Hardware

Microsoft unveiled its long-awaited new game and entertainment console today, the Xbox One.

The third generation of Microsoft's console, the Xbox One integrates an advanced technical architecture with an all-new design meant to give users a personalized experience that responds almost instantly to their voice and gesture commands.

The new console, black and sleek with a horizontal slit across its center and a modern Xbox logo, features 5 billion transistors, 8GB of RAM, USB 3.0, Wi-Fi direct, a Blu-Ray drive, and a native 64-bit architecture. In addition, it has a 1080P HD RGB camera and an all-new game … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--If you don't think a playable Lego electric guitar, complete with the ability to play different notes and adjust pitch, is possible, you don't have enough faith.

Later this year, Lego will launch the third generation of its popular Mindstorms programmable robotics platform. Known as EV3, the third-generation kit will come with plans for 17 different models. But 12 of those models were created by members of an elite, hand-picked, team of Lego community members.

Now, with the eighth-annual Maker Faire hitting the San Francisco Bay Area this weekend, Lego is unveiling three of the 12 community-created … Read more

Attention early adopters: That first-edition Google Glass hardware is likely to be gathering dust a few years from now as the technology gets seriously revved (or falls victim to paranoid lawmakers and pub owners), but don't toss it out!

If an auction later this month of computing and other technological blasts from the past is any indication, it could pay off to hold on to those obsolete gadgets that were once on the cutting edge, even just briefly.

The highlight of the sale, planned for May 25 by German auction house Breker, is an original, working Apple-1, one of only 200 that were produced and 50 that are believed to still exist. Last year, Sotheby's auctioned off just an original Apple-1 motherboard for $374,500.… Read more

There's a tablet for just about everyone. There are tablets for kids, tablets for early adopters, and tablets for the masses. Now, there's a tablet specifically designed for seniors who are skeptical about technology.

The Claris Companion may be the most welcoming-looking tablet ever created. It has rounded edges, a thick bamboo bezel, and a happy little stand that props it up. Speakers are built into the front so there's no mystery about where the sound is coming from. There's none of that shiny, futuristic aluminum and plastic look that's so popular. This tablet will settle right in with more traditional home decor.… Read more

TiVo users who want to install the company's PC software have until June 5 to grab it for free.

The TiVo Desktop for PC program lets you listen to your music and view your photos on your TV. You can also transfer shows recorded on your TiVo box to your PC. But in less than a month, that version will be no more.

Starting June 6, TiVo users will have to pony up $15.99 (down from $24.95) to buy the TiVo Desktop Plus software. The Plus edition offers all of the features of the free version. But … Read more

The next Xbox -- still code-named Durango -- has never been formally confirmed by Microsoft as even being in production. But that certainly hasn't stopped the rumors from flowing.

The most recent crop suggests that the moniker for the so-called Xbox 720 will actually be the Xbox Infinity, with a logo (including the tagline Infinite Entertainment, Infinite Possibilities) showing up for a time on Reddit, according to a report in Forbes.

The other new rumor surrounds the controller, which is said to have a touch panel similar to that of the PlayStation 4. Not only will it allow gestures, it's also apparently clickable, thus working like the d-pad does on the current generation of controllers.

None of this sounds outside the realm of possibility, but the Forbes story does note that a second "official leak" has revealed a totally different logo, with no mention of Infinity at all. … Read more

I'm taking spring cleaning seriously this year. I've already Craigslisted a good chunk of my furniture and hosted a massive yard sale. Now, I'm breaching the depths of uncharted waters in my closets and desk drawer. I'm going after all those old gadgets I've been hanging onto for years. What wonders will I discover?

I have old cell phones. I have old computers. I have sickening piles of cords tangled about each other in knots that may never be unraveled. Why do I do this to myself? Do I really think I'm going to need to make a call on that 2002 LG VX-10 with the extended battery pack? It's time for it to go, along with all the other dusty old tech that hasn't felt a surge of electricity in years.… Read more

Japan is already known for integrating robots into everyday life, whether it's giant fembots in Tokyo's red-light district or shampooing robots that handle salon duties. Now, students from the University of Tsukuba have created a robotic girlfriend coat for lonely fellas.

The Riajyuu Coat features a belt around the midsection. Motors on the back tighten the belt, squeezing the wearer to replicate a girlfriend coming up from behind and giving him a hug. A set of headphone lets the guy listen to a high-pitched woman talking at him, apologizing for being late, and just generally coming off as cute, in an anime sort of way.… Read more

Should you play nice when you're doing well? Or should you seek the jugular, machete in hand?

It seems now that Samsung is in a confident position, it no longer needs to mock Apple. BlackBerry might be another matter, of course. That brand has a business which Samsung covets.

But when it comes to launching the Galaxy S4, Samsung is steering a course very much down the middle of taste, the road and, who knows, America.

I am grateful to Business Insider for pointing the way toward three new ads to celebrate Samsung's next big device.

They are … Read more