Redmond Pie » Xbox 360

Kinect For Windows Hardware Now Available For Purchase Via Amazon And Microsoft Store

Paul Morris — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:36:39 +0000

The last four of five weeks have brought about quite a bit of news and speculation surrounding Microsoft’s Kinect motion detecting hardware. When Microsoft took to the stage during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas at the beginning of this month, they announced that the original Kinect hardware had amassed more than 18 million sales during its first year.

The Redmond-based company also announced during the keynote speech at CES that the Kinect sensor would be made available for Windows hardware during February in over twelve countries. With today turning the 1st February, the promised Windows Kinect has been made available for sale via the Microsoft Store and through Amazon’s online outlet. The hardware is available for a price of $249.00 and comes with the traditional one-year manufacturer warranty.

The initial reaction by some might be the cost of the Windows-compatible Kinect, considering its Xbox 360 counterpart is significantly cheaper. While announcing the imminent launch during CES, Microsoft did elaborate that the Xbox 360 Kinect is subsidized by the sale of video games, therefore allowing them to sell it cheaper to the public. The good news is that the sale of the Kinect sensor for Windows is all that customers will need to shell out money for, with the SDK and runtime being made available free of charge if is it required.

Obviously, the newly available Kinect device has been optimized for use with Windows 7, Windows 8 Developer Preview and Windows Embedded-based devices which means that a number of changes have been made to the hardware itself. The main and most notable changes are:

The inclusion of a near mode camera which lets objects as close as forty centimeters be tracked with great precision.
The product includes the traditional one year warranty, as well as free access to software updates which give the ability for both speech and human tracking.
The Kinect for Windows is designed to be used in conjunction with the free of charge SDK.

The Kinect for Windows hardware will also have the features that users have come to expect from the device, no matter what platform it is running on. Advanced speech and audio capabilities using the latest Microsoft speech components as well as the aforementioned near mode. The device also showcases advanced skeletal tracking which enables control over which user is being tracked at a given time.

Kinect for Windows is available online through the Amazon store or through the official Microsoft Store.

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Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit Races Its Way Into The Windows Phone Marketplace – Download Now!

Paul Morris — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:20:51 +0000

Video games are a big business, and the mobile video game industry is growing at an alarming rate. You just need to look at the iPhone App Store’s top fifty applications to see just how popular games on mobile devices are, and again, they are growing faster than we actually hoped for. It is no wondering that developers are starting to invest a lot of time and money into producing highly polished and professional looking mobile games which in some instances even feature professionally recorded soundtracks.

Considering the amount of financial clout which is also hovering around the mobile industry at the moment, large game development companies are also showing an increased interest in porting their popular and well-known game titles to mobile devices to take advantage of this increased consumer spending trend. Obviously one of the most popular gaming platforms in the world is Microsoft’s Xbox LIVE service, and the latest title to be ported across to a mobile OS is Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit which is now live in the Windows Phone Marketplace.

Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit offers a free of charge trial, with a purchase price of $4.99 for Windows Phone 7.5 or higher. The game itself has been released today, and looks like an extremely polished port which uses Xbox LIVE features, the device’s music and video library as well as some data services and the requirement of the phones hardware sensors for direction.

The game itself will surely prove to be enormously popular considering it is a port of the already much loved Need For Speed franchise, but it will surely turn out to be a hit in between racing adrenaline junkies due to its features:

FEEL THE RUSH OF THE ESCAPE AND THE THRILL OF THE TAKEDOWN!
TEAR UP THE LEADERBOARDS!
CHASE ACHIEVEMENTS
DUEL IT OUT ON THE ROAD

Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit is available for download now direct from the Marketplace.

Download Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit for Windows Phone [Zune Marketplace Link]

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Fruit Ninja Kinect For Xbox 360, And Sudoku & Minesweeper For Windows Phone Now Available – Download Them Now!

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What’s Under My TV – A Look At The Tech We Use

Oliver Haslam — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 13:30:37 +0000

We all use a variety of technology during our daily lives, and no more so than in the living room. If you look under your TV then you’ll no doubt see plenty of set-top boxes, DVRs and games consoles along with various audio equipment and the like.

