Items tagged with Microsoft
People are using the Kinect Xbox 360 add-on in ways that transcend the idea of a video console accessory. It was this type of development that was hoped for when a bounty was put out for open source Kinect drivers, and look what the latest possibility is: using Kinect to help people learn American Sign Language. >Researchers at Georgia...
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Well that didn't take long! A month after Rahul Sood resigned his post at HP, he has now found a home at a rival company: Microsoft. Rahul Sood is a major figure in the PC gaming world. He founded VoodooPC, which was then swallowed up by HP and woven into the "Envy" line of computers. But HP never really felt like a great fit for Sood, at...
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Well, at least Microsoft has spoken. They haven't said an awful lot that we didn't already expect, but it's something. Despite the fact that Windows Phone 7 went on sale to consumers weeks ago, Microsoft has yet to come forward with any...
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Ruh roh, Shaggy. It appears a recent update for Outlook 2007 wasn't quite ready for prime time, causing all sorts of connection and performance problems for those who tried to install it. It was issued as part of the monthly Patch Tuesday...
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Microsoft's Office Genuine Advantage program (OGA), is no more. Reportedly, Microsoft has quietly retired the program, which formerly was used to validate an Office installation before add=ins or templates could be downloaded, without...
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Do you watch movies on your phone? We have found the answers to that question to be fairly mixed, with some people saying that it just gets too cramped over time, and others really enjoying the portability. But there's no question that...
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Google has turned its Gmail, Calendar, and Contacts into a backup system for your Microsoft Exchange data. Called Google Message Continuity, the service is meant not just to back up, but to sync in real-time your Exchange data on Google's...
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HTC let fly with their Windows Phone 7 lineup a month or so ago but to date we haven't gotten much in the way of hands-on time with the devices. Monday night in NYC, home of yet another disappointed New York Jets team (Go Pats), we got a little up close and personal with HTC's sexy new...
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Microsoft introduced its free Xbox Live Rewards program to give loyal customers recognition and rewards for using Xbox Live. Members of the program will earn Microsoft Points—the same currency used by Xbox Live—when they use the service to renew a membership, activate Netflix, purchase merchandise, and more. According to Larry...
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No one actually doubted that motion gaming was popular. Nintendo sold through tons of Wii consoles, and for over year there was a consumer shortage. In fact, the movement was so noticeable that both Sony and Microsoft decided to embark on a journey of their own to embrace motion gaming. Sony...
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Ah, the more users play with Kinect, now that there is an open source driver, the better things become. Here we see a Jedi Knight in training who has used the OpenKinect drivers and OpenCV to make himself into a Jedi Academy cadet. Here's what he said on his YouTube post: Proof of concept of tracking and rendering a lightsaber in real time...
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If you can't beat 'em, say it was your idea all along. Microsoft has said that the Kinect hacking which allows the Kinect to be used with other devices besides the Xbox 360, wasn't really hacking, and that they left the Kinect open by design. At least, that's what Microsoft said on NPR's...
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It's hard to believe, but Microsoft Windows is 25 years old. Windows 1.0 was birthed on November 20, 1985. Born as a replacement for MS-DOS, Windows was GUI-based, mouse- (and keyboard-) driven, and added multitasking as well. It wasn't until Windows 3.0, however, that Windows really started to take off. Honestly, much of that was because...
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Welcome to the inaugural episode of “Two and a Half Geeks”, our re-vamped, weekly video podcast. In addition to our new look (which is still being tweaked!), in this episode we talk about the performance of AMD’s upcoming Zacate APU and Woz’s “quote” that...
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The annals of history are filled with the wreckage of gaming consoles, their darkling masoleums* lit only dimly in the candle of nostalgia. The barriers to entry are such that even being in the right place at the right time is insufficient; would-be contenders must achieve both of these...
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Adafruit, the folks behind the bounty for an open-source Kinect driver, one that would allow end users to use the Kinect with more than just the Xbox 360, have posted a how-to guide. It should be noted, however: it's not exactly drop-dead simple. The guide comes via an Adafruit employee with the handle Ladyada. You can see, in a video...
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A million. That's a lot. A whole lot when you consider just how crowded the gaming market it, and even more when you consider just how limited the Kinect is in terms of a buyer pool. The Kinect motion accessory requires a good deal of space in front of the television, and many gamers who are...
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Windows Phone 7 devices support additional storage via MicroSD but making use of that capability has become problematic. Users who attempt to re-use MicroSD cards they purchased for older phones are in for a nasty surprise. Insert a legacy MicroSD into a Samsung Focus, and the device may...
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Verizon is going to be resurrecting the months-dead KIN One and KIN Two, it appears. Despite the fact that it seems like a truly silly decision, based on the (not even) lukewarm response to the phones, that's what a Verizon roadmap seems to show. First coming from PPCGeeks, it seemed somewhat questionable news, particularly since the...
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Ever heard of Microsoft's Xbox 360? It's a gaming console, right? Well, maybe. Maybe not! The console definitely started out as a game console when it originally launched, offering up far superior graphics compared to the Nintendo Wii and catering to more hardcore gamers. But soon after came...
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Call of Duty: Black Ops is easily the hottest game out right now, shattering sales records and likely being the true cause a bunch of "sick days" this week. And if you've already worn your existing Xbox 360 controller out in playing it...
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There's definitely stiff competition in the smartphone market today. Needless to say, Microsoft has a lot of barriers to overcome if it intends to regain market share with its smartphone OS. On Monday, Microsoft officially launched its Windows Phone 7 platform with nine handsets available...
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