kinect

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

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

Microsoft may be looking to integrate Internet Explorer 9 into Xbox 360 consoles sometime in the near future, according to The Verge. Redmond is also said to be testing the use of Kinect voice and motion control to help users browse the Web.

This move would bring Microsoft closer to integrating more of its products into the same ecosystem. Right now, Xbox 360 has Bing video search and Kinect voice recognition. Although some users are pleased about not having to type in TV show and movie names, the feature has gotten mixed reviews from consumers who say they have to speak loudly and use very specific commands.… Read more

Microsoft has already come up with a neat way to interpret motion by way of a camera. Now it's using sound to accomplish the same goal.

The SoundWave technology recently unveiled by Microsoft Research allows users to control the software on their computers with only the movement of their hands. However, unlike the company's Kinect, which uses cameras to achieve that functionality, SoundWave is able to pick up motion based on sound.

According to Microsoft, SoundWave relies on a speaker and microphone to work. The technology emits an inaudible tone from the speakers that is interrupted when people … Read more

In yet another example of the amazing things possible with the Kinect gaming console, filmmakers have combined the depth camera of Kinect with a digital SLR to create a haunting new look in video.

Fellows at Carnegie Mellon University's Studio for Creative Inquiry this week posted video, spotted by The Verge, from a filmmaking workshop which shows some of the potential of this type of 3D imagery.

The sensor in the Kinect console controller scans objects in front of it and determines their distance, allowing it to recognize gestures for playing video games. Fellows James George and Jonathan Minard … Read more

At CES this year one of the most interesting announcements involved Samsung's Smart Interaction, a new feature on its 2012 TVs that utilizes a built-in camera and microphone to enable you to control the boob tube just by speaking and/or gesturing to it. I've spent the last few days doing just that, much to the amusement of my co-workers, and boy are my arms (and at least one finger) tired.

My takeaway? Smart Interaction has promise but feels half-baked and more like a gimmick than a compelling upgrade. Once the novelty wears off, its usefulness is limited (at best) to those times you don't have a remote in-hand. … Read more

We're believers: WINTER IS COMING. Technically I guess it arrived a year ago, but Jeff and I are finally catching up to the "Game of Thrones" hype and spend the first few minutes of today's episode discussing the George R. R. Martin books and the anachronisms of the show.

The reviews are in for Microsoft Kinect Star Wars and nobody is impressed with the glitchy gameplay and a story that seems to appeal more to kids than fans of the original movies. With years of anticipation in the making, Jeff echoes the fans in the galaxy … Read more

In your search for a great pair of jeans, you may end up becoming a pod person.

The Bodymetrics Pod, which launched in the United States during the Denim Days celebration at a Bloomingdale's in Los Angeles, uses Kinect for Windows to digitally ogle your curves and body-map your butt. This is all in the name of hooking you up with a pair of jeans that will flatter you rather than make it look like you crashed into a denim factory at 55 mph.

The Pod is designed for privacy, so all the mall walkers don't have to stare at you in your skivvies while you're getting scanned. … Read more

The creative visionary behind Black & White and the Fable series video games, Peter Molyneux, announced today that after a decade he was leaving both Lionhead Studios and Microsoft's Xbox team and moving onto a new venture, according to video game news site Kotaku.

"It is with mixed emotions that I made the decision to leave Microsoft and Lionhead Studios, the company that I co-founded in 1997," Molyneux said in a statement to Kotaku.

This news comes days after the Xbox showcase of the latest version of the Fable series--Fable: The Journey. This role-playing game is … Read more