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.

Not surprisingly, the launch of Windows 7 has triggered at least a temporary spike in PC sales according to Morgan Stanley analyst Katheryn Huberty. Computer sales jumped about 40 percent during the week of Microsoft’s OS launch compared to the same period a year earlier.

That number is in part offset by buyers holding off on their purchases during the previous two weeks, when sales dropped 29 percent and then 2 percent versus 2008, but is well above earlier weeks, when sales were up by at most 19 percent.

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.

Good news and bad news. The good news is that the Xbox 360 Wireless N Adapter will be available on November 3rd. The bad news is that it will cost you $100 to get your Xbox 360 online using it.

Yep, looks like that $100 rumored price we heard about awhile back is right on target, according to GameStop. I don’t think they are going to sell very many at that price. Is this Microsoft trying to offset the recent price drop of the console itself?

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.

Gizmodo has the skinny on the Pink.Project Pink is Microsoft’s new phone for regular joes. We heard rumors about the software months ago, but the hardware, as well as who’s making it has been a mystery. Anyhow, check out the first pictures of these Pink phones, the Turtle and Pure.

The phones will be made by Sharp and Pink will be aimed at the same market that uses the Sidekick. The Turtle kind of looks like a toy Palm Pre, while the Pure seems like your typical standard slider. Both are very…round-ish, with soft angles. Obviously plastic.

According to a recent report from Gizmodo on Tuesday, Microsoft is confirming rumors that it actually does have a new dual-screen tablet in the works, codenamed Courier. According to the article and a short demo video, the Courier is a real thing and is more like a “booklet” than a tablet as it folds together and has two interactive touch screens side-by-side with loads of fast functionality.

The project has apparently been kept under pretty tight wraps with very few, both inside and outside of Microsoft, with knowledge about it. In fact, rumors are that the team working on the project, led by J. Allard (a designer involved in the Zune and the Xbox) has been kept away from the main Redmond campus to help keep it secret.

Microsoft has confirmed the 802.11n adapter for the Xbox 360. Which is great and all, but that’s about it. No mention of price or a launch date. The big M did say that the adapter will offer “another choice to consumers,” which probably means that the original adapter will be around for a while, probably for a cheaper price.

So it’s confirmed, but that’s about all we’ve got. We pretty much knew that already. We’ll let you know more when we know more.

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.

Modern Warfare 2 fans have something else to smile about. Infinity Ward has confirmed Microsoft’s plans for a 250GB Xbox 360 Elite with details of a special bundle for the game. The Modern Warfare 2 Limited Edition bundle includes the mentioned added capacity along with a custom paint job on the console. There’s also two wireless gamepads and of course the game itself.

The bundle should already be available for pre-order for $399, which is a great buy when you price each of the items separately. No word on when the console will hit stores. Microsoft also isn’t saying whether it will have any other 250GB versions.

The new Zune HD arrives on Tuesday in the U.S., and if you haven’t already pre-ordered from Amazon, just enter the right coupon codes at Dell and you can save $43 on the 32GB model and $33 on the 16GB model.

That’s 15% off with free two-day shipping. It probably won’t arrive by Tuesday, but you’re getting a great deal. So grab your credit card, or fire up your PayPal account and check out LogicBUY for the code.

It’s hard to make a keyboard sexy. I mean, it is what it is, and it has to be comfortable and not injure you terribly bad, while maintaining a size that’s also comfortable. So, we really have to give props to Microsoft on this one.

The new Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard is sexy, curvy and just plain looks pleasant. It even has a sexy little numpad that’s like a sidecar. The keyboard is thin enough to slip into a manila envelope. It’s as thick as a AAA battery at the back, thinner than that in front.

As expected, the rumors were true. This Friday, the Xbox 360 Elite will drop $100 to $300 with no HDMI cable included. While the mid-range 360 Pro will drop down to $250 from $300. The Pro will also be phased-out at this price.

Then there’s the $300 120GB Elite and the $200 Arcade, which comes with five games and 256MB memory. Let the war begin. Sony’s new PS3 Slim is the same price as the Xbox Elite. And the 80GB and 160GB PS3s are now cut to $300 and $400.