It was long rumored to be Valve's home console and now it's a reality. The home console system called "Steam Box" when it was just a rumor is real. Valve today announced during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas a new home console called the Xi3 Piston. Valve has teamed up with hardware startup company Xi3 to create a mini-PC.

While there has been some speculation that the Android-based mini-console GameStick will have a hard time competing with the likes of Ouya, that hasn't hampered the enthusiasm of the community. The Kickstarter for the tiny little stick-based Android device designed to simply plug into the HDMI port of most modern high definition television sets has easily destroyed its funding goal of $100,000 in a little over a day and a half.

A new patent secured by Intel hopes to make using motion controller-based peripherals a bit safer to use. The patent, United States Patent 8333661 - a "Gaming System with Safety Features," won approval with the United States Patent and Trademark Office earlier this month. What's interesting about the patent is that Intel isn't developing its own gaming system (at least not to anyone's knowledge), which means that this patent is meant to augment existing systems likely owned by Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony.

It looks like the Android-based Ouya will have some competition. A Kickstarter funding campaign for PlayJam's "GameStick" has launched asking the community to help it raise $100,000 to bring its mini gaming console devices into full production. The GameStick is being billed as a home console that plugs directly into the HDMI slot of most major modern high definition televisions.

If you are longing for the day when virtual reality - you know, that fictitious virtual realm we have seen in movies like The Matrix, Tron, Lawnmower Man and more - become reality, then you'll have to wait for improvements in Internet latency. At least that is what Valve Software programmer Michael Abrash says in a new blog post.

The Android-based console that took Kickstarter by storm and captured the attention of the online gaming community has started to show up on developers' doorsteps. The $99 Ouya raised $8.6 million on Kickstarter. Today the creators of the system started shipping 1,200 consoles to developers (or those who pledged money at the developer level reward tier). Developers who want to play games on the system can get started with the system's SDK.

Developers who didn't get the special Ouya console can also access the Ouya SDK (ODK) online under a free Apache license.

On December 29 The Pixel Academy will set up shop in the ArtsCetera on 212 Smith Street in Brooklyn to create a 21st century digital media lab for kids. Open house ALL DAY (10am-8pm) - Instructors will be teaching classes on a range of creative technologies and answering questions about Pixel Academy and their educational programs.

The rumors about Steam Box - a console-like system powered by Valve's popular digital distribution platform Steam may turn out to be true after all. Speaking to Kotaku recently Valve co-founder and top executive Gabe Newell said that custom PC packages featuring Steam that can go head-to-head with Sony and Microsoft will start shipping in the early part of 2013.

If you're tired of the captain on your flight telling you to shut off all your electronic devices during take-offs and landings, you may be happy to hear that the FAA is continuing to examine whether such steps are necessary because there's little proof to support the notion that such devices actually interfere with an aircraft's vital electronic equipment. You might be even more delighted to hear that the FCC thinks those restrictions should be lifted as well.

The United States Congress may be a mess and the most unruly and uncompromising bunch in the land but they all apparently think that the UN should not be setting policy on the Internet. To that end, members of the House of Representatives - Democrats and Republicans - voted unanimously (397-0) against the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the United Nations' efforts to push "increased government control over the Internet."

Android-based OUYA console will soon be in the hands of the public - or at least that part of the public that wants to develop software for the platform. The OUYA will ship out beginning on December 28 to those who backed the Kickstarter and will arrive to supporters shortly thereafter.

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick told attendees at the Credit Suisse 2012 Technology Conference in Scottsdale Arizona that he expects some third-party publishers to die off as they attempt to make the jump to the next console generation.

Microsoft announced today that its Surface Pro tablets will cost up to $999 when they are officially launched at retail in January. The price point for the Pro versions of the tablet are almost double what the first Surface devices cost. Those devices, launched last month, use the Windows RT operating system. The Pro tablet will run Windows 8 and will come with a Surface pen with Palm Block technology. The 64GB version will cost $899, while the 128GB version will cost $999.

Sweden-based developer Mojang is working on a custom version of its hit Minecraft game for the $25 - $35 Raspberry Pi micro-computer. The new game is called Minecraft: Pi Edition and was officially filed this weekend at Minecon fan event in Paris, France. According to the official FAQ on the Raspberry Pi web site, the game came into being after the company sent "a bunch of boards out to Notch and the guys at Mojang in Stockholm a little while back."

Google is (finally) sounding the alarm bells that an upcoming United Nations-organized conference is a serious threat to the "free and open internet" we currently enjoy (well, in most countries in the world). Government representatives around the world will get together to try and hash out an agreement on a new information and communications treaty in December.

