Microsoft hires former CBS executive to produce original video content for Xbox

Microsoft reportedly hires former CBS executive to produce original video content for Xbox

Earlier today, rumors started circulating around the web about Microsoft having hired a former CBS executive to oversee the creation of original video content for the company’s famed console. It didn’t take long for the whispers to turn into something more concrete, however, as Redmond has now made it official, announcing that Nancy Tellem will be the outfit’s Entertainment and Digital Media president. According to Microsoft, Tellem’s set to take over a new production studio in Los Angeles, California — one that’s going to be in charge of developing “interactive and linear content for Xbox and other devices.” Certainly this could be seen as a smart move from Microsoft in its quest to take over the living room reigns, which would make perfect sense given the Xbox’s obvious transition from a simple gaming console to an all-around media hub. You’ll find all the official details inside the presser below.

[Image Credit: Getty Images / Peter Kramer]

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Microsoft hires former CBS executive to produce original video content for Xbox originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Sep 2012 16:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kobo cuts 8GB Arc tablet in favor of larger models, pricing still starts at $200

Kobo cuts 8GB Arc tablet in favor of larger models, pricing still starts at $200

It’s only been a couple of weeks since Kobo took the wraps off of its new lineup of readers and tablets, but someone must have told the company spacier Arcs were in need. Today, the outfit announced it’s bringing a fresh pair of 32 and 64GB models to its Ice Cream Sandwich slate, opening the door to those who thought the 8 and 16GB flavors simply didn’t offer enough storage space. Kobo’s pricing the 32GB Arc at a decent $250, while the larger 64GB unit will carry a $300 tag — both are set to be up for grabs in November alongside that entry-level 16GB model, with the 8GB getting the boot altogether.

Continue reading Kobo cuts 8GB Arc tablet in favor of larger models, pricing still starts at $200

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Kobo cuts 8GB Arc tablet in favor of larger models, pricing still starts at $200 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Sep 2012 15:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SkyDrive adds recycle bin, Excel surveys for the chronically indecisive

SkyDrive adds Recycle Bin and Excel surveys for the chronically indecisive

For all of the talk of cloud backups and sync, there isn’t always a safety net when working from the cloud itself — delete a file online and it might be gone forever. With that in mind, Microsoft just brought Windows’ recycle bin concept to SkyDrive through a low-key update. You can now delete anything immediately, knowing that you can change your mind within three days — and longer still, should the recycle bin occupy less than 10 percent of the storage limit. If you’re just as uncertain about creating content as scrapping it, SkyDrive has also received support for creating and sharing Excel surveys to narrow down the scope of a project. The recycle bin should slide into your SkyDrive account within the next day; Excel surveys aren’t yet polished enough, but they should be ready “soon.”

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SkyDrive adds recycle bin, Excel surveys for the chronically indecisive originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Sep 2012 14:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fox kicks off its Digital HD initiative by joining Google Play and YouTube, offering movies early

Google Play and YouTube add Fox movies and TV shows, use Prometheus as a lure

Fox embraced a radical thought when it outlined its Digital HD initiative earlier this month: customers are more likely to buy digital movies if the content isn’t artificially delayed and priced to match the releases on conventional discs. The studio is about to see if that gamble on common sense pays off. As of today, you’ll find 600-plus Fox movies ready to buy or rent in HD across every major digital video store in the US, with many downloads cleared to arrive ahead of their physical counterparts at lower prices that reflect a disc-free reality. The media giant has also decided to play nicely with Google after a longstanding absence, putting its movies and TV shows on Google Play Movies and YouTube. Its tentpole movie release Prometheus is unsurprisingly being used as the prime incentive to try Digital HD; the title is available online three weeks before the Blu-ray launch at a more reasonable $15 price. The sci-fi thriller is even Fox’s first movie destined for UltraViolet cloud lockers. Only Americans will have expanded access to movies and TV at first, but it shouldn’t be too long before many countries can be creeped out by Michael Fassbender’s android — including on their Android devices.

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Fox kicks off its Digital HD initiative by joining Google Play and YouTube, offering movies early originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Sep 2012 13:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Panasonic Toughbook 19 gets Ivy Bridge upgrade, small price bump

Panasonic Toughbook 19 gets Ivy Bridge upgrade, small price bump

There’s no doubt Panasonic keeps its Toughbook 19 line updated with the recent times, and today’s no exception. This time out a processor upgrade is the main change, with the company announcing the rugged convertible will now ship sporting one of Intel’s latest CPU creations — a Core i5-3320M vPro, to be precise. That’s not all, however, since there are also improvements in battery life, the addition of USB 3.0 ports and the option to load it with a beefier 500GB hard drive. Naturally, these nice enhancements had a mild effect on the price tag, making the jump from the previous starting price of $3,349 to a slightly heftier $3,549. But, hey, if you’re already spending that much, 200 extra bucks shouldn’t cause you any sweats.

