The Play Services system is the underlying Android component which all games will be able to tap into, allowing them to share a single notifications path, multiplayer gamer matching, leaderboards and achievements records, and more. Unsurprisingly, the multiplayer duties are shared with Google+, with the social network’s circles used to manage who can invite you to play a game, whose achievements you see, and who your own achievements are shared with.

Sony has reported an annual profit for the first time in five years, boosted by asset sales and a weakening yen.

Net profit was 43bn yen ($436m; £280m) in the year to 31 March, compared with a 457bn loss a year earlier.

Sony said the yen’s recent fall, which makes its goods cheaper for foreign buyers, boosted sales. A weak yen also lifts profits when firms repatriate their foreign earnings back home.

Messaging service Viber today made the leap from smartphone to desktop.

The free messaging/phone service is now available on PC and Mac computers, allowing seamless integration between mobile and desktop users.

The move comes alongside news that Viber has more than 200 million users across various platforms, including Android, iOS, Windows Phone, and BlackBerry. Now, Viber Desktop runs in harmony with mobile versions, completing the setup process using your existing phone number as your ID.

The consumer electronics industry has gotten pretty boring lately. That’s not to say the new products that have debuted recently are boring, but we’re definitely in a period marked by iteration. Each new smartphone closely resembles the smartphone that came before it, each new tablet is a tweak and a spec bump away from its predecessor, and Windows 8 hasn’t reinvented the PC like we had hoped. The timing couldn’t have been better for Google to shake things up with Google Glass, the curious connected eyewear that willlaunch next year. But is Glass really the next big thing or are we all just so bored that anything seems like a breath of fresh air?

You know what? There’s some pretty sweet gear at  CES 2011: tablets galore, smart cameras, cool phones, audiophile pr0n. Woot! This little trade show might have a future! Check out some of our favorites.

Despite the name HTC wasn’t trying to stay under the radar of AT&T and Sprint customers with this alternative to the recently launched Glacial Silver One as they had previously stated that it would be available in the coming weeks. You still can’t hit the buy button on either site, however, HTC One fans are used to timelines slipping at this point so it should be of some comfort to see evidence that both carriers are likely ready to flip that switch soon.

Can you feel the coming days where seeing a person with a pair of Google Glass on their head in the wild could be a somewhat common occurrence? While only a select handful of developers and contest winners are just now getting their hands on Google’s wearable computing project, details continue to emerge. As mentioned by PC Mag, Google has posted technical specs for the device on Tuesday.