With Eye on Xmas, Microsoft Cuts Xbox Price

Microsoft revamping service

(NEWSER) - The latest competition aiming to replace your cable box: Xbox Live. Microsoft is ramping up its online entertainment service starting tomorrow, allowing subscribers to watch a variety of television from their Xbox 360. In addition, rather than the tedious process of using a remote control to search for shows listed on a cable box program guide, Xbox Live users will be able to search with voice commands and hand gestures, if they also have a Kinect. Tomorrow, services that are already available to subscribers—including Netflix and Hulu Plus—will be available via the new retrieval system. More»

It will be out for $249 later this year

(AP) - Sony has unveiled its new portable gaming machine—the PlayStation Vita, a touch-interface and motion-sensitive handheld expected to outplay the enormously successful PlayStation Portable. The Vita will go on sale before the winter holidays, starting at $249. The device will allow gamers to be connected with one another over cellphone networks and Wi-Fi hotspots, and use GPS location-tracking technology. A pricier version will have cellphone service (retails for $299), and buyers will have to subscribe to a cellular data plan. (In the US, Sony will partner exclusively with AT&T.) More»

Handheld DS system will be upgraded eventually

(NEWSER) - Nintendo is planning to release a 3D version of its portable DS system, with one really intriguing twist: there won’t be any glasses. Dubbed the Nintendo 3DS, the company is calling the device the successor to the current DS series. Nintendo won’t reveal any more details until June, and some analysts questioned the timing of the announcement—the new DSi XL goes on sale Sunday, and some fear it could undercut sales. More»

From the improbable to the top secret, it takes all kinds

(NEWSER) - The Business Insider figures you've also wanted to know how your favorite high tech concern got its name. Well, you're in luck! Here goes:

1. SUN Microsystems: It's actually an acronym for Stanford University Network, the school where the founders met.
2. Cisco: Actually not an acronym, as often assumed. It's just San Francisco without the San Fran, which is why the "c" was not capitalized originally.

Child scientist finds 60+ minutes of daily play may cause trouble

(NEWSER) - The repetitive motions involved in playing video games cause joint pain in children, according to a new study by a true expert—an 11-year-old gamer. Deniz Ince, with the help of his rheumatologist dad, studied joint pain among his fellow video game enthusiasts, aged 7 to 12. More than an hour of play per day increased the chance of having pain by 50%, they found. Wii users reported more pain than users of the Xbox or Playstation, regardless of the length of play. More»