Without 
Microsoft presenting its keynote or hosting a booth at CES for the first time in 14 years, the door is left wide open for another major consumer electronics player to cast a large shadow over the confab in Las Vegas this week.
Expect all eyes to be on Google.
Chris 
Morris argues that a Steam Box could make life difficult for Microsoft and Sony in the next couple years
With Nintendo having launched its next generation system and Microsoft and Sony waiting in the wings, plenty of analysts, observers and thumb-suckers are rubbing their worry beads about the impact of mobile and tablet gaming.
The PC is mentioned in passing, though few believe it will be a viable threat, due to the challenges that come with different hardware specifications. They also note that things like driver updates and the perception of more frequent component updates can be intimidating for the mass audience. But if the recent whispers of Valve’s plans to launch a game hardware system prove true, that could upend the playing field.
Enjoy 
that time as the only next-generation console on the market, Wii U. The competition is coming sooner than you might think.
Bloomberg reports Microsoft will release its next generation Xbox in time for the 2013 holidays. While the date has been widely expected, the news service says unnamed company insiders have now confirmed the time period.
Nintendo 
was rightfully proud of the 400,000 Wii U consoles it sold in the system’s first week, which included Black Friday. But Microsoft has reason to be even prouder.
The Redmond-based company says some 750,000 Xbox 360s were sold over the same six-day time period, surpassing its own expectations and showing that there’s still life left in the console, which has now been available for eight Black Friday shopping frenzies.
Microsoft 
is rumored to be readying a low-cost “Xbox TV” console focused more on entertainment than games, but will the move confuse customers? Or will it ease the transition to a likely-expensive Durango?
Six years ago, when Microsoft launched the Xbox 360, people scratched their heads at the company’s strategy. Two notably different SKUs? Wouldn’t that confuse people? Surely this was a stumble by Microsoft, which would hurt it at retail.
Of course, it wasn’t long before Sony announced plans for a similar strategy — and Nintendo eventually followed suit with the Wii U. And you don’t have to look further than Microsoft’s 20-month run as the country’s best selling console to see the strategy worked — and worked well.
Now there are whispers that Microsoft is preparing to do it all over again, only this time instead of differentiating its systems by the size of their hard drives, it’s rumored to be preparing a low-cost alternative, dubbed “Xbox TV,” to its next-generation console, which will focus on “core entertainment services” (aka, the kind you don’t play with) and cater to a casual audience.
Microsoft 
is sending out some early holiday gifts to long-time Xbox Live users.
With the 10th anniversary of the online service upon us, the console maker has been sending some of its oldest subscribers a special present: A brand new, limited-edition Xbox 360.
While 
the videogame industry relies heavily on the holiday period to help boost publisher profits, some companies may find coal in their stocking this year.
Some titles are sure to be certain hits, but the evolving nature of players and some less-than-stellar lineups could leave some publishers who are typically strong holiday performers out in the cold.
Microsoft’s 
Xbox Live is more than just a matchmaking service for gamers — it’s also a popular social networking tool. Authorities in Iowa, however, believe it was the genesis for a runaway plot conceived by four Iowa teens.
Two teenage girls from the town of Shellsburg and two teenage boys from Atlantic (which is about 200 miles away) were reported missing Saturday. According to police and parents, the runaways met though the online game service.
Now 
that Nintendo has priced and dated the Wii U, it’s only a matter of time before people once again start trying to guess what Microsoft and Sony have in store. Other than unnecessary redesigns, that is.
Aside from secondhand information from developers, there aren’t many facts out there regarding the Xbox 720 (technical codename: Durango) or the PlayStation 4 (technical codename: Orbis). But they’re both definitely coming, so we’re heading out on a very large, very shaky limb today by blasting out some informed predictions for what gamers might expect in the near future. While we don’t expect every one of these to come true, we’re sure going to brag about the ones that do. Take it away, crystal ball!
In 
2000, Lindy Ruble suffered a stroke. She survived, but was left unable to recognize text, which made using a PC keyboard — and most Internet-based forms of communications — impossible.
But a clever tech hack by her son has allowed her to start sending emails once again.
Chris Morris: Journalist 