Microsoft has confirmed that the Kinect motion control system has hit its first major milestone today, reaching 1 million in unit sales.

The accessory went on sale in the U.S. and Canada just 10 days ago, and in the E.U. last week.

As a standalone device, Microsoft sells the system for $150. The software giant says it expects to sell 5 million by the end of the year.

Kinect is headed to broader Asia and finally Japan starting this week.

Microsoft sells Kinect as part of console bundles or standalone.

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The HP Slate 500 tablet is seeing stronger demand than expected, say multiple sources, with HP having trouble keeping up.

HP showed off the Slate at CES in January, and even shelved plans to release it before reviving it late in the summer.

The tablet sells for $800 and is dubbed as an "enterprise-only" device.

HP wanted to launch the tablet on November 12th but all pre-orderers are now seeing a two-week delay. The company says they do not have "on-hand stock" to complete orders.

"Due to high demand on the portable system you have selected we will not be able to fulfill the order from on hand stock, therefore we have routed your order to manufacturing for your product to be built. The average lead time to get these portables ready to ship may vary from 10 to 15 business days," reads the note.

One source says the company only had 5000 in supply but received over 9000 pre-orders. Angry customers are even being offered up to $100 off of the device for waiting.

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Google CEO Eric Schmidt has shown off the upcoming Nexus S device today at the Web 2.0 summit, finally confirming that the device at least exists.

It will launch via T-Mobile, likely before the end of the year.

Outside of those facts, Schmidt would only call the Nexus S an "unannounced phone" from "an unannounced manufacturer" although most leaks seem to indicate it will come from Samsung.

The CEO also confirmed that Android 2.3 Gingerbread is coming within the "next few weeks" and definitely before Christmas.

A new key technology for Google is apparently the addition of NFC chips, a standard that should make commerce even easier than swiping a physical credit card.

For more info on NFC, check here: NFC

Pic via Engadget

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According to Microsoft Interactive Entertainment Business CFO Dennis Durkin, gamers of the Xbox 360 are using the console less and less for actual gaming, with the console being used to play games only 60 percent of the time now.

Non-gaming activities include streaming movies, streaming music, Internet browsing, Twitter, Facebook and more.

"What we found is the core gamer might be the person who brought the console into the house, but as you widen the choices of content, it broadens what people can do with the system," added Durkin (via Cnet).

Xbox Live subscribers also spend an average of three hours online, every day, notes Durkin.

Microsoft recently upped the price of a Gold subscription to XBL by 20 percent, citing heavily increased infrastructure costs, thanks mainly to a large increase in streaming.

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Yesterday we reported that Windows Phone 7 devices like the Samsung Focus could not have their storage easily upgraded, as you will need special "Certified for Windows Phone 7" microSDHC cards.

Owners who attempt to update with a "regular" microSD card run the risk of messing up their phones, with AT&T even going as far as to put a sticker on the microSD card holding bracket with the capital letters "STOP!"

Today, however, SanDisk has confirmed the first "certified" card, with Samsung's support pages saying the following:

Compatible micro SD cards will be branded as "Windows Phone 7 Compatible" on the packaging. Approved cards can be obtained from the manufacturer or carrier. (The SanDisk 8GB class 2 micro SD card has been certified.)

The company also warns that once you use the card in your WP7 device, it will become unusable for other devices.

Says Samsung (via EWM):

Once inserted and properly formatted, the memory card becomes an inseparable part of the phone. A micro SD card inserted into a Windows Phone 7 device, and integrated into the device's file system, is intended to be a permanent modification to the device. Once a micro SD card has been integrated into a Windows Phone 7 device's file system, it will no longer be readable or writable on any other devices such as computers, cameras, printers, and so on. This includes an inability to format the micro SD card for use in these devices.

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After years of negotiations, Apple has secured rights to the Beatles catalog of music, says WSJ, with the company expected to announce the deal tomorrow.

Negotiations between Apple, EMI, and the Beatles had been ongoing for years, with a deal being ironed out just last week.

That being said, the sources also say that while the deal is done, the Beatles or Apple could change plans at the last minute.

The two companies had long been in a legal dispute thanks to the name "Apple." In 1978, the Beatles sued Apple, claiming the computer maker was infringing on the band's trademark. When the Beatles started, they worked under Apple Records, which was owned by the arts-promotion company Apple Corps. Beatles albums all had a picture of an apple (the fruit) on them, similar to the logo of the technology company.

If accurate, Apple would have scored a major deal, as the Beatles have so far not made their music legally available digitally on any platform with the exception of some limited edition flash drives.

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The devs that created PSJailbreak have revealed breaking news today, a downgrading software that will allow PS3 users with firmwares above 3.41 to jailbreak their consoles.

PSDowngrade says jailbreaking is now open to all 44 million PS3 owners.

The original PSJailbreak device cost over $100, but soon an open-source variant was released, giving would-be jailbreakers a chance to open up their systems using devices they may already own, such as Dual Shock controllers, Sansa players, iPods and USB Dev boards.

PSDowngrade software can be installed on pre-existing PSJailbreak devices and will downgrade your firmware to 3.41, or any other previous firmware.

For those that want it, you can downgrade to 3.15 and get back OtherOS Linux support.

The devs also say: "[PSDowngrade is] completely safe to use, and does not void your warranty. PS Downgrade is completely undetecable by manufacturer, there is no history or log of your downgrade."

PSJailbreak + PSDowngrade costs $125.

Check it here: PS Downgrade

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