Duo processors, 2GB of RAM and integrated graphics, but include HDMI out and are ready for Blu-ray. You have to hand it to Dell, at 4 inches tall on its side, a Studio Slim isn’t going to annoy you. You can order one today, but systems are listed as shipping only in early October.

Everything has to look stylish now, even the old shredder. The 5 Sheet Crosscut Studio Shredder from Black and Decker might actually look good in your home office and not immediately scream shredder. Looks like they would go well with certain Dell laptops. With a 4″ space saving, slim design you can put it anywhere.

It features sliding feet that stabilize it so it won’t fall over and die. Comes in the black and red. There is a cost to it’s slimness however. It only shreds 5 sheets of paper… Hmmm. Good for the slow or small office then. It retails for $49.99.

Dell Studio’s 15″ and 17″ laptops have been worked over with Mike Ming’s abstract art, with new designs like “Red Swirl,” “Seaweed,” and “Sunburst,”. They previously released “Bunch O Surfers” and “Sea Sky.” Each piece of artwork is all about the vibrancy of individual colors and brushstrokes. They hope it will make a fashion statement in an otherwise boring world of somewhat plain devices. In other words, your laptop will be louder, colorwise. They are priced from $799 and up, depending on configuration.