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Microsoft’s living room vision includes apps, Mediaroom, and Xbox
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Internet, Microsoft, Video Games
Microsoft showed off the future of the living room on Wednesday, and it appears to be a combination of Bing, Kinect, and the Mediaroom IPTV technology that forms the foundation of the Xbox.
Oh, and it seems to be taking place first overseas.
In a video embedded below, Microsoft's Marc Whitten, corporate vice president of Xbox Live (identified as a corporate vice president of ISS Experiences) showed off short clips of how the living room, as exemplified by the Xbox 360 and Kinect, continued to evolve. The demonstration placed a premium on natural user interfaces, identified by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates as one of the most significant advances in personal computing.
"Our goal is really, really simple," Whitten says in the video. "It's about how we make this effortless, intuitive and delightful. And that starts by making the technology fade out of the way, getting it all into the background."
Click to continue reading Microsoft’s living room vision includes apps, Mediaroom, and Xbox
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Avatar Kinect now available, Kinect Sparkler arrives this Thursday
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Kinect, Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox Live
Avatar Kinect, the Xbox 360 app that captures your facial expressions and maps them right onto your avatar, is now available as the newest gadget in Kinect Fun Labs. You can invite friends into a session, and communicate using your avatars in one of 24 different virtual stages. Things like a performance stage, talk show, and even a tailgate party. The sessions are recorded so that you can upload them to KinectShare.com, where you can download them and send them to the Twitters, Facebooks, and YouTubes of the world. You need an Xbox LIVE Gold membership to use Avatar Kinect, but Microsoft is opening it up to all members from now through September 8th.
On July 28th, Kinect Sparkler will appear in Kinect Fun Labs as well, showcasing the Kinect's new ability to do finger tracking. You use your body as a stencil and paintbrush, creating works of art in 3D, and uploading them to KinectShare.com. This one will cost 240 Microsoft Points.
Top 10 Tech Deals of the Day
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Hot Deals, PC / Laptop, Portable Audio / Video, Video Games
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 Live Arcade Triple Pack that you see to the right over there!
Laptops
- 17.3" Dell Inspiron 17R 2nd Gen Core i3-2310M 2.1GHz Dual-core Laptop w/3GB RAM, 320GB HDD & Switchable Lids for $500 with free shipping (normally $599 - use coupon code HLSKSR06S9ZG0F)
- 14" HP Pavilion dm4x Core i5-2410M 2.3GHz Dual-core "Sandy Bridge" Ultra-thin Laptop w/6GB RAM, 640GB HDD for $625 with free shipping (normally $750 - use coupon code NBDM6147)
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
Xbox Live will store your profile and game saves to the cloud this fall
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Internet, Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox Live
Microsoft didn't have enough time to cover everything that's coming down the pike for Xbox Live with the fall dashboard update, but they sent us an email detailing some of the new hotness that they didn't talk about on stage, and we're super excited to hear that profiles will be able to be saved to the cloud. What does that mean for the average Joe? Well, this means that instead of saving your games to your hard drive or USB stick, you can instead save them to the web. Same goes for your Xbox Live profile, along with achievements, friend list, etc. One thing I've always hated about having two Xbox 360 units in the home is that I need to remember to grab my USB stick and bring it upstairs and down if I want to log into Live. Now, I just enter a username and password on any Xbox 360, from any location, and I am logged in. The days of recovering a Gamertag will be history come this fall!
YouTube coming to Xbox Live
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: E3, Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox Live
This morning at its E3 2011 Xbox Media Briefing, Microsoft announced that YouTube will be coming to Xbox Live this fall. They didn't go into too much detail about it, but you'll obviously be able to search and view videos from the YouTube service, and we're gonna go out on a limb and guess that you'll also be able to upload gameplay videos taken with Kinect directly to the service as well. Even without that last part though, adding YouTube is just another step Microsoft is taking in their hopes of making the Xbox 360 the ultimate living room hub.
