Daisuke Wakabayashi

When I was a kid, my mom would drop me off at the library so I could "study." I would sneak to the basement of the library and play "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego" on the library's computer. It turns out I was studying, fooled into playing an educational video game.

Kids love video games, so why not make them fun and educational? That's the idea behind a Seattle-based start-up, partially funded by Microsoft, called Sabi Inc., which is releasing a new game called "ItzaBitza."

The reading and drawing game is targeted at children four years and older. It features a technology developed by Microsoft's research division called "Living Ink," which allows children to draw objects, such as a house or a tree, that come to life and interact with the game's characters.

As part of the game, children embark on various "quests," which force the players to read on-screen instructions. If a child gets stuck on a word, they can roll the mouse over the letters to pronounce the words out loud.

Sabi has a healthy level of appreciation for what it's done:

"The same way Sesame Street was groundbreaking for TV, that's how I would look at this," said Co-Founder and Chief Executive Margaret Johnson, a former Microsoft employee. "It's the time for an update to the get to the type of gaming that kids are doing today."

The company recieves capital, support and intellectual property from Microsoft in exchange for a "meaningful" minority stake in Sabi. Microsoft and Johnson declined to comment on specifics.

The game is only available for PCs, but Sabi said it is looking to bring the game to other platforms. It's available for $19.99 at www.itzabitza.com

(Photos: Sabi/ItzaBitza)

ANCHORAGE - Gov. Sarah Palin has gone home to Alaska, but her return to the national political stage may come sooner than the 2012 U.S. presidential campaign.

If Republican Sen. Ted Stevens maintains his slim lead over Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, it could once again thrust Palin into the spotlight. The 84-year-old Stevens could be re-elected for an eighth term despite being convicted of corruption last month. His conviction prompted calls for his resignation from Republican presidential candidate John McCain and Palin, his running mate. Stevens has vowed to fight on even though a convicted felon has never served in the U.S. Senate.

The conviction came a week before election day -- too late to replace the longest-serving Republican on ballots in Alaska. If Stevens wins the election and then relinquishes his seat, that's when things could get interesting.

It would force a special election 60 to 90 days from the time the vacancy occurs. Alaska's Division of Elections said Palin would make a temporary appointment to hold the seat until a new senator is chosen by special election. One candidate being discussed in Alaska's Republican circles? Yes, the governor herself.  If Palin doesn't take that step, she could also play the role of kingmaker and hand a political ally the tag of incumbent heading into the special election.

There is some debate over whether Palin has the right to temporarily appoint a person to the Senate. Proponents of a citizen initiative passed in 2004 said that measure stripped the governor of the right to make Senate appointments -- even temporary ones. The initiative was passed after then-Gov. Frank Murkowski appointed his daughter Lisa to the Senate seat he vacated to become Alaska governor.

Palin, who returned to Alaska Wednesday night, seems to have retracted her earlier call for Stevens to resign. Speaking to reporters at the Anchorage international airport, Palin said: "The people of Alaska just spoke. They said that they want him as their senator."

Well, not every Alaskan has spoken yet. At last count, there are still at least 70,000 ballots to be counted and Begich is trailing by about 3,000 votes. If "Uncle Ted" can pull this out, we might hear from "Sarah Barracuda" sooner than we thought.

Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage.

Photo credit: Reuters/Mike Blake (Palin waves to crowd after McCain delivered his concession speech in Phoenix on Nov. 4)

Microsoft finally lifted the curtain on Windows 7 to an enthusiastic audience of developers at the company's Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles.

Here are some details that didn't make it into our story.

• Touch - It's probably the most eye-catching new feature. You can use your finger to click on different programs, scroll through documents, flick to and from various Web pages and sift through photos. It's also multi-touch -- so feel free to use both hands.
• HomeGroup - Who likes setting up home networks? This feature finds and connects all Windows 7 computers on your home network. If you have one computer that holds all your music but want to play songs on a separate PC, HomeGroup lets you play music on any computer in your network regardless of whether the music is actually on that machine's hard drive. It also lets all the computers on the network easily share printers without having to install drivers on each machine.
• New Taskbar - Any open window on the taskbar presents a quick snapshot of what is open. If you hover over those snapshots, it will provide a full screen preview. Also, anything on the taskbar can be moved and "pinned" to specific locations.

