Enlarge / Super Smash Bros. Ultimate helped propel the Nintendo Switch to a great December amid an even better 2018 in the US.

A year ago, we highlighted NPD data to show that worries about the impending death of the console gaming industry were way overblown. One year later, NPD's annual sales estimates for 2018 show the US console business is doing even better, thanks in large part to the continued success of the Nintendo Switch.

NPD reports that the Switch was the best-selling system in the US for 2018 in terms of both unit sales and total hardware revenue. That said, the system didn't quite rise to the sales level the PS4 hit in 2015, its extremely strong second full year on store shelves.

December in particular was a banner month for Nintendo's portable/TV hybrid, though. You need to go back to the height of Nintendo Wii mania to find a month where any console made more hardware revenue (December 2009) or sold more units (December 2010) in the US.

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Enlarge / Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Co., left, leaves her home under the supervision of security in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018. (credit: Ben Nelms/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The United States government said Tuesday that it is seeking the extradition of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou from Canada. In addition to being the chief financial officer of Huawei, Meng is also the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei.

Meng was arrested last month on charges that the Chinese telecom giant and affiliated companies have been doing business in Iran in violation of US sanctions laws—and that Meng had been directly involved in covering up Huawei's Iran dealings.

Meng sits on the board of a Huawei partner company called Skycom Tech that US and Canadian authorities have accused of doing business with Iran. "In late 2010, Skycom’s office in Tehran offered to sell at least 1.3 million euros worth of HP gear" to a major Iranian telecommunications provider, Reuters reported in 2013.

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Enlarge / The New Shepard launch system is prepared for Wednesday morning's flight. (credit: Blue Origin)

Under clear West Texas skies on Wednesday morning, Blue Origin's autonomous New Shepard launch system made what appeared to be a flawless flight into space and back. After separating from its booster, the spacecraft ascended to a height of 106.9km before returning to Earth by parachute. The booster also made a nominal powered landing.

For Blue Origin, the company's first flight of its reusable New Shepard system in more than six months served a dual purpose. It provided additional test data for the launch system as the company moves closer to crewed flights, and the launch allowed the company to fly eight NASA-sponsored research and technology payloads into space through NASA’s Flight Opportunities program.

During the webcast, Blue Origin's head of sales, Ariane Cornell, said the company was "aiming" to conduct human flights on board New Shepard before the end of 2019 but stressed that Blue Origin would not compromise on safety to meet any arbitrary dates. The company has yet to begin selling tickets for the six-person capsule or set a price for the 11-minute experience that will take passengers above the Kármán line and provide a few minutes of weightlessness.

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