I thought it might be an interesting exercise to share my choice of living room tech, complete with a little information on why I chose it. I’ll cover my television and a variety of set-top boxes along with a couple of things that don’t really fit unto the usual category of ‘home entertainment.’

Being from the UK you may not recognize a couple of these pieces of hardware, but I’m sure you will most!

So, here we go!

Samsung 40-inch HD LCD screen – A good five years old now, this LCD has seen plenty of changes over its lifetime, and is certainly getting ready to be replaced with a nice 50-inch model at some point in the future. The impending arrival of a baby to the family may scupper those plans, though!

Amstrad Sky HD Box – The satellite company here in the UK, Sky is the provider of the vast majority of our television in glorious high definition. Offering plenty of sports and movies along with a handy series-link feature for recording whole seasons of TV shows, the box has served us well. An on-demand, streaming-powered feature is also available via the box.

Microsoft Xbox 360 – My game console of choice. This is our fourth machine thanks to various reasons, two of which include the RROD. Along with a catalogue of games that has cost more than I care to admit, the box 360 is probably the most used of our gaming solutions.

Sony PlayStation 3 – More there just for the first-party games we cannot get on the Xbox 360 and to play Blu-ray movies than anything else.

Nintendo Wii – Because every home has to have a Wii, right?

Apple TV – The second release of Apple’s famous ‘hobby’, our Apple TV provided access to Netflix as well as the US-based iTunes account we use for watching movies before they arrive in the UK. Perfect if you refuse to pay the silly prices expected at the cinema!

Logitech 5.1 Surround Audio – With a model number that I just cannot remember, this set of THX-certified speakers has served us well but, like the LCD screen, these are getting ready to be replaced. Sound quality is good, although the rear speakers could definitely be better which may be more down to the break in the speaker wire than anything else!

Apple iPad 2 – Yes it’s not under my TV, but we use it so much when watching TV that I had to include it. Great for checking IMDB when you just can’t remember which movie that guy was in!

For discussion on this topic: Check out the threads on Facebook or Google+.

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Next Generation Xbox To Add Blu-ray Drive, Kinect 2 And A System To Prevent The Playing Of Used Games [REPORT]

Paul Morris — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:33:37 +0000

With the Xbox 360 being initially unveiled to the world in 2005, the time is fast approaching for Microsoft to bring their next generation Xbox console to the market place. There can be no denying that consumers are more than ready for a new gaming console, but the prospect of a new gadget from Microsoft inevitably bring about a flurry of speculation surround the specifications.

We have already been treated to speculation surrounding the possible inclusion of digital video recording capabilities in the new unit, but if recent rumors coming out of gaming news site Kotaku are to be believed then it looks as though the new Xbox console could not only feature a built in Blu-ray player and second generation Kinect motion sensor but also new technology which could prevent gamers from playing used games.

The inclusion of a Blu-ray player seems inevitable, considering the PlayStation 3 has had this technology for the last five years; it would seem like a huge oversight if Microsoft didn’t adopt the same approach, especially when you consider that Blu-ray became the clear victor in the HD DVD versus Blu-ray battle of the formats. The Redmond based company had previously refused to support Blu-ray drives due to the partial ownership of the technology by Sony.

Some people may initially be shocked about the prospect of a new Kinect sensor, with a version that is compatible with Windows machines being set for an imminent release, it would seem a little premature to release an entirely new product. The rumors surrounding the potential second iteration of the Kinect focus on the fact that it may feature a built in processor, something which the first version is said to not contain. This can possibly be taken with a pinch of salt, as The Verge point out the Kinect currently features a Marvell Armada SoC.

But what’s all this about anti-used-games technology being incorporated into the new drive? Well, the information pretty much runs dry on this topic, but Kotaku are indeed reporting that the proposed ‘Xbox 720′ will feature technology built into the new Blu-ray drive which will prohibit users from launching and playing previously owned games. Microsoft already uses a process called ‘activation’ which is designed to prevent users from loading a single copy of Windows or their Office suite onto more than one computer. It is possible that the company is planning to integrate a process similar to that.