(Photo: Reuters/Fred Prouser)

Look out nerdy-cool Apple guy, the empire is striking back. And it's got Eva Longoria Parker, Tony Parker, Pharrell Williams and Deepak Chopra on its side.

Microsoft is launching (another) new commercial campaign Thursday night. It takes aim at Apple's "Mac vs. PC" campaign that has portrayed personal computers running Windows as clunky and uncool.

The commercial starts with a real-life Windows engineer who looks eerily similar to John Hodgman (the comedian who plays the role of "PC" in Apple's commercials), saying "I'm a PC and I've been made into a stereotype." After that is a montage of celebs and normal folk, saying "I'm a PC."   Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, along with the aforementioned celebrities, makes an appearance in the ad.

The new commercial is easier to understand than the first series of ads from Microsoft that featured comedian Jerry Seinfeld. Microsoft said the Seinfeld ads were meant to be an "ice breaker" and get people taking about the company and Windows. (Although it could be argued that there was already a conversation about Windows, just not the one the company wanted.)

Microsoft Senior Vice President Mich Matthews , who heads up the company's marketing efforts, said  the goal of the $300 million advertising push is to "take back the PC brand" and its new commercial is meant as a "bear hug" to the PC stereotype being defined by its competitors.

The television commercials will also be joined by billboard, online and newspaper ads pushing the theme of "Windows vs. Walls" -- the concept that Windows allows for a life without walls.

Update: here is the ad.

The first Jerry Seinfeld/Bill Gates commercial that debuted last week got a reception about as warm as the one received by the product it was supposed to be promoting: Windows Vista. For those who missed the 2007 debut of Vista, the answer is not very.

Now there are two more commercials in the series and they are two more 90-second head-scratcher. The basic plot line: Bill and Jerry live with a family to get in touch with "real people." High jinks ensue, leading to Gates doing the robot. The sequels are sure to draw as much criticism as the original, but they may also achieve their intended goal: get people talking about Microsoft again.

The ad campaign -- created by agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky -- is part of Microsoft's $300 million effort to try to improve the image of Windows and hit back at Apple, which has effectively portrayed Windows as clunky and out-of-touch with its Mac vs. PC commercials.

Here are the ads.

(Update - adds video of Photosynth demo)

If you're snap-happy with your digital camera, Microsoft thinks it has the Web site for you. Microsoft Photosynth is a new, free photo service that stiches together pictures (preferably lots of them) of a place or a thing to create a 360-degree visual experience. You can zoom in and out smoothly, pan left and right, up and over.

Here's the description of how Photosynth works from the Microsoft press release.

"Photosynth analyzes each photo for similarities to the others, and uses that data to estimate where a photo was taken. It then re-creates the environment and uses that as a canvas on which to display the photos."

To get started, you'll need to download a software application. Sorry Mac fans, it's PC-only for now. David Gedye, a Microsoft group manager who leads the PhotoSynth team, assured me that the Windows-only situation is only temporary.

Once you have the Photosynth application, it's pretty self-explanatory. Upload the pictures and let the "synth" begin. I found that you have to take LOTS of pictures to create a good synth, which probably explains why Microsoft is providing 20 gigabytes of storage for users.

Microsoft expects the service to be a big hit for photo enthusiasts. It also expects to see professional applications for real estate agents or retailers who want to show buyers a complete view of some new product.

The Web site works on Internet Explorer and Firefox. The quality of your Photosynth experience depends on network speed (don't bother if you have dial-up) and how powerful your computer is.

Here's the lame "synth" I did inside my office:

A better example is this one of the Taj Mahal using pictures from National Geographic:

Update - Here's the video I shot of Gedye taking me through the demo. (And yes, I know he is zooming in on the U.S. Constitution and not the Declaration of Independence. Cut the guy a break, he's originally from Australia.)

It's the third day of E3. The press conferences are finished and we are finally getting to spend some quality time with some of the most buzzed about games of the coming year.

Video games reporter Kemp Powers stopped by the Capcom booth and shot and slashed his way through one of the most impressive games of the show, "Resident Evil 5." (Video below)

The follow-up to the 2005 hit "Resident Evil 4" on the Nintendo GameCube, Sony Playstation 2 and Wii, this new game is the first offering in the survival horror series for Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's Playstation 3. It's due for a worldwide release on March 13, 2009.