LG and OnLive announced this morning that the cloud-based gaming service will be pre-loaded on all LG Smart TVs in its Google TV (G2) lines, with current set owners receiving the app over the air today. The app allows players to stream games on their TV and access save files on PC, Mac or Android devices. It also allows them to play online with other LG TV and compatible device owners.

Google's Motorola Mobility has withdrawn an earlier claim that Microsoft violated Wi-Fi patents it holds with its Xbox 360 console, according to this lengthy analysis from Foss Patents. The company filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission (ITC) earlier this year.

Longtime Internet trade group NetCoalition is slowly shutting down its advocacy and lobbying operations after a decade of services to the technology industry. The news comes from new termination reports during the recent lobbying quarter from the three major firms that conducted D.C. business for NetCoalition (TwinLogic Strategies, Jochum Shore & Trossevin PC and Moore Consulting). Those reports state that these groups will no longer be working for the group.

Next month the "Six Strikes" system to deal with online piracy and illegal file-sharing will be fully operational in the United States. The new rules - mutually agreed on by several major ISP's and trade groups representing intellectual property holders (the RIAA, and the MPAA) required that copyright infringement claims be investigated by an external company. This was one of the sticking points for ISPs and rightsholders seemed to happily comply.

A judge in the United Kingdom has delivered a stinging rebuke of Apple, ordering the company to run ads publicly apologizing to Samsung. This ruling comes after the same judge ruled that Samsung’s Galaxy line of tablets does not infringe on Apple iPad patents. While Apple has better luck in other regions with its patent lawsuits, the UK seems to have dealt the company the most embarrassing of blows.

Chipmaker Adapteva wants to make parallel computing (or supercomputing) available to everyone, and they have launched a Kickstarter to promote a solution that costs right around $99. The Kickstarter project aims to raise at least $750,000, with a stretch goal of $3 million.

Tory Minister of Parliament and Culture minister Ed Vaizey has long been an influence on the policy of the UK government when it comes to the video game industry, so it's interesting to read this Daily Mail story about him being denied access to video games in his office for the sake of "research."

Fourteen of the country's most recognized tech companies have banded together to lobby Washington on tech issues with the formation of a new trade group called The Internet Association. Companies joining this new group include Amazon, AOL, eBay, Expedia, Facebook, Google, IAC, LinkedIn, Monster Worldwide, Rackspace, Salesforce, TripAdvisor, Yahoo, and Zynga. The group is being led by Michael Beckerman, whose previous job was former deputy staff director of the House Energy & Commerce Committee. MIA from the list were Apple and Microsoft.

The U.S. government's Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) has created a robot that is supposedly capable of outrunning Olympic champion Usain Bolt - and it looks like Ravage, the cat-like Decepticon from Transformers.

DARPA is calling it a "Cheetah" robot, and funded its design (it was designed and tested by Boston Dynamics) for use in "emergency responses, humanitarian missions and other defense missions."

You can check it out in the video to your left.

Frank Gibeau, the President of EA Labels, says that the company is saving all of its newest IP's for future generation consoles. Speaking to GamesIndustry International, Gibeau claims that his company is working on a whole slate of new IP's for the next generation of consoles from Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo.

While Valve Software has adamantly denied the rumor that it was getting into the hardware side of gaming (the infamous SteamBox rumor), a new job listing from the company seems to indicate otherwise. In that job listing Valve says that it needs an industrial designer to work on "product design and manufacturing, ergonomics, usability, aesthetics, and surfacing."

The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) is looking to bring the same kind of "magic" that it brought to SOPA (you know, like blocking web sites accused of infringement) by urging the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to include "IP Maximalist Positions" in the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement.

In an editorial on Ars Technica internet advocacy group Free Press described the FCC's move to tax broadband as a way to fund broadband infrastructure growth in the U.S. as misguided. Free Press Research Director S. Derek Turner says that the proposed $1 - $5 tax on customers would ultimately be turned over to companies like AT&T who have been slowly pulling out of the broadband business anyway.

The Kindle Fire has literally sold out, according to Amazon, and the Android-based device won't see a new production run. The company said that those who want a Kindle Fire but can't find it at retail will have to wait until later this year when Amazon releases a new version of the device. The device was originally released in November of last year and did pretty well by Amazon's own accounting.

There's been a slow slog towards bringing gaming to Smart TVs but Samsung is trying to lead the way with a new games portal designed for its Cinema 3D Smart TVs called Game World. Game World will offer both free and premium games to set owners and many of them will be playable in both 2D and 3D, according to Joystiq. Users will have to use either the Magic Remote that comes with the set or a supported third-party controller.