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Next Xbox To Arrive in 2013 With Six Times As Much Power As Xbox 360 [REPORT]

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Next Xbox To Arrive in 2013 With Six Times As Much Power As Xbox 360 [REPORT]

Oliver Haslam — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:48:53 +0000

It’s certainly no secret that Microsoft is hard at work developing a successor to its Xbox 360 games console. With Sony’s PlayStation 3 still in the middle of its life cycle and Nintendo already having announced its upcoming Wii-U, Microsoft is planning its next move deep in a bunker in Redmond.

We’ve heard rumors of what the next Xbox could be for some time now, with various suggestions for names and features being bandied around, but there are precious few hard facts known about what Microsoft will do with the third generation Xbox.

The latest news coming out of IGN’s sources is that the new machine will go into production during October or November of this year, with developers getting machines to work with some time in August. The timescale fits, with developers not needing finished hardware but rather just a PC with the same specs and a development kit.

IGN’s sources also suggest that the machine could go on sale towards the end of next year, 2013, which does tie in with some other reports that have been floating around the internet over the last six months.

Hardware-wise the new machine is expected to pack a punch that will see it being six times more powerful with regards to graphics performance, thanks mainly to a Radeon HD6000 graphics chip. The extra horsepower will also see the next Xbox be 20% more powerful than Nintendo’s already announced Wii-U machine. Which is definitely a lot when it comes to graphics performance.

No sources have yet come forward with an expected retail price, or in fact any other hard facts. Will the new Xbox be backward compatible with existing 360 games, and will it use Xbox LIVE as we know it? Just as importantly, will all our Gamertags and Achievements carry over to the new machine?

We’re equally as interested to see what method of content delivery will be used by the new machine. We wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Microsoft move away from a disc-based system and use Xbox LIVE as a method of offering games, though the lack of fast broadband may hinder that approach.

That said, it hasn’t stopped Valve’s Steam from taking over the PC gaming world, has it?

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Stream Videos/Pictures Like AirPlay From iPhone, iPad And Android To Xbox 360 And More Using ZappoTV

Oliver Haslam — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 00:30:29 +0000

ZappoTV is a media streaming app for the iPhone and iPad, along with Android hardware, which can push video content to any number of supported devices including the Xbox 360, Western Digital set-top boxes and a selection of internet enabled televisions.

This free download via the Apple App Store or Android Market gives users an easy way to find content online and across a network and then beam it to an internet connected television or one of the many supported devices, including the Microsoft Xbox 360.

Slideshows and audio are also supported by Zappo TV, and AirPlay support is also present should users wish to send content to an Apple TV, too.

The inclusion of AirPlay support is an interesting one, with the app basically offering a very similar feature to AirPlay for with support for non-Apple devices as well.

The fill list of supported devices includes:

Western Digital Media Players (WD TV Live, WD TV Live Plus, WD TV Live Hub)
Samsung SmartTVs
LG Connected TVs
Xbox 360 (when in Media Center Extender)
XBMC
Popcorn Hour and Popbox

We would expect the list of supported devices to grow over time, and the app has only been around a few weeks after all.

Users will need to create a Zappo account in order to use the service, but this means that the whole thing can also work over a 3G connection, whereas AirPlay currently requires both the sending and receiving hardware to be on the same network.

The ZappoTV app is available in the App Store (for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch) and Android Market now, though some content may not be available in all countries thanks to the mess that is the licensing system. That will not affect media that is on your own device however. Podcasts and other media are also available for streaming, just as is the case with Apple’s own iTunes and AirPlay combination.

Download ZappoTV for iPhone and iPod touch
Download ZappoTV for iPad
Download ZappoTV for Android

Check out our iPhone Apps Gallery and iPad Apps Gallery to explore more apps for your iPhone and iPad and our Android Apps gallery to explore more apps for your Android device.

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Microsoft Planning HD Set-Top Box With Kinect Integration

Ben Reid — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 22:45:57 +0000

According to a report by The Daily, Redmond-based Microsoft is plotting a set-top box which includes Kinect features, whilst also linking up with various music and video services.

