Tag Archives: Kinect

XBox One: The Next XBox Game Console

May 22, 2013Gaming, Microsoftgame controller, Kinect, spike.tv, USB, xbox oneJ Powers

Microsoft unveiled the next-generation console in the XBox One at a live event that was broadcast on not only Xbox.com but also Spike TV. Many details were left out – which we’ll find out at next month’s E3 gaming conference. These are the details we do know.

XBox One with Kinect

The console is sold as one unit. XBox One looks to be the size of a VCR-DVD combo machine. XBox One will have HDMI In/Out support (so you can connect your cable box to the XBox One ), 2 USB 3.0 ports, Ethernet connection and S/PDIF support. XBox One will come with a 8-core CPU, Blu-Ray drive, and 8 GB of RAM.

The Kinect also looks bigger than its previous version. Sporting a 1080p camera and USB 3.0 support, the Kinect can stream data to the console faster. Kinect also has a wider field of view and it’s motion capture abilities have been improved. Basically it can tell if you hand is facing palm side up or down and can turn with it.

XBox One Controller

At first look, the controller seems to be the same – but that is not true. The new controller has an integrated battery compartment, uses impulse force-feedback triggers and is all controlled using Wifi signals. The battery compartment is integrated, so no double-As are needed.

Games and More Coming with XBox One

Legendary director Steven Spielberg has signed on to produce a “Halo” Live action TV series. This is XBox Entertainment Studios direction in applying the game model to producing original video programming. Movies, sitcoms and live events will be streamed from XBox One.

In addition, we learned about Call of Duty: Ghosts. The next installment of the franchise video game from Activision adds a revamped multiplayer experience. The new visual engine lets gamers get closer to objects such as guns and other items they pick up.

Finally, the NFL worked out a deal with XBox to give sports fans and fantasy football fans an added bonus. During the game, fantasy football stats will update in real-time so you can call your buddies via Skype to “rub it in their faces”.

No Price Set for XBox One

Unfortunately, the only thing Microsoft didn’t divulge was the price.

Kinect and Google TV. Better together?

November 21, 2012GoogleTVGoogle TV, KinectAlan

Have you picked up a Google TV box yet? It’s pretty cool isn’t it? But, what if you could control it with gestures? That’s what one developer had in mind when he set out to find a way to hook up his Kinect to his Google TV. He succeeded and he has made it available to the public, but it’s still pretty much experimental stuff.

The app, called Gesture-TV, is available now from github. In addition to the obvious needs — a Kinect and a Google TV box — you will also have to have a computer. Not exactly stringent requirements so far, but the setup can prove a bit geeky. The developer of this “hack”, entertailion, has outlined the steps.

This may not be for the feint of heart but, according to the comments on the post, it does seem to be working. It can be set up using a Windows, Mac or Linux computer.

Once set up there are two ways you can control this:

Pointer mode: If you hold up one hand and keep the other down to your side. Move your hand to position the pointer. Push to select.
Gesture mode: If you hold up one hand and then the other. For the first hand, swipe down to go home or swipe left to go back.

Sound like science-fiction? Remember that Kinect can already control an Xbox in much this same way so porting that control to Google TV isn’t as far-out as it may have seemed at first glance. Go ahead. Give it a shot and let us know what you think.

SoftKinetic Gesture Recognition Platform

February 16, 20123D, ces, Gaming, Interview, Special Media3D, ces, Gaming, gesture, gesture recognition, Kinect, MicrosoftAndrew

SoftKinetic Camera Microsoft can rightly claim to have brought gesture recognition to the consumer market through Kinect for Xbox in 2010, but SoftKinetic has been in the business since 2007, providing hardware and software solutions for the consumer electronics and professional markets. Andy and Courtney find out more from Virgile Delporte.

SoftKinetic are team of mathematicians, 3D imaging specialists, software engineers and game designers that have developed both hardware and software components of an end-to-end solution that can be incorporated into new products. The 3D middleware platform, iisu, lets content and video game developers, arcade and fitness equipment manufacturers develop their next interactive product or solution without needing a deep understanding of how the technology behind gesture recognition actually works.

