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Top 10 Tech Deals of the Day

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Hot Deals, PC / Laptop, Portable Audio / Video, Video Games,

dell vostro 3750 saleWe've got your latest list of items that fall under the best tech Deals of the Day for you, separated out into laptops, desktops, monitors, gaming, and home entertainment. The laptop deals are right here, but be sure to click through to get a look at all the rest of what we determined to be today's top 10 deals in tech, including that lovely Xbox 360 Kinect bundle up there!

Laptops

Don’t forget, if you’re looking for other deals, be sure to check out our Newegg Promo Code thread. Oh, and if you're on Twitter, be sure to follow @TechPromos for the latest deals, or you can Like TechPromos on Facebook.

Click to continue reading Top 10 Tech Deals of the Day


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Top 10 Tech Deals of the Day

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Hot Deals, Microsoft, PC / Laptop, Portable Audio / Video, Video Games,

xbox 360 kinect bundle sale

We've got your latest list of items that fall under the best tech Deals of the Day for you, separated out into laptops, desktops, monitors, gaming, and home entertainment. The laptop deals are right here, but be sure to click through to get a look at all the rest of what we determined to be today's top 10 deals in tech, including that lovely Xbox 360 Kinect bundle up there!

Laptops

Don’t forget, if you’re looking for other deals, be sure to check out our Newegg Promo Code thread. Oh, and if you're on Twitter, be sure to follow @TechPromos for the latest deals, or you can Like TechPromos on Facebook.

Click to continue reading Top 10 Tech Deals of the Day


Nyko Zoom lets you stand closer to Kinect

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, E3, Kinect, Microsoft, Xbox 360,

Nyko Zoom

One of the biggest complaints with the Microsoft Kinect for Xbox 360 is its space requirement. For the depth-sensing cameras to function properly, Microsoft recommends a good eight feet between the Kinect sensor and your body. That's a lot of space, especially for all the apartment and dorm room dwellers out there.

Nyko might have fixed that problem with the Zoom, a surprisingly simple and affordable Kinect attachment that seriously cuts down on its need for room.

The Zoom is a wide-angle lens attachment that fits over the Kinect, changing how it sees the room. With a wider angle, it can see more laterally, but doesn't have as much depth. According to Nyko, this means the Kinect needs up to 40 percent less space than without the Zoom. Because it's just a set of lenses that fit over those on the Kinect, it doesn't need any power or complex installation; it just slides on.

The Nyko Zoom will retail for $29.99 when it ships later this year.

Click to continue reading Nyko Zoom lets you stand closer to Kinect


HTC Trophy hits Verizon Wireless on May 26 for $149, includes free Xbox 360 game

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Handhelds, Microsoft,

HTC Trophy WIndows Phone 7

Verizon's first Windows Phone 7 device, the HTC Trophy, goes on sale at Verizon's online store on May 26 and in retail locations on June 2.

The 3G device costs $149.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and two-year contract. If you buy one before July 15, Verizon will throw in a free Xbox 360 game: either Halo: Reach, Kinect Sports, or Lode Runner.

The media-centric device features a 1-GHz Snapdragon processor, surround sound through SRS WOW HD, 3.8-inch WVGA touch screen, 5-megapixel camera with auto-focus and 720p HD video capture, 16 GB of storage, Wi-Fi connectivity (802.11 b/g/n). It's also quad-band and will work in more than 200 countries, Verizon said in a press release.

Click to continue reading HTC Trophy hits Verizon Wireless on May 26 for $149, includes free Xbox 360 game


Microsoft will acquire Skype for $8.5 billion

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Microsoft, Software,

microsoft buys skype

Microsoft announced Tuesday that it will acquire VoIP service Skype for $8.5 billion in cash.

Microsoft will purchase the company from investor group Silver Lake, which—along with Index Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz Ventures, and the Canada Pension Plan (CPP)—acquired a majority stake in Skype in December 2009.

Microsoft said the deal will increase the accessibility of real-time video and voice communications across its products, while expanding Skype's reach. Skype will be available on Microsoft products like Xbox, Kinect, and Windows Phone, and Microsoft will connect Skype users with Lync, Outlook, Xbox Live, and more.

Microsoft said it will continue to invest in and support Skype clients on non-Microsoft platforms.

