Starting today, players who want to partake in online Mario Kart 7 races need to download the free patch for the game released a couple of days ago on Nintendo’s eShop. The Mario Kart 7 Version 1.1 patch removes three notable shortcut exploits in the Maka Wuhu, Wuhu Loop, and Bowser Castle 1 race tracks when the game is played online. These glitches allow players to skip entire laps or get transported too far ahead, giving them an edge over their competition, forcing many to either join in on the shortcut or wind up in last place.

This update is the first one of its kind Nintendo has rolled out since it announced plans to do so earlier this year. In Japan, the next batch of games to be patched include Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance and New Love Plus. Its latest 3DS firmware update now allows Nintendo to update individual software over the internet, something its competitors have been doing for years.

Sony today announced Facebook integration on the PlayStation 3 via firmware update 3.1, which is thankfully available today.

On the heels of Microsoft’s 2009 Fall Dashboard update, which also brought the ole’ Fbook to Xbox gamers, Sony said this move is “the first phase of a variety of new features to further connect and enhance the online social experiences of PlayStation®3 (PS3â„¢) computer entertainment system owner.”

Download the new firmware and let us know what you think about stalking keeping track of spying on staying connected with your friends now on your TV via your PS3.

Source: Joystiq

The folks over in Cupertino flipped the switch on the iPhone 3.0 firmware update just a short while ago, so it’s time to fire up iTunes, plug your phone in, and get the 230MB update so you can have cool new features like MMS messaging “" oh wait, we’re not getting that until the end of the summer. Well, you can always get data tethering “" oh wait, AT&T hasn’t announced any plans to offer tethering in the US.

OK, so obviously those are a couple disappointments, but we’re still getting landscape keyboards across all apps, system-wide spotlight, and push notifications (as soon as the app developers implement them) among many other improvements. A scan of the Twit-scape shows that there are speedy downloads and no major hiccups for people installing. So give it a go, and let us know how it works for you. We forgot our cord at home today, so we won’t be installing until tonight.

Update (3:31 p.m.): Looks like we spoke too soon. It appears that while Apple’s download servers had plenty of capacity, the activation servers couldn’t handle the rush of people itching for iPhone 3.0, and many people are stuck with an updated, but non-active, shiny brick. It could be a while before the activation servers come back up, so everyone will likely have to just be patient.

Monday we reported that Guitar Hero guitars worked in Rock Band 2 and that the Nyko FrontMan Guitar now needed to be set to “Guitar Hero” mode in order to work in Rock Band 2 — and indeed it does not work at all in “Rock Band” mode set on the guitar’s receiver.s

We brought this to the attention of Nyko, and upon further investigation, they found that a recent PS3 firmware update is causing the FrontMan input mechanism to change. When playing Rock Band II on the PS3 with firmware version 2.52, setting the FrontMan dongle to “Rock Band” causes the guitar to not work with the game. Versions prior to this firmware work just fine, as does Rock Band I.

Full statement from Nyko:

It has come to our attention that a recent firmware update for the PlayStation3, version 2.52, has caused some changes to the input mechanism of the Nyko Technologies FrontMan guitar.

Nyko Technologies is committed to improving the gaming experience with the best quality peripherals available on the market, combined with unique value-add features that cannot be found on any other product at the time of launch. We regret that the latest firmware may cause some trouble to Rock Band II players using the FrontMan, but we fully acknowledge this issue and provide the simple afore-mentioned solution. We will continue to do our best in providing gamers with accessories that they can enjoy with the best games, and our customer support team is prepared to provide assistance to ensure a great experience with our products.

What appeared to be a legitimate iPhone application, “iPhone firmware 1.1.3 prep,” turned out to be a piece of malicious software intended to ruin functionality on affected phones.

The programmer of this dangerous piece of code was an eleven-year-old boy.

Using the installer.app feature on the iPhone, users can access the diverse world of third-party applications. The malware in question passed itself off an update at www.jmwiki.com for applications including Erica’s Utilities, OpenSSH, Launcher and Doom. After downloading and installing the file via the iPhone’s installer.app, the malware displayed the word, “shoes” and proceeded to remove files critical to iPhone functionality.

Though by malware standards the virus was fairly tame, McAfee Avert Labs blogger Jimmy Shah noted that the piece of software highlights an important security concern with iPhone, one that depends entirely on the vigilance of well-informed users.

McAfee recommends users only acquire software only from trusted sources and install only official firmware updates.

After the child’s ISP was informed of the problem, his father was contacted and the site hosting the malicious application was taken down.