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Continue reading Official Kinect TV ads feature smiling actors, very large rooms, little else (video)

Official Kinect TV ads feature smiling actors, very large rooms, little else (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Oct 2010 01:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, it looks like the Xbox 360 dashboard isn’t the only thing getting an overhaul this fall — Microsoft’s Major Nelson has just announced that Xbox.com will be getting a “massive facelift” tomorrow. The changes are more than just visual, however, and include a few new features that more tightly integrate the site with the Xbox 360 and Windows Phone 7. That includes a new browser-based avatar editor and, most interestingly, some web games that you’ll be able to play with your Xbox Live friends on the web or on Windows Phone 7 — no word if they’ll earn you achievements. Otherwise, you can expect a streamlined view of messages, friend and game requests, some new family reports that will let you see how your family is using Xbox Live, and some improved browsing and searching options for the Marketplace. It’s still not clear exactly when it’ll go live, but the site will be down for a short period starting at 5:00AM ET tomorrow to prepare for the changes — in the meantime, you can get a peek at what’s in store in the gallery below.

Xbox.com getting a major overhaul: browser-based avatar editor, WP7-connected web games originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Oct 2010 12:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One of the major points of confusion related to Microsoft’s new controller-less Xbox 360 Kinect gaming system is the perceived lack of seated gameplay, largely driven by those early demos that required a standing player. At the time, Kinect’s sensor was keying off the base node located at the bottom of the spine to create its skeletal models. As of a few months ago, Microsoft updated its software libraries to key off the base of the neck, thus avoiding any ambiguity caused by the player’s motionless knees or feet obscuring a spine stuffed into the opaque comfort of the living room sofa. At least that’s what Blitz Games Studios co-founder and CTO Andrew Oliver told Eurogamer. Unfortunately, the motion-sensing changes for lazy-bone play come too late for Kinect’s early November launch titles (burdened with writing their own software for seated play) but “games going forward won’t have a problem,” says Oliver.

Microsoft Kinect will work just fine for seated gameplay originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Oct 2010 05:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Master modder Ben Heck has always dazzled with his hacks that transform the Xbox 360, PS3 and other video game consoles into the devices, the likes of which you have never seen before.

Now Heck is back with a mod that stuffs the Xbox 360 into what he calls a ’slim’ laptop like casing. The device has internal power supply and is pretty quiet, he says.

The machine is 16 inches x 10.5 inches in size and has all the regular features of an Xbox 360 including Wi-Fi and online connectivity. The system has touch power and eject buttons and is connected to a 17-inch Gateway LCD capable of 720p display.

And if you are wondering if the Xbox 360 laptop can act as a regular laptop too, the answer is no. Heck says in the video below that the device doesn’t have dual-boot functionality.

Heck, who has made three of these Xbox 360 laptops, is giving away one on his show. The other two will be available for purchase.

See Also:

• Hanging With Ben Heck at World Maker Faire
• Ben Heck Goes Back to the 1980s with Commodore 64 Laptop
• Ben Heck Unveils One-Handed Xbox 360 Controller
• Ben Heck is back, and this time it’s portable

Photo: Ben Heck

[via Engadget]

As always in the world of handmade portable consoles, the word “slim” is a very, very relative term. Appropriately you wouldn’t call Ben Heck‘s latest creation svelte by any means, but it is considerably smaller than his 2009 version, 1.5-inches skinnier and an inch shorter. Despite that it now has an internal power supply and is even quieter than before. The system’s touch power and eject buttons work as expected here, and up top is a 17-inch Gateway LCD that manages a full 720p’s worth of pixels. Want one? The model pictured above is being given away as part of a contest on The Ben Heck Show, but he’s making two others that are available to, you know, purchase if you have the means.

Continue reading Ben Heck makes Xbox 360 ‘Slim’ portable, still won’t make a briefcase feel fat (video)

Ben Heck makes Xbox 360 ‘Slim’ portable, still won’t make a briefcase feel fat (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Oct 2010 10:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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