If you want to have a play, SoftKinetic’s DepthSense Professional Kit, which includes a camera, is available from their store for just $499.

Interview by Andy McCaskey and Courtney Wallin of SDR News and RV News Net.

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XBox Turning into Over the Top TV Solution? XBox Live TV Coming…

October 5, 2011TVAngry Birds, bbc, Comcast, Crackle, Facebook, gears of war, HBO, internet, IPTV, Kinect, last.fm, Live, Microsoft, OTT, Roku, steve ballmer, TV, Twitter, xbox, xfinity, YouTube, zuneJ Powers

I watch over a lot in the Over the Top Television space. Internet TV, IPTV, whatever you want to call it, it’s a great way to get watchable content without having a full cable lineup.

Last week, Steve Ballmer announced their TV initiative over XBox Live. Over 40 providers have signed up for this venture, including Comcast, HBO, BBC, Rodgers on Demand (Canada), Televisa (Mexico), and other countries including Germany and Italy (20 in all). Best part, if you already have an XBox 360, you have the hardware to do this.

“Today’s announcement is a major step toward realizing our vision to bring you all the entertainment you want, shared with the people you care about, made easy,” said Don Mattrick, president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “Combining the world’s leading TV and entertainment providers with the power of Kinect for Xbox 360 and the intelligence of Bing voice search will make TV and entertainment more personal, social and effortless.” – Press Release

Add to conventional TV line-up the on-line video providers like Crackle, YouTube, Zune and more. Then there is audio content from Last.fm and iHeartRadio. Finally, Social networks like Twitter and Facebook to round off the service.

The Game System that Became More

Whereas companies like Roku that integrated smaller games like Angry Birds, XBox won’t have that problem. It’s a game system over a TV content distributor. You can play Gears of War, Tweet about it, then watch a video on how to play Gears of War (or another show).

Unified Dashboard in XBox Live

With the unified dashboard (looking similar to the Zune software), you can browse your shows, play the games, work your social networks and more. You will connect to the Comcast Xfinity service to get all that service has to offer.

Getting Rid of the Remote with Kinect

This might be the best part about the XBox TV. By using voice controls and your Kinect, you can gesture to a channel, play, pause and move on. It might get harry if you have more than one person wanting to watch different shows. Still, could you imagine a world without a remote control?

It won’t all be free, though.

Right now, to get HBO Go, you need to have a cable subscription with HBO. I don’t expect that to change anytime soon – especially with channels like HuluPlus. Of course, that is just like many of the OTT systems out there. Pay for a subscription and get the content.

Once again, there could be conflict if you have multiple family members where one wants to play a game and the other wants to watch a movie. So this might not replace a cable box or DVR just yet.

The Xbox Live TV service is expected to come out before the holiday season. The announcement comes before then so you can plan purchasing an XBox 360 or Kinect system for your loved ones to connect up quick. While the OTT solution is more pricey than a Roku or Apple TV, it does do more than just watch video, view pictures or listen to music. It also has some great game titles. It also has a new way to browse through your content.

Microsoft Kinected Technologies Evening for Techsumers

April 7, 2011Media Center, Microsoft, Operating Systems, smartphone, Windows, Windows Phone 7Kinect, Microsoft, Windows, Windows Home Server, Windows Phone 7, xboxAndrew

Back with Microsoft for a more consumer oriented evening. This time it’s going to be Windows Media Centre, Home Server, Xbox, Kinect and more on the phones.

First up is Microsoft Home Server 2011 – every house should have one. As standard it’s a media server, dishing out photos, music and videos. Usual DLNA stuff.

Microsoft provides a remote site which in turn can connect to the home server across the Internet. Great if you travel and you need to get at your stuff.

But when you are at home, any PC can connect to the Home Server to configure. Normally the Windows Server works headlessly i.e. without a monitor, so this is how the Server is manager.

Great news – the Drive Extender feature is going to return in 2011 courtesy of a community plug-in which appears to be endorsed by Microsoft.