More than just a typical sequel, "RE4" was a critical and sales smash that rewrote the book on horror games and pioneered a unique over-the-shoulder view that is now ubiquitous in action titles. "Gears of War," "Mass Effect" and "Metal Gear Solid 4" are just a few of the big games that now employ the view.

The new game, though definitely a massive upgrade in the graphics department, appears to be sticking with the adage "if it isn't broke, don't fix it," which should make loyal fans of the series very happy.

Hero Chris Redfield travels to a fictional city in Africa, where the entire population of the city has been transformed into mindless zombie-like creatures. In this adventure, players are accompanied by a computer-controlled partner, Sheva, who shares weapons and ammunition, opens doors and even heals Chris when he is injured.

She is also pretty handy with guns and rifles, which is a relief when being attacked by swarming hordes of enemies.

In the recently announced cooperative mode, a second player controls Sheva, who is necessary for accessing hard to reach areas and solving numerous environmental puzzles.

Here's a quick video of one of the game levels that demonstrates the fabulous new graphics and gore-filled action of "Resident Evil 5."

WARNING: it's not for the squeamish.

Electronic Arts is taking its popular "Skate" game to another level with the introduction of "Skate It" made exclusively for Nintendo's Wii and DS.

"Skate It" follows a similar storyline as its predecessor, but it gets players off the couch and onto their Wii Fit Balance Boards. A player's body weight on the balance board controls their turns and jumps on the skateboard.

If you're a skateboarder or snowboarder, don't be too confident. The game's not as easy as it looks as our reporter Jennifer Martinez (not pictured)  found out when she got off to a rocky (and embarrassing) start to the game.

But fear not, after three or four tries she got the hang of the making turns and jump grabs on the balance board.

But you don't need a balance board to play the game, the Wii Remote and Nunchuck can also control your ollies and kick flips. The stylus takes care of these functions on the DS.

Our video games reporter Kemp Powers went to today's Ubisoft press conference, which featured the usual array of gun play and sword fighting fans expected from the French video game publisher.

The company, however, saved some of its most enthusiastic chest-bumping for an update on its "Games for Girls" brand strategy.

Tony Key, Ubisoft's senior vice president of sales and marketing laid out the impressive data; in the first three months of 2008, sales in the division aimed at "tween," or pre-teen, girls grew 63 percent. Six of the top ten third party titles on the Nintendo DS are games targeted to the tween set.

And the number one third party title on the DS is Ubisoft's own "Imagine," a series of games that allows girls to pretend to be animal doctors, fashion designers, chefs and other professions and has sold more than four million units worldwide.

"You definitely cannot call them casual," Key said of young girl gamers. "They're playing and buying a lot of games."

Which is why Ubisoft is expanding its girl games brand by rolling out a new line of "Imagine" titles between now and October that includes "Teacher," "Interior Designer," "Movie Star" and "Wedding Designer."

We're not sure how many little girls dream of planning other people's weddings when they grow up, but obviously Ubisoft has done some focus group study and knows better than we would what professions today's girls find interesting.

Our favorite game of the bunch is "Party Babyz," in which girls play as babysitters and entertain the little tykes by having them race, dance and have soap bubble contests.

"Ener-G" is the new brand offering that will seek to capitalize on the popularity of girl sports when it releases during the holidays.

Calling it "the first sports brand dedicated to girls," Key explained that the interest in sports is at an all-time high among young girls, with one in two girls playing sports in 2008 and 50 percent of all high school athletes being female.

For a company that is renown for its games for the hardcore enthusiasts, Ubisoft is definitely proving that it knows what the young ladies like.

It was Nintendo's turn to play a little music. Following on the heels of popular music genre games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero, Nintendo showed off Wii Music at its E3 press conference.  Here's a quick video -- shot by our video games reporter Kemp Powers -- of Nintendo executives, including legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto , playing the Mario theme song. (Hint: Miyamoto is the short Japanese man.)

The reception for the game was mixed.  The game does let you simulate more than 60 different instruments and it does seem easy to use. However, no one keeps score and you can't play out of tune because the game picks-up motions to play the melody. The complaint seems to be that it is too basic and simple. (To be fair, many people said that about the Wii when it came out.)

One of my colleagues may have said it best. Guitar Hero and Rock Band makes you feel like a rock star. This game makes you look like you are in a high school marching band.