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.”

That’s a lot of rockin’. I hope some of you are taking it easy now. As things stand right now, Rock Band has 614 songs available from 269 artists, 11 full albums, and a buttload of revenue. More revenue than all other games in 2008.

For those of you keeping score, we are talking $1 billion in total North American retail sales, with 40 million tracks sold. Plus Rock Band and Rock Band 2 have won 50 industry awards. Frankly I’m surprised you can’t all hear each other rocking all over the continent.

You knew it was coming. They’ve been dumb for too long. But it makes perfect sense for cash registers to get an IQ upgrade soon, and that’s what the Intelligent Cash Registers concept is all about. They are supposed to remember who you are know what your interests are.

Intel is going to release a prototype at the National Retail Federation show in New York on Sunday. It’s actually a collaboration between Intel and Frog Design. Frog Design will handle the hardware end, making sure its 3″ touchscreen terminal functions with Intel’s latest processors. The device will feature RFID card compatibility and rely on the Internet to up-sell and appeal to your impulse buying.

The idea behind the Motorola Sparrow is to provide retail stores with a mobile point of sale device that solves increased service demands from consumers and decentralizes the check out point, so you can get out as quick as you can.

It’s got a scanner, point of sale system, RFID, communication and credit card reading capabilities all in one mobile device. The front and back of the Sparrow are touch-sensitive for ease of use and navigation. This is a huge improvement of an old idea. It would be great to see in the retail world. It looks kinda sexy even.