Microsoft's original Kinect sensor was extremely popular when launched back in 2010, and as we draw ever closer to the release of the Xbox One, we're looking forward to seeing what the next-gen Kinect is made of. Microsoft has waxed lyrical about it and its various new capabilities for quite some time, but while we might have thought we knew the new motion sensor inside out, the Redmond company has dropped a little more interesting information. Talking at the London Eurogamer Expo, Microsoft's Phil Harrison spoke of how the new Kinect will include the ability to understand two people talking at the same time, which take things quite a bit further than we've ever seen in the gaming world.
Today's modern smartphones wear so many hats that it's often hard to truly compare them against each other. While it's true that at their core they are all indeed mobile phones, some are more like point and shoot cameras with built-in smartphone capabilities and others are powerhouse computers with a camera attached. When you're making your buying decision, many things have to be taken into account, but it's a fact of smartphone life that we are all taking photos on a daily basis, especially if you happen to be hooked on Instagram-ing everything you go near.
Apple may have had a rough ride of it in the early 1990s, but ever since its co-founder and eventual CEO Steve Jobs returned to the company in 1997, some may say that Apple has been on something of an unstoppable upward motion that has culminated in the firm now being one of the most revered in business. Able to make huge profits and owning the manufacturing and retail chains that make it so streamlined, Apple is perhaps the blueprint by which companies now form their own strategies.
Apple is rightly pleased with its inclusion of 120fps slow motion feature in the iPhone 5s, and if the videos we have already seen taken with the device are any indication, it will be more than another feature that never gets used beyond the first couple of weeks. We're looking at you, Samsung.
Gaming on smartphones may be something of a boom industry, but that doesn't mean that all developers are falling over themselves to launch on every platform imaginable. Take EA and PopCap's Plants Vs Zombies 2 as an example - the title had its worldwide launch on Apple's iOS last month, but so far Android gamers have been left looking over the fence at what their cool neighbors are playing. Yes, Plants Vs Zombies 2 for Android is available to download if you happen to be in China, but that doesn't really help everyone else now, does it?
Everyone loves a good speed test video, and whenever a new flagship smartphone is released, YouTube is flooded with new videos showing how the latest and greatest device compares with the one that it just replaced. What we don't usually get to see though is a video showing the new hotness compared with every device that came before it.
Now that the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c releases are out of the way, attention is beginning to turn to what we all expect to happen within a few weeks; new iPad announcements. Now that the iPad 4 and iPad mini are nudging their 1 year birthdays, it doesn't take a genius to come to the conclusion that Apple is more than likely gearing up to release newly revised versions of its two tablet devices.
A part of iOS 7 that has received next to no discussion but has the potential to be the biggest addition to the iOS feature set, iBeacon is Apple's attempt at taking location aware apps to the next level and, if the latest tests shown by Major League Baseball are anything to go by, then they might just be onto something.
A couple of months back, Microsoft confirmed that CEO Steve Ballmer would be retiring in a matter of months, and now, the Redmond company's head honcho has delivered a poignant farewell speech to the company he has manned for well over a decade.
Here's our full video comparison of Apple iPhone 5S vs Samsung Galaxy S4. It seems fit to put iPhone 5s and Galaxy S4 through a rigorous comparison to see which one actually comes out on top.