The device, which will also offer apps and games, is described as an entertainment-specific media hub, and will be a separate entity to the Xbox 360 as opposed to another peripheral. Much of the detail remains under wraps, and it is currently being referred to internally as ‘Live Xbox’, ‘Kinect Box’ and ‘Kinect HD’. If we had to guess, we’d say the latter seems the most appropriate. After all, words and phrases carry much more weight with that "HD" suffix, wouldn’t you agree? I’m sure you do.

Despite putting plans for a video subscription service within Xbox LIVE on hold a few days ago, it is thought this separate project remains unaffected. Unfortunately, there are no leaked snaps to drool over, but the Kinect HD is said to be "a low-profile version of the Kinect with a larger base", and in an attempt to be as minimalistic and clutter-free as possible, it has just one cable which "branches out to HDMI, power and USB". As it is still at a very early stage, decisions regarding optical audio ports and such have yet to be made.

With Apple said to be preparing voice-activated television in the form of the rumored iTV, many consumer electronics companies are looking into and producing interactivity for our television sets. That’s not to say we’ll be ditching remote controls completely though, and the Xbox Companion app recently rolled out to Windows Phone users could be an option as a remote control. This is mere speculation though, and ultimately, the juicy details have yet to be revealed.

Originally scheduled to drop sometime this year, snags have meant the release has been pushed back, with The Daily offering a prospective arrival to be sometime before the new Xbox console, at a price point of around $150.

Thoughts? You never already where to drop them off.

(Source The Daily)

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Microsoft To Bring More Xbox LIVE Games To iOS And Android

Paul Morris — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 22:36:07 +0000

Regardless of whether or not you are a gamer, I am sure you are aware of the astronomical rise in popularity of video games in the last decade. In 2007 the estimated vale of the worldwide gaming industry was approximately $41.9 billion, with that total expected to rise at a rate of 9.1% annually. To give some scale as to how far the industry has come, in 1982 the gaming sector was valued at $1.5 billion, in 1990 it was $4.7 billion, in 1997 it was $7 billion and in 2004 it had risen dramatically but was still only valued at $25.4 billion.

So what about the mobile gaming industry? Well with the emergence of smartphone’s the mobile gaming industry has taken a boom. Regardless of whether you prefer to use iOS, Android or Windows Phone, the marketplace top selling software is generally populated with gaming applications. An estimated 84% of tablet owners are regular game players, taking advantage of the devices larger screen real estate for an enhanced mobile gaming experience.

In 2010 the mobile entertainment industry, of which gaming is included, was worth $33 billion with that expected to rise to $54 billion in the next three years. A somewhat overused, but good example of how successful mobile gaming can be, is the Angry Birds game which has been downloaded over 140 million times, with the free version of the game pulling in an estimated $1 million a month just from advertising.

With the above figures in mind, and the exasperating future predictions for the sector, it is no surprise that giants like Microsoft are looking to expand their gaming operation and bring Xbox LIVE to additional mobile operating systems other than their own Windows Phone OS. The Microsoft Global Careers page features a position within the Redmond company for a Software Development Engineer to work within the Xbox LIVE division. This in itself is no big deal, I’m sure it takes a large number of staff to maintain and develop these services, however, the job description sheds further light on the job details.

Working with PM and test team to define, design and implement Xbox LIVE mobile experiences on Windows Phone, iOS and other platforms
Providing technical assessment and feasibility analysis on product requirement
Working with Microsoft internal teams to deliver customized Xbox LIVE experiences to mobile devices
Investigate and prototype on new mobile technologies

Particular attention should be paid to the part of the responsibilities above which outline the requirement of implementing Xbox LIVE mobile experiences on iOS and other platforms. iOS currently has an Xbox LIVE application which allows members to perform casual tasks such as chat with their contacts, change their avatar and scroll through lists of achievements. Popular Xbox and Windows Phone title Kinectimals was also released last month for both iPhone and iPad.

It seems with this job posting, the computer giants are looking to take advantage of the rise in revenues of the sector and we could see actual game play on the mobile devices.

(via Business Insider)

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Next Xbox And PlayStation 4 To Be Announced In June At E3 2012 [REPORT]

Awais Imran — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 17:49:00 +0000

According to a new report published earlier today, Microsoft and Sony will be announcing their next-generation at this year’s E3 conference. Details available after the jump!

