kinect

Witness the maturation of Xbox Kinect

LOS ANGELES--If you thought Microsoft's motion-sensing controllerless technology Kinect was going to take a back seat this year, you were wrong. In the minutes leading up to the press conference's start, I first noticed a trio of Kinect sensors slyly facing the stage. It would be a telling premonition of what was in store for the world's fastest-selling electronic gadget.

But while Kinect has garnered more groans than praise in recent months, Microsoft's press conference demonstrated somewhat of a maturation for the motion-control initiative. Whereas Kinect functionality initially seemed forced upon software that didn't necessarily need it, a few interesting implementations may have skeptics turning into believers.… Read more

Microsoft takes the stage at E3 (live blog)

Editor's note: This live blog has concluded. Click on the module below to replay the blog or read our summary posts: "Madden NFL 13 gets 'better with Kinect,' launches Aug. 28"; "Microsoft plans to bring over 35 more content providers to Xbox"; "Microsoft unveils Xbox Music"; "Microsoft unveils Smart Glass, a multiscreen entertainment platform"; "Kinect-enhanced IT coming to Xbox," and "Xbox throws down gauntlet to Apple TV (and Wii U) at E3."

You've read the speculation. There's nothing left to do now but wait to … Read more

Apple looms over E3 once again

It's a rite of passage for every tech trade show.

Apple, the 800-pound gorilla of the industry, never has an official presence at shows like CTIA (mobile), CES (consumer electronics), and Computex (PCs). But if you read between the lines of the press conferences and press releases, every company at those shows is implicitly talking about -- and reacting to -- the latest Apple gadgets, new or anticipated.

And now, as we approach the annual E3 trade show, the focus naturally turns to Apple's role in the video game industry.

During E3 2011, we made an obvious observation … Read more

What to expect from Microsoft at E3 2012

Traditionally the first of the major video game console makers to host its annual E3 press conference, Microsoft sets the bar for Sony and Nintendo to follow.

In some years, that's an easy task, with new hardware such as the Kinect sensor or the slim Xbox 360 redesign. Other years, it's based on exclusive software, such as a new Halo or Gears of War game.

For 2012, the general feeling is that this will be another software-heavy year, with little or nothing said about any future generations of the Xbox console. The counterweight to that prediction, however, is … Read more

E3 needs a new product

As we head toward E3 2012 in Los Angeles, I've noticed something curious in the air:

No one really cares.

By "no one" I mean no one who's not a gamer, of course. The general public, even the casual technology fan. Compared with years past when friends would try to pump me for information on when the next PlayStation would come out, whether there would be anything new for the Wii...well, this year, it feels like radio silence. The video game fan at my local Starbucks who kept asking me about the Nintendo 3DS a year ago barely has any questions to ask. My friend who bought a Wii two years ago doesn't seem interested. I couldn't use E3 to start a conversation if I tried.

It's seemed that way on the appointment-making end of things, too: other than Nintendo's inevitable reveal of more details on the Wii U, we're entering this year's E3 with a stunning lack of new hardware...or even of new hardware rumors. The oft-wondered-about "When will we get a new Xbox or PlayStation?" chatter has already been shot down by Sony and Microsoft, which claim there won't be a PlayStation 4 or Xbox 720 at this year's E3.

I do know one thing, though: E3 needs a new product.… Read more

For Silicon Valley VC, a Leap from great advice to big rewards

SAN FRANCISCO--Sitting in the windowless basement level of a nondescript building in the shadow of the Bay Bridge, Andy Miller is doing one of his most essential -- and rewarding -- jobs: helping smart and talented, but young and inexperienced, entrepreneurs navigate the crucial steps needed to move their new company forward. After all, great technology can only get you so far. It takes great business strategy and decisions to build a truly successful company.

Miller, a general partner at Highland Capital Partners who once reported directly to Steve Jobs as Apple's vice president of mobile advertising, is seated … Read more

Leap Motion: 3D hands-free motion control, unbound

Hands-free motion control, a technology pioneered by Nintendo's Wii and later improved upon by Microsoft's Kinect, just took a very big leap forward. Industries from gaming to surgery to architecture, engineering, and design may never be the same.

With the unveiling today of its Leap 3D motion control system, a San Francisco startup called Leap Motion has, well, leapfrogged the state of the art in this young field, giving users the ability to control what's on their computers with hundredth of a millimeter accuracy and introducing touch-free gestures like pinch-to-zoom.

Leap, which comprises both a small USB … Read more

Carnegie Mellon students get naughty, nice with new-media art

It's end-of-term time, which means brainy college students throughout the land are busily quaffing coffee and eschewing sleep to get their final projects sewn up.

That means too, of course, that many of these compelling projects are being put on display for the first time.

We got an e-mail from Golan Levin, a professor of new-media arts at Carnegie Mellon University, about student work in his advanced class this spring: "Special Topics in Interactive Art and Computational Design." Levin has put together a Web page of videos, and the projects display an admirable diversity of interests and approaches (and in some cases a mischievous sense of humor).

They range from Kinect-powered 3D soundscapes to virtual houseflies to sexy long-distance physical-stimulation devices (digital foreplay, anyone?).… Read more

Microsoft readies NUads: They watch you watching them

SEATTLE--Microsoft is planning to launch an ambitious plan in the next month to revamp advertising: television that watches you watching it.

The goal of NUads is to convince people to stop using their DVR to skip or fast-forward through ads by using the Kinect sensor for Microsoft's Xbox 360 console and Windows PCs to make ads far more interactive. (Here's CNET's Kinect review.)

"During the Super Bowl, you're watching TV, some great ads pop up," Lyn Watts, a Microsoft manager, said during a presentation at the PII conference here this afternoon. "You say … Read more

Xbox 360 rules again in slumping video game market

The Xbox 360 scored its 16th month in a row as the best-selling console in the United States.

With a 47 percent share of all current console sales, Microsoft sold 236,000 gaming units last month, according to the latest stats from NPD Group.

Total consumer spending on the Xbox 360 (hardware, software, and accessories) hit $261 million, more than what was spent on Nintendo's Wii and Sony's PlayStation 3 combined.

The Xbox also grabbed seven of the top 10 game titles in April. Kinect Star Wars took the No. 1 spot, with The Witcher Two: Assassin of … Read more