The game world has been waiting for this day for about a year now and on the eve of E3 2010 it’s finally here: Microsoft has renamed its motion-based gaming system and offered some more details. What was formerly Natal is now Kinect, unnecessary botched spelling and all. At its event today, Microsoft also demonstrated some new games that include Kinect Sports, virtual yoga, Star Wars and Kinectimals, a pet tiger simulator–just what the world needs, more kids growing up thinking that tigers make suitable pets. The Video Chat (guess what that does?) app was also shown.

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Gear Live reported earlier today that Hulu will be coming to Xbox 360 as an Xbox Live service in a couple of weeks. Microsoft will make the announcement at E3, along with its expected details on Project Natal. The report cites a “very reliable source who has never been wrong before.”

Hulu will reportedly get integrated into the Xbox’s dashboard, much the way Netflix was before it. It’s expected to be a subscription-based service, but it’s not known what pricing will look like.

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Yet another coming-soon tablet has emerged, this one from LG. Engadget got to test drive the device at Computex and offered a little sneak preview. Indicating that it may not just be your average “me too” tablet, the blog called it ” one of the most solid tablets we’ve had the opportunity to touch.”

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The rumor mill is churning pretty hard over Microsoft’s Project Natal. According to a new “trusted source” consulted by Edge Online, Microsoft’s sensor-based gaming add-on will have a sticker price of $150, putting it about in the middle of previous rumors. The new rumor also indicates a tentative October 26 launch for the system, which would put it right in that logical holiday launch window that Microsoft has already promised.

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The new Microsoft Office is officially here, and it’s brought Web apps and a variety of updates. Microsoft makes a concerted effort to compete on Google’s turf: the cloud. Office Web Apps, as they’re called, provide cloud-based productivity that will allow multiple users to work on the same project over the Internet from both computers and mobile devices, thereby saving time and money.

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According to a new Gizmodo update on the Microsoft Courier, the highly anticipated tablet has officially become the innovative Microsoft product that never was. The Courier, a device that was originally broken by Gizmodo last fall, has been canceled according to two sources the blog consulted with.

Gizmodo quotes Microsoft’s VP of Communications Frank Shaw as saying: “At any given time, we’re looking at new ideas, investigating, testing, incubating them. It’s in our DNA to develop new form factors and natural user interfaces to foster productivity and creativity. The Courier project is an example of this type of effort. It will be evaluated for use in future offerings, but we have no plans to build such a device at this time.”

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If there’s one thing that I love about being on this side of tech news, it’s not having to deal with tedious patent lawsuits day in and day out. No lawsuit quite yet, but Microsoft has come out and said that manufacturers of Android-based mobile phone manufacturers are in violation of its patents. And just as Android really seemed to be gaining full steam in the market.

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According to rumors, Microsoft is preparing for its long-awaited Project Natal launch by redesigning the Xbox and putting together some packages. The new hardware will be announced at E3, as the rumors go.

Originally reported by Surfer Girl Strikes Back, the new Xbox 360, which will be featured in Project Natal packages, will be a slimmer model that breaks from the white 360 design in favor of black. The black color is designed to better match all those glossy, black flat-panel television sets that are dominating the market. A new logo will complete the new Xbox.

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So the news is in and the Turtle and Pure are officially the Kin One and Kin Two–not the catchiest of names, but if you live for social networking, the features may make up for it. Announced today at Microsoft’s mysterious-turned-predictable event, the two phones are social-centric and put features like Facebook and Twitter at the core of the UI. Not exactly Windows 7, the Kins pull some elements of 7 while maintaining a tighter focus on social networking.

The Kin phones have a big emphasis on sharing, enabling users to easily pull photos, video and other content into a sharing area known as “Kin Spot” and then choosing which contacts get the pleasure of viewing said content. Content is stored in the cloud and can be accessed from a PC. The phones feature three home screens including a standard one with phone/browser/email/newsfeeds/etc. and a  screen with status updates from contacts and newsfeeds.

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