Rumors have swirled before, but The Verge is reporting that Microsoft is building a 7-inch gaming tablet. The Xbox Surface launch will supposedly come before that of the next Xbox console. There's no word, thankfully, of a touch-friendly Halo 4 port yet.

Fresh off the launch of Windows 8 and Surface, and loathe to cede the spotlight to Google, Microsoft launched Windows Phone 8. Redmond spent time highlighting new features, apps and device availability regarding their latest assault on the mobile marketplace.

Xbox Music launched today on Xbox 360. The streaming music service is similar to Spotify in functionality and pricing ($10 a month for premium service). Later this month it will expand onto Windows 8, and the service will find its way onto Windows Phone 8 shortly after the platform's expected launch in early November.

Within the last year or two, it's become clear to those of us who spend way too much time hanging around tech conventions that gesture recognition is trying hard to be the Next Big Thing in computer interaction. Beyond Kinect, you've got both Leap and Edge3 trying to gesturize our gadgets, and now Microsoft has developed a wearable system that bypasses gadgets entirely.