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Panasonic Toughbook 19 gets Ivy Bridge upgrade, small price bump originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Sep 2012 13:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple’s Jony Ive tapped to design one-off Leica M for charity auction

In case the newly announced Leica M simply isn’t astronomically expensive enough — or charity-minded enough, as it were — Apple’s senior VP of design Jony Ive is working with the German photography company on a one-off version set to be auctioned for charity. Given the M’s baseline price of €6,200 (about $8,100), we’re guessing the one-of-a-kind version designed by one of the world’s most influential designers is going to fetch a pretty penny at auction. Like, “sell off one of your extra homes” kind of money. Leica head Dr. Andreas Kaufmann announced the collaboration last night during a Leica event at Photokina — an event that Ive himself was reportedly set to appear at — where he said that the auction will be done with U2 frontman (and longtime friend of Ive) Bono Vox. The latest Leica M debuts in early 2013, though we won’t see the fruits of Ive and Leica’s collaboration for some time as the camera’s design has yet to begin.

Gallery: Leica M

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Apple’s Jony Ive tapped to design one-off Leica M for charity auction originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Sep 2012 10:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MasterCard announces PayPass User Interface SDK, lets devs roll their own NFC payment-enabled apps

MasterCard announces PayPass User Interface SDK, lets devs roll their own NFC payment-enabled apps

MasterCard has been in the cashless payment game for quite a while, and now it’s hoping to get more developers on the PayPass bandwagon with its freshly unveiled user interface software development kit. By leveraging the SDK, programmers will be able to bake the firm’s NFC payment system, which is compatible with over 70 handsets, into their own Android or BlackBerry OS 7 apps. The kit is free to license and includes API code libraries, documentation, a developer guide, sample code, a white-label reference application and a testing suite. Once apps are created with the SDK, they’ll have to go through MasterCard’s approval process before they go live. Yearning to code PayPass-enabled smartphone software? Check out the press release below for more details.

Continue reading MasterCard announces PayPass User Interface SDK, lets devs roll their own NFC payment-enabled apps

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MasterCard announces PayPass User Interface SDK, lets devs roll their own NFC payment-enabled apps originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Sep 2012 07:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google+ has 400 million members, a quarter of whom are active each month

Google has 400 million members, and a quarter of them actually use itDespite a fashionably late entrance to the social networking party 12 months ago, Google+ is already able to claim 400 million users and 100 million monthly active users across both the website and the mobile apps. That compares to just 250 million total users back in June, suggesting the service is growing faster than ever. Revealing the figures as part of his announcement of Google’s latest corporate acquisition, a victorious Vic Gundotra said that his team “couldn’t have imagined that so many people would join” within a year of G+ going public.

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Google+ has 400 million members, a quarter of whom are active each month originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Sep 2012 04:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia details new ruggedized shells for Lumia 820

Nokia details new ruggedized shells for Lumia 820

Nokia’s Lumia 820 was firmly stuck in the Lumia 920’s shadow — in fact it barely figured in Nokia’s big presentation. But one thing it holds over its bigger, publicity-hungry brother is the ability to switch covers, so while the 820 won’t get its wireless charging built-in, a specific case can add the same functionality. Well, we knew that already, but Nokia’s now revealed the phone’s own range of dedicated ruggedized cases. These covers, arriving in green, yellow and orange, will measure in at the same length and width as the others, but will protrude marginally more, offering some protection to that 4.3-inch screen when it comes into contact with surfaces. A “rubber-like” trim will afford some extra protection to those glossy corners too. Expect the toughened cases to appear alongside the Lumia 820 at launch — whenever that is.

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Nokia details new ruggedized shells for Lumia 820 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Sep 2012 03:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PressurePen goes up for pre-order, is expected to ship in November

PressurePen goes up for preorder, is expected to ship in November

With its recent Kickstarter success now in the history books, it’s time for that open-sourced PressurePen to offer its stylus services to folks who missed out on the crowd-funded party. Luckily for those people, though, the pressure-sensitive instrument is now available for pre-order straight from the creator’s site, so they, too, can snag one for themselves. The PressurePen starts off at a not-too-shabby $30 for the “kit” only, which doesn’t include the plastic shell but is perfect for savvy tinkerers; meanwhile, the PressurePen with Stylus bundle costs $60, or $20 more if you’d like two additional tips. Units are expected to start shipping at some point in November, but better hurry as the company’s saying there are only “a limited number available at this price.”

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PressurePen goes up for pre-order, is expected to ship in November originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Sep 2012 02:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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