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Continue reading Leaked Xbox 360 dashboard gets demonstrated on video

Leaked Xbox 360 dashboard gets demonstrated on video originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Sep 2010 14:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So, you didn’t wait for those forthcoming Kinect bundles to ship before picking up a new Xbox 360, huh? Good on you. Now that you’ve had all summer to break ‘er in, we’re keenly interested in knowing how exactly you — the dear consumer — would change Microsoft’s slimmer, edgier Xbox 360. Would you have crafted a more stackable case? Thrown in a Blu-ray drive for obvious reasons? Included four controllers and a game for a nominal fee? Packed more than 250GB of hard drive space? Retooled the controller at the time of launch, rather than… say, last week? Go ahead and get real in comments below. Just keep it halfway sane down there.

How would you change Microsoft’s new Xbox 360? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 22:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s often noted that the technological predictions of the horrible, yet strangely prescient film Minority Report are fast becoming a reality. And it seems that Tom Cruise’s hands-free data surfing may be arriving much sooner than 2054. The gravity of innovation is pulling us towards completely frictionless
interfaces. Goodbye keyboards, goodbye mice. Soon the term “remote control” will become just another “grandpa word,” joining the likes of “dungarees” and “whipper snapper.”

There have been several attempts at gesture-based control released to the public, but with limited success. The technology just wasn’t there yet. But as the hardware improves, we will find greater interactivity with our electronics using little more than hand gestures and vocal commands.

What may signify a big jump forward in consumer acceptance of the frictionless interface is Microsoft’s gesture-based Kinect gaming system. The system will be released this fall and hopes to compete with the Wii for potential gamers who are intimidated by the mess of buttons and gizmos offered on traditional PlayStation or Xbox controllers.

For the interface, Microsoft turned to Israeli-based PrimeSense which created a technology that utilizes various types of cameras and audio sensors to bring users into the game. The five-year-old company doesn’t have plans to manufacture any gizmos directly, but hopes to make the technology ubiquitous in the electronic wares of others. The company says they already have other collaborations in place to bring the tech to TV and PCs in the future.

Originally the fevered dream of Microsoft executives circa CES 2007, the Xbox 360 IPTV box is rapidly becoming a reality, first sneaking into Canadian carrier Telus’ Optik TV outlay and now reportedly in development at AT&T. Now, we wouldn’t have blamed you for doubting Microsoft when it briefly mentioned U-Verse subscribers would get Mediaroom functionality in their game console later this year, but it’s looking more likely now: a tipster just forwarded some legit-looking screenshots of Xbox prompts in AT&T U-Verse’s technical support database. Our source claims the Xbox is presently being tested internally with friends and family of AT&T employees, and that it’s likely only a couple of months away at this point. Not discussed: whether or not Xbox 360 will provide closed captioning for the “TV impaired.” See what IPTV on Xbox might look like in our January eyes-on.

AT&T technical support tool suggests Xbox 360 will bring IPTV to U-Verse households soon originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Sep 2010 14:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Missing your oldie Xbox 360’s bright and airy white finish? Well, Microsoft’s still not willing to sell you a slimmified 360 in any color other than black (excepting the limited edition Halo gear), but at least you can gaze upon the singular example of what a white one may look like above. This seemingly repainted Xbox 360 250GB (to give it its official, and ridiculous, name) has been lovingly put together over in China and really makes us wonder why Microsoft is depriving us of such snowy good looks. Perhaps it wanted to draw a clear between the old and the new? Either way, hit the source for the cheapest way to peek an all-white slim 360 without giving the Colorware crew a call.

[Thanks, Anthony]

Xbox 360 slimster made over in white, just for the hell of it originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 05:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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