Yep. A choir at the Microsoft keynote.

On January 9, 2012, Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer took the stage at CES for the tech company’s final appearance at the electronics show. Along with him (for no real reason) was Ryan Seacrest. At the keynote, Ballmer didn’t really announce anything too special. Probably the biggest thing talked about was Kinect for Windows, which will be available in February for $250. Maybe a little too pricy for the general public, but indeed cool. So, altogether the Microsoft keynote was a little weird (with Ballmer and Seacrest chest-bumping; and the choir singing tweets about the keynote) and a little productive at the same time. But it was more weird, than anything.

Microsoft decided to launch a new strategy for their ad campaigns, and it’s working out really well. The idea is that Microsoft gives demos of Kinect on a huge ass projector, and they capture people’s reactions. The video is pretty entertaining so give it a watch.

Well a few days’ ago Microsoft had reported that last year was their biggest year yet for Xbox 360. the results shows that Microsoft sold 50 million Xbox 360’s since launch and sold 8 million Kinects in the first 60 days since launch. They made $6.2 Billion from stores across the world that are selling the Xbox 360. They also stated their 3 out of the top 10 games, they included Call Of Duty, Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood and Kinect sports. Microsoft at the same time stated that during December 2010, they sold 1.9 Xbox 360′s around the world, Microsoft then went onto say they they are excited about 2011’s new experiences for Xbox. So to sum it all up Microsoft had their best year in 2010, I just hope that they will have an even better year in 2011.

- Microsoft’s Press Release

Another myth has been busted, Avatar Kinect has just been announced by Microsoft at CES. As you can see from the video, Steve Ballmer seems quite excited about it. Avatar Kinect will detect your facial expressions and show them on your avatar when chatting with your friends. This new hub on Xbox will allow you to virtually chat with your friends using this feature. Avatar Kinect will only be for Xbox Live gold members right now but we might see some expansion in the future.

GamePrix, a Korean game development company has brought up the possibility of Kinect for PCs in an official form. Their latest game, Divine Souls, will support Kinect. The representative who spoke at their conference today, Jason Lim, said that Kinect will soon be available as a PC controller. While OTN along with other blogs are still quite skeptical, you’ve got to admit that this is a possibility, and an awesome one at that. We’ll keep you updated just in case Microsoft suddenly announces Kinect for Windows or something.

Update: The videos have been removed from YouTube by Microsoft and therefore, are unwatchable. Sorry.

Robert and Lucas kick off today’s podcast with 3 news stories:

• New Kinect Details: http://www.omnitechnews.net/2010/07/microsoft-confirms-new-kinect-details-plus-a-new-xbox-360-arcade/

• HP Slate 500 specs leaked on HP: http://www.omnitechnews.net/2010/07/hp-slate-500-specs-leaked-and-confirmed/ Also: http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/22/hp-slate-no-longer-a-consumer-product-will-arrive-for-enterpris/

• iPhone 4 Rescue Program launches: http://www.omnitechnews.net/2010/07/apple-launches-iphone-4-bumper-program/

The new poll on www.omnitechnews.net asks the question: What is your favorite phone OS?

The website of the week is www.flickr.com, a great photo sharing website.

Microsoft has just announced the official pricing and release date of Kinect. As rumored, the standalone device will cost $150 and will be available on November 4th. The other option would be to get the Kinect bundled with the just-announced new Xbox 360 arcade for $300. The new $200 Xbox Arcade will feature 4GB of internal storage, a matte finish, and like it’s older and shinier brother, 802.11n WiFi. It will ship August 3rd. So, to recap, you can get the Kinect for $149 on November 4th, the new 360 Arcade on August 3rd for $199, and the two bundled together for $299 sometime this holiday.