It was pretty clear that the latest incarnation of Windows would be available this fall. Now Microsoft has announced the date. The latest version of the Windows operating system, Windows 7, will hit general commercial availability on Oct. 22.

That should give you plenty of time to choose which of the million versions is good for you. Will you be buying a copy?

Looks like Best Buy’s Pre stock for launch day is pretty meager. Distribution is strange to say the least. This shot comes from a poster over on everythingpre’s forums, who posted a bunch of alleged inventory screen shots.

They suggest that Florida and Texas stores are particularly well-off, with several stores expected to get 18, 20 or more, while Illinois stores suggest that you need not bother at all. So, is this fake or not? It could have something to do with how close each store is to Best Buy’s distribution centers. We have no idea. If this is accurate, you can always start driving to Texas or Florida.

One of the more interesting announcements from Nintendo today, was Satoru Iwata announcing the latest health-related peripheral for the Wii. The Wii Vitality Sensor. The purpose of the device is a little confusing and we aren’t sure just how it will be implemented in a game, but here’s the deal.

The device is basically a biorhythm sensor that connects to your finger and transmits your heart rate to the Wii. How will that be used in gameplay? We have no idea. Our guess is that this is more for the Wii Fit Plus.

Nintendo has announced Wii Fit Plus. The new fitness software is planned for release this fall in two versions: bundled with the Wii Balance Board and as a stand-alone. Apparently, the new Wii Fit “moves in an added direction” beyond the original, letting users “create a specific workout program that’s perfect” for them. Six new strength and yoga activities can be tailored to your own tastes, depending on what goals you have. There’s also a revamped interface focused on creating seamless routines of 20, 30, 40 minutes.

Plus will also introduce 15 new minigames, like juggling, skateboarding and a game called “perfect 10″ were players move their hips to select numbers that add up to 10. It was dubbed, “Brain Age for your backside,”.

Nintendo just announced the New Super Mario Bros. Wii. The title will feature multiplayer-friendly gameplay, supporting up to 4 players for some local action. The emphasis is on co-operative play, while maintaining the classic Super Mario look and feel.

You’ll find all the usual warp pipes, hidden areas, and plenty of coins. But there’s some new stuff too, like the Propeller suit, where Mario and others have a propeller attached to their heads. Shake the Wiimote and players can fly in the air.

This is a first. Normally we see PC guts or console guts stuffed into all kinds of things, but they are the result of hackers. This PC-in-a-vase was designed by an actual company, ECS. It’s actually an interesting glimpse into the future, when we will want to hide the PC and have it mesh more with our environment.

It has an Atom 230 system, a 2.5-inch HDD of unknown capacity, a Blu-Ray drive, 1GB of RAM and HDMI out, all in one package. Sometimes you just want a vase in your living space instead of a HTPC.

SilverPac has announced their SilverFrame Advanced Digital Picture Frame (ADPF) at Computex 2009, and this is no cheap photo display, like you are used to seeing in bargain bins. The ADPF runs Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R2 and supports Windows SideShow and Windows Live FrameIt for displaying online content on its 10.1-inch 1024 x 576 touchscreen.

The frame will not only show local photos, play video and stream music from across a network, but it can sync with your calendar, show emails and allow for replies, and view photos from Picasa, Photobucket, Facebook and a Windows Live account. All in one device. Connectivity includes WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.0, infrared (for the remote control), a multiformat memory card slot and both full-sized USB and a micro-USB port.

Panasonic Japan has launched the Viera R series of LCD TV’s which will be available in 7 sizes ranging from 17 inches to 50 inches. With a size range tht wide, there’s something for everybody.

The 37, 32, 20 and 17 inchers will feature a resolution of 1366×768 pixels and come with a 250 Gig hard drive. While the 42, 46 and 50 inchers have a full HD panel and come with a 500GB hard drive. The LCD’s go on sale by July 1 in Japan.

Meet Miffy. This little bunny is all set to give Hello Kitty a run for her money. Apparently Miffy is from Dutch children’s books or something, and has now been made into an mp3 player. The grassy dock is what really sells you on the cuteness.

It’s made by MobiBLU. We don’t have a price or capacity yet, but it should be available this month. Choose this over the evil Hello Kitty, won’t you?

I recently bought a new car that is a convertible with a manual transmission. The problem is that I get too many phone calls and it is impossible to answer the phone and drive a manual transmission car in traffic and there is too much wind noise for speaker phone use.

BlueAnt has announced a new hands free kit called the S1 that might be perfect for my needs. The device clips to the visor of the car and can connect to two phones at the same time. Either phone that rings will be transferred to the S1. The phone can be paired with eight different phones.

There are several important factors to consider when shopping for a new notebook. One of the factors is performance, often as important if not more important than performance is the battery life of the notebook. A great notebook with poor battery life is hard for many users to enjoy.

Acer has announced that its new Timeline notebooks are now available in America. The Timeline series averages over 8 hours of battery life and prices start at $598. The TimelineAS3810T has battery life of 9 hours and 7 minutes. The machine features and Intel Core 2 Duo SU9400 CPU, 13.1-inch LED backlit LCD display, 4GB of RAM, and 500GB HDD among other features. It sells for $899.99.

I am a big fan of Logitech force feedback racing wheels. I have one of the company’s G25 force feedback wheels and it is fantastic. Logitech has made several force feedback racing wheels over the years, but the company hasn’t put its force feedback technology into flight simulation gear until now.

Logitech announced the Flight System G940 today that includes a joystick, dual throttle, and rudder pedals inspired by commercial and military aircraft. The system includes more than 250 possible programmable button combinations that ensure that you don’t have to remove your hands form the controls.

As computer processors get faster one of the inevitable side effects of the increase in performance is that the processors run hotter. Many PC enthusiasts already know that to overclock their CPU too much means that they need better cooling and liquid is often the first step taken past air cooling.

Corsair has announced a new high performance liquid cooling system called the H50. The system is completely enclosed so there is no refilling or messing about with coolant near your computer. The device is compatible with both AMD and Intel processors and features a 120mm radiator and a copper plate for the CPU.

The Mobinnova élan netbook, a NVIDIA Tegra-powered machine, weighs just two pounds, but can deliver 720p video on its 8.9-inch screen. We aren’t sure what OS it’s running, but we do know that it has an “innovative 3D graphical user interface,” supports hardware-accelerated Flash video, has both WiFi and 3G, and can play video for five to ten hours on a single charge.

NVIDIA claims that its Tegra platform can play an audio file continuously for 600 hours (thats 25 days!) assuming that the display is turned off. Take a deep breath. We don’t know what the pricing looks like after all. Mobinnova’s Tegra announcements also include the T8 tablet, which repackages the élan in a 10.1-inch tablet form factor with GPS and HDMI out.

It’s no surprise that Intel unveiled a bunch of new processors at Computex. The T9900, P9700, P8800, SU2700 processors and GS40 chipset. The T9900 Core 2 Duo stands out from the crowd, clocked at a fast 3.06 GHz, which makes it the first Penryn-based Core 2 Duo chip to accomplish that. The P9700 and P8800 are “performance kickers” that pack a whole lot of super-fast cache memory.

The SU2700 is aimed at ultra-thin laptops, which is where Intel predicts a “boom” this year. Decent performance and low-power is the key here.