Microsoft sending upgraded Xbox 360 consoles to users with disc issues
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Hardware, Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox Live
Microsoft is offering a small number of Xbox 360 owners replacement consoles and a free year of Xbox Live as compensation for a firmware glitch, according to a report.
According to Kotaku, some customers have received emails stating that consumers can trade in their defective consoles in return for an upgrade.
Microsoft also confirmed the report via Twitter, in response to the posting of a screenshot of the letter by user Avery Penn.
However, the email from Microsoft appears to anticipate problems with the console, as Penn told Kotaku that his console is still able to read the discs. "The email was most likely referring to the Xbox LIVE update which is being phased in between May 19 and May 30 – an update which reflashes the DVD drives to a new stock firmware, and adds support for new XGD3 disk format," Kotaku added. "It's this update that allows an extra GB of usable storage on game discs."
Deal of the Day: 38% off Xbox Live Gold Starter Kit
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Hot Deals, Microsoft, Video Games
This Deal of the Day goes out to all you gamers out there--eBay is offering a great deal where you get the Xbox Live Gold Starter Pack for just $49.99. This collection includes a 12-month Xbox Live Gold subscription, an Xbox 360 Chatpad, a headset, and 400 Microsoft Points. These usually sell for $80, so this deal brings it down to $49, saving you $31. That's a discount of 38%. Even better? Shipping is free. If you're interested, head on over:
Save 38% on Xbox Live Gold Starter Kit
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.
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| Xbox Live Gold Starter Kit sale
Deal of the Day: 41% off 12-month Xbox Live Gold subscription
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Hot Deals, Microsoft, Video Games
If you're an Xbox 360 owner, you'll wanna get a look at this deal from eBay, which offers 41% off a 12-month Xbox Live Gold subscription. With services like Hulu Plus, Netflix, and ESPN requiring a Gold account, it's nice to see the $34.99 price tag here, down from the typical $59.99, saving you $25. They've got limited stock, and this deal will only last for a few hours. If you're interested, head on over:
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.
Read More | Xbox Live Gold deal
Microsoft looking for testers for next Xbox 360 system update
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox Live
Microsoft is looking for "multiple thousands" of Xbox Live members to test a new Xbox 360 disc format; in exchange, Microsoft will send you a free copy of the best-selling Halo: Reach and other branded freebies.
"We are conducting an open call for US based participants for a public preview to help us prepare for an updated Xbox 360 disc format," Major Nelson, the gamertag for Microsoft Xbox Live's programming director Larry Hryb, announced on his blog.
"We're looking for multiple thousands of participants, so your chances of making it in are good," he wrote.
Xbox Live Gold Family Pack now available
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox Live
A couple of days ago, Microsoft raised the price of an annual Xbox Live Gold suscription by $10, to $59.99 per year. However, realizing that there are people out there with multiple accounts in a family setting, the company has finally incorporated an Xbox Live Family subscription into their offerings, and it's a great deal. For $99.99 per year--$20 less than the cost of two Xbox Live Gold subscriptions--you get a pack of four Xbox Live Gold accounts. Even cooler, though, is if you have young children, you get details on their activity and can set up preferences and allowances, and even get activity reports. Here's a look at the features that are exclusive fo the Family Pack:
- Family Center: It’s a single easy-to-use destination to manage your family’s memberships and online settings.
- Activity reports: Sign in to Xbox.com to view reports on your family’s activities on Xbox LIVE, and encourage discussions with your family about safer, healthier, and more balanced gaming.
- Microsoft Points Allowances: Parents and caregivers can purchase and gift Microsoft Points to their children.
- Family Pack Deal: Get exclusive discounts on family-friendly content.
You can convert over to the Family Pack from any existing Xbox Live account. If you're already a Gold member, then you get $5 towards the purchase of the Family Pack for each month of Gold that you have remaining on your account. Even better, if other accounts that you want to add to your Family Pack have time left on a Gold subscription, the entire family will get another month of Gold added for every two months remaining on each account.
The Xbox Live Gold Family Pack is available now, and you can set it up online, or from the Xbox 360 dashboard.
Read More | Xbox Live Family Pack FAQ
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