Geek of the Week: U.S. CIO Steven VanRoekel is on a mobile mission at CES

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Posting from Las Vegas: The last time we bumped into Steven VanRoekel at the Consumer Electronics Show, he was working for Microsoft, looking to transform the way people use computers in their homes. Today he’s working for President Obama, as the U.S. chief information officer — attending the show as part of his mission of… Read More…

Kinect for Windows: What’s actually happening on Feb. 1 — and what isn’t

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Posting from Las Vegas: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer generated lots of applause and more than a little confusion with this statement Monday night during his Consumer Electronics Show keynote address: “Tonight, I’m thrilled to announce that Kinect is coming to Windows on February 1st, in just a couple of weeks.” People use the Kinect sensor… Read More…

CES: Nokia Lumia 900, two early hands-on observations

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Posting from Las Vegas: Microsoft and Nokia are betting big on the Lumia 900, the Windows Phone officially unveiled here this week at the Consumer Electronics Show. It’s a big phone, with a 4.3 inch screen, coming to AT&T’s 4G LTE network. So what’s it like? The devices were literally tethered to the belts of… Read More…

CES: Dell jumps into the Ultrabook game with XPS 13

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Posting from Las Vegas: This year’s Consumer Electronics Show may well be remembered as the year of the Ultrabook, and Dell took a plunge into the increasingly competitive market this afternoon, appearing at Intel’s news conference to unveil Dell XPS 13. One of the big selling points is its frameless edge-to-edge screen, which means that… Read More…

CES Video: Live-stream your next ski run, from your helmet

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Posting from Las Vegas: Mountable HD cameras from Seattle-based Contour are already popular among extreme sports enthusiasts, allowing them to capture video of their exploits from their own points of view. A new partnership announced by the company today takes it to a new level, adding the option of live streaming video from the cameras,… Read More…

Microsoft Flight hands-on: It’s a blast, and no mere game

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Posting from Las Vegas: The Consumer Electronics Show here this week offers a sneak peek of Microsoft Flight, the successor to the company’s discontinued Flight Simulator franchise. I spent some time playing Microsoft Flight at the company’s CES booth this morning, and if everyone else has as much fun with this thing as I did, the… Read More…

CES Video: Intel’s gigantic interactive ‘lifeform simulator’

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Posting from Las Vegas: OK, so this isn’t something you’re going to see in your living room anytime soon, but the Intel booth here features a pretty dramatic demonstration of the power of everyday computer processors. Before the Consumer Electronics Show opens this morning, we got a sneak peek of the Intel booth, which is… Read More…

Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga: First buzzworthy Windows 8 PC?

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Posting from Las Vegas: Notebooks that convert into tablets aren’t new, but Lenovo is turning heads here at the Consumer Electronics Show this week with a new twist on the concept — or maybe it’s a better to call it a new backflip. Rather than swiveling or popping off, the screen on the company’s newly unveiled… Read More…

CES Videos: The two most unusual moments from Microsoft’s final keynote

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Posting from Las Vegas: Microsoft last night gave its final Consumer Electronics Show keynote address, and it was anything but ordinary. There’s no question that it was memorable. Whether or not that was a good thing is a subject of much debate. First was the retrospective of Microsoft CES keynotes, above, created by remix artist Pogo…. Read More…

Chart: Kinect surpasses 25% of Xbox 360 installed base

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One piece of news disclosed by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer here at the Consumer Electronics Show last night was that cumulative sales of Kinect have surpassed 18 million units since the motion controller for Xbox 360 launched in the fall of 2010. In addition, cumulative Xbox 360 sales have topped 66 million units worldwide, and… Read More…