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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCqJro837zA&feature=player_embedded#!
* Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer took the stage for the company’s final C.E.S. keynote, which mostly played up eccentricity and flash over substance, including an appearance by Ryan Seacrest and a “Tweet Choir” (see video above) that sang Microsoft- and CES-related tweets. Ballmer did make mention of progress on the gaming front: the company’s Xbox 360 game console has sold more than 66 million units since hitting the scene in 2005. Meanwhile, more than 40 million Kinect motion-sensing controllers have been sold. (CNNMoney and VentureBeat)
* Also hot at CES: tech like Smart TVs that help viewers better navigate all that entertainment content. (The Wall Street Journal)
* Google (GOOG) is rolling out changes to search engine results that will pull and promote content from its social network, Google+. As colleague Miguel Helft reports, searching for a friend’s name for example may result in that friend’s Google+ profile topping the search results. (Fortune)
* Oracle (ORCL) is getting aggressive about its new Big Data Appliance, priced just north of $500,000, or significantly less that what analysts had predicted. The goal? Become a staple in enterprise data warehouses and upsell other systems. (ZDNET)
* With a “promotion and retention” award of 1 million RSUs (restricted stock units) given to Apple CEO Tim Cook in 2011, some outlets suggest he may be the highest paid CEO of 2011. Colleague Phil Elmer-Dewitt argues that’s not so. (Fortune)
* Techcrunch columnist MG Siegler hates Android, and it’s not just because he loves Apple design. (parislemon)
* MySpace lives on (sort of) in the form of a Web TV service. According to All Things D, the entertainment hub will offer TV programming paired with interactive features. (All Things D)
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