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The sales for Kinect for the Xbox 360 have been amazing with 18 million sold this last year. The end result has been countless hours of incredible fun with family and friends dancing and playing sports in the confines of their living rooms. Kinect has also opened the door for developers and businesses to create new and innovative experiences through natural user interface (NUI) on the PC. The explosion of imaginative ideas that can be done with Kinect is something we call the Kinect Effect.

HTC just unveiled two new Windows Phones that will be landing in stores around the world later this year, running our latest version of Windows Phone. A lot of people ask me via Twitter “what phone are you using now”. I’m delighted to say in rotating through various phones and helping our partners finish them with high quality, I’ve spent quite a bit of time carrying one of the prototypes of these HTC phones and it’s terrific. For those of you who haven’t read the press details—here’s a quick recap.

Today we’re releasing the next version of the Zune software. As one of the Zune program managers, I wanted to provide a brief look at what’s new in the 4.8 release, which you can download here. To update your current version, click Settings > Software > General, and then click Check For Updates.

Brian is back in the podcast saddle this week joining Matt for another episode of Windows Phone Radio. This week the guys talk about Dilbert's favorite smartphone, a new app from the Bing team and some of the latest news from Gamescom in Germany.

Last July, we announced the availability of the second beta of Windows Intune, Microsoft’s cloud solution for PC management. In the fall, we told you that Windows Intune would be available in 2011.

On Oct. 22 Windows 7 Family Pack became available outside the United States. As we noted when Family Pack was launched earlier this month in the USA, more than 94% of folks who try Windows 7 love using it.

All summer long we’ve given you some great reasons to purchase a new PC and make the move to Windows 7, an operating system loved by a whopping 94% of folks who use it! Here’s one more: starting October 3 in the U.S., Windows 7 Family Pack will be available for purchase at participating retailers and online at the Microsoft Store.

Last week I promised you an update from Sonar in Barcelona and never doubt that I am a man of my word! For the uninitiated, Sonar is Europe’s premier electronic music festival. Over time it has grown into a highly respected weekend for music lovers to experience the best in cutting edge music and audiovisual art.