The news comes from TechRadar – a popular technology blog – in the form of a report in which they cite Market for Computer & Video Games (MCV) whose “third-part publishing sources” claim that both Microsoft and Sony will be unveiling their next generation consoles at E3* 2012.

From MCV:

Both the Xbox 360 successor AND a follow up to the PS3 will be shown at E3 2012.

The LA show tease will come as Wii U launch details are locked in – and should ensure no ground is lost between competing consoles.

The current generation of consoles (seventh) is seeing strong sales. With more than 1 million units sold in the US alone, the week during this year’s Black Friday was the biggest week in Xbox history. The PlayStation 3 also sold well during this period. This is, most likely, due to the fact that these consoles are now being sold at a reasonable retail price, which the average household can afford. Sales are expected to stay strong until next generation consoles themselves lower in retail price or offer good enough games that make the upgrade a worthwhile one.

While we won’t know this for sure until E3 arrives, MCV’s sources are likely right about the announcement of the “Xbox 720” and PlayStation 4. It’s been more than five years since the seventh generation of consoles – Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 – were announced, and it is about time we saw the eighth generation. With PC games reaching never-before-seen scales of gameplay and graphics, consoles need some catching up to do.

Check out TechRadar’s video on what they want to see in the next generation of consoles:

What do you expect from the next generation Xbox and PlayStation? Let us know in the comments section over on our Facebook page!

*For the uninitiated, E3 stands for Electronic Entertainment Expo: an annual video games trade fair where game developers tease, unveil and give demoes of upcoming games. It is held in early June in Los Angeles; this year’s event will be held between June 5th and 7th at a Los Angeles Convention Center (LACC).

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Next Xbox To Include DVR Functionality [REPORT]

Paul Morris — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:10:21 +0000

Don’t you just love the rumor roundabout? We live in such an age where technology plays such a huge role in our everyday lives that the public is literally chomping at the bit to snap up the latest gadget or piece of kit, if not only in the hope that it can make our lives a bit easier, but to hold our heads high knowing we have the latest tech. The technology industry has been focusing on Cupertino based Apple in the last few weeks with iPad, iPhone and iTV murmurings floating about, but today is Microsoft’s turn to get some of the rumor action.

The video game industry is huge, no one can deny that. A vast proportion of gamers like to enjoy their experience on a dedicated console, with most either opting for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 or Sony’s PlayStation 3 – some of the greedier individuals actually go for both. No one can deny that the Xbox 360 has been a huge success, with an estimated 57 million units sold worldwide. The same can be said about the PlayStation 3 with approximately 56 million units sold across the globe. But what about the next generation of consoles? Considering the Xbox has been in retail production since the end of 2005 and the PlayStation 3 a year later, surely the time has come from Microsoft and Sony to be thinking about introducing a new, enhanced console to the market?

If rumors are to be believed then we will ultimately have the option of the new Xbox 720 console. Does that mean it is going to be two times better than its younger brother? The United States Patent and Trademark office might be the place to gain a small amount of insight into that. They have recently approved an application which was filed in 2007 which relates to a patent application for recording media on gaming consoles. The application, filed on January 5th 2007 is assigned to Microsoft Corporation and was eventually accepted by the office on December 27th last year. The information relating to the patent says:

An integrated gaming and media experience is disclosed, including recording of content on a gaming console. A digital video recorder (DVR) application running alongside a television client component allows users to record media content on the gaming console. The DVR application also integrates itself with the console menu. Once integrated, users can record media content while playing games. Alternatively, users can record content when the gaming console is turned off. The recorded content can include television programming, gaming experience (whether local or online), music, DVDs, and so on. When in the recording state, users can also switch between various other media modes, whether gaming, television, and so on.

With the release of a new device we could see a combination of gaming, television and movie all fused into one console. Recent updates to the Xbox 360 Dashboard have introduced various third party applications by content providers which allow premium LIVE subscribers to view TV and movies through their console but the possibility exists that these same providers may not be to happy about users having the ability to record directly on the device.

(via RegHardware)

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Redmond Pie » Xbox 360

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