Looks like someone from a respected UK gaming publisher may have outed some Project Natal launch plans early, which come from closed-door Microsoft meetings in the UK . The information says that Microsoft will be manufacturing 5 million Natals for a worldwide launch in November 2010. Some are standalone, some in 360 bundles.

Natal will apparently cost anywhere from $50-$80 with 14 games included. The price is certainly in the ballpark and doesn’t surprise us. But it’s all just rumor and speculation until Microsoft says it officially.

A new set of documents leaked to Gizmodo show off the Courier’s user interface, which uses everything from multitouch gestures to pen-based handwriting. Looks like the core of the interface is the Smart Agenda, which pulls all your content together like calendar entries, emails, etc in one starting place, described as “Cliff Notes” to the Pagestream “novel.”

The journal looks like it’s searchable in many ways, by time, location, and tags, and it’s all accessed by a multi-button pen. It also features a camera and there’s mention of “books and subscriptions,” so you may be able to use the Courier as an ebook reader as well. None of this is official, but man does it look sweet.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is known to talk about things and then Microsoft has to come back and clarify what he has said. Ballmer had another senior moment yesterday when was allegedly got confused when asked a question about Blu-ray on the Xbox 360.

Ballmer’s comments lead many to believe that Blu-ray accessories were coming for the Xbox 360. Major Nelson reports today that Ballmer was referring to Blu-ray accessories for the PC in his comments and there are no plans to add Blu-ray to the Xbox 360.

If you find yourself in Paris and want a place where you can just chill under the Microsoft brand, you are in luck. Just make your way to 47 Boulevard Sebastopol and enjoy some coffee, some pastry and some Microsoft products.

The Windows 7 Cafe is open. It looks like a cool place to kick back in and they only sell food so you won’t be pressured to buy gear. It’s a great idea as it may just win Microsoft more customers. Like they need them.

Surfacescapes Demo Walkthrough from Surfacescapes on Vimeo.
This is the best use for Microsoft’s Surface multitouch table we’ve seen yet. Recreating the Dungeons and Dragons experience on a tabletop. It’s a work in progress, but it’s pretty stunning. It was created by a team at Carnegie Mellon University. Players move real figurines over virtual battlefields, rolling virtual die to deal damage against the usual wolves and such.

So far they’ve got everything from modeled pieces, spell effects, and tons of nice touches to the terrain and ambient outdoor sound effects. It might remove some of the imagination from the game, but it makes many things easier.

Microsoft is big in the R&D realm for all sorts of things from hardware to software. In fact, the company has the largest R&D budget in the world at over $9 billion according to some reports. Microsoft makes all sorts of computer mice and the firm has unveiled five prototype mice that combine new input methods with tried and true form factors.

The prototype mice were debuted at the UIST conference and combine the typical mouse with multi-touch technology. Microsoft thinks that the new mice can set a new standard for interaction. One of the most interesting is the FTIR Mouse that uses a camera to sense where the user is touching the clear surface and react to the input.

Microsoft’s Courier tablet took us all by surprise. Now an internal video has surfaced showing how Microsoft thinks we’ll use Courier, giving us an overview of the interface and more of Courier’s features. At the core of the Courier is the “infinite journal”, a journal/scrapbook that is endless, presumably bound only by storage. The journal can be published online, and it’s able to be downloaded in three formats: a Courier file, Powerpoint or PDF. There’s also a library where things like subscriptions, notebooks and apps, are stored.

It also shows some more traditional elements like a smart agenda, more defined folder system, universal search and multi-page web browsing. Nothing about viewing content, like watching movies, reading books etc. It looks like Courier is all about creating and writing with a pen, which is not what we are used to, especially when you think about the Apple tablet.

I am not sure how I feel about the companies that tear up perfectly good gadgets to show us what’s inside the shiny case. I guess it’s much better than me having to tear into my own gadget out of morbid curiosity.

The gang over at Rapid Repair has torn their shiny new Zune HD asunder for your viewing pleaser, or displeasure depending on how gadget squeamish you are. It appears that that teardown is relatively easy to accomplish and you are sure to void your warranty if you open your own up.

One of the things that are typical of many webcams that are built into monitors and notebooks is that they suck. The video quality of the cheap webcams inside netbooks for example leaves a lot to be desired. Video is grainy, resolution is poor, and any recorded clips with the camera are choppy.

Microsoft announced a new webcam called the LifeCam Cinema that promises to change all of that. The webcam has 720p resolution and an external mic. The native 720p sensor is perfect for the user who wants to record video to upload to YouTube.

Leaked images and all sorts of rumors have run rampant about Microsoft’s Zune HD. The device is the latest Zune PMP from Microsoft to try to combat the Apple iPod. The Zune HD is aimed directly at the iPod touch.

Microsoft announced today that the player is set to hit store shelves on September 15 and is available for pre-order today. The HD will be offered in 16GB and 32GB capacities and is the first touch screen Zune player.

Right now it’s just a prototype, but Microsoft’s pressure-sensitive keyboard may just make typing more efficient. Think about it, what if font size could be changed just by applying a certain pressure. Typos could be reduced by gauging the pressure applied to simultaneously pressed keys in order to determine which one you intended to press. We see gaming potential too.

Microsoft will be showing it off at the User Interface Software and Technology conference in Canada this October. Students attending will be given a sample keyboard and asked to compete with one another in an effort to find applications for the technology.

For those who missed it, Microsoft hired former Wal-Mart exec David Porter to be its corporate vice president of retail stores in February. So it’s not much of a surprise that stores are on the way. COO Kevin Turner confirmed the plans at the Worldwide Partner Conference in New Orleans yesterday, saying the stores can be expected to open this fall (probably to coincide with the launch of Windows 7?).

He took the gloves off and didn’t mince words about taking the fight to Apple’s doorstep. “Stay tuned, because we’re going to have some retail stores opened up that are opened up right next door to Apple stores.”

Peter Bale, executive producer of MSN recently spoke to the Telegraph and announced that Microsoft will launch a streaming music service “imminently”, by the end of July. Bale said the service will be similar to Spotify, a streaming music service that offers both an ad-supported listening option as well as a premium subscription service with no ads. Bale also added that Microsoft is considering extending the service to the Xbox 360, but he didn’t give any other details.

They are still examining a business model. Apparently the service would let users stream tunes for free as long as they listen to ads every half hour or so. It will be interesting to see how this initiative will tie-in with the company’s Xbox 360 and Zune.

The only Microsoft operating system I can recall being anywhere near as disliked as Vista has been in the tech world was Windows ME. That said I have used Vista since it has launched and other than early driver issues with NVIDIA graphics cards it has given me no problems.

Microsoft is set to launch Windows 7 in the next few months and has detailed the upgrade program that will allow consumers who buy a PC running Windows Vista June 26 or after to get a free upgrade to the equivalent Windows 7 version. Microsoft says to support the upgrade program it will defer 50% of the revenue from sales under the program to upgrade licenses.

While downloading Internet Explorer 8, users found the following message: “Only complete downloads of Windows Internet Explorer 8 through browserforthebetter.com from June 8, 2009 through August 8, 2009 qualify for the charitable donation to Feeding America. Microsoft is donating $1.15 per download to Feeding America up to a maximum of $1,000,000. Meals are used for illustrative purposes only. Meal conversion is effective until June 30th, 2010.”

When you do the math and split $1.15 among 8 users, it means $0.14 per meal. How is that feeding anyone?