There was little doubt that the PlayStation 4 would sell well on launch given the sheer amount of hype, but we now have proof: Sony has revealed that it sold over one million PS4s in North America during the console's first 24 hours of availability. While that figure pales in comparison to the sales numbers we see for smartphones, it gets the company a long way toward its goal of moving five million units before the end of its fiscal year in March. It also suggests that Sony won't face the same lackluster response that greeted Nintendo, which took a week to sell its first 400,000 Wii U systems in the US. The real question is whether or not the PS4 will preserve its sales momentum -- with the Xbox One launch just five days away, Sony won't keep the high end of the console market to itself for much longer.

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Remember that Apple / PrimeSense deal that was rumored to be going down in July? It may have just gone through: according to Israeli news source Calcalist, Cupertino acquired the motion sensing technology firm for $345 million this weekend. If true, it could hint at future Apple products with natural, motion controlled interfaces, integrating the same kind of technology that PrimeSense used to help Microsoft build the first Kinect. In a statement to the TheNextWeb, PrimeSense refers to the report as a "recycled rumor," saying only that it "does not comment on what any of our partners, customers or potential customers are doing." According to the report, Apple is hounding after the motion sensing tech to improve Apple TV, noting that the original deal was delayed due to legal issues. Hungry for more? Brush up on your Hebrew and check out the source link below - but keep your salt shaker handy.

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Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green.

Apple's new headquarters is perhaps the most hotly anticipated building in the country, and the company just released a new set of images of the spaceship-shaped building. The new renderings provide a detailed look inside the ring-shaped building. Another ambitious proposal could be coming to life: The folks behind a futuristic marine-research vessel known as the SeaOrbiter just launched a crowdfunding campaign. Construction on the knife-shaped vessel is expected to begin next spring. On the gadget front, a pair of engineering students at Duke University has discovered a new way to charge smartphones with WiFi -- and they say the power-harvesting device is even more efficient than a USB charger.

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We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, then here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget inquiry is from Andrew, who loves his trackball and needs to help find a wireless replacement. If you're looking to ask one of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

"I'm a huge fan of trackball mice, and I've been using a Logitech Cordless Optical Trackman since 2002. They can't be popular, because the company no longer makes them, and I haven't been able to source one except at ridiculous prices on eBay. I've even tried the Logitech M570, but I simply can't use it. I've looked at Kensington's offerings, but they are geared towards thumb-ballers rather than index-finger ballers, so what I want to know is: is any company making a wireless trackball mouse that offers the same experience as my beloved Optical Trackman? Thanks!"

Now, if we're honest, we did some digging and we really do feel your pain. In our searches, it looks as if the wireless trackball world has collapsed down to the Kensington Orbit or the M570, which you've already discounted. So, do any of you, out there in the ether, use a suitable trackball from a niche manufacturer? Heck, are you a niche manufacturer looking for an audience? The comments section below is where you need to go.

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Alt-week takes a look at the best science and alternative tech stories from the last seven days.

Suddenly things just got real. A new study claims one in five sun-like stars could have a planet capable of supporting life. Hugging your loved ones while thousands of miles away is closer reality, and smog? Apparently we can vacuum that stuff up now. Yeah? This is Alt-week.

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Many streaming-savvy DVRs either lean heavily on cloud services or are linked to traditional TV -- neither of which is ideal for cord cutters trying to lower their long-term costs. Nuvyyo is promising what could be a more affordable option with its upcoming Tablo DVR. The upcoming, partly crowdfunded set-top box streams both live and locally recorded over-the-air broadcasts to seemingly any internet-capable platform, including Android, iOS, Roku players and web browsers. In theory, it's as cheap and convenient as internet-only video while delivering the wider content selection of traditional TV. We've had hands-on time with a Tablo prototype that suggests the company has at least latched on to a good (if imperfect) idea -- read on to see what we mean.

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Despite recent successes in the field, creating a quantum computer is really hard. For one thing quantum bits in a super positioned state (or qubits, the basic unit of data for quantum computing) have a hard time surviving at room temperature. Typically, these superposition states last for only a few seconds, but in a recent experiment at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby , researchers were able to keep a quantum system alive for a full 39 minutes.

"These lifetimes are at least ten times longer than those measured in previous experiments," explained Stephanie Simmons from the University of Oxford's Department of Materials. "Having such robust, as well as long-lived, qubits could prove very helpful for anyone trying to build a quantum computer." Even so, they aren't particularly active ones - all of the qubits in the experiment shared the same quantum state. To perform actual calculations (and thus build a functioning quantum computer), a system would need to put multiple qubtis in different quantum states. Sound complicated? It sure is, but it's a significant step forward to building the ultrafast computing platforms of tomorrow. Eager to learn more? Check out the official press release at the source link below.

[Image Credit: Stephanie Simmons, University of Oxford]

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A bunch of Twitter's alpha and beta testers for Android might have fired up their apps today, and thought they'd been kicked out of the program. After all, the social network recently scrapped the new design it debuted to intrepid early adopters in September and brought its older look back. The familiar buttons take their place on top of the app again, replacing the menu that allowed testers to swipe their way from one stream to another. Twitter took elements from both designs, though, so it isn't a complete throwback to the old interface. Alpha users, in particular, see an entirely different Discover section that features a basic list view and a detailed view that shows sample tweets. Also, the prompt that pops up when you post a tweet comes with a note that reads "Are you in [city, state]?" below "What's happening?" According to TechCrunch, the microblogging site has been getting mixed feedback from its testers, which could've influenced the firm's decision. Whatever the real reason is, it looks like Twitter has more than a few kinks left to iron out before it unleashes an overhauled app to the general populace.

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