The 
countdown is on for the launches of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, but the next generation won’t be cheap. The PlayStation 4 carries a price tag of $400, while the Xbox One is $500 — and that’s not including extra controllers, subscription fees and, oh yeah, the games.
The good news? Those systems sitting in your entertainment center can help you bridge the financial gap. But they may not get you quite as far as you were hoping.
Everyone’s 
getting in on the video game console act these days.
Game Informer reports that retail giant Amazon is developing an Android-based gaming system, due for release later this year. The company will reportedly use its existing base of Android games to provide a catalog for the system. Amazon is also said to be working on its own controller.
Spending 
on consumer electronics is expected to top $250 per shopper this holiday season and, according to the Consumer Electronics Assn., 76% of gift-giving adults plan to give a gadget as a present. That doesn’t mean finding the right item is an easy task, though. To help out, Variety offers up a few ideas that are bound to please even the most discriminating tech-lover.
In 
theory, the cloud is great. It simplifies actions, such as billing. It lets businesses reduce their information technology costs. And it claims to be infinitely scalable.
In the real world, though, it doesn’t always work as well as advertised. Several major sites — including Reddit, Foursquare and Common Sense Media — found that out last month when Amazon’s East Coast cloud servers suffered what the company called “performance issues.”
Every 
now and then, a product or business comes along that manages to shift a paradigm, completely changing the way consumers interact with goods and services. Such disruption, though, often comes at the expense of established businesses — and even entire industries.
Apple is arguably the leader in disruption, having completely reshaped the music world with the iPod, led the consumer transition to smartphones with the iPhone and dinged the laptop computer industry with the iPad.
For 
years, Amazon has been a looming figure in the video game industry. On Monday, it finally pulled the trigger.
The retail giant has launched a new division, called Amazon Game Studios, which will focus (initially, at least) on social games, though expect it to branch into other areas in the months and years to come.
Every 
Thursday, I join Chris Salcedo and Lori Lundin on the mid-day edition of America’s Radio News Network to discuss trends and news in the technology and video game space. This week’s topics were Amazon’s increasing encroachment on Netflix territory, blocking Olympic spoilers and EA’s decision to take Star Wars: The Old Republic to a free-to-play model.
Remember 
when Amazon.com was just an online bookstore?
As the Internet has evolved, Jeff Bezos and company have transformed with it. And while the site is certainly a retail powerhouse and dominates the publishing (and ePublishing) industry, Amazon has become a company with deep interests in other forms of entertainment — and those efforts are starting to bear fruit.
While 
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 won’t hit store shelves for more than six months, it’s already setting records.
Amazon reports the game, which was just announced this week, is on track to become the most pre-ordered game in its history, outpacing Modern Warfare 2, Black Ops and…um, well, a bunch of other Call of Duty games.
Every Thursday, I join Chris Salcedo and Lori Lundin on the mid-day edition of America’s Radio News Network to discuss trends and news in the technology and video game space. This week’s topics were Amazon’s call for original television content for its streaming service, Target’s decision to stop selling the Kindle, RIM’s vow to keep keypads on its phones and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. Also… we try to figure out why Chris has trouble pressing “M” when texting.
Chris Morris: Journalist 