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This week as the Xbox One is introduced to the world, the company opposing Sony and their PlayStation 4 have taken an entirely different approach to its first reveal: console, Kinect, and controller included. If you decided that you weren’t about to connect a motion-tracking device to your gaming console no matter what the trends

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There’s a lot of talk going on about Microsoft‘s next-generation gaming console, but we haven’t heard a whole lot about the console’s next-generation Kinect sensor add-on. According to a leak, the new Kinect will feature quite a bit of upgrades from the current sensor, including full HD streaming, and a quicker latency that’s cut down by a third from the current Kinect sensor.

The next-generation Kinect sensor is said to be able to stream 1920 x 1080 at 30fps, and will come with a USB 3.0 connection. The sensor will also have a wider field of view, going from 57.5˚ horizontally and 43.5˚ vertically to 70˚ horizontally and 60˚ vertically. The new Kinect will also be able to allegedly track six players rather than just two.

On top of the RGB stream being full HD, the depth stream will also be higher resolution at 512 x 424 instead of 320 x 240. The new Kinect will also come with an IR stream for the first time, with a resolution of 512 x 424. Thanks to the improved streaming abilities, the sensor will be able to separate objects in close depth proximity, as well as capture depth curvature around edges better.

What’s perhaps most interesting, though, is the lack of a vertical tilt motor in this next-gen Kinect sensor. We’re not sure why exactly Microsoft would cut this out, but it most likely has to do with cutting down on production costs. Again, this is all just a leak and is unconfirmed, so we’re definitely taking it with a grain of salt, but hopefully we’ll hear more about the Xbox 720 and the new Kinect at E3 in June.

[via The Next Web]

Microsoft next-gen Kinect sensor to support 1080p, USB 3.0, and 60ms latency is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

One of the most terrifying prospects we’ve heard in the past few years surrounding a gaming console – or a computer of any type, for that matter, has been re-addressed this week with the Xbox 720. This machine has not yet been confirmed as even being in development by Microsoft as of yet, but another bag of tips has been revealed with specifications and features included with the device that may set your hair on end. The first and perhaps most important of these is the idea that the included Kinect camera need to be plugged in to the machine at all times – and that it’ll be watching you constantly.

The Xbox 720 has been tipped as currently being distributed to developers under code-name Durango. Under that code-name we’ve seen a collection of information leaks large and small over the past year or so, with quite a few more than usual stacking up over the past few months. Today a source is speaking with Kotaku about this developer unit complete with a note that the features included on this unit will, for the most part, be included on the final Xbox build as well.

One element in play on this device appears to be a requirement for the new and improved Kinect camera sensor to be plugged in and active whenever you’re operating your Xbox. That’s all well and good, right? No harm in having a piece of the device plugged in as long as it’s not recording me playing Halo with uncombed hair, yes? Not if it has any implementation of Patent 20120278904 it’s not.

That patent application goes by the name Content Distribution Regulation by Viewing User. This application is for a “content presentation system and method” (the Xbox with Kinect, in this case) allowing content providers (Microsoft or whatever video company is participating) to “regulate the presentation of content on a per-user-view basis.” With this system Microsoft describes how “the users consuming the content on a display device are monitored so that if the number of user-views licensed is exceeded, remedial action may be taken.”

We must assume that this means the video being watched will throw up a warning sign, and now that the Xbox will explode into flame, of course. The same source as mentioned above has provided the image you see above this paragraph, this image coming from a specifications manual provided to developers (or so they say) here in the pre-release calm before the storm. This new Xbox 720 system will be able to not only see more “skeletons” than before (6 in one room!) it’ll have additional contact points – thumbs and all.

Have a peek at the timeline below to see more insights on what the Xbox 720 might bring later this year. And don’t forget – the Xbox 720 isn’t actually confirmed to in existence in any capacity by Microsoft as yet. We’ll hear from them soon – we hope!

Xbox 720 may be “always watching” with mandatory Kinect is written by Chris Burns & 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.

Well, it certainly looks like the news of that Xbox Essentials Pack isn’t the only thing coming out of Redmond today. As the communicative Major Nelson unequivocally notes, Microsoft’s officially dropping down the price of its “You Are the Controller” Xbox 360 add-on in the US to a mere 110 bucks. Additionally, he’s also said there’s a “permanently reduced” pricing scheme coming to other countries in North America, Latin America and the Asia Pacific regions (save for Japan) where the company’s Kinect is available for purchase; meanwhile, folks in the Middle East, Europe and Africa seem to be out of luck for now, since there are no price-slashing plans for the time being.

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment

Microsoft permanently lowering Kinect price in the US to $110, slightly reducing it in other parts of the world originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 14:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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