Hasta La Gadget!

When you watch a movie in a cinema, the tickets are sold on a per-individual basis, which means that if you and your friend wanted to watch the movie, both of you would have to buy a ticket each. However renting a DVD or streaming it digitally on your computer could basically allow you and (in theory) as many people as you like to watch the movie for the price of a DVD or digital download. It’s probably not what movie studios had in mind and it looks like Microsoft has a patent up their sleeves that could deal with that. Discovered by the folks at Eurogamer, the patent has been dubbed “Content Distribution Regulation by Viewing User”, which as the name suggests, is a way for Microsoft to help regulate who gets to watch movies bought from the Xbox Live marketplace. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Microsoft’s New Patent Is Pure, Privacy-Invading Evil, Nissan rolls out Kinect-powered showrooms across the US,

Microsoft has kept its internally-developed Kinect Fusion tool all to itself, but now, hot on the heels of Build 2012, the firm has announced that it’s working on baking the software into the Kinect for Windows SDK. Concocted by Ballmer and Co.’s Cambridge, UK research lab, the tool can be leveraged to create 3D models of objects or environments, develop augmented reality applications and even take 3D measurements. By the looks of it, creating a model with the tool is a pretty painless process. When passing an object in front of a Kinect or sweeping the hardware throughout an area, the software will use the continuous stream of data collected by the device’s sensors and compile it into a 3D model. Intrigued by Kinect Fusion? Hit the jump to catch a video presentation made for SIGGRAPH 2011 by the team behind the software.

Continue reading Kinect Fusion tool coming to Kinect for Windows SDK, will help devs create 3D models

Filed under: Software, Microsoft

Kinect Fusion tool coming to Kinect for Windows SDK, will help devs create 3D models originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Nov 2012 01:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft has broadened its subsidized Xbox 360 deal, offering a 2506GB version of the console for $99 or with a Kinect for $149, for those signing up to its new Xbox 360 Entertainment for All plan. Initially launched earlier this year, following phone-style deals where upfront cost is offset by a monthly payment – in this case, a two year contract for Xbox LIVE Gold membership – the extended offer is “coming soon” Microsoft says.

That Xbox LIVE Gold Membership comes in at $14.99 per month, which means it’s another $360 to factor into the cost of the console itself. The original deal – a 4GB Xbox 360 with Kinect – is still available, at $99, while those not interested in motion gaming can swap that for more storage.

When we ran the figures initially, back in May, Microsoft’s deal worked out reasonably competitively, with the company making $55 on the promotion. It was still, unsurprisingly, cheaper for consumers to pick up a regular console and then opt for a couple of years of prepaid Xbox LIVE membership – $49.99 for 12 months.

Since then, street prices for Xbox 360 have fallen even more. The 4GB/Kinect bundle had been coming in at around $284; it’s now down to $246 from online retailers, as is the 250GB Xbox 360. Microsoft hasn’t reduced its initial, subsidized price, however, so it’s making more on the scheme: a 250GB model on the Entertainment for All Plan is $459, or $509 if you want Kinect too.

In contrast, shop around for the best deal and you can get the same bundles for $346 or  $490 (though the latter gets you the 250GB 360 with Kinect “Holiday Value Bundle” with several games thrown in too). Overall, then, those cash-strapped gamers who simply must have a new console might find something here for them, but everyone else is probably better off saving up and paying upfront.

[Thanks Carl!]

Xbox 360 “Entertainment for All” adds 250GB console to $99 deal is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Thanks to Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Kinect motion-sensing device, hand gesturing is becoming more and more popular, and a lot of innovative companies are trying out the device themselves to come up with new ways to control things through hand gestures. Toyota has made a skateboard concept using a Kinect camera and a Windows 8 tablet to demonstrate some of the technology that the auto manufacturer may possibly implement into their vehicles in the future.

The skateboard’s speed is controlled by the hands of the operator. Moving your hand down close towards the Kinect camera speeds up the skateboard, while moving it further away slows it down. Toyota says this kind of hand gesturing could be used in vehicles to raise and the lower the volume of the radio, without ever taking your eyes off the road.

Toyota and Microsoft announced a partnership last year that would allow Toyota to test out the Kinect’s technology for possible use inside of vehicles. Toyota has said that hand gestures would go well with voice recognition that’s already implemented in some vehicles, and may even replace voice recognition, since the technology is sometimes hindered by accents and dialects.

Toyota is also experimenting with skeletal tracking technology from Microsoft, which can track the movements of passengers in a vehicle. Some functions on a navigation system in newer cars are locked out if they’re going faster than 6mph (for safety reasons). Microsoft’s tracking technology would be able to differentiate between the driver and passenger, allowing the passenger to operate the navigation system even if the vehicle is moving.

Obviously, these are all just concepts for now, and the Toyota team is simply using this as inspiration for future ideas. However, it may not be long until we see Kinect-like motion sensors inside of vehicles to not only track movements of passengers, but also to offer hand gestures to make driving even safer.

Is it Fall again already? Must be time for another Xbox 360 Dashboard update. Every year Microsoft Drops the console a little bit of code to match the descending leaves, delivering new features, interface tweaks and additional content to hide behind the Xbox Live Gold paywall. Redmond’s latest update isn’t quite the overhaul it gave the gaming rig last year, but minor changes can have big effects. Join us after the break to see the machine’s latest update, and what it means for you.

Continue reading Xbox 360 Dashboard update hands-on (fall 2012)

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, Microsoft

Xbox 360 Dashboard update hands-on (fall 2012) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Oct 2012 00:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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