Record Breaking

On its first day of release, Halo3 broke records with US$170 million in sales. Now the numbers are in - and Halo3 broke more records in its first week of sales, with over US$300 million. The game, which is available exclusively for the XBox 360, is now officially the fastest-selling video game in history.

According to this morning’s press release from Microsoft, Bil Gates is calling the game a “cultural phenomenon.”

“…The launch of ‘Halo 3′ is an important milestone for XBox 360 and for video games as entertainment and as an art form,” said Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft. “‘Halo 3′ embodies our vision for the future of entertainment, where some of the world’s greatest creative minds will deliver a new generation of interactive storytelling.”

The HALO World 

For those of you unsure what all the hype is about. the “Halo” games are a militaristic sci-fi based scenario. Played first-person, the main heroes are “Master Chief” (human super-soldier with advanced armor) and Cortana (an AI companion). It is humans vs. aliens in several scenarios played out on the space station “Halo”. You can find the specific storyline and details of Halo3 here.

Single-Platform 

There had been some rumors that the game would be available for Nintendo, but those plans have been abandoned. The exclusive partnering with XBox has driven up sales of that gaming platform exponentially.

Meanwhile, proponents of the other gaming platforms - especially  Nintendo, but also Wii, have voiced their anger over the exclusivity deal with XBox. Like Apple’s recent corporate marriage to AT&T in regards to the iPhone, however, the customers now find themselves on the losing side of a war with their own product providers.

Security Issues 

Halo3 is  has an integrated online game version for XBox LIVE subscribers that allows players to join up, do battle, and communicate in the virtual overworld of HALO.  This has been somewhat controversial because ‘LIVE’ gaming gives access to players to communicate with each other without the kind of parental safety controls available on for Internet.

Additionally, there have some security breaches highlighted this past summer with the Windows Live ID service that is used for identity with XBox . The breaches allowed many scammers to create false identities - accounts that have not, as yet, been completely flushed out.

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The last few weeks as Newton Peripherals has been prepping for sale, I’ve had many emails like this:

When will the X54 & X54Pro launch for purchase?

Well, Great news!!!!   The major online retailer, TigerDirect, has started taking orders as of August 13th. Here are the links for the X54’s:

MoGo Mouse X54 Pro (Mouse and Presenter with Laser Pointer)

MoGo Mouse X54 (Mouse and Media Remote)

We will be updating website this week.

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As Tris pointed out yesterday, Newton Peripherals is prepping for the launch of the next-gen MoGo mouse.

This must-have builds on all the great aspects of the prior model - in-laptop charging and storage, ergonomic ease of use - and adds in some outstanding new ones as well.

To start, they packaged in a scroll bar, right down the middle. This was the Number 1 requested want-to-have from previous conversations with customers. You asked for it, you got it. This low-profile, savvy mouse allows you to scroll through the pages just like its chunkier cousins do.

But that’s just the start of the innovations - this mouse goes to a whole new level…

Because this tool? Is also a multimedia remote control.

Allowing you to walk the room during presentations, forwarding to the next slide or muting sound without having to jog back to your laptop and push a button. The device is subtle and laser accurate.

And because it charges in your laptop, you can stop carrying those extra batteries around.

Using your laptop as a DVD player? Or catching up on your industries podcasts and videos? You can lean back in your chair, put up your feet, and have all the control in your hand - skip ahead, rewind, or pause without leaving your chair.

It comes in two versions, and will be available in August. Check it out!

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Here at the MoGo Mobility blog, we’re gearing up to celebrate the launch of the MoGo headset with a contest:

“What kind of Bluetooth gadgets do YOU envision?”

As we get ready to kick off, I couldn’t help but think about  the possibilities.

One of the things I would like to see would be an alarm to let me know when I’m about to leave behind my cell phone or iPod (again). I long ago eschewed getting a Treo or Crackberry,  but simplicity has been my foe. Without  a BatBelt holstering my gadgets, I am well-known for digging around in a panic.

Yes, I regularly call myself to find my phone and my iPod has been found everywhere - including the refrigerator.

As it turns out,  an alarm  isn’t a future-tense device.

Sony-Ericsson released the MBW-100 watch  last year that is, you guessed it, Bluetooth-enabled.

In addition to being a decent-looking timepiece,  it connects wirelessly to your phone and displays caller ID and message alerts, plus lets you reject calls and control your phone’s music player.

That’s right, the caller’s name subtly flashes in the face of your watch and with a push of the button, you can send it to voicemail.

My favorite feature? If you  walk away from a paired device, like your phone, it gives you an alarm to let you know.

And yes, it’s compatible with the MoGo headset.

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