Hasta La Gadget!

Our friends at Joystiq are reporting that receiving an early Kinect unit or a Kinect title is cause for caution and adult supervision, not celebration. Turns out if you attempt to play the game, the Xbox will offer you an update, and if you accept, you’ll get pushed an early version of the new Dashboard that not only won’t work with Kinect, but also won’t let you sign into Xbox Live. Want to update again or revert? Sorry, smart guy, you’re stuck. Of course, Microsoft will no doubt be rescuing you on or before November 4th, when Kinect is officially released to the public and it has to push the new Dashboard to everyone, but until then you’ll probably be stuck trying to remember what game consoles did before they connected to the internet. We vaguely recall something about gathering stars…

Attempts to play Kinect early can result in headaches, nausea, and an acute lack of Xbox Live originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Oct 2010 17:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Joystiq  | Email this | Comments

“There is nothing more sad or glorious than generations changing hands,” John Cougar Mellencamp wrote in the liner notes to his classic album, Scarecrow.

And so it goes with the handover from the Gamecube and PS2 to the Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360: Gaming systems that we once loved are thrown into the dustbin of history, while strange new devices take center stage.

Here’s one way to look at those market shifts: With an interactive infographic from Tableau Software.

In addition to the console trends, you can watch Nintendo gain market share at Sony’s expense (while Microsoft hangs in there at a steady level).

The data, from NPD Group, is not particularly new, but the visualization is. If you ever wondered what a generational shift in technologies looks like, here you go.

What other tech data would you like to see visualized? Let us know in the comments!

Thanks, Ellie!

See Also:

• Zillow Analysis Reveals Prime Trick-or-Treating Neighborhoods
• Wired.com's iPhone 3G Survey Reveals Network Weaknesses
• Analyst: We Could Be in the Final 'Console Cycle'
• Microsoft, Sony Trade Volleys as Console Wars Heat Up
• Triumph of the Wii: How Fun Won Out in the Console Wars

Follow us for real-time tech news: Dylan Tweney and Gadget Lab on Twitter.

Traditionally, cameraless versions of smartphones designed for high-security work environments have been the exclusive playground of Windows Mobile and BlackBerry — the enterprise mobile platforms companies have rallied around the most over the past decade — but Motorola’s Droid Pro seeks to give Android some serious enterprise street cred for the first time thanks to that glorious portrait QWERTY keyboard. To that end, it makes sense that they’d want to release a second version sans camera — and a new leak speaking of “the new Enterprise-focused DROID phone without a camera” suggests that’s exactly what’s happening. Our trusted source says they’re “99 percent positive” that’s what we’re looking at here; not a product for everyone, of course, but if you work in the government lab where they keep all the alien corpses, you’ll probably be thanking your lucky stars.

Motorola Droid Pro coming in a cameraless version for security-conscious businessfolk? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Oct 2010 16:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Microsoft just beat analyst expectations, announcing $16.20 billion in revenue for the first quarter of its 2011 fiscal year, with $5.41 billion in profit. Microsoft cites Office 2010, the sustained “PC refresh cycle,” and 38 percent growth in the Xbox 360 biz for its good news, with overall revenue up 25 percent over the same quarter last year and a 51 percent gain in profit. The Xbox 360 has been at the top of the console heap for four months running, which can’t hurt. Microsoft will have an earnings call to discuss its results at 5:30PM EDT, so we’ll be keeping our ears peeled for Steve Ballmer to pull a Steve Jobs, hijack the call, and rag hard on the competition — if only we lived in a world of such beautiful symmetry.

Microsoft announces a record first-quarter revenue of $16.20 billion, $5.41 billion in profit originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Oct 2010 16:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink All Things D  |  Microsoft  | Email this | Comments

If you’ve ever been a DJ, known a DJ, or listened to a DJ, there’s a good chance you’re familiar with Technics. Panasonic’s analog turntables are legend among scratchers and spinners. And now they’re gone. More »