Click to continue reading Microsoft will acquire Skype for $8.5 billion


Bleeding Edge TV 381: Hulu Plus on Xbox 360 review

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Full Episodes, Gizmatic, Features, Home Entertainment, Microsoft, Movies, Podcasts, Product Reviews, Videocasts, Videos,

Earlier today we brought you the news that Hulu Plus will launch on the Xbox 360 tomorrow morning, noting that it will be free for all Xbox Live members (Gold or Silver) for a full week, even for those without a Hulu Plus subscription. After that, you'll need both a $7.99 per month Hulu Plus membership as well as an Xbox Live Gold account. Well, we've had access to a Hulu Plus preview on the Xbox 360, and we've put together a tour through the service and interface so you'd know exactly what to expect. We even give you a look at the (somewhat limited) Kinect support for Hulu Plus as well. Hit the play button above, or grab the download from one of the links below!

Big thank you to JackThreads for sponsoring the show - be sure to check them out, we've got exclusive invite codes that give you $5 to use towards anything you'd like.


Nintendo Wii sales plummet by 31.5 percent from January 2010

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Nintendo, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360,

 

wii sales

January has just not been a pleasant month for video game sales. At least, that's according to new numbers released by NPD. Total January 2011 sales for gaming accessories, portable systems, and games for PCs and consoles fell to $1.16 billion from last year's total of $1.22 billion. And the $1.22 billion figure for January 2010 is itself a decrease from January 2009 figures, or $1.33 billion in total sales.

Breaking that number out a bit, hardware sales took the biggest year-to-year hit, dropping 8 percent from $353.7 million in January 2010 to $324 million in January 2011. NPD no longer splits this number out into publicly available data for the various console manufacturers; however, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter said that Microsoft was the only big player to experience year-to-year growth on hardware sales.

According to Pachter, Microsoft sold approximately 332,800 Xbox 360 units, representing a year-to-year growth of 14.4 percent for the company. More than half of the systems sold were also bundled with Microsoft's Kinect accessory.

Nintendo, on the other hand, found its sales down 31.5 percent compared to the same period of time last year. That's a drop from 465,800 Wii consoles sold in January 2010 to 319,000 sold in January 2011. The company still leads the current console market with 34.5 million Wii units sold in the U.S., in total, with Microsoft's Xbox 360 coming in second place at 25.8 million, followed by Sony's PlayStation 3 at 15.7 million.

Click to continue reading Nintendo Wii sales plummet by 31.5 percent from January 2010


Kinect Hack Turns World of Warcraft Into Full-Body Grind

Posted by Drea Avellan Categories: Microsoft, MMORPG, Mods/Hacks, PC,

Microsoft Kinect allows you to maneuver your character and navigate compatible games simply by using hand gestures and body movements – at least that’s how Microsoft intended it to be. Researcher Evan Suma and his team at University of Southern California, have found a way to use Kinect is a somewhat unusual way. OpenNI, hacked programs (FAAST), and some tech voodoo, have allowed this team of masterminds to plug in Kinect to their computer’s USB port, and use it to play World of Warcraft. The software translates real-world gestures into in-game commands that allows for the player to level-grind with their fists.

Click to continue reading Kinect Hack Turns World of Warcraft Into Full-Body Grind

Read More | Game Life

Kinect in stock at Amazon

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Microsoft, Video Games,

Kinect in stock

Real quick - if you've been scouring the Internets and your local stores for a Kinect and have been coming up short, Amazon just got a grip of them in stock. Hurry though, they are gonna go quickly.

Read More | Kinect on Amazon

NES Super Mario Bros. played using Kinect

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Mods/Hacks, Nintendo, Retro, Xbox 360,

Since Kinect came out there have been some pretty interesting hacks of the technology. The latest one is a retro reprogramming that allows “Yankeyan” to control NES classic Super Mario Bros. using his body as the controller.

“I programmed it to recognize my motions and passed the virtual button presses to the NES emulator," says Yankeyan. "I could have placed a simulated keypad right in front of me that I can press with my hands, but I thought full body gestures were more in the spirit of Kinect. Of course, Mario isn't designed to be played like this, so this is really really hard."

If you listen closely you can hear the sound of Shigeru Miyamoto’s Wii controller hitting the floor. 

Read More | Game Informer via Youtube


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