Not sure if this new news, but they’re saying here that a Nokia running Windows Phone 7 will be out before Christmas, perhaps in October.

A quick demo now using Sonos to play music.

Now it’s the turn of the Xbox and Kinect. He’s playing Kinect Sports. Everything’s been done waving his hand. Ok so it’s a game but the possibilities are there in say, sterile environments. No touch, no cross-infection.

They’re now showing off a Kinect controlling the cursor on a PC instead of a mouse. Flicking through a Powerpoint presentation with your hands rather than a controller.

A video of win&i is being shown – it’s a product from a German company which shows the Kinect interacting with various apps including Media Center and Google Earth.

Microsoft sees Kinect being built directly in TVs and monitors. Several OEMs already have plans (allegedly).

Windows Phone 7 integrates with Xbox Live, pulling in avatars, badges and messages.
The next generation of games will bring the phone together with the Xbox and Kinect. Imagine a game where one player is on the phone flicking footballs at a goal and the other player is on the Xbox and is the goalkeeper. He’s saving the footballs as seen by the Kinect. Tres cool.

That’s it for now! Goodnight.

GNC-2010-11-30 #630 Back in Paradise

November 30, 2010Podcastadvertising, Apple, BlogWorld, Comcast, Fair Use, Firefox, Flickr, google, Green, HDTV, Kinect, Microsoft, p2p, Podcast, Software, TorrentTodd Cochrane

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, things have been a little crazy with trying to help the family back in Michigan with the missing kids (see below article). In amidst the chaos put out two pieces of media for you over the weekend. My presentation from Blogword and the Saturday Morning Tech show which has yet to be posted. I hope that you enjoys tonights show, way to serious in the beginning, but I am really glad to be home. As a bonus, my youngest broke his arm at school today, so I spent 8 hours at the ER with him all is well and he is not happy with his cast.

Please check out our new Sponsor Luxor, they are our first officially announced sponsor for CES 2011. Really excited to have them on-board and will be sharing a lot about their property over the next couple of weeks.

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Listener Links:
Scientist Trick Cells into Switching Identities
Microsoft Messing with WHS.
My Extended Family Tragedy.

Show Links:
Blogworld 2010 Presentation.
Hughes Net to get Upgrade.
Questions on X-37b
Google Shortcode.
Microsoft goes to Supreme Court on Word.
Kinect gets Smart.
New Owner of Sun.
Comcast ignoring Net Neutrality.
Hugh releases a reading collection.
Microsoft to replace your Cable provider?
WHS Bomb Shell.
WHS Ballmer follow up.
Some cool websites and tools.
4 ways to Monitor Flickr.
BitTorrent Streaming Video?
Video Preview coming to Netflix.
Video Ad Click through Study.
Perfect Gift for Dad.
WordPress grows a Million Sites.
Google Earth 6.
Don’t buy that Domain.
Site Seizure Explanation.
Don’t try to help playwrights online or get Sued.
Pirate Bay Crew Guilty Again.
Airplay Hack Coming.
Is Microsoft, Google Apple being Evil?
Paths of Flight.
Calibrate your HDTV.
Do you feel like your walking in Circles?
Bishop Museum going online.
No Google Social in 2010.
Copyright firm Sued.
Nissan Leaf Business Opportunities.
EFF trying to prevent embarrassment.
iPhone Concerns.
Tiffany gets turned away from Supreme Court.
Game Moding trial to go Forward.

Send in your stories to geeknews@gmail.com and be sure to provide a link to your websites!

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GNC-2010-11-15 #627 Back Scatter Mania!

November 15, 2010PodcastAdobe, Android, Boxee, chrome, Facebook, Google TV, iss, itunes, Kinect, LTE, mac, Net Neturality, netflix, Podcast, TwitterTodd Cochrane

Need a bigger green screen, had fun experimenting with it will introduce it once I get back to Hawaii. Lot’s of tech tonight and I keep the show to just an hour. Some big announcements coming later this week just waiting on some deliverables from some vendors.

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