Microsoft Sells A Million Xbox Kinects

Microsoft says it has sold 1 million Xbox Kinects in 10 days, giving the company a badly needed hit in the consumer electronics market as the holiday shopping season approaches.

The company reported Monday that it was on track to sell 5 million units of the hands-free, motion-sensing controller by the end of the year. Microsoft this month raised its original sales forecast of 3 million units to 5 million.

Microsoft launched the Kinect Nov. 4 in North America, and six days later in Europe. The company plans to release the device in Asia Nov. 18 and in Japan Nov. 20. By the end of the holiday shopping season, the Kinect will be available through 60,000 retailers in 38 countries, with up to 17 Kinect games also available, according to the company.

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Tech review 2007

2007 memorable releases.

Getting Slim

Asus EEE PC: US$399 with built-in camera; microcenter.com, costco.com

The new Asus EEE laptop PC isn't trying to replace your desktop computer. It's just enough computer to let you surf the Web, exchange instant messages, blog and watch YouTube clips on the go, using the Linux, Windows XP-compatible operating systems.

Slightly bigger than a portable DVD player, the EEE and its 7-inch screen are made for portability, not for editing movies or composing and playing symphonies. Asus -- a renowned Tawainese maker of high-quality computer parts -- has marketing materials aiming the EEE laptop at tweens and teens, but adults who aren't power users should take a look too.

"BioShock": $60, rated M for Xbox 360 gamers age 17 and older

You've discovered Rapture, a rusting underwater utopia where gene therapy once guaranteed everyone could be perfect. For the imperfect, there were plastic surgeons! In Rapture, everything was possible. Even for the plastic surgeon who grew tired of making people perfect and instead explored his inner Picasso, turning patients into living Cubist works of art.

What the heck is going on here? Why are mutants and robotic sentries trying to kill you? To stay alive long enough to find out, use your wits and trigger finger in this unique, ingenious, intelligent, bloody and engrossing game.

Grasping the Future

iPod touch: $299 for 8 GB version; $399 for 16 GB version; apple.com/ipod

While just about everyone was ga-ga over the Apple iPhone last summer, I knew it wouldn't be long before the iPhone's slick touch screen would show up on an iPod. A few short months later, bang, came the iPod touch.

It was an iPhone without the phone, responding to your finger to play your music and videos on its beautiful screen. Swipe your forefinger across the screen and the Touch swiftly scrolls through your list of tunes or speeds through pictures of album covers. Quickly spread out your thumb and forefinger while touching the display, and the touch resizes a photo from small to large. With its powerful, simple interface, holding the touch feels like holding the future.

Samsung P2 media player: $200 for 4 GB version; $250 for 8 GB version; available at major consumer electronics stores

The Samsung P2 is a little bundle of dynamite. Not only does it play music -- including music from subscription services such as Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) and Rhapsody -- it handles video, smoothly playing files that you copy from your computer. The hidden speakers sound surprisingly large and full, for those times when you don't want to listen through the headphones.

TV in my Pocket

LG VX9400 and V Cast Mobile TV: $150 with online rebate and 2-year contract; V Cast service starts at $15 a month; VerizonWireless.com

Available only in about 40 cities right now, V Cast Mobile TV offers eight channels with a mix of live and delayed programming from CBS, FOX, NBC Entertainment, NBC News, Comedy Central, ESPN, MTV, Nickelodeon.

I watched on the LG VX9400 phone and was struck by the video's sharpness -- it felt as if I were watching a miniature HDTV. Under an overcast sky, the screen wasn't that viewable, and on sunny days, forget it. However, in a car or on a bus or indoors, reception and clarity were great. Ask Verizon if the service is available in your area.

RCA EZ-201 pocket camcorder: $130; MySmallWonder.com

The RCA Small Wonder pocket camcorder continues to be one of my favorite gadgets. It is to video cameras what point-and-shoots are to digital cameras -- perfect for capturing those "Wait! Let me get my camera!" moments. With only a few buttons, it's easy to use and grabs up to 60 minutes of video that you can download to your computer and send to family and friends.

It's not perfect -- no manual controls, weak low-light performance, no lens cap and it can turn on accidentally when kept in a crowded bag (so store it in the included soft pouch) -- but for candid video, it's the business .

Gamer's Delight

"Super Mario Galaxy": $50, rated E for all Wii gamers

Deep inside, everyone is an Italian plumber. You might disagree until you play the fun and beautiful "Super Mario Galaxy" video game on the Wii. With the controller in your right hand and the tag-along Nunchuck controller in the other, you'll feel you are Mario as your gestures send the pint-size plumber bouncing and leaping through space to save his beloved Princess Peach.

Without realizing it, you're bending your knees and waving your elbows as you add as much English as possible to help Mario soar through space. It might sound dumb until you play the game to find out just how utterly entertaining it is.

"Rock Band": $170 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions; $120 for the PlayStation 2 version; rated E for all gamers

The great "Guitar Hero" series of games lacked one thing: a drum solo. "Rock Band" fixes that in style, by including a drum set, a guitar and a microphone so up to four players (with an optional second guitar) can jam together.

Score big by playing classic rock hits in sync as the singer hits the right notes. Don't forget the drum solo. Of course, one musician can strike out on his own as the drummer, guitarist or singer for three computer-controlled bandmates, but don't expect big-money reunion tours in "Rock Band." The one-for-all, all-for-one nature of this game sets it apart.

Microsoft adresses the "Red Ring of Death"

In another setback for Microsoft Corp.'s unprofitable entertainment and devices division, the company says it is planning to spend at least $1 billion to repair serious problems with its Xbox 360 video game console.

Microsoft declined to detail the problems that have caused an onslaught of "general hardware failures" in recent months but said Thursday it will extend the warranty on the consoles to three years.

The glitches, and the bad publicity, could weigh the company down as it claws for market share in the highly competitive console market. In May, the Xbox 360 ranked No. 2 in unit sales behind Nintendo's Wii, but still beat out Sony's Playstation 3, according to data from NPD Group.

"We don't think we've been getting the job done," said Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's entertainment and devices division, which also makes the Zune digital music player, a distant competitor to Apple Inc.'s powerhouse iPod. "In the past few months, we have been having to make Xbox 360 console repairs at a rate too high for our liking."

Bach said the company made some manufacturing and production changes that he expects will reduce Xbox 360 hardware lockups, but he declined to identify the problems or say which others might remain. Microsoft said it will record a charge of up to $1.15 billion for its fourth fiscal quarter, which ended June 30, to cover the additional costs associated with the warranty extension.